My loon piece is complete! I finished needle felting the loon in Michigan and it was
fun to be able to show the piece to my family there, especially Grandma, in
real life as opposed to just in pictures.
When we got back from Michigan I needle felted the loon onto the weaving
background and decided to add some reflection of the loon on the water.
I used very thin, gauzy layers of black
and white merino fleece and felted like crazy into the water’s surface. I made the cattails and leaves earlier,
so I stitched them on as soon as the loon was in his place. I’m delighted with how it turned
out! When we returned from
Michigan I leapt into action on my large format ‘trail through the woods’
piece.
I finished attaching the
understory and stitched the background on to the frame. When we were on vacation at Topsail
Island we collected a box full of special beach rocks called mother
stones. I knew when I was
collecting them I knew they would be useful for something, and I thought they
were perfect for the trail’s edge.
The piece projects off the wall about twelve inches, and I just love the
way it looks when I walk around it.
I have it in the living room where we can all enjoy it before we pack it
up for the big trip to the Des Moines Art Festival in Iowa. Speaking of the trip, I woke up during
the night thinking about all the new pieces I created for summer art fairs. I suddenly had the realization that I
don’t have nearly enough protective weaving covers for all the new pieces!
As my family was watching Apollo 13 on
movie night, I was cutting up old pillowcases, tablecloths, bed sheets and some
fabric scraps I got from our previous trip to Michigan. I also love using up scraps, including
threads. This was my opportunity
to use all my wound bobbins remnants, which gave me a rainbow palette to sew up
my weaving covers. I now
have 18 brand new weaving covers appropriate for my large format pieces. In the past I just used old
pillowcases, but my work has become even more dimensional that I need to create
my own protective weaving covers.
Sewing
brings back fond memories for me, since I always think of my step-grandmother
the seamstress when I’m sewing.
She used to complain that my lines were not straight enough and compare
my sewing to a puppy peeing. I
think she would be pleased with how straight my seams have become, and the fact
that I zigzag all my seams.
In vacation news, our trip to Michigan was wonderful. We had Haley and the new baby Arya fly
in from New Mexico. Dave and
Martha drove up from Mississippi on their ‘visit the family’ tour. For several days Grandma had a very
full house, and it was terrific.
One of the fun things that we did was go on a charter with Captain Dougat Fish Point lodge.
Between the
lot of us we brought home 17 walleyes.
We released a lot of small fish, many sheepshead and a couple of huge
catfish. We ate well, got plenty
of hugs and laughed a lot, so it was mission accomplished for me. Yesterday morning was the Farmer’s
market. Jim and I managed to slip
out together. It was a delightful
morning—it was like a date!
We
picked up some local blueberries, perfectly ripe tart cherries, black raspberries,
peaches, cucumbers and some fresh broccoli to come home with us. The tart cherries are pitted and in the
freezer, waiting to become a pie.
This morning, oh my, oh my, I smelled a black raspberry pie! It looks beautiful and I can’t wait to
try it!
Until next week,
Martina Celerin
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