Artful Women Banner

You've heard about my very talented art group, Artful Women, in previous blog posts. We are getting ready for a retreat and are going to hang a banner up in the house where we are staying. In preparation each of us is creating a pennant which will be stitched together to create the banner.
My pennant is a continuation of the house theme that seems to run through most of work recently. It is made from pieces of my hand-dyed fabric appliqued to a solid Neopaque blue background and stitched with rainbow thread. The heart was stuffed with fiberfill to give it some dimension.
Check back after our retreat to see the finished banner!

Fabric Art August 11

So much has happened in the last couple of days. a friend in Tai Chi this morning asked how I could be so calm about the maelstrom that is my life at the moment. I told her I don't sleep at night so I'm too tired to look stressed during the day.
We got a price from a moving and storage company and it was one of those *GASP* prices. Then yesterday we talked to another company and got a much better price. The agent was a very nice female with a calm and comforting air about her - sort of motherly, and I could use a Mom at the moment. So now all our possessions are going to be packed up and stored 15 days from now. EEEEKKKKK! Oh, and they charge by the pound, so our stuff needs to go on a diet. So we're having a yard sale to augment the new puppy fund. New mantra: Only that which reflects our new life is coming with us.
Todays fabric is a stalk of Queen Anne's Lace, a rather ghostly one. It is always a surprise how random threads that hide behind the fabric when its wet show through when its dry - almost like a finger of lightening or a phantom horizon line or even root hair.

Fabric Art August 8

I know this sounds weird but this little scrap of fabric (2" x 8.25") is my favorite. Once again it is a piece left over from cutting out a blouse so the size and shape are quirky, but I love the way the colors turned out - the unexpected touch of blue and purple at the top. It photographs darker than the real thing. So much of fabric dyeing is "serendipity" and the surprises are always better than the original plan.
Today was a very frustrating, discouraging, tearful day. It is good to be reminded of serendipity and that in the midst of all this uncertainty something wonderful can happen.

Fabric Art August 7

Back to my favorite subject - seaweed. Yes this is fresh seaweed picked up off the beach complete with the salt water. The fabric color is actually a bit more purple in real life.
It has been a dizzying dose of real life these past couple of days with sorting, packing, putting things in storage, getting pre-qualified for a mortgage, looking at real estate, scheduling appointments with movers, storage companies, and trying to use up food in the freezer and cupboards. As yet we haven't found the perfect house to buy, so its looking like we will be nomads for a bit in the interim. I woke up in the night thinking of things we absolutely had to have with us; a portable office, a first aid kit, a familiar pillow, something to read and music. But will we still have an email address? Do we need warm clothes? What art supplies do I need? How on earth did those long ago people pack when they set out on visits that lasted for months? Hopefully we won't be in limbo for months.
Just remember to breathe.

Fabric Art August 6

Today's is fresh Queen Anne's Lace overdyed twice and measures approximately 12" by 10.75".
Off to look at more houses...but I did manage to throw a few things in a box today...