A small start, a big breakthrough

“Originality is only variation.”

- Holbrook Jackson, Platitudes in the making: precepts and advices for gentlefolk

On the advice of my loyal blog followers, I've tackled that stack of fabric, setting aside the need for the results to match what vision I may be harboring for a background for a specific piece. That bit of blockage I was experiencing, that fear that sometimes sets in at the beginning of a new project, has all but disappeared. This has released me to take a more experimental and less controlling approach, and to add in some colors that in the end I don't think will be appropriate for the shadow grass concept.


However, appropriate or not, even with just this small bit of piecing, I'm really liking the results and getting excited. I'm using as my guide a method laid out in the December/January 2012 issue of Quilters Newsletter Magazine in an article by Pam Rocco. This may be the quickest I've followed up on something pulled from a magazine, possibly because it came at precisely the time I was considering this type of background and pondering how to start. So this is not a matter of copying Pam's rag rug quilt (which I really love, by the way) but taking advantage of her how-to's to create my own variation. Hopefully. This is not unlike the "therapy strips" I recently saw on Sherrie Loves Color and I have to admit, cutting strips without a ruler and sitting at the machine piecing without the need for precision did feel therapeutic. Where this method varies I think is in the insertion of strips that combine two or three different fabrics. This was not something I'd considered when thinking about a strip-pieced background. I like the subtle variety and movement it is lending.

One of the things I've always disliked about this sort of free-form piecing is the way it soon gets out of whack. I know, this doesn't bother everyone, but it often bothers me. Pam not only admits to this inevitability of the process but provides a way to get the piece back on track without losing the great gentle curves. Between every set of 10 strips (which are cut 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide and about 22 inches long), she has you add what she calls a transition strip, one where you actually cut a curve that matches the curve you will be adding the strip to - thus inserting a strip stabilizing on-grain strip. Brilliant - it can be seen at the bottom of my stripset, and another one will be added at the top. I think I have about 3 more of these sets to piece to get the length I need - oh, providing I actually need it to be the original 16 x 20 I was shooting for. Stay tuned.

Never Too Late

I was away over the weekend - traveling by train to visit my good friend Judi for the occasion of her mother's Celebration of Life service. I stayed at my usual motel in one of its "partial view" rooms overlooking the Columbia River - this is the "partial" view from my room which I think is quite something. And yes, there's a bit of snow on the top of the Gorge.


Kind of hard to see but also within my view were several gnarly and twisted trees like this one - always inspiration for me.


As for the never too late bit, Judi presented me with these lovely batiks she'd gotten me for my birthday...and Christmas...and because of how much more of one of them there was, I said next birthday too! My birthday was back in August and she had planned to bring it up to me when she joined Sherrie and me in Gig Harbor - except she was too sick to come. It didn't make it at Christmas either as her mother got ill at that time. So what if I had to wait til February and go pick it up myself! And cut it, as she got enough to split between the two of us.

See the card with the beautiful aspens/birches? It too is a never too late, patience is a virtue thing even more so than the fabric. It is a card she spotted while on a trip, buying it to send because of my fixation on birches, half written on telling me about missed flights and killing time in airports but never finished and mailed. When was this trip? July 2006. I love you Judi, and I'm so glad you never threw it out, that it surfaced again and you weren't too embarrassed to present it along with the belated gifts. You're such a great friend!

Desperately Seeking Inspiration

Or perhaps it's not so much seeking inspiration as solutions for inspiration. This isn't where I started the day but it is where I ended - that vision gap thing getting in the way again. I'm thinking I want to piece a background in horizontal strips - probably curved strips - to be the background for photo manipulations. I printed out the lot on paper today at about the size I thought would work in my planned 16 x 20 inch format. This is the idea that started to come together as I chose discounted floater frames. Anyway, the photos are of the shadows wild grass cast against a paved street. I'll probably print them out on cotton sateen, and my mind said a basically black background would work well. So here I am with all the black fabric in my stash that appears to work together without overpowering the photo images, and I'm just not sure. Have thrown in a couple with a bit of color and guess that the only thing for it is to start cutting and sewing together strips.


I actually started at the computer today, after taking another look at the discharge piece and curious to know what you all thought from yesterday's post. I was supposed to be looking at reference pictures for the thread-painted purple seedheads idea and to work out a sketch or two in preparation for stitching - I'm hoping to have it all done by the end of the month. But I find myself a bit intimidated by it - the pictures show a different orientation than I remembered and thought I'd use, so dithering has begun. I switched to the other idea I'm really more keen on pursuing - a second Palouse Hills with a spring theme. I meant to sketch out main lines from my reference pictures, but the lure of Paint Shop Pro manipulations won out. I printed out 4 or 5 different views, not saving the changes to a file. The one above is just a cool manipulation I stumbled upon of the reference photo I think I'll use. Not sure how I would use this manipulation though.


This is the original photo except I've lightened it and bumped up the contrast. I'm really keen to work with the bright greens I remember from a spring drive through that area.

Ok, it's true that all these things I did today were on my goals list, but it still felt like I hadn't spent any "studio" time and was just avoiding dealing with the wire on the discharge piece. So after lunch I made myself face it. I fiddled a little with the crimp tube but unfortunately, I don't have a crimp tool small enough to work with these. As I studied the knots already tied, I decided they were holding pretty well and opted for a fix that I'd read in Quilting Arts - just apply tape over the wire to hold it in place. I had to change the end point on the 4 corners so that they matched the rest of the wire "x's", retied those knots, then used linen tape to tape over all the knots. I cinched up the rest of the wire I'd woven in and out and around, placing tape over places where it changed direction and wasn't holding the snugging up well. I've pinned it up on the design wall for more pondering. I do think it's destined to be mounted on mat board and framed. The white showing through the middle looks very odd.

Then I circled, and circled, and circled the studio, because dang it, I still had a couple of hours before I could justify stopping. I put away no longer needed items from the work table. I watched my mind scatter to one thing after another that I COULD think about working on. I pondered how to render the spring furrows and whether I could paint swaths of green on the silk fabric I'd used in the fall version. Or could I get that green just with thread? I really have the urge to sit at my machine and piece, and besides the shadow grass piece, I'm thinking about using that same horizontal strip pieced background behind a couple more of those stamped leaves on hand dyed fabric charms. But in staring at them, I moved one onto what's left of that silk fabric wondering if it could be a background instead. No, the pieced background would be better. All these ideas require pulling fabric from the stash and I just don't feel I have a good enough sense of where I'm going with all this to start that process. Except for the shadow grass, or so I thought. And then I remember that sketching of the purple seedheads - maybe that would have been easier than what I ended up doing! Sheesh - so much for confidence and focus!

I think some of this indecision is brought on by an impending trip this weekend. It's splitting my concentration, and even though I have little to do to prepare for the trip, I'm having a heck of a time not letting my mind wander to ridiculous worries about it.

Conflicted

You haven't heard more about progress on this because frankly, I spooked myself with all this wiring and crimping I've not done before. Rather than taking those crimps and securing the wire, I ran for the relative safety of my hand quilting over the weekend. Today I mustered the courage to look at it again and consider my options.


It wasn't just the crimping making me nervous though. In my mind, running the wire beyond the suspended metal plate as if those discharged areas were being suspended too would be a cool tie-in. But without even finishing this embellished effect, I started having second thoughts. Was it too much of a good thing? Would it take away from the discharged areas, draw the eye in a way I hadn't intended? Only one way to know, so today I finished threading the wire over and under and I still can't decide if it adds or detracts. As with all metallics, it's difficult to get a good representation in a photo - the wire here does not read as bronze as it is in real life, but still, what do you think?

Also considering whether it needs to be mounted on something or if it will look ok with whatever wall color showing through the middle. I'd considered tacking it to black mat board and placing it in a metal frame (perhaps dark bronze). Yeah, this is making me insecure and so I'm questioning everything. Second opinions more than welcome.

Unfamiliar Territory

I'm doing things I don't ever do on this quilt. Let's start with the edge finish. I'm Miss Neat and Tidy, using either a traditional binding or a pillowturn (knife-edge) finish or pop it in a picture frame. On pieces that I attach to a mount, I may cover the raw edges with decorative threads or yarns. With the exception of fabric postcards, I would NEVER just satin stitch the edge of a quilt. Well, never say never, because that's exactly the kind of edge finish this quilt cries out for. You may click on the picture for a larger view, but I think you can see that I first ran a line of straight stitch where the outside of the quilt would fall (it is about 13" square). Then I ran a narrow zigzag stitch just to the outside of that line before trimming off the excess. I reset my machine for a satin stitch and made sure the swing was wide enough to encase the black perle cotton (#3 I think) lying next to the edge.


I know lots of people use perle cotton when they satin stitch the edge of small art quilts, but I had never had good luck with it. I would place it on top of the quilt, not alongside the edge - this is what I understood various directions to have me do and it always left a ridge under the stitching. Now I'm thinking I was wrong all along, and that this is what I was to do. The reason I did this should be obvious from the picture. Black fabric, black batting, but I had stabilized the quilt by adding a layer of white Decor Bond. Past experience told me that even with two rounds of satin stitching, I could count on that white peeking through the edge somewhere. On the left is the satin stitching with the perle cotton along the edge - I only had to do one round!


And now time to dive into truly unfamiliar territory (and answer the questions about cutting out the center of the quilt). Remember that metal plate I picked up off the side of the road - the one that became the template for my discharge design? Well, the whole idea was to suspend it in the middle of the quilt, and I've been thinking long and hard about how I would do that (and it is the reason for the extra stabilization of the quilt). I was poking around my local Ben Franklin looking for something to use to attach it to the quilt - thinking maybe leather laces or wire. I picked up three different metal wires from the beading department and settled on this Beadalon wire because it had that rusted look of the plate. Initially I thought that whatever I used would have to be threaded through metal eyelets I'd have to figure out how to insert, but the wire is thin enough that all I had to do was use a large needle to pierce through the quilt which made a hole large enough for the wire that would naturally close up around it. Just hoping it is heavy enough to withstand the weight of the plate.


I've done a lot of fiddling with this, and finally decided I really should have done just a bit more research. I assumed that the Beadalon wire could be twisted together like a twist tie, but it cannot. I thought I could tie a knot in it, but not really. Because it is multiple wire strands that are coated with nylon. The wire is flexible but tends to return to square one. Knots can't be cinched down and slip as well. I spent a lot of time looking through back issues of Quilting Arts for answers (there's a good series about using metal on quilts but little to solve my problem). I was about to ask if any of you had experience with this product and could advise on how to secure it when it occurred to me I might get answers on Beadalon's website. Yes indeed - all is now clear (including learning about that nylon coating), and I determined I needed some crimp tubes to properly secure the wire ends on the back side of the quilt. Back to Ben Franklin today and hopefully these little bits will solve my problem.

No turning back now...

"In order to arrive at a personal style, you have to have a technique to begin with. In other words, when I say that style is a special case of technique, you have to have the technique — you have to have a place to make the choices from. If you don't have a basis on which to make the choice, then you don't have a style at all. You have a series of accidents."

- Phillip Glass, interviewed by his cousin, Ira Glass

February Goals - More of the Same

It didn't take me long to set out my goals for February (which left me plenty of time to play with paper hearts this afternoon). Much of what was on tap for January still needs tending to, but that is not to say I didn't reach my goals, they merely took a different track than expected. I was only to make a start on the found pin piece and the Palouse Hills piece. Instead, they got finished rather than the two on the list that I thought I would finish. An equitable trade in my estimation. As for those things remaining, I actually feel I made some progress on them, though most of that was pondering solutions that I have yet to act upon. Ideas are coming together on the abstract willow design and clarity dawned on how to proceed with the 3 x 3 discharge piece. Again, I think at least partial goals met and I feel ready to dive into those projects with confidence.

1. Finish 3 x 3 discharge: additional quilting, cut-out and suspension of metal plate, embellish with wire.
2. Threadpaint purple seedhead grasses, mount and frame.
3. Print samples of grass shadows manipulations and develop design, possibly piece background.
4. Continue development of abstract willow design: sketch formats and possibly make sample block(s)
5. Baste for quilting 2 African batiks (may be companion pieces for "Masks")
6. Continue hand quilting on "Masks"
   

A side note: in reviewing my brainstormed list of potential quilt designs for the upcoming exhibits, to see what I could check off, I noticed the Palouse quilt referred to as something different from what I ended up calling it in the last post. I definitely was drawing a blank on what I thought I'd call it, but didn't realize I had the name written down anywhere. I'd planned to call it "Fall Furrows" and make a companion piece called "Spring Greens." What do you think? It's not too late to change the name as I've not labeled the quilt yet.

Palouse Hills: Ready for Winter

"Palouse Hills: Ready For Winter"
13" x 16" Art Quilt
Sheila Mahanke Barnes 2012

My mental attitude truly has shifted, to my relief. All I remember from last year is dread and resistance to things I knew I must do but didn't want to tackle, constantly looking for a way out and wasting plenty of time trying to avoid the inevitable. I still have those moments of - I wish I could find an easy magical way - but they are shorter in duration. Some things are inevitable, no easy way out, so just get to it. That being the case, there wasn't much more thinking that needed to be done about adding the braid to the outside of this quilt. Another look today and I was sure it was what it needed to make me comfortable with it. And just one way to get it on. Actually, it wasn't that much different from applying it along the quilted section and though slow going, it wasn't difficult or troublesome. It's on and I like it. There's still something about it that doesn't feel quite right - I suspect it's partly the odd dimensions. I want to do more on this theme, and hopefully, the design will improve as I go along. Click on the picture for a larger view.


I have to admit that I did fall prey to trying something I've contemplated as a quick magic solution but not dared to do. I don't enjoy sewing on sleeves (may be one reason why I was so compelled to just put this in a frame), and I enjoy it even less on the back of these mounts which have the heavy stabilizer fused on and no batting in between. You have to be more careful than normal to make sure you don't stitch all the way through to the front, and the stiffness makes it difficult to hold and manipulate. So in order to truly finish it today, I used Steam a Seam and fused the sleeve to the back. I'll have to keep my eye on it but I'm hoping that the quilt will be light enough that the sleeve won't pull loose. If it does, it should be easier to tack it in place - pinning into the mount is also a pain. Maybe I'll just put in a few tacking stitches in strategic places to be sure.

I haven't allowed myself to set out my goals for February yet. Too focused on finishing this first and then I can regroup. I'm counting this towards my two quilts for January and it will probably be one that I submit with my application for ArtWalk.

Almost there...

"There’s an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you just have to stop, and start writing. When I began, I thought that the way one should work was to do all the research and then write the book. In time I began to understand that it’s when you start writing that you really find out what you don’t know and need to know.”

- David McCullough

I am oh so close to having this done. But in my usual fashion, I have been dithering over several things, one being how to attach that braid to the edge of the quilted section once it was centered over its mount. Worry worry, think think think, stare and try to envision, the equivalent of researching to death. And then today I knew it was fear (of it not lying perfectly along the edge and of the edge of the quilt stretching) and that I must lose the fear and dive in. What's the worse that could happen? It would be a disaster and I'd just take the stitching out and ponder a different solution.

A last minute decision as I sat down saved me from possible frustration and disaster I think. Better to stitch down the edge of the quilt before adding the decorative braid on top. That way I did not have to control two things at once. First pass tacked the quilt to the mount with invisible thread and a narrow zigzag stitch. Second pass used same thread but a wider zigzag over the braid which laid nicely along the edge with the help of the tip of my seam ripper to guide it. Slow slow slow stitching, one thing I love about my Viking - the control to take one stitch at a time.

But when I put it back up on the design wall, the braid did not read as dark as I had hoped, although it is a beautiful complement to colors in this quilt and a beautiful edge finish. Sometimes it doesn't take much to bring a little definition, so I tried something I've done many times, ran a line of straight stitch right next to the braid using a dark brown buttonhole weight silk thread. Perfect!

Now I am dithering about the outside edge of the mount. I think I should have made it a bit smaller, and a part of me wants to pop it into a metal frame to provide a binding-like final edge. But that braid looks nice too. However, I'm not sure how to get it sewn to the edge - yes, the same fears as before but needing a slightly different solution. I guess I won't know until I sit down and start...

The Fallacy of Unique

Look what showed up on my doorstep this snowy February day. So unexpected and so uplifting. Certainly not unique, this bouquet of tulips, but the timing and the arrangement makes them a bit distinctive.

I've struggled with this idea of being unique as I travel my creative journey. How often have we read that our work must be unique. "Unique" is sometimes used as a synonym for "voice" or even paired with it. It is presented as the opposite of derivative. It is what we as artists must aspire to. But really, isn't there a finite number of things truly unique? Does that make the art that does not fall into the strict definition of unique not worth bothering with?

As a member of a jurying committee, I've run into this again with one of the questions asked of our potential artist members, "What makes your art unique?" I found myself very uncomfortable with what that implied, and it wasn't until I was viewing some art being hung for the last ArtWalk that I stumbled upon what we are really looking for in an artist and his or her work. The paintings leaned up against the wall were not unique in any way, but they were distinctive. That distinctiveness is what would make me recognize her work again, pause again to ponder just what it was that made me stop for a second look. Finding your style and voice may be less about being unique (the one and only) than how you put your distinctive (singular or individual) spin on the subjects at hand. Like tulips in the dead of winter, is there something unexpected in your art?

Of course, I wondered if I was going down this path because of my own work, not unique by any means but hopefully distinctive in some way. Imagine my delight to run across a blog entry by Jane Dunnewold shortly thereafter about "Being Distinctive". It's worth reading, and a good reminder in this culture of technique classes and project magazines and blogs galore devoted to art quilting, it takes a bit of work to be distinctive. It's what we should strive for.

Palouse Progress

Last day of the month and I had hoped to have another quilt completed. However, I'm still fighting a bug which has slowed me down. Still, I am pretty close to having my Palouse hills piece done. I finally gave up on the hand quilting, and as machine quilting, my original thread choice (a Valdani hand-dyed thread) worked pretty well. But I could not eye-ball the contour lines to my satisfaction. As I threatened early on, I pinned my tracing paper pattern to the front and stitched along the penciled lines. Really takes the pressure off for me. Downside of course is the time it takes to remove all that paper.


And did I say I was going to put more stitch in my work this year? Yes I did and this piece has it! All those thread tails had to be pulled to the back and tied off though, a time consuming job but it simply would not look good doing the pull the bobbin thread to the top and take tiny stitches to lock. This is a slightly heavier thread for one thing and I've tried that method with it on another quilt - not a good look. Once that was done, I couched an Oliver Twist hand-dyed rayon braid along the outline of the hills.


Because I will be attaching this to a pre-made "mount" all those thread tails pulled to the back did not have to be buried, than goodness. I'd still probably be working on that! Rather than regular batting, I used a synthetic felt made from recycled pop bottles (which made me feel slightly better about not using a natural fiber). I was afraid that regular batting might beard through the weave of the silk. I thought I would get a little dimension, especially with the machine quilting, but the surface of the quilt is very flat. Not really an issue with this piece and its atypical fabric choice.

Today I carefully folded back the top so I could trim up the felt to square and trimmed the top fabric about half an inch larger. That extra was turned to the back and glue basted in place to create a clean edge finish. The mounting fabrics and decor bond that will stabilize them are cut, so with any luck, I can put the finishing touches on this piece tomorrow.

First Quilt of the Year

"Brilliance of the Night Sky"
Hand-beaded Art Quilt
8" x 10" framed
Sheila Mahanke Barnes 2012

Fever be damned, I was determined to finish beading this little quilt with the found pin yesterday. I ended up putting more on than originally planned but I am pleased with the results. Feeling better this afternoon and I couldn't resist getting it stretched over canvas and mounted in the floater frame. I guess running across blog after blog showing "my first finished quilt of the year" has had a motivational effect on me. It feels good to have another quilt from my list for exhibits done, and it amuses me that completing it was not one of my January goals. It apparently took the place of the discharge quilt, still waiting for its final touches.

This is hard to get a good picture of - don't know if you can tell I used two different bugle beads, the bright silver-lined kind and a gunmetal grey twisted one (click on the picture for a larger view). Each arc has a different configuration of beads. I like the center one the best - it looks the most art deco to me. I'm not sure I'm not sure I like the silver-faced floater frame as much as I'd anticipated, but it may grow on me. I think part of my problem is that it needs something other than a white wall behind it to be effective. The dark around the outside of the picture is not part of the frame, although I wish it was. I should have taken an angled shot so you could get a better idea - it's a deeper gallery frame than I've used before. It almost works like a shadow box since the canvas the quilt is mounted on is 3/4" and the frame is 1-1/2" deep - perfect since the pin and beads raise off the surface.

These frames come in a gold facing too but I don't think I'd buy them again. I only tried them because they were the only floater frames on deep discount. I think I paid less for these than the narrower plain black ones so it was a reasonable risk to take. But in the future, I think I'll stick to plain black.

Another troubled week

Emerging design.


Non-emerging design.


For all my optimism, it was another week of stumbles and restarts. The good news is, after another round of trial beading that was removed because it did not work, I think I have resolved the patterning in the arcs on the found pin piece and have only a few scattered seed beads to apply in the space between the arcs to be done. My floater frames arrived and as near as I can tell (barring more vision gaps), the silver-faced floater will be the perfect complement to this quilt. So near done I can taste it.

The bad news is, after trying several more thread choices, I have come to the conclusion that hand quilting simply will not give me the look I want on the Palouse piece. I should have reasoned that with the heavier weave of the silk fabric, hand stitches would have to be large and out of proportion on this small piece (but might work just fine on a larger version). The thread you see in the picture that looks so much like the doubled basting thread is a buttonhole weight silk thread. If it were variegated, I might be able to live with the big stitches, but it is definitely not the look I had in mind. I'll do a trial of my original variegated thread which may very well show up fine in machine stitching, and if that too is a failure, well, I'll just be reassessing my options again.

In the meantime, I've been laid up this weekend with some sort of a bug. Lots of sleep, lots of fluids, a bit more upright this afternoon. Taking it easy.

Bright Ideas vs Reality

The vision gap that kicked off last week continued no matter what I picked up to work on. Compared to the previous week when I felt I was making great progress, in week 2 most everything I tried had to be taken out, redone, and maybe that taken out too. I redrew my guidelines on the beaded piece, tried different spacings and colors of beads, unbeaded and rebeaded until it was time to set it aside for more thought. I happily switched to the idea from the Palouse sketch which I didn't think should pose any problems - I even had the thread picked out. I basted the main lines as you can see in the above picture, quilted two lines of quilting and pulled them out. The thread simply disappeared on that heavy-weave silk, even though it was heavier than traditional quilting thread. It took some clever mind games to keep me from feeling defeated and convincing myself I'd wasted the week. But in truth, I think I've hit upon a plan that will work for the beading (after three tries) that is better than my original idea.. And I've picked out a new set of threads in a darker color that I think will work on the Palouse piece. I think I've learned a lot through this process, things I would not have learned if not forced to assess and reassess. The week begins with optimism (fingers crossed).

This gap between what the mind sees and how that plays out in the real world is not unlike the gap that often exists between the goals and resolutions we set and what we actually accomplish, I've decided. The notebook where I jot down my monthly goals has other things recorded throughout it, including a list of quilt ideas a page and a half long. I think that list was made before I moved to Idaho which would make it about 6 years old. Yes, I've completed some of the quilts on it, and others are in process so have a chance of being finished some day. But I fear for the rest, quilts I still think I want to make, ideas I still want to pursue, but the problem is, new ideas don't just stop materializing because I've started a list. It's a handy thing to have around though, for those rare times between projects when I'm wondering what I should work on next. The reality may be, though, that I will never get to them all, mostly because the newer ideas intrigue more and are fresh in my mind.

Also in the back of this notebook is a list of "book recommendations" which I see includes some dvd titles as well. I've even paperclipped reviews cut from magazines to this page. Frankly, I'd forgotten it was there, and while some of the titles still intrigue, I've changed my mind about the need for some of them, even on a lending basis. My book shelves have no room for more books & I have quite a few purchases from the last couple of years still waiting for me to read through them. I think I would be better off saving my money for thread & batting & frames. The gap between books I thought I needed and what I actually need to add to my collection is pretty big.

Finally, I was very surprised to come across my Goals/Resolutions for 2007. This would have been just a few months after I made the big move to Idaho which also signaled my big move to focusing on art quilting. I guess then, I shouldn't be surprised that this list takes up an entire page. It includes everything from "process & organize new fabric" and "finish putting up design wall fabric", to "contact local art quilters/art organizations, follow-up and GET INVOLVED" and "have studio open house". As I scan the list, I can see it is very focused on ways to become more professional with my art quilting - making contacts, identifying juried shows, beefing up blog content, revamping my documentation filing system. Only a couple of items refer to the actual making of art: This was the year I made monthly journals quilts with friend Judi & that shows up near the top of the list. There are references to upping my hours spent creating and how to schedule that, and an admonition to continue exploration of surface design techniques.

The check marks tell me I didn't do too well reaching those goals in 2007. I didn't actually do much with the "contact local art people" until 2008 (and a note in the margin indicates that was only somewhat accomplished). Many things are still waiting for me to complete (and I just may someday), while others, like the identifying juried shows to enter aren't on my radar anymore. Yes, my vision that year certainly exceeded reality. Yet look at what has happened with that GETTING INVOLVED goal. Several years down the road, I started exhibiting more frequently with the local arts council, and eventually was invited to join the visual arts committee at a time that was much better than if it had happened in 2007.

Wasted effort then, these lists and goals and resolutions we make? I don't think so. There's something about getting an idea out of your head and into this visible reality that is useful, even if it is off. Just like my beading, or my quilting that I thought was set and ready to go, these lofty thoughts once written out and considered can be revised and reworked and much learned during that process. New connections can be made leading to a better set of goals, a process that may not happen while the thoughts are just floating around in your head. And rather than remaining in the ether of our imaginations to be forgotten or blown out of proportion, here they are, a record of our thoughts to be revisited, smiled over, considered again, because these thoughts are where we thought we wanted to go and where we may still want to journey now that we are reminded. If not, realizing that helps clarify the direction we need to take, want to take. The trick, I suppose, is to remember to use lists and goals and resolutions as a tool, not to let them use and rule us.

Vision Gap

Ah, beading...you are so addictive. What starts out simple begins to build, more ideas, more beads... This is what I worked on today, thinking that as long as the 8 x 10 background was quilted, I could quickly add the beads I had in mind to enhance the pin and play out my idea. Alas, it is not taking shape as envisioned, not moving quickly either, and I fear the beads added today will be removed and redone tomorrow. I would despair if not for my beading mentor, Mary Stori, who also sometimes beads with optimism only to unbead and try something different. I think I've identified the problem and there's not too much to undo. In the picture above, I've set out the beads I bought for the project, shoving them around in approximation of how they will be positioned - too closely it has turned out. I've marked some guidelines with the white Clover pen that disappears with either dry heat or steam. I may be redrawing them as well.


I'm still operating a bit disjointedly, but when I get an uncontrollable urge after so many months of no uncontrollable urges, I feel I must act. Since the beading needed to stop while I pondered what was going on with it, and there was still time to fill, I took the first steps on my Palouse contours idea. I'd done a drawing from memory in my bigger sketchbook (above) and have been thinking of ways I could transfer the design for quilting. Remembering Mary Stori's trick of basting along the main lines to provide a guide for beading, I thought I could do the same for the quilting. So I spent some time with tracing paper over the sketchbook page to transfer the design. I'll scan it into the computer for future reference (I'm thinking I may want to play with it in a larger size), then pin it to the back to do the basting. All along I've intended this to be a hand quilted piece, but I may change my mind and machine quilt from the back. Yes, I can see I may need to do some samples.

Direction

Today was pretty grey but yesterday the sun made a stunning appearance, lighting up the willows I can see from the front porch with a shimmer I couldn't explain. Beautiful, unexpected, difficult to capture. A lot of life is like that.

With all my mutterings over the last few posts, I haven't talked much about artistic direction, although I hinted that I thought I might see a common thread amongst the quilts I want to work on this year. That common thread is thread, and mostly applied by hand. I find that interesting, primarily because I love hand quilting and other hand stitching, but often deny myself the pleasure because of time constraints. Here I am, definitely dealing with time constraints, and all my thoughts lead to projects requiring the slowness of hand work. It makes me smile.


At the beginning of last year, I was doing very minimalist work with very little stitch of any kind. I'd closed in on myself and it was all I could do. With only a few exceptions, I couldn't muster the energy or patience for much handwork, was unconvinced of my ability to do good machine work. As the year progressed, I sensed I needed to start working larger and put more quilting in my work but it was slow in coming. That need for expansion and complexity was confirmed as I viewed the quilts at the APWQ show in Tacoma back in August, and mirrored the personal expansion I was feeling in my life. As I stood before one incredible quilt after another, I knew that was where I wanted to go with my work, a return to a type of expression that would be more demanding but also more rewarding. A few tentative steps have been taken, and now that I have begun the hand quilting on Masks, I feel myself getting comfortable again, setting doubts and nay-saying aside. Yes, my direction this year is definitely toward more stitch, and I'm hoping to up the size too. Some of my ideas definitely need to find expression in a larger format.


I've also realized that I want to create some art that will surprise those that have gotten comfortable with my nature-themed art quilts. Masks will be one of them, I think, the discharge piece another. I've always had the odd quilt that has caused those who know my work to doubt it really came from me. But those ideas are in there too, with the leaves and the birches and the mountain landscapes. They perhaps challenge me most of all and are the most rewarding...when they work.

I'm counting on my resolution phrase, "balance and harmony", to help guide me in these old but neglected directions.

Settle down - or not

My last post talked about the scattered feeling I had as I assessed my progress toward the upcoming exhibits. I've thought a bit more about that, knowing that part of the scattering is just the way I work. I try my best to focus on one idea and project at a time. But as I work, other ideas and variations and possibilities suddenly flood my mind and before I know it, I'm off on another tangent. Yesterday was a darn good example. I'm stuck a bit on the 3 x 3 discharge piece (Fading & Forgotten may be its new title), unsure how to proceed with quilting around the outside. It is slated for an exhibit with a "found object" theme. But long before I picked up that metal plate from the side of the road, I'd picked up the costume jewelry pin above, also from the side of a road. I've had the idea for using it in a quilt since I held it in my hand 7 years ago. I would love to have it done too for this exhibit, but if I don't, it can be in a different one later.

But out it has come because it occurred to me that the quilting motif I'm contemplating for the discharge piece would make a great quilting motif for the pin to rest on - something I had not resolved in my contemplation of its design. Since the background is the same fabric as in the discharge piece, maybe I could get a better idea how this garnet stitch might look without actually doing it on the other piece. I have spent several happy hours stitching round and round and marveling as the texture emerged.


But wouldn't you know it, this exercise presented an option to use in the future that never would have occurred to me either. Since I will be wrapping the finished pin quilt over canvas to mount in a floater frame, I decided I did not need a layer of backing under the batting. That's Hobb's 80/20 black batting (on the right), and when I'd done a bit of quilting and flipped it over, I was quite taken with the look and feel of the batting so heavily quilted. Sigh...see? there's no end to the ideas that present themselves and I need to be a better manager of my time if I'm to get to even a small percentage of them!

So creative idea generation that sends me off in different directions aside, I've targeted why it has become more of an issue at the moment. This is perhaps the first time that I have had so many exhibits all converging at approximately the same time. They are all sponsored by my local arts council, and all are giving opportunity to get going on quilts that have been in the planning stage for a long time. Not all are themed, but of the ones that are, I am not trying to come up with an idea to fit the theme, the theme is conveniently fitting an idea I already have. And I have long used themed exhibits just that way - I seem to need that deadline or excuse to bring an idea to fruition. If this causes me to jump from one type of design to another, it doesn't usually pose a problem when exhibiting opportunities come one at a time months apart. I work on one or two quilts, hang them in the show, take a little breather, then start on the next. Fresh start, fresh direction perhaps.

I went into this round knowing I wanted to be involved in all of them, but also knowing if I didn't get something made for one or two of them, it would be ok. ArtWalk is my main focus, a place where I feel I can shine and show off my latest direction. Now that I have taken a more reasoned look at my original (and I'll admit a bit panicked) plan, my direction is becoming more clear. I can do this, and enjoy the process, explore away but know when to rein that in as well. Frankly, it feels good to be working like this, and bit by bit, I see common threads, how some may work together, how things may shuffle, what needs to be set aside for another time. The important thing is, I'm working - with enthusiasm.

Brainstorming for 2012

I have not been able to coalesce my thoughts as to where I want to go with my art this year and other aspects of my life. Instead, I've been leaving bits and pieces of ideas and perhaps longings all around the internet on other sites. My focus for months has been these up-coming exhibits and it's difficult to think beyond that. As day 3 of the new year arrived, and I continued to run across my favorite bloggers lining out their goals for the year, I knew I needed to sit quietly in the studio, sketchbooks and notebook at hand, and organize my thoughts a bit better, scoping out not only "the plan" for this month, but the peripherals that also must be addressed in the next three months.

Earlier in the day, I'd checked out the sale on aswexpress.com and discovered they had some of the floater frames I fell in love with on deep reduction. I was sitting at the library using its high speed connection so couldn't do my usual check and ponder here at home. I decided to make a few quick decisions, casting about in my memory to recall what designs I have pending that would look good in these frames, and then what sizes I might need. It forced me into decisions I otherwise might have put off until too late to take advantage of these prices, but it did something else too that surprised me. It made me pick a size for a quilt idea barely fleshed out, and by doing so, I suddenly felt I could confidently move forward with the idea. That's pretty much backwards to how I usually work but by doing so I felt it propel the idea forward. That's when I knew it was time to gather my thoughts, brainstorm a bit and clarify my direction.

What I found was that each of the exhibits are so different that the quilts for them are scattering my focus. No wonder I feel like I'm jumping from one thing to another, no continuity in what I'm doing. I don't think that is totally bad, but it is, I realized, keeping me from pursuing several ideas that exploded in my head as options for a series. I'm not sure I can do anything about that at this point, but it is a reminder how quickly I can become distracted from exploring an idea and really developing it.

I became the most concerned about my ArtWalk exhibit. I only need two pieces done and photographed by April to submit with the application, but need additional pieces to display by the opening at the end of June. I'm planning on Masks to be the centerpiece of my exhibit and suddenly questioned whether the quilts I'd jotted down as possible ArtWalk ones, especially the ones for the application, work with that quilt. During my time exhibiting with POAC, I've learned the value of a cohesive grouping, works that follow a theme however loosely. I need to give this more thought in order to set my priorities over the next few months.

So instead of getting any actual sewing done yesterday as I had planned, I worked on a plan, keeping in mind my resolution phrase of balance and harmony. I'll be needing both as I work towards these exhibits and keep on top of the rest of the daily activities. I did better than I thought I would addressing the goals on my December list. It has given me courage to come up with a list for January equally as ambitious:

1. Finish quilting the 3 x 3 discharge piece. Resolve cutout/suspension detail.
2. Quilt background for found jewelry piece (as tryout for motif to complete above quilting.
3. Stitch/threadpaint purple seedheads.
4. Consider companion pieces for Masks.
5. Sketch and/or mark quilting pattern for Palouse on silk over felt.
6. Continue developing abstract willow. Test runs on pieced background?
7. Continue hand quilting on Masks.
   

A New Year

Gotta tell ya, seeing this movie in the theater today was a great start to the year! Kinda made up for the fact that The Rose Parade, which I faithfully watch each New Year's morning snuggled under a quilt and sipping champagne-spiked orange juice, is postponed until tomorrow. I always forget they do that when the New Year kicks off on a Sunday. I haven't done much else today, except lose myself in a new novel and sit down with my calendars to transfer birthdays/anniversaries and note any meetings and appointments already clamoring for my attention in the days to come. As always, I also use this exercise as a chance to review what transpired during the year - trips I took, visits from friends, exhibit openings, dental traumas. For the most part, the memories are excellent.

As I've been reading others' blogs, I was reminded that I now do the resolution word to keep me on track throughout the year. Geez, I realized I couldn't remember what I'd picked for this year and had to look it up. Oh, yes: refocus, because in 2010 my word was "focus" and I'd gotten totally derailed by medical issues, anger and resentment (see this post which manages to put a positive spin on 2010 anyway). I'd gone into survival mode and not only struggled with my art, but struggled with relationships, essentially shutting myself off and throwing up defenses. But before the year was over, I knew I couldn't keep living like that, didn't want to keep living like that. So in addition to refocusing in 2011, I soon added a second resolution word: engage. The only way out of my hole, I realized, was to engage with life again, and not let opportunities slip through my fingers out of fear, laziness, inattentiveness or the other myriad ways we allow life to pass us by. Engage I did, and what a difference taking on that word made. Slowly but surely, I started taking risks, opened myself to others, tested various waters, healed both physically and emotionally, and began to reap the benefits of that openness in the response of others. So many wonderful experiences came my way in 2011 and as the year came to a close, I could see how far I'd come from where I started at the beginning of the year. It was months of hard work, actually, realizing just how much I'd lost myself that bad year, and lost my passion for quilting, what a mighty struggle it was not only to reclaim either but even remember what either had been like. But eventually, I got my feet under me once more, partly due to the engaging with life again, and the people I engaged with that helped me along the way. Not sure the passion has come back totally, but at least by the close of the year I again felt enthusiasm for my work. Throughout the year, few more ancient projects got finished, a couple of "problem" quilts got fixed, a few old ideas finally made there way to the "let's get started on this" phase, and new ideas kept bubbling up.

So what to choose for this year's word? That took about 2 seconds to decide and is actually a pairing of words: balance & harmony. It was the focus of my last yoga class of 2011 and I immediately realized what a perfect emphasis that would be for my life right now. Who doesn't want harmony in their life, especially the internal kind and balance is always something I've struggled to maintain, being such an "all or nothing" person. Balance and harmony are also elements I struggled to attain in my designing. So balance & harmony it is!

Happy New Year to you all, and may you too find balance and harmony in 2012.

New Year's Eve

Here it is the last day of the year, and I am still in a cheerful mood. The year is going out on a high of sorts, at least my mood is high. The sun made an appearance, weak through the thin clouds but sun all the same, brightening all rooms of the house. Thank goodness for lists, by the way. In the aftermath of the mostly pleasant distractions of the holiday, I could not think beyond one thing what it was I wanted to address as December's contribution to "the plan". I unearthed the list and...oh my. Quite a bit and not many days left. It was a happy discovery though, as "continue quilting on Masks" was one of the items, and I had not touched it all month. I picked it up as I watched a little tv this morning and it was like a treat.


Later, I continued yesterday's work on the 3 x 3 discharge piece (really gotta come up with a better name for it). Still puzzling how to flatten the circle centers (didn't like either attempt yesterday) and what else to do around the outside.


I've also returned to a thought which followed the making of Willow. I thought I'd done at least one sketch of a possible layout but couldn't find it. This is frustrating me a lot because the idea was very clear in my head, but I can't seem to make it happen on paper. I ran across something yesterday which gave me an idea for a border and did a rough sketch. Today, the thinking is progressing, curves coming to mind, and I spent a little time paging through a book for ideas.


I'm needing to get creative because of a shortage of fabric. When I got the fabric out that had sparked the idea, I instantly remembered why I'd set it aside for so long. That blue on the left is what I want as background for rectangles of the leaf batiks. But it is only 9 inches wide and not the full width of the cut anymore. The other fabrics are a few I pulled which are similar but not as perfect, and equally small in quantity. I'm trying to think of a way I might piece a background, and that is what led me to the thought of curves. Part of me mourns the inability to capture and execute the original idea, another part of me thinks that inability is leading to a more interesting design. So much for what I thought might be a quick quilt to throw together. But I like that my mind is working again, not blocked for solutions as it has been much of the year. All in all, it's been a delightful day.

So this is a different ending to the year than I often have. No rush to get the last stitches in something to say I finished it in 2011. No feeling of disappointment or failure because I did not do everything I thought to do. No "the year can't end soon enough" nor a "I don't want to see it go" - the year had its ups and downs but overall it was a good one, with lots of growth and healing, and ending in pleasant peace. I can't help but think the new year will only build on this, a slow and steady progression to more good things so I face it without qualms. I hope you are feeling the same sense of satisfaction and hope.

Can't wait to crack open the champagne and toast the New Year!