Greetings from Montevideo, from Alison Schwabe, Aussie quiltmaker

Labels: folly, placement

Labels: folly, placement

Labels: folly, placement

A recent morning on the quiltart list there was discussion of techniques. The previous writer had issues with fusing of uneven cutting and fraying edges, and I posed the question whether readers could conceive a design in which frayed edges and uneven cut lines, with fusing technique, were appropriate.

Well some of the answers were interesting, but I then realised I had done such a design myself, not too long ago, in which the pieces were either fused (the hand dyed squares in this piece) and or frayed - the gold scrim squares are hand sewn onto the top of the larger squares, and despite beng cut on the cross this stuff does fray easily - witness the fraying doubled over edging that surrounds the quilt.

This small quilt uses a traditional pattern of a square within a square to explore particular techniques, but overall the design isn't too crash hot in terms of vitality and excitement, and this is probably why I haven't exhibited it anywhere yet. And yet it is one of those pieces that somehow become important on the way towards new developments.

An earlier version of this post had this and a detailed view but the buttons would not open to show the pics, although they had done so when first posted. This is the best I can do for the moment, however, and maybe I will learn something blindingly obvious to everyone but me on this new blogger program, or need to take another path after a while.

Labels: attitude issues, craftsmanship, fusing, raw edges

... What a fun job to start the new year - IMHO one of the best, most exciting parts of designing and making a piece.

Late last year I received an inquiry from a prospective buyer, J, interested in a quilt that had already sold. However she is prepared to consider a commission, and following some dicusssions via email, J sent fabric swatches to me just before Christmas. The contents of her package divided into some very bright strong colours and some more rather subdued almost japanese prints and stripes, which IMHO would not go in the same colour scheme. So I have sent her two colour suggestions represented by
these two different collections of fabric.

In the upper photo, upon the right hand top side are several strips of prints containing colours she really likes, as they make her feel happy. Very bright saturated colours, they would look great set into some of the hand dyeds I have here by a couple of dyers, Janet Jo Smith and Dijanne Cevaal. They'd be dramatic set into charcoal grey or black, also lovely set into something pale like cream or pale grey.... I'm thinking irregular horizontal 'wisps' in line with our discussions on concepts of landscape as a theme.

In the lower photo, more subdued fabrics from my stash suggested by the colours of the other group of snippets. Bearing in mind the principle there should always be at least a tiny bit of yellow somewhere in a colour scheme, the bold blue/yellow/green segment in the middle of this photo would do that - with our without some support from other values of yellow. But this piece of fabric is also important as being one the client herself hand dyed, and she'd love a small piece included and the rest returned. This would be possible and marvellous in either colour scheme and would make the final design just a bit more special to her.

So the info is on its way to J, and regardless of whether she accepts the commission proposals or not, I have a couple of quilt plans that I will probably make up, anyway, taking into account upcoming exhibition deadlines and the need for some fresh new works to show.

Labels: how I work - auditioning

Of course, in each case, the proportions of each colour or print will not be the same in the actual piece as it is in these auditioning lineups. It never is, in my experience, but this is how I make a selection of fabrics for any one piece. As I go along, there will be snippets or other pieces in my stash which will suggest themselves ( " please, oh please miss, pick me?") and other choices, once I am actually working with them will be disappointing in some way and will have to drop out of the final production. It's not at all unlike producing a stage show.

Labels: how I work - auditioning

The throwout continues, and a satisfactory bonfire was just held to get rid of accounts and statements with card numbers on them, signatures and such... back in Aus we have a shredder and do this periodically. One can't be too careful in these days of stolen identity stuff . tip - when destroying an old credit card I snip it into three pieces, chuck the outer two into the garbage, and put the middle one in a drawer or cupboard where it stays until months/years later when I find it and then throw it out in the bin, too.

While stoking the fire to make sure it all burned, I began to think about this process, and thought back about the lives our parents led. They paid for most things by cash or monthly settlement of a current account in places they did regular business, which they just settled around the middle or the end of the month when they went in. Once paid, the merchant turned over a new page and it started all over. No need to keep records at home. I know my parents did not keep a ledger or anything like that, their affairs were a bit chaotic, and ours are a bit the same way. DH's parents relied solidly on the little brown teapot system - neither of them ever ran a cheque book let alone credit card. Paper rubbish that piled up in houses in those days were mostly either lots of letters from far flung friends and family - and/or daily newspapers that didn't get thrown out, or heaps of magazines and peridocals that piled up in certain areas. Since all brown paper and tissue paper from fresh bread were carefully folded and kept in kitchen drawers and cupboards for re-use, along with string, there was a lot of other packaging stuff around, too. My mother kept boxes of all sizes - you just never knew when you needed one for a batch of rock cakes for a street stall, or one to put the things you mailed to interstate rellies for Xmas and other occasions.

Now, we do re-use supermarket bags in the kitchen bin; they are said to be biodegradeable (although they take forever to disappear) and we never need to buy garbage bags. Shops in this country often have lovely paper bags with handles for their goods, and these come in all sizes - most people I know keep some for that informal giving that goes on - such as a pot of chutney here, there some magazines, or hand me down clothing moving along.

For stuff that wasn't to be re-used or the occasional confidential letters etc, most homes had an incinerator. And really that is what I have just used the parrilla for. In fact for several years it was my job to go out and burn the stuff in the incinerator once a load built up, mostly in summer - since we ran wood fires in winter to heat the house. Newspaper and other 'clean' paper were OK to light the fire inside the house, but detergent boxes for example went into the incinerator. Very little went into the two quite small garbage bins that were put out one night per week only, and we were a family of 5.

Labels: burning papers, recycling

Our last family visitors departed a few days ago - it has been wonderful if at times a little overwhelming to have them, indeed, so many of them, visiting at the same time. The washing including the borrowed bed linen, is almost done.... the plumbing service people have been to clear out the overloaded and apparently tree-root-bound drains... the security alarm people have been to restore the system to its normal state (the beeping when we went into some rooms indicated little fingers had explored the keypad somewhat during their stay) Perhaps in sympathy or for some other more closely connected reason, the computer decided to go haywire and has been totally overhauled with some upgrades. At the same time we had all the software reinstalled in english, since over the past couple of years it/the computer seems to have become confused and has increasingly been giving responses in one language or the other, at times within the same program. With technical messages this has become quite impossible despite our improved Spanish, and I am wondering if it's sudden deterioration had anything to do with kids quietly downloading stuff while they were here....

Then there's the category of stuff that had just been put aside for later in various parts of the house, and is now being dealt with: for example, as I write I sit here with a gold medallion in the olympic style on red white and blue ribbon.....wearing it, over my nightie if you must know, is a reminder to email one of my sisters who sent it for my recent 60th birthday. Inscribed "World's Best Sister" and arriving in a presentation box bearing a very nice and rather corny citation, unfortunately it did not arive in time for me to wear on the evening of my party - she and I know I would have if it did.

So, things are catching up. There's masses of old invoices and statements to either file or ditch, most of them will go into the bonfire I will be conducting outside in the parilla later today. (when I get dressed... ) So, clearly, as part of the great tidy-up a throwout has commenced of other kinds of stuff we just don't need to keep. Example:- a 'spare' piece of vacuum cleaner pipe and head - now how could that have happened?...too long ago to remember the details, but it did.... bits and pieces, gadgets, lids, some spare cables that came with, well, some computer stuff some time ago...

So just now, at first glance most of the place looks as if we are hosting about 10 extra family visitors... until you realise this is not luggage or family equipment clogging the passage way but stuff, too much of it, on its way to the skip bin up on the corner. Actually some of it will be useful to someone (needing a new piece of vac. hose + head, for example) and so contrary to regulations we are just going to place some of these things beside the skip bin so they don't get fouled with all the other stuff people toss in. Montevideo still has a lot of horse and cart men who take care of anything scavengeable and recyclable in no time flat... barely half an hour goes by without one trotting by. And now instead of the canastas/baskets up on poles outside each residence for 3 x weekly collection of household rubbish, almost all the city has skip bins placed within about 300metres of each residence, and we can all put our stuff in there, at any time, for 3 x weekly collection. And although I have no idea whether the system works - but there is meant to be a once weekly rinse out and sanitisation of each bin's interior. With a foot operated springloaded lid, theroetically the bin and all contents are safe from rain, scavenging cats and dogs etc - but sickeningly not safe from scavenging humans. Occasionally you see a bin tipped over with contents strewn everywhere... some recycling people have developed a couple of handy long handled hook-tools they use to insect the contents from outside the bin...I am told that people who gather up packaging stuff, cardboard, styrofoam and so on, can sort and sell clean stuff to make a modest living. I can understand what looks like an occasional act of sabotage to the system as a protest against the changes which are gradually eroding this source of income, but what makes me really sick in this country is people who just dump rubbish on vacant blocks or on street corners, and who just toss wrappers, tickets, butts, and empties wherever, and this is still happening despite the close coverage of the skip bins around the city.

On the other hand, there is the water. THE WATER FROM THE TAP IN URUGUAY HAS TO BE ONE OF THE WORLD'S BEST POTABLE SUPPLES. I am a very keen drinker of water and have never got used to how good it is compared with mand places we have lived or travelled. In Perth it is "OK" but with heavy overtones of chlorine where we live, and as for Adelaide or Sydney... terrible.

Labels: aftermath, christmas, visitors

I didn't really mean to cut off the face of this consumate artist, but it is the best one I have showing his nimble hands at work.

While all the families were here we rented a holiday cottage at Piriapolis, west of Montevideo but not so far as Punta del Este and far less crowded and, of course, quieter. For the various grandkids nephew and niece present it was wonderful to be an easy block's walk from the safe beach which offered plenty of space for the patient digging of large holes to sit in, castles surrounded by moats, and the usual beach contructions that kids will engage in day after day, up to a certain age anyway. There was a lot of swimming and kicking around of the soccer ball. Some walked and gathered shells and stones of note.... and we spent many hours each day out in the well equipped parrilla area - perfect for a large number to breakfast together and cook bbq meals at other times. Cooler, too, than being inside the house until late most evenings.

On a particularly hot day we withdrew from the beach around 12.30 to a shady table on the sidewalk where we had lunch and many cool drinks, and, as it turned out, caught the very few breezes around on a day which we later learned had topped over 41C in the shade. It was so hot I slept out on the upstairs deck of the house that night until a cool change blew in with a rush around 3 am. We later learned that in one of our friend's family a couple of people were treated for heatstroke and dehydration.

Anyway, weaver-sculptor Fernando here was one of the passing parade that day (which included a not-very-good-palm reader and some ladies selling kitchen knives, for some reason) Here he is shown making a spear fish from palm fronds - other creations he did were a turtle, several different flowers and fans. A couple of the kids and I were particularly fascinated and bought several of them.

..........and this little fellow, a grasshopper, Francisco just quickly did while talking to the kids, apparently not particularly concentrating, but, he certainly got the grasshopperly essence don't you think?

Labels: palm leaf weaving

With a number of our far-flung family around me, and some of my oldest and closest uruguayan friends I really enjoyed a party held to celebrate my 60th birthday just before christmas.

Some textile notes - the mariachi singers were wonderfully clad in trim midnight black suits with braided trims and worn over ruffled shirts; and their fabulous hats carried a lot of hand embroidery in silver metallic threads. The G-of-H herself was less formally turned out in black linen shirt, white duck pants, the infamous gold tennies, and for a brief time sported one of the mariachi's hats. These hats are quite heavy - and next time I go to the Mexican restaurant I must invstigate further, but I think the base of the hat, under the velvet, is thick papier mache. The singers are all Uruguayan but they produce the rich Mexican mariachi sound beautifully, and from the youngest grandchild to the oldest adult present, everyone enjoyed their performance.

Labels: birthday celebration

As I said, spent a lot of time on and around beaches. One can claim that beachwear is 'textiles' and so it has not been a textile-free time really at all. Some of the sights I saw were truly amazing although in latin amercan terms perhaps not so. Here in Uruguay it seems anything goes figurewise on the beach - and believe me, I noted many figures around my ample size and much bigger, poured into costumes that I would never consider since they didn't cover much of the bod at all. And those thong things ... can look quite wonderful on a trim taught little figure, but in other cases can be, um, awesome.... I noted a very large bosomed lady with her ipod or mpc player tucked down in her generous cleavage...there was truly one of the largest men I have ever seen ( Mr Creosote perhaps) wearing, um, bathers? that one could barely detect at the front....and a lady who a few days previously must have fallen asleep on the beach, since how else could her back have become so burnt and overlaid by tantalisingly huge strips of skin just hanging off and literally waving in the breeze? I have to confess I just can't resist "neatening up" )ie removing, any peeling skin I am silly enough to score on my own body.

Labels: textiles on beaches

Dear Reader -greetings for the new year -a little belated for sure, but what with visiting family coming on top of recovering from major surgery late last year, computer problems and distances from cyber cafes as we holidayed by the sea, the lack of writing for some time means that there has been in some senses a textile-free three months in my life.

Certain physical restrictions resulted in my spending a of of time on the beach, either gently bobbing in the water or working on the suntan while reading quite a few good books. Visiting grandchildren meant some long noisy games of monopoly - not much tv since the set in the hose we hired and spent quite a bit of time at had no cable, therefore was mostly in spanish - they wearied of that and lost interest.

I have certainly not stitched a stitch, well apart from hand sewing on a button to a shirt, and my current piece calls to me from where it is pinned up on the wall. In my recovery period I did assemble some tiny abstract landscapes, mounted them on sanded acrylic sheeting, and without taking a pic of them, placed some of those plus several quilts with a local gallery, and will shortly hear from them if anything sold over the first month. In another separate development, a local designer and maker of 18ct jewellery, Petra Eberl, and myself have agreed we should and will exhibit together in the next few months. I could do it tomorrow but with Montevideo half empty during the summer holidays there is no point. It is true that what they say, " nothing really starts until after Easter here," and so we will be looking at a date in June or July probably, talking with the manager of the Museo Zorrilla gallery at the end of january to finalise this. I am very keen to continue on with the leather on fabric works and will expand the small abstract landscapes. We are both pleased at this opportunity since we feel our high priced works in different fine craft media will complement each other well with organic design lines.

Labels: exhibition, gold, Petra