Pain is a message from one part of your body to another.

I often wonder if I did not have pain if I would ever stop. I usually work myself until I drop. If I don't drop I usually find myself sitting somewhere in a very uncomfortable spot needing desperately to go to sleep...in my bed. That was then, when I lived a very different life, the life of the young and the fit.

These last three or four days after an EMG I have been having aftershock pains running up and down my legs, over my hip, and almost feeling like they were like lightning stikes up and down my legs. It has been very difficult to move from place to place and if I forget and sit too long I ache for hours. I am waiting to catch up with my rest and waiting for a spot of no pain so I can feel some relief. I hope it comes soon. No that should definitely fall in the realm of a prayer. All for tonight, need to clean up the studio area so I can muss it up again. LOL, have a great night. Ms. V

Pain is a message from one part of your body to another.

I often wonder if I did not have pain if I would ever stop. I usually work myself until I drop. If I don't drop I usually find myself sitting somewhere in a very uncomfortable spot needing desperately to go to sleep...in my bed. That was then, when I lived a very different life, the life of the young and the fit.

These last three or four days after an EMG I have been having aftershock pains running up and down my legs, over my hip, and almost feeling like they were like lightning stikes up and down my legs. It has been very difficult to move from place to place and if I forget and sit too long I ache for hours. I am waiting to catch up with my rest and waiting for a spot of no pain so I can feel some relief. I hope it comes soon. No that should definitely fall in the realm of a prayer. All for tonight, need to clean up the studio area so I can muss it up again. LOL, have a great night. Ms. V

As the sun has been dropping I have been thinking about quilting and examples that I have of different styles I like to use. Here are a few examples of this past years works. Some of these are exhibited below but this gathering really appeals to me. The title from back to front are

'I Can Do It', 'Three Pregnant Ladies...', 'Storm my 2008 Journal Quilt entry', and 'Talk to the Hand; my 2007 Journal Quilt entry'. As the sun rises tomorrow I will begin another phase of quilting some of my more recent works...they are looking for the batting, felt, and backings.

Regards, V

Three Pregnant Ladies a seat and a antelope

Here is the finished piece. The center was plain muslin that has been painted and stitched. The first border is a commercial fabric that I could not leave at the fabric shop. The color was exactly the same and even had the same spiritual feeling of the woman who is brown. The was of course the third woman pictured on the far right. She is pregnant with pain and the loss of her father. I repeated that color with a dyed fabric that hand been stamped with a bleach and discharged. I create the stamp from a small sketch I made on a 3x5 card. Next I painted the blue piece with gold paint. When it came time to add the final border it had to be that blue piece. The gold picked up the colors of the middle woman. I bordered it with a very narrow border using the brown fabric. This was a labor of love and loss. Another piece done when my daughters were pregnant at the same time and my daddy had passed on. The lower edge of this piece had my finger prints one it. Each stitch and each painted stroke are very personal to me. Regards, Ms. V

Drumming My Way thru a Successful Postcard Sway

A very good friend Marlene O'Bryant Seabrook has a wonderful exhibit at the Avery Research Institute. I was lucky enough to have one of my postcards included in the exhibit. Here you see the postcard placed onto of a drum and enclosed in a plexiglass box. Thanks Marlene for using one of my 2008 AA Swap Postcards in the exhibit of your quilts and Postcard collection!

Below you see me standing near my journal quilt at the 2008 International Quilt Show Exhibit at the Saugus Arena in Lowell. I also submitted a piece for 2009 but it was not accepted in the show, it did however get in the 'not accepted for the show slideshow posted to the internet', that was a great idea of one of the people who submitted a work. She decided to get permission to have a 'not accepted for the show' presentation on-line. Great idea and my work did make it in on time.

Below you see four rounds of a round robin. My submission are the third round and the faces. Earlier I showed just the faces now you see the quilt top as it was returned to the owner. When she finishes with it I will ask if I can post a photo here so you will see the finished quilted piece.

I just love working on textiles and the past week I learned quite a bit about deconstruction silk screens. It was amazing to watch what happens when you paint on a screen then use a product to break down the dye as you use a squeegie to scrape across the screen. Almost as much fun as these other first times: listening to popcorn pop, taking something out of a microwave oven, seeing windshield wipers work, having watched the installation of street lights on your block and then that night when they automatically turn on. After that happened we had to be home on the front steps when the lights came on. Imagine us running from all directions to make it to the steps before Mother looked out to see if we were all there. I just love first times.