Monthly Archives: October 2010

Zero, Zip, Nada, Nothing

That’s what my dad would say when he didn’t get anything done at work. I am afraid I could say the same for this week. I had a project up on my design wall and I made 16 blocks for it and then ten more. I played with it. I moved it around. I slept on the idea. I put some of it together. That was kind of delusional. Desperate. Then I cut it up more after I sewed some of the blocks together. I just didn’t like it.It was a disaster. And it was big. A big ugly disaster and I am even showing it to you. Oh well…my husband said-I guess that’s the good part of being an aspiring artist- you can start over again. Well, I guess so but I was pretty frustrated. I feel like at this point there should be some predictibilty in what I want to do…Ha-ha. Maybe I could go to work as fabric cutter or ironing lady. It could be my new profession. It is a very humbling process. I am not using this- I hated the blue and green line through it which I didn’t strip piece but cut each piece individually. Not even smart. I will salvage some pieces-for what-just to make myself feel better? Oh well.

My natural dyeing attempt was kind of a bust, too. But that was absolutely my fault. Always read the directions first! It’s in the washer and I will show it to you next post so you can see and avoid my mistakes. I loved the frozen flower petals I did earlier- a warm butter yellow. Yum.

I went to our West Michigan Fiber Arts group on Monday night and our talented Gail Myrrhorodosky gave a great presentaion on the process of creating one of her pieces. Lots of yarn and fibers stitched down with tulle, solvy and aquamagic. That was a privilege.

So 20+ hours later, I am back to work. Today I will use a pattern for a very pink baby quilt. Safe, isn’t it? And I am ok with it.

Or maybe I should just tackle some works in process. Or carve a pumpkin with the kids.

I love this. Intrigued by white. Must focus though.

Be creative, my friends. For me. I am not this week.

A Different Kind of Cooking

Some people make dinner for their families. Nice healthy, hot dinners.

Not generally linen dyed in pomengranate juice and then boiled in hot water.

Or fall leaves ready to be cold bundled.

But those people just aren’t having as much fun as I am.

These results will take a few days. So stay tuned. I should have bundled more but am out of usable fabric. My daughter warned me I under no circumstance use any piece of fabric in her room that was white.

Be creative, my friends!

A Treat for You

For those of you who enjoy going to the Barn to study with Nancy Crow, I have a treat for you today. Judy Kirpich has been attending a two week master’s class and has so graciously been blogging about her journey. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet Judy but have only been reading her blog for about a year now. She is very talented and you will enjoy how hard she has been working there and her beautiful results.

I am off to sew for two hours. My kids have fall break yesterday and today. They will still be sleeping or doing the chores I have written out for them before we go pick up their friends at 11am. A new strategy : I have written my studio time on the family calendar for the next week. I am way too grumpy without it.

Be inspired by Judy today! Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Slower Things

I have crashed after a long period of going and going. I feel as if I am walking in deep sand this week and going nowhere fast. I want to pull the covers up and sleep although I haven’t found much space for that. I have things up on my design wall but it’s not clicking. So I sat with one of my many unfinished projects. Quietly and slowly stitching. I am tired of rushing.

Maybe some things just are meant to take longer than others. Hope to get my energy back soon. Might take a highly caffeinated beverage to make it through today though.

Be creative for me, would you? Happy sewing, my friends.

Friday Fun

I am so excited. I am have been playing on a consistent basis for a month now. And this weekend friends are coming from Connecticut to visit and run the Grand Rapids marathon. ( They are trying to cover a marathon in each state…not for me but good for them!) We lived in Monroe, CT for 5 years and I do so miss the friends I made there. So it will be great to see them.

I am ripping out stitching from the previous machine disaster. Machine quilting is no fun to rip out. With each stitch I rip out, I wonder why in the world I kept going so long….So hope to have a finish for you next week. I have been working so hard this week, but it had been kids stuff and house stuff.

Since I have no real art to show you today, I will give you a Friday Moment . I found this blog-Amanda at Soule Mama and it is a really nice place to go to visit. She is renovating an old home and that’s something that I love to watch. That and the simplicity of a room that has nothing in it. An “Ahh” moment. At the end of the week.

My Friday moment- Lucy in the leaves loving fall. Aren’t we all? Storing it up.

Another link for you- Film in the Fridge. Someone in Burlington, VT who had carved out a nice little niche for herself and makes really fun quilts. I enjoyed her quilt from yesterday. And was excited that there is a new fabric and yarn shop in Burlington, nido. I will check it out at Christmas when we go there.

But first, I will enjoy fall. Be creative, my friends!

The Flop of the Workshop Queen

I really love to read what I read the day before – and then laugh at what I have written. I am making a costume for one of those silly high school events. decided to be Jessie and Woody from Toy Story. I thought ok that will be easy. Fabric obtained and ready to sew yesterday thinking I would be done in a day.

I have made and re-made the yellow vest-maybe four times so far. I don’t sew garments for a reason. Everything just seems backwards to me and I can’t make it all fit together. No I don’t have a pattern. How hard did I think it was going to be? On top of my frustration is the little princess who thought it wasn’t quite right again… Tomorrow I need to conquer the cuffs and the chaps which will go over jeans.

So much for all that knowledge I have from all those workshops. Knowledge is only good if you can use it. Most of my usable knowledge is currently coming for free on the internet.

The good part of my day was that my camera lens came back from the repair shop. Maybe you will get pictures of this lovely costume yet this week and it will be finished.

My new machine seems to like piecing.

A trial of machine quilting on this next. After the Jessie costume is done.

Washed up two surface design pieces which were painted with some diluted acrylic paints. I feel like a squirrel putting away as much summer time dyeing and painting to use in the long winter months here. Can’t get enough put away.

I was worried they were going to be stiff but I heat set first, then washed them. Nice and soft. Ready for hand stitching this winter.

Off to sew a costume.
Happy Sewing, my friends!

The Workshop Queen

I was asked last week who I had studied with. I couldn’t rattle the list off even though I know I have taken lots of classes. Fortunately, I have lived in many different places over the twenty some years I have been sewing. I didn’t always join a guild but when I did, I wasn’t disappointed. It is a good way to take a one or two day workshop to see if it is a technique or method you would like to add to your basic skill set.

I have had some great teachers and some not so great teachers. But I did take a few minutes to answer that question for myself.

Traditional
1. Ami Simms
2. Jeanna Kimball
3. Nancy Pearson
4. Ann Frishkorn
5. Harriet Hargrove
6. Mary Ellen Hopkins
7. Mary Stori
8. Maureen Noble

Non traditional
1. Elin Noble and Jane Davila
2. Carol Soderlund
3. Libby Lehman
4. Carol Taylor
5.. Velda Newman
6.. Ellen Ann Eddy
7. Marjorie Mcwilliams (Quilt Universtiy)
8. Melanie Testa ( Joggles)
9. Jude Hill (online)
10. Nancy Crow x 3

I know there are some I have forgotten. Now that I have written it all down-wow that’s alot of classes! And wide range of teachers and styles. I don’t have a burning desire to take another right now. Maybe next spring. Just want to work. I just wanted to have a better answer the next time someone asks me who I have studied with!

Do you have a favorite teacher or class you have taken? Why did you like it? Or is there someone you haven’t taken a class from but has inspired you?

Happy Sewing, my friends!

The Quiltmaker Has Returned

Kind of. Just getting use to a new machine. The other dud needs to go far, far away. I just got tired of fighting with the constant problems-maybe I just didn’t need so fussy a machine.

I took out some pretty, soft colors and started piecing a little baby quilt. Charity quilt time is soon coming.

Just a simple, industrial machine. One third of the cost of the others and she purrs. Happily.

Felt so good to sew again. But the warm 75 degree weather convinced me I should be outside.

Enjoy the weekend.

Be creative, my friends!

Another Great Day at Artprize

I know that I have been playing for almost two weeks now. And I have had soo much fun. But yesterday was a great day downtown with one of our own Artprize artists, Nellie Durand. Nellie was going to attend one of the artist workshops today and wanted to spend some time prior to the workshop just seeing the art. We walked. We talked. We admired. We looked. We sat and visited in a quiet cool spot and got to know each other. We walked even more. Lunch. Art talk. Dinner and more Artprize with a very quick trip to the Meijer Gardens to see some of their Artprize sculptures before it got dark.

One of my favorites, by Beiliiu Lui, installed in our new UICA-except construction isn’t done and you could only view it through a window from the sidewalk. Kind of made it even more alluring. I really wanted to reach out and touch this one or lay underneath it.IIt is thread coiled and hung but a needle piercing the coil and installed- hanging by a thread. They were all floating and moving ever so slightly.

The ever famous elephants that always drew a crowd.

Their heads bobbed up and down. The kids enjoyed them.

After dinner, Nellie and I had show and tell. Nellie brought some of her” Interpret This” pieces and so freely shared how she had done each piece. And she so graciously looked at some of my pieces-finished and unfinished, made helpful hints and was just a delight to learn from. She brought me a wonderful present- a piece made from her Lake piece. I was just about beside myself after a day of art and spending time with a new art friend.

Unfortunately, I lost my camera-500 pictures on my little Coolpix guy-birthday, quilt show and Artprize with Nellie. I didn’t realize it until last night when I went to download them. Left it on a counter I think in the last building we were in. These pictures were actually taken from one of my earlier trips. I haven’t quite figured out what I will do. My big guy is lost in the Nikon factory warranty repair abyss…..As soon as I solve my new pictureless problem-I will show you my new present.

The biggest treasure though was spending time with a new friend-met by another on the internet.

A day to be remembered. Thanks Nellie!

Back to sewing tomorrow. I did some painting on fabric today with acrylic paints for about an hour. 🙂 Too bad I can’t show you a picture.

Be creative, my friends!

The Quilt Show is Done

It took twenty months of planning. And this morning I can’t believe it’s over with. The intense physical work began last Tuesday when quilts were accepted, tagged and judged by two NQA judges, Lynne Erbach and Scott Murkin. I had never participated in this part of the show so, as a volunteer, was able to watch the judges critique each quilt.

It was a very formal process with white gloves and specific protocol to make sure each quilt was handled carefully and respectfully. I felt the judges were, for the most part, fair and the comments thoughtful and constructive as to where improvements could be made next time.

The set up process was amazing. The quilts, once judged, were moved along with all the supplies to a conference center.

Then the piping set up. Lots of hands were needed.

The quilts were hung and then enjoyed by many.

For the first time in twenty some years of quiltmaking, I entered three quilts. And, to my surprise received three ribbons!

1st place-art abstract

Honorable mention -art abstract

1st place-first time entry and this little guy is sold. It was a hard decision to let him go. But as my daughter said-“Isn’t that why you are doing all this, Mom?” A big wahoo! It will be delivered to it’s new owner. Along with a little chocolate to thank her and her co-chair for all their hard work.