first trunk show

i'll be taking part in @home's 1st trunk show, which is great, as it will be my 1st trunk show as well. i'm very excited and have been busy creating pieces to sell (which you may have noticed, as i haven't been adding anything new to my etsy page in awhile).

quilting for the wall

exploring free motion sewing is very exciting; i can merge my two favorite arts, fabric manipulation and imagery. my schooling was in illustration, which sadly i have let fall by the wayside. but using the sewing machine i can draw again using fabric as the surface. this way i can further my use and love of textiles with my own renderings, my own signature.

i really like the linework and containment that patchwork provides, together with the softness, curviness, and free spirited stitches of the octopus. french knots have been one of my favorite embroidery stitches since taking classes in japanese embroidery where i learned a really easy and 99% accurate way of making them.

the lime is a linen material, the light blue is cotton, and the charcoal grey is a felted wool, each has a certain thickness and feel. i love incorporating tactileness in my work; you should be able to not only see, but feel. touch is very important to me, it's a sense that at times is lacking in our environment; human touch especially.

there are studies that have proven that human touch is essential to us, it creates a better balanced and receptive person, helps heal wounds and surgery sites quicker, and eases stress and pain. the human spirit and body become damaged when touch is withheld, it's one of the cruelest things you can do to a person. even if you are not comfortable having others touch you, it is imperative to reach out and touch a pet, animals, the earth, feathers, wool, living things. petting your cat, or dog, or pet lowers blood pressure and reduces pain, be it emotional, physical, or mental; this is an incredible thing!

i wanted the back of this piece to be interesting as well. i think it is just as important an area as the front; i love when pieces of jewellery, artwork, and clothing have creative things happening where you don't expect it. in the case of the octopus, i saw a constellation in the lines from the french knots, so i embroidered silver stars and wrote out the constellations name.

on pins and needles

do you ever have moments of intense boredom even though there are at least eight things you could and perhaps should be doing? not that the choices are dull, in and of themselves, but you just can't gather the enthusiasm to work on them.

yesterday was a day like that for me. usually i just try to force the day gone; hoping that when i wake up the next the boredom will have passed. "forcing" time to go faster means immersing my brain in a book, a favorite movie, or lallygagging around the internet. for the most part any one of these helps my boredom pass and i can get things accomplished. yesterday was such an awful all encompassing period of boredom i had to try all three (dead and loving it, highlander, notcot.org) before i was able to work my way out.

i haven't a clue how much time on this planet i have, so i really don't like wishing it away; but there are days. though luckily i was able to work on and finish a pin last night, it being the perfect short time activity to pick oneself up with.

guava

there's a restaurant in savannah that deals in pizza which i've heard has a pesto pie with guava. i would really like to try this. maybe this week i'll find out and let you know how it tastes. i love guava juice, and the color of its flesh is amazing; not quite pink yet not really peach.

while thinking of this, i felt the need to put together this color combination for a cushion. i've titled it "the importance of being guava". i haven't actually seen the whole film the importance of being earnest, nor read the book. i feel it fits though, in whichever weird convoluted way works for you.

the linen that i used for the front is exceptionally awesome; the texture, the weave, it's softness, the lightness of the natural linen against the white cotton. yum. i was thinking it would be very nice to have an article of clothing in this material.

again with the collecting!

i came across selvedge magazine a little bit ago, then really started paying attention last month. what made me jump and get them all was an offer they have going on and i just couldn't resist. i am so very very glad i did get them; oh my, the inspiration, wealth of textile knowledge, the eye candy, the weight of each page is pure bliss.

i told myself i could get them on one condition; i would have to read, yes, actually read, every single bit even if i didn't at first want to. so ever so slowly i work my way through from cover to cover. and speaking of covers, the back ones are yummy, featuring one delicious marimekko print every issue.

quilting sampler

after taking the quilting workshop i feel very inspired to do more free motion sewing. a few days ago i decided to have at it and threw together some pieces of scrap fabric i had and just started making swirls and curlicues; then when i felt confident enough i sketched out an octopus and away i went with my needle and machine.

the octopus came out so cute; i really like octopus' they're really very fun to stitch and paint. and although i know they have eight legs, i tend to always leave one out as it is behind the head and not visible. artist's license and all.
then i decided to sketch a change purse. why? no clue. but it's so little, must be a paupers purse.

while looking at the first stitching i imagined they were the wild untamed tresses of a woman; the type of hair i always long for. so i put a face to them. i don't really like portraiture, or realistic art, it was one thing i suffered through in college. but, regardless of like, i think she turned out well.

nani iro goodies

whilst browsing through vogue i came across a photo of a really neat dress that reminded me of a nani iro fabric, her coururiere print. i figured i could make a similar dress which embodied the vibe i got from the one in the photo and one which fit me and my taste.

as i hunted down the fabric from her 2008 line, i also saw a new (?) book of hers that looked very interesting. luckily i was able to order both from the same person.

first, i have to say the print is much brighter than in photos, and second, the paper used in the book is absolutely brilliant. the tooth of the cover is cold press, and the vellum like mini cover and inside sheets are almost luminous. as well as there being quite a few thing i would love to create.

this bag would be one, with the three different prints. another would be the really cute ruffled apron the lady on the left is wearing. oh, so frilly, but restricted frills.

i'm working haphazardly on the dress, pining when i have the desire. i think i may end up cutting the top from the skirt and working separately on them, only to reattach when done. photos will be forthcoming sometime in the next month or so. maybe this will be a birthday dress. i'm very excited!

i will

...

i worry sometimes that i'm not creative enough, that i don't push things far enough, that i'm really not all that good at things. it's fine when you're looking at what you just accomplished and see the worth in it, but when you put a price to what you make it all falls apart. i worry about that.
i have a love/hate relationship with my real life job. i like the majority of my clients, i like learning new things about the human body and the things we put on it. i don't even really mind doing the things i do. but a major part of me feels like a failure. that this job has eaten up my chances at being an "artist". well, for what it's worth on paper; that label, "artist".
there's good and bad about the internet and the things other people do. you come across and see what people all over the world are creating, but it makes what you do feel small, boring in it's relative safety.
for the most part, i'm in a bubble. i can see out but i don't interact with what i see. sometimes i feel so distant from art school, and i miss that interaction between one artist and another. it's the water and food that feeds growth. i've become stagnant. i yearn to grow but have trouble finding the path into the light.
i feel like i need to jump into an unkown, to quite my job at the spa and force myself to live my art, to force feed it, to give it what it needs to grow. but i'm complacent, comfortable in my half-living. what if that decision is a horrible one, a crippling one? i say i like change, but i don't. i hate to change too quickly, too drastically. i hate this about myself.

the art of learning

this weekend was very exciting for me! i worked on and finished my first quilted piece; it's narrative but in a modern more free approach way. there's nothing quite like the feeling of a quilted object between your hands; it's so tactile and cushiony, with ripples and bumps.

i took part in a workshop that concentrated on breaking away from traditional quilting, into a more instinctual technique of piecing and quilting. i started by gathering a variety of material that drew my eye then sorted them into a pile based on how the colors partnered. then, trying to ignore the urge to measure, i just cut and sewed as i went. while looking at my non-geometric form i started seeing a house! then it all went crazy fun from that point on.

surprisingly, and thankfully, i learned an incredible amount about my sewing machine and freemotion sewing. things such as using a bigger needle for thicker fabrics, taking it slow, and always check the backside when you start a new line; you could've built a nest with all of the thread i ripped out. i was also reminded of the incredibly useful water-erasable fabric marker.

something i really want to do is make a deliciously lux lap quilt, something soft and cozy. i want to use felt, wool, silk, raw silk, linen, cashmere bits and double gauze cotton. but all in a soft palette with greys and natural creamy hues with some shots of muted colors. it shall be my winter project. i may even quilt it by hand once it's pieced together. hmm.

(in case your eyes are crossing trying to see the house: the long teal rectangle in the middle is a chimney, the tan square just to the left is a roof with a window, the pie shaped teal piece is part of a porch roof and the herringbone wool just below it is the steps, the window with shutters and window box is an easy giveaway. it's in the cubist style.)

while goofing off

i have these two pieces of stitched fabric that i discovered in a scrap bin at school. the color mixture isn't something i would merge, as they aren't my favorites; but, there's something appealing about them.

awhile back i knitted gauntlets with this heavenly alpaca yarn and couldn't bear to toss the ends. looking at the stitched scrap i remembered the bits of yarn, and they went together so well that i had to find a way to merge them into something.

i haven't made a pincushion in awhile so that was the choice. i used some lovely striped tasmanian wool for the back, and sewed on some buttons from my collection. one of my favorite bits of cloth in this pincushion is the metallic linen; the sheen isn't captured well in the photos, but the button reflects similar qualities.