Shiny and Shinier + Found Treasures

Well there are pros and cons to cleaning your studio......During this pandemic, I read about many artists who were purging, cleaning out...what a great time to do this. Meanwhile I was doing nothing...I couldn't get myself motivated and felt like a big slug. I don't know what bug got hold of me but I woke up one morning and said....this is the day! I'm tackling my studio. 

 It's a large area and requires a lot of moving around which is probably why I don't do it that often.

 I have to move tables, bins etc to one end, wash floors and let dry .....

and then finish off with Mop and Glo - a product I used many years ago for hard wood floors. It's a lot of work...

But the shine is so worth it...

I Like to have a "before and after"...Not very often that I have the "after"....

Well and here's the best part...while waiting for each part to dry so I could wax, I decided to clean out bins and fabric stashes....Like every quilter I know, they're not just in one place...so it actually turned into a 3 day job...

 

I found treasures I didn't know I had....lots of Wow moments.

 I found this with extra fabric rolled up inside...I looked at it like "where did this come from and why is it in my house...." It was a total surprise...and then found another project...

 with these cut out flowers that worked great on the project I just found..

 The colors work well together ..... I couldn't believe my luck..

  Well, my retreat project from March....something I had put away and forgot about...not too much of a surprise but will be fun to work with.

Now this was a surprise - I found this in my stack of Indigos - this old bag to hold pistachios that I dyed with Indigo and apparently started to match up with fabrics. I love the bag and think it will be a fun piece.

And this last piece I made in an Eco Printing workshop with Vicki Bennett. I loved the piece but not the shape so much so I might be able to divide it into 3s and make it into a tryptche 

 It actually divides into 3 good sizes which I can mount over pre-stretched canvas's. So with all my purging, I was able to free up 2 big drawers and 2 shelves...one of which will be designated for projects in progress....so I'll always be able to find them...no more surprises for me! Is that a good thing or a bad thing...? hmmmmmmm.....

Have a great week.

A Very Scary Dressform

Many years ago, I used to teach at a store in Atlanta called Sew Magnifique. The store was lovely but eventually closed and sold off much of the inventory - one of the things being this interesting dressform. I felt an instant connection with it, having used one all my life. I really wanted this one. It was not adjustable, not my size (wishful thinking) and probably wouldn't be used for its intended purpose, but still I had to have it! It was a great looking antique for a studio and I LOVED the legs! I'ld never seen a dressform with legs before. I've used it occasionally to hold a garment but never for fit. It's actually come in handy for the wedding gown, but back on track. It's first home was my upstairs studio in Marietta, a large space with lots of windows. The only spot left "unfilled", was near a window, so near the window it went.
On nights when the moon shone bright and into the studio, the reflection of the dressform appeared on an adjacent wall - well how scary is this! (below). I can't tell you how many times I jumped out of my skin, walking into that room in the dark, and at a quick glance, seeing what looked like a person "hanging" Yikes!

What a funny system for hanging. I have to slip everything over the feet. The rod on top does lift off, but it's quite heavy. In this studio, I learned my lesson, I keep something thrown over the top to hide the "hanging system". No more "jumping out of my skin" for me!