I was thinking how hard it is to recreate a believable sunset in artwork, or onstage, and Aerin pointed out that hardly anyone believed in sunsets even when they were looking right at them.

Ephemeral. Fleeting. There is poetry in the description, sometimes.

number of entries completed today: 2
number of entries with today for a deadline: 0
width of both pieces, in inches: 20
assumed length of both pieces, in inches: 60
actual length of manifold circles piece, in inches: 48
unnecessary time spent by photographer because I failed to remember the actual size of the manifold circles piece: 45 minutes
efforts to rename each piece: 23 and 21
satisfaction with names of each piece: I have no number for “eh”
size of both pieces, in multiples of how large I “normally” work: 10
time spent cleaning the surfaces before they were photographed: 45 minutes
time spent cleaning surfaces after they were photographed: another 45 minutes
reliance on photographer for photoshopping out weird tendrils: 100%
relief at being done: 100%
belief these will sell, anywhere: 5%
pleasure in the objects themselves: 110%

This is a look at part of the front, and a glimpse of what it looks like on the back, of the second of the huge brown pieces. This one has a working title of Yooge Brown Bubble River (I might need some more practice titling things?). It is also 20×60″

I am indebted to Notion to Quilt for their patience while I test drive the Babylock Tiara and dither over space constraints in my tiny house. I did all the work on the circles in a marathon afternoon of free motion practice. I would have done more, except it seemed unchivalrous to impose on their kindness. All the horizontal work I did on what I now think of as my “small machine” – but which is actually my regular machine.

I have a good deal more sympathy for the posting schedule of those who work on bigger pieces too. Working big means the milestones have long gaps between them, and it can be hard to make small talk in the interim.

Both pieces are with Stephen Petegorsky having their pictures taken because I can’t cope with anything that big.

Well that’s finished, but not readily visible. The finished piece is 20×60″ – in four sections 20×15″ each, laced together. The background is strips of brown fabric stitched over in cobbled circles. A sinuous river of turquoise circles, embellished with perle cotton winds from top to bottom.

The problem with working large is that I cannot photograph it and do it justice. I have to bundle this off to an actual photographer, with tools for coping with big things. So I present a couple of detail shots, courtesy of my phone (which I think has more megapixels than my actual camera at this point).

The working title is “Yooge brown thing in pieces with turquoise circles” which means it will get renamed before I enter it into anything. Although I rather like Yooge – I might try to leave that in.

Secrets: I finished a piece, but I cannot show it to you, because it is a present. A wedding present. Once I’ve given it to the recipients, I will show you all. I am very pleased with it.

Disasters: My beloved sewing machine has stopped working. It makes strange buzzing noises, and hiccups and burps. And then it blinks and burps and the needle rattles. I am having a very bad feeling about this. I have a spare machine, and a promise of another spare machine, so I will be able to continue. But I am worried that just thinking about a new machine, a large quilting machine, has made the current machine jealous, and it is having a tantrum.

Obsessions: I read the call for entries for a particular show, and realized my work was solidly in their purview, but. BUT! There is a minimum size which is roughly 4 times the size I usually work. So I have an idea for a larger work, and I have, so far, two different attempts to translate what is in my head into fabric. There is a particular shade of turquoise that haunts me, and I have to incorporate it somehow.

I like circles. I mean, as a shape, they are appealing and easy to make patterns and ideas with, but also they are geometrically simple; I can elaborate on the surface without obscuring the shape and idea of a circle. I like them enough that I made one a day for an entire year. And I’m not sick of them yet!  I am noticing that the smaller the circles get, the more sinuous I can make the river. It is either that or go large…

I’m realizing working on abstractions helps me think, in the same way going for a walk helps me think. This piece was started as an homage to Andy Goldsworthy – the poster for the movie about him has white sand spread on a dark ground, with a sinuous river shape swept through it. I like the way the sand piles up at the edges of the shape, and is more dispersed towards the edges.

I am ashamed that I have a copy of this picture and I do not what it is. The colors and the solid shape of the building in the snow and the hinges (what IS is about hinges that grabs me?) made it visually compelling, but I hope Velma will weigh in and tell us what it is. Also what is the strange extra roof piece on the left there? I do not know, to my chagrin.

I have one last piece to finish from Velma’s photos. I am least sure of this last one – the perspective is tricky and the colors are not varied, but the overall image is terrific and I am enjoying working on it.

After a small meltdown on Facebook I swore I would start calling my work “welded and pierced textile art. ” This is what happens when someone describes your work as “messing about with” rather than the more formal “working with” or the more artistic “fabric is my preferred medium.”

But really it is remains stitched textile art. That’s just what I do.

Several neighbors have chickens, even though we are walking distance to the center of town. To be fair, we are also walking distance to open fields and serious agriculture – delicately balanced between urban and rural. The chickens are generally well behaved, and they make nice noises. I admit I have a preference for ducks, because I think they are funnier. But I am becoming increasingly fond of other people’s chickens.

I’m not entirely clear it’s done just yet, but I’m close. I think this is from a trip on the Parker River Jenny took – it is her photo I was working from. I like the infinite horizon of the marsh, even when you are inside it. That stretch of flat, water level land is expansive and invites the eye.

Jenny has commissioned two additional small pieces that need to relate to this one. I had a plan, but when the image required to be in a different orientation, my plan was busted and now I need to do some thinking about the next steps.