Being married to an engineer has it’s benefits and it’s entertaining moments. This is totally not fiber related but I felt compelled to share.

“So”, says I, “we need a way to protect the small willow tree from the wild bunnies (we have hoards of them) and the snow this winter, can you think of something, Honey?” DH decides a wire fence and a plastic garbage bag will do the job. It sounds simple and I let him go to it.

T-pee for a willow tree

This is what I got. The wood framework is to keep the weight of the snow from smooshing the tree down. A good idea, but did it really need to be so fancy? It’s even been sanded smooth, I guess the bunnies won’t get splinters when they find their way in. I love it, don’t get me wrong. It will do the job very well, but it still makes me chuckle.

On the other hand, I thought the overhang at the end of the kitchen counter and the breakfast bar was an ideal place for cookbook shelves. I figured he could cut up some plywood, paint it to match the cabinets and viola!

Well utilized space!

White maple and rosewood – they are soooo beautiful that I won’t want to leave them behind when we eventually sell the house!

Even a drawer for my stamps and such!

I’m not poking fun at him for these – I love them!

matches the tile nicely

Don’t they look nice with the tile trim on the counter?

fully loaded

And almost all of my cookbooks fit – well… three quarters.

But when we needed a solution to the sun coming in the sliding glass door ruining the flooring, he solved the problem very well with a bit of slate tile.

slate tile to stand up to the sun damage

This also has become a favorite photo backdrop for many of my Etsy product shots!

On the other hand, when I make and Art Quilt – comments about my lines “aren’t straight” or my angles “aren’t square” will not be warmly received 

I love you , Honey!

Deb H

Scarlet Zebra Fiber Arts is becoming Sea Air Arts!

Me, most of the time!

This has been a busy week. I finally made the decision to change my Blog/business name. You will find the full explanation on my About Me page. For the short version – it boils down to a conflict in name usage; there is another SZ! I have set up a new Etsy shop (still empty) and a new Ravelry ID (still bare). I have (with the new name) joined Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. I’m not sure how much I will use all of these, they may be just ways to point people to my Blog and Etsy — we’ll see.

Meanwhile, watch the changes slowly come and don’t worry – my SZ URL, my old Etsy and my old Ravelry (see links in side bar) will still work for quite some time.

Speedy, I’m not 

Deb H

Back in the classroom and ready for more. Wednesday is always a short day so the participants can go on a tour of the many Art Quilt exhibits that are always in the Columbus area during June. I confess that last year I went and was so overwhelmed by all the wonderful art and quilts that it made it very hard for me to go home and do my own work. Too much input and inspiration can be paralyzing at times. So, this year I elected to stay in the classroom and focus on what I came for. We had demos in the morning of some great embellishment techniques. The most wonderful new skill for me is free-motion machine embroidery (I still need lots of practice!). I decided this was much easier than free motion quilting because stitch uniformity is not part of the equation – cool!

I also worked on some more fabric and mark making techniques. Adding to existing ones and two new pieces on black silk noil; discharged, painted, silk screened, and (believe it or not) expandable paint. I was very happy with these. Much stronger contrast brings me back into my comfort zone even though I rarely use black in anything. I love the drama in these two fabrics (click to biggy size).

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And while the rest of the class went on the tours in the afternoon a few of us dye-hards (pun and spelling intended), stayed to play a bit more.

Finally, my board at the end of Day 3.

All this creativity is exhausting and I could hear the Siren Song of a glass of wine and my bed, so I found a Bell Hop and a luggage cart and had myself rolled up to my room for the night. Thursday we started to put it all together, just give me time to process all my photos.

Deb H

BTW, have you any idea what all of this does to your finger nails?

Ack!

I don’t have much to report on for last week’s artistic adventures. Our spring has been cool here but the warmer weather is surely just around the corner and since our “Frost Date” is (for the most part) Memorial Day, its time to get serious about the outdoor gardens. So I have spent most of my week prepping the vegetable and herb beds for my planned planting flurry this weekend.

Meanwhile, this round of sock classes (I’m teaching “Toe-Up, Two at a Time on One Needle Socks!” at Heritage Spinning and Weaving) is going pretty dang well. I’ve been very lucky with this last two classes as they have been “up to the challenge” and becoming sock knitting fiends. Here is my current class (from left to right); Linda, Carol, Suzanne, Diane, Pat, and Sue.

Don’t they just look like they are going to be producing mass quantities of hand knit socks in the very near future? BTW, Jane of my class that graduated in April has already brought in to show me her finished pair and they are beautiful, go Jane!

*

I received a wonderful surprise in today’s mail. I have an art quilt in a traveling exhibit; Michigan Quilt Artist Invitational 2008, The Art of Music. I got a post card advertising the current exhibit and my quilt was one of the two quilts gracing the front. This is my first time to make it in print so I had to share.

And the back.

For better pictures of the quilt I have in the exhibit, I blogged about it last December.

And last but not least, it’s not just for sewing anymore… I saw this little gadget in a posh kitchen catalog and thought how it would be great for chopping up all my fresh herbs.

Then I thought, “this reminds me of something I already have”. I rummaged my sewing table and sure enough, I have 3 of these things so one could be spared.

OK, so the larger size would work better. I also have to take it all the way apart to clean it each time but, it works incredibly well and best — it was already paid for ;o)

Deb H

Copyrights – a stickler of a subject at the best of times. The most misunderstood and abused set of laws we probably currently have in the US. Congress, in all it’s wisdom, seems to think the new “Orphan Works” being bandied about is a good idea.

Oy!

Wake up people. This is very, very, very bad. For more information and how to help to let Congress know that the American voters are smarter than that, please follow this link and be heard!

http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/?cat=2 Thank you Gloria for helping us stay current on this issue.

Dismounting soap box to thunderous applause by ARTISTS all over the world, whom this will effect.