under the influence

i was watching tv the other day and caught an episode of sarah's house, a really neat interior designer from canada. in this episode they went to christie's antique show and happened along a beautiful antique yellow and white quilt. the quilt was a simple patchwork of yellow suns with an orange triangle border. from what i could see the stitching was really beautiful as well. when they showed the finale show of the entire farmhouse i kept seeing these really simple but bold colors against white kind of quilts. i've always wanted one but have felt intimidated by the shear size of quilts to ever try my hand at one in human scale. but i felt really inspired after watching this show, so i decided a lap quilt of random pinwheels patchwork would be nice.

i'm not sure if my method is accurate, but i've seen quilts made on a number of occasions so i just did what came to me. i sketched out my idea, made measurements, and cut out a triangle and square template from paper to use. i cut everything with a pair of shears, not too worried about complete accuracy, because i want a quilt you know is made by hand; and hey, imperfection is it's own perfection.

one thing which was nice about making this quilt is that i was able to raid my neglected cotton collection to come up with nine different color combinations. i am really happy with the colors, some pale some bright, but allover a soft palette.

i started work cutting and piecing friday night and as of this morning the top of the quilt is sewn together. i'm plotting what is to be done with the back, i don't like the idea of just having a plain solid back. tuesday i'll be able to buy the batting, maybe bamboo, maybe cotton, definitely not polyester. hand quilting will be my method of madness and i wonder if buying a large embroidery hoop will help. time to make a shopping list: thimble, safety pins, batting, hoop, thread...

nice and cosy

while working on one of the tutorials, i was inspired to create a case for my macbook. the color combination and fabrics were too nice together to pass up. plus, i was able to incorporate some of my nani iro stash. yum.

which reminds me, i must stock up on nani iro while i'm in japan this fall. yet one more reason to be uncontrollable excited.

the case is so soft, it's padded and has a flannel lining. every time i have to sew in a zipper it gets a little easier. i came across this really ingenious way of attaching a zipper; and i have to say it worked marvelously!

the influence of tv

over the summer i've been sporadically watching a show on tv called bones; it has quickly become one of my favorite programs. the lead characters are really wonderful to watch, the sexual tension between them is very nice to see unfurl over the course of seasons, all of the little changes and progressions. temperance bronner (aka bones) is amazing, i can completely connect with so many of her quirks. the other characters mesh so well into the whole storyline, creating a wonderfully complex and original show. it airs on thursday nights, which is good, as i needed a replacement for my name is earl, which was cancelled.

it's funny how watching a show or reading a book can start to influence your art. when i finished the front of my second wall panel i saw the back as a cross section of a city; with the bones of the dead below, hidden from all, and the living going about their lives in the buildings above.

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.

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.

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.)

diversifying

think of it as a family tree; from one word pincushion grows two, cushion and pin. i've been working on the cushion part for a week or two. it kind of started from creating too large of a pincushion patchwork, and not wanting to trim, i decided to expand.

it had been mentioned to me a little bit ago that i would be better off creating cushions, and for awhile i put the thought aside. there were several issues relating to this decision; i don't like large scale, i don't want something too busy, and also being able to use my bits and scraps of fabric wouldn't work if i had to make larger blocks. but, i did not forget this idea, i just needed time to ruminate on it until i thought of something that worked for me. then along came the too-big piece colliding with recent research of the selvedge magazine kind, and voila! a cushion.

working along the same lines of the pincushions, of being kind to the environment, i used kokka's organic cotton for the back, and kapok for the filler. kapok is an environmentally friendly fiber obtained from the seed pod of the kapok tree. it has a nice fluff and lightness to it very similar to down.

i've since made two, and have no interest in stopping. so expect to see more in the future.

just a peek...

...at what i've been up to. it's in the cushion genealogy. quite a bit larger than the pincushions. i'll post more photos when i've figured out a nice locale to shoot them in.

coral colors

i like the print and color combination of this pincushion a lot; even though it's not overly complicated in design, quite simple really. it features some of my favorite textile designers, heather ross with her mendocino line, and an australian artist that works in water based inks and organic hemp, umbrellaprints. the softness of this particular color is very soothing, and it's warm without being too bright.

this is the largest pincushion i've made to date; it's too large for my scale actually and so i haven't listed it yet. i had to move my pincushions from the drawer i was keeping them in as i ran out of room.

they chose me!

i received a lovely email the other week from a person on etsy who chose to feature one of my pincushions on their treasury. needless to say i was very excited! this is my first (that i know of) and i took a screen capture of it. there it is on the bottom left; it's the first pincushion i made, after the rains. i'm such a proud creator to be included with all of the other lovelies.

girl colors and boy colors

i actually love pinks and blues. i didn't always, though. during my teenage years i absolutely hated pink; be it magenta, baby pink, rose, or any other name. i just kept thinking it was so stereotypical and very insulting to the female species; all i could see was the limitations that this one color imposed.
then one day i bought a pair of light pink kitten heeled pointed shoes, i was 22. they were soft like butta. they quickly became my favorite shoes, and i've had them for 5 years. i'll still wear them on occasion, but the poor dears are beginning to show their age even though they've been resoled once.

those one pair of shoes opened my eyes to a whole array of hues, to see them not as a wall but as a way to embrace and enjoy the creativity that the spectrum gives us. never see color as a limit, regardless of what society deems it. how you represent the color is what is important, be strong and hold up your love, dare to embrace it!

a small milestone

wow! i've made it past 100 posts. interesting; i wasn't sure that when i started this blog that i would stick with it, or even have all that much to say. i've surprised myself. well, happy me! i think this is deserving of a samoas cookie from my last box i've been saving.

i was initially going to post about my butterfly sonata pincushion, before i saw the post #. it's softer in hue from what i have been making. we have a butterfly bush outside my window and it is humongous! it's all covered in flowers now, and attracting quite a crowd of butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. the color scheme is inspired by that as well as the embroidery on the backside.

the brown spots fabric i have been saving for several years now. i kept thinking it would make really nice towels for the dollhouse bathroom, but unfortunately it's just too heavy to lay nicely. i may still use it as a bathmat if it looks okay. we'll see.
i know there hasn't been any updates about the dollhouse for a while now, there just really hasn't been any changes. i have a table in mind for the living room, but it's in charleston and i usually head up that way once or twice a year.
it's funny, now that all of the wallpapering is done, there just doesn't seem to be too much left unfinished. mostly small details and that gaping hole of emptiness in the living room where there'll be a dinette set. i'm still searching for the goods to finish that area.

there's something about packaging

i love buying something and receiving it all wrapped up prettily! it's always such a nice surprise when opening up a nondescript box to find the item you ordered all decked out. so when i decided to start selling my pincushions i knew packaging was important.

i wanted it to be inexpensive, but done nicely, in a way that was easily duplicated for every item. eco-friendly packaging is also important to me, so i decided to use recycled paper cardboard boxes, reclaimed packing filler, unbleached wax baggies (instead of plastics for water resistance) with a personal wax seal to close, and reused tissue paper. i also love ribbon, and there may be others out there who love getting it as well, it's such a nice touch.

i hope the receivers of my pincushions love the thought and effort that went into them, from their construction to their packaging!

rain, rain, go away

not that i don't love you, or see the great need of mother earth to have you, but it's been over a week and every day you've visited us. i miss waking up to the suns brightness, it's like my morning cup of caffeine; the day just doesn't go right without it. you've turned the road outside my door to mud, and that's just not fun to drive down. but you have been kind to my hair, giving waves where none usually reside. but still, enough is enough for now. please go away and come back next week, or the week after; my schedule's open then.

the above is my ode to strawberries, i'm calling it "strawberries from space pincushion". the printed fabric is just so quirky, it's like another planet, or a space capsule an herbivore civilization would make, all the circles and whirly gigs. i wanted fun bright colors that remind me of the sun setting on a hot arid day, and strawberries are definitely a sign of summer.

behind the lines

i'm at midstride on another pincushion, and being ever so slightly influenced by the strawberries i've been eating for the last two weeks. they are ever so yummy and red! i don't think i'll ever get tired of their taste, the glossy shine when you cut one open, the delicate linework and contrast of red into pink into white.
i would have been posting the newest pincushion at this moment, but i didn't have a particular shade of green in my thread collection. or much green thread at all for that matter. so, off to the quilting store i shall go tomorrow. before work. hopefully i will have enough daylight to see when i get home. and then i can photograph saturday morning. before work.

pincushion additions

i created another pincushion before work yesterday. i really enjoy blues and greens even though i have other colors to work with. i have to say that red is my least favorite color; but pinks and purples are very near the top of my favorite list. weird. maybe it has something to do with blood and raw meat. i get queasy when i see raw meat in the store.

this pincushion i called "algae bloom". the embroidery is reminiscent of kelp and sea plants and the greens remind me of algae against the watery blue. the olive velvet was a bit painful to work with, it kept moving even with pins in it. i think it has something to do with the length and fluidness of the velvet and its backing. so i had to hand sew it which was fine.

last week i made a pincushion from a variety of grays with a splash of icy blue and this lemony neon yellow silk. the color is just so luminescent and glowy. the herringbone wool and soft grays had me thinking "gramps" so i embroidered a mustache and pipe on the back side.

with every pincushion, i start by finding a fabric print that calls to me, and pair it with 7 - 10 pieces of harmonic fabrics. then i lay them out in a couple of patterns, put some fabrics aside, add others until i get a picture that i like. then cutting, piecing, sewing, and trimming. then i wait for an image or a word to pop into my head to embroider on the backside. i like doing some hand embroidery first, then some machine stitches. add a button tag, then assembly. the fun part.

i've gone to the etsy side

so, finally the day has dawned when i've taken that one small step to sell my artwork to the public. it's only been 6 years since i graduated college with a b.f.a.; procrastination is not the word for it. it's more like coming to a point where you have an idea and instead of running only halfway into it, you actually finish the race and make one thing, then another, and then there's three things. it's a gradual pace. will they sell? no clue. but i enjoy making them; and to me it's the creating of something precious from little bits of things that have so much potential that's the challenge and the goal.
please visit my new etsy store, the link is in the right hand side of the screen.

purple haze

i love purple; be it named mauve, lavender, lilac, violet, heliotrope, or any other. from the softest shade of purple tinged gray to the most intense color found in orchids, it is truly lovely to mine eyes. this is my pincushion ode to such an amazing hue.