07 August 2008

Fabric n Fleas

A nice quilty & fabric loaded day - and some running around too .. but that's part of the good thing today!!

After doing the discharge dyeing and just thinking about my results - a solution for my abstract challenge quiltlet hit my brain - it sucker punched me out of nowhere .. I can't even remember where it came from to tell you the truth - altho this painting by Van Gogh might have inspired me.

Initially, I was going to do a sunset scene from up at the cottage, but have 8" to work with .. well that won't work .. so I started to think on other things and kept running into my own tail. This month's concept is impressionist art or artists .. oh geeze louize! Talk about your broad-side of the barn .. I LOVE impressionist work, so this was sort of like drugs for an addict.

Impressionist art is a style in which the artist captures the image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it. They paint the pictures with a lot of color and most of their pictures are outdoor scenes. Their pictures are very bright and vibrant. The artists like to capture their images without detail but with bold colors. Some of the greatest impressionist artists were Edouard Manet, Camille Pissaro, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot and Pierre Auguste Renoir.


This artform is soooooo expansive .. okay .. there were no restrictions placed on us - as a matter of fact the exact opposite .. drat .. just tripped over my own tail this time .. so I started to think about other parts of the yard up at the cottage .. I thought of the dock and a tree, and the way the sun reflected off the water .. hmmm .. let me twist that a bit as I have no red or orange or any fru fru type stuff that could make that work .. hmmmm .. moon and moonlight .. perfect! And I have just the stuff in my stash that will work very nice for what I have in mind .. cottons, corduroys, velveteens, rayon, sheer cotton type stuff ... design is all drawn up and I'm ready to go .. I think that I might start cutting my abstract out .. I really do like this .. if I want to I do have ribbons and buttons etc .. but not sure exactly how those will fit .. to do added texture to mimic the short brush strokes, I'm going to fray the fabric on the tree to make it look like leaves and maybe the moon as well - so it might look like it's glowing .. I have all the ideas in place for the layout, doing etc .. but the final finishing is still not set yet .. I'm sure that something will occurr to me ..

Poor Orion still has fleas .. so I went online to see if I could give her more of the Hartz OneShot .. well the horror stories about this stuff is unreal .. they aren't even supposed to be selling it (!) .. needless to say, she didn't suffer convulsions, seizures, lack of balance etc .. nor open sores .. just the bloody fleas (!) I called my vet and she said that they have had numerous clients who have lost their pets to this product .. well that killed that idea .. I was half thinking about getting Frontline from the vet, and I love my dog to pieces - but no, but we would have to bring her in to get examined ($31) because it's 'medicine' and then the 'script' is $75. Sargents has a competitive product out, but we were worried that the sargents oneshot version would have the same issues, even tho I only saw one of those when I googled that product. Nope .. let's try flea baths and collars. Well we went out shopping to see what we could get for her (and the cats - they are flealess so far ... ) and had to go to 4 stores before we could find flea shampoo AND collars for the cats .. guess there's an outbreak right now ..

The cats already have their collars on; Pix just purred and well Shadow is still deciding if she's going to talk to me .. She was fine until I cut off the excess on the collar and then the **snip** right behind her ear sent her off my lap like a rocket .. Tomorrow I get the bathe the dog and put her collar on .. why do I always get to do the grunt stuff for the animals .. **sigh** ah well

We hit walmart while we were out and this store is renovating and clearing out their fabric department .. the other store will have it still, but not this one . the good news .. fabric 50% off :D I ended up with 5¼ yards of fabric for $19.76 - that would have gotten me only 2 yards at regular price .. so a nice fabric full day :)

5 comments:

  1. Hey Gril.
    Talking flea's. 1Cat 1 dog. I have them too. Snoopy gets his weekly bath, and garlic in his water Bubba gets sprayed down with flea spray collers dont work on my pets. but i keep them on them.
    Did you see any butterfly prints or purple or pink fabric?? or Trains? hehe Im still looking for some more.
    Hugs

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  2. i am sorry, but i am an "expert" on flea prevention, since we have them so bad here in texas. the over the counter stuff you been buying is AWFUL for animals, and a waste of your momey. petsmart has zodiac flea shampoo and it is 12.00 and more and is the BEST. also get the flea spray that is very expensive for inside the premises. plus you can use dawn dishwaszhing soap for fleas on cats. not get in eyes if you can help it. also to go to your local animal trustees pet care place and they will sell you at a discount and you can go to any vet and get the flea product in our twon without a vet pre visit for pet with cost. that is ridicuolous they are trying to make you bring the pet in. did you know your cat can get worms from fleas, dogs too.

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  3. To add to the flea discussion - I'm in Arkansas (right next door to TX)so we have a problem too. My dog never gets fleas (don't know why not - lots of my neighbors have problems....), but he gets worms A LOT - from ingesting fleas! Bad news - each time, the meds to clear up the fleas is about $40. Definitely, spend the money on good products.

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  4. Love the painting and can't wait to see your art piece.

    We've never had any flea problems with Chesty but I have always used Frontline. Good luck getting rid of them! I'm always left to do the dog stuff too but then it's probably fair since I don't work and Keith does.

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  5. I just wanted to come by and say Hi. I haven't had time to visit any blogs this week. Thanks for coming to mine and leaving comments. You are a peach.

    I hate fleas. I know your not supposed to hate anything but those and roaches are my exception. Thankfully I have hardly ever had to deal with roaches but fleas are another story. I too am the one who has to do all the grunt work. Good Luck.

    I can't wait to see the impressionist project you are working on. Some year I will have the time to try it. Hugs.

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