Fat Lady ART

Today I heard about an artists' statue that has some people in an uproar.  This Naked Fat Lady (named Venus) statue is located here in Tempe, AZ (Rural & Broadway).  The artist of this statue has installed it as part of a renovation to an apartment building he owns.  People like the job he did on the building to improve their property values but it seems some of them don't like the statue.  The artist did go to city hall and got approval to display the Fat Lady but shortly after she was perched on the building people started complaining.

This morning, in an attempt to please the public, the artist has given the Naked Fat Lady a fig leaf bikini made from dollar bills.  Now she looks more like a fat stripper!  This story was aired on FOX 10 News http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/.  They have a poll asking viewers if the statue is still to offensive.  The numbers at the time of this posting were No 73% and Yes 28%.

Throughout modern time ART has been controversial at times.

Quilted Symphony Help

Today is a lazy kinda day here in the desert.  Even though it is still spring according to the calendar it feels like summer has arrived with temps predicted to reach triple digits today.  The husband is off spending the day pursuing his passion (racing) which gives me a quiet day to hang... with the cats... and FABRIC.  It's the perfect opportunity to work on my quilted symphony project.  This project has challenged me (I don't know why).  It's not the most challenging or original thing I've ever done so I'm a littler perplexed as to WHY it has been challenging.  Jazzy (the cat) seems to sense the challenge and sticks close by for moral support.  :o)





The Fabric Has Rusted!

Well here it is!  My rusted fabric.

 This started as a fat quarter of white muslin.  A steel wool pad was the metal I used to grow rust on my fabric.  You know the stuff you do heavy scrubbing with. Does anybody still use this stuff for cleaning?  The steel wool was pulled apart and laid on top of the fabric.  Then a wine bottle was placed in the center and the fabric was pulled up around the bottle.  Copper wire was then wrapped around the fabric covered bottle to hold it in place for the rusting process.

This is also fat quarter size.  Steel wool and a copper wire was sandwiched between two pieces of fabric and then rolled up (like a cigar).  The whole thing was wrapped with wire to hold it together for rusting.

Here are the pieces my rusting friends made.

Created by Alicia.

Created by Alicia.

Created by Cathy.

Created by Jane. 

This piece was not done on muslin like the rest.  Jane used a printed piece of green fabric.

She has a turtle in mind that must become a quilt so her goal was to end up with a perfect piece of turtle fabric.  This one will definitely work for her turtle!

 

Created by Judy.

Created by Judy.

This was just a scrap of fabric (the teal color is actually Judy's shirt) that turned out beautiful.

Created by LaVon.

Created by LaVon.

This piece is a little different because steel wool was not her rusting material of choice.  Instead LaVon wrapped this piece of fabric around an old horseshoe.  Pretty cool huh.

Everyone was so pleased with the results of this process that they have already started collecting old rusted things to use the next time we rust.

Rusting Fabric?

Meet the R U A Quilter group.  These gals let me hang out with them on a regular basis to do FUN things involving fabric.  Earlier this week we got together at a particularly creative members house and she shared with us the ins and outs of RUSTING FABRIC.  The process of creating an environment that allows fabric to rust was very quick and easy.  It was the show and tell, the awesome food and the all around chatting that took several more hours.  But what a FUN day it was!

So here we are with a table full of cheap and easy to obtain items that will allow us to RUST our muslin (also cheap) fabric.  Some items were even recycled from the trash, like soda and wine bottles.  As you can see Jane and I (at the end of the table) had to do a little team work to convince a piece of copper wire that it really did want to be wrapped around a bottle.  What's a friend to do?  That's one reason why we tend to do projects like this together!  And that's Marty (our token snowbird) in the front very proud that she has her wine bottle and fabric under control.

So here's a close up for you.  This is one of Judy's pieces.  That's a LOT of wire and I think she managed to get it on there all by herself.  Now that's a talent in itself! 

You start with muslin drenched in a vinegar solution (or printed fabric in Jane's case, there's always one renegade).  You place bits of rusted metal, or metal that will rust, on the fabric.  Then wrap it around something (or roll it up around itself) and hold it securely in place with wire or rubber bands.  The crucial step is then to keep it wet (for days) with the vinegar solution to promote the growth of RUST.  

 This is what we ended up with after everything was drenched and wrapped up with metal and rusty stuff.  And after a couple of hours of eating, sharing other projects and stories... It pretty much looked the SAME!  Now I was raised on the east coast where the humidity RUSTS stuff, so I know the process can literally take years.  But for some reason I expected to see some progress (and was disappointed that my STUFF wasn't RUSTING).

Our little projects were left with the EXPERIENCED RUSTER of the group.  She promised to tend our jewels with lots of vinegar solution.  Low and behold they started to RUST!  By the next morning I received this photo from her.  I'm told it can take up to six days for the rusting results to reach their full potential.  I can't wait to see what we have all created!

I'll post some pictures when we get to the end of the RUSTING process.

My Morning Walk

This morning I took a little walk (I never left my own yard so it wasn't like REAL exercise).  Even though our little scrap of land in the city has what is called xeriscape (reduced need for water use AND low maintenance) it is still abundant in spring blooms.  It is NOT lush by any means but it still has it's own unique desert appeal.

This little plant, Mexican Primrose, lives under a tree an oak tree named Pokey.  All five of the trees that live in my yard have names (I figure they live so long they deserve a name!)  These pretty pink blossoms appear every spring and disappear as quickly as the temperatures rise.





This little beauty, Freesia, has lived with me for about 10 years now.  To my surprise it pops out of the ground with it's gorgeous orange and yellow blossoms every year.  This plant started as an ornamental plant purchased from a grocery store.  It was a AUTUMN gift to one of my daughters from a visiting boyfriend.  She does not have a green thumb and so asked me to take care of it for her.  I planted it in the ground thinking there was no way it would survive in the desert.  The boyfriend is long gone but the plant lives on!

BIG yellow blossoms like this are covering a new addition to my backyard.  We planted this tree just a few weeks ago and it immediately started producing these BIG yellow blossom clusters.  Sorry I don't recall the REAL name for this tree, we call it Lizzy.  Why?  There was a Lizard that lived in a small area beside our house.  My husband accidentally smashed the Lizard while moving some bricks.  Over the years he had become attached to the Lizard that always watched him work and so gave it a proper burial under the tree.



Here's another yellow bloomer.  This plant (and all of  it's offspring) has lived on the property longer than I have.  It is a Cassia.  It is a profuse spring bloomer that stays green all year long.  This one has already bloomed with most of the blooms having turned to seed (thus the many offspring!).  These bushes survive on rainfall alone.  And there ain't much of that here in the desert! 

Someone else was out taking a walk in my backyard today, a family of quail.  These birds have inhabited my neighborhood for several years. There are actually three of them (two males and a female).  We see them running around every spring and they always bring the babies out for strolls later in the season.  What a TREAT!

Spring Brings New Beginnings

According to the calendar SPRING has officially arrived and it appears very evident here in the valley of the sun.  We've just had a few last days of winter with cold temperatures (at least it was cold to us flat land wimps) accompanied by wind and rain.  But today all of that wintry stuff is gone and the fresh outside air is filled with the sweet aroma of orange (and grapefruit in my backyard) blossoms.  I love that sweet smell!

This SPRING has brought a few personal new beginnings to my family this year.

Last week my oldest daughter, Denise, got married.  She became a new bride at the Harley Davidson Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 14. 

Before Denise was home from the honeymoon her little sister, Priscilla, moved from the valley of the sun to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to begin her new life.  She has moved up there to help her long time boyfriend with his new business.  The reports I've received from her so far is, "It's F-------  cold!"

And so a new beginning is sprung upon me this SPRING as an empty nester (of sorts) again.  Denise has been married before and Priscilla moved out from under my roof a dozen or so years ago.  That's the first time I became an empty nester.  But when Denise got divorced and Priscilla's boyfriend moved out of state they both depended on us more.  Since I've had previous experience as an empty nester this time will be a breeze and I think I know what to do with myself.  QUILT!!!!

A Quilt Show Is Comin' To Town!

It's that time of year again when the Arzonia Quilters Guild puts on their annual quilt show.  As a volunteer I've had the opportunity this week to get up close with all 319 (I've touched EVERY single one!) quilts entered in this show.  The quilts are beautifully hung at the Mesa Convention Center this week (Tursday, Firday & Saturday).  AND they have 35 vendors for your shopping pleaseure.  For more information go to thier website at http://www.azquiltersguild.org/

I'll see ya at the show!