New Literary Acquisitions!!

Both of these fine volumes contain the works of some of my favorite quilters.

Here I Go Again

Sending in my first entry to the 2010/2011 Quilt Visions Art Quilt Show, No Boundaries. Keep yer fingers crossed 'cuz I could use the help. It'll be my first major (albeit small) show ever. I'm submitting Conversations #1; Circles & Lines which I will complete by the end of this month. I think I'll forego the expected square border and follow the existing implied border with a hand-sewn knife edge. The trick will be getting the top to keep it's shape for hanging but I have an idea for that already.

A Renewed Interest and My Latest Review

"I wish there was a place where I could write a review on his hideous artwork." -Posted on Bakersfield.com by DRVALUATION, December 14th, 2009.

Yet another spectacular review of my person and my work.

SIGH

No wonder I'm withdrawling further and further from the world.

Work on "Holy Shit" has progressed to nearly-complete status. About another 10 hours of quilting to be followed by the heart-wrenching decision: To bind or not to bind... We'll see.

It's Never Too Early...

... to get a jump on seasonal entertaining. I purchased these colapsable tables from Mervyn's when they went out of business about 7 months ago- I paid $5 each. The best part is that we no longer have to rent tables for the Halloween bash or Christmas Open House. Whoopee!

I'd purchased a bolt of shimmering silver/gray fabric from Wallies about the same time; the checked top-cloth has been a perennial of my table-scape repetoire for the past 5 years or more (all the fabric was purchased for $1/yard). All in all 6 tables would have cost me $60 to rent for one time but long-term purchasing has resulted in a total cost of $48 for a one-time puchase. Best part is that they are mine to keep. Ka-ching!!!

Piecing a Top & Then Some

It's late and I wasn't sure what the title of this post shoulda been... sorry.

I finally finished piecing the top of the current project (working title: Cheers! Let's Hear It for the Apple-tini!) or some such nonsense like that.

I'm not overly happy with the finished product: Not enough contrast between background and foreground but the line quality is really some of my better technical work (you'd haveta see it up close to know). I'm hoping the quilting will offer some redeemingly quality to the work that I wasn't able to impart during the piecing process.

Guess you'll haveta wait-n-see!

Getting to the Center of the Shubbery Maze

And so it begins; Concept #2 "made the cut" (so to speak) and I've begun Nameless ARTini project #1. Here I am cutting away the "negative" spaces (or windows) of the pattern. I cut-peel-n-fuse as I go to save time and keep the pattern alligned.

More to come later...

Cheers!

Concept drawing #2 for martini-inspired artquilt.

At some point I'll stop being so damned lazy and break out the real camera so that the pictures aren't so shitty.

Halloween '09- Project #1: Evil Angel

I'd like to introduce Isabeau Spanheim. She was born April 7th, 1895 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the great, great, great, great, grand daughter of the Count of Spanheim. The following week, much of Ljubljana was leveled by an earthquake that, sadly also claimed the lives of both Isabeau's parents leaving her orphaned.

At the age of 6 Isabeau went missing while she and her nanny shopped the markets at Vodnikov Square. The nanny was questioned, then tortured when she failed to provide the childs' whereabouts. The search for Isabeau lasted for 2 weeks before the local constabulary reluctantly pronounced her dead even though her body had never been recovered. Isabeaus' death marked the end of the Spanheim lineage.



To date, it is reported that glimpses of Isabeau can be seen running through the shops and alleys of Vodnikov Square, giggling as though playing a mischievous game of hide-and-seek. Since 1891 several children have been reported missing and several more have claimed to play hide-and-seek with the long, lost Spanheim child-heiress.


Spooky, huh?

Reflections and Moving Forward

Dear friends,

I'm back.

Much has happened over the past month and three weeks since my last post; I could go on and on but frankly it would be a boring (and slightly depressing) read. Suffice to say mom passed away on June 26th at 8 PM. Dad and I were both there, quite literally by her side when she stopped breathing. The cancer had ravaged through her entire body until she simply stopped "being" (for lack of a better, more technically medical term). Upon reflection- and all things considered everything went as smoothly and as drama-free as possible: Mom was home, surrounded by her family (dad and I) and her pets. Whether it was the morphine or the cancer she was (I hope and pray) pain free and as comfortable as we could possibly make her. It was (for lack of a better, more eloquent term) a Hallmark movie of the week death.

I carry her memories and teachings with me always and miss her greatly.

I spent an additional month with my dad after-the-fact getting as many things in order as possible. There were closets to go through, medicines to destroy and things to distribute based on mom's wishes. I also got a little bit closer to dad which was an added bonus.

Returning home after 2 months of absence was as much a shock as anything else. I felt rather displaced in my own home. But it wasn't long before I got back into the swing of things and began picking up the pieces where I had left them 10+ weeks ago.

First order of business was to tie up loose ends, finish unfinished projects and polish things up a bit. I had the immense pleasure of meeting an amazing water-color artist, Deborah Vandenblomer and her husband Kenny while in Wisconsin. Her work is some of the finest, most thoughtful and touching watercolor I've seen. You owe it to yourself to take a look at her 'site and oogle the fine artistry. While having a fabulous dinner at their home I saw and purchased a beautiful landscape (pictures to follow). Deb shipped it to me along with a few extra treats, all of which are near and dear to my heart. If you visit her site, let her know I sent you (it's what us artists do for one-another... right?). It's at the frame-shop and I hope to have it in it's new home by the 15th. YAY!

While in Wisconsin I had the opportunity to bring back a veritable truck-load of stuff from my parent's farm. Sadly, my little carry-on wasn't able to accommodate but I did manage to bring back a few treasures which required special attention:

Before mom passed away she gave to me a compass that belonged to her father (my Grampa Swoverland). I never really knew him as an adult since he passed away almost 20 years ago. But the token really takes me back when, as a kid, we went fishing or I played around with the tools in his machine shop on my grandparent's farm in Tony, Wisconsin. The day I finally left WI to come back home dad gave me a pocket watch that belonged to his great-grandfather (my great, great grandfather). It was really comforting to know that he trusted me with such a precious (and expensive!) family heirloom.

Upon returning to CA I knew I wanted to display them both. Stephen and I spent an entire day traipsing about B-field for a pocket-watch dome display but only found one place that sold them ($34.99). Sadly, it wasn't big enough (!). I learned that there are different sizes of pocket watches and the one I was given is an "18 point" something-or-other; the largest made at the time (1886). I was able to find one on-line but it was $45 + s/h. What's a kid to do?

On a lark we went to a local collectible/antique store. Right by the front door I found a "anniversary clock"- you know, the kind under a dome of glass with the spinning thingie underneath the clock parts? The glass dome was certainly large enough but the clock & base were of brass-plated plastic parts so Stephen and I got creative. A little black paint, black sticky-back felt and a small doll stand later... Voila! Almost-instant pocket watch & compass display case.

Anniversary clock: $10

Paint, felt and doll stand: $4

Able to display precious family memories: Priceless!

Of course, being in Wisconsin had put a slight delay in my perpetual Halloween planning. Upon my return to Bako I resumed my e-hunt for ideas. I came across this really cool idea from an old blog post and decided to give it my own spin: The author used dollar-store ceramic cherubs and gave them a devilish new look with gray paint, red eyes and even horns. I loved the irreverent take on traditional Christmas decorations. So I thought I'd give it a go.

After much searching of the local thrift stores I came up with ZERO cherubs. Instead, I found this angelic lawn ornament at BigLots for $12.50. I sanded down the rough parts and gave it a quick brushing with silver leaf paint (Michael's). I wanted to add horns so I purchased a small tub of air-dry ceramic clay and used a narrow-end pastry-tip to form the evil antlers. I hand molded them to curve slightly giving them a bit more menacing look. After they dried over night I hot glued them in place then added a bit more clay to fill in the gaps to (hopefully) give them a more natural look.

Because I'm super-impatient I wanted to at least glaze over some of the painted areas to see how the project would look. I mixed equal parts craft black acrylic and glazing compound, brushed over the wing (pictured) and rubbed off the excess. The effect is almost exactly what I had hoped for: A darker, aged look that contrasts with the angelic face. I cannot wait to glaze over the whole thing. I'm contemplating adding the dripping effect seen in the inspiration pictures but won't know 'til I get to that part yet.

But it hasn't been all fun, games and crafts. I resumed my daily job-hunting; we got a lot of work done on the back yard (thanks to 3 cubic-yards of river rock and a wheelbarrow) and I've developed a lovely staph infection in my left foot. Now I'm on an IV of antibiotics for 14 days (GRRRRRR!) and have limited left-arm mobility.

It's never dull here in the Johnson/Cowan house!

Later!!!!

What would you do if...

I thought I had the brilliant idea of puting this premise to print, but I was more-or-less shot down so I put it to my nickels of readers: What would you do if...
... you had the barest of quilting tools at your disposal? I mean, I have a room full of crap I rarely ever use but, as a quilter, I am comforted by their presence (if not the actual use). I have at least three cutting mats, a handful of rotary cutters; measuring tools I can't even recount and loads upon loads of fabric. I have marking pencils for every imaginable shade of fabric & enough upholstered tables to rend an entire queen-sized quilt from scratch. I have three sewing machines of varying age (and quality) and a Singer serger that has seen less than 1 year of actual use. I have, it can be argued, more than enough to produce an art quilt worthy of (at the very least) a red ribbon. Maybe more.
So what is a kid to do when they are relocated, sans quilting paraphenalia to another city- or state or even country? How do you pick up where you left off when the tools you're accustomed to using are a thousand miles away? What is the bare minimum it takes to make a quilt?
During these difficult times (what, with my mom dying and all) I plan to not only explore but possibly exploit the potential of each quilter- or at least THIS quilter- and the pre-concieved, retail-driven notion that good quilting is the result of artifact, not artistry.