Music for my Eyes

Almost a month since my last post...where does the time go?  I did take a "real" vacation during that time--my son came home and the five of us, my husband, daughter and son-in-law, spent a week just hanging out at the lake.  It was wonderful, no plans beyond what to eat for dinner.  But beyond that vacation time, I've just gotten caught up in the day-to-day of keeping the Friends Fabric Art and Loading Dock Gallery businesses going.  There's always more to be done than can be fit into the available time.

In among all the general administrative things that need to be done, I've tried hard to make time for sewing as well.  If I want to try for my own booth at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen fair at Sunapee next year, I have to finish my last jacket review by November 1.  I need four new jackets.  I finished one, and have another one well underway.  I should have no problem, but I always get carried away with the design/creation process and making each one totally unique.  It doesn't make for quick projects.

Here's the most recent one that I finished.  I call it Music for my Eyes.  I couldn't really explain that title, other than the jacket evoked music for me.

This one was inspired by that beautifully patterned fabric that I used for the collar, cuffs and lining.  The great blue and purple dyed design has been overprinted with a shiny copper color.  It's really spectacular.  The background is a moire silk to which I've added pieced insets to coordinate with the patterning of the lining.  I had such fun.

Here's the back.

I love to play with asymmetry in my designs.

Seeking Photos of Topsfield, Massachusetts

As I've noted before in this blog, my daughter Sonja Lee-Austin and I have a show coming up at the Topsfield (Massachusetts) Town Library  in February of 2013.  Our theme is Wabi Sabi - the honoring of things that are worn by the sands of time but getting better and better with age.  These are things that may be old and frayed, but are still beautiful and dearly treasured.

Having visited Topsfield many times of the years, we know that there are many things and places there that fit our theme.  Rather than just base the exhibit solely on our own ideas of what those things are, we would like to incorporate images of places and things around the town that are particularly treasured by the town residents themselves (or visitors).   We feel like this would be a good way to really share the wonderful spirit of Topsfield.

Here's basically what we have in mind:

Send us your digital photograph(s) of your favorite place(s) in Topsfield along with a brief statement about why you chose that particular place or thing and just what you treasure about it.  We'll print the photo on fabric and incorporate it into an artwork--perhaps adding embroidery or painting, for example.  We'll also incorporate something of your story into the artwork giving you credit for the photo and the story.

Here's a sample of the type of thing that we might do.  This is Sonja's Boston Public Garden Quilt.

Here are some important "rules" for this project:

• You must have personally taken any photograph you submit and you must be willing to let us use it as we see fit--e.g., cropping it, merging it with other images, etc.
• We will own the artwork produced.  If the artwork should sell, we would share up to 20% of the proceeds with you or if you wish to purchase the artwork yourself, we would offer you a 20% discount on the purchase price.  (It is possible that we would incorporate images from more than one person into an artwork.  In that case the 20% "commission" would be split among the people whose images are used.)
• We do not guarantee that we will use all images submitted to us.
• Images and stories should be e-mailed to Ann@FriendsFabricArt.com by September 30, 2012.

We'll share our progress on this here in my blog or in Sonja's.

From Somewhere on Cloud Nine

My first bit of excitement from the Sunapee fair (League of New Hampshire Craftsmen) came before the show officially opened.  At the preview party Friday night, it was announced that I was this year's winner of the Best in Fine Sewing award.  Was I ever surprised and thrilled.  This award is sponsored by the Portsmouth Fabric Company and the prize is a gift certificate for their store.  This is one of my favorite fabric stores, so that made the award doubly exciting.  I can't wait to redeem it.  I've been spending some of it in my head already.

The jacket that won was Fruit of my Mind - pictured here - in the center.

There is a funny story about this jacket winning the prize.  I had originally submitted Jellyroll Rag for the exhibit instead of this one.  Jellyroll Rag is red and when Stacy Herlitz, the Craftwear organizer, was setting up the display she had a hard time making the red jacket "play well" against the aqua wall behind it.  So she called me up to ask if I minded if she put Fruit of my Mind into the exhibit instead.  I agreed figuring it was much better to make sure the whole display would look good than to work around a specific piece.  Needless to say, I was awfully glad she made the swap.

Here's a closer view of the jacket.  It's made of embroidered silk with layers of couching--bands of plain colored silk, followed by iridescent ribbon, followed by those Stef Francis rayon threads that I love.

(Thanks to Sonja for these pictures.  I was so wound up by all of this that I forgot to take any pictures when I was there on Friday and Saturday!)

I have to say that it was also exciting to see my jackets in the context of the larger display.  Here's a picture of Dance Rhythms as a centerpiece of another part of the display.  The necklace that Stacy chose to put with it also won an award.  The colors coordinated beautifully.

These four jackets were part of the Craftwear Exhibit (i.e., eligible for prizes).  I also have 11 more jackets on a retail rack nearby.  

The show continues through next weekend, so there's still time if you can get there.  It's well worth the time.  There is just so much stunningly beautiful work available, I'm sure you'll be inspired.

Craftwear Exhibit at Sunapee

Tuesday was a big day for me.  I dropped off 15 jackets at the Mount Sunapee Lodge in Newbury, New Hampshire for the upcoming Craftwear Exhibit that is part of the 79th Annual Craftsmen Fair.  Four of the jackets will go into the judged exhibit and the other 11 will be in the retail section.


Sunday night I finished up the last jacket I needed for the show.  I called this one My Secret.  

I used an African hand-dyed damask that I'd purchased last summer at QSDS from Becky Hancock of St. Theresa Textile Trove.  I love the complexity of the design with the drama of the tie-dyed design combined with the subtlety of the woven pattern.  It's a softer cotton than many of the African damasks with a lovely hand.  I added a bit of drama myself with the bright fuchsia lining - and subtlety through couched threads that hint at the lining color.


Here's the back.

This is my first really big show - tens of thousands of people attend each year - so I'm anxious to see how people respond.  I've done all I can to make the jackets beautiful, easy to wear and care for, and durable enough to look good for a lifetime.  Now I just have to wait to see if others think so too.

Floating Flowers

Last week when I finished up a jacket I planned to go right on to another - until I discovered that I hadn't prewashed the fabric I intended to use.  We were up in Maine with no laundry facilities, so I had to figure out a fill-in project.  Luckily I'd brought along some Mokuba stabilizer and a selection of threads and yarns just in case.

I'd also brought along some samples of a sheer fabric with embroidered motifs in case I could figure out a way to incorporate it into a scarf.  Here's the result:

Floating Flowers

 

 

 

I decided to cut out the flower and leaf motifs from the sheer fabric.  I used the large flowers as a fancy border and scattered the leaves over the length of the scarf.  Once the clear film was in place, I couched a fine sparkly yarn in lengthwise stripes.  I alternated stitching the yarns on the front and back of the piece to capture the leaves in the middle.  Then I stitched random swirls all over it with a light green thread to hold it all together.  

Stitching swirls instead of a grid was more fun and maybe a little faster, but I could only do it for a little while at a time.  It made me kind of dizzy - especially because you have to pay very close attention to what you are doing to make sure that you've caught everything.  

I love the lacy look it gives.  And...serendipity...look at how well it goes with one of my recent jackets.

Circular Thinking and Floating Flowers

Blue Skies & Rainbows

Thanks to my friend MJ for giving me the idea for the name of my latest jacket--Blue Skies & Rainbows--in a comment about my last post.  That one showed the fabrics and yarn I'd gathered before starting.

Here's the finished jacket.

Front

 I cut holes in the outside fabric so that the great batik lining would show through in the front, back and sleeves.  I added some iridescent, hand-made glass buttons for accents.

Back

I made this one while we were up in Maine last week.  It was such a pleasure to be able to work straight through on this one.

And while we were there we saw both blue skies and rainbows - a fitting cap to the project.  Here's one of the rainbows.

Bright Colors on a Dreary Day

It's a gray day here in Maine.  The rain comes and goes, with periods of thunder and lightning.  The cloud formations keep changing; sometimes you can see across the lake and sometimes you can't.  It's kind of dreary, but there's always something to see.  A pair of loons just drifted lazily by, so I'm enjoying myself despite the gloom.


Here's the view from one of our front windows.  This was taken a few days ago when the sky had started to brighten a bit from what it is now.  Today we've got those same low dark clouds.

Here's my "view" inside today.  

I'm starting a new jacket with colors to brighten the day.  This is going to be another of my peek-a-boo jackets.  The bright blue linen is the outside; the batik stripes will be the lining, collar and cuffs.  I have cut triangular holes in the blue to allow the wild lining to show through.  (You can see my sample piece on the left here.)  I found a great nubby yarn in the right colors that I will add on the surface to bring in more texture and line (and help to hold down the facings of the triangles).  When I work on something so colorful and whimsical, I feel like I'm just playing not working.

It's a happy contrast to the one I just finished--Drama in Black & White.