Hello Readers,

Spring is here and I am enjoying the sunshine and the greening of the world around me.  We experienced a turn off of our city water for the better part of one  day this week while some work was done up the street.  I am thankful for the warning so I had time to fill pots and the bath tub  with water before it was turned off.  After seven hours we are back on the city’s system and there is a big patch on the right hand side of our street up near the corner.  I had not  used much of the water I had stored by the time the trucks closed things up and went away in the afternoon,  but the loss of the water from my tap set me to thinking about how much I take it for granted.  I never had to carry water from a well or pump, but I can imagine how necessary and difficult a job that must have been and still is for millions across the globe.  My grandmother Ruth told me stories of how the water she had to pump was used repeatedly.  First use  in the kitchen was to wash  fruit or vegetables. Then the water went  to wash the dishes and then to wash out a shirt or some other garment if it was not too dirty.  It might then be used to wash the floor and if there was still any water left it was used to was the sidewalk out front.    Not a bit was wasted on just one use and never pored down a drain as we so calmly do after just one use now days.    The fact that I could not paint fabric that day as I had planned is just a temporary set back  and I will print today with a lot more care.    We can not live without water.   I plan to be more aware of my use in the future.

Progress Report : Glide

  This quilt is finished now.   I like how the metal looks against the fabric.  It is the  high contrast in texture that I find exacting I think.    I did the quilting with a thread that matched the embroidery thread to unit the quilt as well.Purple Squared

This quilt is  now finished.  I quilted it with purple Madera Super Twist thread in a pattern that reflects the bead created squares on the surface.   I seem to be in a purple mood at the moment as I have material pulled for another quilt on the cutting table.

 

 

X ed Out    now titled  Raw

I decided to rename this quilt as I finished it.  I like all the raw edges and the primitive nature of the whole thing.  The idea of calling it X ed  Out was based on the big X stitches I used to add texture to the white squares. Some how that term seems to diminish the feeling I wanted to create and the word ” raw”  does a better job.    It is a work that came about do to the cut away parts form my cutting up a bigger work.   The scraps where so colorful as they lay scattered on the cutting table – I just had to use them.    This piece is more of a defiant  thing and not something to be discounted.   Raw says that.

 

 

 

 

 

Pull Away   This quilt has been in progress sense the fall.  I just was not sure how to finish it.  But when I pulled it out this week I knew that I was really happy with how it did appear and so I added the snaps to the strips and now the job is done.  I have been playing with the idea of a surface with parts that come forward and this is the second attempt at that idea.  The creative work at the Philly show has really encouraged me to go froward with this idea.

The loop really do stick out about 2.5 inches from the surface and the shadows are really exciting I think.  The fact that I used a metallic  fabric also adds to the way light effects the surface of this work. I am going to keep playing with this idea.  This second view shows better how far away from the surface I am pushing the quilt.  I always have loved texture and now I am pushing toward sculpture I a bit.I hope spring is dancing on your door step.   Keep Creating.

With Hugs

Carol