October Snow

It started snowing on Friday and hasn't stopped (today is Sunday). They are predicting this storm to continue through Monday. So far we've lost two trees (pines) off the back patio. I took the photo above from the back door.

At this point, about 24" have accumulated at our place. Because the storm began as rain, the heavy wet snow has stuck to the trees - weighing them down beyond their capacity. Deciduous trees have not even begun turning color yet, and branches are coming down in a big way. All those leaves covered with snow.

This tree next to the shop was really hanging low when we got up and at mid morning, it snapped - just missing the shop.

So far, no power outages for us yet. I know there have been a lot of problems in the area, though.

More Handbags

I am still plugging away on the quilted handbags that I make periodically out of fabric scraps. I store all my scraps in a large plastic tub and when I gets full, I sort them into color families and sew together randomly.

Once I have a big enough rectangle, it is quilted, then I add a pocket, zipper, straps, and lining with a pocket. I make a beaded zipper pull for each one. I don't use a specific pattern. I have just worked out my own through trial and error. No two bags are alike. I just make various sizes and shapes, which helps keep me from getting totally bored with the process (it is still pretty repetitious).
This is the black group. Most of them have been enhanced with stamped fabric paints. I've made about 40 of these so far in the past month. They generate a little income through a couple of different outlets.

Fall Colors

The fall colors are just starting to change here in Montana. I was inspired to paint a few backgrounds for winter projects.

Here are a couple of detail shots of one piece.

My clothesline is strung between two pine trees behind the house. The chokecherries nearby are starting to show some color.

Mushrooms!

We live in a rather arid climate here on the hills above Billings, Montana.
I mean, we have scorpions and lizards (neither of which I ever saw growing up in the lush Gallatin Valley near Bozeman, Montana).
We did have a big rain a few weeks ago, though and apparently, some mushroom spores had a chance to take hold on the edge of our driveway.

What a surprise to find such large healthy mushroom specimens in our environment.

Citrus Cooler

Little White Lines SeriesThis piece was painted with thickened MX dyes after the Elmers Glue gel lines dried. I made an effort to mix the colors by painting "outside the lines".

Unintentionally, the colors are very citrus like and thus the name "Citrus Cooler". I really enjoy the hand stitching and embellishing with buttons. This is somehow very satisfying to me.

• This little piece is only 19 x 18".

Little White Lines Series

Thanks so much to all who left nice comments about my studio. I admit it is a fabulous workspace and it allows me to do serious work.

I am working on a new series, which I am currently calling "Little White Lines" for lack of a better name. The series involves drawing lines with Elmers Glue gel prior to painting with MX dye or Setacolor paints. After washing out the glue, and lightly quilting along the white lines, I am doing a great deal of handwork. I am really liking the process as well as the effect of stitching rows and rows of little parallel lines in strategic locations and embellishing with buttons.

I've realized how very much this series reflects my enjoyment of my life right now. After several years of being thrown off course with family issues - it is such a joy to be able to find time to focus on my own self expression.

I've done some larger - more interesting pieces in this series but am not showing them on the blog right now because I hope to enter them in a couple of shows and there are now such restrictions on previously shown works. I just want to play it safe in case I can get something accepted into a show somewhere.

Scrap Bags

Every once in a while, I try to work on a project to use up scraps. I keep a 30 gallon tub in my studio and all my scraps larger than 2" go into it. After a while, the tub gets too full for the lid to fit and at that point, I try to utilize those scraps in some way.

I really love messing around with random piecing - just putting things together any which way. For the past 5 years or so, I have been making these scraps into one-of-a-kind handbags. These bags are favored by family members for their extreme light weight, durability, and originality. I have a couple of sisters who carry them and all three of my daughters also use them. They sell well in a couple of galleries, including Elements. I think I might try putting some up for sale in my Etsy store, too.

In the past, I have done a lot of detailed quilting on the bags, but this time around, I have kept the stitching fairly basic, and have used stamping and screen printing to enhance them.

Arashi Shibori Kimonos

Occasionally, I turn my creative attention to wearables, which I offer for sale. I have an order from Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut due next month - for their holiday showcase.

I have gone to a system of first constructing the kimono from natural silk fabric, following up with the surface design process of choice. I've done a variety of different techniques, but this is the first time I wrapped an entire garment around a pole for arashi shibori.

These particular kimonos are constructed of soft organza with charmeuse bands. I was concerned that the dye might not penetrate all the layers, but it was actually quite successful, and I do think I will do more with this technique.

Cynthia's Studio

Saturday, I opened my studio for tours as part of a fundraising drive for Big Sky Quilt Retreat. For this reason, I tidied up quite a bit, deep cleaned and hung some finished work on my design wall. I thought I would share some pictures of my workspace and tell you a bit about my arrangement.

My workspace is not a showplace. Although it is roomy, it has been outfitted with a mishmash of salvaged fixtures that have been cobbled together. While it is not very beautiful - it is extremely functional.
My worktables are Formica laminate - rescued from the dumpster behind TJ Maxx - which was remodeling. The drawers beneath the tables are old Hallmark drawers that Joe found on the curb in front of a store that went out of business. He constructed racks for my thread spools and bead strands out of dowels inset into drilled plywood. These are terrific and I have three large ones - all full, of course.

One 5' x 8' surface is set up to the correct height for me to work comfortably while standing. The other end is lower (just a little smaller), set up for my sewing machine with a big table for machine quilting.

I am currently in the process of switching from a desktop - to a laptop and I have a computer station at each end of the room.

My Janome 6500 has been recessed so that the bed of the machine is flush with the table top and this allows for smooth movement during quilting.

My design wall is large. I have one 8' square wall and another that is 4' square right next to it. This allows me to work on a number of different pieces at once. There is a track lighting system installed on the ceiling above the design wall and the bulbs are super bright - especially for photography. This is where I shoot most of my entry photos.

I picked up these two vintage silk dupioni upholstered chairs at an antique shop that was going out of business. This corner is set up for me to do my journaling, reading, and hand stitching. I love these chairs.

The window along the west wall allows a good view of the trees and sunsets. This sofa is a hide-a-bed, as cast off from another room and there was no place else for it to go. The lighting in the room consists of daylight fluorescent - three fixtures with four tubes in each. The room is very bright. I never have a problem seeing what I am doing.

My ironing surface is 3/4" particle board covered with foil, two layers of cotton batting, and covered with a cotton canvas grid. Joe attached it to the wall with hinges and the two front legs fold up, so if I ever wanted to - I could fold it flat against the wall. Instead, I have used the space beneath it as storage for my flat boxes of fabrics, etc.

I also have a mangle - awesome for ironing dyed fabrics, (not shown) which sits just to the right of my flat ironing table.

I keep a narrow 12' slat hanging above my ironing surface, and this is where I hang finished work - often while it is waiting to be sent off to a show.

In the picture above, at the far left is the doorway into my 9' x 11' wet studio. The picture below starts the tour of my wet studio.

The wet studio is also equipped with salvaged fixtures. Everything from the sink to the shelving to the pegboard on the wall came from somewhere else and was free. I am pleased to have a dedicated washing machine, sink, and microwave in this little workspace. Oh, and a thermofax machine, too! Yay!

I really like this little 4 x 2' folding table. I keep three sheets of 3/8" OSB (fiberboard) stashed behind it and pull them up when I need a portable work surface. The OSB is cut to 3 x 4' sizes and one has heavy plastic stretched over it - I use this when I want to paint fabric or paper. Another is covered with two layers of batting - and this one I use for stamping on fabric. With these multiple portable surfaces - I can easily switch from one task to another, setting one aside to dry while I work on the other one - a system I have used for about 8 years - very efficient.

I don't remember where Joe got these narrow shelves, but they appeared one day and he insisted I needed them. I reluctantly agreed and now I cannot imagine how I stored my dye before I had these!

My studio is also equipped with a woodburning stove and has a door leading directly outdoors. Unfortunately, it is the first door a person sees when approaching our house from the cul de sac so it is used much more often than I would like.

Clint and Lisa's wedding

Last weekend, we drove to Montana City for my nephew's wedding. Clint and Lisa chose this beautiful location for their wedding. Isn't it amazing?

All of my siblings were able to attend, and it has been a while since we had a group picture. The sun was in our eyes and there is not a single picture in which all six of us have our eyes open. Karen, with the corsage in the middle of the picture (and eyes closed - sorry) is the mother of the groom.

We got all of the Paugh grandchildren together for a picture. Again, the sun was a problem.

Airus and Molly had a chance to bond.

The younger cousins had a lot of fun climbing around on the rocks.

The day after the wedding, we were invited to Clint and Lisa's house in Jefferson City for a barbecue. It was a beautiful day.

My mother gave Clint and Lisa a quilt as a wedding gift. Isn't it lovely?

Airus also got a new quilt from Grandma (my mother). He LOVES it! It is all kinds of novelty prints. He calls it "My Helicopter Quilt".

Beartooth Backpacking Day 3

It drizzled and blew all night so we abandoned our plan to fish Albino in the morning and instead we just had a quick breakfast and broke camp.
Raindrops falling on Albino Lake as we walked out made a lovely image.

Hiking out, we passed Becker, Mutt and Jeff, Night, and Island Lakes. The one in the picture above is Becker. It was precipitating hail and rain all the way, with a lot of thunder overhead (but we couldn't see any lightening).

Very low clouds made the drive out really painstaking. We were glad to be inside our warm car, though and it was interesting to see the mountain in a whole new perspective.

Albino, Jasper and Golden Lakes

Our ultimate goal was to reach Jasper and Golden Lakes, which lie to the North of Lonesome Peak.
Wow! What a spectacular view! The picture below shows Jasper with Beartooth Mountain in the background.

Here is another picture of Jasper - across the lake from the previous picture, with Lonesome Peak in the background.

This picture was taken at Golden Lake, which is directly below Jasper. Joe was fishing across the lake beneath Lonesome Peak when he took this picture of me across the lake (small black speck on the shore to the left).

Lonesome Peak with Golden Lake beneath it.

Here we are on the trail between Albino and Jasper Lakes. That's Albino in the background.
The clouds started rolling in towards evening. We set up our kitchen in the shelter of these rocks. It was out of the wind.
As the storm was moving in, the sun broke through just long enough to light up the mountainside above Albino Lake, where we were camped.