A ROLL OF THE DICE

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I get stressed, heading to my studio space is something that always helps. We are in the middle of house selling negotiations, and also sorting through the many things we’ve acquired through the 14 years here at Refuge Cove…what to keep, what to take, what to toss.

For some reason, yesterday had enough moments of anxiety, that I wanted to RUN to my machine, but I didn’t have anything going. What could I create? What CF theme (Cyber Fibres, my quilt journal group) jumped out at me? What was inspiring me? Since I wanted to just to GET AT IT, I did the following:

1. Opened the drawer below my computer and grabbed two dice.

2. I rolled the dice and up came a 3 and a 5.

3. I multiplied the two together and there I had my number…15!

4. I opened my CF archives where I store quilt journal submissions on my Hotmail, and counted down fifteen until I came to…

5. Dawn’s piece with the theme of Ritual. In this piece she talked about how she and her husband love to share local fare with out of town guests. The piece featured a crab and wine glasses. It was soft and beautifully created with a lovely narrative. This was my new inspiration!

I have a good stash of fusibles, and I particularly like Steam a Seam Lite. I rarely use it, but it has been calling my name lately, and I’ve really wanted to take a break from discharging. I pulled out a good handful of orangey-ish  scraps and attached them to the fusibles, then cut out crabby shapes and assembled them on a watery, net-like fabric. As I was doing this on my ironing board, I glanced up and saw a small bag of Dawn’s rovings that she sent to us as a challenge last winter. I have never used rovings or the like before but thought these would be a good addition to my composition. I discovered there are a few tricks in using them, and despite a few frustrating moments, I really enjoyed the process. When completed, I got out my button stash and looked for some large dark “eyes”…I think they really help to define what this is all about.

“Caught in the Net of Dawn’s Inspiration” was fun to do! Thank you Dawn, for this inspiration and all your other beautiful work you do. (And likewise to all the rest of you!)

P.S. Recently I was hosted at Barb’s house during the Quadra Quilt and Garden Tour. Dawn invited us over for dinner and I was able to see her creative space and all her artistic soul spread throughout her home. Not only is she gifted as a fibre artist, but also in basketry (and probably in other venues too!) Thanks again Dawn, for a lovely evening!