Back at Work

Well, I am back at work, and needless to say, I am exhausted. Let's just say that a month off is long enough to really get used to it! I am still adjusting to getting up at 5am again, and I miss those 8 hours a night plus the odd nap. I should hit my stride again by next week. I think the best part about retirement will be not worrying about gettting enough sleep, and if I have insomnia I can just get up, work in the studio, and take a nap the next day.

I spent a little time on Monday backing and quilting the "Feathered Forest". I am still working on it, but so far I'm happy with it. Thanks very much to those of you who left comments! It's always great to know somebody's reading. Mrs. Mel asked if it was decorator fabric, and no it isn't, it actually came from a thrift store sun dress with a dropped waist and a full skirt. Very ugly fashion wise, but plenty of fabric to salvage. Nikki asked about process. I pieced the back- ground from some hand-dyed and commercial fabric. I cut out the "feather leaves" and other shapes and fused them. I did not make a preliminary sketch, just played around working "intuitively" until I was pleased with the composition. I know it looks like I might have done something interesting with paint to the fabric, but it was already like that.

Tonight I started fooling around making some "thread sketches" for A Simple Still Life. I like using the thread to sketch. I started with a batting sandwich made with PFD fabric because I will probably paint it AFTER most of the thread work is done. I will take more pictures to show process, and IF it doesn't end up a great mess, I'll share.