Catch Up

I can't believe that it is August 20, 2013.
Sometimes I feel as if I am Rip Van Winkle, waking up to find myself in a new world.
Or at least a new month!

Is it just me or does time really begin to move faster the older that we get?

So - here we are, almost a month since the last post.
Well almost 3 weeks but who is counting (obviously I am).

What have I been doing?
I traveled out to see my friend Liz Kettle in Colorado.
Taught a book making class at my friend Deb Prewitt's shop (Blue Twig Studio) (which was great btw).
I stayed with Liz for a week so we could visit.
She worked my butt off while I was there!
We were getting her (and studio mate Cass Mullane) studio ready for a photo shoot.
I took more realistic photos of the space AFTER the photographer left while we were all working and playing on various projects.

This is the corner that houses most of Cass' supplies.
I love the layout of all of the different work spaces.

This is the beautiful hand dyed fabric/paper shelving on
Liz' side.

I love the way that Liz and Cass set their work spaces up.
They can work independently yet share the space
and be close enough to talk while they work!
The wall behind Liz is a design wall. It currently has a
new series by Cass on it.

This wall has a selection of black and white (with a touch of red).
The very messy (yet happy) table in the fore ground
is loaded with paint and paper. A small group of us got together
and played for several hours. It was wonderful!

All the thread, paper, paint, fabric and base supplies that anyone
could possibly want or need are housed in this corner!

Look at Liz, hard at work on a creative project.
I love that they have their work hanging on the walls all
around them.

Cass is sitting at the machine working but can hop up and do
anything that she needs to at the work space beside her.

Here's a portion of the mess that we made while playing.

It's so inspiring to me to spend time with like minded women.
Sharing ideas & dreams, laughing and talking along with a little whining, um, I mean working through to creative solutions.
It was one way of refilling our well.
We must spend time with our creative sisters in order to nourish ourselves!

During my absence on the blog, I also went trout fishing!
My husband and I drove up to a local fish hatchery (above Walhalla SC) and fished along the east fork of the Chatooga River.
I caught my first (second, third and fourth) trout!
I really enjoyed it, getting out in the forest and river was wonderful.
I'll spare you the photos of that though.
My husband grilled the fish that very evening and it was the best that I've ever had.
But man, I was exhausted by the time we got home! The water level was up from all of the rain that we've had and it really required some muscle walking around in the river.
I think that the bike riding muscles helped on that part.


What else have I done?
Hmmm...
I have been working on a felted Kindle cover that I started in Colorado.
My color palette is a blue-greenish color. Maybe a sea green, sea foam or something close to that, plus a splash of red orange.

I had bought a small piece of ribbon from Deb at Blue Twig Studio that coordinated
perfectly with the colors of the felted cover. I felt that I just had to incorporate it into the cover somehow.

Sometimes I pin things in place while I am deciding if I want to add them.
I am auditioning them before I commit to their placement.

I don't have any photos of the phase that the cover went through while I was doing a lot of the stitching.
I tried several ideas for the spine, finally settling on one that I think I like.

Now I am not too sure but I think it would be too much work to un-do it.
Sigh...
But it looks okay the way it is.
I guess.

Here are a few shots of it.
I am not quite finished with it as I still have a little more stitching to do.
Well, here - you will see what I mean.

I love the meandering red orange stitching on the back of it.
It really leads your eye around the entire piece (even if it is a cover and not quite a "piece of art work").

I added two layers of ribbon on the spine.
The bottom one is one of those ribbons that has open sections on it.
I didn't like the open sections on the edges - they are just open.
I mean, they are not closed in at all. So I stitched the edges, closing the gap.
I felt that it finished it in a better way. 

I think that I need to do something around the stem of the leaf.
I think it needs a darker outline.

I'm still stitching the veins in the leaf. I have them
drawn out with a white marker. I do like the background stitching
on the leaf - lots of little circles in diff colors.

I stitched one section of a base fabric (a silk scarf) in a satin stitch.
I love the sheen of the thread. The way that the light catches it is beautiful.
I also love being able to find small sections of the piece that are so interesting
on their own. It makes the viewer look for more of these!

I still have to finish the stitching (I think I have already said that, right?) but also need to address the edges of the entire cover.
Hmmm...I will have to think about that a bit more.

Here are a few shots of the cover wrapped around the Kindle.
I wanted to be able to see how the spine embellishment would work (and show you too).

Back view. I like the way that the red orange ribbon wraps around the front and back.

Front.
I definitely need to add something
to define the stem outline a little more.

I love French Knots.
Love. Love. Love.

It's a little crooked but you get the idea.
The ribbon was exactly the right size!

So, what do you think?

What would you do for the edging (or binding) of the cover?
I was thinking about twisting a few pieces of thread or yarn/fiber together and stitch them to the edges.
I guess that I could do a satin stitch around the edges...
or a blanket stitch...

I have a couple of scrap pieces from the original base that I will probably use to try a couple of ideas out on.

Leave me a comment or email me with your ideas!
I love getting comments. It makes me feel like I am writing to actual people instead of myself (even though I am an actual person too).
I see the numbers on the analytics so I know that there are people stopping by but I still love to read your comments and get your emails!

I'll leave with a photo of my studio mate.

I need to trim the hair on the bottom of his paws.
It grows so fast.

sleepy boy