Andrea Zuill’s Blog

  This is July’s free embroidery pattern as per a Flickr request.

Click on the image to see at full size.

  I hate when I do this.  The unfinished Love Bird on the right has it’s grain going in the wrong direction.  Or should I say the bias is wrong.  You can’t tell from this photo but the bird on the left lays down nicely.  The bird on the Right doesn’t lay down flat and looks as if it has too much fabric and seems puffy.  I hope that makes sense.

   I can’t find the material I used for the birds, so I will remove both birds and stitch on new birds, with the correct bias, onto the quilt.  I have a cream colored fabric with very small pink and burgundy polka dots that will look nice.

  I am using the fishbone or herringbone stitch on the leaves.  I haven’t used that stitch for a long time.   I thought it needed more of a stem down the middle of the leaf so I wove a yellow running stitch down the middle.  If you look close you will see small blue running stitches used for extra leaf veining.  The green fabric has a fushia design printed on it.  All together it makes for a very busy leaf.  I will not be outlining the leaves.

This is not a very funny post, so I have a joke. 

A man was walking down the street.  As he was walking he came upon a blind man with a seeing-eye dog. Suddenly, the blind man picks up his dog by it’s back feet and begins swing him around his head.  The man says to the blind man, “What are you doing to your dog?”.  The blind man replies, “Oh, I’m just looking around”. 

  My thyroid.

I received my thyroid test results today.  My Thyroid has been deemed perfectly healthy and kind of sexy.

Here is my thyroid’s Turn ons:

Chocolate, men with hairy chests and iodine.

Turn-offs:

Fake people, war and hyperthyroidism.

  I have created a bunch of new work for my show at Galleri Urbane, in Marfa, TX.  Three of the pieces are paintings of cakes.  So tell me, is it healthy for a former super fluffy chick to paint cakes?  Cake is my big weakness.  On Father’s Day I was able to get down 2 1/2 slices before I was found out by my family.  I had a bad case of cake shame. 

If you are thinking, “What the heck is Marfa, TX?”, check out my post regarding this West Texas town:

http://zuill.us/andreablog/2008/02/20/old-marfa-new-marfa/

  I have finished all the paintings I need for my show in Marfa, TX.  I am allowing myself the creamy, gooey, fun of starting another quilt.   I pretty much twinkle with excitment.  In a month I will be back at the easel, painting away, but for now, it’s fabric heaven.

Click on image to see at a larger sizes.  

Click on the image above to see full size.

This is too much fun!

http://zuill.us/andreablog/2009/06/16/custom-t-shirts-2/

http://zuill.us/andreablog/2009/06/05/custom-t-shirts/ - This one is about how to order a t-shirt.

http://zuill.us/andreablog/2009/05/27/the-world-of-novelty-t-shirts-the-unicorn/

First, I would like to say that because of the concern that several people have shown for my eyebrow situation I will be getting a Thyroid Blood Test done on Monday.

Second, people have also suggested various makeup techniques to reforest my eyebrows.  I did a search on eyebrows and makeup and came across Eyebrow Stencils.   I thought what a great idea!  I’m an artist, so why can’t my eyebrows be artistic?  They could express my moods.  They could be a form of performance art.

The designs are endless for Eyebrow Stencil making.  Here are some ideas that I think might help me express myself:

A. Fairly normal, grocery shopping eyebrows.

B. The intense Tura Santana look.

C.  The “my eyebrows are my slaves” Marlena Dietrich look.  Two little hairy rainbows of fun.

D.  The ever popular Frieda brows.  These brows symbolize how artistic I am.

E.  My favorite so far, the “I’m on my period so leave me the F**k alone” brows.   Please note the intensity.

F.  Simply put, I could appear angry all day.  What a treat.

G,  The “Leave Them Guessing”  brows.

H. The permanently surprised eyebrows.

I.  I have no idea.

J.  Your regular garden variety eyebrows.

For more eyebrow fun google the words “Sharpie”  and “eyebrows”.

      When I was young I had lush, thick, black eyebrows.

  As I have gotten older my eyebrows have begun to thin.  New hairs are coming in light brown and worst of all, some are coming in white!  I hardly have a grey hair on my head, so what’s up with the eyebrows.

  Probably the scariest thing is how my new eyebrow hair is growing in.  Instead of laying down flat the hairs are growing straight out.  I just know that soon I will be stuck with white crew cut eyebrows. 

Nobody ever told warned be about this.  It is very disturbing.

   I was thinking of maybe visiting colorado sometime.  I haven’t been there for years.  Does anyone have any ideas for:

1.  Hiking.  I have never hiked above 10,000 ft. before, so I would like suggestions for lower elevation hiking.  I like mountain hiking but I just don’t want to suffer from cerebral edema if I don’t have to.  I am a pro at hiking in the 6,000 to 9,000 ft. range.

2. Craft related things in Colorado. 

3. Good Hole-in-the Wall restaurants.  I do NOT like fancy restaurants!  I love Mom and Pop eateries.

4.  Weird yard art and outsider art.

Any help would be appreciated.

  A little reminder that I can make a custom Badbird T-Shirt for you.  You can choose from any of my print designs.  Just contact me and I can get the ball rolling.