This morning I blew a fuse and lost the power in the studio.  What a way to make one come to a halt.   As I sat in the pale light that came through my bay window on this gray day, I was suddenly aware of how much I depend on this magical stuff we call electricity.   I was in the middle of sewing a seam so the stop really make me take notice.   How many items were on before it happened I asked myself?  The sewing machine of course, the two Ott lights on the desk, the two power bars of three lights that are over head, the iron, the two spot lights from taking pictures for the blog, the extra heat unit in the studio, and the light in the laundry room downstairs is also on this line.    And did I leave the light on in the closet when I went for fabric, I wondered?   That is a  high demand,  I thought, and some of that is unnecessary as well as a bit lazy on my part.  So I went around the room and turned off things- including the sewing machine as I like to always use the switch to start it, and went down to the basement to throw the fuse in the box.  In the process I discovered that the light  for the area leading to  the fuse box is also on that circuit and it was on because that leads to the laundry too.    I do not think that I have more items then most folks, but I do think I need to be more mindful of what I am using.  If the problem had been caused by a source that I could not fix my day would have really been stopped.   So with that in mind I will try to use power carefully, remembering to turn things off when not in use  and keep in mind what are  the consequences of its loss.  Electricity is a powerful material that one can easily take for granted until it is taken away.  So to keep the magic of Electricity in my studio I will be a better steward of its use.

 Progress  Report

DMC Challenge- Limber Loss and Slight Slip

I finished up Limber Loss this week.  I still need to do the pressing, but I am happy with the look. It continues the theme that was started with Amended Squares.

I like the way the units all work together here.  In the detail one can see the metal additions. They are the units off the bottom of candles that allow the candle to float.  In this case I trimmed off the points that stick into the wax.  You can also see the close alignment of the bugle beads to create the circle

 

Slit Slip is coming along nicely too.  I have completed the quilting and I am almost done with the facings.( you can see the last ones on the bottom.   I plan to use beads between the two units to connect them and create one big irruglar shape with it.

  

 

Re Work – The Moon She Called Me

I have given lots of works away this year as a part of  my Project Divest , but there are some works that I am finding in that process that need a bit of  sprucing up.  So I have saved them to do just that.  This old piece has been hanging on the back of the door for mouths.  I decided to  add a moon to the surface of the work and add some additional quilting.   Here is were I am sorry to say that I have not taken enough photos so the progress is not documented.   I am still learning.  I made several moons and they have been rejected-Too small, too transparent, too busy and finally I created on that I was happy with.  This Moon is water marked satin with  dark fabric underneath and lots of free motion quilting on top.

Adventure Challenge-  Black,White, and Burgundy

This is another case were the the act of creating go away from me.  I was having such a good time crating a background that it got far too complex. When I realized this I just kept going, but it will have to end in a different fashion as I do not want to use the bias strips on this surface, there is far too much action for that to work.  I am still using the three colors  that I had selected last week.

Adventure Challenge- Bias Bound

This is the top I will apply the bias strips too.  It is much quieter and I hope I can make it work.   The same three colors are still in use.  I an thinking that I will cut it down a bit too.  But I must make the visual decisions visually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paper Quilt

I had started this paper quilt last week.  I think I am going to call it Crannies.   But I still need to think on this title.  At the moment it is cut and there are a few openings.  This is and in progress piece.

 

 

 

I have lots of options for this at this point and I am still running them around in my mind and on the pin wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I plan to spend a lot of time in the studio this week and hopefully make progress on many fronts.  I hope to  get the post from  the 5th of Jan fixed this week too.  Every entry gives me more confidence and helps me do a better job I think.  There is still a long way to go- but each mistake is a part of the growth process.

Keep Creating

Hugs

Carol