First half of September!

Labor Day weekend was a indigo tie dye party for us!

 

 

 

 

We had some wonderful results!

 

 

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I wore my new indigo tunic to our downtown wear a new mural has appeared!

 

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I had a wonderful time, and the weather was perfect at "Art in the Park" on September 17.

My good friend Sandra and I had a booth!

M

Sales were good!

 

We met other artists, including Annetta Gregory.

I have to love Annetta's zinnias! (Above)

Gayle bought these fabulous asters at the farmer's market there on the Bentonville square!

Later at home, I found one of my paintings from the first time I was trying watercolor. A scene of aspen and a river.

Daughter, Laura had a wonderful trip to Mexico!

That is enough fun for the first half of the month! The last days of summer!!!

 

 

Almost Valentines Day

A lovely rosy red plant in the breakfast table is waiting to be used in a painting...watercolor, or acrylic?

I am sewing on a red and pink quilt....9 patch, easy with a white on white dot in the center each time...love these ideas which I get from Pinterest!

 

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The kitchen cabinet project is finally completed! Yeah! I love the new color, Cotton Grey, from Behr.

 

Old green cabinets with dark interior, now painted glossy white inside! As I went through each cupboard, I was able to re-organize a bit. One success is inspired from the Christmas visit to my daughter's home; I used glass and plastic storage containers a great deal! Storing the storage containers has always been so irksome! They never stay stacked and tidy, sliding every which way and the lids on the other side of the turntable, hiding of course!

At Laura's I saw that she had moved all the lids into a separate drawer nearby! No more jumble of plastic and glass pieces! So now I have moved into a new improved era! The lazy Susan shelves just hold the containers ...

 

The lids are in the drawer next door! So much easier!

 

 

Here are some more photos of the finished kitchen.....

 

I love the new hardware! I got it from D Lawless Hardware in Indiana...(online, they have great customer service!)

 

You may notice a small quilt on the counter top....that is one of my dish drainer quilts. So useful!

When not in use, they are folded and hang on the side of the cabinets.

 

 

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I have made some progress on the sweater which I love knitting now!

 

And the Haiku Charm quilt top is finished. It uses some of my indigo fabrics in a simple pattern from a recent "Scrappy Quilts" magazine. I am very happy with this!

 

 

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Now down to work on my quilt space, I need to give away a lot! I can see I am over-loaded!

 

Cornish Frock is knitted and washed!

Washed, folded and ready to wear this spring!
 

I first wrote about this project here .

At that time, it was the first day of autumn in 2011.  Now as spring nears in 2013, I have finished the knitting!
It feels so good to have done this one! Much of it was in the last month while visiting Mom in rehab.
Yesterday , I stitched the pieces together, without blocking for once, measured and photographed the garment. See the first photo.  It was medium blue (as were my bamboo needles from all this indigo!) and 29 inches long.

 

Into the washer (with a regular dark load) it went.....and then the dryer.  What suspense! I went out to visit Mom and then made our dinner while it was in the dryer. (Steve was home, I didn't leave the dryer going  unsupervised!)

Ta-da!  It came out as it should, about 10 %  shorter all over.  I didn't measure the width....but it fits me quite nicely now....even if it also shrank horizontally....mostly though, it was a lengthwise shrink.
These garments traditionally have shortish sleeves, as the men at sea didn't need long armed sweaters weighting them down in their work!

It will continue to fade like denim jeans....and I don't plan anymore hot water washings....just to be sure...it will have cold baths. No more shrinking, we hope!
Thanks to Jane Gottelier  and the knitters of Cornwall traditions for a great pattern!

Another knitter's story. about knitting his Cornish frock....good information!

Attention! this is my post # 1,000!

This textile artist with permanently blue hands knows the

Power of INDIGO !

Aboubakar Fofana has worked for years in Africa, France, Japan and Great Britain to preserve the ancient dying techniques for these beautiful textiles.

I had first read about him in "Indigo in search of the Color which Seduced the World", a wonderful travel and adventure by Catherine McKinley.

Last week my friend Paula brought me a back issue of "Traditional Homes" magazine, April 2009, which featured an article about him.
This piqued my interest and I found a lot on the Internet.

Blogger Holli Zollinger writes about these textiles here .

You can read more about Catherine McKinley HERE .
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All this thinking about indigo seems appropriate for this my 1,000th post!
When I impulsively started blogging, I named my blog by "pulling" two words "out of the air", hence "indigo" (a color I loved!) and "pears" so ordinary but still fascinating to an artist!

I am considering taking an on-line indigo dying class with Shibori Girl . I have enjoyed using her textiles in my art work recently!

Artists and colors we love.......

Above, Pierre Bonnard rendered a landscape near the Mediterranean....it caught my eye because of the lime (yellow green) and wonderful blues...indigo, turquoise, aqua, cobalt...

notice too how his sky is yellow and lavender, we'll get back to that later...

Recently, my friend and fellow quilt artist, Paula gave me two photos. The first (underneath in the scan) is of an "ocean waves" quilt which she is working on. [I had given her the tote bag from old blue jeans]. It had wonderful blues, limes and a little bright yellow to "pop" and excite the eye.

Then, last month, I received the second, a post card from her trip to Colorado.

They were lying together on a table top and I realized that the colors were repeating again! She had selected a postcard true to the month of her visit to the area, and the colors were right there! I think this shows how an artist is subconsciously organizing and reacting to colors most of the time!

Now back to the yellow sky and lavender, here is a landscape art quilt which I made last spring. It is of our Ozark mountains on a misty morning.....(donated to a silent auction last week. )

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I was so happy to stumble across two recent books in the Maise Dobbs mystery series....

I just read "The Mapping of Love and Death" last week, and have the next in the series on reserve for me at our library...

I recommend this series ( which I was introduced to by my friend, Paula, LOL!) for anyone interested in an accurate portrayal of English life from the early 1900's as Maisie grows up...and especially the period between the two World Wars. The first book of the series, by Jacqueline Winspear, is simply titled "Maisie Dobbs".

It's a great time.....babies to cuddle and a 3-year-old too! [Big sister helps with all the cuddling, rocking, diaper changing etc.]

The week-old twins and their parents are off to the pediatrician for their first check-up. And weigh-in.

They have been doing well!

Now, I have a minute to blog! Ha! [I hope to have photos of the babies on here soon, this is not my computer nor do I have a camera along. I'll share the family photos when I can.]

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Meanwhile, I am enjoying this landscape by Pierre Bonnard.....with its wonderful blues and lime greens. Inspiration for a future art project, I'm sure.

I am also ordering a copy of this new book.....an elegant travelogue as the artists follows the history and culture of indigo throughout the ages.

On a lighter note, I have been reading Mary Kay Andrew's latest novel, "the Fixer-Uppper".

Set here in Georgia and lots of fun!

I have never been to Japan, but I am so sorry about the horrible time they are having now.
They seem to be a people with much inner strength and resolve. I think they have a philosophy of accepting things as they are......and seeing the inner beauty.

Very difficult at the moment!

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Whenever I think of Japan, I think of their unique art and aesthetic sense. For generations they utilized indigo fabrics in their every day life. Now these are being collected and some are for sale on-line. [Just Google "Japanese indigo fabric"]

This is an antique boro, a futon cover which has been mended many times. [Wonderfully "wabi-sabi"!] Rather like our patchwork quilts, especially those from Gees Bend, Alabama.

Below is a stack of vintage indigo pieces. I have ordered these, for backgrounds in primitive applique and stitchery and possibly for wonderful pillows and a table runner.

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This iron skillet holds a delicious meal! The recipe is for Apricot Glazed Chicken Thighs from "Delicious Living" magazine and website.

Oh, how I do love indigo!

This small quilted piece is "Indigo Moon" by Jane La Fazio. [ I am taking a sketchbook journaling on-line class from Jane through Joggles.] Jane was using hand dyed fabrics from Shibori Girl, Glennis Dolce. [Just Google Shibori girl and you will find her!]

So, I now have some similar fabrics which of course I ordered from Glennis and am excited to decide how to use them. On a denim jacket??? wallhanging???? totebag????? So many possibilities! [And yes, that special round "indigo moon" was what really "sold" me on ordering these, LOL!]

The lovely blue color comes from this little plant. Finding some indigo and dying my own never occured to me.....

Until today's newspaper ad from Jo Ann fabrics....they have this indigo (the real thing!) tie dye kit on sale!!!

Searching on-line, I found bloggers who have explored the kit and loved what they have created. This photo is from Honestly....WTF .

So tomorrow, I'll be getting a kit and starting to collect fabrics, threads, yarns and ribbons which might "need" to be dyed to some lovely hue of indigo!



Below, a photo from 2 years ago where I am wearing tie-dye in indigo. This particular shirt is from Jones New York, not a local craftsperson. I have really enjoyed wearing it and I am not ready to cut it up for an art quilt yet!