Making decisions

On March 6th there was a phone call from a local school - would I be interested in doing something with the whole school for a morning on the 16th? Whole school = 18 pupils aged from 5-12. The age spread sounds a little tricky, but I say yes.
I come up with a plan, spend some hours doing research, gather materials and images for reference..the evening before have a little panic, wonder if  what I've planned is possible...

...but load the car anyway...

It was a full-on morning...and as usual when I'm running workshops, I'm too busy to remember to take many pictures. We made shadow puppets, masks and big puppets for a performance of the story of St. Patrick (what else do you do the day before St. P's Day?)

These are the sheep he minded while he was a slave..

and here is the High King of Ireland being constructed..

and this is Pope Celestine...
There were a LOT of shadow puppet pirates, and an amazing ship...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I've started a rug for my sister, who wants these colours. This one could take a while; it's proving hard to get enough of the right pink (there are about five different ones in there so far) and what looks like blue on the photo is actually a dark teal, which is even harder to find in suitable fabrics, so it may be a stop-start job.
Today I received via email, images of her latest rug from Lin, an American rug hooker whom I met on Pinterest.  I wish I could hide under the table...her website is on - www.iloverughooking.com
It's good to have something to aspire to, even if you know you're unlikely to ever get there.

Also today I finally finished the front of the patchwork. After dithering for a couple of days whether to add a border of 4 inches or 6 inches, the 4 inch won. Muttering to myself as I made notes on scraps of paper...19x4=76, add 4 each side...9 strips=396/ 10 strips=440 - I worked out that I did have just enough fabric. Having pinned nearly all of one side I realised I'd made a mistake, so it's unpin and repin. Then I decided I wanted a triangle on the corners..unpin again. (Seriously, it can't be only me in the whole world who does this sort of thing - can it?)
Now- do I want all four triangles the same? Making decisions takes longer sometimes than the actual making.

I wanted it bright...
And I've done what I always do - make the front and then puzzle over how to do the back...and I hardly ever have a big enough piece of fabric. Do I piece this backing, or have a plain one?
Decisions, decisions....

Making over

Making over, transfer possession of (thing to person) ...Concise Oxford Dictionary

Wrapped in clingfilm and bubble-wrap, securely padded with sofa cushions, the ram was made over today..

Made it...

Having asked yet another favour from Seamus and Adam, transport is arranged for the ram tomorrow...so I had to finish it by today or be very embarrassed.
Last week layers of paper went on - alternating newspaper with white, with extra layering (some of it as muslin soaked in PVA) on the added bits like hooves and knees...and a lot of waiting while it dried thoroughly.

5th March...only three days left...the final layer is on.

7th March...legs and face painted with 'not-black' (raw umber+ultramarine+cadmium red), starting to sponge the darkest shade...covering first one bit then another with cling-film and/or paper towels...Lying on the floor to paint the underneath.
Have to stop when daylight goes. Not happy with how it's looking.

Today, 5pm...some 'technical advice' (as he called it) from Adam, whose eye for colour is amazing ...he mixed a colour that looks much, much better... and the base coat is repainted, then two more coats of sponging, progressively lighter...more lying on the floor, pressing a sponge into rear-end crevices.

6.00 pm...and more covering of various bits as the horns are painted with a very dilute wash of raw umber, then it's into the dark/light roundabout...touch up the dark edges, accidentally touch off the light part...touch up the light area...see a bit you missed. At this point I'm almost standing on my head while trying to see around all angles of the horns. NB - if I should ever make anything like this again, I'd paint the horns before joining head to body...having the ears/horns/neck so close to close to each other on this side has made it very tricky to paint...although I did know it would.

6.30 pm... now to tie my hands behind my back, so I'll stop fiddling..it's finished.

I just wish I could have a better picture of it....

Making space

The two workshops last weekend were fine...on Sunday, contrary to my worst case scenario anticipations, everyone had brought the necessary machine accessories, all machines worked ok, and by the end of the day everyone had made a cushion with either a zip or buttonholes and piping. Here are three of them...as no-one wanted to do applique we missed that bit out and it was just as well - it would have taken too long.

My house is not big...to make space for working on the ram, the furniture has had to be pushed right back and even so it's rather cramped. By Monday he was finally dry enough but I was too tired to start.
Whichever way up he is, it's hard on the knees and the back as I'm constantly bending, crouching, kneeling, stretching. The mantra of the moment is 'it will be done when it's done'...the sky will not fall on my head if it's not ready by the 10th.

This is the first layer of paper after a coat of  builder's PVA on the plaster. The aim was 100% adhesion, which I think I achieved. Although he is much lighter now, I had to ask for help to turn him over. So now I'm refining the shape - scraping away lumps, filling in hollows and adding details such as knees and hooves.

On Friday I agreed to another commission - making a coconut bra for a large man to wear in a stage play. He tried real coconut halves but they were much too small apparently. So there we were, holding saucers of various sizes up to his chest to get an idea of the circumference I need to work to...how do I price that one?

Making a list...

Yes, I did make a list; it helps me to maintain the illusion that I have some control and that I'm organised. And on that list, under the heading 'Patchwork' I had written "on the long finger for now". For reasons I won't go into, the next day I sewed together all the blocks for the front...and then I put it away until things are less busy. Only in the meantime, some part of my brain is having random thoughts about what to do for the back and the edges.

 

Roped in and cushioned, the ram travelled from the foundry to my house last week. 

There were some man-moments of working out how to get it in through the narrow door..

...and of course a way was worked out...

A week later, having had either the stove or the heater on all day, the plaster is still not dry enough...and after checking with the client, I have a week less than I thought to the anticipated delivery date.

The good news is that once I started sewing in a zip it all came back to me, so I feel that bit more prepared for the sewing workshop this weekend...and I have, in a very organised way, been working through the list of things to prepare.

Making progress

More from the foundry...

Patination...looks spectacular...

                   ...has to be done fast...

and the finished Hares...
...a never-to-be-repeated shot, as this is the last of them.

Remember this?

....it's now this...ready to go off to Dublin.

Making a mess...

It was a good thing the clothes I wore really were old...plastering the ram made a mess of them...and of the floor...and my camera...and anything else I touched.
 This is scrim dipped in plaster - working fast with small mixes.

The head had been finished separately...

...and fixing it to the body was a bit of an adventure. In the end we put a plastic bag inside the head and part-filled it with plaster, holding it in place until the plaster had gone off enough.

Now it needs to dry before I can do any more - the next adventure will be moving it from the foundry to my house.
Many, many grateful thanks to my son, who helped enormously with the plastering and to Seamus for giving me the space and encouragement.

So while the ram dries I have a breathing space to focus on another deadline... I allowed Shirley's enthusiasm to talk me into teaching a new sewing workshop, a follow-on to "How not to be afraid of your sewing machine"...which I've run several times.
This one is "How not to be afraid of zips, buttonholes, bias binding and piping"...HOW did I think this was a good idea??? Especially when I have never made piping, it's years (decades?) since I last sewed in a zip or used bias binding and I had to look up how to make buttonholes on my machine...and there are two weeks left before the workshop. ( I could have started this before Christmas).
First a search for some hours on the internet for ideas - for a design that would result in an object of desire. There were some printed cushions with hares..made of hessian? linen? Not able to do printed, but can do a simpler shape with applique...that was the easy bit.

Flicking between four books from the library, I eventually worked out the piping and the second attempt was good. It takes quite a while to unpick 72 inches of stitching.

Even worked out how to make the buttonholes...and after several attempts made them the right size.

On reflection, it's been a helpful experience; a reminder of how it is to be a learner, not knowing how to do something, not being competent...making a mess of it.