A picture is worth a thousand words?
It’s been a week full of wildly different activities, from choosing a contractor for a whole house remodel (WHOOP!), to caring for a very ailing Basset Boy, starting on a new quilt and getting some excellent images of one of my “old” quilts. Life happens like that-big ups and downs at the same time.
Basset Boy has been ailing. Apparently he’s received a “serious insult” to his liver. After a 2-day stay in Doggie ICU (don’t even ask how much that was) we are all delighted that he is home. He will not eat. We’re stuffing countless pills through his clenched jaw and adding subcutaneous fluids. He’s not turned the corner as I write this so the next few days will be critical. He’s 10 1/2 and was robustly healthy right up until this “insult”. He’s been a joy and treasure.
On a brighter note, we are going to be doing a whole house remodel and I might be getting a REAL STUDIO!! Be still my heart! The jury is still out and some structural items need to be addressed, but it looks doable at this point. I cannot believe that I could have a Real Studio!
Much pain will be involved-our contractor said we needed to move out during the reno, which will last 4 months. Yikes! It won’t happen until the fall, just in time for my busy season with local gigs, road trips and Houston. That will not be fun but soooo worth it.
I have just gotten my images back from RCP-an Ohio company that uses a large format scanner to produce images. My black and white whole cloth quilts are exceptionally difficult to photograph-the real story is in the shadow and line. I have had several photographers take photos and they have been good. But, everyone who sees the photos and then the quilt says the same thing: “The photo just does not capture the quilt.”
I heard about this process through Studio Art Quilt Associates. The image produced is not a photo, it’s a scan, but can be saved as a jpg. Because it’s a scan on a flat bed, several problems go away: the quilt “hangs” well since it’s laying flat, the color is exact, it captures texture beautifully, and the image is an even and accurate representation. You’ve seen this quilt before-it’s not new, but I feel like this is the most accurate representation of it.
Oh I love the back! It’s my favorite. The sheen of the sateen and the glow of the silk thread makes my heart sing.
I’m starting on a new quilt in this black and white series. I’ll be showing little bits and pieces as I go but I’ll hold off showing it until it is displayed in public.
Don’t forget-you can still enter the contest to win this book. Just leave a comment here and you’ll be entered. The last date to enter is next Th, May 28, at midnight PST. I’ll send it anywhere in the world!
NOTE: In order to not confuse the process, I have not responded to the comments on the Give-Away post. I’m keeping it simple so that it’s easy to randomly choose the winner. THANK YOU for each of your comments. It’s been fun to read your opinions about an Alaskan cruise vs Chicago. And also to read about your most unusual sewing tools.
I’ll be linking up as usual with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday-there are always great links there so check it out.
You HAVE been all over the emotional spectrum lately. Hope your dog rallies. And I hope the home remodel comes together seamlessly. I’ll have to look up that Ohio (!) company for scanning quilts. Yes, the dark side of that piece is amazing.
Thank you Joanna-I hope life settles down!
Oh Jenny, My heart goes out to you… this is very hard…. Watch closely, he will telllyou when it’s time to leave.
Jenny – so sorry to hear that Basset Boy is under the weather. Our four legged children really grab at our heartstrings, don’t they? Sending positive thoughts that he will be chowing down again soon.
The studio does not make the artist, the artist makes the studio. You are a perfect example of this!! But a new studio would be wonderful. You deserve it! Good luck with the remodel. I look forward to hearing all about it.
Thank you Schatzi-what kind words! Man I would love to have a studio-if it works it will be about the size of yours.
I am so inspiried by this modern quilt movement. Love it. Gotta have the book :)
Oh good Teri-I’ll copy this and put it on the comments on the give-away page-good luck! I am inspired also.
Hi Jenny,
Thank you for your blog. Your quilts are beautiful! I don’t typically post comments but wanted to share something for Basset Boy. I belong to a natural dog rearing group and, as the result, receive a lot of wonderful information. I thought perhaps you would like to read this article about natural liver detox for dogs and the great result it can have on the health of the animal.
Hope Basset Boy gets better soon!
Kathie
healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/…/real-stories-tate.aspx
Hi Jenny
How strange! I’m sorry the link didn’t work. For some reason the link address got shortened when I sent it. It’s on Healthy Pets by Dr. Karen Becker who is associated with Mercola.com. I’m going to try sending it again. Here it is:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/23/real-stories-tate.aspx
I am so sorry to hear about Basset Boy. I lost my 15 year old AussieX a few years ago and I still am heartbroken. In my opinion our dogs are family.
Blessings,
Kathie
Excellent article Kathie! I will be following the suggestions in the article if we get another dog. I know about several of those remedies for humans, but not dogs-thank you!!
Thank you for your comments! The link did not work and I tried to Google but got all kinds of junk. Unfortunately it looks like it’s too late for Basset Boy…
I hope Basset Boy is doing better soon. I know how hard it is when our beloved pets are sick and/or hurting. Just had our 9 yr old Heeler’s second ACL repaired and she if finally off of restricted activity. It is so wonderful to see her running and doing what she loves to do.
Thank you for the chance at this great give-away!
Bambi I’ll add you to the give-away list-good luck! I hope your Heller is back to her normal self!
Hi Jenny
I hope that your doggie is better. I have nursed so many elderly dogs at this point…it is really difficult. But, wow! a full house remodel…that is so exciting…and so much upheaval…but you are right…in the end, it will be so wonderful. I hope you get your studio!
Oh I hope I get that studio too-want, want, want!
So sorry to hear about Basset Boy. Hope he gets better. :). Awesome news about the remodel. You will be so glad you did it -and your own studio. Love that quilt!
Thank you for all you kind comments Kathy! I’m really hoping for that studio.
Hi, I enjoy your news and your quilts a lot. Would be hard to decide on the vacations, though I did enjoy chicago last summer, unusual tool, old cutting board from my kitchen before remodel, works great as a cutting board base atop the ironing board.
LOL-cutting board! Thank you Suzanne!
Jenny. No No No – four months – oh no, you need the property brothers who do it in an hour – I’ve watched countless shows and it all gets done in one hour. Glad I could be of help here.
Love all your quilting and thoroughly enjoy these posts.
Susan
And those estimates on the show where the couple flips homes-complete kitchen gut with nice finishes, $12,000-IN WHAT WORLD??? Yes, I told them I wanted the epidural-I just want to wake up and it’s over.
Thank you for the info about scanning quilt to achieve a better image!! Oh my I feel your pain with a whole house remodel coming…..it will be worth it I’m sure. If it’s any consulation…..our son is going through one too in San Francisco…..he needs to move out of his house for a min. of 12 month…but you know it will be longer!!!
12 MONTHS?? Wow, there must be a lot of structural changes. Every surface will be touched, but we’re not reconfiguring, moving plumbing stacks or adding square footage. I actually think it will be done in less than 4-HAH!
oh no the puppy… you didn’t just get a rabies booster by any chance?? Cole is due and I don’t want to do it since it pretty much did in my lab at old age. Cole has gall bladder trouble which causes food issues. Guess I should check his liver enzymes… great. Good luck to you two. LeeAnna at not afraid of color
Hmmm-not sure. Had never heard of this before. Thank you LeeAnna!
Oh Jenny, I am so sorry to hear about your boy. Losing a great dog is just the worse.
I’m relating to your post on so many levels! You know I went through a whole house renovation, but I didn’t know I was going to do that when I started :) So it took longer, with some nice long breaks in between, and I didn’t have to move out except for a couple of planned trips, and then when they did the texturing. But I think it was because my contractor likes to work alone, so there wasn’t so much activity going on at the same time.
I love how you got that great image of your quilt. So you had to send your quilt to that company? Was it terribly expensive?
Thanks Debby-it was hard to lose him. How cool-you went through a reno and didn’t even know it! I want it done NOW so in the grand scheme of things 4 months is not that bad. I did have to ship to Ohio and it was expensive. I shipped it on a roll (49″ on short side) because I couldn’t ship it folded and then expect it to scan well with fold marks. The cost of the scan-SAQA gets 50% off the first quilt and I totally forgot how much-not cheap but neither is good photography which had never captured my quilt.
The scan of your quilt is absolutely amazing. Lovely work and I can see how it would be so difficult to photograph it!