My invitational project involves an artistic village -- it's a collection of houses made by a group of artists who function as a village for one another. My house, of course, is a birdhouse. The invitation for this project was issued in June, with a deadline of early December. I, of course, have waited until almost the last possible moment to get started. It helps that the organizer, Kathy York, lives right here in Austin, so I don't have shipping issues to worry about.
Yesterday I cut a paper template to approximate the size and shape of the birdhouse. Then I slapped some paint onto fabric. Actually I did another piece of fabric, in icky pastels, before I went to this neutral palette that resonated.
Then I printed out a load of bird images from the web, but decided to paint instead of paste.
Today I added more paint, penned the first part of an Emily Dickenson quote, then started quilting the front, the first time for me to do any machine stitching in many years. My sewing machine acted like my cat after I return from vacation -- peeved, craving attention but really ticked at being abandoned. I broke a zillion needles, cleaned and fussed with tension, and laid out lines of uneven stitching that the quilt police would ban, but I got the front done.
Now for the back, sides and roof. Let's see...at a weekend per piece, I won't make it.
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