Another Gratitude Journal

I put the finishing touches on this gratitude journal and got it into the hands of a friend last week so now I can share it with you. I'd shown you here how I backed the gift wrap for the pockets and covers by using Cling Wrap between the gift wrap and rice paper backing and a hot iron. The Cling Wrap melts a bit to stick the two layers together, but when I trimmed up a smaller piece where cling wrap and rice paper extended past the gift wrap, I discovered that the Cling wrap peels right off the paper. Sooo, not a permanent solution at all, but I think it will hold well enough in this application. If I back gift wrap again, I'll do so with something more permanent like fusible web, provided it doesn't cause any wrinkling.

I'd pulled this beautiful gift wrap from National Wildlife Federation along with the William Morris gift wrap, not sure which I would use on the first gratitude journal. William Morris won out and I couldn't part with the finished book. That's ok because I felt this NWF paper more suited to my friend. When looking for ribbon for the closure of my book, I found this yellow ribbon as well, which I decided was perfect for this second book. But my choice of waxed linen thread on hand was pretty dull next to this paper so I found this yellow orange online. It could have been a brighter yellow but I didn't see anything better anywhere I looked.

I made this reading through directions I'd printed out, only referencing the videos a few times. Got a little cocky when I sewed the back cover on when, in my haste, I kept reading "link stitch" as "kettle stitch" for some reason, probably because the kettle stitch was the stitch before. So I'm short a "chain" on that last row of stitches but otherwise, the cover is attached well.

Didn't really have gift paper for the end papers (didn't want to use more of the cover paper) and in scrounging around my small stash of papers, I came across this paste paper I received from Sylvia Weir after I'd commented on her blog post showing her experiments with making it. It sort of looks like wavy water which I decided fit with the pocket gift wrap.

I chose some scenes from old calendars for the signature wraps. Not intended but I realized they could be seen representing the 4 seasons so I arranged the signatures in order of spring to winter. This one would be summer. An inspirational quote printed on presentation paper is slipped into the pocket.

I glued this message on the title page so she would have no doubt what this book was for.

I painted borders on some of the pages like I did in my own journal. It's such a nice touch, especially when coordinated with a magazine page inserted between signature pages.

I also used washi tape again to create borders. The tape is so old it doesn't want to peel off the roll without tearing. But I remembered a trick to help remove masking tape without affecting the surface it is being pulled away from: warm it with a heat tool or hair dryer. It did the trick.

Some of the things I tried attaching didn't stick particularly well around the edges so I bordered them with washi tape to hold them in place.

I was doing my best to cover the back side of those calendar pictures - more washi tape holding a card in place and some stickers.

One last washi tape-bordered card. The book was very well received which I was sure it would be. But you never know, so I was more than pleased at my friend's response. She said what I included in the book was indeed inspirational and she was immediately planning what would go inside. So while she starts on her gratitude journal, I continue to add things to my own. So much to be grateful for, so many little things worth preserving in it.

Studio Organizing Kick Start

I did get the latest gratitude journal sewn together last week but got delayed in adding finishing touches because I had this coupon from my landlord for a free rug cleaning and it was due to expire by the end of the month. I'd opted not to use it in December (who wants the uproar of a rug cleaning during the holidays, except I understand many companies are swamped with requests as people ready for company and parties - not me), then our weather took that deep dive temperature wise this month, and I knew the cleaners would have to leave the front door partially open while they worked. So last week we finally started rising above zero and I figured I'd better call and get my rug cleaning scheduled. Honestly, I thought they might not have an opening before my coupon expired. Instead, they could come the next day (NO!) or the following day (Okay!) and the rush was on to get things up off the floor and a few pieces of furniture moved throughout the house. Finishing the gratitude journal would have to wait.

I nearly opted for them not to clean in my studio; it doesn't get the same amount of foot traffic as the rest of the house and as I've mentioned before, so many things end up piled on the floor for various reasons. My worktable was already covered, so where was I going to put all those things that needed picking up? I started by clearing things from the door back to where I have small tables for printer and laptop. Here's how it looked after removing bags and boxes from either side of this space.

Thank goodness this room has the adjoining bathroom where these things could be moved to, along with chairs and the laptop table.

Then there was the small stack of fat quarter handdyes and Stonehedge fabric I didn't want to fold so laid on the floor between worktable and storage cabinets along the outer wall. Also another stack of projects I'd laid out in the space behind where I sit at my main sewing machine with the idea that they would be handy to work on - I remember my logic in a past organizing scheme, but they just sat and started getting covered up by things from my bookmaking projects and other small bins I'd worked from and not returned to their place in the closet. Honestly, as I started picking through them, some seemed like ancient history and maybe not applicable anymore, plus I also found more hand-dyed fat quarters with no idea why they had ended up on the bottom of this stack. Where to quickly put all this to clear that space seen above for cleaning?

Here's where - on my ironing board. It already had things on it and I had no intention of folding it down. I decided they could work around it.

Well, kinda work around it. The cleaner immediately recognized that this room was a studio (his girlfriend makes upcycled art for sale) and said he'd be very careful going around all that was still under the worktable as well as this pile in front of the closet doors. I have two long skinny baskets of fat quarters that always sit there and I just piled the other bags and stacks on top of them. Turns out he decided to move the ironing board but did so without a thing out of place.

I have to say, all that lifting, pulling, shoving and bending over picking up things left me with sore arm muscles, stiff back of legs and a general achyness all over which took several days to recover from but to my surprise, absolutely no back pain! I guess I've arrived at a new level of post surgery healing and it is great to know. The rest of the house is put back in order, a few organizing things attended to along the way, but I'm not looking forward to figuring out how to organize the mess of my studio, although a few things have been sorted. After all, it got in this state due to my inability to make decisions and procrastination about putting things back where they belong. But I will have to if I plan on getting any work done in there. I did finish up the gratitude journal yesterday, but my next project may be a baby quilt, and you can see I can't work on that or "create any other pretty things" until real progress is made on this unexpected kick start to getting things organized. 

Busy & Cold!

Hope the above does not offend anyone, but when I came across Dorothy Parker's short poem, I had to laugh. Oh yes, exactly how I feel as I find myself in denial, listening to talk of MLK day coming up and thinking, surely that isn't THIS Monday. But it is and we are at the mid-point of January already, leaving me wondering how did that happen. Well, keep on making organizational and project progress!

And I have, though I have no photos yet to prove it. I'm continuing work on another gratitude journal, this a belated Christmas present, and just like the one I made for myself, I am having great fun with it. And as I work and also move around my house, I am remembering a couple of key things about organizing. Most importantly, you don't have to do it all at once. Even dealing with a single item out of place RIGHT NOW rather than throwing it back on a pile for later is progress making me feel better. More and more is slowly being put right. And as I looked for magazine pages to use in the signatures, I got through two past issues of quilting magazines that I'd set on the end of the worktable until I felt I had time to go through them and pull any articles or pictures worth saving. Now there are two off my table and ready to go to the library where they have a magazine exchange section.

I'm still feeling pretty invigorated and diving into my studio with more energy and direction than I've felt for quite awhile. Could it be the ultra cold weather we've been experiencing? Like much of the country, we have been affected by that Arctic Blast. Thursday I hustled between snow squalls to pick up meds, groceries and a battery for the garage door opener and do a quick shovel of my short sidewalk to the front steps as that very day the temps were predicted to drop from high 20's towards single digits. And indeed, by Friday we were in the negatives, windchills leaving no doubt that my daily walks would be on hold. For two days we did not get above zero with our lowest low being around -18, but yesterday and today our high has been 8 degrees and the lows have been edging closer to zero. The forecast shows a steady rise in temperature the rest of the week but also a storm coming in tomorrow night or Wednesday that may dump up to a foot of snow on us. Well, it IS winter in the Pacific Northwest, and I have to admit, the super cold but sunny days have brought me a bit alive! And more snow? Just gives me more excuse to stay inside to work in the studio and knit in the evening.

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

One and (Not) Done

I started last week with unusual vigor, and when I sat down to do my usual checks on the internet, I instead found myself pulling things out of the center cubby of my roll top desk. There are smaller cubbies on either side that are fine in terms of being organized, but this larger one is where I tend to toss papers I think I will want to reference soon or just don't know what to do with yet. It always gets totally out of hand and gets searched through throughout the year without ever really doing anything about the pile. Not this day. Out came everything, including 2 years' worth of Christmas cards (I always hold some back thinking I will answer them before the next Christmas rolls around but rarely do), a paper clipped group of recipes from magazines (I have no idea why I put them there), and various papers that could either be filed or tossed. In the process, the fountain pen I'd been looking for I think 2 years emerged; I must have tossed it up there with something too and it had rolled to the back and down near the bottom of the stack. I know I looked for it several times in that cubby, lifting up papers from the front but probably just burying it further. Anyway, excited to have it back. Then I attacked the corner of the writing area where I had let those insurance "explanation of benefits", prescription labels and paid medical statements pile up, waiting for me to match them up and file them. Well look at that - a clean desk and my first organizing of the year done.

Also one and (not) done, the first sock of the pair from the grey wool. I actually knitted into the wee hours of New Year's Day to finish them, only to find the instructions for binding off merely saying to do it with a sewn bind off. A sewn bind off? What is that? While these directions did include illustrations of how to cast on and decrease/increase, it assumed I'd know how to do a sewn bind off. Luckily, when I first got interested in knitting socks, I invested in a book that absolutely has everything you need to know about knitting socks, all the different methods and stitches, and then patterns to try them out. I did a quick check and yes, it had instructions for a sewn bind off, but it was way to late for me to absorb the method. Another day, a study of the method, and I quickly finished off this first sock. It really is an easy and nifty bind off for the top of a ribbed sock. Speaking of ribs, I realize that the sock looks a little weird, but that's the 2 x 2 ribbing which stretches out when on the foot, keeping them snug all the way up past the ankle without being too tight. That bodes well for the knee high version which I just may try. It's a good fit though maybe a tad long heel to toe, but I think blocking will made it all better. I've started on sock two, having the same struggle with that different cast-on and the first few inches of increases. I may have done a better job than on the first sock which has a curious lump of knitting under the middle toes and a few holes I need to sew up. Anxious to get past the increases and on to the ribbing pattern.

Do you remember the Celtic Weave handmade book from August? I intended to add a few things to the pages before gifting it to my niece who has been researching her Irish heritage and making a few sojourns to Ireland. Plenty of time, I told myself as I set it aside to work on other things. And then not plenty of time as I realized it would be a Christmas gift and Christmas was almost here. So that week before Christmas, I got busy, cutting out the stained glass images of a Celtic design that repeatedly showed up in catalogs. I'd been tossing them in the bin of ephemera for art journaling/mixed media and now they had a home. The signature papers are off-white while the Celtic design had a white background, so I used an X-acto knife to cut away the white within the design. I've been wanting to try the Artist-tac adhesive that is especially made for open designs like lace or doilies; instead of a solid sheet of adhesive, it has dots of adhesive. Here's the video where I found out about this product and shows it in action as well as Art Graf's Double tack which I used to adhere a large print out instead of glue so there'd be no wrinkling. Both product worked great.

The book has 8 inner signatures and I had just enough of these Celtic designs to place one on the first page of each of those signatures.

I also wanted to add a couple of Irish Blessings and decided to invest in a wood stencil designed for drawing evenly spaced lines on a page. Oh, where have you been all my life? I found this one on Etsy and decided that even though a little more expensive than some of the plastic ones for sale, it would be worth it and I think I was right. Here I've drawn the lines in pencil and they were erased after I finished writing. The finished book is now in the hands of my niece and she is delighted with it. Call that a finish for 2023. On to 2024 projects whatever they may be!

Into A New Year

Time once again to reveal my resolution word for the new year. I often have ideas pop into my head in advance of the end of one year and beginning of the next, but this year I was drawing a blank, no inspiration hitting me. But at last I had a thought, and the thought became something I warmed to. And I decided, this is it: my resolution word for 2024 will be "ORGANIZE". I'm generally quite the organizer but I've fallen off the wagon for too long. One look in my studio will tell you how badly I need to get that space organized again, but it is not the only space in my house needing attention. Also, my computer, full of photos that need sorting and/or deleting, saves to read later, things to print out. I need to get back to making lists too, short term and long term things and projects to complete, and I know that will help me stay more organized. I think I have a big job ahead of me but I am very ready to have a less clutter space everywhere, with organizing keeping me on track. Because you know, I still have so much to finish and no end to new things I want to try.

Speaking of new things, I have a confession to make. I've definitely been bitten by the knitting bug again, and have been spending a lot of time poring over patterns I have and downloading new free patterns to print out. I'd gotten out my stash of yarns, thinking to match what I had to patterns at hand, so that once that pair of socks is done, I can dive into the next project and start using up yarn. As I went through the bags, I was reminded of the mill end wool yarns I used to get at a yarn shop in town and wondering if they still carried them now that the shop had changed hands. The owner must have ESP because shortly after that, she posted that they had just gotten in a new shipment and showed a picture of them hanging on the wall. It was too much for me to resist, although I kept telling myself I did NOT need more yarn. But yarn is like quilting fabric, and one buys it even if one doesn't need it, because it is beautiful, and in this case quite a deal - just $4.50 per 190 yd skein. Be still my heart, as I focused on a lavender one. Against my better judgement, I stopped by, and not only bought all of the lavender yarn, but also the beautiful blue yarn right next to it. So there is my big bag of yarn, with enough there for a couple of sweaters. I already have it paired with patterns and am way too excited about getting started on them.

So that's how I'm starting off 2024 - with high hopes to get organized and way too much yarn for evening knitting! How about you? Have you done any reflecting on how 2023 went for you? Any plans or resolutions for the new year? Calm has a Facebook page where they post meditative and well, calming things, and I thought this offering might be good to work through; maybe you will too. Let's have a great New Year!

 

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For previous year's resolution words, see these posts:

2008 - Freedom

2009 - Calm

2010 - Focus

2011 - Refocus

2012 - Balance & Harmony

2013 - Perseverance

2014 - Explore

2015 - Fearless

2016 - Light

2017 - Endure 

2018 - Refresh

2019 - Wing It!  

2020 - Go! 

2021 - Finish 

2022 - More 

2023 - Continue

 

Holiday Greetings To My Faithful Readers

May your holidays be bright, full of love and laughter and remembrance of those who have gone before us into that good night. 

We didn't get any new snow, but that just makes my walks around the neighborhood easier - don't want any falls dislodging any of the hardware in my back! There are quite a few new renters on my street and not as many decorations as I've seen in the past but these two put a smile on my face - and they are lighted up at night!

And there have been deer browsing behind our row of townhouses and yesterday I noticed one reason why. There is quite the apple tree a few houses down from me and it is still just loaded with apples which the deer obviously love. Sorry not to get a better picture but it's this cheap cell phone of mine . . .

The one was in a staring contest with me while the other soon fled back into the bushes - look at that white tail warning!

So peace to you all! Don't forget to put your feet up and relax, go for a long walk, enjoy any visitors you might have, and maybe sneak in a little creative endeavor. Mine will be knitting on that sock - I've just turned the heel!

Merry Christmas !!!

Snuck Up On Me

Gift wrap backed with rice paper & folded into a double pocket

I started working on another gratitude journal last week, knowing Christmas was quickly approaching and I'd better get going if it would reach its recipient as a holiday gift. But as I was perusing the calendar to plan my holiday to do's, I realized I didn't have two weeks left but just one! So I've had to put it aside to work on cards and such but I thought I'd share this nifty trick I tried with the gift wrap. I'm not the only one in the book club that had difficulty gluing gift wrap to bookboard without it bubbling and wrinkling. And I worried that my paper wasn't as strong as needed to keep the pockets from tearing. After much random mulling, I wondered if I couldn't back the gift wrap with rice paper the way one does fabric to make book cloth. But I still wondered about what adhesive to use when I ran across a "hack" for adhering decorative napkins to something like an envelop.* Ahh, here was something else book club members had struggled with when it was suggested to make cover paper using decorative napkins glued to copy paper. I watched the video and it looked too simple to be true How many times have I struggled with a technique that a video had presented as easy? But this time it really was.

So here is all you do. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper and your regular paper (the video showed an envelop with the flap open). Smooth a layer of plastic wrap over that (Saran Wrap is one brand name you are probably familiar with). Finally, lay down your decorative napkin, or in my case, a piece of gift wrap, right side up on top and cover with a piece of parchment paper. Now evenly press the whole thing with a hot iron which will melt the plastic wrap and create the bond between plain paper and the decorative paper. Oh my - did that work slick! Now I can't attest to the longevity let alone the archival quality of this process but for what I am using it for, that doesn't really matter. And I can tell now that by doing this with the gift wrap for covering the boards, I'll have paper I won't have to worry about tearing or not lying smooth when glued. Can't wait to do this to the rest of the pocket paper and the cover paper. But I'll have to because it's back to getting my Christmas card done.

*If you're on Facebook, you can watch the video here, my little gift to you: Cling Wrap Hack

An Alternative To Paint and A Finish

Years ago Washi Tape crossed my radar as a thing. I didn't understand what it was exactly, nor why it was being touted as a must have item but I bought some anyway. The 4 or 5 rolls I bought have remained unopened until the other day. I've gained a better understanding of how to use this tape but still couldn't figure out how to work it into any of my various projects - it just didn't seem to be the sort of thing I'd use. But as I found a page in the gratitude journal to add a gratitude to, but one that did not have the painted borders, it dawned on me that I could put strips of Washi tape around my entry. Oooo, so much less messy than paint, quick and easy, I'm going to have to tape off some other pages! And yes, last week's challenge was dealing with a crown that came off. Just what one needs in the weeks before Christmas! All better now for the time being but I'll be staying away from things like sticky caramel (which was not the culprit btw - I was just eating a slice of soft crust pizza . . .).

As for my finish, I finally got all the lines of quilting on the 4-patch strip quilt resewn. I started working on that back in August but not very steadily. But I could see the finish line approaching the last time I worked on it so devoted big chunks of time over the weekend to get it done. And really, this was not something I was going to do slowly and carefully; perfection was hardly on my mind and so there are lots of places where my new stitching did not go exactly over the old stitching. Can you hear me yelling "I DON"T CARE!!! I just want to get this done!"? It seemed to take forever anyway. I don't think there's any other repair or mending work to do so I can move on to some other more interesting sewing project.

Kicking Off the Holiday Season

We all have our holiday traditions, and for me, I don't touch anything Christmas until the first weekend in December. On that Sunday morning I break out the 3-disc set of Bach's Christmas Oratorio and I'm off! This year my niece sent me this advent calendar with specialty jams and spreads behind each day's door along with a brief message like "Be Merry!" And after brunch while the Oratorio was still playing and snow falling outside my window, I worked on my sock - so very Christmassy. The knitting seems quite slow going to me even though I am now past all the increasing and have the ribbing pattern set up, so I can just knit away without much thought. Those are size 1 needles I'm working with so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that progress is not speedier. However, I am halfway now to turning the heel.

Now that more of the sock is visible, I can see how the hand-painted yarn's variegation is working to create a subtle pattern. But I can also see now something I couldn't before, that this is not just gray yarn of different values light to dark but that there is also a purplish blue in there, also light to dark, so very pretty. No plain Jane Gray here. Working on this has not just scratched an itch, but made the itch worse! I keep finding myself picking up pattern books and going through my yarn stash to figure out what I might knit up next.

I've just learned that my goddaughter finally had her baby, a couple of weeks late but just fine. She had originally told me that she planned to have 3 kids and that was it, and she was no spring chicken when she started. So she had the 3, I dutifully and joyfully made a special quilt for each, and thought I was done. But no, she has surprised me with a fourth. I will wait until after Christmas to get started on one but to be honest, I have no clue what I will make. I am so used to having ideas just waiting for an excuse to make up but I'm drawing a blank. Time I guess to start looking through my many books and patterns saved from magazines and find some inspiration! You can see the previous 3 quilts here, here, and here. If you check these out, you can see why I feel that I can't make just any old baby quilt. But hey - it's a girl baby so I can break out some pink!

Loose Ends & Scratching An Itch

How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was quiet, just the way I like it, and I spent part of it scratching this itch to start a knitting project, specifically trying out a "toe up" sock pattern. I kept getting the nudge, remembering how I spent so much of my school vacations knitting by the fire, and the yarn with pattern has been sitting out for longer than I care to mention. I bought the yarn on sale a very long time ago, pretty much at the beginning of the sock knitting craze and I remember how hard it was to make up my mind about what color yarn to buy. Ever practical and not sure I'd like bright multicolored socks, I opted for the one called "Gray Matters", which is a wool/acrylic hand painted blend made in Turkey. In my defense, I've written before about the positive attributes of gray, and then recently ran across this praise of gray:

“Gray isn’t just for shapeshifting clouds or sophisticated business suits. There is so much more to gray than that. It’s not a cliche. It’s a marvel. Gray is the disputed territory between the light and dark. It’s a color that has one foot in the shadows and one in the sun. I don’t know when we decided that the color gray was “boring” - because it’s anything but.”- John Roedel

There you have it, complete with "foot" pun, and the hand painted variegation should produce a more interesting and beautiful sock than a solid yarn would. This particular toe up pattern has a cast on not unlike the one for the mobius scarves I've made, but by starting with only 4 stitches on each of two needles and a method of increasing I was unfamiliar with, I found the beginnings of this sock challenging and giving me fits. But as the space grows it is getting easier, although working on multiple needles in the round is not my favorite. I'm ready to set up the ribbing pattern so things should go more quickly now.

 

As for loose ends, I feel I have so many as I look at what's scattered around my studio. But I took care of some of them last week. I got all the bits of ephemera added to the gratitude journal and started writing in it. I experimented with something the teacher showed us: masking off the center of a page to preserve it for adding text, then painting the rest of the page. I used that Fresco Finish paint again, partly because it dries to a matte chalky finish which, unlike regular acrylic paint, doesn't stick pages together and is easy to write on if one chooses. This is such a great look and will keep me from getting too wordy!

 

I had a little paint left on the palette so I experimented with a fan brush, mimicking the flowers in the adjacent page. The camera didn't pick it up well, and you can't see the green that I also worked in between the pink, but I was pretty thrilled with the result. Funny how this particular journal is unleashing something in me that is unexpectedly liberating. I'm usually such a regimented and chronological person but this format has me jumping around all through the book. It's really fun to work in it.

Another loose end is adding quotations to this journal which I believe is the second book I made once I'd joined the Handmade Book Club. The journal itself has lots of issues, but it was a way to use some of the eco-dyed watercolor paper I'd made and then add lots of tree and leaves related things to the blank pages. There are paint experiments in there and a few pictures from magazines pasted in. Some actual dried leaves glued in as well. Still lots of pages to fill but I see it as an ongoing project. But I did want to get the poems and quotations added once it dawned on me how many I'd collected referencing trees and leaves. It will feel good to have that loose end tied up.

 

 

Pause and Gratitudes

Yet another week of distractions and diversions, appointments and phone calls, basically not getting too much done in the studio in spite of good intentions (more requilting though - one grid line at a time will win that race!). I did take advantage of an opportunity to participate in a 5 day November Pause offered by Michelle GD whose e-mails in general are full of "gentle thoughts and inspiration". In a world so rattled with horrid and discerning events, and the average person's life so full to the brim with activities and expectations, this would be a chance to slow down and reflect each of the five days, exploring what "pause" may mean and listing gratitudes in different ways (she's particularly into making lists). Why not, I thought. We were encouraged to go at our own pace, not feel obligated to do each day's journaling and listmaking on the day it arrived if it was just too much, not even do each part of a day's offering if it did not feel right. She so kindly said, "I want everything about November Pause to be gentle and spacious. Our hurting world doesn't need another hurried-harried, frustrated-frazzled, overworked-overwhelmed, tired, feeling-unworthy being. You, or me." I started off well, then began "having a week" and did have one day when I just couldn't face the subject we were to explore. But the next day I could, and it led to an epiphany I've been searching for. The last day we were encouraged to write our gratitudes in circles on the page and jazz them up with "lots of art". Oh, I am not good at this and didn't want to invest a lot of time in adding artsy things so just grabbed the set of fine point pens of many colors on my desk and played a bit with shapes and doodles. Overall though, I found these 5 days of exploration full of insights that made me feel better about myself and understand the value of the pauses I work into my days. A lot of guilt got off loaded.

Each day included a short reflection, several journaling prompts, that invitation to practice gratitude in different ways (which she called "a grateful heart", a short breathing practice to ground, a "what if" invitation to take a small loving action (after all, we're all in this together, or should be), and a poem. Here's the poem she shared on the last day, actually a blessing from my favorite author of blessings. As you are off however you celebrate Thanksgiving in a few days, may this blessing settle around you. And don't forget to pause if things get frantic!

A Not Much Visible Progress Week

Honestly, not much of interest to share this week. After having made a bit of space on my work table after finishing the Abstract Color challenge pieces, I moved my gratitude challenge journal onto it along with all the bits and pieces of things I've collected to paste into it. It's been a bit exciting to realize how many things I've saved but had no real place to keep them that can be stored in this journal, and still have plenty of room for adding handwritten bits of gratitude and precious memories. But as always, I can't just slap them in any old way! So I was slowed down a bit once pocket things were inserted in pockets and I considered how I want to space out the other items among the signature pages. A work in progress . . .

Photo: @rajesh_kumar_photography.

And honestly again, who wants to see the darning of socks and repair of a seam in a favorite pair of pajamas? Yes, I do mend and darn and don't mind the process at all but I do tend to let it stack up until I have quite a bit to attend to. And I also sat a few times at the machine while I continue to requilt over the grid lines of the 4-patch strip quilt, but really, nothing to see there either. But I ran across this incredible butterfly on Facebook which at first glance looked to me like some art quilter's rendition done up in hand-dyed or painted fabric and thread painted with metallic threads. But no - this beautiful creature is mother nature's handiwork, and I am in awe. The Blue Admiral is a nymphalid butterfly, the only species of the genus Kaniska. It is found in south and southeast Asia. Have you stumbled upon something of rare beauty lately?

Finally Done With Pink!

Finally got a chance yesterday to take one last assessment of my Abstract Color Challenge and add a few finishing touches. I can't believe how much these little 5 x 5 pieces of "art" have grown on me. If thought of as a series, the order above is the order I had them laid out in as I worked on them. But as I removed the tape holding them to the table and looked at each individually, I was fairly pleased with how each stood on its own. Click on the pics for a larger view to study the details. I really like the look of the spatters and am ok with the bit of pen work I added.

In the meantime I ran across this quilt with what I feel is a stunning use of pink! It's called Hidden Gems by Gail Stepanek and Jan Hutchison.

And then I read an article about a wool and knitting festival on the Shetland Islands and was really taken with the pink and blue accents on this sweater, worn by wool felting teacher Ann Marie Anderson. I'm really gaining a new appreciation for the color pink!

Wrapping up #INKtober

I've had a bit of "life intervening" so no progress on the Abstract Color Challenge but I did keep up with my daily INKtober sketches. I have to admit the last 5 or so days I could feel my enthusiasm waning and finding it harder to think up what to sketch. And with that I also found I was making more mistakes or misjudgements, perhaps not really concentrating, just in a hurry to be done. Wrapped up for another year, I am not feeling any eagerness to continue a daily sketch practice. On to other things.

In the meantime, this might be a good time to share another Austin Kleon post, this one about time and music and doing your own thing, but it really refers to more than music. Several things struck me as so true, what I experience myself, like this:

“We live in an age in which only results seem to count, not processes,” Jarrett writes. “We need to hear the process of a musician working on himself. We don’t need to hear who is more clever with synthesizers. Our cleverness has created the world we live in…”

Nor do we need to hear who is more clever with their use of crystals on quilts or their free-motion quilting designs. I'm always more interested in process, not cleverness in the finished quilt. And the following quotation really captures what has happened since digital clocks came into existence (to which I have to protest that I DO often say, "almost (or about) 9:20":

"We see the world as ‘bits’ of information, either/or, yes or no, digital. We seem to have no desire to experience time. We trade this experience for the ‘accuracy’ of ‘bits’ of time: it’s either 9:19 or 9:20, never almost 9:20. So we think that time is a straight line and, eventually, that everything has edges. Something stops here, something starts there. But the natural world is essentially circular. . ."

So I will get back to my process of finishing up various projects, and I will be thinking in terms of spending "about an hour" when I head to the studio. How about you? 

#INKtober Continues As Does Color Challenge

Here is the latest page of #INKtober sketches, giving you a glimpse into my life last week. You might spot some urban sketching; looking ahead, the weatherman warned of a severe drop in temperatures this week so get out and enjoy the last few days of 70 degree weather at the end of last week and over the weekend.

So I grabbed my architecture sketchbook and headed over to the new houses across from the park on one of my walking routes to do two things. You might remember that the last time I was sketching at this location, I looked at my results once home and couldn't believe how off my roof was. I always take a picture of what I am sketching, and in reviewing it, I suddenly realized what was wrong. I'd been so focused on getting the eaves right that I totally forgot to add the peak lines of the roof. So that was the first thing I fixed. Then I moved a few houses down to sketch a straight-on view of a slightly different  house. I don't always do a pencil undersketch before inking in and adding color to complete the drawing but for these two I did. You can just make out the images on the toned paper. A youngish man (20's?) stopped to chat, and we soon were discussing angles, perspective and shading, him mentioning that shading is what he struggles with. How fun to interact with another sketcher.

Do you ever feel like you need a pep talk to get moving again on your art projects? As I felt myself continuing to resist working on the Abstract Color Challenge, I ran across this blog post by Daniel Sroka entitled Stop whining and make some damn art which was just what I needed! I've experienced the sort of self-doubt he describes and he is right: the way out to feeling good about yourself and your work again is to get back to work. Time to turn my awkward teenagers into something I could at least like and feel I'd made some good progress on. I added a few more pieces of collage, some ink and colored pencil highlights, some pink stamped on with bubble wrap, some pail pink paint in light areas and a bit over those strong pink pieces to knock them back a bit, then spattered each with brown ink. Ahhh, so much better (here's the "before" picture). I may add some handwritten text on at least one of them but I think these are pretty much done. I'll take individual pics of them when I'm sure.

I definitely like the pink glow they have now (not so obvious in the photos unfortunately) after applying this Fresco Finish chalk acrylic in Blush to the white areas and lightly across the strong pink. You might remember my epiphany about struggling with blending since all my paint colors on hand are strong and darkish and I never think to play with lightening them up by adding a bit of white. If only I'd think to add some pale paints to my collection. Enter Joggles.com having a sale on these very paints that were recommended to me by an internet friend years ago. I invested in 5 pale opaques: this Blush, Seaglass (which is a minty bluish green), Periwinkle (a lovely lavender), Eggshell (a nice off-white) and Buff (which is a bit sandy). That should cover all the bases.

While I feel better about these pieces, I know I have a lot to learn about collaging. I want to be successful on day one, have my pieces turn out looking as good as the teacher's examples, not be embarrassed to share them with the rest of the participants of this challenge. Not there yet. And then Helen Well's weekly blog post arrived in my mailbox, right off addressing this feeling of inadequacy in her Art Making Manifesto.

The more art we make the better our art becomes. The more art we make the more likely we are to develop skills and ideas. The more art we make the more confident we become in our decisions.  

Stop whining and make more art! It will get better and better with experience and experimentation. As she says, "Art-making is a skill, developed by practice and not an innate talent which we either have or don’t have. . . The idea of art being a ‘practice’ is right, we do indeed have to practice." Helen has a total of nine items on her manifesto list, all interesting and worth considering. Give it a look.

And right on cue, the weather took that plunge overnight. We didn't get much snow, just a little on the lawns that eventually melted as the day wore on, and we never got out of the 30's. I looked out the dining room window this afternoon, trying to make sense of the white on the tips of this small tree, looking like flowers or decorative lights.

A closer look and I could see that somehow, the snow had settled between the needles forming a ball that stayed while snow elsewhere had melted off.

I don't think I've ever seen this on this tree. Worth taking a picture.