Babies

This is what is in my back yard.

Two mommy's with fourteen babies.

The babies are interchangeable, they seem to drift from one mommy to the other depending on who is quacking the loudest at the moment.

Oh if you could only feel their little feet, as soft and delicate as new leaves but warm and willful.

It really stinks when you try to scratch your face and you fall over.

Hexagon quilt

It has been several years since I started this project. Like everything else I do, I work on it then end up putting it away for awhile to have the room, interest and enthusiasm to work on something else.

Everything on this is done by hand.

The applique on the center panel, is all by hand.

Years ago I purchased a pre-1830's quilt which had the most incredible stitching. I decided to replicate the fineness and style of the antique. I felt like if she, so many years ago could execute such fine work, so could I. The stitches run around 28 to an inch. When the top is finished I will handstitch the backing and the batting will be carefully combed very thin layers of wool from my beloved Rachel and Joy. Some of the fabrics I used were ones I designed for Kings Road and Baum textiles.

When the top is finished and quilted, the edges will be whipstitched and a border of knotted cotton edging will be applied by hand. There is a problem with the plan though, I have not yet learned the knotting technique. I will though.

There are so many projects I have to finish. I sure hope I live long enough to do it all.

This particular project really is a pain in the butt. Each hexagon of fabric is basted to a piece of paper first then sewn together. Just cutting out all the paper pieces is a trial in patience. geez. What kind of egotism made me take on this challenge? Just because I admired the work of a seamstress two hundred years ago, I decide to take up a challenge? What an idiot. Me not her.

And when I get it done, and I will, in this house? I will just have to put it away so a cat doesn't pee on it.

Bright Eyes

This is a face I find mesmerizing. For some odd reason she seems to touch my heart nearly to tears.

Look at those bright eyes. Her round cheeks and Madonna smile charm me to the core.

Who was she? Was she the happy, delightful soul she appears to be? How long did she live, a few years or to a ripe old age?

I like to picture her dancing, with merry laughter and a high flush to her cheeks. Her mother must have adored her. How could any one around her not be delighted with this child.

Somewhere she lives on. Somewhere in a different plane, and maybe someday I will know the story behind those bright eyes.

Ephemera

Years ago I was bummin in an antiques shop with a friend. I found two things that blew my mind.

One was a book from my mothers house my brother had scribbled in. I knew that book by heart. After my dear mom died and the family members had taken what they wanted I sold many of the remaining books, putting the money back into the estate.

Now in retrospect, I should have bought the book back.

The second thing was a wonderfully aged sepia photo. It was of a gorgeous little boy and his very large dog. The tender companionship of these two really touched me. This I bought, and it started a search for 1800's photos of kids and their dogs. Though I have many now the first one has always been the favorite until a friend of mine posted on his facebook profile this little gem....





Taken in 1955 it may not fall into the antique catagory, but holy cow it is one of the most charming photos I have ever seen.

I love this photo. A copy hangs in my office and it gives me a kick every day. Maybe part of the charm is, I know the man this little boy grew into ?
Naw, it's just cute as hell. The alien/spaceman helmet kills me.

It's copyrighted by the way, just in case anyone else out there thinks it is as cute as I do.

A friend of mine, (that's you Maria) inspired me to work on a collage painting.

She is a kind and lovely person, determined to live her life in a Christ-like manner. More than once she has humbled me with her wisdom.

It is not an easy way of life, to follow Christ. It takes sacrifice and constant monitoring of ones own behavior.

I try, and every day I fail then try again.

Personally, I think it is the trying that counts.

Anyway, this painting is several layers of collage, including vintage music, paint, fabric, paper ephemera and the pansies are painted in watercolor and then applied. It is all sealed under a satin varnish.

This is available in my Etsy shop.

journal pages

I have been working on my journal pages for the next month.

Yoda thought she would help me a little.
I have a new illustration for my Etsy shop. Wish the photo looked better, it really pops with the nice wide white border.

I really should be working on stuff tonight or writing more on this blog, but I have such a screaming headache tonight I think I'll go watch Billy the Exterminator.

Etsy shop addition

I have added an oil painting to my Etsy shop. The light through aspen trees has always delighted my soul.

Most of the scrub maple leaves had turned and dropped, the aspen were just beginning to turn, and the light on this afternoon was delicious.