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ELIZABETH BARTON is doing a TRUNK SHOW at one of my guilds tomorrow!
This is City in Winter, one of my favorites by Elizabeth Barton.
Interesting machine quilting. The faced binding gives it that painterly edge to edge look.
Cape Cornwall, by Elizabeth Barton, had me going back to it several times when I saw it at the Blue Ridge Center for the Arts Fiber Arts Show in June.
I kept going up to see the details close up.
She used hand and machine quilting, raw-edge applique, and what I believe to be a dying technique where color is removed from fabric.
I am looking forward to seeing some of her work again, in person.
Excellent ground cover is not an easy thing to remove from gravel.
I don't know what this weed is, but I spend about a half-hour every morning, working my way around the driveway.
It is sticky and the rocks are rough to brush away, so I wear gloves.
I can do about five feet, then it is too hot and the bees have woken up.
Issues with my elbow have slowed down my hand-sewing considerably. I've been able to get some machine piecing done and I'm caught up in Temecula.
I've decided to discontinue Splendid Sampler, ending with block #49. When I first started it, it was exciting to find each block and choose the fabrics, work it, and see the results.
Then, it became something to tick off on a list as COMPLETE. Eventually, the blocks got really weird. You've heard me say how I believed some of the designers were trying to show off or make something that no one could duplicate. Some of the juvenile embroidery was not to my taste, either.
In a way, I'm sorry I am not continuing. When the only pleasure came from marking off each block as I finished it and some of the blocks took eight or nine hours to make (FOR A 6" block!), I was not getting the right fun to effort quotient.
So, cut bait.
Undeniably, Elizabeth Barton is one of our area's most talented fiber artists.
This is LEGACY, which I photographed at a recent fiber arts show at the Blue Ridge Center for the Arts.
For many, quilt making is an exercise--exploring or learning a technique and displaying "homework", if you will.
For some, it is the skilled copying of another's design that the maker wants to keep for him/herself.
But for others, each piece has meaning and message. That's the kind of quilt artist Elizabeth Barton is.
I have worms. Fall webworms, to be exact.
Some are up too high for me to reach.
These webby pouches are filled with caterpillars.
Some of the recommended treatments offered by state extension offices include torching, insecticide (SEVIN), pulling them down and hoping birds will eat the caterpillars.
I called my tree surgeon, and like surgeons world-wide, his suggestion was to CUT. As in CUT THE TREES DOWN.
I decided to get an estimate for having the branches removed and Saturday I will have that estimate. In the meantime, if you know of someone with a cherry picker who has a saw blade on a 10-foot pole and wants an afternoon's entertainment, give them my number.
My philosophy has been that too much introspection gets you nowhere but deeper into the vortex.
I subscribe to the theory that to focus OUT helps one engage in the world. But, while I was at Powell's City of Books, in Portland, I found a book that has me re-evaluating this way of thinking.
I had just that week discovered some things about myself that were truly revelatory. Those discoveries are what set me on the search for something in the Buddhist aisle at Powell's.
I am VERY good at identifying a problem. I am not so good at problem solving. My standard method is to look around for a delegate and instruct that delegate regarding the outcome I expect. Since I have had so much success with this method, my problem solving muscles have not had much exercise.
How to See Yourself as You Really Are is proving to be a difficult read. I am reading each paragraph two to three times before going on to the next. I know I will have to reread the whole book when I finally finish. Right now, I'm at the part about the inter-relatedness of objects to their parts, and objects and their surroundings. Somehow, this has helped me identify some problem solving strategies. From FIX IT, PLEASE, I WANT IT TO WORK LIKE THIS, I am beginning to think WHAT CAN I DO TO GET TO POINT B?
My Pieceful Mountain Guild Sister, Linda Daughtry, is one of my favorite artists.
This piece is called TSA, for reasons travelers like me can easily recognize.
She used a color discharge technique to make the figures and other golden tones.
I wish I had thought to take close ups of the written segments. Of course, the golds and oranges and buttons distracted me. Love buttons, love yellow and bronzy, coppery, orange.
I say "travelers like me", because, I am a frequent visitor to Oregon. I just returned from a short visit, where I looked for a place to live. In fact, I am looking to retire from retirement. I saw some promising areas.
I will miss my trees. Every window opens to oaks, pines, poplars, and my favorite, maples. Trees give me solitude and help center me. There are some mighty trees in the Northwest, and I spent time every day with them. Their look is different, but their presence brings me peace.
