Musician in training - Brace yourself!

Happy Junior Sewist - new middle schooler - got the instrument of her choice in band. Baritone!
(We're happy that we get to borrow the school's instrument for the year.)

And sporting her Fashion by Flashlight selection (had power outage overnight!) she's infinitely glad to be done with uniforms.

Skull work

Skull work, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Skulls are a very Halloween skeleton spooky related motif.

And they're piratey! Sand and sea comes to mind.



I've played with some glomming together of bits around the studio.
Simple stuff. Satisfying.



Testing out a Teesha Moore technique on little pillows too.

.Live Long and...

., originally uploaded by jckirner.

With glorious skippity zig zaggity stitching

With glorious skippity zig zaggity stitching, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Ze Anna Quilt wuz not quite done.

It wanted more imperfections...

Anna's quilt

anna's quilt, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Completed and mailing out today for the Breaking Traditions Art Quilt exhibit.

Yeehaw - feels good to finish!

I wrote more about it here.

Blues cord

Blues cord, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Not much else to say about that! More of the same process.


More of this weaving...



Lots of mailing ebay packages.

And then this happened!

And then this happened!, originally uploaded by jckirner.

An exploration of using tinted gutta resist. Yet I didn't mix the gutta and black very well and had a big splodge on the first stroke of the nib. A free form design expanded from there...

And here it is after the gutta washes out, not much black remains - a soft grey in places.



Yesterdays cording put to use....



And more cording created....

Applique on a cloudy day

Applique on a cloudy day, originally uploaded by jckirner.

It's been awhile since I've sat and done this type of work. And I forgot (or was too lazy to get up and find) the thimble, so my finger's sore today.

Not quite invisibly stitched - a battle with oversized batting beneath.




Then another round of machine cord created...

Distraction

Distraction, originally uploaded by jckirner.

A step aside from the color blocks to work on a 12" square for Breaking Traditions Art Quilt exhibit curated each year by Lynn Krawczyk.

This year the funds raised support Claudine Intner's Art Now for Autism.

Our personal touch with autism is Anna, our friends' daughter. Meeting her at age 2 just as the family was exploring why Anna didn't engage with other people. Then following with them through the years of diagnosis, treatments and therapies.

In times of agitiation Anna is soothed by contact with water. From a toddler she was fascinated with pouring water back and forth from buckets and pans, letting it drip through her fingers. If it was raining she enjoyed standing out and letting the drips from the roof pour down her back and through her hair.

Anna is approaching 20 now. She lives in a group home where the rigid structure of the day keeps her content. She is guided to learn self-care skills and socializes with peers.

Solution

Solution, originally uploaded by jckirner.

We have this cat Dewey, who loves to saunter along the countertop, dip his paws into any cup and sample the liquids inside.

We have a trio of girls that frequent the house and can't keep track of whose cup is whose. By the end of the day the countertop is littered with a dozen unclaimed half-sipped cups of liquid.

My solution? Customized cup lids that double as coasters!!
Less cat sampling.
Less cup littering.

Meanwhile...

No complaints here!

Machine cord gradation, originally uploaded by jckirner.

More productivity...

Productive day so far

planning, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Planning

Doing





Shibori-ing



Drying

Crisply ironed

Crisply ironed, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Gutta washout successfully accomplished. The dynaflow colors remained in the fabric - whoo hoo!

I'll set up and carry on towards a 36 patch...

Meanwhile I'm pondering this...

Do they have Summer Camp for Moms?

I'll admit I'm a little bit jealous.

The Junior Sewist is away during the day this week at Daggerwing nature camp.

Packed off each morning in her flourescent orange camp shirt (washed daily) with her bag lunch, snack and Sigg bottle of water.

20 age-grouped strangers, 4 camp counselors, a daily bus trip, nature explorations, games, crafts. A day of activities and stimulation without the burden of performance (:cough: school :cough:). A bit of surprise and adventure each day.

Sounds heavenly.

Someone else to do the planning.
Someone else to do the driving.
Someone else to handle the details.

Perhaps I need a getaway!!