Fibermania

....With a Little Help from my Friends

The lovely and talented Anonymous suggested that I try Borax to deflea my house. Cheap and effective and no bombing required. So I thought Why not?

I found it in the laundry detergent aisle and came right home and began sprinkling it everywhere.

Here it is on my living room floor. I let it sit a while and then swept up a small area and watched the fleas choke, kick, and cry for Momma. I could see them easily on the white powder. It was so satisfying. Everything got dusted, and then I went outside and counted goldfish while I waited for total annihilation to take place.

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At Knitting yesterday I mentioned to the gals that I was looking for a tile store where I could find lots of choices of tile for my studio and bedroom. They had wonderful suggestions, and I made a list. The first place, and the closest, was Home Depot, and voila, the tile I wanted was right there. Not a very exciting looking tile is it? But it is just what I need.

We have five different floor coverings and none of them match each other, so I was looking for something that would provide a subtle segue between them without calling attention to itself. (So unlike me.) It must be lighter however, and shiny, and not beveled, and not really beige. This is the sample tile and it is lighter than the adjacent bathroom sheet goods, but will work, especially in the studio where there will be lots of it. I needed to get 540 square feet and Home Depot ordered it all of one dye lot and I can pick it up next week when I go to Knitting. Of course I got a good sale price.

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And then here is a reader question, which goes along with my Process Pledge (see sidebar)

Hi Melody,
Would you please discuss your design decisions some? For instance, I think it's so effective that you've sort of dissected this flower and put overlapping parts here and there. How do you arrive at those decisions?

My answer: O dear. The whole thing is sort of a doodle that leads to another doodle and then a doodle refinement.
As I recall, an invitation arrived to participate in a show and the theme was Floral. Having no ideas in my head, I began to lightly sketch big loose overlapping circles. I just let myself make smooth curving lines and soon there were suggestions of daisy-like shapes. Following that lead, leaf shapes became evident. Then using an old standby design idea, I dissected the leaf shape as I had done many times before.

I think the underlying question is asking for my thinking and truly there was none. I don't have a plan, mostly. The design may or may not show up in the sketch, but usually it does. It is definitely necessary to draw, and often, and keep the drawings in one place where they can be found. Sometimes I draw and don't make the quilt for years.

 

And, for your wonderful tulip pieces, the sliced petals are wonderful, as well as the tiny pieces in the background. I'd love to gain insight on how you arrived at these choices.

My answer: Once again, the design for the tulips was a drawing of overlapping oval shapes. I made the drawing years before the quilt, and was afraid to go forward with it because my friend Frieda Anderson said that the tulips looked like the man eating flowers from Little Shop of Horrors, or clamshells, not tulips.

But eventually I decided to try for the tulip-y look. I had been teaching in Birmingham, Alabama and the airport had some wonderful paintings which had patterns of curving stripes and wiggly and zigzaggy lines and just a ton of great shapes and colors. I took pictures, thinking I could do something like that in fabric.

After I made the tulip shapes, I added the background, extending the lines from the tulips into the background, dividing up the space.

The quilt was a calculation on my part. I wanted to win one more big prize and then I felt I could quit entering shows (and quit having all that stress). So I had to make something over the top, throwing in all but the kitchen sink. Silk, excessive quilting, excessive patterning, excessive color, it all had to work. And it did. First Place and an immediate sale. The purchaser (now deceased) was going to allow me to enter it in several more shows, but I was satisfied and just so glad to be finished with shows.

I think a lot of artists let their imaginations have priority in their brains. Meaning that they ignore logic and go for the feeling. It takes experience and time to trust yourself and your ideas, but once you do, and they gain acceptance, then it is easier to follow your natural inclinations.