Twenty Tooth Day of Christmas

This may not be an actual Christmas wreath, but neither are many of the others. This was a quilt I made about a decade ago when I was first started experimenting with printing on fabrics. Here I scanned leaves and printed them on muslin, then fused them to heavier commercially printed fabric before cutting them out. Sewing them to the wreath by their central veins worked well because it left them free to move. The slightly frayed edges make the leaves also look real. Underneath, I had taken photos of sections of a plain twig wreath and tucked those in around the leaves. Peter himself wouldn't pose for me, so I found a file image of a close cousin.

Peter Finch Interviews for Housekeepers

The story, and you knew there had to be one, is about when a finch decided to move into a wreath on my porch, right under the big porch light.  He would come home to sit in there for the night, arriving in the late afternoon to settle himself.  He was so used to us all slamming in and out the screen door that I could actually reach out and touch him, so we became pals.  I'd check on him before I went to bed and say goodnight, he'd blink when he was still awake.  I sort of figured he was young and as yet unmated but after cleaning up after him every morning, knew he had to find a housekeeper soon or one of us was gonna have to move.  The unfortunate part is that my own 'unmated' and young son was doing the same thing inside the house.  By the end of the fall I moved the wreath, had 'the talk' with my son, and put the house on the market!  I was never a very sympathetic mom.

Today I am sending off my check to Planned Parenthood with the hope that women's health issues will not face political assault in the future and choices and alternatives remain for everyone who has to make one.

Today I have to take the dog to the kennel, clean up the house, and ummmm...start some Christmas shopping!  Lots to do, and all I really WANT to do is work in this studio!  Damn holidays anyway.

                                                                                                                                    The Olde Grinch,