A Happy Girl

Lots of good things happening this week. My week began with the arrival of this. I've wanted one of Jude's pieces for a long time. When I saw "A Soft Scream" I knew it was the one. I love her use of lightness and darkness in this one and the shrouding of some bits in fog. Then the writing in her blog seemed to speak to issues I've been struggling with, "sometimes the light is blocked, sometimes by you yourself."

I just have to say that holding her work in my hands is amazing. Her blog, while incredible, doesn't do justice to the actual pieces, their textures, their colors, their little surprises here and there. This is a real treasure. I've already stroked it many times!

I also finished "Slow." It was a fun, meditative piece and I'm eager to start another one.

I made a nice discovery of couching strips of velvet for the writing. I used 1/2" strips and they couched beautifully, rolling in on themselves as I stitched for a nice finished edge and soft, fluffy letters. I'll be coming back to this.

And I found this Nancy Crow lecture online that I enjoyed listening to. Nancy talks about the influences on her work and how she developed her ideas. It was surprising to hear her talk about struggles along the way, pieces that she didn't like, dead ends in series. They all appeared in her book and looked so cohesive and thought out, you'd think it all went according to a master plan.