Moving Right Along

1. Said Yes to the Dress:  This is my fibre arts group's January challenge. Continuing on the theme of the figure design we used on the quilt squares for our group quilt, we are going to fabric-wrap 8" X 10" canvases and dress quilted figures in white bridal fabrics (got plenty in my stash from my chuppah/crazy quilt days).  I made the quilted figures for all of the participants from fabric left from my quilted portrait experiment.  Each participant has free licence to choose their background fabric i.e. if someone wants to piece or dye or screenprint or embroider or whatever, it's up to them.  I used a piece of printed fabric and simply quilted it by outlining the printed pattern.  Just watched a video to show me how to neatly wrap the fabric on the canvas.


2. POM ritual challenge: checked and found that the travel/dorm room Shabbat candle lighting one-drawer prototype can be modified to make a travel/dorm room Chanuka candle lighting box.  By making a two drawer version with the height of each drawer 1/4 inch taller than the Shabbat version, I can put Chanuka candles and matches in one drawer and a Chanukia in the other.  Both version are dependent on Menachem making the candle holders/Chanukia once he has sufficiently recovered from his replacement.


I must learn how to take and upload photos on my own...

Ring out the Old

Just reviewing my blog entries from last year.  All two of them... and resolving to try to be more consistent in my posting in 2013.  Why?  Because I find that committing to blogging about what I'm working on helps me to commit to working on stuff.

I do have several projects on the go.  I decided to make baby quilts from fabrics I have on hand. One is gender neutral and will be assembled from 6" squares leftover from other baby quilts I have made in the past.  The second one is definitely for a baby girl, very very pink, with 6" squares pieced entirely from 1.5 inch strips of 8" length or less.  And I still haven't depleted my pink stash.  I really enjoyed making the pieced squares and have sorted all my fabric strips and bits and am planning to use them up.  Maybe tomorrow I'll sew up the quilt tops.

It's time to finish the chance/mazal piece I started back in April.  And since I first saw the inspiration for it in Preston last February, I would like to finish it by the end of January.

I just finished the prototype for the POM's ritual object challenge.  I will either do another in a different fabric or just keep the one I've done.

And maybe make something for the FAT library show in March.

So there.  I've challenged myself to be creative in 2013.  And hope I see it through!

Initial Square Lottery Done

The first stage of the fabric lottery is finished. There are four squares (of the 36) which are shades of off white. So hopefully I will be able to move some of them when I throw the dice. In a few places, the squares are similar in shades so maybe I'll get to move one or two of those also. With my luck (ha ha), I'll roll a "1" twice. Off to look for dice.

Climbing Back on the Horse Took Longer than Initially Expected

My name is Chaya and I am a Kindle addict (thanks Carmit and Micha). So I have to get really excited about a textile project to make me put down the Kindle. In late February I was in England, Preston to be precise. I went to the local museum to see a textile exhibit. I wasn't overly impressed. However the same museum had an exhibit of pieces from private collections of local folk. In it I saw an interesting piece by Nick Kennedy, an artist who has a series called "Dice Drawings". He works on paper marking numbers in pencil using dice to determine where the numbers will be marked. For more info on how he does this, you can google "dice drawings". So there is a combination of his deciding the "rules" for his work (medium and method) but there is also the element of chance (the dice determining the location of his markings. Aside from thoroughly enjoying his concept and his result, I was intrigued how to translate the concept and introduce "chance" into my fibre art. After much thought, here are my ideas (so far). My work is largely Judaic. Chance can be translated as "mazal", which can be translated back into English as "luck". So my piece will be based on luck/mazal. Eighteen is considered a lucky number in the Jewish tradition. The Hebrew word "chai"(life) has a gematric equivalent of 18, so 18 and multiples thereof are considered good luck. The background of my finished piece will be 18" square and will be composed of 36 squares (6 rows by 6 rows) of duppioni silk in 18 different colours. Here comes the random part. I have already cut 36 squares of fabric whose position in the 6 by 6 square grid will be determined by choosing lots. The vertical rows will be numbered 1 to 6. The horizontal rows will be lettered A to F. I will position the squares on the grid as follows: I will do the grid in two parts--one set of 18 different colour fabric squares for the top half of the grid and another set for the bottom half. I will also have 2 bags with 18 numbers each from A1-6 to C1-6 for the top half and D1-6 to F1-6 for the bottom half. I will randomly pick a number and then randomly pick a fabric from the relevant bag and based on the results, place the fabrics on the grid. If two squares of the same coloured fabric are adjacent to one another, I will move one square over, either vertically or horizontally, so that the finished grid has no squares of identical colour side by side. Once the grid is finished, I will take one roll of a die for each half of the grid, and the face number will be the number of squares I am allowed to determine where to relocate on the grid. Once the final placement has been done, I will machine piece the background. The next bit will be the embellishing bit. I will have two sets of dice, one to determine the location of embellishment on the grid (one die lettered A-F and one die numbered 1-6), The second set of dice will determine the embellishment: one die will have 6 techniques (i.e. embroidery, beading, embellishments, etc.) and the other die will determine the number of stitches, beads, embellishments, etc. I would appreciate suggestions for the embellishing part such as: 1. 3 more textile techniques (bearing in mind that each square on the grid is only 3 inches square") 2. what to do if I hit a "double" (i.e. two identical embellishing rolls, one after the other -- maybe that lets me decide in which square I am allowed to decide on additional embellishing) 3. whether to predetermine the total number of dice throws (naturally, a multiple of 18) or to let me determine when I feel the piece is done 4. anything else that strikes you and hasn't yet struck me I am excited!!

Climbing Back up on the Horse

It's mid-December. I finally got my sewing machine back at the beginning of October. Then a surprise early birth of my second grandchild, a daughter, in Israel on October 7th. I left for Israel October 8th and just returned the day before yesterday. Had a busy two months spending time with my loved ones. Now I'm back in an empty house and will venture into my sewing room today to console myself. Perhaps I will even be creative.

Off to be with My People

Sewing machine still in the shop and I won't know its fate until after I'm gone. In the meantime, I was reduced to using an old clunker to finish the baby blankets. I didn't finish them, though, because I just couldn't get used to using the old machine. I've put the binding on the front but will hand sew it to the back. Oy.
I am hoping that I will have access and time to write a bit while I'm gone.
Very excited right now.

Stitching along happily until

I was making great progress on my sewing but then my machine started smelling, like burned wires (or a motor). It is going back to the shop. If they already charged me for an overhaul, this shouldn't be happening so soon after. The Scream comes to mind...

Baby Blanket #1 completed

Except for burying a few threads. If I had had a full night's sleep last night, I could have perhaps started on another. Next is a blanket for a baby girl, due in August. And then another gender surprise, not sure when due -- I am hoping by the time I get started on it, I will know both answers. Hope to get both finished by next weekend.

Dyeing sort of

The countdown to my trip is on -- approximately two weeks. In preparation, I have been shopping for clothes. Yes, I know it's unusual given that I so dislike shopping, but I did need some things. I bought a pair of cotton pants (long) and several blouses. I noticed that one of my pairs of shorts (as in one of two...) has nail polish stains from my last visit to Israel when a lovely flamingo pink bottle fell and splattered. I guess I should get another pair or two. Black of course.
I had two white shirts, one cotton long-sleeved, and one linen short-sleeved, with wonderful folded texture, but alas, have yellowed or stained. I decided before they got relegated to the rag pile to attempt dyeing. Inspired by the flamingo pink nail polish, I purchased dye in that colour and am in the midst of dyeing. I did the linen one full strength (so far it looks lovely) and the cotton, slightly less strong. If they take the dye well and the stains are sufficiently hidden, I will have extended the shirts' useful life for a bit longer for less than $3 a pop. If not, I have wasted $5.91, 5 tablespoons of salt and 5 litres of water. I hope the dyeing takes because I so love the detailing on the shirts.
I have two more white shirts which are yellowing. I'm thinking maybe snow dyeing. I have to either get "snow" from the skating rink, or try crushed ice. Hmmm. Do I have time before I go?
My sewing machine started to hiccup about a week ago and Menachem took it into the shop for me. Although I try to clean the bobbin casing area religiously weekly, it turns out that lint was the problem. Not surprising because I have had the machine for close to four years and hadn't got around to servicing it. I will have to try to service it on a more regular basis.
In the absence of my machine, I got some beading done. A few months back, my F.A.T. challenge was "on your street". I used the sewer grate for my "inspiration" and made a piece using a background of bits and pieces of white fabrics (wedding gowns, lace, assorted "gifted" fabric samples). The grate itself is made from strips of snow-dyed fabrics in a grid pattern. I hand embroidered the vertical grid lines and then beaded them. I was going to put, either physically or shadow stitched, items which fall down sewer grates such as rings, keys, etc. but in the end, the white fabric just called to me "yellow snow"... so I put a few random yellow silk ribbon stitches and beaded in yellow. I think I'll call it "Meltdown", referring both to the snow-dyed fabric and the yellow snow. I pillow case finished it and now just have to do a little quilting to hold the layers together.
Then I have to seriously tackle the baby blankets!
I also bought some yarn in the dollar store for crocheted baby blankets.
I fear I will not finish the baby blankets in time for the blessed events. Oh well, better late than never.
I would post photos but I hear now that our camera is kaput. Oy.

Long Time No Post

Wow. I've been delinquent in the past as far as posting goes but never this delinquent.
We had a busy and wonderful time while the kids were here, if you don't count my uncle's rapid decline healthwise. We decided to have the 90th birthday do for my mother regardless since Carmit and Rotem had come especially for it. So in the morning, we had a low-key birthday brunch and the same afternoon my beloved uncle died.
Funerals and shivas are a strange time -- you get to meet up with relatives who live far away and you haven't seen in a while, renew relationships and have a "good" time, under the circumstances. My uncle had a cheery disposition and a wicked sense of humour and the shiva reflected that. He will be and is sorely missed.
Then Inbal and Amit left and I went into a funk. Life is so empty without them. And even though we see each other on Skype, and Amit's eyes light up when he recognizes us and calls out our names, you just can't hug or play with Skype...
So I'm counting the days until August when I go to visit and babysit while the daycare is closed for its annual vacation.
Yesterday, there was a 50% off sale for the fabric store members. We went to stock up on pink fabrics (Amit is going to have a sister) and for baby quilt fabrics because we expect several babies in the extended family in the near future.
I have to wash the fabrics and then get busy. Maybe that will get me back to sewing and creativity. I hope so.

Non totally stitchless

A week has gone by without me even venturing into my studio. It's not that doing spring cleaning is putting a terrible dent in my time but I just haven't had the emotional energy.
Yesterday, I sewed the handles of my purse back on. Today, I lightened up my father's eyebrows on the fabric portrait. Now it's time for quilting it. I can see the imperfections and they bother me but I will complete it nonetheless. Maybe after the girls arrive. Right now, I'm trying to catch up on laundry and get two rooms which haven't been bedrooms for years into bedroomable condition. I'm almost there.

Confessional...

I feel like saying "forgive me Father for I have sinned. My last confession was a few weeks ago" but I'm Jewish so perhaps I shouldn't use that wording. No disrespect meant to anyone who is Catholic. And it just shows the influence of the movies and TV, if I know the wording.
Anyways, things have been real hectic at work and I've worked the last two weekends so I haven't gotten much stitching done. I finished, more or less, the threadpainting on the portrait but did the eyebrows in a way too dark grey. I am going to buy some lighter grey and try to tone them down. I think I have now done the portrait deal twice -- first and last time...
"On my street" turned out better than I thought. I am embroidering/beading on the snow-dyed strips and leaving the white empty, except for things which may fall down the grate -- a ring, a key, a leaf, any other suggestions?
It is now official that all of our kids and our grandchild will be home for Pesach (Passover). So we are now in spring cleaning, babyproofing mode. And it's all good!

Portrait, etc.

I finished the piecing, more or less. More because both people who have seen the portrait so far have recognized the subject matter. Less because I've done the head and neck and don't feel like doing the shoulders because I can't get the proportions right and don't think the fabrics I have will show shadows, creases, etc. I am taking it to my FAT group and see what they say. If they say it's good to go, I'll start threadpainting, of which I've done a little practice today.
I did get my bookmark made and hope to present it tomorrow.
I didn't get my FAT challenge started until this afternoon. My starting point was the sewer grate on my street. I used a background of random white pieces fused to batting, covered with tulle. I then made the "grate" from strips from my first snow-dyeing experiment and zigzagged them onto the background. I think I will now bead the piece. I haven't decided whether to bead on the strips or on the white. Probably on the white because the contrast will be greater.

Not Enamoured

of the results. Of course, I've only laid down the portrait pieces so far but the only thing remotely resembling my father (subject of the portrait) is the eyes. Maybe once I lay down the background do the rest, it will improve. So I've either had the portrait experience once (first time) or twice (first and last...)
I still want to do the FAT challenge and think I can get that done fairly quickly/easily.
And maybe a bookmark for someone having a birthday this week.

Procrastinating

Often when I'm about to start a new project, one I'm not particularly comfortable with, I stall. I'll reorganize my studio or worse still, do domestic chores...
I am about to start on my fabric portrait. One of my problems is that I hate reading instructions and often take a short cut with disastrous results.
Off to bite the bullet.

And Continuing on the Same Theme

I was not accepted into the other juried exhibit for which I applied. I'll admit to being a little disappointed but strangely, not overly. I'm happy with where I am in my artistic pursuits and am ready to go forward in them. This was my entry

Ha Ha The Joke's On Me

The exhibit in which I entered "Libi Bamizrach" has been cancelled. It may be resurrected at a later date. I have decided not to wait. So now I can show it (and hopefully sell it).

The inspiration for the piece is a poem of the medieval Jewish poet, Yehuda Halevy "My heart is in the East but I am in the uttermost West". The text in Hebrew is on the wavy lines in the central panel. The embroidered and beaded waves represent the sea which separates East and West. The English text is on the borders which are snow-dyed in shades of blue (-- what better expression of the uttermost West than snow?) The piece is 22 inches square (57 cm.)

I am waiting to hear about the other exhibit. It won't be cancelled but whether I'll be juried in remains to be seen.

I am now trying to get my act together to do my fabric portrait. I am making progress -- I've chosen the picture and posterized it. I'm two lessons behind but not worried, yet.

Libi Bamizrach Finished

I finished my second entry for a juried show. It is based on the medieval Hebrew poem "my heart is in the East and I am in the uttermost West". I am not overly happy with the quilting - it always manages to squish at certain points, but it is done. I spent some time doing the dreaded artist's statement. Well actually an artist bio and an artistic statement about the piece. Tomorrow, I will finish filling out the entry form, write up the cheques, photograph the piece and email said photo, deliver the cheques and form to Shaked. Today we went to a quilt store to buy some fabric for the fabric portrait course I am taking. I don't think I bought enough fabric, not in yardage but in colour choices so I may have to return to look for more. Menachem did the technical part of scanning the photos and posterizing them. I now actually have to read the instructions and figure out the rest...

Home Stretch

I am into the home stretch (where does that expression come from?) on Libi Bamizrach. Earlier this week, I almost abandonned the effort due to a slight stitching error which I hope I have remedied. After adding the snow dyed borders, the piece takes on a totally different look. I now have to fuse the English letters, once I buy more fusible because I'm clean out of it. Then back, quilt, bind, sleeve et voila. Then I believe I will give show entries a rest and concentrate on my fabric portraits course, my next FAT challenge and life.

Note to Self

Only stitch when fully awake. I won't say any more about it.

I sent in my entry to S.A.T. First entry ever to a juried exhibit. I am pleased I got my act together and excited to see how I do. I will not be overly disappointed if my piece is not accepted because I realize how subjective the jurying process can be. I am quite pleased with the piece. We'll see in due course if anyone else is.

Back to stitching.