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Another Year Passes

And there’s a hand, my trusty friend!
And give us a hand of yours!
And we’ll take a deep draught of good-will
For long, long ago.
Lyrics from Auld Lang Syne

2021 was a quiet year for me, filled with family and stitching. Hopes are high for 2022 but I think we have all learned that we are definitely not in full control when it comes to the world we live in. I am grateful for all that I do have in my life. While travel, particularly international, has not been happening, I have still managed to feel connected with the people and places I loved.

Through a really great guy, Eric West, who is a real estate agent on Maui who posts updates on YouTube weekly, I have been able to share in the beaches and sunsets that I love on Maui.

When I am not checking in on Maui waves, YouTube also provides multiple ways to view the streets of Paris. I haven’t made it back there yet but maybe 2022.

But what about stitching? I have continued throughout the year to be part of the wonderful network of hand stitchers who follow Karen Ruane. There is a definite feeling of peace and joy of beauty that flows from hand stitching for me. Whether it is creating buttons or embellishing a piece of lace cloth created on a sewing machine, it always helps me to center and keep perspective. My current project is creating a cloth book with pages made from hankies either gathered in my travels or passed down from past generations. As 2022 begins, I have completed four plus pages and hope to add more in the coming months.

Some samples of stitching:

With best wishes for a healthy, peaceful, and kind 2022!
Judy

Return to the Basics

When true simplicity is gained
“Simple Gifts” sung by Judy Collins

As I was reviewing contributions by other artists to a stitching class I am participating in, the words of the folk song Simple Gifts flowed through my mind. After a year of COVID, I seem to thrive when moving towards true simplicity. The theme seems to be shaping my choices in life in areas as diverse as changing doctors to cleaning out a studio closet.

I think this is all good. I learned many years ago when we moved from our first home to another house that it is all too easy to collect clutter. However, basically living in one place for a year with much of my time contained within one structure has definitely intensified my need to simplify and eliminate.

In our Sewing Circle group, we are beginning by exploring basic stitches. I love the simple beauty of combining a little thread with some fine cloth. Our group contributes from around the globe so while I am still basically remaining in one place, I feel connected to friends around the earth.

What is a bit magical about this experience is that it is awakening my creative spirit, not just in stitching but in fiber in general. I spent yesterday morning in Joe Cunningham’s Quilt Freedom Workshop (online of course) and found myself inspired by his sharing. I love Joe as he rambles and is not exactly perfect in his presentation (i.e. his bobbin ran out in the middle of a demo) so he is just there as totally human sharing his love of quilting. I found myself enjoying the random pieces I stitched and perhaps, much more importantly, tossing around an idea for a quilt of my own. Who knows where that will go as I am still pretty limited on free personal time here but I found joy in simply exploring an idea of creating a statement in fiber on the past year.

Here is hoping that each of you discover something that excites you today and brings a bit of joy into your life.

An Appreciation of Community

“The power of community to create health is far
greater than any physician, clinic or hospital.”
– Mark Hyman

It has been a year since I last wrote in this blog. As you can guess, I have spent the past year as most others on this planet dealing with the pandemic. I have been fortunate as my health and my family’s has been good. There have been stresses, canceled trips, and minimal physical contact with our surrounding community but there have also been blessings.

What has kept me going through thick and thin is that I have had the support of a wonderful online international stitching community led by Karen Ruane. I have worked through a number of “classes” with Karen over the years and my skills have expanded manyfold with the encouragement of Karen and fellow class members. What is wonderful about Karen’s classes is that there are no expectations on your level of participation or what you choose to work on during the class. There is a private Flicker group for every class where participants can discuss, question, and post photos of their current work if they wish.

The result of this “class” format is that the participants become friends. People sign up for classes, drop out for a bit, and are welcomed back when they return, as most do. Everyone finds encouragement in Karen’s classes whether brand new beginners or polished professionals.

Stitching offers a time to sit quietly and simply create.

It turned out that Karen’s classes were a perfect way to navigate the Covid era. Classes provided a means of connecting with others with similar interests. It did not matter where on the globe we lived and whether we were in a lock down or not. We had a group with whom we could share both our pandemic experiences and our stitching adventures. This ability to share provided an anchor for lives that suddenly were uncertain, isolated, and open to threats beyond our control.

My main focus early on in the pandemic was creating a “pouch” for carrying my various projects about as I moved from studio to tv room etc. I chose a french theme as I had some beautiful lace I found at a quilt show a few years back along with a collection of ribbons from French General.

When completed, I decided the “pouch” was a bit big to carry around, so I immediately began a second smaller pouch. That first pouch now hangs on my design wall as an easily accessible storage place for my favorite threads and tools when I am working in my studio.

With my second effort, I began to incorporate paper into my design and a theme based on an abstraction from the Eifel Tower in my first pouch.

Outer fold over cover with abstraction of Eifel Tower

Both pouches are now done and happily being used. And, Karen has a new exciting class beginning in March that I am looking forward to. This one is all about embroidery and perfect wherever you are in your stitching journey. I hope you will check it out and consider joining us. It is an opportunity to learn, to play, and to enjoy companionship. Here is the link to Embroidery School Sewing Circle.

And I wish for everyone a brighter, more hopeful year as we continue to navigate these difficult times.

A Precious Gift

Of all nature’s gifts to the human race,
what is sweeter to a man than his children?
Marcus Tullius Cicero

My daughter recently handed me some worn baby clothes and asked me if I would create something for her. One was the sleeper that our cherished oldest grandchild was wearing when she was handed to her new parents a number of years ago in China. Here she is in her sleeper with my daughter.

I was thrilled with the request and gave much thought to appropriate projects. For the past few weeks, I explored ideas, consulted with friends, and came up with a plan. A simple heart set upon some delicate cloth felt most appropriate. I also gleaned from various sites that Christmas tree ornaments are quite popular ways to preserve baby clothes.

While there are other potential projects I have yet to explore, here is what I have put together to date. Needless to say, I have smiled through every minute of the stitching. 🙂

A Gentle Time

All we have to decide is
what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien

The past few months have had a satisfying flow for me. My time has been filled with travel, family, and stitching of all sorts. And, each has influenced the other but throughout there has been a gentle feel to it all that reflects often in my stitching creations.

Most influential these past few months was a wonderful trip to Ireland last fall where I visited kin and returned to some favorite places.

One way that I captured memories was in creating a hand stitched piece that included bits that I picked up in my journey. It now rests on my bedside table and brings smiles to my dreams and a good start to each day.

Every time I fly into the west coast of Ireland, my first glimpses through the clouds are of the fields that cover the land. They create checkerboard patterns of varying hues of green and often are dotted with sheep.

A number of years ago, I created a flannel throw that was inspired by those hills and I have enjoyed it ever since.

This time, I decided to capture my memories using both my hand stitching and quilting skills. The result is my latest art quilt of sorts. I chose to frame it rather than bind it but it still adheres to the basic rules of a quilt – 3 layers stitched together

It took awhile to finish “Irish Fields”. There were requests from a certain granddaughter for a pink purse, plus squeezing in sewing up some quick cat beds for our local humane society. I also truly enjoyed returning to my studies with Karen Ruane as she offered a six week course called The Little Book of Sewing. I did actually finish a small book by the end of the class that gave me an opportunity to work with laces and paper as I continue my exploration in ways to incorporate varied fibers into my art pieces.

There are glimpses of spring appearing weekly here and I am looking forward to more travels, more studies, and more art as 2020 evolves before me. I wish you well on your journey too.

PS Apologies if this post appears a bit rough on your browser. I unfortunately have discovered that WordPress and Mac are in a bit of conflict at the moment. Writing and editing on Safari are currently a bit of a challenge. Hopefully things will smooth out electronically with time. 🙂

Summer Projects

Find out where joy resides,
and give it a voice far beyond singing.
For to miss the joy is to miss all.
Robert Louis Stevenson

SAQA’s 100 Days of Creativity on Facebook, which I mentioned in my last two posts, became a wonderful vehicle for keeping me focused for over 40 days on sewing projects. It was a particularly hectic time in my life but the simple task of doing enough on a piece to post a photo each day to the group with just the right incentive to keep going. And, I discovered by simply putting the proverbial “one step in front of the other” that I could create art in the craziest of times.

I have backed off the SAQA challenge now as travel will take up more of my time and I feel I have learned sufficiently from participating in the challenge. What did I accomplish? Have a look. 🙂

This is the smaller of the two art quilts that I mentioned in my last blog. I am extremely pleased with how cloth and paper blended to create this scene. I do hope to explore the larger size version but not until fall or perhaps winter when my travel schedule is lighter.

This is the front of a very special cloth pouch that I made for one of my cousins. The “E” is from a hankerchief of her Mom’s that she gave me. Most of the other materials I used in the creating the pouch were also from her Mom.

To create the inside of the pouch I created a pocket with a smaller hanky and embellished it with lace trim of her Mom’s. I added three mini pockets created out of unused corners of the hanky that formed the main pocket.

My third project was a mini-cushion that I might use as a pin cushion or else a place to lay my glasses. It was done for sheer fun which suggests just how successful my summer of creativity has been. From paper piecing to french knots to prairie points to art quilts with paper and stitch, I have been following my heart all summer. 🙂

Linking to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall blog so you can follow other artists as well.

Sacred Threads and Creativity

Everything you can imagine is real.
Pablo Picasso

I am pleased to let everyone know that my quilt, Ground Zero Reborn, is on display with the Sacred Threads Exhibit in Herndon, VA from July 11-28. It is always an honor to be included in this exhibition and this quilt is very special to me as the Wall St area of NYC was very much a part of my childhood. I am always grateful that my parents were not alive to witness the tragedy of 9/11.

Sacred Threads allows artists to share pivotal moments in their lives through art quilts. If you have the opportunity to visit the exhibition, the quilts you will experience are amazing and moving. I hope you can visit.The exhibition is at the Floris United Methodist Church and full details on the exhibit can be found on the Sacred Threads website.

In my previous post, I wrote that I had decided to participate in SAQA’s “100 Days of Creativity on Facebook” challenge. After ten days, I am amazed and delighted to report that I love the challenge. Much to my surprise, the simple concept of making enough progress on an idea to be able to take a daily photo capturing the progress has turned out to be exactly the incentive I needed to create. There is so much freedom in how each participant chooses to use the 100 days that I feel totally comfortable sharing whatever I have done and I am finding looking at everyone else’s photos both inspiring and instructive. My experience is that simply persisting every day to do a little and then contemplating the next day’s step for the reminder of the day has allowed me to make concrete progress.

In the first ten days, I have moved from creating templates for two different size art quilts based on the same photo

to a roughed out version of the smaller of the two projected art quilts.

I have enjoyed the process so much that I have decided to expand upon my original plan for the 100 days. For the second ten days, I am developing a hand embroidery from some vintage fabrics recently given me. While I am embroidering I will be contemplating how I will stitch the small art work which I will resume working on for the third block of ten days. I hope to continue flipping back and forth in blocks of ten days between the two projects until mid-September.

Wish me luck!

Linking to NinaMarie’s Off the Wall to share with other artists.

Getting Motivated

Genius is one percent inspiration
and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Thomas Edison

My trip to Paris in May was so inspirational. A break from the routines of life and an opportunity to immerse myself in the works of so many artists. I took many photos and in the ensuing weeks one continued to intrigue me as a possible base for some art/paper work.

Of course, it would be amazing if my life then allowed me to simply devote myself to a new art quilt. 🙂 However, in the real world I have many wonderful commitments tugging for my time…….to add to the mix, in June we added a new member to our household:

I think you can easily see how my ‘time for art’ was going to be seriously challenged! Enter the wonderful organization, Studio Art Quilt Associates, that I have belonged to for many years and played a tremendous role in getting me started in the field of art quilts. Their ‘Weekly Eblast’ for the last week in June mentioned an intriguing idea: “100 Days of Creativity on Facebook”.

Beginning July 1, they were sponsoring a challenging to spend 100 days creating and reporting a photo each day to a private member Facebook site. Their guidelines were amazingly simple – post progress each day, the 100 days are divided into 10 blocks so one could define purposes for each of the 10 blocks or one purpose for the entire period, or design your own process.

The serendipity of this challenge is amazing. River has now been with us for one week and a commitment to make a little progress each day on my “Japanese Maple Tree Project,’ as I have labeled it, is just what I need.

While the Facebook posts are for challenge members only, I will also be sharing my photos on my Instagram account using #SAQA100days (a requirement of the challenge). So, if you want to check in on my success in sticking with the challenge, check my Instagram account (my username is judywar). I think you might also be able to access it by this link. I expect this will turn out to be a fun challenge if I stay centered and appreciate that I might have to miss a day or two occasionally (allowed in the rules). I will try to also report in here on my blog from time to time. 🙂

Linking here to NinaMarie’s Off the Wall Friday blog.

The Journey Continues…..

Paris is always a good idea
Audrey Hepburn

May has swept by and we are well into June. The highlight of May was most definitely a trip to Paris with my husband. There is something about that city that draws me back again and again. When I was working, I often would take a quick trip in the winter to sit in the museums when crowds were small. My favorite place is a courtyard in the Louvre with French sculptures….but this trip the highlight was Giverny and a visit to Monet’s gardens.

Since our time in Paris was relatively short, we took advantage of a tour by Paris WebServices that offered to pick us up at our hotel, drop us at the gardens, and pick us back up several hours later for a return trip. It was the best decision of the trip as the guide literally deposited us at the gardens before the official opening so we were at the head of the line and the first into the gardens. Having briefed myself from my trusty Rick Steves‘ Guidebook on how to get quickly to the lily ponds, we had the gift of walking around the ponds in near solitude.

These photos give a hint at the beauty of the moment and most definitely are inspiration for my coming art quilts! Enjoy!

Time Flies!

I have no thought of time
For who knows where the time goes?
Sandy Denny

I am amazed that it is May. My March shamrocks are still growing, much to my delight. The temperatures are creeping upwards and the days are each more beautiful than the last.

Time has flown and I have little to show in fiber art projects completed. A trip back East, so much to be done outside on our property, and the distraction of my wonderful grandchildren slowed progress on my many fiber projects……I am working along in the two year-long online gatherings with Karen Ruane but I have no photos for you.

I have been busy at my sewing machine as a sundress was requested by one granddaughter. I totally enjoy the change in focus and was pleased with the outcome……

May promises to be quite busy too away from the studio. I trust my travels will yield some memorable photos for this blog…..In the meantime, I leave you with a video that I trust will make you smile. The grandchildren are very much into dressing up in all sorts of costumes. Miriam has also decided she wants to learn Irish step dancing. The results are as you can see from this video are totally entertaining and brighten everyone’s day.

Best Laid Plans…

It is good to have a plan….
but always follow your heart!

Yesterday started as a fairly normal day and I expected to move forward on a cloth page I have been working on the past two weeks for my Stitch Along class with Karen Ruane. But Thursdays are “late arrival” days for my seven-year-0ld granddaughter’s elementary school and her Mom drops her off to have breakfast with me and I take her to school. Judy Cate arrived carrying her little faithful stuffed animal, Raven. She reported that he was in real need of a bow tie and could I help. How could I say ‘no’ to such a request! 🙂

As we enjoyed our breakfast, we searched the web for patterns for bow tie pattern for doll. We found a free one, picked out appropriate fabric from my stash, and I agreed to have Raven outfitted by the time Judy Cate returned from school. Needless to say, the rest of my day got rearranged a bit with a very happy result.

The blog where I found the pattern was Shiny Happy World. It is a blog by Wendi Gratz. She lives in North Caroline and, according to her bio, has chosen to create “sewing, quilting and embroidery patterns especially for beginners”. If the bow tie pattern I used is typical, then Wendi is a very gifted designer. I have followed a lot of patterns in my years of sewing and this was one of the best written. I particularly loved her side comments on some short cuts that were possible. They were the sort of ones that I would instinctively explore in doing any pattern and it was great to read that she used them too and they were okay. Wendi has many free patterns on her website for quilting, crochet, felting, embroidery and sewing. Where you need a pattern or not, it is worth checking the pictorial listing out as they will make you smile.

Raven went home with three bow ties made in less than an hour with Wendi’s pattern. I spent the rest of the day in gratitude that I am at a point in my life where I can drop other activities and doing something that I know will make a grandchild smile.

More on my other projects next week….for now I am linking to Nine Marie’s Off the Wall Friday blog……

Spring is coming

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Spring is still weeks away but it was in my heart this week. 🙂

Most of the week was spent on finishing up some of my stitching projects and working on ideas for my next set. As I was returning fabrics to my storage wall, I came across two panels I had purchased last year on a visit back to Victor, NY. I bought them with a purpose in mind but abandoned the idea after I returned out west. As often happens, the panels became buried in a pile…

I decided that there was a better use for the panels than sitting in my storage cubbies. It took only a few hours to create a potential quilt top to be passed on to Quilt Beyond Borders where it can bring joy to someone going through some difficult times. For the moment though, the quilt top is hanging on my design wall, brightening my days as I count down to Spring. 🙂

Linking as always to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday blog. She writes this week about a movement by a number of art museums in the U.S. to share images in their digital collections with the public free of charge and copy right licensing. Be sure to check it out!

Mission Accomplished

Enjoy the satisfaction that comes from doing little things well.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

It is an extremely nice feeling to start from a gathering of materials that attracted you and wind up with a finished project. I mentioned in my last post that I rarely purchase fabric these days as I have a stash to draw upon. There must be something truly unique about some fabric, or even buttons, or ribbons — anything that I might use in my art – before I will buy it.

Last fall I started a small grouping of purchases from trips I had made to the Manhattan garment district, upstate NY and Sedona AZ during 2018. I had no plan initially for them, but something about them created a feeling that resonated with me. This year, in my stitching group with Karen Ruane, that pile started beckoning to me to let them join in my play.

First I created a suffolk puff from a Japanese print fabric I had found in Manhattan. Then, I began playing with some bullion knots around cording in another piece of fabric………ribbon and buttons begged to be included in my design process. 🙂

As time progressed, a plan for a bag developed and I began stitching in earnest.

This week I finished my bag. Here are two views of it.

I plan to use my new bag in my studio for other special items that I have brought back from trips. In that way, it will serve a number of purposes, both reminding me of places I visited, and reminding me of that sense of satisfaction from following through from an idea to a final product. In that way, I suspect it will continue to encourage me to follow through in 2019 with other ideas and projects that speak to me, whatever they may be.

Linking as always to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday….

Waste Not, Want Not

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under heaven..
Pete Seeger

I have been watching old episodes of Life Below Zero on Netflix this winter. One of the lessons that becomes clear as I watch is that when you are living a subsistence living near the Arctic Circle, absolutely nothing is wasted. It is a great lesson as figures suggest that the human population creates 2.12 billion tons of waste every year. That is a lot of stuff!

I resolved a while back to focus on using the stash of fabrics that I have accumulated over the years in my projects whenever possible. I still will purchase a special fabric here and there, but mainly I try to use my stash. My latest quilt for Quilts Beyond Borders is a perfect example of this.

I found a simple yet attractive pattern for a daisy chain quilt on Pinterest and was able find enough prints and solids in my stash to create both the top and back of a quilt that will go to a person in need. (Sorry about the poor photo of the quilt back but you get the idea. 🙂 )

However, that was not the end of my Waste Not, Want Not story. To create the quilt, one had to slice off areas at the top and bottom as the quilt was assembled in angular strips. As I created my rectangular quilt, I created a little pile of odd shapes. I put them aside for a few days and then took them all out. There were enough scraps to be able to create a 15″ x 18″ quilt for one of my grandchild’s dolls!

Now not only will someone somewhere in the world with no home benefit from my stash, but I have created joy for a child and avoided adding a small bit to that 2.12 billion figure.

I will leave you with one more statistic from that website on waste – it is suggested that 99% of things we buy are trashed within 6 months. Yuk! Hopefully, we all can do better than that!

Linking as always to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

Letting Go

Life is either a great adventure or nothing.
Helen Keller

Last week I shared with you the beginnings of my first ledger page for my online class, Ledgers-A Record of Stitch, with Karen Ruane. I had a design that I was pretty comfortable with:

This week I planned to finish up the page and move on with other projects. As I completed the French Knots on each of my crosses, I focused more and more on the circular portion of the design. My original ideas of simply stitching the two circular outlines just didn’t excite me any more. So, I began looking at what other fibers I might have in my studio that I could use.

One thing led to another and as you can see from the photo below, where I wound up with quite a ways from where I started. 🙂

My new design is much more vibrant and mysterious. I continued to explore color balance and the impact of differing proportions on composition but I gave myself permission to just let go and play. The unstructured, scattered nature of the yarn that I crocheted together to meld the blue and black carries the free form of the organic gatherings of French Knots to a more extreme form.

I left the little black circle in the lower left as information on another color balance example as this is for a ledger of design ideas. In one sense the little circle is a bit out of place. In another, it fits as it develops the progression of darkness through color proportion from the small crosses to the large circle to a final extreme expression.

You might wonder what might have been influencing me as I was working on this composition. I suspect it is the Harry Potter series where I am currently in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Twill be interesting where my reading takes me next! 🙂

Linking as always to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

The Delights of Stitching

It is our choices that show what we truly are,
far more than our abilities.
Dumbledore

My grandchildren are reading the Harry Potter series. (More accurately their parents are reading it to them each evening.) I had read the series when it was published years ago but decided I had better brush up on the characters so I could discuss them with our seven year old. I really am enjoying the escape from current events that the books now offer. The above quote jumped out at me as I was reading and I had to share it. I think it rang true for me for my life overall.

Having finished True Power last week, I have refocused on my adventures with Karen Ruane. I have been following along with her and my compatriots in the Stitch Along class for six months now – that hardly seems possible as time flies in the class. I have continued to play with adorning vintage children’s dresses and now have begun what will be a cloth book of embroidery ideas for future projects. I simply love that we are free to do as we wish when we follow Karen. If an idea she is exploring resonates with us, we can try it; if not, then we can focus on what has caught our eye.

I have finally finished one dress that I suspect will find a home eventually with my youngest granddaughter as she appears to have inherited my love of dolls. I think you will recognize some of the adornments from an earlier fall post:

My cloth book is just beginning but I have put together the ‘front’ side of what will be one page in the book. It allowed me to play with some exquisite lace I picked up several years ago in the garment district of New York and to explore the rich effect created making suffolk puffs with silk.

Since I love the community of stitchers that play along with Karen, I have just joined another of her groups – Ledgers – A Record of Stitch. Here the focus will be upon creating a paper ledger of color studies and design options drawn from items that have caught our eye – whether photos, embroideries, really anything that we wish.

For my first ledger page, I chose an embroidery that I received from a group of women who stitch in their villages in Afghanistan. The color choices really appealed to me.

I am now working on a page where I am using those colors and expanding from my chosen ‘resource’ to create my own designs. It is fun to stitch on paper for a change! As you can see, I am just beginning my stitching process.

As you can see Karen’s classes definitely can keep you busy! Of course, I am also thinking about my next quilt projects — to be shared as they materialize. 🙂

Linking with NineMarie’s Off the Wall Friday blog for more inspirational ideas.

Honoring Nature

Wilderness is not a luxury
but a necessity of the human spirit.
Edward Abbey

As I look at the photos and art quilts that fill the walls of my studio, a good number of them are of nature — rock formations in Scotland, an Aspen tree, cypress along the Pacific Coast, the Atlantic Ocean off the west of Ireland. I find my inspiration in nature, retreat to nature to re-center myself in life, and to keep in perspective how minute my presence is in the universe. When I cannot be present in nature, these images help ground me. Today I was happy to add a new image to my wall, True Power. The title comes from a favorite quote that Tom Crum used in our many workshops, True Power is energy flowing freely towards a vision. Glaciers embody ‘true power’ to me as they move purposely on their way.

I wrote last week about how what is now titled True Power came about. In the past week, a path to completion became clearer and clearer. Handstitching the water against a backing of batting flowed into appropriate stitching for the shoreline, mountains, and sky. It was a simple matter to frame the piece in an open frame once trimmed. You can see the detail work in the photo below that contributes to the overall desired effect when viewed on a wall.

I am excited about this piece and looking forward to playing more with this genre, along with my many hand stitching projects and some digital images I am currently getting printed. I think 2019 will be a fun year!

Linking as usual to Nine Maries Off the Wall Friday blog.

Taking Stitch to Cloth and Paper

What do I need to Learn Here?
Thomas Crum

For many years, I worked with Thomas Crum as we introduced people to what we called the Discovery Model. The premise is that as long as the questions you ask yourself in life are along the lines of “What do I need to say or do to be right?” you are not operating at your full potential. Indeed, a look at the truly great inventors over time revealed that their frame of reference in trying new ideas as setbacks and failures occurred was more typically the question, “What do I need to learn here?”

As many of you are aware, I have been exploring the art of hand stitching with Karen Ruane for a number of years…what began as an interest in learning hand embroidery has grown to an exploration of expression using stitch on both fabric and paper.

The start of my current project was innocent enough. I was interested in creating a small art quilt from a glacier photo taken on a trip to Alaska last summer. Initially I thought I would follow my typical process of drafting a sketch from a photo, fusing various fabrics to muslin to create a base and then free motion quilting to complete the art quilt. It has been a bit since I had followed that model but it had always satisfied me before.

An interesting thing though happened as I began to work on a muslin base trying out various fabrics. Nothing satisfied me. The more I searched for fabrics, the less pleased I was. I finally realized that some paper I had collected to use in projects with Karen was pretty close to what I wanted. It was time to let go of the traditional and come from discovery!

I began constructing a base of fabric and possible papers for my scene:

In the above photo, I found that a matte frame really helped give me a sense of direction. The central portions in the scene are all layers of paper while the sky and water are fabric.

I wisely did not permanently attach anything to my muslin base. The more I looked at the scene I realized that while it was a fair representation perhaps of the photo I had chosen as a base, it wasn’t what had stood out for me as I remembered our trip. We saw many glaciers in varying light and, as you would expect, varying colors of both ice and water. The glaciers as a whole left us humbled by the power and raw strength of nature that created and moved them. I realized that I needed to create an art work that captured what spoke to my heart as I had gazed at all of them rather than concern myself with reproducing a specific photo.

Once I accepted that reality, I really began to make progress with my piece. I changed some of both the fabric and paper layers and added some dabs of paint.

From there I quickly began experimenting with stitch on the glaciers. I found that a combination of seed stitch and french knot offered the effect I wanted.

This piece is very much still in progress. I currently am playing with stitch for the water. In my earlier stitching stages, I worked without a batting layer as I didn’t feel it was needed and I had given myself permission to create without being bound by the current day definitions of an ‘art quilt’. As I played with possibilities for the water on test pieces, I concluded that I will now add a batting layer to the piece as I like the textural effect the batting lends to the hand stitching for the water.

Over the coming weeks, I will be stitching in the water and then exploring how to interpret the mountains and sky. Promise an update soon!

As always, linking to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

A Fun Portfolio Project for the New Year

A number of years ago I created a portfolio for myself using a pattern from Bernina. It was intended as an exercise in using their circle tool. A local Bernina store offered a class using the pattern so I had plenty of help on my first try.

I still am using that portfolio and about two years ago decided to make versions for my daughter and son-in-law. They loved their portfolios and continue to use them. This fall I got way more ambitious and decided to make a series of portfolios as Christmas gifts.

I took the basic idea of the original portfolio but decided to give myself more leeway in the design process. Rather than focusing upon circles, I took the basic form of a long rectangle and used assorted materials from my stash along with decorative stitching and some ribbons to create the outer portion of each portfolio. This decision really allowed me to have some fun with both novelty fabrics and vintage Japanese cottons I had collected over the years.

To line the insides of each portfolio, I simply chose a coordinating fabric. Using some double sided midweight fusible stabilizer to join the outer and inner sides of the portfolio and some bias binding to edge the rectangular shape, my gift portfolios were near completion. All that was left was to fold the rectangle to create the pouch and the cover sections, stitch the sides of the pouch section, and add a velcro fastener.

The gifts were a tremendous success and I really encourage everyone to play with this idea. It is a great way to use some of your stash. While I created portfolios that could easily hold a notebook or letter sized documents, one could easily create other sized portfolios by altering the size of the starting rectangle. (I began with rectangles roughly 15″x 28″). I wasn’t able to find my original instructions online but did find some references on the Bernina site for a similar idea that you could easily use as a jumping off guide: https://weallsew.com/embroidered-circles-folio

Below are images of one of the new portfolios from various views:

Wishing you a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!

Tis the Season

For it is in giving that we receive.
St. Francis of Assisi

Wishing everyone the very best in this holiday season. May you find happiness and fulfillment and a path for 2019 that brings peace and comfort to you and your family and extends beyond to your little corner of the world.

My life has been very full this fall with all good things. Finding time for everyone and everything has meant reduced time on my computer. Be assured though that my studio has been busy with many projects including the one pictured below.

These tiny hats are for the Little Hats, Big Hearts project of the American Heart Association. Begun in Chicago in 2014, the project honors babies and moms in a very special way. These tiny red hats, on thousands of babies, symbolize our shared mission of heart-healthy lives for everyone. The effort also raises awareness of congenital heart defects, and what we can all do to help prevent them.

I saw a mention of the program on our local tv station and was intrigued. The AHA offers patterns for both crochet and knitting. Friends will attest to the fact that I am a dubiously successful knitter. 🙂 However, crocheting has always come naturally to me. My goal is to create as many of these little hats as I can manage in December. The hats will be handed in to our local AHA chapter and distributed to newborns at local hospitals during February which is American Heart Month.

If you would like to join in this effort, the AHA suggests contacting your local AHA representative for details on the program in your area.

Have to get back to crocheting now! You can check out Nina Marie’s Off the Wall for what other fiber artists are up to.

Time Flies

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus

The month of September seemed to fly by as I followed through on my new classes. Combined with a quick trip to New York, I have most definitely been busy.

My “Stitch Along” class with Karen Ruane thankfully has a 12 month timeline. I used the class as an excuse to wander the Garment District while in New York City to gather some materials to use in the class. In my spare time, I have been playing with some samples of lace and stitch and slowly developing a theme for the year.

The Visual Design workshop with SAQA is a much shorter commitment. I am in the second component of the workshop, Principles of Design, the first two weeks being devoted to Elements of Design. Each week is rich with resources through video interviews, some video chats, and links to many articles. There are no assignments as such. I have enjoyed the review of design principles. One immediate application has been in reviewing my photos from our Alaska trip. I have appreciated a bit more why my eye is drawn to particular scenes and why in culling through hundreds of photos, I have selected a few to print and perhaps use eventually in some art works.

Here are two examples where line and shape were important.

Zodiacs along the cliffs near the Dawes glacier.

Early morn view from our boat approaching LeConte Bay.

Looking forward to learning more as I continue exploring the wonderful world of fiber.

Linking to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday blog for more inspiration from other fiber artists.

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All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”J.R.R. Tolkien

Find out where joy resides,and give it a voice far beyond singing.For to miss the joy is to miss all. Robert Louis Stevenson

Everything you can imagine is real.Pablo Picasso

Genius is one percent inspirationand ninety-nine percent perspiration.Thomas Edison

Paris is always a good ideaAudrey Hepburn

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. Albert Camus