even when i try to do my farm chores quickly, it doesn't work out.. there is always the perfect feather right in my path. feathers everywhere, actually. it is interesting to me though, how many "imperfect" feathers there are. feathers that are too dirty and wet, but also broken and half-gone feathers, discoloured feathers, and feathers that are missing, well, feathers. i like that they show some wear though. and they are all so individual. i wonder how on earth feather-harvesting works for down comforters and suchlike? i probably don't really want to know.

i've been feeling *so* much better the last two days, and that's after a long bout with the flu. i was feeling lame and down from being sick a while, although i did luxuriate a bit in my bed with my dogs and miss marple... but the last couple of days have been so much improved and with the weather, even glorious.

i was talking to mum about my little crafty business and my frustrations with lacks in productivity, and i said something about a modest goal... of making something every day (not necessarily completing anything, just actively working on making something) and also listing something every day. or as much as possible. (there may not always be something to list, but i have quite a backlog right now in mum's attic).. and it seemed simple and probably not all that helpful, but somehow it has kicked me into gear.

i am loving perpetua's new blog (as well as her beautiful work!!) and i'm with her on wanting to make Something of my life... even if there is no Thing and life is really just life. i am really very post-ambitious, but still i'm tired of talking about what i want to do. i'm tired of buying supplies and making things i love but that just pile up in my armoire. i like entrepreneuring in many ways, and i have no reason not to give this a good go. even if "this" will continue to morph..

today involved..

gathering feathers
meeting with a potential new studio-mate
finishing framing swap piece for mr. x stitch!
finishing and photographing custom order
photographing a lot of other stuff
buying printer cartridges
2 listings

finished flapper camisole! now to embellish it..

nighttime is ragtime

after i got re-acquainted with my sewing machine (maybe if i give her a name, she'll be more cooperative?), i did a bunch of practicing and made my very first French seam! mathyld's lessons were fabulous! i ironed, tea-dyed, drank tea, did some laundry, petted the pups and and sewed some more. nighttime is now ragtime.

meet the mrs.

my fascination with foxes is still going strong. i even have this book on my amazon wishlist if anyone is feeling especially generous. i wonder why i'm so drawn to certain animals at one time or another. it's tempting to look at their different archetypes and associations. or even to meditate on them and ask them. i read somewhere that stitching foxes on bed-slippers was one of the more common occupations of victorian women. maybe not thrilling, but it sounds alright to me.

i'm feeling a little stuck in my stitching, again. i've started a couple of things only to scrap them, or put them in hibernation. part of it is that i've been thinking of the value of framing. i've typically been reluctant to frame anything, since i love the tactility of fiber work and putting it behind glass seems almost blasphemous! but over time, i see pieces becoming dusty or faded. and also wonderfully preserved framed pieces at antique markets. so i've begun collecting and experimenting with old frames. but they change the entire thing, really. borders and edgings of vintage linens often don't fit within. the frames add colours and dimensions that impact a design. anyhoo, kind of goes against my desire to free-form it and see what happens, but i'm pretty sure there's room for framing in my world.

this week was the first of ragtime, my project with mathyld. i love seeing what she is doing with the next few weeks' sewing lessons!

loose dogs at mathyld's

photo by Ampelopsis of FallInPics. (i love her pics!)
styling by mathyld. (it's her flat and her things..)
mobile by emilie of bloomsong. (how cute is that?!)
embroidery by yours truly.

weekend alone, but not

(wonderful pieces of my growing art collection by mon petit fantome and astulabee!)

stitchy-dishy connexion

even though i am hopeless when it comes to dishes, i always drag home ridiculous loads of chippy floral shabbies... i never knew before this last round of junking that there is a stitchy-dishy connexion. i mean dishes with stitched designs. this is a thrifted bunch by johnson brothers called "fruit sampler" (there is a newer version, this is the old one). see all the little stitches in the border? this brings me extreme satisfaction. but wait! there's more... to be continued...

good morning, guineas

once in a while, it sounds like the sky is falling. i scurry around looking out for meteors or frogs or shards of apocalyptic juju. it turned out again this morning that it was the guineas on the tin roof. they are some of the strangest critters i've lived with. all seven of them move as one unit, at all times. even aside from the roof antics, the sounds they make are horrid - have you ever heard them? something like metal being crunched, or buckshot with a twang. and it just goes on, and on, and on. they are skittish and hard for me to photograph close-up, so this is TTW (through-the-window) of them looking so innocent as they eat their fill of ticks.

rooster tail feather

this might be the very grandest feather i've found, the king of all feathers. i might wear it in my hair tonight for the opening at the studio. i also noticed a tree at the edge of the yard with unidentified fruits heavy all over it. is it some kind of pear?

old vintage and new vintage

i got a huge vintage embroidered screen almost ten years ago at scott antique market. i loved it then and love it now. this is just a small portion of it. it includes a whole night forest landscape with lots of owls, stags, and the moon. mum hung on to it when i moved because my lifestyle had been rough on it. there was some kind of chrysalis embedded in the silk, and my cat figaro (rip) had made short work of most of the trim. so mum lovingly cleaned and repaired it and now it's a nice partition to hide some of her works-in-progress..

then this weekend we went to the very same market, and i returned with this guy:

i haven't noticed antique mounted fox heads before, but i saw two this weekend. i thought the second one might be the long-lost missus, but after agonizing i thought one fox head is probably enough for one household.

i have such dissonance when it comes to objects. i am always battling with clutter because i worry that i have serious hoarding tendencies. we only have a tiny farmhouse and i need to be able to breathe in there and be able to find my stuff. but now i seem to be falling into selling vintage. mostly because i have it, i love it, i love finding and collecting. and i come from a long line of women who have bought and sold old things. my grandma was constantly toting something in her yellow pinto (she called it her "junking car"). my great-grandmother went to auctions almost daily and sold to dealers. she was known to redecorate her entire house on a whim. and then there is mum, the master. her knowledge and skill and luck are uncanny. antique dealing as she does it is art, or magic.

you may have noticed that i am (perhaps nauseatingly) nostalgic. i am always on the lookout for vintage linens for my stitching, but then i find myself feeling sorry for some little abandoned thing and taking it home. i wonder if it's a little psycho to be concerned with rescuing objects. but do they not have all kinds of emotional resonances about them? even when they are not tugging at our heart strings like my fantastic mr. fox head (who said, "take me home NOW! i was freakin' ripped apart by hounds, don't let me rot here on this shelf!") even when they are not so beseeching, they still might remind us of something we once knew, or felt, or the future we want to live.

tea at mum's

admiring our finds..

i was at the studio getting some things ready to leave town, but got distracted with label making. the vintage dymo label writer was only a buck thrifted! then there was my adorable friend sierra out back with her wee guitar, on break from making pottery.

*drawn-out rasping screech*

couldn't wait to share mon petit barn owl..




i did this piece for a swap with a certain amazing artist.. hope he loves the little hobgoblin!

from owlpages.com:

Other names for the Barn Owl have included Monkey-faced Owl, Ghost Owl, Church Owl, Death Owl, Hissing Owl, Hobgoblin or Hobby Owl, Golden Owl, Silver Owl, White Owl, Night Owl, Rat Owl, Scritch Owl, Screech Owl, Straw Owl, Barnyard Owl and Delicate Owl.

crafting amidst it all

i've been meaning to show you my very favorite embroidered hankie..


and newly spun laceweight yarn from greta, my pretty ewe..



and then there are the feathers, feathers everywhere..



it turns out that miss hadley has feline leukemia, but she should be alright as an indoor and only kitty. it's been kind of a chill week, stitching and reading and waiting for news on my dad. he's finally home from the hospital, at least temporarily, but very weak. i'll be going down to visit my folks soon, and i'm sure we'll find a way to work in some thrifting here and there.

today's haul

morning meditation

gathering feathers