Lizard - twice in a couple hours

 

Saw something move in the hallway. A lizard. Brave me, captured with bowl and paper, moved it outside. Went back 10+ minutes later, still in the same place. Protection insticts are interesting.

          A bit later I went in the backyard for a bit of sun. Rain due soon, so patio furniture tucked away. 

 Laid back on the cement riser to the back door. Closed my eyes. Only had about 4 minutes until I felt    something on my right leg. I opened my eyes. I did swear outloud. A lizard. Same type, though highly unlikely the same one (front yard vs back). Very concidental, nonetheless. (I don't think I have ever had a lizard climb on me...other than perhaps my foot...to get on my leg, he had  to climb..it was raised up). 

 

Person in person ..ceramics

 

In the series of figures I have made lately, here are two made to go together. Haven't decided on glaze yet, so, they are hanging out bisqued fired for now. I won't explain their meaning to me, but was part of my thought throughout. Details added for a reason..and in relation to their precursors.  Openness, placement, etc. Ceramics. Not trying for cute, but know big eyes and roundness can do that. Image just below if view inside top of head. :)

Adventure - unexpected delights

Went on an adventure near the end of last month that led me to something I had no idea was coming. Along the way, came across this embedded in the sidewalk, the store it was associated with was no longer there. 

I was on this adventure to see a gallery show of a friend. Many steps along the way, including some bravery on my part, encouraged by another friend. Anyhow, it is a kind of a long story, but it did lead to some incredible visuals -- in the gallery, and then in my mind of memories. I acquired a book associated with the show, and as I looked and read it, even more beauty, that brought me back to kidhood -- not with sillinness, but with deep meaning and memories of my Dad. 

 

Decorating clay with cake tool

Used cake decorater tip with slip to adorn this piece. Haven't done the foot yet, but will see how it all sticks and fires. Yes, needs some practice, but, is a start. Yes, the recent ask by my niece for an ornate cake inspired the idea. 

 

Fancy Birthday Cake

My niece requested a fancy cake for her "milestone" birthday, so I complied. I am not much of a cake decorater, so flaws all over, but she enjoyed. Used peanut butter play-dough (edible) to sculpt the dog...though her real dog might scoff at be depicted in "cute" form. 

 

Ceramic Figure

 

Will be one of a series of five. The story of 5 will not all be in clay, but, the materials will play into the story.  The next one here is a little tricky for me to figure out, as it involves taking two figures and merging them in a more complicated way then a seam merge. Ceramics. There are 4 vertical cuts on this one.

Quilt from Photograph

 

Made a quilt (a first) for a friend who moved back to his birthplace state. Tried to combine "here" with "there."  

a. Image. Grid the image so easier to sketch on quilt scale.

b. Pattern. Grid your pattern paper (made mine to quilt size) so you can eye the picture grid as you draw the image on the pattern paper. 

c. Fabric. Select your fabrics. 

d. Pattern pieces to cut. I traced on fusable to make pattern pieces, as I was going to fuse each piece anyhow...helped me to keep the orignal pattern sheet as I worked on the pieces. 

e. Fuse. Iron on the fusable -- in theory helps fray, though, I need more experience to work through some issues. I cut it so it went to the very edge of the fabric, but, I found it sometimes stuck a bit further than the fabric, and made me stitch and snip some. Since some of this moves as being sewn/ironed, making a perfect match wasn't "perfect" in my hands. 

f. Lay out. Put the pieces together to check for alignment. 

g. Sew.  I straight stitched together, then zig zaged. Took the pieces horizontally, so I could adjust as needed as I worked down the overall image. Walking foot helps stability. I zig zagged on some place too much (to try to cover the fusible that was sticking out) -- that caused some ripples in the fabric..just too much stitching. 

h. Quilt backing. I put light cotton quilt backing behind the image after I top stitched (straight and zig zag). Stiched it following the pattern pieces to avoid adding extra lines to the image. 

i. Backing. Pick your backing. I also added a message on the back -- used a separate piece of fabric and wrote on it, then hand stitched it to the backing. 

Blogger is great, but sometimes a little ornery on aliging pictures. Below shares images of some of the steps listed above.