So, "El Gallo" AKA MacGruver is pressed folded and hanging up in the closet. I have the back to assemble next. I'm feeling the urge to lift a weight off of my chest, so I'm putting everything aside for a few days. Meanwhile my workstation is clear and I haven't seen this much real estate in months. I think piecing started in September. So that is four months of working nearly every day on that quilt. Eleven in the morning to six at night is a schedule I slid into with help. It is the bedrock of my day and I prefer it that way. In lieu of "The Rooster" I've got time now to slip the hanging sleeves on my entries for DQS. I finished one today and the last I'll start tomorrow. Getting the little things out of the way will prove beneficial through April. Besides quilting Ganymede and Mr. MacGruver for DQS 2016, I've got the bells to start next month . I had totally forgot. Thank you Luis!
What I've been quiet about is a little breakthrough. I was listening to a friend and he mentioned my collage series. I seem to have moved into an annual production on that front and not playing around or at anything. Serious seems to be the tone after Tin, Cotton, Steel and Spice and I gave my brain a work out last night. The resolve came through looking at several principals I have attuned to over the past twenty some years. They are recycle, resuse, repurpose and zero waste. I downsized in the last three months and gave to charity what I could no longer rationale keeping. Let someone else have some fun. Still I am left with fundamental materials that have been collecting dust. So, I've decided to change my perspective when it comes to paper. What other resources do I have in order to break out of this 12"x18" cycle I've reviewed for three years? The answer is to construct the substrates for this year's series out of fabric and paper. All else will fall from there including armatures and hanging devices other than intimating a framed piece of art. This is a grand risk I take as the resolve may not be simple or easy. At least for me. I know of no references to use for a starting point. Maybe except for that which I've tried in past years that was dependent solely on the nature of fabric.
Needless to say I am psyched and open to experimentation. Pitfalls? I'm just hoping not to coat everything in GAC forcing a glossy sheen from hell. Nor do I hope to become the homeless persons best friend by offering cash for interesting found objects. Yes, I'm talking about the french fry from the McDonald's dumpster that looks like Abraham Lincoln. Hmmm... Soon. Soon as I can get all of these other things under wraps, then I can fiddle and don the string hat to dance before I start in on the dolls for craft season in October.
Happy New Year to you!
As ever, stay hungry and curious.