Hiatus Land

Hiatus - I don't think that I ever completely understood what that word meant.  Vacation, holiday, getaway, I understand.  I'm thinking that hiatus must have approximately the same connotation. So just to be certain, I looked up the definition:   hi·a·tus (h-ts)n. pl. hi·a·tus·es or hiatus  1. A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break.  I don't feel that I am on vacation, it isn't a holiday, and I am not really getting away.  And since I am not in my studio at home, doing what I feel obssessed to do, then it must be that I am in Hiatus Land.  I really miss my newly begun project as well as all of the UFO's, calling for me.  Scratch that, screaming my name.  I am assuming that I will only be granted a limited amount of time in this life to get all the projects done (or at least started, since I'm not too good at the completion part).  Time's awastin', I can't wait to get back and get busy.

However, in the mean time, I do have internet access in Hiatus Land, and boy howdy - have my eyes ever been bugging out.  All the quilt bloggers and quilt websites have just overwhelmed me.  There is so much amazing talent out there, my feeble mind is just soooooo bogggggleeeddd.  I have enjoyed all the "youngsters" or even maybe not so young, who are doing their interpretations of  Gee's Bend Quilts.  And the colors, the fabrics, the designs, just never seem to end.  My daughter introduced me to Gee's Bend in 2003 by means of the most delightful Christmas gift.  A first edition copy of  "Gee's Bend:  The Women and Their Quilts".   I have read it cover to cover several times.  I often refer to this book for inspiration, as well as a reality check.  To top it off, while in San Francisco a couple of years later, I had the pleasure of viewing many of these quilts on display at the de Young Museum. There are no adequate words to describe those works of art or my emotions as I walked through the exhibit.

So now is where I must admit I have attempted a few semi-inspired versions for the backs of a few of my quilts.  Good thing they were the backs, cuz my pieces don't quite make the mark.  I have very few solids in my fabric stash, and loving the riots of color and design from Kaffe Fassett, among others, I tend to gravitate to fabrics of that style.  Using all the leftovers from a quilt top I randomly stitched them together for the back.  So all that being said, guess I should show you a picture of one such back.

Now for the front of the quilt.  And to explain, further, my quilt guild sponsored a workshop by Billie Lauder, in which I felt obliged to participate.   One of the projects was her quick and easy pansy quilt. In case you didn't know this, I am not a fan of quick and easy.  Of course, to keep my interest peaked in the class, I had to make it more complicated, so here's the result.  A bit busy you think?  Oh, well, it keeps me warm at night and I can drool over all the lovely fabrics as I drift off to sleep in Hiatus Land.

There is also another reason to leave Hiatus Land and get back into the studio.  Begin new projects using my own hand dyes which I will learn to do with the aid of two newly purchased books and a wonderful website I recently discovered:   Malka Dubrawsky has written a wonderful book on batiking and dyeing,  "Color Your Cloth" ;   Frieda Anderson's new book,  "Fabric to Dye For";  Melody Johnson's energetic blog , which never ceases to amaze me.    All those, not neccessarily in that order, are fantastic instructional aids, as well as delightful reads.  Drooling, drooling all the way home . . . . . .