Sunday, May 22, 2005

The Changing of the Kitchens

Tree Peony (before the hailstorm knocked off all the petals)

Bleeding Hearts which we have in pink and white varieties

The most fragrant white Lilacs
Now that the weather is starting to warm up and the garden is sprouting wonderful perennials, it heralds the start of barbecue time. That means we are moving to the downstairs kitchen.

Everything from the upstairs kitchen is packed up and moved to the refrigerator, and cabinets and pantry downstairs, since we want to be out on the deck for our meals, including breakfast.

If it is too cool to eat outside we will eat at the counter here.


Our own version of the Riviera, the grill undercover to the left.


Our lavish plastic dining set. This table doubles as a dye table, should the spirit move me. The deck has a few puddles, as we had a bit of rain this morning.
The scenery is nice and just getting started.


I like a jammed together flower garden. It keeps the weeds to a minimum.
The upstairs kitchen, denuded almost and ready to be scrubbed down for the final closing of the season.
In Illinois we make a big deal about the change from Winter to Summer, noting that Spring is hard to pin down. One day it can be 85 degrees and the following night we can have another frost. Since Dave was home on a Saturday (!!) we took advantage of the nice weather and did the move.
I was distracted by all these events and stayed out of the studio, but I did want to share what is going on in there.

This is a tiny, 4x6" quilt which I made about four years ago. I no longer have the thing, but came across the slide of it when I was sending off some old slides to get published. I projected the slide and took a digital pix of it. I have always thought the layout was interesting and wanted to make it larger, so while the slide was projected on my wall, I traced the whole thing and now I had a pattern. Then I downloaded the digital pix and printed it out as a guide to color.
You know I could have just looked at the picture and winged it, but no... I wanted to have the exact dimensions so I made tracings and constructed it dizactly the same only larger.

Here it is, 30" x 22". 99% silks.
It has major problems. For one thing, I hate hate hate that it is a compostion floating on a background. In the smaller version that wasn't as noticeable. In the larger version it is really clear that I need to connect the image to the edges in some way.
Also there needs to be another half circle imposed somewhere else. In the small version, there were important hand stitched elements which added interest to the design. These will not translate in the same scale to the larger piece. I will have to come up with a replacement for them.
I really don't like the work at the point that I left it, but feel confident that I can fix it.
However, the layout is more important than anything else and should be reconsidered for a second attempt.
It will have to wait, since it is Sunday, and Dave and I have another day together, in which I promised not to conjure up anymore Honey-do projects.

8 comments:

  1. I never had a house with a summer/winter kitchen... in Cleveland that was primarily an Italian household. (hmm... why? I don't know). And I am so uninthralled with basements that I would never have built one myself. But I love the idea of it.

    And both kitchens look similar. So you feel at home in both... that's cool.

    Your raised beds look very nice. Oh to just step off the deck and pick some basil. May in the Midwest... one of the best times.

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  2. You have a red kitchen! I have a red kitchen....only one, though. :-) LOVE them (yours and mine)! Living in Illinois, I share in your season celebration!

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  3. Melody...what about taking the design off the background all together???

    A girlfriend in Boston was telling me how 2 kitchens (seasonal) is big with traditional Italian cooks in the Northeast. I never knew that. I always wanted an iron kettle for outdoor fish frys in the summer...like my great grandmother had. I guess the neighbors these days would wonder what on earth has possessed me though. :)

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  4. What if you cut away most or all of the background area?

    And what if you added more wavy lines, especially in the lower right, going off the edge of the composition?

    And what if you added fused-on matchsticks to approximate the stitching lines of the small piece in a larger scale?

    And I love both your kitchens! The white cabinets and appliances against those lucious red walls rock!!

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  5. Ha! My red kitchen is my summer kitchen and my winter kitchen, cause I can step out and grill all year round!! That's life in Wine Country!!

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  6. Anonymous8:08 PM

    Two kitchens is one too many to clean (well, actually two too many but we all make sacrifices). And I am perplexed by what Gerrie said...I also cook out year round...and I live in Michigan (ok, I'm wierd).

    I like the idea of getting rid of the background on the quilt entirely....

    What ever happened with the mailbox?? Is it now lime green?

    teri

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  7. Anonymous12:28 PM

    Hi, I was out bloigging and found your site. It certainlhy got my attention and interest. I was looking for Silk information and even though this isn't a perfect match I enjoyed your site. Thanks for the read!

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Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com