Another Transition Day

Colors I left behind in Lexington.....

The hydrangea bloom is more purple than just a few days ago.

...and the colors that greeted me in Portland.  You can't actually see them very well...but there are now three little blooms on the coreopsis...and several are about to pop.  I'm glad they waited for me.  And what's not to love about that coral bell.  It's nice when the plant itself is as beautiful as any bloom.

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday getting started on my "Swirls of Color" class project.  Because this is a paid class, I can't share the course content and "how to" of what I'm doing.....but I have Isobel's permission to share images of my progress.  This is a little peak into where I'm at now and I'll post more tomorrow when I have more time. I'm having a blast!

There's never enough hours in a transition day.

"Swirls of Colour"

I've been admiring textile artist Isobel Moore's work for quite some time.  She creates amazing organic  swirls of color as well and land and seascapes.  Isobel uses recycled materials and textiles and embellishes with fibers, beads, embroidery and anything else she can get her hands on.  Her work just oozes JOY!

https://www.isobelmoore.co.uk/

All the images on this post are Isobel's and these, and many many more can be found on her Instagram account and Facebook Pages....I highly recommend you check them out.

https://www.facebook.com/IsobelMooreArt

https://www.instagram.com/izzyfmoore/

Just recently I noticed a last call for an on-line class and decided in a split second to go for it. If not now...when? It's called Swirls of Colour...and I couldn't be more excited.  As many of you know I am nearly drowning in recycled papers, fibers, beads, and fabric....so I already had EVERYTHING I needed to begin. I also think I'll be able to use some of my painted papers from the last class I took. I'm thinking it will be a good way to honor my "stash."

Here's a short little class teaser video Isobel posted on her Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/IsobelMooreArt/videos/725047851655042

Soft Blues

Blogspot told me that I've reached 2000 posts.  So this is 2001.

"All I know is that my life is better when I assume that people are doing their best. It keeps me out of judgement and lets me focus on what is, and not what should or could be."  Brene Brown

Mine is better when I do that too.....I'm working on it.

On my way home from Portland to Lexington I stopped in Ocean Park and walked the beach with Jane. It's always a treat!

The sky was a hazy gray blue and there was light fog lingering in the air...making is seem almost mysterious.

I delivered one of my tiny hosta plants....and got to see Jane's new pot of rain lilies in bloom.  I think Rose would be happy that some of her rain lilies are living at the beach.

Jane's front garden is always a big splash of color and her periwinkle door makes a great backdrop.

And I came home to my own sea of soft blue!  This first photo was taken about 8:00 last night when it was getting a little dusky....so everything seemed to be a soft blue.

This one is in the front of the house...and will turn interesting shades of purply blues as it matures.

Comfort Zone

"Life is pretty good about telling you true things quietly the first couple of times & then after that, as loud as it takes for you to hear." Brian Andreas

I wanted to make a birthday card for my Aunt Beverly....and I wasn't quite ready to forge out into a new design. So I stayed in my most recent comfort zone where I've been quite happy for a while.  These little rainbow daisies make me smile.....and I hope they make Aunt Beverly smile too.

There's something nice about a simple stitching line frame.

I hope to have some new ideas and techniques for my cards 

in the next few weeks......

....I've signed up for another on-line class.

It was one of those things that that life just shouted at me until I heard it....just in time.  I signed up today and it starts tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

I'm heading to Lexington for a few days.....and I'm leaving these rain lily blooms and buds behind for Paul to enjoy. Still no sign of a bud on the small white one....which I think look like chives.

And I'm hoping my moonbeam coreopsis will be blooming when I get back. There's just one at the moment but the tiny buds are getting ready to pop.

Fused Bound Binding

I absolutely laughed out loud at an email update from Anita.  She got the 4th of my repotted rain lilies and hers was the only one that went out without a bud in sight.  Linda had flaunted her blooms a bit...but Anita got the last laugh.  

This is the photo she sent to Linda today.....

...and this is the actual photo!  

She does have her first bloom and 2 more coming.

I love your sense of humor Anita!  I'm still smiling!

I did an experimental binding technique on my first stained glass pieces....and I think it worked pretty well.

I added a narrow row of fusible webbing to the edge of the binding strip and sewed it on the piece just like I would on any quilt with the mitered corners. I had already cut the piece so it just fit the front of the repurposed canvas....and I glued it down with thick gel medium and let it sit for a few hours.

Next I wrapped the black around the thin canvas and fused it to the back.  So it's a fused bound binding.....clean and crisp! Worked like a charm!

It's A Process

This is my second experiment with batik stained glass effect.  It may not look all that different from the first one....but it is...it's just subtle.

I know I have a couple awkward moments in this one....but they don't become apparent until I add the black...that's why I'm practicing. Each time I learn something that will improve the technique and the outcome. And I just got 2 new yards of black hand dyed fabric in the mail from Colorways by Vicki Welsh....so I'm good to go for more practicing. And I think more of her fabulous hand dyed gradients are going to get worked in.

Here are the two are side by side.  The first one was just batiks....and not a very big variety. For the second one I used a wider variety of batiks and added some  Colorways gradient yellow orange on the horizon giving it a visually quieter place for your eye to land.  But I'm chuckling at what I just wrote wondering if this intense orange yellow is all that quiet.....but I still think it achieves the break I wanted.  I like the variation in sizes of the chartreuse horizon on the left better....and would do more of that staggered piecing next time. I also added more long curved branches this time....and next time would make sure some of them went off the right and left edges. Those long bent branches allow for more interesting batik shapes. 

Here's how it started. I changed some of the background lines...so some of those sharpie lines need to be disregarded.  Next time I'll use a vanishing quilting pen....I certainly don't want sharpie lines showing through.

A sliver of soap is a very helpful tool for marking cutting lines.  I start with a small piece of fabric and lay it along one of my black lines.  Sometimes I fold and crease the piece along another line and cut along the fold...or use the piece of soap so draw my cutting line.

You can see my soap lines on the blue piece.

I finished the top before I started planning the bottom....not really sure why.  My original drawing had a straight horizon line but I changed it up.  Like I already mentioned...next time I would push that even more like the first one.  It's so hard to tell how it's going to look with the black....and I'm usually pleasantly surprised how most problem areas just work themselves out. I only lightly tack down these fused pieces...and can easily change some of them out if I need to....and I did that several times on this one. Once I'm happy enough it gets a good hot pressing to really fuse it down.

I had another idea for this second piece and tried it out digitally. The one on the left is the current piece as is....and the one of the right I added a few extra black lines at the bottom.  When I do actual stained glass I almost always split a large piece up into smaller pieces even if it's the same color. The soldering seams add stability and interest.  I do like using a bit more variety of fabric in the landscape at the bottom....and more seams would allow me do do that.  In this type of piece I always want to cover the seam with black so if I want more fabric variety....I have to have more seams.  

So I'm going to mull this over.....and going to practice this on a bit of a bigger scale. Then...once I consult with my "clients" (that was fun to say) I may be ready to tackle the custom piece. Stay tuned.

It's a process....and I'm having a blast!

Lobster for Dinner

I've been playing with some of the batiks I prepped....but there's no energy left to write about it tonight.  I'll share my second fabric stained glass project tomorrow....I have enough fabric prepped for lots and lots of projects!

What's to love about a lobster dinner on the patio.... 

....and a beautiful patch of holly hocks on our morning walk.

Tim...the Doer

"Ditch the dream and be a doer.  Happy, successful people are busy doing."  Shonda Rhimes

I've mentioned before that "Dick Doer" is one of the many nicknames Paul has given me.  It's true...I do like to be busy and get things done....but I also spend a fair amount of time just sitting...doing nothing at all. But this post is not about me....it's about my brother-in-law Tim.  He, like me enjoys a little sitting and dreaming, but he's very much a "doer."

This past Sunday....just 3 days ago...I texted my sister LaVonn these ostrich planters I saw on line.  Tim is quite an artist/welder and their yard is full of creative and clever sculptures....I recently posted about a large heart sculpture he made:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/04/neighborly-art.html

LaVonn loves colorful summer annuals in pots...so I thought these would be right up her alley....the caption on my text read: "I think Tim could weld something like this."

And just yesterday....2 days later LaVonn texted me these photos.  

At first I thought they were photoshopped...but it didn't take me long to realize Tim...the doer...had been busy in his shop.

This is what the innards look like. It certainly helps that Tim lives on a farm with all kinds of cool stuff and works at the county dump...so he has lots of weldable treasures. His shop looks like my craft studio....just different materials.

LaVonn and I brainstormed about the personality it would take on depending on the plant she used....it's fun with a fern. She's going to keep me posted where is lands in the yard...and I'm sure it will bring smiles to the neighbors and the people in the cars passing by.  I know it brought me a smile.  

Impressive work....Tim the doer! 

Now all it needs is a name....I'm thinking "Dick."  😉

I dug into my photo archives and found a few of of Tim's welded sculptures....many of which he helped his boys make for the 4-H fair.  Don't even get me started on the 4-H fair!  That's a whole post on its own.....mostly good memories growing up.

For those of you who don't know me well....or are new to this blog...this post from 2016 about my "Dick Doer" nickname is fairly revealing...and I still pretty much feel the same way about dreaming versus doing.

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2016/01/dreaming-vs-doing.html