Craft Therapy

Idle hands....

We just got back from our trip to the UK. I experienced a first: I didn't take an art project with me. I could have packed one, I'm sure....but I just wasn't into it. I decided to just take in the UK experience, instead, and take great photos to feed into my art-making later. We took scads- (including some great mini-videos for the kids) and I'll be posting some that I feel have some "art potential" later. It's funny, though..... since I got back, I haven't been burning to enter the studio....(which is a horrid sight)....but I've been into a house-cleaning mode.  I did hit a great sale on President's Day at JoAnn's, and stocked up on Pellon 72, needles, buttons for my jacket, and other little sundries. Maybe when I get around to putting all of my things away, I'll get re-motivated.

Hooray for Me..(!)

I just found out that my purse inserts were the "winner" of ArtFest on my ClothPaperStudio Yahoo group. Just a little thing, really, no monetary prize....but a big ego boost, nonetheless! It really makes it clear to me that artist/crafters need validation....that "art for art's sake" is nice and all, but show-and-tell is really what it's all about! (Either that, or the Hokey Pokey's what it's all about, I haven't really settled yet.)

In other news, I finally got my jacket started. I'm using a recycled-denim pattern, and as I was thinking about it (last year, no less!) I had started envisioning a floral chintz to use for the sleeves. Well, the floral chintz got me to reminiscing about my grandmothers' house, and the floral slipcovers in her living room....and the textured green carpet.... and her collection of hobnail milk glass.... and her african violets growing in the dining room. So, my jacket started morphing into a memory piece about her. She started showing signs of Alzheimers' Disease about 10 years ago, and has been in a nursing facility for five...so keeping her memory alive is important to me. I don't want to forget who she WAS to me.... since who she is now is so very different. Anyway, the pieces are cut out, and I'll start sewing once I get back from our trip. In the meantime, I'm toying with the idea of doing one of my monthly journal quilts in her honor. Maybe July, for her 91st birthday....we'll see....but I want to wear the jacket for spring.

Final Charm Design

So here's my final design for my charm swap on the Surface Design Yahoo Group... hand painted timtex (used Lumiere Paints) then added a shrink plastic charm on one side, cut out from a flower punch I have. On the back, to help anchor it, a few beady dangles.... voila!

New Purse Inserts Done!

Whoo-hoo! Kids had a good nap one day last week, and it enabled be to get some time into my sewing. As I blogged earlier, I spent some of my Christmas money on a Z Becky Brown purse....which has a removable liner to put your own artwork/photos in. Love it! Mom says it's heavy... but hey, isn't it worth it?
So I started with a Timtex base, and added some of my altered fabric (using Shiva Paintsticks & a rubber stamp), some heat foils, some Angelina Fibers, and some happy fibers. More photos in the quilty goodness photo album!

Still on my "fusie" kick

So, I'm still on my fusie kick... the scraps on my cutting table looked so luscious, I just couldn't throw them out! In the last issue of Quilting Arts there was an article about making "magic" card cases.... pull the ribbon, and the card rises up. Seemed easy enough, so I whipped one up during the kid's naptime.... and then another.... and by then my son was up- and he wanted his own! (For his library card. Isn't that sweet???!) I'm added photos in the "miscellaneous" folder.... with shots of the fronts and backs.  Now wouldn't these have made great holiday gifts??? And they are just the right size for gift cards!!! Well, I guess I'll get a jump on next year!

Journal Quilt January: Door to Creativity

I ended up having a few free hours on Thursday, so I got into the studio to make some art. I decided to kind of go "intuitive" since when I journal, I don't have an agenda, I just write what's on my mind. I felt like some bright colors, and decided to use a technique I saw on Uncommon Threads- kind of a fast & furious fusing method. At first, I was getting frustrated- the teflon sheet was not releasing the fusible well, so I had to switch back to the release paper..... but it was still not as easy as it seemed.  I ended up free-form cutting the shape, and then making up my own free-motion pattern to quilt it. (That's something I want to get better at.) When I got it all done, I stepped back and decided it looked like a door....which does reflect my personal desire to make some changes in my work & home schedules. I'm waiting,though, until some other family things are settled. So, literally, I can't "walk through the door" quite yet. Moral of the story: trust the process to let the quilt come through you... what needs to come forth, will! Detail photos in the "Fabric Pages/Mini Quilts" folder.

My Frivolities...

One of the things I love about quilting is that I don't actually have to make quilts, per se. I've gotten and quilted coffee cuff done, and am working on quilted charms for a swap. They're only one inch square! Teeny, tiny, and serendipitous. I love it! And they can be worked on during naptime...... Quilted cuff is in the fiber arts photo album.

Jenny the "Craft Technologist"

One of my patients gave me the title of the "Craft Technologist" a few months ago....(which is pretty funny, considering that I'm the music therapist!) and I'm thinking that it's time to work that title. I always get folks asking me, "How did you DO that?" That usually is followed by my pat answer, "Oh, it's not so tough. You just.....(blah, blah, blah,etc)."  Which is then followed by, "Oh! Some day we'll have to get together and you can show me." See? People want to craft. They want to learn how to make cool things with their own hands. So I've gotten this ideas to host "craft parties" at my house. I'd like to invite folks over once a month to eat, socialize, make something cool, and send them off into the world with new crafty knowledge. And heaven knows I've got enough topics to keep us busy for a year! I think I'm going to do a poly clay topic first... or maybe tag books... hmmm... so many choices....

The Mommy Wars

I picked up a copy of "The Mommy Wars" at the library a few weeks ago... just on an impulse... and now it's dreadfully overdue, but I can't take it back until I'm done. I'm also planning on buying multiple copies for my mommy friends. It's a wonderful series of essays about staying home versus going back to work versus working from home.... all kind of mommy options... and the struggle to a)find the one that works for you and b)figure out how to defend that to everyone else. I'm a little in a rut lately, and I need to change my job(s) to better accomodate my family... but I also need my own time for crafting and creating. It just makes me a better wife and mom. And yet it's so hard to defend to hubby, peers, co-workers, etc. If I stayed home full-time, I could certainly spend more time with the kids... but I know first-hand that the house might not look any better. How can you clean while your kids are playing and needing one-to-one time and supervision? And if I gave up work entirely, there would not be enough money to afford some daycare- which is when I've been getting some house work done or stealing a few moments in the studio. Sometimes it feels like no part of my life is getting it's full due.  *Sigh* 

Quilted table runners

I'm finally posting pics of the quilted table runners I made for my mom and dear sister for Christmas....quite a brilliant pattern, really. It looks like it's made of traditional Ohio Star blocks, but really they are folded squares tucked into the seam allowance instead of half-square triangles. Much easier & quicker to cut and piece, and I really like the three-dimensional effect. On the middle block there are also prairie points tucked in to fancy it up a bit. This one, done for Sis, has fewer blocks to accomodate her smaller table. Check out the extra photos in the fiber art/quilting folder, and you'll see the one for my Mom... longer with slightly more elaborate (machine) quilting.

    Of course, I still have gobs of Christmas fabric scraps left over in my studio, and I'm thinking of how to use them up. (One of my Art Goals for 2007....more on those another day....) What about using the large center square, with a strip of coordinating fabric on either side to make placemats? Or the smaller blocks as potholders/hot pads? Hm.... just want to use it now, so it doesn't end up in the black-hole scrap bin... where they seem to multiply if left unattended!