Changes are Coming!

Hello Friends,

If you've stopped by to look at my blog lately and found nothing new, I apologize! It's been a long, hot summer, and I've been spinning my wheels and doing very little creatively.

I'm planning a re-do of my blog, a little house cleaning and redecorating, and it will be ready September 1!  Along with this, I'll be having a little give-away, so I hope you'll stop by next week to check it out!

Meanwhile, have a wonderful weekend!

With warm wishes,


Judy

Trees and Kitties

Yesterday I made a little fused landscape, which made me let out a sigh of relief, since I have been experiencing a creative lull. When I don't allow myself the time to be creative, I feel very stifled, but the stress from that keeps me from letting loose with my ideas! Does anyone else have this problem?

Then, although it was a rather cloudy day here in New England, I had the brilliant idea of photographing Rosie and Angus with a cat shaped watering can I have on the porch. 

Here's how it went:

Angus is not interested;

Well, maybe...

Rosie is being fairly cooperative...

HAS to investigate the camera,

But prefers to be photographed alone;

Here is the only photo I could get of all three...

and then it was time to hunker down for a nap!

Hope everyone has a great week!!

Monday Musings

As it happens, it's Monday once again, and our stay-cation is over. But what a great week we had!

Besides some garage cleaning (of which I am NOT posting pictures!!), we took advantage of the beautiful weather and did some walking around the lovely lake in our town, which attracts many people in every kind of weather.

This photo was taken with Bill's phone, but it gives you an idea of the view from where we walked with church steeples in the distance. I loved these little kids wading in the water!

We ended our week by visiting the historic Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Ma. This is where we were married 33years ago, in this wedding chapel, called the "Martha-Mary Chapel". 

       

At the inn, we had a delicious meal in the beautiful dining room, then drove down the road to see "our" chapel. It was a gorgeous day and the perfect end to a great week.

So beautifully Colonial New England!

To read more information about the history of the Inn, you can go here!

Meanwhile, back at home, Angus and Rosie have been growing, being frisky and...

sleeping a lot!!

And, to tie this post into my blog theme of fabric art, I have been cleaning my studio!! Boxes are set up in another room for sorting fabrics and I am going through trims, notions and threads and finding just the right spot for everything. And, of course, there will be a lot of editing, as I get rid of clutter.

Can't help but think of how many times I've done this in the past, but one thing I know is that I get very blocked and can't create when things are a mess. So, one more time...!

I hope that everyone who reads this is having a terrific week! 

Monday Musings

This week, Bill and I are having a "stay-cation", going on day trips to places both familiar and new. Yesterday we went into Boston to the Museum of Fine Arts. We've been there many times, but the day was so beautiful, dry and breezy, what we most enjoyed was a walk along the Fenway.

We had a leisurely brunch in the museum restaurant, saw a Toulouse Lautrec exhibit, an exhibit of early musical instruments, beautiful period silver urns and tableware, and the always important walk through the European painting galleries.

Today we went to the charming harbor town of Marblehead, MA. We walked the crooked streets, went into lovely gift shops, enjoyed the historic houses and buildings, and ended up eating lunch in a restaurant right on the harbor. Another perfect weather day!

Lately I've been looking through a portfolio of sketches and paintings I did in the past - WAY in the past! I used to love drawing and painting, but never had much in the way of formal instruction. This acrylic painting was done when I was in my twenties, totally from my imagination.

                                                 

Several years later, when I was first married, I did this watercolor. A little humor here, with my grumpy morning self reflected in the coffeepot! 

                                                      

It wasn't long after that that I discovered art made with fabric. I don't know exactly what it was - the textures, colors, patterns of the fabric, or what - but I just knew I wanted to try it!

And I'm still trying it!!

Thanks for joining me on my little walk down memory lane!!

Have a great week!

A Tale of Two Tunnels

My most recent sewing projects have been geared toward our two new kittens, Rosie and Angus.
They are so playful together, love to hide and spring out at each other, and often
chase each other at breakneck speed.
I thought a tunnel would be a fun for them.

My first effort was a tube made from outdoor canvas, with embroidery hoops sewn into each end.

To keep the tube open, I sewed dowels along the long sides.

The kitties loved it, made it roll around the floor and had a few comical encounters inside.

But Rosie, I swear, is part flying squirrel, and she became infatuated with leaping from

the table onto the tube, breaking the dowels and squashing the tunnel.

Before too long it was totally demolished!

I think I have a bit of my father in me, because I then became determined to make a durable tunnel!

Dad was forever "inventing" things around the house, and making existing things even better!

 

This time I started with a fleece covered pad, wrapped with some strong corrugated cardboard.

I decided to use large pieces of plastic canvas, reinforced with felt, to cover the top. All of this was 

held together with hot glue and duct tape. Does it sound like I have too much time on my hands?

Here is Rosie inspecting the finished result.

Why go inside when you can squash the top?

C'mon, Angus, let's play ON TOP of the tunnel!!

Oh, look! I just discovered that there is an INSIDE to this thing!
If I lie on my back I can pull myself along the tunnel by clawing the plastic canvas!

We'll see how long this one lasts!!!

Turkey Crossing

I couldn't resist sharing this: it's early morning - I'm on my porch with my kitties and see some movement out in the grass. I live in the suburbs, but not the country, yet on my lawn I see this parade:

Two adult turkeys and ten young ones, walking casually across the grass.

                                       

They ducked under the hedge, into the neighbor's yard, 

and out into the street. By now I'm outside following them (from a safe distance).

                                      

This went on for a while, until I started to feel like a stalker, so I went back inside.

Rosie and Angus had a perfect view!!

We really never know what each new day will bring, do we?

Hope you're having a good week!

What I'm working On

I feel like I've been letting my blog go lately, but I hope to improve on that. I really want to keep to my subject - fabric art - but lately these two little monkeys seem to be distracting me!

I have been working on a couple of things, so I'll share pictures of them in progress, then later show the finished results.

This piece is called "Little Critic" and is taken from a sketch I did in March in a museum in Toronto. The child I sketched was younger, but this little outfit is similar to the one she wore, and she looked up at the paintings in that same way! When composing this picture, I used commercial fabrics with machine and hand stitching. I still have a bit more stitching to do on it, as well as a border, but it's getting there!!

This other piece is a picture of yours truly with Rosie and Angus. I'm using felt and hand stitching it. It really has a long way to go, so this is just a sneak peek!

It's very hot here in Massachusetts so we're all trying to keep cool! The cats are stretched out on the hardwood floor, Bill and I did a bit of yard work (Bill more than me!) and now we're inside enjoying the air conditioning. I'm working on a project for the kitties which involves sewing - I'll show it to you soon!

Stay cool and take care!!