tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61498432012-02-16T08:52:56.254-06:00Radish the Great is not a role model. She's not even human. She's a cartoon. Some of the things she does would get a real person hurt, arrested, expelled, possibly even deported. In other words--don't try this at home.Radishnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-65170753386460166752011-03-01T17:39:00.000-06:002011-03-01T17:39:16.668-06:00

Instead of, oh, say, finishing something, yesterday I did some found object printing. Fabric paint, since my earlier experiments with acrylic paint yielded acrylic paint crumbs in my sewing machine. Most objects failed, including styrofoam packing peanuts. Maybe if I had glued them onto a base...but that would have required planning ahead, so the glue could dry. Successful objects include a

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-61628109096495312022011-02-27T16:18:00.000-06:002011-02-27T16:18:50.236-06:00

So, I had this picture of my cat FUZZ, and I ran it through Photoshop (Version 5.5, I bought it in 2000). Next, I printed him out on white cotton fabric and painted over the faces with translucent fabric paint. I appliqued one head to the fabric before doing the background stitching, but it was a pain in the butt to stitch around the head, so for the rest I did the background stitching first.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-43447106994742247542011-02-03T18:29:00.000-06:002011-02-03T18:29:10.744-06:00

I rejoined Quiltart as a lurker, and many of them are doing some snow dyeing this winter. I feel like a sheeple, but I have a little fresh snow this week. :-| I used two colors of dye, "Royal Blue" and "Raspberry". The latter separated into component colors very quickly: The concept is that as the snow melts, the dye will seep onto the fabric, creating interesting patterns--especially if,

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-25396364078242829562011-01-31T18:51:00.004-06:002011-02-01T00:58:32.209-06:00

Does anyone still read this? It's been literally years.I never actually finished anything 2010. Since my last post, I have:dyed about 40 yards of fabric (not all shown here)taken several thousand photographs of New York, Germany, Südtirol, and a bunch of other placesplugged away at some tedious and long-term traditional projectsbought a bunch of paint and fabricthrown out a bunch of paint and

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-22103342456120066092010-02-21T15:00:00.008-06:002010-02-21T15:58:49.249-06:00

I don't have a set-up out here to photograph sequins (the flash reflects...), but as long as they're less than 9" wide, I can scan them...Is it boring? Am I too blinded by my own cleverness?A little darker:In progress:They're all technically "in-progress" since the edges aren't finished (they're just cropped). I got a walking foot last week, so this week I may attempt a facing. I say "may"

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-11000713682975288512010-02-06T10:08:00.003-06:002010-02-06T10:35:00.038-06:00

When I was quilting the grid on this piece of fabric I dyed in 2004, I felt a need to scan it to preserve the subtle patterning before I covered it all up with sequins.A few weeks ago I was doing some research into information encoding at work and came across the Data Matrix. And I thought, what an excellent way to put messages into quilts (especially subversive words/sentiments...). Up to

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-53284552252125315412010-01-21T19:53:00.004-06:002010-01-21T20:10:05.744-06:00

Sunday did two sets of 9-step gradations (that's still the only way I can make the math work!), seven FQs, and a really awesome wingspan of "pre-soaked, then batched with leftover dye." Not bad for the first time I've dyed fabric in about over 18 months.I measured the dye powder and kept scrupulous notes. I also saved snippets in a three-ring binder with the measurements I used, in case I want

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-7117873806953354552010-01-14T06:28:00.003-06:002010-01-14T06:48:02.090-06:00

I am still in New York. 6-month contract turned into 8 turned into 14. I took over seven thousand digital photographs of the lake, the Thousand Islands, the Adirondacks, etc. Some of the ones that didn't suck can be seen on Flickr.Now it is winter, and I am bored to tears, so I bought a cheap sewing machine at WalMart and ordered some fabric dyes. We'll see what happens.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-28212289317650316422009-04-13T19:47:00.003-05:002009-04-13T19:49:11.530-05:00

Yesterday I inspected Lake Ontario and found it acceptable.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-78187125898189651762009-04-10T22:31:00.000-05:002009-04-10T22:38:19.215-05:00

In Pennsylvania for the night, after driving up from visiting Grandpa in SW Ohio. I-80 through western/central PA is probably very beautiful when it's not fogged over, and when there are leaves. I can't take pictures of myself, so I brought a stand-in:That's Bratwurst, one of the Famous Klement's Racing Sausages. I was unable to hear the Opening Day game since I was on the road...fairly

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-88894114253289194292009-03-30T19:34:00.002-05:002009-03-30T20:25:06.420-05:00

I'm going to work in central New York for six months while the cat stays here with Bryan and my furniture. Which sounds depressing...let's try "I'm going to test a new airport safety product for six months in a beautiful part of the country, where every weekend I can go take pictures somewhere I've never been before and drink beers I cannot drink in Wisconsin!" That's better. The plan is to

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-4725840639601334182009-03-26T14:50:00.004-05:002009-03-26T15:08:30.908-05:00

The aliens have mutated.Look! Paintstiks! *heh*And for thrills, I stacked 'em all up:I may have been affected by the new episodes of Red Dwarf, even though no one has bothered to mention when or how they will be available in the U.S.I'm still calling them "in-progress"--whiskers are definitely needed, and I'm still thinking about potential embellishments. But the stab-stitching is very

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-39077142398209585102009-03-18T09:51:00.003-05:002009-03-18T10:00:03.305-05:00

I've been spending my weekdays sitting around waiting for phone calls, which is simultaneously tedious and stressful. Bryan took me to Harrington Beach on Sunday afternoon and we walked around for a couple of hours indulging my obsession with sand formations.More here.Flickr has installed a new feature where you can see your stats "So far today", so I have a new feeder-pellet bar to click on

Radishnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-21106093181927838042009-03-14T18:14:00.001-05:002009-03-14T18:15:40.652-05:00

Lots of people out downtown today, so I went south of downtown.More photos here.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-75145089910713696802009-03-12T21:51:00.002-05:002009-03-12T22:13:10.683-05:00

I've given up on making any sort of FFAC collage. Just not my thing--even in picking an image to work around, my good photographs are a whole composition and don't really lend themselves to being one element, photocopies of antique postcards look too flat, and most everything else that intrigues me has a copyright. So then I was looking at my stack of aliens, and I noticed my stack of

Radishnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-15945536767200325702009-03-10T13:19:00.002-05:002009-03-10T13:22:01.389-05:00

Had a job interview yesterday on the wrong side of the Cheddar Curtain. Stopped at a state park on the drive home, to decompress. Wasn't really impressed by the park, but had some fun with the camera.The whole set is here.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-41444665322983758252009-03-05T20:19:00.002-06:002009-03-05T20:19:52.436-06:00

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-15778077498775819892009-03-03T18:32:00.004-06:002009-03-03T18:40:19.581-06:00

Grey aliens.These two are another upside-down Jinny Beyer print from 1997-ish:An icky faux-country calico print, again upside-down:I may never get to the "embellishment" chapter of the playbook.I'm kinda impressed at how good the "icky" fabrics I don't like and thought I would never use actually look in a project, even one with only two fabrics.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-59858160132198400402009-03-01T17:56:00.003-06:002009-03-01T17:57:18.155-06:00

I don't think they can get any better than this:Here's another green E.B.E.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-58647586267352656942009-02-25T11:03:00.003-06:002009-02-25T11:11:32.169-06:00

This is the same teal fabric as the earlier E.B.E., with unprinted side (I refuse to call it the "wrong" side for this piece) on top:And while I had the fabric paint out for the eyes, I tried a freezer paper stencil:Not sure how he ended up wonky-shaped. I like the color and the hand of the paint, but he looks a little flat compared to the appliqued guys.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-11651760142022111012009-02-23T18:31:00.004-06:002009-02-23T18:48:13.413-06:00

They need embellishment.E.B.E. 2, on a background of overdyed calico, about 3" x 4":A teal E.B.E., same size:I want to say he's a Jinny Beyer print from at 10-12 years ago, a print pattern I do not like but somehow acquired in three different colors. I didn't know if black eyes would show up, so I painted them silver via a freezer-paper stencil.Have also begun machine-stitching around the aliens

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-40688310311838679292009-02-20T19:40:00.004-06:002009-02-20T20:16:22.646-06:00

Today's fruitless attempt to avoid going insane with purposelessness: MAM. I just went over the holidays to study the folk/outsider/Haitian art, so I skipped all that and made a beeline to the temporary exhibit of 19th century hand-tinted prints. They thoughtfully provide magnifying glasses for better admiration of the fine details on the engravings. I must go back sometime next month to study

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-8704235870361318052009-02-19T18:05:00.003-06:002009-02-19T18:37:54.351-06:00

My working title is "Radish's Cry for Help." *snicker*...and they're kinda dark:But they're already fused in place, and dark fits the mood I was trying to create.And a close-up:"He who takes leader cloth is leader. He who takes green is green and follows green leader. He who takes purple is purple and follows purple leader."

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-33181916484210550392009-02-17T17:10:00.000-06:002009-02-17T17:20:50.015-06:00

This guy was the wrong shade of green for his buddies, but he seems just fine solo. The metallic perle cotton was a pain to work with but I like the look. I wonder how many of these things I'm going to end up with...

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-16626094539639596012009-02-16T18:23:00.002-06:002009-02-16T18:35:04.261-06:00

All that fabric I have been dyeing and overdyeing "Avocado" since 1999? Apparently there was a reason. Why yes, I have been watching the X-Files. In German. I understand about 15% of it...

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-9674085685902454662009-02-14T14:37:00.001-06:002009-02-14T14:37:54.018-06:00

I have added new photos to the Tequila Project.I have my new camera back, although I don't know for how long. I've had to send it for warranty repairs twice since I got it 12/31. It's excellent when it works...

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-55214704510348975722009-02-13T17:58:00.002-06:002009-02-13T18:11:49.963-06:00

Went into the back room last night to heat set and use my black paintstik'd fabric and I couldn't find the drawing I was going to work from, so I put it aside, found a template I created last spring, and made this little 3" bit for my best friend's grandmother, who is having some health issues.Hand-dyed fabrics, fabric crayon, perle cotton, beads. I think I could have selected a more contrasting

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-13477401605051834012009-02-09T13:57:00.002-06:002009-02-09T14:07:27.692-06:00

Fabric paint and freezer-paper stencil:Yeah, I'm jumping around a lot. After unearthing so many forgotten treasures during my excavations over the holidays, I want to use them all...Anyway, before it was a stencil, it was a felt applique:I haven't fused it down to the painted batting/organza yet, because I haven't decided if hacked-out felt is the best option, and if so, how to stitch around/

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-15545178827624996842009-02-07T19:32:00.000-06:002009-02-07T19:33:11.349-06:00

Portland Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, and some waterfalls and vistas along the Columbia River. I'll get to the city photos later...

Radishnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-7484446517773962162009-02-07T17:05:00.002-06:002009-02-07T17:09:26.192-06:00

Gingko paintstik, originally uploaded by heatherradish."Irridescent Charcoal" on black (there is a hideous calico print on the obverse...can I call this reclaimed fabric?). Now I wait 3-5 days for the paint to cure, which irritates me. I want to beat people up right now!

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-52598110858683695332009-01-19T19:58:00.003-06:002009-01-19T20:18:29.900-06:00

Experiments over the past couple of days:The boring purple fabric is very crisp--high twist, high thread count--and I vaguely remember it being about $5/yd when I ordered it PFD in 1999. And it turned out boring. Sigh.The Cedar Canyon Textiles "Leaf" rubbing plates are double-sided, in theory. In reality, one side looked better than the other on the gingko, and the fern looked so bad on both

Radishnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-4829470524371612762009-01-17T10:36:00.001-06:002009-01-17T10:36:45.319-06:00

FrostOriginally uploaded by heatherradishMy sewing room window. There could be some good inspiration here later.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-82998009642554242672009-01-13T23:04:00.004-06:002009-01-13T23:11:06.135-06:00

I finally broke down and ordered a set of Shiva Paintstiks for my birthday, and they arrived today. Took them for a brief test run--the rubbing plates were backordered. ZOMG. A stencil I cut out of cardstock looked like a bust at first--more paint on the edge of the stencil than in the cut-outs, but I was able to scrub at it with a brush and cover the open area. THEN I started scrubbing some

Radishnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-16189527968426975832009-01-12T20:50:00.003-06:002009-01-12T20:56:06.935-06:00

I spent a week diligently attempting to sketch beach sand from last weekend's outing (had the beach all to myself!) and then the fabric I sat down to paint yesterday looks nothing like it:Fabric paint on hand-dyed fabric. Needs orange; haven't decided if the orange should be paint, thread, fabric, beads, sequins. Maybe more green, too. Learning I could use a liner brush with some competency

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-23970233397399953662009-01-03T18:06:00.002-06:002009-01-03T18:20:57.409-06:00

Thought I'd try the PCB-inspired block I carved two years ago again (I don't know where the pictures from that post went...)Acrylic paint:Ugly hand-dyed fabric*:*Maybe "ugly" isn't the right word. During my sorting, I separated hand-dyed fabric (some of it I did 9 years ago, good grief) into "interesting"--lots of pattern, more than one color that work together well, really good color--and "

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-33495697743607695442009-01-03T17:59:00.003-06:002009-01-03T18:04:04.894-06:00

I still hate tulle, but I like the look of teeny scraps captured under it. This stuff was all done last week:I wish I would have bought more of this blue foil-dot net that I found when I was excavating my stash, because I can see lots of this in my future. This will be a background for something.Coffee cuffs, from teeny scraps and tulle. The middle one has too much contrast, I think.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-29049141452766154932008-12-27T13:10:00.005-06:002008-12-27T13:15:48.374-06:00

I haven't even gotten around to sorting the commercial cotton fabrics yet. I need more plastic containers.And a better way to store the adhesives and paintbrushes.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-84455450051942577082008-12-23T19:51:00.004-06:002008-12-23T19:54:27.751-06:00

It is Night of the Radishes again already. I've been sick and re-arranging all my "art supplies" so nothing new to post. I have to go to Iowa tomorrow or Thursday, but I have all next week off, so maybe I can start or finish something. Or at least write a big list of goals for 2009.Merry Christmas!

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-48405985931693562132008-11-18T18:28:00.003-06:002008-11-18T18:33:01.426-06:00

On Flickr, Kimberly suggested some stitching. I thought, WTF, I can't make it worse. :PI kind of don't hate it. But it's so white...except for the ambient cat hair, not visible in this photo.Mettler Poly-Sheen, for those who keep track of such things.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-63295763026216626852008-11-16T15:29:00.003-06:002008-11-16T16:09:48.596-06:00

Meet Chairman Bob:He's been leering at me from my bathroom garbage can for some months.I'm probably the last person on the planet to try last summer's trend of melting plastic bags to create...melted plastic. I had visions of Wahol-esque dozens of Chairman Bobs on a single sheet.Found a tutorial that suggested using the "rayon" setting. First try with plain white. Ick:It took about half an

Radishnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-5653914501204788532008-11-09T10:47:00.008-06:002008-11-09T11:06:48.023-06:00

Well, the Spider-Man cape was not as cool as the Talking Megatron from his cousins, but I've moved on.I rescued some pages of memory dumps from the Unwanted Printout Pile at work on Friday. I have about three reams of Unwanted Printouts, but very little of it is this interesting. Maybe I should have used the boring stuff to experiment...They make fairly boring paper fabric:After cutting out some

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-34504615665409974442008-10-28T21:10:00.002-05:002008-10-28T21:23:56.635-05:00

As expected, the first superhero cape was too successful and we are now making a Spider-Man cape--yes, I know Spider-Man does not wear a cape--for the nephew I shall call "Huey" (Dewey and Louie are still too young to know they want one). Also over the weekend I found a whole box of fabric I'd forgotten about, including a couple of half-yard pieces printed with sushi. I also found a four-patch

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-32961133120624476392008-10-21T21:49:00.002-05:002008-10-21T21:50:48.908-05:00

Gazing toward the bright future of the pastureland...This is Antoinette, in Plymouth, just off SR 67.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-55111290000836083022008-09-10T20:27:00.000-05:002008-09-10T20:28:18.384-05:00

Stab-stitching lately, as a healthy alternative to stabbing people. In-progress? Or finished? Don't know.I think adding beads to this guy will just make him look tacky. Sequel to the penguins and might be improved with beads. Also should have made the square on the left a circle...Epic fail! Found the heart appliqued on the background in a box and should have just left it there.The cat is

Radishnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-4147640338922637212008-08-28T19:36:00.002-05:002008-08-28T19:38:46.799-05:00

I made a Scrabble tile bag for a friend 4-5 years ago (I honestly can't remember). I did kind of a half-ass job, and it didn't wear well. So, version 2.0:I knew I'd find a use for the embroidered flannel. Yes. Embroidered flannel. I lined it with a piece of hand-dye so it wouldn't get destroyed through use, and I satin-stitched around all the inkjet prints.Front:And back:And in progress:

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-39952930600049781992008-08-22T20:00:00.004-05:002008-08-22T20:05:24.943-05:00

I'm still stab-stitching for the sheer joy of stab-stitching. The center fabric is some code I got randomly e-mailed to me by a colleague; inkjet printer and overpainted. There's a lot left, too... The other fabrics are from my stash. The finished piece is about 5" square.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-44788234792615394432008-08-15T07:24:00.003-05:002008-08-15T07:49:30.401-05:00

Busy...there have been parties or people in from out of town every weekend lately. Also the weather is nice (it hasn't hit 80 degrees in almost two weeks) so I'm outside as much as my skin can handle the sunlight.In between, I'm stitching pieces of ugly fabric with the intent of committing shibori eventually:The stab-stitching (yes, it's traditionally a running stitch, but I can't do a running

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-37795603256748720052008-07-30T18:15:00.004-05:002008-07-30T18:18:59.237-05:00

Having some fun with my vacation photos and the Big Huge Lab's Palette Generator. I should make a weird palette for the EFB...the real one.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-82442521191857129302008-07-21T19:36:00.002-05:002008-07-21T19:45:12.744-05:00

My niece in Omaha turned 3 last week; my sister thought she would like a cape to be a superhero when she plays dress-up. I followed the tutorial at Puking Pastilles (apparently a Harry Potter reference), substituting an initial for the logo.I think she liked it. One of my sister's friends asked me if I'd make one for her (maybe; I told her to ask my sister for my e-mail and we'll see if it even

Radishnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-47454483769595501662008-07-14T21:48:00.005-05:002008-07-14T21:55:51.154-05:00

It's complete and hanging in my cubicle. Reactions from co-workers range from "You need to get a life" to "You forgot the brightness toggle." Artistic license, I say...Technically, it's just the display portion of the EFB. In fail mode. Bwahahahaha.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-16005297454761961372008-07-13T17:11:00.008-05:002008-07-13T17:22:26.993-05:00

Ugly fabrics:Turned into possibly usable fabrics:And still-ugly fabrics:They may live to dye another day, but I don't think anything can salvage that top one.And random acts of shibori:

Radishnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-81298528910056836582008-07-08T22:21:00.001-05:002008-07-08T22:23:02.020-05:00

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-38271339727954526062008-07-06T19:15:00.004-05:002008-07-06T19:18:54.838-05:00

I had a big list of things I wanted to do this weekend, and I kind of bounced around from item to item, completing none of them. Had a good time at the Brewers game Friday, at least, and I found a box that had--rectangle sequins!Here's a picture of my assistant, FUZZ.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-87135193748083126872008-06-27T07:42:00.008-05:002008-06-27T07:53:31.567-05:00

Having too much fun with my new printer, except the color management on my computer can't translate between Photoshop RGB and Epson CMYK worth crap. The photo utility that came with the printer gets the colors right, but will only print stock photo sizes--8" x 10", 4" x 6", etc--which distorts the odd-size clip art and cropped photos I want to work with most. Right now the "project" is the

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-2433728292127891462008-06-24T07:33:00.002-05:002008-06-24T07:44:26.101-05:00

I thought I had rectangle sequins (color unimportant), but I don't, and I can't find any online.Grrrrr.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-19350624478496887672008-06-21T14:49:00.002-05:002008-06-21T14:50:12.569-05:00

Last Saturday I bought an inkjet printer--nothing special--and today I picked up a flatbed scanner.Muahahahahaha.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-28251122439990331212008-05-26T16:51:00.002-05:002008-05-26T16:53:23.938-05:00

War memorialOriginally uploaded by heatherradishJust back from a week in southern Bavaria. I'll be uploading pictures slowly.This is a war memorial in Freising, the hometown of my friend Roland, who was an excellent tour guide and spoiled me silly with food and beer and scenery.The rest of the first day's walking tour of Freising is on Flickr.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-16407520726213484602008-04-24T10:21:00.001-05:002008-04-24T10:21:24.448-05:00

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-64654974391257991962008-04-13T09:55:00.003-05:002008-04-13T10:00:35.024-05:00

Adventure in FIBland--the Tollway was solid construction, the signage was misleading, potholes, snow, ugh. But here's the picture of my quilt. It will be on display at Long Beach, CA over the summer and then I'll get it back before the Hall of Fame game.I read all the artist statements on the Journal Quilts (most people don't look at anything on exhibit for longer than 15 seconds, I've noticed)

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-83216403076495803772008-04-11T09:43:00.000-05:002008-04-13T09:53:38.275-05:00

I should have taken a picture of the back; I left the knots showing and drew a radish as a signature; Andy saw that side first when he unwrapped it and was surprised to learn it was "reversible." Häh! It's about 9" x 6".About halfway through, I wondered if this would be cuter as a fabric applique, with a few sequins for accent. Now I need something new to do.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-34510364098924740492008-04-06T19:05:00.004-05:002008-04-06T19:13:30.575-05:00

I decided I hated the fake "Carolina Lily" on my paper fabric, and they peeled right off.Tulips, much better. The Brewers are 5-1 after a week; I really enjoy listening to Bob Uecker call the games while I play with fabric.I have been too busy, making cakes and going to parties.I do not know where the stitching will go on the flowers.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-53124468651976058002008-03-19T19:57:00.003-05:002008-03-19T20:07:32.633-05:00

Captain Kirk, in beads. WOW. I'd do Red Dwarf, of course...Over the weekend I sorted through over 900 pieces of fabric, not including bits smaller than a fat eighth (which went immediately into the scrap bucket). There's one box left.I started a new sequined coffee mug with fabrics from stash. I'd like to finish by the first week of April to give to my friend Andy for his birthday, so I won't

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-33662980497295694492008-03-04T23:12:00.002-06:002008-03-04T23:14:48.728-06:00

These pieces aren't going to sew themselves.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-49437501305469148572008-03-03T20:39:00.003-06:002008-03-03T20:51:49.317-06:00

Quilt National sent me an entry form.Yeah, like I'm going to have anything worthy by August.Haven't been making much of anything; I've decided two years is too long for the spare bedroom to be unworkable piles of boxes and I'm trying to organize. I've even given away synthetic fabrics and I'm making a pile of 100% cotton to donate and/or sell cheap on eBay (not sure brown 19th century

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-80805929462887924722008-02-11T18:56:00.000-06:002008-02-11T19:09:55.108-06:00

Yesterday I made some additional pieces of paper fabric (same novel, no paint, looks exactly like this) before deciding what the first unpainted piece needed was a modified Carolina Lily.It's fused down--the PVA gets smooth when you melt it--and I might be able to peel off the fused pieces if I decide I hate it. I might hate the green triangles, they're too big...I have no idea how or why I

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-24818183788955518652008-02-07T17:44:00.000-06:002008-02-07T18:10:18.936-06:00

One of my goals for 2008 is to finish three objects. The first was painted in Susan Shie's week-long class in Indianapolis in 2004. At the time, I was on vacation from a job programming automatic-steering software for green tractors--the yellow bump on the roof received GPS information from a satellite (shown in the upper right-hand corner) and this information was used to send commands to the

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-37324260054368719152008-01-23T20:49:00.001-06:002008-01-23T21:06:34.343-06:00

The PVA was fine! Experiment was a success!Papers used: a 20-year-old crappy historical "romance" novel, shown here unpainted, and a road map of Vermont, painted blue. I skipped the tissue paper step on the blue and unpainted pieces because the tissue paper shredded into little balls when I painted the reddish piece.I'm not sure if the pages of the novel will continue to yellow, and they're

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-3738049497474427492008-01-19T09:48:00.001-06:002008-01-19T09:51:22.118-06:00

James Lileks is one of my favorite writers, and he also maintains a collection of digitized historical pop culture artifacts. Lately he's putting up the 1973 Sears Catalog for our viewing...pleasure isn't really the right word.Truly luxurious nylon satin!I'd rather go naked than wrap myself in that plastic.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-2589000557084249122008-01-18T21:05:00.000-06:002008-01-18T21:15:55.217-06:00

I ordered some polyvinyl adhesive (PVA) two weeks ago when it was 40 degrees. They finally shipped it Tuesday, and it spent 10 hours in my mailbox today, at approximately 15 degrees F. I hope it's not ruined. I thought they were going to send it UPS, so it would sit in my apt. complex office while I was at work.I was going to do the ClothPaperScissors Making Fabric Paper thingy. I tried it a

Radishnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-66600412132325320972008-01-09T18:22:00.000-06:002008-01-09T18:33:37.758-06:00

Finish three objects larger than the three objects I finished in 2007.Finish three objects that have been sitting in boxes for a few years. These do not have to be art quilts.Finish all small objects begun before December.Drink more beer. This sets me up for a goal in 2009: make quilt with beer bottle labels.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-11822500209132138122008-01-09T18:19:00.000-06:002008-01-09T18:22:06.414-06:00

I thought I'd make a quick Christmas sock for Bryan from one of those felt kits. Quick my fat white ass...took six weeks, including several days of nothing-but-sock at the end of December.Looks good, at least.On to something marginally more interesting.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-14235488891964852712007-11-16T20:44:00.001-06:002007-11-16T20:46:14.673-06:00

On display at Houston, with nearly 400 others. 11th photo from the top, second row.And now...I should do something else. It's been two months.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-82254093149926609152007-11-05T18:43:00.000-06:002007-11-05T18:50:34.969-06:00

9-step gradation between Avocado (which I remember being much ickier than the green I got...) and Rich Brown. I thought I stirred these enough, but the brown is still really separated, exposing chunks of green instead of a mixed color.Something completely different--not a gradation at all. Started each cup with the same amount of Bright Yellow and then "contaminated" it with a few grains of

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-5582852034704530632007-11-03T09:55:00.000-05:002007-11-03T10:06:52.937-05:00

...and Rich Brown.First, the 1:1 ratio of yellow and brown. I stirred these guys more than the last set, really.Second, the 2:1 ratio of yellow and brown.Finally, leftover dye thrown into a ziploc bag. The Rich Brown strikes and separates into greenish, orange, and yellow very quickly. I like this piece, except for the spots of undissolved red.Was going to do a Green Bay/Door County area

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-80915874831707316922007-11-01T21:27:00.000-05:002007-11-01T21:31:46.514-05:00

Since the International Quilt Festival opened in Houston today, I can show my finished Journal Quilt.I was quite pleased with it six weeks ago. Now I can see things I wish I did differently. But it's an actual rectangle, this was just a quick photo before I sent it off.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-61812865674206342232007-10-23T22:24:00.000-05:002007-10-23T22:54:03.977-05:00

9-step gradations.Yes. 9 steps. I donated my copy of Dyeing to Quilt to a library book sale a few years ago; I did the math a couple of times and came up with 7 or 9 steps every time, never 8...it wasn't until after I lined everything up for the photos that I realized I could have left out the equal-parts mixture, Mixture 0, because it doesn't seem to be visually different than Mixture 1 or

Radishnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-15785101695425555152007-10-16T20:00:00.000-05:002007-10-16T23:41:53.801-05:00

Bryan took me to Vermont last weekend. We visited friends in Bristol and Sunday we went to the Shelburne Museum. They had four quilt exhibits.The "Amish quilts" weren't anything special. Most of them were "Amish patterns" made with prints by non-Amish women. Boring. The "contemporary Vermont quilts" were a mixed bag (and the very famous quilters had lent them quilts that were ten years old

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-60184147699470908472007-10-07T17:35:00.000-05:002007-10-07T17:53:35.482-05:00

Switched to a gel cleaner with bleach. First, an orange sausage. Smeared the gel all over it and let it sit about three hours.Rinsed it and removed the rubber bands before soaking it in the anti-chlor.Also did some stamping with the gel. I love this camera--from three feet away I can see the weave of the fabric.The gel dripped more than I would have liked.I imagine I'll overdye the brown piece

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-34309788371239794992007-10-07T12:13:00.000-05:002007-10-07T12:31:14.849-05:00

Fun With Bleach, part 1:Red fabric, tied with rubber bands. I expected to get red circles surrounded by a paler ground--like tie-dye, only reverse. I poured liquid bleach over the whole mess, stirred it around a little bit until I liked the color on the exposed bits, rinsed it with tap water, and then put it in a solution of approx 1 gal water and approx 1 oz anti-chlor (bottle said 1 tsp would

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-74102158600936677882007-09-30T09:39:00.000-05:002007-09-30T10:22:58.863-05:00

Took a road trip yesterday. I have some ideas now.Stopped at Hobby Lobby in Sheboygan and brought home a half-yard remanant of 'silk hopsacking' for $2 (originally $22/yard). Didn't even realize it was silk; liked the color and texture, at the price figured it was synthetic but would make a good background for something sometime.... Silk is better. I can add it to my bin of reclaimed Goodwill

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-47712874183574155792007-09-21T17:37:00.000-05:002007-09-21T17:42:05.394-05:00

I mailed my Journal Quilt this morning.This would be a really good time to start something new, except I can't think of anything to start.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-15163342851462448682007-09-19T21:18:00.000-05:002007-09-19T21:24:55.064-05:00

Wrote out my statement for my Journal Quilt tonight so tomorrow I can take it to Kinkos. The quilt has been done for a couple of weeks, but I hate writing about stuff I make, so I waited until the second-last possible minute (gotta get the whole thing stitched and in the mail before Friday). I mean, no one reads this blog, so I can babble on and on and on here, but there will be actual people

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-11785090045480923842007-09-17T19:07:00.000-05:002007-09-17T19:11:25.892-05:00

Spent most of the last 10 days fulfilling social obligations and being sick instead of making stuff.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-44840251689827454872007-09-08T16:11:00.000-05:002007-09-17T17:47:25.372-05:00

88 reasons to love Marvin Harrison.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-30522540835154799212007-09-03T21:17:00.000-05:002007-09-03T21:37:56.493-05:00

1) Finished the border on the Journal Quilt. I don't think I'll have time to redo the sequins on the Lombardi Trophy. Going to put the sleeve on it and send it to Houston, thus completing my fiber art goal for the year.2) Instead of cleaning my apartment for my parents dropping in this weekend (where did all these books come from???), I spent today working on my Lines and Shapes lessons.3)

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-13513033540886805612007-08-27T21:23:00.000-05:002007-08-27T21:36:11.921-05:00

1) I keep forgetting to blog about fabric- and art-related books (I think the cat orders books while I'm at work. In the mail today was Textiles, 10th Edition, by Sara Kadolph, one of my professors at ISU. I used the 9th ed. when I took and later taught the intro to textile science class there, but it disappeared about four moves ago. I liked having it on hand to look up words/concepts I might

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-55066903063612032822007-08-25T16:29:00.001-05:002007-08-25T16:55:16.533-05:00

LaSalle hood ornamentOriginally uploaded by heatherradish Beautiful day, but after rain and severe storms 9 out of the past 10 days, heading out to the woods was 100% out of the question. So I went down to the lakefront (still had to slog through ankle-deep mud...) for the Masterpiece Style and Speed Showcase.Never really been into cars, other than my fascination with the Duesenbergs (

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-17038598258930692862007-08-22T08:13:00.000-05:002007-08-22T08:27:52.015-05:00

Fused a bunch of scraps together...oh several months ago, under sparkly red tulle.Free-motion quilting for the first time in at least three years. The machine purred; the human was wobbly. I got caught up watching the needle and not where it goes next, so it's jerky. But a lot better than I expected, at least on the squiggle. The spiral needs practice.The red thread didn't show up at all on

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-79504168968538067482007-08-18T11:14:00.000-05:002007-08-18T12:38:16.009-05:00

Finally saw the Pissarro exhibition at the MAM on Thursday, with Pam-from-work. She knows a lot about classical music and was able to talk about the changes in music happening during the time period covered by the exhibit, so it was worth holding off until I could find someone to drag with me. And she bought dinner. *grin*It was a good exhibition. I went into it with an open mind, and I've

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-63048512169685198392007-08-11T19:58:00.000-05:002007-08-11T20:13:31.833-05:00

After attaching approximately 36 sq inches of clear sequins to the journal quilt, I realize I should have used the silver hologram sequins. *cry* Going to finish the rest of it and change the sequins if I have time. I'm going to finish this thing and mail it to Houston before the deadline.Also, instead of transferring outlines of letters to the quilt and sewing the sequins onto the lines, I

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-82400080809528556512007-08-09T19:47:00.000-05:002007-08-09T19:50:31.312-05:00

Hours and hours of TV to watch while I encrust things with sequins--everything interesting gets replayed at least once. :)

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-52620546166792229602007-08-08T22:02:00.000-05:002007-08-08T22:17:27.642-05:00

Sewing machine is back. The tension still seems weird, or maybe I've forgotten how it's supposed to be.I could go nuts here. What I really want is a spool cap...Someone has gnawed on my copy of Harriet Hargrave's "Heirloom Machine Quilting."

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-18999428065784030372007-08-04T16:18:00.000-05:002007-08-04T16:25:48.028-05:00

Funny how I can go six weeks without going in the sewing room, but as soon as I drop off the machine for a week I get all angsty.In a crappy mood; had to drive out to Brookfield, which takes FREAKING FOREVER from Glendale any road you take, and I'll have to go out next Saturday. For an authorized service center it was Brookfield or Manitowoc; it might have been faster to drive the 75 mi north.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-49233963017082062672007-07-30T19:33:00.000-05:002007-07-30T19:49:41.553-05:00

Drove to Iowa with Bryan this past weekend for my class reunion *waves*. Stayed in Ames at the Gateway, where we saw a quilt by Priscilla Kepner Sage, my fiber studio professor back at the turn of the century, in the lobby.Then we met my folks downtown, where we randomly found that Kimberly Baxter-Packwood, a classmate in that studio, had opened a physical storefront for The Prairie Fibers Co.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-75026883437691997262007-07-21T22:36:00.000-05:002007-07-21T22:39:02.243-05:00

Do I have to credit him as a contributor? He's more of an inhibitor...(that's the back; did a little machine stitching tonight)

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-67017981620326069912007-07-21T17:13:00.000-05:002007-07-21T17:16:38.249-05:00

Spending a lot of summer evenings at Miller eating bratwurst instead of making stuff. But the snow will fly soon enough!

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-38151085087076681222007-07-19T11:11:00.001-05:002007-07-19T11:36:57.349-05:00

About a week ago, there was discussion on...an e-mail list about quilt art...about how everyone who wants to make or view art needs to learn to read and write graduate-level philosophy/political science/feminist studies critiques, because "that's the language of art." So much for ordinary people--art is not for them. Browsing around today, I find an article by the chairman of the National

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-10054705550392564402007-07-12T20:03:00.000-05:002007-07-12T20:04:06.260-05:00

Machine quilting is more fun after a couple of Spotted Cows.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-86317773877755930652007-07-10T17:36:00.000-05:002007-07-10T17:39:44.821-05:00

Yes, I'm trying to figure it out.It's raining.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149843.post-83244836547824877482007-07-07T09:49:00.000-05:002007-07-07T09:51:51.021-05:00

My dedicated assistant. His favorite place to lurk--whether I'm there or not--is under the ironing board.

Radishnoreply@blogger.com0