MATERIAL MATRIX

Contemporary Handweavers of Houston (CHH) is celebrating its 60th Anniversary with “Material Matrix,” an exhibit of contemporary fiber art, at Gallery M-Squared, 339 W. 19th St., in Houston’s historic Heights. The show will run through November 14. Material Matrix was juried by Ann Matlock of Johnson City, Texas and Patricia Spark of Albany, Oregon, both internationally recognized fiber artists. Ms. Matlock is known for her elegant, tapestries featuring handspun and hand-dyed yarns. She also heads the fiber arts program at Lamar University. Ms. Spark is known for her “watercolor felt.” She is also a sought-after teacher and author on the subject. The Gallery is an interesting space. Located in an converted theater, the area is large and very diverse for exhibits. Although the lighting is good for textiles, it makes it very difficult to photograph a decent picture. Let's take a stroll through the art pieces. This first one is an exquisite pillow made by Elisa James and is felted using handerchief for the center section of the design.
"Thinking Straight" by Laura Viada shows the workings of double weave--straight lines or is it an optical affect?
"Crimson Butterflies" by Charlene Kolb is very wearable or used strictly for an art piece.
Close-up view of weave structure
Dee Dee Woodbury creates "Citrus Silks"
A 'new' weaver, Marian Carlson, shows off her not so kitchen towels--too lovely to use!
Nice weave structure.

Lynn Smetko leads warp painting to this elegant scarf "Quercy Fall Ivy Scarf"

Her weaving never fails to delight the eye and hand.

"Play" by Dee Dee Woodbury uses silk paper and silk threads to make a grid

Close-up:

"The Sands of Time Continue to Fall" woven by Tracy Kaestner.

Lovely weaving!

And this wonderful cape from the loom of Tracy--"Sylvan Cloak"

Sorry, this photo is blurry, but the weaving technqiue wins the prize.

"It's My Party" dress by Diane Rinkoff--felted top with tulle skirt also sporting felted flowers.

Scharine Kirchoff presents "Dianto's Tuffet"
Fanciful felt with stitching
And Jewelry is the accessory: from the hands of Linda Sura, Giovanna Imperia, Kathie Hayes
A tree full of felted hats by Barbara Kile.
"A Hymnal: Songs of Praise" presented by Caryn Vukelich is a clever way to show weaving samples
Simply titled "A Summer Curtain" by Connie Elliott is not necessarily just a curtain!
Close-up view
Giovanna Imperia's piece consists of stainless steel warp and silk weft--pliable and movable--fluid.
"Follow the Tracks" by Charlene Kolb is another show piece
Barbara Esterholm shows off her color variations and warp dyeing technique with "Garden Pathways"
Best of Show Award went to this transparency woven by Laura Viada--a real feast for the eyes.
A seven foot monster (not really) "Fiona" rests lazily on the floor of the gallery--all felted by three talented hands: Barbara Kile, Sherry Doty, Betsy Finger
Therese Coucher shows off this untitled piece of warp face weave.
These are just a sampling of the wonderful pieces on display! Stop in and take in the sights of "Material Matrix".

That Special Place

Do you have a location to place those mementos that are special to you? Those things received over years of volunteering, working, traveling, corresponding, loving...........these things are too precious to throw away and must be kept and reviewed periodically. These walls of the sewing room sport memories of past years. It is a walk down memory lane every day.
Your eyes wonder over the small tokens of appreciation.................
Some serious, some funny, some antiques, but all very important to only one...............
Badges of conferences...............
Ribbons of accomplishments........................
Happiness and sadness of foreign life.............................
Drawings from grandchildren and handwork from friends.......................
Small notes of love...................................
Buttons, newspaper clippings, postcards, silly reminders of friendships.
That special place lives in ones heart and mind but these small things on the wall gives a hint to those reminders.

Bits N Pieces

It's Monday--a day to gather up some loose ends and consolidate after several days of 'stuff' just lying around the house. Just can't seem to get the old 'act' together though; just feel kind of like those loose ends. Off we go..............we did begin work on September's row from Fat Cat and October's row is in the mix--somewhere on this table.
And, we are behind the schedule of these little critters--still have three more to stitch before it can be combined into a hanging. Now, where are those print outs?
Finally! this piece was completed; well, we can finally stitched but not completed. It came from one of the First Friday projects from 2009!
More 'stuff' arrived via post. Of course, it's good 'stuff'. Nice sock yarn from Little Knits. It was on sale; just a grab bag so choice was up to shippers, but this is nice sock yarn, Rio de la Plata.
And other 'stuff' arrived! A selection of batiks (on sale, of course) from Hancock Fabrics. Always good to have on hand but there is a small thought looming in the back of the mind where these fabrics will be applied.
From Knit Picks, a bundle of sock yarns to make this pair of socks from the book, "Thinking Outside of the Box". Now, for something completely different.....the next section of the year long project from Ravelry on the Lace Sampler. We are down to the wire with this one and keeping up to date, believe it or not. Okay, it's time to go 'gather' and apply energy to finishing at least one UFO today!

A Day Spent With Expatchers

Tuesday was a delightful day. Not only was it a beautiful day weatherwise, but it was also a day spent with friends. Friends who have shared ups and downs. Friends who conquered living in a foreign country. Friends who will give you their honest opinion, even if you don't ask! It was a sharing time, a working time as well as celebration--of my birthday!
From the hands of Sandy, this lovely grouping of dainty flowery prints that will evolve into "Summer at Mom's"--a free insert to one of the major quilting publications.
Our hostes was Linda, who had displayed on her guest bed this wonderful yo-yo quilt. Who can resist yo-yo's. I neglected to ask her the maker, but it is quite involved and has a nice layout.
Annette, who was excited to be making her first Binky quilt. She cut the squares at home and now was progressing to the sewing machine.
Brenda, was busy making burp cloths and receiving blankets for an upcoming baby shower. What a wonderful gift to receive!
Karen was sewing away on her Binky quilt top. Sorry, there is no photo of the finished top.
Debby received her pumpkin quilt from the quilting hands of Judy and was sewing on the binding. Give a look at the pumpkin quilting--
This is a great panto and perfect.
Another returned quilted baby blanket (from Judy) is this popcorn design. We all agreed this is a super delightful design. The backing was Minky fabric--soft and textured for little hands. But, it was also a good match for the top---
Monkeys!! Monkeys!! Monkeys!!
Brenda was trying to decide which Minky fabric to use as backing--go for the green, Brenda!! And since it was October birthday celebration day, Moi' receives fat quarters of choice, which was anything goes! The gals made great selections; each varied and unique as the giver. Now, to let those fabrics age properly!
Thanks Expatchers!! It was a good day--friends, food, and fabric--what could be better?

Still...........Settling

Well, we are trying to settle down but for some reason it isn't easy! It takes some time to get back into groove for this location--why is that? The bags are unpacked, sort of........but that doesn't mean everything is back in its special place. So, what do YOU do with everything that is unpacked? In this house, it seems unpacking just means taking it OUT of the bags and placing it around the room. And any location will do nicely; like this chair in the studio. Who wants to sit in it anyway?
Or, how about the sewing room table? That does great for storing things unpacked.
Oh, yes the sewing machine table works well too. Might we get some sewing done as we move things from one location to another? Not likely!
Just more STUFF! Why do we collect stuff? Have you ever heard George Carlin's little rambling about stuff? It's so true. We buy stuff to put stuff into and then buy more stuff to place around the room.
Just another view of 'stuff'--mostly UFO's in waiting. Wonder how long they have to age before they can be finished?
More UFO's in the 'aging process; from one bag to another place.
And this one almost finished piece just....................................hanging around. Oh, yes, orders went out over the weekend for more STUFF!

Unpacking........

Which is more time consuming--packing or unpacking? When packing, days can be taken to add this thing to the pile that needs to go on the trip but unpacking, well, that's another story! Those boxes and luggage pieces could sit for days before absolutely getting to them. Okay, we've been back in our 'winter' home for several days now and those boxes finally got somewhat unpacked yesterday. It's like packing--little bit at a time. Here is what was found unpacking--projects that were in progress or just another one of those UFOs. Two more of Jinny's flowers--still have several more to complete before this can come together.
Another barn but only one more to finish before this can be assembled.
And Little Raggedy Annie is slowly but surely being stitched. These blocks will go into 2011. We are still unpacking so maybe we'll find another couple of UFO's in the bottom of the box. Oh, yes, we are decorating for the fall and there is a quilt missing. It can be seen in the mind's eye but darn it, it's hiding good!

We're BACK!

We are back in our southern home and the weather is absolutely fabulous!! We brought some of that fall weather with us, thank goodness! It feels good to walk wearing a light jacket. For some reason, fall temperatures put that lightness in your steps and an eagerness in your soul. Oh, well, the only problem in changing homes is the baggage. You wouldn't think there would be so much to transport between houses, especially when each house is fully equipped with the essentials. But, the car is always loaded to the brim and full bags sit around in the studio waiting to be emptied. And dang it! There is the 'itch' to begin a new project--and of course, it's a mystery pattern. One cuff completed and still two days before the next clue appears. The Pumpkin socks have been finished--well, the pattern sort of looks like pumpkins, if you squint just right. And, we are trying our hand at fantasy football--only, the team we have really isn't doing too well--guess someone has to always lose and but does it have to be our team??