Road trip - St Louis

 Hitting the road as soon as the dryer stops and clothes all folded and put away. I changed the sheets yesterday and did a bit of cleaning.  Always nice to come home to a clean house.

It looks like rain in St Louis for the next 4 days. That translates to art, movies, and long talks. I'm looking forward to time with my son. And my grand dog. And coffee brought to me in bed. A little spoiling goes a long way...

Glass / Fort Wayne

 I know very little about working with glass. A few episodes of Blown Away, a visit to a glass blowing shop with my cousin for a short minimal hands on session, and my latest obsession - breaking bottles to tumbler in my rock tumbler. 

The glass at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art is a wonderful experience. Not knowing how it is created gives me the time to just look and admire. As a fiber artist, this glass kimono was a delight to take in. I have no idea how woven glass is formed. I just enjoyed the moment.

Tears for our Earth

 I've begun working on my final quilt for the Earth Fragments series. That sounds silly to me because I actually have 7 to do before the last quilt. I guess one works on what motivates at the moment. Pulling together fabrics, supplies,  and ideas takes time and a bit of planning.  I had an idea of sewing bones on the quilt. There are 3 small bones in my stash of crazy things I've picked up over the years. Not enough to pull off a statement about the end of life.  With planning and asking a few friends I may come up with a few more. Or maybe a better idea will come bouncing in my head.

Anyway, for a base I am using a quilt top that I pieced ever so long ago. It was pink and green. Lovely in the 80's and yucky now. A day in the dye pot totally grunged it to a better background option. If only I had thought to photograph it before the dye pot. I wonder if I have a sample block in my archives?

Cobalt - Earth Fragments Series

 The stitching on my current series is slowly coming along. Deadline for the quilts is March 2025.  3 quilts finished (except for sleeves), 4 WIP, and 3 more floating in my brain. Currently, "Cobalt" is hanging on my design wall. With a whole day planned with my church sewing group on Saturday, I feel like this quilt may actually find itself finished, or at least very close!

The dress was created with a cyanotype print using foliage from my garden. I'm in the process of stitching the white areas. I've been working about 20 minutes on it each morning - trying to not be obsessed with the finish. Instead, it's been a slow piece giving my some quiet thinking time before the day begins. 

My "design wall" is actually a rod in my dining room that usually has a finished quilt on display. While the dress project continues, it is a good place for the current work. I see it each time I'm at the table, giving me time to observe and figure out what I need to change. Since this photo, I've added more pieces to the top. It's just pinned in place at this point. The bottom of the quilt is mostly cyanotypes while the top is stenciled pieces using acrylic paint. 

Why "Cobalt"?  Each quilt in my series makes a statement about the abuse of our earth.  I was shocked to read about the cobalt mines in Africa.  My focus on creating the quilts is what "progress" has actually done to our earth. "Cobalt" began as a look at how mining leaves the landscape barren, stripped, and destroyed.  

My research led me to Siddharth Kara's book, Cobalt Red, giving me a picture of what has also happened to the people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These are a people that were forced into slavery years ago. Big industry continues to extort the Congolese people. I cannot erase the images painted in my mind after reading this book. At this point, my action is to promote awareness. That seems like a tiny drop in the bucket when the issue is so extreme. 

Frustrated

 Over the course of 3 days, I received about 25 unwanted phone calls (spam, telemarketers, etc.). How did they get thru to me? I thought I had everything blocked, firewalled and national do not call list. I spent time blocking each number and reported to do not call. Now today, I received notice that my gmail account has suspicious activity. Oh great! You know what that means - time to change passwords. I think what frustrates me is the time I have already spent as well as the time I will have to spend to protect my accounts. This is assuming that nothing has already been compromised. While checking on my account, I found a gaming profile that was obviously not mine. Lucky me - I have a nephew who quickly figured it out and told me what to do to delete the account. He has saved me trouble many times. 

So - bottom line - change passwords. 

Opportunity

 

This was on my IG feed this morning.  I have a exciting opportunity in October! I've been asked to do a demonstration at the Mississippi Valley Quilters show in Davenport.  At first I was overwhelmed that I was asked. My next thought was how good it feels to give back to the community. Now, I  am looking forward to sharing my knowledge.

Hatching

 Mom has been watching momma bird sit on the eggs that she carefully laid in a hanging basket on the deck. Maybe a very safe spot, but now the flowers look horrible. It's rather difficult to water a plant with eggs and a watchful eye! Now the eggs are hatching, and boy oh boy,  the babies are ugly! I know, give them a few days and they will be demanding food and quickly growing. Isn't God's world amazing!