a fiber-filled reintroduction to drawing

These dishtowels do not win the prize for the most belated birthday gift I've ever given, but they certainly make the short list. What was supposed to be a pretty little present for my sister (and kind-spirited spoof on turning thirty), morphed into a series of dishtowel-sized, mixed-media tapestries. This process, which felt very similar to the way I used to approach my works on paper as a printmaker in college, must have satisfied some particular need in me. I love to make puppets and purses, but it felt good to draw again...even if I was drawing with thread.

So, a whopping three and a half months after she blew out the candles, I surprised my sister with dishtowels much too pretty to use.

Each of these "towels" is made with some combination of screen print, embroidery, acrylic paint and appliqued fabric.

once upon a time...

...the world was just teeming with charming little objects.

cozy toes

Never mind all those fancy expensive cycling shoe covers. It's nice to have toasty toes in the rain, but not nice to pay $50. The water-proof material and velcro I used (of which I had plenty left over) cost me less than $15, and I had the elastic laying around. Money savings aside, it was worth the trouble just to have some shoe covers that are pink (!) and purple (!) instead of black. Who says rainy day biking can't be a stylish endeavor?

The bottoms cinch with elastic but are left open to accommodate the clip on the bottom of the shoe.

I made the pattern by draping fabric around my shoe, marking and cutting. The opening is in the back and there is a channel sewn around the outside edge where the elastic can be shimmied in using the old safety pin trick!

Fits like a...shoe glove.

An extra piece of velcro at the top to adjust the ankle and prevent water from dripping in (and to add an extra splash of pink!).

one man's trash...

(found outside the recycling center on E. 4th)

a birthday giraffe

Three seems like a pretty small number - unless of course you are talking about the number of times you've been struck by lightening, or, say, the number of miles an ant could walk...in one hour. or even, I don't know...the number of raisins you could squeeze into an olive without the olive splitting down the side. I know what you're saying - gross, why would you put raisins inside an olive?...and you're right, I've gotten a little off track here, so let me just start fresh.

Three:

Three seems like a pretty small number, but when you turn three for the first, and incidentally, the last time, I'm pretty sure it doesn't feel small at all. This is the first year my niece, Mira, has totally grasped the concept of celebrating a birthday, and celebrate she did! Apple juice, mac & cheese and a grand ol' time was had by babies and grownups alike. I can safely say no person on earth has ever more joyously or less self-consciously awaited a flickering Arthur birthday cake as it approached the table.

It is all the willpower I have not to post an entire album of small, face-painted children frolicking around a wrapping-paper-strewn living room. Instead, I present to you the friendly blue giraffe puppet made just for Mira!

"Peeko" is his name, courtesy of the birthday girl.

And mama is already a burgeoning puppeteer!

wondering what i did...

...with my avalanche's worth of egg cartons?

a new and flexible lighting fixture!

Okay, okay. I know. I stole the idea from craftzine:

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/12/how_to_recycled_egg_carton_fai.html

But if you are a compulsive egg carton saver like I am (there must be some kindred spirits out there), then you know that tasteful and attractive egg-carton-recycling projects are few and far between. We must seize upon the awesome ones!

When it's dark out and all the lights are off, this string of "fairy lights" gives a really nice, gentle glow to the room.

don't quit! QUILT!

After threatening for (gulp) a year, I have finally put the edge on the last of three quilts from my thesis project. Nothing quite like the soft, warm, and quilted comfort of closure...

This is a Gee's-Bend-inspired block quilt made from all second hand fabric: clothing, bed sheets, cloth napkins, etc.

(and yes. my next project, if you must know, is to make that giant american flag you see into a quilt.)

Feels good to replace my too-hot winter comforter with a light, summery, homemade quilt!

What a sweet little house embroidered by someone at last spring's quilting bee!

...and a few screen-printed bones thrown into the mix - after all, this was my printmaking thesis project, eeek...

Gee's Bend:

Listen: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=970364

Look: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fiberarts.com/img/03-2-r204.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fiberarts.com/article_archive/reviews/group/quiltsofgeesbend.asp&usg=__Uy4vWrtVNjvkWPB41Fhn0HqVB2o=&h=455&w=360&sz=36&hl=en&start=2&sig2=GTS7kagUOw3-c0P5o247w&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=dnbGWszx4B6dwM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGee%2527s%2BBend%2Bquilts%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=3brpS7PYPMG78gbL_JXgDg