Home Forums Explore Media Fiber Arts Stitch in Time August 2019

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  • #476375
    Debby
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        Happy August!

        Now in the heat of summer. So far no major fires. :crossfingers: this year will be smoke free. However, it’s the hottest month of the year for this area. And, it’s getting quite warm.

        Doll things are happening. Or not. First attempt at a larger head was a fail. I’ve adjusted the pattern and need to cut out and sew up this version.

        Debby
        Guide - Fiber Art Forum

        #862439
        Lena
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            I haven’t done much.
            We are trying to finalize dad’s estate. There is only the Dutch pension that is being a total pain in the ass. They insist I need to call them. However there is an 8 hour time difference, meaning 9 am is 5 pm there. I have tried two days to call by getting up early but I can’t get a line through. I hate calling people. To have to cal a foreign bureaucracy before breakfast is stressing me out. There is no reason for it to be happening RBC is our legal representative.
            All over about 1200 euros. I am getting ready to send a nasty letter telling them where they can stuff those euros.
            I can’t focus.

            Doll Art by Lena

            #862429

            Happy August! Unbelievable that itIS August. Where are the weeks going?

            I have been deep in curating – sounds fancy but it really is just organizing and administrating — another exhibition for our Studio Art Quilt Associates region. This show is called Stitching California: Fiber Artists Interpret the State’s People, Life and Land. Stitching CA will open August 17 at the Grace Hudson Museum [/URL]in Ukiah, CA. It is a phenomenal regional museum giving particular focus to the art and artifacts collected by Grace Hudson, all pertaining to the Puma Tribe living in the area of Ukiah at the turn of the century.

            and I am spinning madly for the Dickens Fair.

            And making small art quilts. Will get those into a thread!

            All the best –
            Jen

            Jennifer Landau
            Proud to be published in Art Quilting Studio magazine and educating about wool at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair.

            #862431
            Debby
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                Lena, if you can live without the Euros, maybe let it go. Up to you of course, but there is a huge cost to stress in life. Sending you virtual hugs to deal with this.

                Jen, so good to “see” you. We need pictures. From the sounds of things lots of pictures.

                Next doll head did weird things. I’m analyzing and will try again. Lena, props to you and your dolls. Dolls are hard.

                Debby
                Guide - Fiber Art Forum

                #862440
                Lena
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                    Yes doll heads do weird things sometimes. This especially happens to me when I don’t get the grain direction 100%, even slightly off means a misshapen head with odd lumps.
                    The Dutch money is no further except that I got the email address and emailed them to call me from 4 to 5pm their time. So far no response.

                    It has been a crazy week with horrendous weather, hail the size of golf balls, tornado warnings. One day incredibly hot and humid and the next sweater weather.
                    I did a little work on the doll. I have finished the torso for now and I started on the tail. But mostly it has been knitting socks for xmas presents.
                    This is the latest one, the others were fun self striping yarn.

                    Doll Art by Lena

                    #862432
                    Debby
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                        Lena, so glad to hear you are working on your doll. The socks look amazing. I am in awe of people who knit. I never learned and I’m afraid at this point it would hurt my poor hands too much.

                        So, the exciting news this week is I sold 2 more critters that are on consignment at the Gallery. I contacted the manager and asked if they wanted me to replace or supplement the critters that are left. They were very enthusiastic to get some more critters in stock. I shipped them off this afternoon.

                        I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to center myself. The doll thing was not going well at all. DH asked me to explain what it was I was trying to create. I showed him my crude sketches, but was also able to pull out other dolls and point out things like, the nose is great on this head, but the forehead needs to be larger. I like the cheeks on this head, but the chin disappears and the mouth is lost because of that. I must have spent an hour playing show and tell. Then he asked me why I was trying to work so small. I was almost where I wanted to be with the larger dolls I’ve made. Why not give myself a larger canvas to work things out then reduce the size? The man is brilliant sometimes. He’s right. I did that when I was designing teddy bears. I made larger bears then eventually was able to make miniature bears. So, back to the larger pattern and see what I can do with a larger canvas.

                        Debby
                        Guide - Fiber Art Forum

                        #862441
                        Lena
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                            He is absolutely right. I did a lot of big dolls before I tried to go small. In going small you have to take what works in big and then simplify and reduce. It is like those ancient cave paintings of animals. You can’t do them until you can do, deeply understand the live animal.
                            Can I suggest something? Next time you are in bed with Dh, close your eyes and just feel his head, feel the relationship between the planes and the muscles (you can do it with other parts too) I found that when I took my massage course it really helped my sculptures. It was like the memory was in my hands for the shapes.

                            Doll Art by Lena

                            #862433
                            Debby
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                                Lena, wonderful to have a collaborating second opinion on going large. :) I’ll see if DH will cooperate. :lol:

                                Spent yesterday rearranging my workspace to accommodate larger item to work on. Things pile up and I end up working in a 30cm or smaller square space. Need a bit more room so had to do some cleaning. :rolleyes:

                                Debby
                                Guide - Fiber Art Forum

                                #862442
                                Lena
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                                    My favourite skirt just died.:crying:

                                    It was only 25 years old too.:lol: Basically the butt wore out and started to shred. As I was smoothing my skirt out to sit down in the car (it was a full 6 gore skirt) my fingers caught in a thin area and it ripped. Luckily it was full enough to hide the rip. The cotton print was of dark grey jeans pockets with red embroidery on them. I bought that fabric on sale for $1.10 a metre, I altered the pattern to include side seam pockets…
                                    Now I am obsessing on how to re-use the fabric, because I can’t get myself to accept that it is useless. :o It is too far gone to repair, to give to Value Village. Parts are still good. it is just the area in the back that is so thin it is almost transparent.
                                    The print is all wrong for dolls or art.

                                    Doll Art by Lena

                                    #862434
                                    Debby
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                                        Lena, are there 4 gores left that are sound in the skirt? If so, perhaps a short cape out of the remaining panels. Sorry you lost the skirt. I know that feeling when a garment dies. I’m sure you will figure out something to do with it. Even if it’s throw pillows.

                                        I had an idea for the doll construction after I embraced the idea of going larger. I’m working on it. Time will tell if it’s a good idea or not.

                                        Debby
                                        Guide - Fiber Art Forum

                                        #862443
                                        Lena
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                                            The ex-skirt will go into a fabric box for a few months until I can look at it as fabric.
                                            It is still raining. It has been raining since Jun 24th. The area has been declared an agricultural disaster area so the farmers can claim crop insurance. The fields are so water logged they are like swamps. No hay, no corn, nothing can be harvested. This was after an incredibly dry spring with wild fires.

                                            I have been knitting mostly. The socks are going slowly.

                                            Doll Art by Lena

                                            #862435
                                            Debby
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                                                Lena, the socks are looking great. Boy, if it’s not one thing it’s another dry and fires or wet and famine. Hope the farmers can come out of this ok.

                                                I’m worried about farmers in my area. We were having lovely dry weather and the haying had started, but the grain crops are still in the fields. If it’s too wet the grain starts to sprout on the stalk. We aren’t at swamp level yet. Tho’ the only highway north and south thru Idaho had a major mud slide that closed the road both directions. We are still having rain and thunderstorms so more sliding could happen.

                                                Speaking of thunderstorms. Had a doozy this morning. DH likened it to an artillery barrage. When I got up, found one of my dolls had fallen from the shelf across my desk to the floor. Then, my computer wouldn’t start. Checked DH’s computer, his was fine. I figured I’d be making a call to the computer repair guy down the street tomorrow. (Yes, I have it plugged into a power strip with surge protection.) DH went looking online and the “solution” was to unplug the thing and then plug it back in again. (Why is that always the answer?) Anyway, it worked. My computer came back on. Go figure.

                                                Doll experiments continue. First go at a base for the head was too large. Have re-made the base smaller and it seems to be about the correct size for what I want to attempt next.

                                                Debby
                                                Guide - Fiber Art Forum

                                                #862444
                                                Lena
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                                                    We have had an occasional sunny day. It is raining again today … but at least it isn’t snowing like west of here.
                                                    However the bugs are so bad you could die from blood loss crossing the lawn.

                                                    I have just been knitting mostly.
                                                    I had an older skirt which had paint and stuff spilled on it. I dissected it and recovered all the pockets. It had been one of those “sports” skirts for golf so it had 4 huge patch pockets like on cargo pants. I attached them to the waist band with the last two pockets still attached. It is now a “travel accessory” a belt with 6 pockets. I have to get one of those click together fasteners so it will be easy to take off and toss into a security bin.

                                                    Doll Art by Lena

                                                    #862436
                                                    Debby
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                                                        Lena, snow?!?! Must be much further north. Sorry about the blood sucking bugs. We didn’t have mosquitoes until the next door neighbor put in a pool. Tho’ this year they have a pump constantly moving the water and the mosquito problem went away again. Sounds like you now have the ultimate fanny pack.

                                                        I found a book on needle sculpting faces from a doll maker in New Zealand. It’s fascinating how she can make so many expressions from a single head pattern. I am sewing up some heads to try her technique.

                                                        Debby
                                                        Guide - Fiber Art Forum

                                                        #862445
                                                        Lena
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                                                            Oh who is that book by? There are some good doll artists from down under.

                                                            Still knitting.

                                                            I harvested the tarragon today. It is now in the dehydrator that I bought back in january. This is the first time I am using it. The house smells divine, like Dutch xmas baking. I hope it works as well as it smells. Next is parsley and chives. we have hundreds of chive plants because they self seeded.

                                                            Doll Art by Lena

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