What Fiber Artists Do

  The daylight hours are waning, and it is noticeable in the canyon. We welcome autumn with cool nights and sunny afternoons. The golden hours of morning and evening are an artist's dream.
   Hummingbirds have started to migrate south. I leave the feeders up for travelers who need one for the road. We will continue to see straglers for another month. Contrary to what some say, they will not hang around for feeders, and still need nectar for energy as they travel. It seems early to see the migration in August, and there have been other signs of an early autumn and perhaps a colder winter...
   I have been as busy. In the garden I have been harvesting tomatoes, basil for pesto, squash, carrots, beets, and herbs. I have a couple of part time jobs in town to earn pocket money. When I am not tending my house and yard, I sneak away to my loft and sew. Heavenly!!
   I made a costume for a customer of my etsy shop, Thimblepie's Quilt Supplies. It is a Steampunk Bustle. Super fun to make, and cute and sassy.

The bustle is buckled to my stair post.

I completed 3 scale model quilted cocoons for a grant proposal. I am collaborating with my artist friend, Betsy Hinze, who wants to do a large interactive fiber art show in January. The cocoons are 3-dimensional with boning hoops and organza draping. Challenging in tiny scale models but I think the full human size models will be easy. When it felt difficult and stressful, I had to remind myself that my dream has been to be a fiber artist, and this is what they do.

I completed the second A quilt and thought it actually looked like a twin to the original. The recipient was delighted, and my little Addison loves the original, which she will get for her birthday in December. Here are the 2 A quilts:

Ashlyn's  NO GREEN.

Addison's. Same size but photographed at an angle.

 And, my just completed quilt top, my August goal for ALYOF. Thanks to Ainsley and my pal Cheryl Little, entered in the Boise Basin Quilt Show Sept. 27 & 28. Yay!!!

"Squaresville." 52" x 73"

What have you been up to this busy month?

Cool Summer Rain

Last evening we had a big storm. Seems to be one big one each summer, complete with thunder, lightening, rain, wind, and hail. The temperature dropped 28° in an hour, from 99° to 72°. Phew! It was such a big relief after the prestorm energy build up. When the first rain drops fell, Mr. Thimblepie and I stepped out onto the back porch to smell the ozone and watch the storm clouds. Then, Ka-BOOM!! just as Abby the Brave stepped outside. She turned tail and ran inside to hide. Teeth chattering, she was scared for several hours. No damage from the hail, and everything got a good soaking. So pleasant to have windows open with cool breezes coming in the windows all night. Sadly, the storm also ignited lots of wildfires all over the western forests, near and far.

Abby the Brave in front of Owyhee Sunset

My August goal for ALYOF is to finish my modern Karla Alexander quilt, which I showed in my June 30th blog . I hope to enter it in the Boise Basin Quilt Show the end of September, as a member of the Boise Modern Quilt Guild. Happily, the berries are finished in the garden and now tomato season starts. I made calendula ointment (calendula blooms from my garden marinated in mild olive oil for a month, then strained) and can report first hand that it makes an excellent antibacterial wound treatment. Picking huckleberries in the forest last week in shorts was not wise. When will I ever learn?

Here is my garlic harvest, from last month. Lots of braids!