Fibermania

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

One of the highlights of my career has been the travel. And one of the aggravations of my career has been the travel. I have loved meeting the people and seeing the sights, and tasting the foods, and teaching fun and enthusiastic students. But there are problems associated with traveling.

You already have heard complaints about airports, and that's not what I meant to discuss. I mean the getting ready and then the returning unpacking and readjusting. There is a lot of that. A LOT.

Tomorrow I am taking my very last teaching trip. I am going to savor every minute of it.

But here's the thing. Since the move I have put off doing anything really creative (not counting assembling furniture, hanging curtains and blinds, and arranging furniture) until this last trip is over. I have just barely found my box of fused fabric and moved it from the garage into the studio.

What I mean to do is first GET ORGANIZED. Things have to be available, at my fingertips, unpacked and ready. So yesterday I went online and ordered this shelf from Lowes.



Six feet tall, 4 feet wide and 18" deep, it should hold four rubbermaid boxes per shelf. Plus my TV and radio. Four boxes of paint/pastels/colored pencils/paper/brushes. Four boxes of fabric, patterns, notions, threads. Four boxes of yarn, yarn, yarn and yarn. I will be set...If I can move in that tiny room with all that stuff. I have two tables, three rolling drawer sets and an easel. Something will have to go.

When you travel a lot like I did, you put off doing long term projects. Everything has to be done in one or two days. That includes quilts. In the early days before I left home so often, I would spend up to eleven days on one quilt. In fact that was the limit of my attention span. And it seemed to be just the right amount of time to devote to one piece. All my big winners took that amount or less. The last time I had that much concentrated work on a quilt was ages ago. I cannot even remember.

Staying put, in the studio will change what I make. I have had some recent inspiration that I wanted to show you.


This is the logo for Blumen Galerie, in St. Moritz. A flower shop that had this wonderful display.
Very Andy Goldsworthy, no? And of course I was crazy about their shelving and flowers too.

All that red, pink and orange, against the black shelves. Oooooohhhh. And I loved the whimsy of these animals draped with Spanish Moss...

There is a quilt in here, somewhere, or maybe a painting. Anyway, as is usually heard around here, "When I get back..."

PS: I LOVED Pushing Daisies. Here's a review that totally sums it up. What a refreshing and wonderful new show.