Brownies!!

| JP Dawes Artist

I have inherited somehow and from somewhere, a NASTY little Brownie. I don’t mean those cute tiny little Girl Scouts who come to the door begging you to buy cookies.  I mean one of those tiny creatures who come out at night and carry off things you need and hide them so no matter how many places you look you cannot find what you are looking for. Never mind that it is always in the last place you look…with these little suckers there IS no last place!

I’ve moved things myself because all the construction going on here; new studio cabinets, taking over a space for dyeing, moving looms and yarns to new locations…but everything was boxed and binned carefully so it could go back into its proper home.  HA!  What a fool I was.

The first thing to go into the netherlands was a box of dye. I waited and waited after Easter for all the egg dye to get marked down to a dime.  Then I filled a cart, checked out and when I got home I disposed of all the boxes so that I had a tiny box of those magic acid dye tablets. Along with that I put all my packets of Kool Aid from the warehouse store.  GONE!  Completely and totally gone.  Not in the studio, the dye room, the pantry or any nook or cranny.

Right before Christmas I washed, dried and folded fat quarters ready to go into mordants for natural dyeing. GONE ! Completely and totally gone.  Not in the studio, the dye room, the pantry or any nook or cranny.

I told my friend Liz that I hope when this particular creature dies that I will be able to find my stuff. She said she has one living at her house that has a wicked sense of humor. Maybe the next time she comes to play a stow away will find its way into her bag and go off to play with her brownie!  If you want to read more about these creatures, check out this blog.

“What a messy room! Don’t worry. I’ll clean it for you.”

Revenge of the Mad Rotary Ruler

| JP Dawes Artist
The dangers of cutting rulers
The dangers of cutting rulers

Well golly gee…we all know how dangerous those sharp rotary cutting blades are. And many know how painful a machine needle through the finger is….or the plentiful pricks from a hand needle. But who would have thought there was danger lurking in the heavy plastic cutting rulers. They look so innocent just waiting to attack.

I found that out the hard way. This is my foot a few days after the initial bite. I even had shoes and socks on but that ruler jumped right off the cutting table and aimed its sharp corners straight for my instep. It hurt…a LOT…but we had errands to run so I didn’t even take a look. The next morning when I put my slippers on it was red and swollen and hurt like heck.  I didn’t take a photo then since I wouldn’t want to gross you out.

So here is hoping you all will have a SAFE quilting new year.  You might check out some fashionable steel toed boots to wear in the studio to go along with that cutting glove that protects your hands from the rotary cutter. Who knew???

Paint Rag Art

| JP Dawes Artist

I am forever the recycler and saver from the trash heap if something looks promising for another use.  Ron had a wonderful paint and stain rag that he was getting ready to use for a different color paint.

STOP I said as I snatched it from his hand. The dark stain had great texture and with a textile paint overlay it spoke Bittersweet to me. Bits of the  paint rag that are left are in the photo.

Then I bought a carved India trivet that was broken. I bought it because of the honeycomb design and thought it would make a good stamp. Bingo!  The bonus is the leaf shape that also stamped well. I sure wish there was more of that paint rag. I’ll have to keep my eyes open next time and think about shopping in his workroom more often.

A Quilting Revelation

| JP Dawes Artist

A revelation of sorts as I finished a quilt for my 90 yr. old dad for a Christmas gift.  His feet get cold so I wanted to give him a little warmth and love…..I was mesmerized by the peace of pin basting my dad’s quilt…tv playing a happy movie and the time flew. Then I had forgotten the magic that happens when those three pieces of fiber get stitched together…it starts to look like a quilt and gets heavier as you go…then you can’t wait to get it done so you can see it in all its glory.  Doing something for the joy of doing it, knowing how much it will be appreciated, is something I’ve missed.

Southwest big block quilt

I quilted this on my sit-down Sunshine 16 and it went really fast. I used simple free form filler stitches rather than following a pattern.The finished size is 72 x 72 inches so big enough for him to wrap up in. Some  of the fabrics were purchased a few years ago at a little Navajo fabric shop when we were on a trip through the Southwest. The gecko and sun has embroidery accents. I will launder it and fluff it dry before dropping it in the mail today.

Gecko fused and embroidered Free Form stitching with the Sunshine 16

Once again I’m linking with Nina Marie’s Off The Wall Friday.

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Americana Christmas

| JP Dawes Artist

DSCN9693I wasn’t going to put up a tree this year. A busy year with a lot going on so the spirit of the season had passed me by.  Then I saw this funky little tree that looks just like a feather tree. It called to me. A week later I went back and bought it. It sat naked by the fireplace for another week.

Today we put it into a galvanized pot and sat it atop a little red stool that belonged to a neighbor who has passed, decorated it with antique mercury glass ball strands, tiny baskets, little antique flags, strands of chenille that look like popcorn and finally some tin icicles.  It has a little of both Ron and me in it. We both love antiques, I collect baskets that are mostly splint oak handmade baskets, and we are a retired Army family so the little flags are perfect. Maybe this little lonesome tree will be our new tradition. Not too big, not too small, but just right.

It finally looks a little like Christmas inside . Outside snow is still on the ground and the holly and nandina are loaded with red berries.

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