New Home

I've moved!

No, not me silly........my blog.

"It" finally had enough whatever it needed to move all my posts over to Wordpress. I had been trying to import my posts for the last few days and it keep telling me...

....error...Error...ERROR daggumit!

(I'm sure that was blogger and not my new blog server, hee hee)

So now you can find me at www.barnyardchatter.wordpress.com. I will leave this blog up for a little while so you guys won't think I've abandoned you and you'll know where to find me. I anticipate a great future with Wordpress and little ole me.

I can't wait to fancy up my new location (cause you know everyone has to redecorate when you move to a NEW HOUSE......or, for that matter, anytime the urge hits you, LOL) so...

.....come on over to my new loft,
.....settle down on a comfy haystack
.....and keeeeeeeeep reading.

Thanks y'all. I'm so excited (I hear music, don't you?)

p.s. don't forget to update the URL of any feeders you might subscribe to.

See ya next time "In the Hayloff" at Wordpress.

Drive by Photos

Last year as I was driving home I spotted a tree formation that I had not noticed before. The next time I passed by I was ready with camera at hand. I've continued to do this, taking quick photos (no focusing or anything of course) and love the pics that come from this way of photographing.

I promised the last bit of pics from our trip this past weekend. It's a great way to document a ride that might otherwise be....(dare I say it)......boring. So here goes. Anything is fair game.


Fancy Gap

This first one is a pic of Fancy Gap, that awe inspiring view btwn NC and VA that I actually caught this time, thanks to insistence by the husband. Usually when we travel along here I'm crouching down in the chair, hands over my eyes cause I can't stand see the drop over the side.

Bikers We Be

Next, we followed behind these guys for-ever! But they were cool cause they were booking it just as we were. (oh no, don't call the cops on us). At one point they did some sort of sign language only bikers could understand and then they split and and rode off separately. I couldn't get over that the guy on the right had his feet sticking up for most of the time were watching them. Wouldn't that be uncomfartable after a while??

Big Wheels Keep on Turning

As you know when you travel the highways and bi-ways of the American road you will encounter the large behemouth trucks. Coming from the Bahamas (Grand Bahama to be exact) where it only takes 5 minutes to get anywhere, there's no need for them. This was a new site for me to get used to when we first moved here umpteen years ago. They've now become muses for my camera.

Runaway Trucks?? Oh my!

The next is a pic of the "runaway truck ramp" (that tan dirt area in the background of the pic) that you find every so often along the highway. For the longest time I wondered how/why/what... until I saw a truck (a while ago now) needing to use it. It's scary to think that it works and the truck didn't topple over (it's got large built up ramps of firm dirt along its path). But it worked thank goodness.

In a Blur

This green blurb is a shot of the trees/bushes at the side of the highway traveling 70-ish (yeh right, hubby was driving). I think it's so way cool. I'm gonna have to do something with this one but don't know just yet.

Serenity

And I couldn't finish without a pic of the beautiful sky we had (love to take these).....just before we encountered a really bad thunderstorm. Look at the blues in there! One of these days I'm gonna dye a piece just like that.

Thanks for coming on my adventure on the highway. Hope you enjoyed the view.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Have a Good laugh

Judy Coates Perez has posted a funny little clip on her blog. In this political age we live in it's good to have a chuckle sometimes . Check it out here.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Pandora Painting

Yesterday we had our regular Pandora art group meeting. We decided that we need to have more "play dates" in amongst our regular meetings so, with the new Rayna Gilman book in hand, "Create Your Own Handprinted Cloth", we went at it. If you have ever wanted to try some"deconstructed" stuff (or for that matter, to take out any latent frustrations) get this book!

Did you know that just letting loose is F-U-N?

I let all inhibitions float out the window and just painted with abandon. I had originally dyed a half yard of fab and then decided to add to it by dyeing again in blobs (who the heck knew why).

Well.......I ended up not liking the second round that much (1st pic) so I put it aside and eventually would have come back to it. I did name this piece "Potcake" after all for a reason.

When we decided to paint and experiment I thought, why not see what the third time will bring. I started by using the brayer to paint stamps then painted the image that I got on the brayer onto the fab. That wasn't enough!! I then stamped a grid work all over...hand got real messy here...it was soooooo cool.

That wasn't enough either! HA! So I decided to use some Lumiere Paints, Halo Gold and Pearl Blue. I pulled the seal, with included handle no less, off the dark blue that I had not opened yet and held it in my hands. Mmmh....

I screamed with wild joy cause (brainstorm here) I could use the jar seal as a painting tool (so don't throw yours away next time, hee hee). So then, what else? How bout some splatter? Bring out the toothbrush. Started to splatter, took too long then just rubbed the brush in the paints and scratched it across the surface. VOILA!!!!

I LOVE IT! Don't you?

BTWm be sure to check out Susan's post about our painting adventure here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Catching Up

Well, here I am again, checking in and glad to be back in my own bed.....you know, the comfortable stuff you know like the stuffy pillow that fits your head right or the lumps and bumps of the mattress you know by heart.

We had a great time, just the few days and my friend (who is expecting twins) is so very exhausted. She looks like she's overdue, poor thing, and she's still got 2 more months to go! Thanks goodness I had them one at a time.

I got a chance to got to New York City with my kids so we took the train from Summit, NJ (where we used to live) into the city. Besides seeing the city again we had a few missions...one wanted to visit a bead shop, the other wanted to visit an art shop and, of course, I wanted to visit a quilt shop in the Chelsea district.

I must say it was like arriving home again. I lived in NY for 2 1/2 yrs and as I stepped out of Penn Station, the ole feeling of "being in NYC" took over. The kids knew they had to bear with me for a few.

My daughter was estatic cause we found 4 bead shops for her to peruse. Funny thing is she came away with only four items. Can you believe that???? Sadly we didn't get to an art store for my son but.....I did find THE shop......yes, I got to shop...again.... in the The City Quilter. Wish I lived closer to it cause I'd be there all the time. It would be so cool to teach in too.

More pics later of my trip home and the"Drive by photos" I like to take. They are so cool.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Down Time

We're headed on a family trip today so I won't be posting for a few days. Take care all.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Question for You

I try to post a reply to all my comments (a big hunkin thank you to all of you who leave a comment) but don't know if you receive my reply post as an email.

If you don't, does anyone know how to make it happen in Blogger? or Wordpress?

The reason I ask about Wordpress is I'm actually thinking seriously about switching over to them. My art group blog, FAB (a wonderful bunch of ladies if I say so myself) is there and everytime I go to use it I find it a more managable thing to use. I like the format, ease of use and the fact that your photos are stored rather that have them floating in space with access only thru the posts.

I know some of you use Typepad (a pay-for-use service), how is that workin for ya? Inquiring minds want to know.

Oh...and hear's a peak at one of the fabs I dyed before the family invasion. Just got around to ironing and photographing them. I'm calling this one "Scrumptious Mud Pie". Wanna take a bite????




See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Jounal Quilt Entry

Got in my studio today but don't say hurrah for me just yet. Spent most of the day doing paperwork that had been neglected for the last few weeks. I am all caught up now, but just with the paperwork mind you....not with the computer work, so a small hurrah would be appropriate (smile).

In the next few days I will also have to get to work on updating my website and.........reveal my little secret thing I've been working on. Stay tuned for that.

Here's a pic of my entry for the Houston Journal quilt challenge. I can show you it because I ran into a frustrating problem and therefore didn't get it finished before the deadline.

I painted the whole piece but because I painted a few layers over one section it didn't take to being machine quilted well. I would have to say it protested strongly and must have thought it looked quite good just painted.

Here is the traitor and I've made sure to point out the culprit in the pic above. I was quilting it to resemble a gust of wind (you know...the AIR element silly) coming in from one direction. You can see the first swirl I created. They're some big a _ _ needle holes aren't they?

Thing is I really liked this piece too. This would have been my first juried competition too (pouting lips here).

Oh well.........on to other things.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

I'm Back!

Grace is ready (well, almost ready) to get back to ART.

Gotta catch my breath first. It's been a whirlwind week with a couple of hiccups but, all in all, I think everyone had a good time.

They all left today and the house is somewhat back to normal. The kids, hubby and I have decided to take the rest of the day off. We'll start putting the house back together again..... tomorrow. As a matter of fact today, I've decided, is a pajama day. Laundry can definitely wait.

We had a lot planned for the visit, didn't get to all of it but that's usually what we do. Have a whole slew of things we want to do and pick from that list each day.

Believe you me getting 18 people ready to go out in 3 cars filled with 5 car seats is a job in itself so pinning anyone to a definite schedule is just asking for chaos to happen.

Some of the places we visited was Lazy 5 Ranch, Carowinds, US Nat'l Whitewater Rafting Center and Discovery Place. And of course, because they all live in the Bahamas, shopping is always a big part of our time together.

Tomorrow I will get back into my studio (which I truly have missed). I have to first clean up, put away to sleeping equipment then put everything back in place so I can find things readily again.

With the little ones around I thought it prudent to put away the really dangerous stuff and the things I wanted no little fingers messing with or breaking.

I've also been pratically hyperventilating about getting back to my lastest addiction.........Dyeing fabrics of course! Can't wait to get my yellow gloved hands back into the pots again and see the magic of colour I produce materialize right before my eyes. That feeling is just something that cannot be bottled.

Also, I've started a new blog but it's under wraps for now. The big reveal will be much later after I complete a few pieces for their deadlines.

Hope everyone had a good week!


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Family Fun

Every year my sisters and brothers, my mother and I gather somewhere and celebrate for a week the fact we are a family. With all the kids and husbands this little group numbers 19.

This week they all descend on my house for the next week as we celebrate a couple of milestone birthdays. My older sister turned _ _, (I'm not getting in trouble for mentioning her actual age), I turned 45 (btw, she is 5 yrs older--she never said I couldn't mention how much older that me she is and I'm sure your math is not that rusty) and my younger sister turned 40 this year.

Also my daughter turned the the BIG 16 yrs old and she decided she wanted to have her big blow out I-am-16-and-I drive-and-have-a-car party when they were all here.

So with that said you can imagine the cleaning and preping I've been doing to get the house ready for 14 people who all arrive today.

I'll be back online and back to my art (I've got to put some of them where ever they fit and my studio is being sacrificed...boo hoo) after they leave.

Have fun whatevever you are doing this week cause I sure will!


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Cleaning Out

If you're anything like me you have LOTS of items in your studio you just don't use anymore.

In trying to keep a fairly tidy area to work in I've decided it's time to purge some of the things hanging around (of course to make way for all the new stuff to come, hee hee)

So with that said I've listed some of these items, books mainly, for sale on Amazon. Check it out here. From time to time I will be updating this list when I dare to delve deeper into the abyss I call a bookshelf.

Have fun shopping!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

July TIF Concept

Sharon says:

"The challenge this month is perhaps a bit obvious but I am going to ask …What is it to be at the half way mark?"

One of the things I'm proud of concerning this TIF challenge is that so far I've managed to keep up with it (except for May's of course which seems to be an ongoing, ever changing thought process on "how to describe myself as an artist").

I generally tend to finish things I start, mainly because I tend to harangue myself for not getting it done (while still procrastinating about it mind you). So the fact that I am at the halfway mark doesn't suprise me much. The fact that I am up to date with it is definitely knocking me off my chair (and some of you may know this about me...but love me anyway, hee hee).

Sharon took her concept apart and started thinking about it like this.... "Half" /"Way" /"Mark". She sees this leading into all sorts of directions.

One of the things that triggers my mind is the word "mark". I find I'm thinking more and more about mark making in terms of surface design and the workshop with Lyric Kinard I took last month has really brought it to the forefront. Remember I already have a fascination with words since I was a young tot so going in this direction isn't far off the mark...

......get it?..........off the mark????

HA!

Anyway, I've already have a piece started where I'm exploring mark making. I started with this dyed piece of fabric (above).

Then I filled a squeeze bottle fitted with a metal tip (easy to find at art/craft stores like Dharma Trading or Dick Blick) with a 50/50 mix of Jaquard black textile paint and textile medium.

...wrote on it a mind map of words related to my thoughts on this piece.

(sample writing at left)

I then tried flour paste resist, painting on it with Dye-Na-Flow paints. I pinned the fabric down to a base layer of white felt (double layer) and, on top of that, a torn section of an old sheet. [This helps keep the table from getting messy and makes a sturdy pressing base for surface design work].

Above you can see the flour resist painted fabric. I did however unpin the fabric to move to a more convenient spot. NO NO!....don't do that, leave it in position to dry taut, then unpin and scrunch the painted flour paste.

The effect was not exactly successful as you can see. My original idea was not to have the blobs but I think it's still usable, definitely needs more words.

The dots are drips of paint I dropped on it instead of painting in with a brush (very impatient person that I am, want things done now darn it!). The grayed out area in the center is the ONLY flour paste resist area.

So.......I would say it needs more.

Next, I'll use either a sheet of dotted computer paper and/or sequin waste to paint over (or under, haven't decided yet) in another colour.

At right is a smidgen of what I intend to do on this background piece but I've been so obsessed with trying out a bit of surface design that I went ahead with it on this one.

I have been carving some stamps and finally got all my supplies in to make some silk screens. More about that later.

What kind of surface design projects are you up to? Have you tried flour past resist? If you have leave a comment and let me in on the tricks for success....please, please.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Stash Quilt Finished

I've been told that my "blog needs some loving" (podcast by Alison Stanfield ), that I should pay more attention to it and treat it like a baby.

You know the kind...they pee and poop (on automation) but can't really do anything for themselves. Why I would take on another child I don't know but I do enjoy talking to y'all (you'd think I was feeling my southern roots with the "y'all" thing. I don't have any southern roots in me at all......I'm a tropical lady at heart).

Anywho, I was going good for a while then....poof.......it stopped (I know it really was me that I stopped but I gave this baby life I can give it all the blame too).

So today's post is called catch up. I've been getting ready for my daughter's 16th birthday party and preparing for the Sheppard tribe (my family) to decend upon my house. Plus I am hosting my annual Dye Party next week and still have a couple of pieces to finish for deadlines that are looming. Okay, that was catch up, now on to the good stuff....ART.

Here's the lastest pics of one of things that has taken me away from you. I'm still doing the TIF Challenge and did finish my June piece but never posted about it (yes, shame shame you say). If you recall, June was about stashes. I showed the literal pics of my stash and below you'll find my interpretation of it.



My stash started out real large (the bottom stone) because, if you remember correctly, I went thru my "greedy" phase as if the fabrics manufacturers would run out of fabs at any moment. As I climbed this ever fantastic cairn of stones I've created I realize that my stash did not (yes I said "did NOT") have to be THAT big, especially as I've resigned myself to now making smaller pieces. This one is measures 13" square.

I have not yet reached the peak (come on now......you ever think I'll have that little bit of fabs that represent the cairn's peak????). I don't know that I ever will or, for that matter, want to but I'm getting closer to finding the center, MY center, the comfortable place, the reasonable phase where fabric obsession is not necessary any more. I'd say I'm somewhere between the middle red stone and the gold one.

I am okay with having what just what I need instead of what I think I ought to have.

Have you had a stash redo recently or planning one? Have you made a "stash" piece to represent your "rack of fabs"? Leave a comment and let me know where you are in your stash phase or, for that matter, anything else on your mind.



See you next time "In the Hayloft",

Busy but Still Smiling

I've been real busy caught in "catch-up" work and didn't realize until yesterday that I did not post this past Monday. What horror!

Naughty, naughty.

Anyway, to make you smile today I found this blog (excuse the title please) that had me taking some time to chuckle. Hope you do too.

Here is "where's Matt?" .....


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Isn't it funny how everybody really gets into it?

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Reading Blogs

I love to read other people's blogs, That's one of the highlights of my day (if I get to it) to see what other artists are up to. I've subscribe to about 50 blogs (so far) and am finding new ones all the time.

I came upon a blog yesterday by Peggy (don't ask me how I got there) who is from Germany and, unfortunately, I can't speak or read a lick of German. Now I have an out because my daughter is fluent in the language having attended a German Immersion school since kindergarden. But I would rather read the post myself.

I left a comment for Peggy telling her I wish I could understand what she had written cause I love viewing her work. She wrote back saying it was hard for her to translate all of her posts to English (boy do I understand that). That's when I went googling and found......TaDa.......translation widgets for blogs.

Who the heck knew that!!

I figured if I can't read a blog post that's written in another language then there are artists out there who experience the same when they come to my blog (bummer) so I added another little widget to my sidebars. Check it out now over there on the right...go on...click on your flag.

If you read my blog regularly (and hopefully you are...right???) and your native language is not English let me know how this new widget works. Looking for some good feedback here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

And the Winners of the Dyed Fabrics Are....

I'm So Excited!!!!!

Thanks to all of you for leaving a comment on my Dyed Fabrics blog post. I loved what each of you wrote and can't wait to get your little pieces of colour heaven on its way to you.

As I mentioned before I used a random number generator (RNG) to pick the 7 winners of my first dyed fabric give-away.

Each of you were assigned a number and to make it easy I just used the chronilogical order in which you posted, Joyce would be #1; Karoda -#2; Karrin -#3 and so on. Plugging the numbers into the RNG it scrambled your numbers and spit out a list which is (drum roll please).........................

2 - 3 - 9 - 6 - 7 - 10 - 1 - 5 -4 -8.

The 7 winners are Karoda, Karrin, freebird, Karen, Judy, Yetunde and Joyce. Congratulations to all and look for me to have more give aways when I dye more fabrics. (y'all don't know how hooked I am on this now...oh boy, there goes the budget).

(Unfortunately because I got a comment from "Anonymous" I could not put you in the running because I have no way to get in contact with you. Sorry bout that).

I won't tell you which fabric you won because I want it to be a surprise when you get in in the mail so get cracking and email me your mailing address now (see sidebar for my email addy).

Please email me a pic of whatever you decided to make with your winning fat quarter of fabric. I'd love to see them and post them here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

p.s. don't know if you know but I gave each fab a name, click on the individual fabrics in this post and hover over the enlarged pic to find them out.

Sad Sad News Day

I am blown away by the death of Tim Russert as I'm sure most of you are that watched his political commentary.

We knew he was really good at his job but the extraordinary man that he was has only been truly revealed to us in the "Remembering Tim" programs that have been airing this weekend.

Seems he was bigger than life and more caring than any of us, his audience, ever suspected.

We will sorely miss you Tim........your insight, your honesty, your tenacity, your BIG heart, your loyalty to friends and, most of all, your ultimate and all consuming love for your son Luke and your Dad, Big Russ.

Our hearts go out to your family. Sleep long and well,

Dyed Fabrics

I know I gave you just a small glimpse of the fabric I dyed last week. Well here's a close-up.

Wet your appetite!

Feast in the colour!

Indulge your imagination!

Random Drawing

I'm feeling indulgent so for the next week I'll be holding a drawing. Leave a comment and you will be in the running for one fat quarter of one of these lovelies. I will be using a random number generator to pick the winners so everyone gets a chance to win.

Don't forget to leave your email addy so I can contact you if you're one of the winners. Good luck! Drawing ends June 15th.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

New Artwork

I was priviledged to take a workshop with Lyric Kinard this past Saturday. We worked on a surface design sampler of techniques including carving stamps, screen printing and beading.

Thanks to a fun time and a great instructor, today I actually finished the project from a workshop for the first time. Yippee!

The technique sampler is a great way to to learn a few things without taking an intense workshop on one technique you're not sure you will use again.

For instance I am so into carving stamps these days and learned some great tips from Lyric AND I've discovered I love, love, love screen printing.

So much so that I'm now trying to find a thermofax machine (old fashioned mimeograph) that someone has hidden somewhere just collecting dust so I can make my own screens.

If you know where I can get one on the cheap, let me know PLEASE. Until then I'll have to send out to Lyric to get them made.

I really like the finished journal. I'm thinking Christmas gifts this year.


journal spine

back cover

stamped/foiled word

inside cover

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Colour Play

For the last few weeks I've been promising myself a treat...to dedicate a day to dyeing some fabs (finally). Let me tell you I am soooooooooo exhausted because Wed is also the day we had a high of 100 degrees. BOY was it hot.

First good decision: do not set up in the back garden which was my original intention. so off to the garage I go and pull down the table and set my area up, my trusty dog Logan right there to keep me company.

It was also better this way cause the large sink was right there to use instead of the garden hose out back.

Today was just experimentation to get back into the groove of things. I went at it with no set agenda, no specific colours to dye or any expectations on the outcome. The only thing I had I my mind was "What if...?".

Safety first, I donned my respirator and made my dye concentrates and went at it. Only had a few dye pots left so I knew this was not going to be a big batch of fabrics I was coming away with.

But experimenting was so very cool. Look what I did...I played with the leftover dye that wasn't enough to dye fabrics with (teaspoons left) and made a small dye study chart for myself. Just kept mixing and mixing and recorded each one.

Now this is nothing compared to the colour study you make when you take Carol Sonderland's workshop. Oooh how I would love to do that one. I keep checking her schedule and one of these days......ooowee!

Anyway, for now I have these to work from. Am about to order more fabs and dyes for my Annual Dyeing Party in July. I am so looking forward to that.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Ouch!!

I'm in a bit if a pickle today. I finally decided to get the cortisone shot in my foot that had been recommended to me. Can you say BIG big OUCH!!

My husband sat with me (thankfully) as Doc gave me 2 injections and I just about squeezed the bugger out his hand on that second one. That one really hurt. Apparently that injection site was the exact area where I've been experiencing my foot problem.

So 7 hours later here I sit, on my bed, with my foot propped up on 3 pillows wishing I could be at my friend's 1st gallery opening tonight. Boo hoo.

Are you feeling sorry for me yet? Aw shucks forget about me (for now at least), go create something new in my honour. I'll just deal with the pain......sigh...that might last 48-72 hrs.

Oh well, it's all for good. It has to be. I'm taking a workshop with Lyric Kinard tomorrow and my foot has to be able to be hobbled on at least!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Speaking of Revamping

Please bear with me while I check out some other templates for my blog. As you know I'm revising, rethinking, retooling.........and my blog is obviously not immune from change.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

p.s I think I kinda like this one. whadya think????

June TIF Challenge and Stashes

I'm hanging in there folks trying to keep up. I really would like to have the whole year done in TIF challenges but....

Anyway, the concept for this month's TIF challenge is all about stashes. Here's how Sharon B describes it: "Stashes are either purchased or scavenged materials that have accumulated over time and as such they often have a story to tell........So this month, the idea is to think about stories that are, and stories that are possible."

My Stash Story

Because I've been retooling, revamping, revising myself as it pertains to my artwork, my stash (much of it is commercial fabrics I no longer use regularly) just sits there for the most part.

I feel guilty...lordy, lordy yes I do...because I went out and bought all it of, no one else helped me (well maybe a friend or two persuaded me to get more than I thought I would get at the time...no names of course but you all know who you are!!!).

For the most part though, just like the rest of you just starting out (and some of you who've been at it for years) I too went thru a "gotta have it" phase.

So for me, my stash represents my greed phase, the "I CANNOT live w/o that loud red/orange/blue psychedelic number or that it-just-jumped-into-my-bag green to match all the other greens I have. I feel guilty for hoarding all this fabric but I do have some cool ideas on how to use it all up.

My working stash on the other hand includes:

...my hand dyes which are yummy, yummy. I used to belong to a monthly hand dyed club run by Judy Robertson but regretfully had to quit that and it broke my heart.

(Judy produces some of the most beautiful hand dyes around and it was like getting a big box of chocolates every month when that mailer came with the 1 yd cut);

...my batiks in all those drop dead gorgeous prints. I came to batiks later than most because I didn't see what the craze was about. Boy was I wrong. NOW I have a batik stash to die for and funnily enough it's not that large at all. I didn;t go crazy with the buying (mainly because the guilt from all the other fabrics I had was already eating me up);

...and my black and whites. Don't know how I started this collection but now love working with a bl/wh background pallette (bottom shelf above).

Now I do have to confess (yes...here she goes you say). The top picture clearly shows my nicely folded stash of commercial fabrics, the 2nd pic my working fabrics. What I have not told or shown most people is the stuff that I haven't laundered and therefore is not folded as nicely. That's the stuff that really stirs the guilt right up.

This 3rd pic is of that "stash". Those fabs that haven't been touched since I moved to the room I now use as my studio...4 yrs ago (What shock! What horror!)

In a space, off to the side (you can't see it when you enter the room thankfully) is this plastic tub full...and I mean FULL...of the last of my commercial fabric purchases.

I periodically rummage thru it looking for that perfect piece to add but, for the most part....it just sits there......staring me in the face.

So now you know my story. I'm gonna have to think about how to put this into a quilted piece.

What about you?...what's your stash story and what's it tell about you? I would love to hear your stories.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Books, Books, Books

Most of my friends know I have this pact with myself, to add one new book to my library every month. Some months I don't buy any new ones at all but I do love it when a shiny new book arrives in the mail. YUMMY!!!!!!!

Most of the books I buy are reference books (as opposed to those that contain how-to-do-exactly-what-I-do tutorials).

That's because I am in a learn, learn, learn phase and since going to workshops given by top artists is out of the question for me right now, I can take a lesson on some interesting technique thru their book.

So with that said you just have to check out my little library widget that I added on my sidebar! It's just way too cute.

Take Katie Pasquini's latest, "Color and Composition". Such a great book that contains a slew of exercises to help you thru the two things that can stump a new quilt artist.

My latest purchase is "Mixed-Media Collage" by Holly Harrison. Holly takes you on a fantastic in-depth journey with five mixed-media artists, going thru step by step (though not a turorial) as the artists make a particular mixed-media piece their own unique way. She then lets you sit in on her interviews with them as they reveal thier thoughts on being artists. Way cool book!

I have always wanted to share the books I'm reading with you and now I get to thru my "Little Library Book Club".

Happy reading!

What are YOU Drawn to?

Today is MONDAY!

Time for a post (bet you thought I forgot...HA!).

My FAB group met recently and I posed a question to them. I showed them 4 pieces of work that I had recently finished and asked them to tell me what was the common factor in all of them.

My thinking is that with their input I would get some more feedback on the direction my artwork was taking.

I see myself gravitating in a new direction. Don't misunderstand, I will keep designing quilt patterns because I still love making traditional quilts with a contemporary twist, but I think I'm defining, in a singular way, what kind of artwork really inspires me to create.

I've mentioned here already that I'm drawn to colour, line, shape and, more recently, texture (as opposed to pattern).

These are the art quilts that draw me in, that speak to my core, the ones that can suggest realism but does not convey a specific image; the ones that use colour as it's main tool and informs the piece with line and shape.

It got me to thinking about how each of us defines our art. Have you formerly thought about how and why you produce the things that you do?

What draws you to a textile piece in a show or gallery? What about it speaks to YOU?

Are you a person who prefers realistic images, pieces that tell a story and gives you images to respond to or do you prefer pieces that you interpret as you see it, where you get to inform the piece with your own thoughts and feelings?

BTW, the pomagranite piece at left is unquilted. The design you see is done in a dry erase pen on a piece of plexiglass, my way of auditioning quilting patterns.

I take pictures of each one as I draw them and can then refer back to see which one works best. This is not the pattern I have chosen to machine quilt it with.

If you've been reading my blog you've probably seen some of the things I've been producing . What feedback do you have? Any concise thoughts on the direction you see me taking?

No worries on me being offended. I say if you ask the questions then you must be okay with the answers you get.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

What's Coming up on My Schedule

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be speaking to Foothill Quilter's Guild in Shelby, NC tomorrow night. I'll be giving my presentation "The Evolution of a Fiber Artist", a tongue in cheek look at my life as a quilt addict turned fiber artist.

Also this Sat, May 24th, I will be teaching a class "All About Bindings" at Quilter's Loft in Moorseville for all those who need a refresher on how to put on those pesky bindings.

Keep checking my website RedBarn-Studios to see other classes and workshop I will be offering. Check out the shop's blog to see other classes they offer.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

What Do You Call Yourself?

capturing ourselves

For the last few weeks I've been thinking about Sharon B's TIF challlenge for this month. I think it's a great question but it's a hard one to answer succinctly AND make a small piece to capture the essence of it.

If I've answered the question of "what do I call myself" (a fiber artist) then why is it so hard to create that expression in a piece of artwork? That then prompts another question...have I fully answered the question?

For a while there, in the last couple of months, I wavered back and forth about the "label" I give myself to be placed out there everywhere to describe what I do but, now that I'm really thinking about it, deep down I don't really like labels for me or anyone else. Why can't I just make artwork and be done with it?

Ya like it or ya don't. End of story!

It's only now that I realize that the label is not for me...no, not at all....it's so that others can recognize me in some way to help them SEE ME better, put me in some subjective category and file me away in some recess of their brain..."oh yeh..Grace, the FIBER artist" (whatever the heck that means they think to themselves).

So if I am to label myself to inform others of who I am and what I do, how do I express that in a quilted piece effetcively? More thoughts to ponder.

May TIF might just not get made in May.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",