YAS contemporary lifestyle

It rained hard in southern California yesterday. I have a dog visitor in addition to Bella. When the weather folks began talking about this rain last week, I began to dread it coming. The dogs hate the rain and stay in the house and the studio under foot all day long. Drives me crazy. So this morning when we woke up and the sun was shining, we were all happy. I dyed some yardage that I didn't like one more time. Had coffee with my sister. Worked in the garden. Block printed a quilt top. The quilt top is interesting. I've dyed this particular piece at least six times. After the second dye bath, I thought the piece was lost. One good thing about working with folded fabric in the low water immersion process is the large amount of white space. So if you don't like the results of the first dye bath, or the second you can just keep dyeing away. My primary issue with this piece was that terrible washed out somewhere between rust, puke and flesh color that you sometimes...

My goals for this month are: List one new item daily on Etsy and 1000markets . (The images in this post are from the item I listed today - Four Coordinating Fat Quarters in Black, Midnight Blue, Gray and White, dyed on upcycled 100% cotton, 22 X 22 inches each.) Spend one week dyeing fabric for quilt tops, yardage and fat quarter, that includes ironing, taking images, packaging, putting into spread sheet inventory and moving on. Finish a small quilt for Quilt Visions Fantastic Flower project. Complete Low Water Immersion Dyeing Tutorial and get it on line. Add static home pages to blogspot and facebook. (The page is completed in html, now I just have to figure out how to get it loaded.) I think if I get all of this accomplished, it will be a good month. Do you have goals for March? If so, share them by commenting below.

I don't know how many of you subscribe to   TrueUp.net   Check it out.  Great link today to Colourlovers.com   Share colors and design with the world and the site has a seamless repeat pattern thingy for designing digital repeats. How great is that? Go to the Tools tab and drop down to Seamless Studio.  I've marked and will return later to play with all of the tools and gadgets. 

FeltSewGood, a Facebook friend is an arts and crafts activist in Indianapolis, Indiana. She's entered a contest sponsored by Pepsi awarding $5,000 to to an arts and culture idea. FeltSewGood's idea is Homespun: Modern Handmade Goals: To help revive Indianapolis' east side. To serve as the hub of Indiana's artisan community. To offer low-cost arts education to our community. To help working artists support themselves. Click here to vote for FeltSewGood .   Pepsi looks like it's giving away a lot of cash, more ideas?

Yoko Ono is still performing rock at the age of 77. From the New York Times  See the NYT's article on her performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Art. Rock on Girl!

What a week. Lee McQueen of Alexander McQueen died. His work with digitally designed and printed textiles was out of this world. Go in peace. Today is the last day of One World, One Heart Magic Carpet ride. I really enjoyed traveling around the world and visiting blogs. My favorite location was Scotland (Scotland is always my favorite location). If you have an opportunity to see the movie "Local Hero," do. Beautiful Scottish scenery. I'll post my giveaway winners tonight before I go to bed. (PST). I wish I could give something to each and every participant. Maybe, next year. I did some reading about Heidi Chisholm. Hopefully I'll have a post on her work within the next week or two. She is a graphic/textile designer from South Africa, now living in Brooklyn, NY. The fabric is dyed for the Spring Summer "Pretty" by Yasmintoo! line of sun dresses. The dresses in the etsy shop are made from  upcycled cotton sheets, low water immersion dyed with procion m...

If you love the Gee's Bend quilts, you'll want to take a look at this site. Image From Fiber Arts Explore Over 100 Quilts at 23 Locations in the Greater Hartford, Connecticut Area! These quilts are absolutely breathtaking! For more information please visit  http://www.community-threads.com   Gee's Bend Quilt You can also see the play entitled, "Gee's Bend" at the Hartford Stage through February 14th. It is based on the women of Gee's Bend, Alabama who quilted their way to economic freedom and community transformation. This play is a must see for artists of any genre.  Gee's Bend Quilt Courtesy of Chriscinthia http://www.poetdivine.webs.com   http://www.twitter.com/Chriscinthia Gee's Bend Quilt Here is a link to more information on the play from the Black Threads blog.  http://blackthreads.blogspot.com/2007/02/gees-bend-play.html