Gandolf RIP

 Gandolf died on August 20th.  It was a very peaceful death with his head in my lap after our vet administered a tranquilizer.  Seeing the pain leave his face is what I have carried with me the past couple of weeks.  He was a serene, gentle soul and I miss him.

 Here is Gandolf with his "don't mess with me" look.  Totally a bluff, he loved nothing better being brushed and hugged.

One final picture of Gandolf with his ears forward.  Always a sign of happiness!

Art Pillows!

Working with recycled sweaters is very satisfying because  1. it sews like butter, both hand work and when free motion stitching with the machine. 2. I feel good about reusing/repurposing something that might be headed for the landfill. and 3. I can get as creative as I want depending on my mood.  A simple pillow with nice lines and colors that please me or one wildly sewn with flowers and leaves.  All great fun!      

         



             

Practice practice practice

I spent the afternoon practicing my freemotion stitching.  LobsterFest is going on in Rockland this week and I found a picture on the Fest site that showed the glorious tents used.  In this piece, I tried to show the fog in the harbor and the clarity of the tents.  It did not turn out the way I expected it to (when DOES it?), but it was a really good exercise doing a sketch type of work.

What if....

I am playing with my wool today.  All has been gathered from the rag bag or the local thrift shops and washed in hot water and thrown in the dryer.  What would happen if  I used the wool as the background to free motion on?  The first thing I learned was rayon thread is too thin.  After some trial and error, I settled on a 12weight white sulky for the dandelion and a Superior cotton for the greenery.

 

In my very best EAE imitation, I freemotioned round pieces of white wool. I do like the end result and plan on making this into a pillow, stuffed with wool graciously donated this spring by Bilbo.

Below is a closeup of the leaves.  I placed tulle on the wool, free stitched the leaves and then cut off the excess.  (as taught in EAE's thread magic book).

Last Day of July

I took my camera today on my walk with my aussies.  

Below are a couple of shots that I particularly liked.

 

 

Just finished a small piece, yes, I am back to lupines. 

 

Looking forward to August!

My sheep, my pretties, my wool source

 Bilbo scratching his bum

 Bilbo and shy Thorin

 Gandolf up close and personal

 Precious waiting to be in the green pasture

 Little Lady

Legolas, aka Meanie

Dyeing wool using KoolAid

I am spending the day dyeing wool, using KoolAid.  Right now I have wool simmering in blastin' berry cherry!  This is such a fun, non-toxic method and my kitchen smells yummy.

                                                                                                                                                                       First I soaked the wool in warm vinegar water

 

                                               

Hot Red before adding the wool 

          

              Finally:  The darker red was a cookies and cream wool from my sheep, Thorin

Click on picture to enlarge

Two new pieces going to Archipelago

Precious

I love taking care of my sheep, watching them is so much fun.  Here is my first attempt - trying to convey their whimsy.  This is my ewe Precious.  I think there will be more sheep pieces.

Round Robin, Suzi's piece

I have added my contribution to Suzi's bunnies and will be sending it on.  I decided to hand stitch my appliques to stay with the more primitive feel of this piece.

Surface Design Round Robin - First Challenge

Suzi, In Iowa, sent this to me.  It seems beautiful already, a muslin with frayed edges, and I have been reluctant to *ruin* it.  However, a little seed of an idea has finally popped into my head.  I will post the results!

Surface Design Round Robin

I am participating in a round robin sponsored by the Five, a group here in Maine.  The piece I am sending was one of a batch that I snow dyed last winter.  I was going to continue working on it because of it's lightness, so I thought it would be a perfect piece for someone else to add to.

Something New

  I have recently become interested in silverplate silverware.  Lots of possibilities;  so far I have made planter markers, small bud vases and my most recent - a wind chime using a tea pot lid, two spoons and a knife handle along with found sea glass and shells.  Nothing fiber related here, but I love to find ways to use/reuse/repurpose stuff that is just gathering dust or headed for the transfer station.

Also, as of today, six of my pieces will be hanging at the Island Institute's Archipelago, in Rockland, Maine.   Below is a picture from their site, showing three of my smaller pieces on the second shelf.

FOUND

After six days and five nights, I found Pretty Boy!!  Lots of people in the Washington area were looking, lots of helpful calls, I so appreciate all their help.  He was hiding out around the Washington Pond area, and with all the rain we have had this past week he was pretty sad looking. 
A warm bath, warm blow dryer and a good meal, he is recovering.  I love a happy ending, don't you?

Murphy is Missing

Murphy has been missing in the Washington, Maine area since Wednesday.   Please contact me if seen.  271-1294 or martiwlew@gmail.com

It's Been a Long Time

My last post was almost a year ago and I have decided to give it another go, this time with a more consistent approach.  In my defense, much has happened in the past year, not the least being our recent  move to Newburgh, Maine, which is in the Bangor area.  Life happens to everyone, not just me, so I'll move forward!  I have been busy this past year and I have posted some of the projects I have worked on.

 A batch of mittens made from recycled sweaters.  Delivered and sold to Archipelago last fall/winter

 Playing with recycled plastic bags.  I first laminated, then cut, then did some weaving to create this bag.  Not great, but I will continue to experiment.

This is one of my latest pieces, entitled Spring.  The beadwork actually spells Spring in braille. I am not finished with the quilting yet, trying to decide what next.

What's On My Board

The question was posed on QA, so I am showing my board and also another project I am currently working on.  Not very orderly, but it's me.  :)   On the left is a piece of ugly cloth I used up some leftover paint on not too long ago.  The colors remind me of blueberry pie, so my thought was to combine it with the hexagons to the right of it (painted dryer sheets) and incorporate a bee or bees?   Any thoughts on this?  Trust me, nothing is TOO radical!   It is definitely in the stewing phase right now.

Here is a closeup.  I have done a bit of stitching.

This morning I have been working on quilting the top for a friend.  She wanted a matalasse type of quilting and left it up to me the design.  I decided on leaves as you can see below.

A closeup to show the stitching.

I have been playing with this face off and on for a couple of months now, hand stitching.  It will be for my daughter.  I made her some curtains a few years ago with material that contains this face, very unusual commercial fabric.  I thought she would enjoy an addition.  :)

I have a few other things on  my board that are also stewing, but in the background right now.  I am off to finish binding Audrey's quilt.

I am looking forward to seeing what is on everyone else's board!

Clean Sewing Room

Yesterday was a work marathon, going through literally piles of stuff that had accumulated in the past month as I prepared for the opening of the gallery  http://www.saltwaterartists.com/ and worked on the pieces for the Archipelago http://www.thearchipelago.net/. 

I do not believe my room has ever been so...so...disheveled? messy? distressed?  At any rate, I am happy to post the following pictures.

Our library had their annual yardsale recently and I found this gorgeous vintage suitcase for only fifty CENTS.  The inside is in mint condition and begged to be seen so I decided to display it in my newly cleaned room.  I loaded it with some of my prize fabrics,  snow dyed pieces of Gisela, http://artaddworksforme.blogspot.com/  some Laura Wasilowski, www.artfabrik.com and some hand painted fabric by Mickey Lawler. http://www.skydyes.com/

 

Not long ago, a friend gave me this gorgeous old kenmore and I thought it would look great on display also.  Isn't the color wonderful?

Now...I am going up to my room and see if I can't mess it up a little.  :)

The First of June

As of today, I have three pieces hanging in Archipelago in Rockland, Maine. http://www.thearchipelago.net//, for the entire month of June. If these sell, perhaps I will be invited back!!

One of my newest, measuring 16" x 24", entitled Lupine Memories.  This started with a used drop cloth, added more paint, some stamping, raw edge applique and finally, I placed a yellow sheer over the top and free motion stitched.

My latest lupine piece using old quilt that I painted with a roller, fused blue organza to the center, raw edge applique green organza leaves and then the french knots.  I am very fond of the french knot. This piece measures 10" x 12".



As a general rule in Maine, if you have your garden in by June 1st, you are good to go.  I just finished my last row and it looks like rain.  Perfect timing.
My bluebird house was inhabited by tree swallows this year and while I am not unhappy to have them - they are very pretty, let me get fairly close to admire them and they eat mosquitoes...the birdhouse was for my bluebirds!  Purchased another birdhouse and amazingly they came.  Mr and Mrs Bluebird are busy at this moment building their nest!

My sheep were sheared about three weeks ago and I have about thirty pounds of fleece to process.  I need a clone!

This is Precious, our white corriedale  being shorn.

...and Precious afterwards  with a new spring coat!

My Lupines are in full bloom and beautiful as ever!

New work entitled Escape.  It really is centered, just bad photography. I printed a couple of dandelion leaves, then free motioned around them. Also made a free motion dandelion bloom in the attempted style of EAE.This measures 16 x 16.