Sunday, August 2, 2015

Staycation and two wall hangings

"birds on a wire"
24" x 28"
at Etsy

This week has been a perfect staycation.

Well almost. It began with a detox and start of a 21-day elimination diet. A couple of friends on Facebook suggested that maybe the osteoarthritis in my thumbs and wrist could be less inflamed if I get rid of something in my diet. So these 21 days I am avoiding the usual suspects: dairy, wheat/gluten, sugar, corn, soy, alcohol and the nightshade vegetables (peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes). Oh man. May I just say that the timing of this stinks? We had just dived into Mediterranean food and have been LOVING eggplant especially. And corn? Now? When sweet corn from Reese's just begins? 

But pain is pain, and something has to give. It has been much reduced since starting. This is day 10. I will re-introduce one food group at day 22 and see how that goes for a couple days. Etc.

I am still taking turmeric capsules and began vitamin B6, the latter at the recommendation of one of the friends mentioned above.

IT IS NOT EASY TO FIND SOMETHING TO EAT THAT I CAN EAT. There. Nuff said.

Otherwise, perfect staycation. I played in the studio every single day with abandon. The most fun was creating these two wall hangings. Below is the one I made first, and the one at top second, which was inspired by the divine graphic designs of Eloise Renouf. She told me on Instagram that she had my blessing to copy her design. :) It's not exactly copying, but complete inspiration, though figuring out how to create the design with fabric was challenging. Once I got the rhythm of making flying geese, basically, it was a snap.

This one was too much fun and was inspired by, among other art pieces, Paul Klee's "Abstraction with Reference to a Flowering Tree, 1925. One other source of inspiration were the macarons Nancy and I ate in Paris in 1997. The fabrics are after all from her stash too. So I named it "Nancy's Macarons." The little (big) breakthrough in this one is using nothing but solids. Me!


"Nancy's macarons"
27" square
at Etsy

Also, this sweet thing: This was the staycation when I gave Andrea her birthday quilt after which, at home, my father-in-law (staying with us a couple of months — love him, love having him!) said to me, "I wouldn't mind having one of those lap quilts like you gave Andrea."

!!!!! Why is it that we are SO afraid to ask for something when doing so gives such IMMENSE PLEASURE to the one asked???? I was tickled, so tickled, to begin to imagine a lap quilt to complete before he leaves on my birthday in three weeks. Joy, bliss. You see, he is on blood thinner and is chilly a lot of the time. He needs to cuddle under a throw. I have ordered batting with poly as well as cotton after seeing soft cuddly quilts around on Instagram and wanting the kind of loft 100% cotton just doesn't provide.

One more thing. I am figuring out that while I love the graphic designs of wall hangings, I love cuddly quilts for laps and beds. Now that I've tried and succeeded at wall hangings (let's hope they sell!), I can let these designs go crazy. Then quilts can focus on what I love about quilts: comfort, peace, connection, pleasure. Not sure just what this means entirely, but I'll find out.


4 comments:

  1. Of course you'll find out. That and much more because you're on this WONDERFUL journey of discovery and creativity. If you can figure out how to relieve the pain in your gifted hands/wrists, how much more wonderful! I hate the food deprivation for you but hopefully what you're doing will do the trick.

    And I can just imagine what you'll come up with for FIL! I can hardly wait to see it.

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    1. Boots, I so love having you in the bleachers! You never miss a game!! :D I love love love you.

      Of course the other bummer is that all the tomatoes in the garden are at that "Don would like to fry me up right now" stage and also coming ripe. Have you ever had his fried green tomatoes? Man!

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  2. How lucky am I to have you both in my life! Ruth, we have the best cheerleader EVER in Ginnie. And yes, to a visit...both in NYC and the farm. Would love that. I really love both of these...and love them even more when I know the inspiration behind them...and being a lover of abstract...omg Paul Klee's art...PERFECT for quilting! LOVE it all.

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    1. Ah, you're sweet and good, Robin! Yes, my sister is the BEST.

      Well now it's on the radar for when we can all figure out getting together!

      Thank you for YOUR great support!!!

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