Friend of Twelve By Twelve- 01-11

Colorplay Challenge: Emerald Green, Burgundy Red and Eggplant.  January 2011.  Winter Into Spring.  12 by 12.  Vintage velvet, silk, hand and machine sewn.

I managed, on this dark, snow covered morning, to get the golds color-correct, but the Colorplay colors, in velvet, are never going to be color correct without professional lighting equipment.  They are too dark and have too much textural shine.  Trust me that I have all three: emerald, burgundy and eggplant purple. This is a sliver of the "slow cloth" I made from velvet scraps.  I cut away the parts that didn't work and then finished the edges of what was left with a patchwork of silk scraps left from the making of the annual Christmas card.  In person, this has a rich almost Medieval quality; the kind of surface that wants to be touched.  My daughter saw it yesterday and the first thing she did was trace her finger over the velvets.

I enjoyed the slow pace that the "slow cloth" style allows.  It's like meditative mending. You can add or subtract fabric as you sew.  No decisions are permanent.  I got to use floss and perle cotton threads. But if I were to do this again (and I think I will) I will not be using velvet. It slip slides away.  No matter how many pins you have along the seams.

Maine is receiving 8 to 14 inches of Champagne Powder today.  The best skiing snow there is on earth.  We have no visibility.  No reason to go outside until it stops snowing.  I have things to do, the dog has been outside and quickly returned, covered in snow, to his warm bed.  The snow began after everyone was already on the road to work (7 am) so the commute back home will be stressful since the Maine Traffic Plows like to plow secondary roads after the snow stops falling.  Not during.  As usual, my street and connecting road will be far down the list, if at all.  But I have more important things to think about. What shall I have for breakfast?