Dyeing Fabrics – Art Star Journal

September Arrives ………..

There is a definite chill in the air here in Maine. There isn’t any ice or snow yet, so I’m not at all unhappy with the change. This summer has, once again, been a wet one ………… living in the woods, I will take rain over drought any year! I did something unheard of this…

Making a Mess

This has been a week!!!!!!!!!!!! I won’t bend your ear about politics – it’s just way too surreal for words. Like people just found out the president is missing …………. everyone must be the three blind monkeys??? I can’t take anymore, so it’s time to dye. I managed to dye 6 yards of hemp knit…

Self-Sufficient and Self-Efficient

Today, I’m hiding. It’s like 400 degrees in the shade up here! I’m inside, which will probably not improve my container garden, but there’s no way I’m leaving the air conditioning. We seldom, if ever, have a heat index over 100 degrees. We’re almost as far north as you can get. Not much farm work…

Gardening, Sewing, and Reading

This is an old photo. I must have been about 3 years old. That’s quite a few decades ago, I’m afraid. Both of my grandmothers, Nannie and Hattie, are gone now ……………. but not gone. I learned something from each of them. Today I want to tell you about Grandma Hattie. She was an educated…

The Life and Times of a Serial Procrastinator

I quickly looked at the astrological aspects hitting my natal chart today, and there he is – Pluto. No way Pluto is a DWARF planet, Maybe he’s smaller than other planets, and I can only thank God that he is …………… I’m afraid if he were any larger, I would have vaporized in the last…

That Quiet Space ……………

I don’t know if I’m the only one ………….. or if everyone has this THING …………. I have always “done” something. It was embroidery when I was little ……………. Grandma Nannie taught me to do that. She had fun teaching me to use my right hand instead of my left. Now I can’t sew with…

Cleaning House – Well, Part of the House

I am only posting that picture in order to shame myself into organizing (cleaning) my sewing room, a/k/a studio. I have a problem with the word studio. It sounds like I’m a productive artist person – which tickles my guilt bone – because I SHOULD BE A PRODUCTIVE ARTIST PERSON and instead I am a…

Mercury Retrograde and Being a Pain

I like doing this stuff, you know. Messing with colors, sprinkling on dyes and saturating the cloth with soda ash …………….. waiting FOREVER to see what it looks like – I love it. Then I like actually DOING something with the fabric. I’ve been on a garment sewing kick since 2008 when I bought my…

Just Being Here Now

Being where I am, and not being where I’m not – that’s my recipe for living. You could call it mindfulness, total meditation or Zen. Whatever you call it, for me it is the only way I can function. And it isn’t easy, paying attention. It doesn’t matter whether I’m depressed, angry, ecstatically happy or…

Spring Plans

The Shepherd earned points today. He drove me all the way to Caribou to pick up my new to me Bernette for Bernina 009dcc Coverlock/Coverstitch machine. I used to have a serger. I didn’t particularly care for it although it did make knit t-shirts a breeze. I think this is better than a serger. It…