I'm Back...

but then you all knew that. However, I am still in a jet-lagged haze. It is a good thing that I got my water piece well under way before I left. I hope to finish it this week. Here is some gorgeous water for you to ponder - the incredible Dead Sea. It is very turquoise and lovely. Those are the mountains of Jordan in the distance.

Drip drip reveal (sorry!)

My water quilt is ready for a binding. Or maybe a facing? Either way new methods of completing a quilt are on my list for my quilt reatreat week ( see my personal blog). Meanwhile here are some teaser shots. These went a bit fuzzy when cropped and blown up but all the more of a tease, eh?!

Back from Researching

I've spent the last week researching water in Monterey, CA. I'm now ready to capture the beauty of an oceanfront vacation!

Next Theme!

Brenda, you're up next to decide on the theme, you know, and whether you want it "open" or "closed" for progress along the way!

Water-full

I have spent a lovely day working on my water piece. No, I didn't use this photo, although I was tempted to use it as the inspiration for a piece. And I'm done except for finishing the edge. Yay!

After the heat wave we've had over the last several days, today was sunny and warm and just perfect. I worked in my office with the window wide open, curtains blowing gently in the breeze. I listened to back podcasts of "This American Life," which always makes me happy. And I sewed and smiled and had a lovely Sunday.

And then we went out for Mexican food for dinner.

Quite the perfect day.

I hope you're all having fun with your water pieces...as the date approaches I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is doing!

Droplets II

I'm done!
Finally, I didn't quilt the first top I had made. Was not too excited about it... Maybe later.
But I'm finished with this one. There are a few other pictures of it on my blog.

Feeling Thirsty

Hi, all --

I have no pictures to share, as I have nothing to photograph yet. Like some of you, I've brainstormed water ideas, and came up with a few I thought about working on --

-- the blue of Lake Tahoe in the summertime, with the bright colors of floaty toys against it

-- a wonderful memory of one early, early morning in Maine when Roger and I went canoing and some loons followed us

-- the elegance of a droplet of water on a flower petal or blade of grass

-- the lack of water (a cactus, desert, etc -- following on the empty chocolate wrapper theme)

-- the different blues and greens of water

But I have ended up rejecting all of these, in favor of something else. I've been in such a fabric slump lately, but settling on an idea and starting to work on it has me excited. That's a good feeling!

And look -- WEEKS to go.

Rest and Relaxation

I've brainstormed many times about "Water." I keep coming back to an image of vacation, relaxing on the water or gazing out at the great ocean. I grew up on an island in the Puget Sound, surrounded by water. My grandparents lived on the beach and we would always play at the edge of the waves. Summers were spent floating along the Columbia River visiting friends' vacation property along the river. My husband and I lived on a sailboat the first six months we were married. Each of these things has their problems and pains -- taking a ferry boat to get to the city, the water was much to cold to swim in, a lot of people crammed into a very small mobile, icicles on the inside of the windows. I tend to forget all those inconveniences and remember only the romantic, calming images of living around water. My soul longs for peace of walking along the beach, knowing that my life and struggles are so small compared to the vast beauty of the ocean. Now to capture that in a quilt!

Water Found?

There are more pictures (and a tutorial of sorts) on my blog.

Quest for Water Continues

Today I experimented with some shibori in my quest for "water". Despite, some early promising results (see below), the final pieces were washed out and lacked definition. See my blog for these "simple adumbrations"*.

*See the comments to my previous Lost in Translation post.

Lost in Translation:Commodity was Aggravation Me

I use Google Alert to monitor where and how various blogs and websites that I am involved in are mentioned in cyberspace. Content scrapers and splogs are despicable things but I was somewhat amused by this apparent double translation of my "Pure Water" post from 22 April:

"Then it was added simple adumbration such as baptize tanks and taps. But commodity was aggravation me. I was apperception so abundant on the infrastructure, I was apathy about the water. So now it is aback to the cartoon board: pure baptize all ..."

My quilting efforts so far for the "water" challenge are also a little lost in translation. I have some imagery in mind but the quilts seem to look quite different...

My Water Ideas

I had an idea early on for my water-themed quilt. Where I live, we tend to have hot, dry summers and it's a job to keep the flower gardens and plant life looking nice. We lost a number of trees this past year because they just don't get enough water. So I had a picture in my mind of me holding a watering can and giving the plants a drink. But...I happened to remember another idea that I've been wanting to do for some time and I thought this would be perfect timing.

I've always wanted to do a mermaid. Mermaids live in/by the water, so that sets the scene. I enjoy seeing artwork with mermaids as a focal element and knew at some point I'd do one. So I got to sketching and you can sort of see what my preliminary sketch looks like here.


I also tested a couple of different colors of fabric dye/paint so I could see which color I preferred for using as her skin.

Bone dry

I am such a flake this time around. It was my turn to suggest a topic, and I haven't really thought about it since. As a pathetic excuse, I was taking 8 days of classes with Kerr Gabrowsli and she was staying at my house, and my daughter is getting married May 10th and I just started working on a chuppah this week! I'm hopelessly behind, but determined to catch up. I did screenprint a few pieces of possible fabric with a water theme, and tonight I'm going to brainstorm with myself to at least come up with some ideas.I'm hoping the ideas flow freely, because I think I will have to execute this on the fly.

Did I mention that I'm going to Mendocino the week after the wedding with my brothers, sisters in law and Mom to chill out and drink some wine? I know waa,waa,waa, poor me.

To answer Terry, yes I am thinking amd now have several designs... choice?! This doesn't usually happen to me!

Today I was working in a newly refurbished hotel and in their whitewalled lounge I was able to sit on their white leather sofas and look at the sparsely placed art books they had placed on their white shelves. This book was one and it fell open to a photo of flooded rice paddies not disimilar to ( but perhaps better than) this one. Oooh quilty idea!

(The rebel in me really likes the idea of a water quilt that is not at all blue!)

Watery fabric

I am trying to jumpstart some ideas for the water piece, so I made this piece of watery fabric.

More about the process on my blog. The rest of you are all so quiet! Anyone having any great ideas? Any brilliant inspiration?