The merchandise is back from the latest show, and Mini PlaiderPillar is napping, so I got the Etsy shop is back online!  I will hopefully get a few more items loaded, albeit slowly, as Geeg tends to wake up from her naps VERY hungry.

The Octo Yoga Ball Monster makes a comeback!  I whipped this guy up just before GeeGee was born, and he will be included in the Les Femmes Folles show, “Voice”.  Here’s the skinny:

Les Femmes Folles Presents: Voice, a curated exhibition The New BLK, 1213 Jones St.

Opening reception: Friday, April 13, 7-10p.m.
Exhibition thru April 24
Art Talk at The New BLK, April 18, 7p.m.

And here’s a little more about it:

“Voice” was co-curated by Sally Deskins and Megan Loudon Sanders, presents eleven “wild women’s” moving, provocative work that showcases the feelings and experiences of womanhood in our own worlds.  The work of Marcia Joffe-Bouska, Sally Deskins, Wanda Ewing, Kristin Lubbert, Jewel Noll, Melanie Pruitt, Amy Quinn, Megan Loudon Sanders, Trudie Teijink, Trilety Wade and Ella Weber engages with a range of subjects, from sweet to seductive, from political to domestic.  Addressing such complex matters in a variety of mediums, we aim to challenge the status quo and politics of power and give light and enhance positive communication about this ever-important subject of feminism to complement such worldwide feminist-inspired projects.

Hope you can make it!

Thanks to everyone who helped make her entrance into this world so wonderful.  She is lucky to have loving friends and family surrounding her.  She can’t wait to meet you all at upcoming shows.  And thanks to those of you who have been so flexible . . . our schedule is unreal with her nursing!  It’s going well, but it’ll be a little while before I can get back to my PlaiderPillar work.  I think she’ll be quite the muse for new creations in the future, though.

Above left:  GeeGee at one week, with Digit.

Above right:  Rob and The Geeg.

Above left:  Tiny hands and feet.  Her 0-3 month clothes are way too big right now, and even the newborn clothes have to be rolled.

Above right:  GeeGee with cousin Hank and Uncle Eddie.

Above left:  Sunny GeeGee.

Above right:  Fancy girl in the flower her Aunt Kara picked out for her.

Above left:  Me and my little Squeegee.

Above right:  Sleepy girl.

I’ll write all about her nursery, show you some before pics (tummy pics), and tell you what she’s been up to soon.  But right now, I miss her and it’s GeeGee time.  Talk to you soon.

But I haven’t yet shown you my Aunt Barby’s work!  She is a needle felter, but has worked with clay, sewing, embroidery, beadmaking, and tons of other artistic mediums.  (Needle felting involves using a barbed needle to work wool into a felted shape, allowing you to use the needle as a sculptor’s tool.)  Her work has been featured in “Art Doll Quarterly” magazine, and she sells her wares and classes on eBay and Etsy.  Barby works like crazy not only making her critters, but also listing classes for learning to make needle felted critters.  Her work is unparalleled!  I can’t believe anyone can turn wool rovings (wool before it is spun into yarn) into life-like creatures with personalities, but Barby can!  And she writes amazing stories for them all, too.  Check out some of them:

UNREAL!

She does lots of little mice, but she has done all kinds of things:

Can you believe these?!

On the left above:  Barby sometimes teams up with other artists to provide background props and creatures, like her friend Helen Priem, who made the owl.

On the right above:  boxes of tiny critters sleeping in little pods, all packed and ready to go.

Here are a couple images from her studio.  She keeps wool rovings on hand in lots of colors and textures, as well as teeny beads, fabric, mouse-sized clay fruit, and anything else she needs to create one-of-a-kind critters.  Her work is unlike any other, so head over and . . .

check out her blog

visit her eBay shop

visit her Etsy store

. . . and if you’ve ever considered needle felting, take one of her classes.  They are available on Etsy and eBay.

James Leach put me in touch with Nancy Novak for the project (both work for Leo A. Daly), and Nancy requested some photos be taken of the work by Dana Damewood.  Do you know Dana’s work?  So gorgeous.  And you can check out her blog here.

Nancy and Dana were nice enough to send along photos and let me post them here for you to see . . .

How badly do you want to play with that giant Lite Brite board, eh?

The umbrella above the circulation desk, and the fishy hangin’ in the bathroom . . .

A few little PlaiderPillar guys waiting for buddies on the stacks, and the Learning Legling ballerina monster above the reading nooks.

Turned out pretty cool!

I just added eight new bunnies to the Etsy shop.

These guys are sporting the new tags, have navy felt eye backgrounds, salmon/pink inner ears, and are just in time for Easter.  Perfect gift for your little hunny bunny!

Remember the wombat I made for my friend’s friend’s baby?  Well this is the other half of the order she placed.  It’s an outfit for their little girl, made to look like an Australian soccer player’s jersey.  My friend’s friend’s favorite player is Scott Chisholm, and the jersey is made to look like the Melbourne Demons’ jersey.  There are even booties to match.

It’s kinda hard to make a men’s soccer jersey look girly!  I made them from a red velour knit and a navy interlock knit.  There are ruffles at the shorts bottom, and the sleeves and fanny have vintage lace details.  I decided it would look cute to have a hand-drawn look to the letters and numbers, which are made from wool felt.  The little bow at the neck is the snap closure for the zip front.  I started the project using a pattern from the fabric store, and then traced, altered, spliced, and reshaped the pattern.  Turned out pretty cute, eh?

As you might assume, The “I-Make/U-Buy” show features artists who sell their textiles wares online, which is why I have loaded lots to the Etsy shop.  Participants include Anne Burton, Audio Helkuik, Mary Pattavina, Eulanda Sanders, Rachel Suntop, and myself.

The University of Nebraska Lincoln is my alma mater, having graduated from their textiles program in 2002.  I’m looking forward to getting the chance to have a conversation with some of the students (and you too, if you’ll join me!)  on Thursday, March 1 during panel discussions.  I am a meat-and-potatoes gal when it comes to art talks, so these panels really appeal to me.  They focus on the ins and outs of getting your wares online, and how to do it safely and successfully.  Here are the topicsbut you can read more at this link.

3.1.12 at 10am, East Campus Union:  ”Electronic Retail and Intellectual Property”

3.1.12 at 2:45pm, Room 11 Home Economics Building:  ”The Printed Bolt/Behind the Scenes”

3.1.12 at 4pm, Room 11 Home Economics Building:  ”Starting Your Online Business:  From Practical Considerations to Elegant Solutions”

Following the panel discussions will be the reception for the show at the Robert Hillestad Gallery on the second floor of the Home Economics Building from 5:30 pm - 7:00pm.  The show will run Feb. 27 through March 30.  Our little Mini PlaiderPillar is due in early April (or maybe sooner!), so this might be one of the last events I get to participate in for a little while!

Added bonus:  If you would like to purchase an item from the show, and are picking it up at the show’s completion (or make arrangements to get the item from me later), enter the coupon code HILLESTAD at checkout on Etsy and it will remove the shipping charges.   Nice, eh?

This vintage Singer 301A machine has been with me for a little while now.  My friend Jil (aka “Miss Cake”) passed it along to me.  It was her grandmother’s.  It is in beautiful shape, and really only needed the bobbin winder rubber tire replaced.  It had been oiled and maintained regularly, which is rare.

It can be a portable and cabinet machine, though this one is not used with a cabinet.  It is a slant-needle machine, which means the needle enters the material at an angle, making it easier to see your work.  The control is a foot pedal with button.  According to www.singer301.com, the Singer 301A had 518,000 units manufactured from 1953 to 1958.  This particular machine has all the accessories and add-ons with it, including a zig-zagger attachment and a buttonholer.

This trusty little machine is in use in my sewing room right now as the main machine, as my newer machine with fancy LCD display has been having seizures.  (It really does.  The display is going blank, it resets itself, and the needle jumps around spastically.)  These are the times when I am so very grateful for antique, well-made, heavy-duty machines with simple metal parts!  I really don’t think I’ll buy a sewing machine with any sort of computer again.  Straight-stitch and zig-zag, baby.  That’s it for me.  And something like this one that can do buttonholes.

I mention a little more about the wedding in the previous post, but the gist of it was:  My brother Eddie was the officiant; catered and put together by our moms Margie Quinn, Julie Morin, and my sister-in-law’s mom Linda Keating; held at my family’s cabin, Maria Woods; small ceremony, mostly family; dancing on the shuffleboard court; red velvet cake; wrote our own vows.  There are many, many more wonderful pictures by TG, and you can see a sampling over here.

Rob going over vows.

Me setting up before guests arrive.

Little Rob and Little Amy.

Eddie and Rob before the ceremony.

My sister-in-law Kara practicing the ceremony with us.  Kara and Eddie’s son Hank was born just a week later.

The two love birds Rob made for us.

It started sprinkling so Rob’s dad Tom held the umbrella while we read our vows.

Tom wrote a poem and haikus for our ceremony.

First kiss as husband and wife.

Signing the paperwork.

Rob’s sister Megan and brother Aaron were the witnesses.  (Eddie’s official title on our certificate is “Shaman”.)

Cutting and eating the cake.  It was red velvet, and made by our sister-in-law Fran’s mother, Linda.  So yummy!

A beautiful night for dancing.

These are just a few, but I put some more on the flickr page.