Making progress on the small series, Just a few left to bind and then the edges can be beaded. Then, they are done! Am thinking about a name for the series and am striving for something that doesn’t sound like a bad perfume, as many of my titles end up sounding. Looking forward to new projects and getting energy FROM my artwork, even as I use the limited supply to actually create it. I have a backup of images waiting for attention...some printed, some not. If only I was seven people instead of one.
Amy 2, please print all those images on cotton. Amy 3, please free motion quilt a few of the larger ones made last summer. Oh, please add paint and some fabric embellishments to them first, ok? Amy 4, please finish binding and backing the large pot piece we completed this summer. Amy 5, could you stitch details into the one that Amy 3 is working on? Amy 6, please photograph and organize all of our artwork, and get it on the web, ok? Amy 7, please handle all calls and emails,and follow up on those potential exhibits. Amy 8, please focus on that book you’ve started working on a few times now but have barely gotten beyond the outline! Amy 9, make tea, and Amy 10, could you do some laundry? Amy 1 is out of socks. Sigh. And almost out of energy completely at this point!
At the end of the day, when I have yet to fall asleep but need to get off my feet, my phone and Amazon lets me troll through used bookstores and discover fun treasures. I love books about needlework and stitching so much, and recently discovered a series of books that I am probably the last person on the planet to know about. Batsford Press (UK) has specialized in needlework and textile art books for a long time now, and some of their less recent books are wonderful! Even in black and white!
I’ve gotten two so far: Embroidery and Nature by Jan Messent, and Stitches and Samplers by Mrs. Archibald Christie. Both have been really interesting. The first explores how images from nature can be abstracted into designs suitable for needlework. NO
ow that technology is available to do so much image editing for us, it is hard to think back to days when we had to do it all ourselves! This book is from 1980, and features some neat ideas. The second book is a reprint from a 1920’s book (it can be downloaded and read online for free from here) and features such an exhaustive library of stitches that I actually want to make a sampler of some sort to learn them. Really complex multi-step/multi component stitches that create rich textures. Since the book was so inexpensive I ordered it (under $5 including shipping) and am glad I did! Looking forward to exploring more in the series!
So, on a long painful day when I literally had to focus energy on not giving up and laying down on my classroom floor to establish a little pain control, the whole day is not a loss. I have a group class at Create tonight, and we are stitching. Happy night! Cheers.