Happy Chinese New Year of the Goat/ Ram

IMG_2475_thumb.jpg Hello,

Here in upstate New York we are deep in snow.   The gate is 24″ off the ground and you can hardly see the top of it in this shot.

Today is the first day of the new year of the Goat/Ram if you  celebrate the Chinese system.  Lots of fire crackers, dragon dancing and paper money will be part of the goings on in many places today.   The Goat is the fifth in the symbol system.  Folks who are 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 this year are also part of the goat clan.   Goat people are said to be calm, gentle, creative , honest, thoughtful, persevering and frank.    This sounds like a good group to me.

IMG_2481   I spent one day this week visiting with my friend Cheri.  We took a little time to visit the Art Center where her piece had won a first place in the art show that is up  there now.   She also did someIMG_2479_thumb.jpgwork with stenciled pieces she did last summer.   I spent my morning doing IMG_2480_thumb.jpgcollage work and came out with about four pieces that I think I am finished with.

I spent a lot of time in the studio this week too.  It has been so snowy and cold it is hard to feel like moving around too much.

Progress Report:IMG_2492.jpgSpring Song    I started this work last week.   I feel like the free motion work adds more definition to the piece.  I like how the finished work looks.  I think I will not build my next piece onIMG_2494 - CopyIMG_2495 - CopyIMG_2496 - Copy wool felt as the felting process stretches the felt too much and I can not get this to be as flat as I want it to be.  I will work on woven wool or cotton next time.  I am sure I learn lots of stuff from my mistakes.

Pebble Pile    I was  finished with this work  from  last week too.  It is done now.

IMG_2498  IIMG_2499_thumb.jpg like how the three dimensional felted units work with the flat ones.  Both projects in felting were  a good growing experiences for me.  I will try it again sooner next time.

Nail CastingsIMG_2489  I am only showing a detail of this work this week. There are so very many hand stitches  I do not know !    But I sure like trying new ones.  How the stitches interact with one another is also  enjoyable.   Line  patters are a part of my self  challenge for this year and this project is filling that bill.

Circuits   I am nowIMG_2491_thumb.jpg now done with the machine quilting on this piece and I am adding the boarders.  I am sure I will complete it in a day or two as I only need to do the facings and the sleeve now.

IMG_2484_thumb.jpg Return   I think I know were want to go with this work  now.  I am going to build some ruins on top of the background that I started a few weeks ago.   It will come together this week I hope.

New work   I started a new piece yesterday in the collage style that the rocks wereIMG_2485_thumb.jpg constructed alone.  This time I stared with the  multi/red fabric  that is in the center.   It is only in the pin up stage now and will change a lot before I begin to sew.   I just wanted to try not basing a project on any special images this time.    It is a different kind of challenge for me.    I am trying our one more new thing.  This time I am building the project on canvas instead of buckram.   I will keep folks posted as to the success or failure of this.

Keep Creating

Carol