Sneak Peak

I know, I know... I've been neglecting my dear blog, (and most everyone else's, I'm afraid) but with good reason... I am working hard to commit more time to sewing!


My little shop is sorely in need of new items, and instead of listing an occassional one or two items here and there, (as I am prone to do) I thought this time I'd like to update with a whole batch of new work, (hopefully sometime in February). Until then, here's a little sneak peak at a few of the scrap inspired art quilts I've been creating.

In other news, the latest issue of the e-zine Fat Quarterly is now out.


This issue is all about solids, and I'm delighted to have been asked to contribute an article on how I got interested in using solid fabrics, and why I love them! You can go here to see a sneak peek of the issue and find out how to order your own copy. (It's easy... you can even order right from their etsy site!)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Having Fun

I thought it might be fun this week to switch to some brighter, richer colors, (a final farewell to the vibrancy of summer) and let myself be inspired by the weavings that one might find in Mexico or Guatemala...


Using stripes of solid shot cottons, along with some striped shot cotton, plaids and a madras fabric, I pieced the tops.


Then using 12wt. Premium Sulky® 100% Blendable Cotton Threads, I did the same closely, but unevenly spaced rows of meandering straight stitch that I used on my last piece ...


I really had a lot of fun with these two little quilts... probably because I use to weave before I quilted, and I got a real kick out of the one art form inspiring the other. More of these quilts are in the works.


Color Weave no.1


and Color Weave no.2

are currently available for sale in my shop.

(P.S. Lest you are thinking that I have abandoned my hand stitching, rest assured that is not the case! I am currently working on the hand quilted layer on Work Quilt no.4 as well as working on another Yukata cloth table runner similar to the one shown here. More about those, coming soon!

Quilts, BABY!

I was very excited last week when the mail carrier brought me my preview copy of the new Quilts, BABY! book, published by Lark Books and edited by Linda Kopp. I am so happy to be one of the artists included in this truly delightful book, due to be released in May. Loaded with fun baby quilting projects, including blankets, crib bumpers, and art work for the nursery, the projects are hip and fun! The whole layout from writing to illustrating is just wonderful!


I have three small embroidered wall hangings featured in the book, shown on pages 107 to 113. (That little baby photo is me!)


I adore the illustrations found throughout the book.

These are photos of my three featured quilt projects...


"River"


"Morning Glory"


"Ho Jo Space Spores"

And don't feel you have to have a baby in your life to enjoy this book. I think all of the projects, techniques, and ideas in Quilts, BABY! could be enjoyed by any age. It's a wonderful resource for anyone just starting to get their tootsies wet in the world of quilting, and great inspiration for experienced "swimmers" as well!

Creative Drain-O

I hit a creative road block last week. It happens more often then I like, and despite lots of ideas popping around in my head, everything I make feels off. I start to feel like a drain with a clog in it. No flow.

So, I decided it would be a good time to empty my scrap bin. It's a lovely old red and white enamel pail that I keep by my sewing machine, and at the time it was filled with lots of bright colors, oranges and blues, purples and yellows, all from my last few sewing projects.

Using my scraps often helps to break up the creative clog. It acts sort of like a creative Drain-O! I definitely think that there is some kind of energy moving correlation between freeing up our outer space and freeing up our inner space, thus helping the creative flow to return.


I pulled out the strips of fabric, sorting them by size and just began to sew. After I had made a few sections I started to move them around listening to my gut, along with the fabric, until I had arrangements that looked pleasing and right.


The results were two new art quilts...


The first is called "Dialogue" and is available "here.




And the second, titled "Conversation", (my personal favorite of the two) is available here.


It looks like a busy week awaits me. Taxes need to be done, (ugh!) a couple of appointments to keep, and oldest daughter is coming home for spring break, (Yay!) and for her 20th birthday, (Yikes!) So, if I don't get around to another post this week, I hope you all have a great one! Also, very best wishes to Rachel of Fog and Thistle. Rachel will be appearing on the Martha Stewart Show this Friday! She will be showing off and demonstrating how she makes her fabulous nightlights. I will definitely be watching and cheering Rachel on!!

PS. Mo's had a couple of really great days, with amazing bursts of puppy like energy! I think she has spring fever, and it does my heart good to see her so happy!

Charity Quilts and Going With the Flow

Forgive the lighting in the following photos, it wasn't the best as I was shooting these pics.

This is the first of 2 small wall hanging quilts where I used pieces cut from an old worn vintage quilt and some ticking I've had sitting around for ages. I'm participating next month in a group art show to raise money for our local Habitat for Humanity and I will be putting both of these pieces in, along with some older work. 100% of my proceeds from the show will be going to Habitat, so I hope they sell!


I machine quilted it in an all over wonky, honey-comb looking pattern. I needed to really quilt it pretty heavily as there were a lot of worn and thin areas to the old quilt fabrics and I wanted to make sure this piece was nice and stable.


This is the second one I did.


I quilted this one pretty much the same as the one before. I still need to wash the quilts to soften them up a bit, and bring out the quilted texture better.

And in totally other news... went down into the basement yesterday to do some laundry and found our water heater pouring it's contents onto the floor! Thank goodness Hubby was home. He drained it, and then dismantled it. That's when we saw the whole back side was never sealed up properly, it was actually split open (even though the leak was coming out of the front.) We figure 13 years ago when the builders installed it they used a second, knowing we would never be able to squeeze our heads behind it to see the defect. All's well that ends well, and by the end of the day Hubby had installed a brand new water heater. (That thing was a bear to carry down our steps, and now we have to carry the old one up! Yikes!)

Then...

This morning I went outside and found someone, (no idea who) had left, (or purposely turned on) the hose spigot. It was on full force spilling gallons upon gallons of precious water. What a waste.

So I am asking myself what is up with these water leaks? I am always looking for symbols and meaning in everything and I want to know what the message for me is. What's my lesson that I need to learn? Is it the pessimistic "When it rains it pours" (so get use to it, kiddo) or what I prefer to think, the helpful reminder "Go with the flow, baby!" ... It's actually been my mantra lately, and control freak that I am, I'm trying too, I really truly am! I keep imagining myself in a canoe letting go of the oars and just going with the flow... (something I think I heard on Oprah!) And if this was any kind of test, I passed with flying colors as I stayed calm the whole time I was mopping up water off the basement floor.
Now, I am hoping... no more water leaks!

Gee's Bend and James Castle

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, (and to those of you spread elsewhere in the world, I hope you all had a lovely weekend!) We were busy like most of you enjoying family, good food and going here and there. I managed to catch a nasty cold and spent all of Saturday sprawled on the couch, (kind of like the last illustration in my previous post, but wrapped in blankets and clutching a box of tissue.)

But by Sunday I was feeling a bit better and hubby and I took off by ourselves for a much needed date.


We headed off in the pouring rain to the Philadelphia Museum of Art eager to see the quilts of Gee's Bend. I have wanted to see these quilts since they first came into public awareness. Seeing them up close and in person was almost like a religious experience, and I actually had to choke back the tears at times as I was so overcome by their power.



After spending a good deal of time soaking in the quilts, and feeling as inspired as I will ever be, we headed to the next exhibit where we were introduced to the works of James Castle. I am shocked that I had not heard of him before, but I had not... I really need to get out more.


Once again, my mind was blown by the amazing work laid out before me.


Apparently James was born deaf and mute, and I would wager autistic. He went to school for the deaf, but either rejected or was unable to learn traditional forms of communication.


However, James became proficient in his own forms of visual communication, executing many drawings and showing a masterful understanding of one point prospective. The drawings are mostly done with a mixture of soot and spit, applied with a hand carved stick to any recycled paper or cardboard he had on hand.


James also created intricate cardboard replicas of objects, birds, people and totem shapes, bound together with string.




And his books! So many books! Oh my, they were fabulous and fascinating, made of all sorts of recycled materials and filled with his sketches, doodles, and symbols, often repeated over and over again, to form a most beautiful language. What a truly remarkable human being.





I have often heard other artists discuss how seeing a certain show changed the direction of their own work, but have never myself experienced anything so profound despite having seen many, many wonderful shows throughout my life. But these two particular shows were different. Both left me changed, and I know, (the way you just know some things) that viewing the quilted works done by the fine woman of Gee's Bend, and the work done by the utterly fascinating James Castle, will absolutely have an effect on my work.

I thank them all for the gifts that they have given us through their undying artistic exploration, ingenuity and creative spirit.

Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peak at what I am working on. The quilting is all done, but I still need to attach the binding and machine wash it. I like machine washing these functional art quilts as a final step in their creation. I like how washing changes the hand of it, making it softer and bringing out the natural puckering and texture that makes quilts so appealing.


For this quilt I decided to just do closely spaced rows of vertical stitching. I love how the lines of stitching look, but I still am not achieving the varied colored overlay stripped look that I am going for with the stitching. Here, I alternated grouped rows of yellow thread with grouped rows of pink thread, but they wound up blending in a bit more then I had hoped, (although I still think it looks good.) I think I either need to use thread colors that contrast very strongly with the fabric color, or use a heavier thread. Sulky makes a really lovely heavy machine quilt thread, but at about $5.50 a spool... caa-ching, caa-ching!... that really adds up! I'll be posting pics of the whole quilt once I get her finished.

Also, continued thanks for all of the good wishes for Mo. I am so happy and grateful to say that she has been having some really good days, and has even started playing with her toys again. I think all of the extra love and attention she is receiving, plus the kind wishes sent her way, is doing her wonders, and I am so thankful for each good day that she has.

Color and Simplicity

I think over the last 3 days, the sun only came out for approximately 20 minutes. The rest of the time was cold dark and gray, with lots of rain. This, coupled with recent life events, left me craving two things... color and simplicity.


As I considered how to channel this craving into some new stitched work, my mind kept wandering back to a recent visit to a Free People clothing store. The clothes there are great, although out of my humble price range. But the thing that always catches my eye in this particular store, even more so then the clothing, is the beautiful stitched Indian patchwork which is used as upholstery on the chairs and couches as well as for the curtains on the dressing rooms. Bright patches of fabric with colorful, alternating rows of hand embroidery. The stitching creates a secondary woven-like overlay pattern on top of the richly patterned patchwork. Below is an example of a similar piece of upholstered furniture, an adario patchwork ottoman from Arhaus...


Inspired, I decided to start exploring some simple constructed patchwork, in brightly colored patterned fabrics. However, having done lots, and lots of hand embroidered art quilts this past year, I decided to take a break on the hand stitching, and subsitute machine stitching.



I quilted the entire surface in horizontal and vertical rows of stiching spaced just a smidge over 1/8" apart.

The colors cheered me, and the piecing and stitching soothed me.


I'm happy with how this first piece came out, and am now working on my next piece. This time I am paying a bit more attention to stitching more deliberate and defined rows of alternating colored threads. My goal is to create a more definite overlay pattern, not as random as in this first piece. (I'll post the results as soon as I finish.)

Also, I was tagged by the lovely Victoria, (hey, there's a nice name!) from A Mile A Minute. Thanks Victoria! Now, as soon as I can think of 7 semi interesting things about myself to share I will play along, but right now I feel about as interesting as a slice of melba toast!

Candy Button Space Spores

I finished making my four "Candy Button Space Spore" mini embroidered art quilts this weekend! They may be little, (4" x 4" each) but there is a lot of embroidery packed into each one! (I counted 104 french knots in one of them!)


Above is a picture of one little spore displayed on a table top. Because I back each of my quilts with a piece of fabric covered Timtex, ( a stiff, heavyweight interfacing) they won't droop or flop and they sit wonderfully on a table top easel frame. I also sew a flat cord hanger the back of each quilt so they can be hung on the wall.

Below are close up views of each little spore! To see them in their entirety please visit my shop!

What's New

A new banner. It's not the best, as I find these things very challenging. However I will appreciate the results of my efforts, the same way that a mother appreciates the efforts of her child, doing it's best to navigate the big wide world, for when it comes to computers I am but a babe in the woods. In other news......

Two new little flowers have grown in my etsy shop!

This little flower...

and this one, too!

And don't forget about the Little Pink Posie below that I will be sending off to one of you very soon! If you haven't yet entered my giveaway, you can do so now by just leaving a comment here. I will be picking the winner on Sunday. Good Luck!

Happy Colors

I really like the colors in my newest mini embroidered art quilt, which is a part of my ongoing abstract series that I have been working on and posting in my Etsy shop. (This one is "Abstract no.8") The colors make me feel all happy, and remind me of early morning sunshine, green fields, pretty flowers, and blue skies!