One of the few holiday craft projects I was able to get through this year before Christmas rolled around. Its completion was a success due to its ability to be made in the car, not my time management! Sheep were in my head after watching Wallace & Gromit's "A Close Shave" and I fantasized how fun a Christmas tree full of sheep would look. At least, that's how MY tree would look if I wasn't a wandering vagabond and had roots in a home of my own...

The wool came from this musty old comforter which came into my possession after a trip through Memphis in 2010. It is special to me because the wool used to fill it came from the sheep my great-grandfather tended, on the ancestral homeland in Brownsville, TN. My grandfather's third cousin (ie-my third cousin, twice removed...follow me?) passed it on to me, knowing my crazed fiber love. So now here comes a chance for me to make something of it! The comforter has been ripped open and removed of all its wool innards, to be used for future projects. (I loved the chance to see how the wool was structured inside, prior to prefab batting)

The rest of the body is composed of a Sculpey head and legs, which were then connected with a wire spine. The wool was wrapped around and needle felted into place. I ended up not turning them into ornaments, allowing the gift recipients to decide how they wanted to display them.

We hit a little bit of that Christmas snow storm as we came over the Smokey mountains, into Tennessee, which to me is simultaneously exciting and terrifying, due to my inexperience with driving in inclement weather. But we made it to our destination safely, with sheep intact, and only a few felting needle stabs left behind.

Palau Quilt

Commissioned by Katherine Skinner

Completed TODAY!

Just got this sucker out of the dryer and laid it out on the floor to photograph. Wouldn't you know that even with me on a ladder, with the camera literally flat against the ceiling, I STILL couldn't get the entire thing in one frame?? Fortunately, my Photoshop skills have not been completely lost and was able to splice two images together. It's funny how different things can look through a camera and how much time you can spend in front of a computer just trying to get it to look like the way it looks in person. But of course nothings the same as seeing it in person! Or sleeping under it!!

Me on top of the ladder. 

There were literally sweat drips coming off my brow trying to get this shot!

So many reasons to love this picture. 

It's very fitting that I should run across this in the "random-drawer-where-everything-gets-shoved" drawer since I just completed a double wedding ring quilt of my own. This double wedding ring quilt hung in my room for many years (unconsciously molding me, I'm sure) until it was replaced by a Matrix poster or some other silly thing of high school importance. I have wanted to pull it out again and have another look at it. I don't know anything about it except that it's now living in one of my grandmother's closets. And I remember my favorite pieces being the fabrics that were falling apart with batting sticking out.

Also of note is the time of day this photo was taken. Obviously a mother's sick joke at getting her daughter out of bed. Sick, mom!

Some pictures from the past week...

The leaves have fallen but we're having gorgeous 60 degree days,

...the beer is gettin' goooooooood,

...the boyz are practicing hard,

 ...and I'm figgerin' it out. 

This is a continuation on an idea I started in college. Hate to say I started this piece a while back...like years back, but it's resurfaced and getting some attention, thanks to the 5-year old I baby sat next door. I picked the letter beads up from her. They are what I've been looking for to finish this project. 

We did a bead swap ;)

 Tryin' out some new stuff out on the back porch

 Flour and water never looked so good! Managed to get this done before the cold set in again.

If this paste resist technique turns out effective, maybe you'll see the finished result! Still waiting for the dye to dry before I get it in the wash and pull the letters off.

OMG OMG OMG I was standing up on my little ladder and realized that my entire wedding ring quilt top was placed on the work table for its final stitch. CRAZY. This has taken me 103 hours and 40 minutes. I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

In case you hadn't noticed, that's the floor and that's the ceiling. This one's a jumbo, measuring 100" by 85". I was looking through my quilt records and realized that this will be my 18th quilt completed....WOW.

~

 New art going up on the wall everyday!
I'm anxious to get these pieces in frames so I can really start seeing the finished product I've been envisioning. And that's a matter of finding a free moment in the busy woodworker's schedule...

I admit to being a bit of a defeatist with this whole full-time art life I've taken up...

"why are you doing this?"

"you sound awfully pretentious calling yourself an artist"

"you find this more important than looking for a job??"

"you think your art even matters?"

All insecurities aside, I know there's a point somewhere in all this tangle of stranded knitting. And maybe I don't have my most confident foot in the door but there's something in me that tells me to go with it and just do. 

There's always magic in action.

~

Last days of work at the denim factory. Up next: freedom. I'm taking control of my little creative life and devoting myself FULL-TIME to making art!! I finally said "What am I waiting for?" and took the plunge. Lots of new work in the making, am going to put on my first solo art show centered around knitting and the written word. Y'all wanna taste of what I'm cooking up in the studio?

Maybe not the most exciting Saturday night, but at least I've got some company. Trailblazing new paths into stranded knitting, realizing how little I know and learning a LOT.

~

New handmade business cards. Pretty sure you can't put hand-made on your business card if you don't hand-make them.

New tunes I'm enjoying while working.

New part of the "Q" quilt. Love the interplay of colors.

New chair I found in the back of my dad's warehouse.

New quilt top completed!! There's still a little more appliqué I want to do and am playing with screen-printing ideas...

~