I have to credit my headache this morning for the creation of this quilt.  I planned on putting together my potholders today, but I took an Excedrin and, I’m blaming it on the caffine, my head was suddenly filled with the need to create something new.

I was thinking of corduroy so I started there, pulling out all the corduroy I had.  Unfortunately, I had reds and browns and a bit of green.  It just wasn’t working.   Not sure where to go from here, I went to  my quilting bible, the Gee’s Bend book.  As I was looking through it I realized that my inspiration didn’t come from specific designs or colors, but from the fact that each woman was working from her own intuition not looking outside of herself when making the quilts but within.  I found me asking myself, what would I do?

So I pushed aside the brown corduroy and left only the red.  I looked out my window and saw the fence posts surround the pasture and  in my mind saw squares of orange and red between randomly placed vertical lines. I looked through my boxes and shelves of fabric and pulled out the ones that spoke to me.  I stared making an uneven grid with yellow verticals and half way through I stopped and looked at it, unsure what to do next.  A voice in my head said, ” Don’t start thinking now.”   Good advice, I thought,  so I listened to my inner voice.

I’ll look at it again tomorrow before piecing it together and maybe I’ll think about it then, or maybe not.

Sometimes I make something and I just know it’s good.  Sometimes I think it’s great and I get really excited over it, a creative rush.  Other times I just know it’s bad and throw the whole thing in the garbage.  And sometimes, I just don’t know.

The first time I tried my free motion foot sewing machine, I found myself  unconsciously drawing a self portrait.  It was tiny, but there was a figure in a dress, a dog, a flower and a building that looked like my studio.  At that moment, I was in my studio with Freida and full grown sunflowers outside my window.  It was the most natural thing for me to do, something I didn’t even have to think about.

But I left the idea behind and only came back to it months later.  When I made my first Streaming piece I wasn’t really sure about it.  It was interesting and I liked making it, but it was so familiar to me I didn’t think it was anything special.  For some reason I kept doing them.  Then people started to tell me how much they liked them and I sold all three pieces that I made for the first show in the Pig Barn Gallery.  So I was encouraged, and have made more, with the idea of showing them all together.  But through out it all, I continue to have my doubts.

So now I’ve taken my uncertainty a step further by making a Streaming piece into a pillow.  And every time I look at it I think, “I just don’t know”.  But I also know, I’m going to make more. Maybe I’ll keep making them until, that nagging feeling inside of me, goes away.  That feeling that says, “there’s something here, you’re just not seeing it.”   That feeling that keeps me going, that wants to know.

I just got my Gingher shears back in the mail and… what’s that saying about ” like cutting through butter?”   I find I just want to use them.  I’m cutting fabric that doesn’t need to be cut.  This may sound strange, but, I just like the way it feels.  There is just enough resistance to appreciate the seemingly effortless effort the scissor has to make to slice through the fabric.  It is like cutting through warm butter.  Creamy around the edges, you only begin to feel the blade  when it meets  the firm center of the butter.  Somehow it’s the same with fabric, smooth and clean, more like slices than cuts.  I’m especially enjoying cutting through cotton batting, it’s like eating cotton candy.

Once I figured it out, it was so easy. ( And thanks again to the person who suggested it on my blog)    I just sent Gingher the scissors with a note that I wanted the scissors sharpened and a check for $7.50.  Three weeks later, here they are!  They also recommend a sharpening stone.  I’ll let you know how that works out.

Sweet days off and back to be with the animals and farm when Irene gets here.  I had big plans this morning to catch up on my bookkeeping, but as I was walking with the dogs, my head started to fill with images for a streaming piece.

I started the piece based on the idea that we all have something unique to offer the world.  When we truly open ourselves up to it, it comes through us and connects us to something greater than ourselves and touches those around us. (Greatness at my fingertips).  I laid some thin pieces of fabric over the main piece thinking it offers some depth and dimension.  I can see working with this more, having a collage effect.

I had something new in mind when I started working on this piece.  A few weeks ago a friend was in my studio and saw one of my streaming pieces.  She said she would like to have it made into a pillow. She’s a big believer in functional art.  I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not  about  I saw it until I saw it on her couch.  It looked like it had always been there.

So I decided to make some new streaming pillows for the October Functional Art Show.  This is my first one.  I’m curious to see what it will look like when it’s a pillow.

Jon took the photo of Jane McMillens pincushion on the invitation. Somehow, once again I forgot to credit him.

Our vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, thwarted by the hurricane moving up the coast, Jon and I decided to spend a couple of days in Vermont and take a shorter trip to the Vineyard next week when the weather is better.   So today I’m sending off the invitations  for the Functional Art Show to the artists who are participating, then I’m taking a couple of days off.  No blogging, no email and no guilt about it.

I’ve had a few people writing to ask if there are any good hotels to stay in near the farm for the show.  So I’ve gathered a list for anyone interested.

Just up the road from the farm is the Bunker Hill Inn (518) 854-9339. It’s close by  friendly,quiet and beautiful.

There are two Inns in Cambridge NY an easy half hour away in the creative and quaint town of Cambridge NY.   There’s the Cambridge Hotel (518) 677-5626 and The Rice Mansion Inn (518)677-5741.  Chung-Ah Park, one of the potters in the exhibit, shows her work at the Artisans Market in Cambridge.  You can also visit the Battenkill Bookstore in Cambridge and get Jon’s new book “Going Home: Finding Peace when Pet Die” ( or any of his books) which Jon will be signing at the show.  You can also get any of Jon’s books just up the road from the farm at Gardenwork.  And if in Cambridge, remember to also visit Jack’s Out Back.  That’s Jack Metzger’s Gallery and Antique shop.  Jack was in the first Pig Barn Gallery Show.

The Dorset Inn (802)867-5500 in Dorset Vermont is also about a half hour away.  It’s a bit more luxurious and in Dorset  you can visit the Redux Gallery where Jon sells his notecards and I sell some potholders.

So which is more beautiful to look at, the flowers in the vase or the pieces of the flowers as they fall on the table top below them?

All spring, summer and fall I have flowers on the toilet tank in the bathroom.  Because the tank is white and the surface undisturbed, you can see the tiny dots of yellow/orange pollen sprinkled around the base of the vase.

Years ago I made a piece of art from thread and yellow crayon.  I ran the thread through the crayon then tied each individual piece into another thread that I had inserted into the wall vertically making a line about 6 inches long.   I rested the other end of the treads on another thread about 3 feet away, the loose ends bunching together to make a tassel and the whole piece a swag.

it looked something like this

I liked the piece, but what I think of  most is  the markings left from the yellow crayon where the thread touched the wall when I took the piece down.  They were so faint, (like the pollen) the ones made from the thread tied to the left side reminded me of the marks left from  heavily applied mascara  on the skin just beneath the eye.  Except barely visible.   On the “tassel” side, just a smudge of yellow.

And then, there’s always my bucket of scraps.  I know I’ve posted photos of my scraps before, but of course, they are never the same.  I could post a photo of my scrap bucket several times a week and it would always be a new bucket of scraps.

Every time I make vegetable juice, I stare at the leftover pulp and wonder what I could do with it.  Intense,  rich orange, magenta and green (carrots, beats and spinach).  Last week at  Gardenworks I watched Nicole carry out a clear plastic bag of wildly colorful dead flower buds.  They were for the compost, but I thought there must be something else to be done with them.

Beautiful residue.  I wonder if the residue ever becomes more important than the place it came from.

I finished the Gentle Quilt today and will be shipping it out to it’s new home tomorrow.

Hazel let me know that the video I posted yesterday was “private”.  I’ve fixed it, so now it’s public, for all to see.  Thanks Hazel.

One day  I was driving into the town of Cambridge when I notice a humming field of flowers and insects.  I stopped and took some video noticing the butterflies, because they stood out the most.  I wasn’t sure how I’d us the video, but today I had the idea to make a video of shifting color and texture.

I found, when I started working on it, what I had in mind didn’t happen.  Instead I noticed there were some smooth transitions that I hadn’t been able to get before.  So I moved things around, deleted some images and added others.  Suddenly the video was about waiting, and making decisions, with some smooth transitions from one frame to the next.

I can still see the color and texture video in my mind, I just have to figure out how to do it. Until then…..

One of the fun things we’ll be doing at the Functional Art Show on October 8th and 9th is raffling off a quilt made by  Gretchen Pinkel .  It’s titled “Black Lab Star Quilt” and measures 68″x68″.  The money from the raffle will benefit LABMED the non-profit organization which helps provide funds toward the medical expenses of Labradors that have been rescued.

Gretchen (Lenore’s Breeder) has been breeding Labs for many years and she’s also a quilter.  Every year she  and a bunch of other quilters and Lab lovers  design and create a panel for the official  LABMED Quilt, which is then raffled off.

This year, along with creating a panel and designing the official LABMED quilt, Gretchen decided to make her own quilt to be raffled at the Pig Barn Galleries first Functional Art Show.

Gretchen feels that supporting LABMED is ” a great way to give back to the breed I love.  To paraphrase my Labrador mentor she’s always said that if you are active in labradors it is always important to ask yourself “what am I giving back to the breed?”  This is my way of being able to give support to those labs in rescues that are in need and at the same time combining it with something I love doing (quilting).”

The raffle tickets are $5 each or 6 or $25.  You can buy tickets at the show or you can send a check or money order (No Cash Please)  made out to LABMED , along with your name address, email and phone # to:

Gretchen Pinkel
2284 Coach Road
Argyle NY  12809

Watch Gretchen and Lenore reunited at Bedlam Farm:

My Wild Rose pink potholder fits right into Sally’s pink cupboard.   I just love all that PINK!

Three of my potholders in Rebecca’s home.  It looks  so cozy.

Check out my Events page for details on the Functional Art Show at the Pig Barn Gallery, October 8th and 9th.  I’m still getting some information, so keep checking for more information.  Thanks and hope you can come to the show.