New Treasures

Hello everyone:  Lots of newness around here. For starters, last night I went to a wonderful show celebrating a new book by local artist Corless Smith.  She wrote the book and then made exquisite fabric pieces to illustrate the text.  Applique, embroidery, some painting...all tastefully applied to get the point of the words across.  Each piece was small, but with so much beautiful handwork in it.  I wish I had taken pictures, but I did buy the reasonably priced book and photographed the cover (my photo doesn't convey the beauty of the work). I look forward to the reading.

Next up is a kitchen towel I bought from Susan Harvey of Thrums.  I bought 2 others as gifts and had to have one for myself.  It is the best and loveliest kitchen towel I have ever used.  So absorbent. The pattern is exquisite, and because the towel has selvedge on the sides, it doesn't get all crumpled up in the wash like one with a hemmed edge will do.  It's very sturdy too.

And now we come to the Great Tapestry of Scotland, which I learned about from here. (Kate Davies Designs blog)  This is a gigantic country-wide community project of the entire history of Scotland, conceived of by Alistair McCall Smith, one of my favorite authors...I bought both books mentioned in the several blog posts, and actually, if you want to look closely at the stitches, the blog pictures provide better close-ups than in the book, but the books are very very worth reading.  Sorry there is no picture to accompany this enthusiasm, but check out the link above.

Following is a quick look at a portion of a project I've been working on...more embroidery on eco-dyed wool.  I watched George Harrison's In the Material World and was moved again by this
 

Gilly has another new haircut, for summer. She looks completely different to me.  We have been having some issues and so are consulting a Whisperer.  Truth to tell, the issues began dissolving just after I made the appointment, but I'm very curious to see what will be learned.  Stay tuned...

And all the very best to you as this year of changes grows into August...

Catching Up

So much has been going on!  For one thing, it's apple season, and this year I'm trying to be more responsible about the tree's abundance.  The apples are quite a bit bigger this year. 

I bought a corer, and while there is maybe a little more waste, things go much faster...yesterday I made applesauce...this was the beginning of the process:

I liberated a big chunk of shelf space by getting rid of the hazardous materials that have accumulated over the years (40 bottles of stuff).  I'm going back to vinegar and baking soda:

Couldn't resist unbundling one of the cloths I made using India Flint's book Stuff, Steep and Store.

Here it is hanging on the clothesline, but I've made it into a curtain...the colors are a lot more vibrant in reality than in the photo. I'm pleased with the results and soon will unbundle some of the others.

India has put out a new book, the bundle book, which I'm so happy to have as a refresher course...plus she talks about printing on paper as well as cloth.

Here is a piece I made embroidering over one of my home-dyed cloths:

This piece was included in India's book, on a wandering wind, a portfolio of work by her students.  So happy to participate!

Also, I'm taking an online class with Jude Hill, Considering Weave.  I'll have pictures soon...

In other news, I have finally gotten a new printer, and prior to that installed more memory into my computer...that was a big adventure...in retrospect it was quite easy, but I was anxious about the static electricity warnings...however, here I am, thankfully, to tell the tale, and the computer is much less sluggish.  There were lots of stray thoughts about installing more memory into myself, but...

Voila, some happy goats who have been hired to reduce the fire hazard in our huge Tilden Park.

And here is Gilly Marie (and weasel) in her new bed.  It's called a donut bed because it has a raised outer section that makes her feel more contained, I think.

Well, this is actually only a partial catch-up, but we're getting there.  ~xoxo, s