Pat Findlay's Studio Time

For the first time in years, I have the glimmering of an idea for new work.  This is really exciting, as my creativity plummeted during Covid.  In my stash I found several pieces of rusted fabric.  I thought about how old and "used" the fabric looked, and how it almost appeared like the rocky background of ancient pave paintings.  How could I capture that image in fibre art?  I was thinking of things like ancient symbols--triple spirals, serpentine marks, and actual depictions of people and animals.  The first step was to create a background by piecing the smaller pieces I had.  I fused them to a piece of batting and carefully machine stitched them.  This is the result.  I have no idea how to proceed, nor what form that might take.  Absolutely  stymied.  Any suggestions?

  Two donation quilts were made in this pattern, using the same fabrics but arranged differently.  The first one was marked, using water erasable pens, and FMQ'd.  Then I used water to erase the marking.  After leaving it over night to dry I discovered that two of the red fabrics had run.  I bound it off anyway.  I mentioned it at the latest Divas meeting, and the ladies had several suggestions. I was so distraught I had taken off the batting and back of the second one, and had thought my husband had thrown it away, but not so.  So both the finished quilt and the flimsy went in the washer with the hottest water setting and a double amount of Synthopol soap, plus an extra rinse programed in.  When they were finished it was straight in the dryer. (There was really nothing to lose by doing that.)  Well, they both came out beautifully.  If I did anything like this again, I would have quilted the second top before washing it, but after the sn...

  This week I've had a little more energy, and this means more time in the studio. It started after the bead sale Wednesday.  The group has been passing along the most  recent book by Canadian artist Maggie Vanderweit, "Stone Threads".  I had taken a class with her at Quilt Canada 2005, in Ottawa, which had influenced my work, and was anxious to see what she had been working on since.  There were comments within the text about some of her reflections on life that really struck a cord with me, and lead to some reflections of my own. Several years ago I determined to finish every piece of work before starting another.  This has lead to me "tamp down" or put aside any new ideas, pending the completion of the current project. This has lead to many projects, that would have been worthwhile, never coming to light.  I'm standing in my own way, and losing memories that might have provided me with both pleasure and gratification. While it might be great to shou...

  Tomorrow my Divas group comes here for our July meeting.  The ladies have offered to help me out with my bead cupboard.  I had a vision last night of them all clustering around the bead cupboard and grabbing things and all the beads ending up all over the floor.   ( yes, I had a good drink before going to bed).  So, this morning first thing I went down to the studio and tried to figure out some way of minimizing the potential for disaster.  The beads ended up on every surface in the area, but with much more room to move around.  I took some pictures.  This is all that's left in the cupboard.  Normally every shelf is packed full of stacks of beads. As you can see below there is a 6' table in front of the sewing machine, covered with beads.  There are beads on the work table and beads and cabochons on a small table on this side of the bead cupboard, as well as on the ironing board. This is the top of the work table. This is the 6' t...