Earth from Space

The Kingsport Public Library currently is showing the Smithsonian's Earth from Space exhibit. The exhibit is divided into several sections and several satellites provided the source imagery. I was a chaperone on my daughter's class trip to see the exhibit last week and my good deed was rewarded 10-fold by the oh-so-inspiring images. I was at a loss re: what to create for my 18" x 18" Surface Matters exhibit piece (opening in conjunction with the Surface Design Association's biennial conference). Now, not so much.

Anyhow, the on-line exhibit is great, but if you have a chance to see the exhibit in person please do. The images are quite large and vivid, the information provided about what you're seeing is interesting, and, unlike with the on-line exhibit, you can get right up close and personal. In addition, some of the images were dual images but you can see only one of them on-line. You can zoom in the on-line exhibit, but you can't see the entire enlarged image at once. So cool!

Anyhow, I promise pictures in my next post--all these text posts are a little dull, no?

I made cheese!

I'm on my way to bed, but I'm so excited I had to post. Made goat's milk cheese today and flavored it with Penzey's garlic salt. It's soooooo good! Had it on a salad of baby romaine with mixed raisins, a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt, and pepper. It was wonderful.

That's all. Nighty, night.

Thank you Rosemary, for the knowledge, the courage, and the milk!

I love what I do!

It's alchemy.

Magically some barbed needles and inspiration turn this:


Into this:

A painting in fiber.

But then the fun really begins--the quilting brings the whole thing to life:


Until a two dimensional picture becomes a sculpture for the wall:

Labyrinth II (c) 2009 Cindi Huss.

This is the 8" square (approx.) of the quilt that will show through
the matte. It will travel with Meet SAQA's Artists
for a year, then the International Quilt Study Center
will acquire selected work from the exhibit
for its permanent collection.

Life is good!

My Plan Derailed

Isn't it wonderful?

Sometimes the things we trip over are just what we've been looking for, an opportunity we've been invited to recognize.

I've been dyeing my own fabric for several years now and I love it. Even fairly simple mottled patterns are just yummy:

See?!

There are only a few problems:
1. Sometimes I want a piece with a larger or smaller repeat than I got with the original.
2. Sometimes I want yardage, but more fabric/layers seriously affects the way the dye works on the fabric, so some patterns just aren't possible as yardage.
3. I'd love to sell the same piece over and over again--the most wonderful pieces are gobbled up--either by me or by a customer--pretty quickly . . . and then what?

I may have found the answer and have spent an hour this morning learning how to do this:

(Manipulated photo, a doubled, merged version of
the medium-resolution image of my hand-dye. )

Rather than taking care of this:


That's O.K., though, because this:


Will still be there this afternoon.

Anyhow, this little bump in my schedule was prompted by my finding a link to Spoonflower.com when I was peeking at Quiltblogs.com. They're in the beta phase of development right now so you can't sell your designs from their site yet, but hopefully that will come in the future.

I've asked some other fiber art folks about Spoonflower and have only heard good things, so . . .

My hope is that once they are out of their beta-testing mode I will be able to upload images for yardage that anyone could buy. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy using them myself--this is just the beginning of some good, clean fun!

Great Friends Do Great Things

I am constantly inspired by my friends: some are writing novels, one is becoming a mover and shaker in the DE classical music scene, several are homeschooling with wild success and abandon, and quite a few are making entrepreneurial and artistic successes of themselves. And so many friends have overcome illness, difficulty, or tragedy in their lives with grace, courage, and hope that I profoundly respect and aspire to.

Well, most of those great things are personal and special and I feel honored to be allowed into that intimate space. However, here's something I've been asked to share, so I will with a glad heart and busy hands.

My friend Lynda recently began the blog Knitting for Change. She welcomes all who are interested to participate in this project. Check it out to see what she has to say.

Some of us change the world in big ways, but all of us can change the world with quiet acts of kindness and small gifts of time.

So the next time you're sitting around wondering what to do or looking for a way NOT to feel guilty for spending the evening in front of the T.V., knit (or in my case, crochet) a hat, mittens, scarf, or even a sweater to pass on, and let Lynda know. Then we will see how powerful one small act can be--Together we can knit (and crochet) some serious change.

Repost of Mmmm, Mmmmm Good

So. We traveled to Des Moines, IA, to spend Christmas with my 93-year-old Grandma and it was fabulous. We ran into weather driving both ways, but what do you expect when you arrogantly decide that driving 14 hours across the Midwest in winter would be a good idea?

Anyhow, the visit was lovely even if the drive was not, but the thing (besides my own bed) that I most enjoyed upon returning home was . . . my morning smoothie.

So ifyou think you might like drinking liquid sunshine, check out this post that has the recipe with photos. It's a great way to jump right on that healthy eating resolution I know you've all made--you won't even mind it!

Mmmm, Mmmmm Good