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.