Monthly Archives: February 2011

The Questions Asked

     I forgot to tell you about the questions my friend Mike asked me when he bought my quilt. ( Ah yes the one in process…) Mike was my husband’s roommate in college and is now an architect. He and I bartered services a few years ago and he designed my studio space and I made him a quilt. He wanted it hand quilted and it took me months…but he has enjoyed it. I find it interesting that someone who deals in hard materials-architectural materials-enjoys textiles so much. Intriguing.

     With his recent quilt, he walked into my studio and liked the quilt on my design wall. Right away he said it was his. I was really surprised but happy. (In the back of my mind, I was thinking he is just being kind and just wants to help me out. )  I asked him why and he had very specific answers-the colors but mostly the abstract grid pattern. He, in turn, asked me about the process. Those questions are easy to answer. But then he asked me the following questions-

1. What was my inspiration for this piece?
2. What was the inspiration for the design?
3. Where was I trained?
4. What are you doing with all this/ Where do I see myself two years from now?
5. What if someone sees this quilt-am I prepared to do it for someone else?
6. Do I have a portfolio?
7. How many other people are doing art quilts in this area?

     Well, those are the questions, aren’t they?

     I have been thinking of them. More than enough. I am just in process right now. I just need to make more pieces to know or catch a glimpse of some of the answers. That was my answer. I am just at the beginning of the path.

    A great friend asking me great questions. Very few people know what to do or how to respond to what I am doing.

    Go over to Jane Dunnewold’s  blog, Existential Neighborhood today. What a succinct post.

    Off to take sick child to the doctor and hopefully get some quilting time in today. Marc went skiing in Vermont with his old East Coast friends.

    Be creative, my friends.

  

Working and working

     Well everyone was home on Wednesday-snowed in. My husband eventually made it to work for two hours but no phones working there. So, he came home to plow for a few more hours. 18 inches of snow is a lot of snow to remove even if you are using a snowblower.

15 minute class exercises
texture exercise

     But as they came and went from my studio, they asked questions.  What are you working on? What will you do next? How do you decide on thread? But at the end of the day, they said :”It takes a long time to do what  you do.” And that was in between making a big breakfast, doing wash(5 loads) and then making chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate. And it was a slow relaxing day.

    They truly thought that I am waltzing around the house with little to do and this is a cute little game for me. I don’t know if anyone thought that I actually do sew for many hours a day. Yes, what I do or am able to do is a huge privilege. But I am working at it for many hours at a time. And they finally saw what I do. On a daily basis. Maybe I do “work” while they are gone :).

     I am  about 35-45 percent done with the quilting on my “sold” quilt. It’s the point where you are beginning to feel progress. You feel guilty working on anything else because you know need to get it done. But it’s the really hard part where you need to push yourself through….really dense quilting. And I am  working hard on my two classes. Really hard.

     Just shoot mama now and put her out of her misery.

     Naw- I am having fun.

Natasha-the rest of the story tomorrow…. I just saw your comment!

    Be creative, my friends!

That’s A Lot Of Snow!!!

     I don’t think we are going anywhere today. I think we have had about 14 inches…or more last night. It’s the drifting that is so bad and it is really snowing hard yet. They have called from my husband’s office and said no one can get down the street. So he is snowblowing. Good grief- to this day I can’t believe he likes doing this. A plow service is needed this time.  I hope he is ok out there so have sent my son to do the porches. The dogs don’t know what to do as it is way over their heads.
   

     Well, since I didn’t have a machine yesterday, I figured it would be a good day to get started on my two classes. I was brave and opened the paints. Didn’t really feel right to start with but then the color just took me away-as usual. So beautiful. I have no idea whether I did this right ( the right strength on the paper) but that wasn’t the point. Just mixing different primaries and then I need to cut them out and chart them. And the information in the book she recommended-even more beautiful . I also started on a color journal cutting and pasting colors I enjoyed.

     I worked on some small projects for my other class. It took me awhile to realize they didn’t need to be perfect compositions. They were truly meant to be 30 minute exercises-studies. It felt good to just play for the sake of play and learning. I hadn’t used commercial fabrics in a long time either. I loved just looking to see what I had. From what I can see so far, both are excellent teachers and have  great written material and lessons.

    I scurried around yesterday getting ready for the blizzard. We haven’t had but one snow day so the kids and I are ready to play. And then, they called to say one of my machines was fixed!!!! I am snowed in and I have a machine. Let’s hope it really works.

    Stay warm today. Be creative, my friends!