Recycled picture frames

I sent a fabric piece to a friend and heard back from them that the prices at frame stores

have gone up a lot. I'm posting a tutorial about reusing thrift store/flea market

frames. First photo is of a frame from Habitat for Humanity. 

                                                                       

              I removed the framed 'sandwich", cleaned the glass on both sides, sandwiched

the clean glass, mat board and fabric piece after hinging the fabric art to the middle layer

of the sandwich. 

The fabric art was hinged onto the fabric covered

back mat board. If the art is valuable, I would hinge it with archival linen tape.

In this case I just used regular clear tape. To make a hinge, take two pieces of tape with the

sticky sides facing each other.  

                                       So, the horizontal arms of the hinge stick to

                the backing fabric and the vertical arm sticks to the back of the fabric art. 

This second photo may make it clearer. The printed sides of the index card face out.

I invested in a flex master (model 07-700) about 20 years ago It's paid for itself many times.

When I sell my work I glue a dust cover on the back, then attach the hanging hardware.

                                      Good luck and I hope this saves you money!

Sewing Circle

 

This old photo of reminds me of my friends who hand sew. You can tell they're

sharp and good hearted. No one's fools. This satisfies the kindred spirit I feel with

all folks who appreciate and practice sewing skills. 

Green Man 1

 

It's finished. I'll send it today to my friend. Before I put the bird  on his shoulder it was kind of 

depressing. Now it can fly. Editing is kind of beyond me, so please, excuse the  awkward presentation.

Green Man

 

                                                                  

                                                    Green Man is a joint effort  with

an old friend (from 1988). I'm using this friend's photos to make a companion piece for

                                                              Open Eyes (below) sideways

                                                                           

                                                                               

                                                                    I haven't been able to make new work

since my DBS surgery  2 years ago so am hoping this will break the spell. 

So far I'm  pleased with how our ideas are linking up. A new printing program and loss of

my editing in the PC are not so managable but I'm slogging through.

                                                                                        

Sewing again-Wolf and cubs

                                      This very cat like wolf in an illustration of a pebble mosaic of   

                             

• a Roman myth caught my attention. The wolf reminds me of two people in a Horse Suit.
• Seems like the front person has a more jaunty attitude than the
• back person? It cracks me up and I wonder if the person who made the
• mosaic also got a chuckle.  I love the pointy teeth, manic smile
• and crossed front legs. She could be getting ready to make an appearance
• on a vaudeville stage. So happy to sew again!

. 

• 
  
• oo

Brokem finger on (of course) my right hand

 I'm not posting a photo because you really don't want to see this finger. When the ortho surgeon

walked in the room he said 'oh no' after seeing the x-ray. Life is not the same. So, until after 

surgery and healing no sewing. Baa!

Kawanabe Kyosai

Kyosai is the artist who made the woodblock in my last post (1831 - 1889).

There's another print of the tiger being captured 'live' by a Norwegian.

Tiger (captured live) considers his future dinner

 I considered how to work with his woodblock print (I'll post the artist and

name when I come out of my  turkey stuper'. Without using paper piecing.

I think this works althought the lights could have been darkened a little. I can see why Jude uses single strand embroidery floss. It's so much easier to match colors.

I hope you're enjoying this day It's sunny and cold in Eastern Va. Great sewing weather.

Princess Tamatori Steals Ryujin's Jewel

 There's a LOT going on in this woodcut by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. I love the action

and the lines of movement in it. The story is that the dragon, Ryujin, an Ocean Kami (god)

very well loved in the culture of Japan has had his jewel stolen. You can see this jewel tucked

under the Princess' left arm. It's supposed to be a huge pearl. All of Ryujin's ocean helpers,

Jellyfish and small fish, are in the fight to retake the jewel. I just had to sew on this.

I wove  a length of cloth and cut it in half for the top and bottom.

Then added some of the Paper piecing on the sides. The moons always want to be

to be in on things. This desktop will not let me size, center or change

or work with type sizes. I have no idea how this will come up. 

Fingers crossed.

A great find and well worth restoring

 

I noticed this beautiful cloth bag at my local thrift store.

Then I turned it over...

and fell in love. I'll be restoring some of the broken threads.

Every once in a while something as beautiful as this finds me.

Cool and dry now after big rain last night.

Dark Comedy

 

In keeping with the spooky season, I've decided my approach to all this will

be dark comedy. This way I'll stay away from hurt or blame and just try to figure out what the heck 

went on. Social issues were to blame more than anything else but we were a crazy bunch. I'm laughing

already. 

 

Player piano

 The players 

 I'm working on this long project (long story and long fabric).

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. I had a horrible childhood with

many things torturing all of my family members. I mean, it was almost comic.

I don't want to tell the story literally because who the heck wants

to hear. I survived and am here to tell the story. Lately I want to put

it all behind me and forgive. Sewing on this I'm feeling my heart open

and anger softening a little. They've all died now so I need to get this done.

The tentative title is Player Piano. Each week new notches were punched

in our lives. This turned into a ribbon of habit that played itself without me

doing a thing- just providing the forward motion.

At the end I'll see what's left. Maybe the grace of forgiving.

There's so much more to do on this. 

Disturbing news

I read this  

US attempts to halt Paris auction of sacred Native American artefacts | France | The Guardian

This morning right after reading this;

A Missouri Cave With Ancient Native American Drawings Has Been Sold : NPR

Have we lost our minds? 

Bettter. Maybe too light still. May dry darker. 

The question

 

This began with a lithograph of the Sphinx. Her gaze is so strong that it looked like the answer to something.I didn't know where it was going so began without any intention. She grew on me like a

Great Mother. Framing it was a hot job of ironing. I'd dropped that technique but used it again here.

This summer has been empty of making for me. My body and mind were tired from

everything so I walked and got stronger and cleaned and rearranged my making room

and tried to stay cool. I gave myself a break from expecting anything to get born.

I'm liking tis so much. It feels like I felt making it. I may paint a light wash over the white of 

the linen but that's all. Maybe sew a light frame around it. If I still have any readers here

What do you think about the light?

ing

Elusive lavender

 

I have a good amount of fabric but couldn't match the sky in this painting.

It's lavender with a touch of indigo. Still, I learned a little about color from this.

Flowers from mom and cloth giving

 On my birthday my friend, who I rent my mom's house to, brought over a double armful of daffodils from mom's yard. It was like mom had somehow arranged it all. We used to gift each other daffodils as they bloomed on our birthday.

 I just had two surgeries and wanted to give a thank you gift to my neurologist and surgeon. The second cloth in my last post seemed to be the best choice so I made another one close to it in color and design. It's hard to tell but I think they both liked it. I love the lack of shaky hands and feet. 

 

 

 

Older learning process revisited

I came across a bag of torn strips of fabric from Jude Hill's Cloth to Cloth class years ago.

This is the first result from going back and exploring it again. Have made 2 more since and

enjoy the process at the end of adding smaller squares to the finished weave. It

 breaks up expected patterns. 

Messages and carriers

 

Thinking how the messages from our brain to body 

miraculously arrive. Trying to make a picture of how this may

happen in my imagination. The little crow carries a pebble.

Hope

Above is how I've been feeling since Wed's Innaguration. Hopeful, full of big H Hope.

 Things bubble up that I don't even realize were stuck  in my head; Pandora's box,

hope being a thing with feathers, a visit from a flock of turkeys (gobble gobble),

an eagle and vulture

settleing a disagreement about a meal

in our side field. 

This has been the winter when Parkinson's took a big 

toll on me in the Hope department. I mean, it ain't 

getting amy better amd is getting worse fast. I'm 

even using fusible as hand sewing is harder.

One good thing in all this... I'm approved for DBS surgery which

will do away with many of the most annoying PK symptoms.

Met my neurosurgeion and am in the middle of pre operation

tests. I'm full of hope. Full of expectation and looking forward to

driving, walking and sewing again.