Working on a new idea

Recently, I was asked if I wanted to participate in a Nativity exhibit to be held, I think, at the Chartreuse Muse (here in Modesto) and since I love wood, in addition to all the other mediums that I enjoy working with, I thought sure, and I should do it in wood.
I may decide to do something in fabric or in ceramic but this is what popped into my head today while I was in church.
I think this is totally do- able.
And I think I'll love it,
although I haven't decided
if I want to put color on it
or not. Maybe I'll do both.
My base (in my head) will
be an old fence board, and
scrap wood will be the
mountains, trees, well
everything. And then on
the sides I'll have maybe
old nails if I can find them,
and brightly colored
ceramic cirles.

I didn't have my colored
pencils in church.... good
thing too, somebody
would have poked me for
not paying attention.

Kate

Heading to the Mountains

So I'm heading to the mountains for the weekend to renew and refresh my soul.

We can all use a little dusting off, a little new information, a quiet chunk of time with God from time to time, and I'm really looking forward to it.

This is the first retreat with women I don't know, that I've ever attended. I've always shyed away because I don't feel particularly "clubby" or "groupie" - although I DO like a responsive audience I've decided. Maybe somebody told me that... I don't know, but it's true.
In any case, I'm already anticipating breaking from the group... for me, seeking God is somewhere in my alone time. I've heard horror stories of not getting any sleep, pranks, loud talking all night, in past years. While I'm all about being funny, I'm not so much about being annoyed, or being annoying.

I'm taking my devotional bible because there's some really good commentary as well as scripture, and my sketch book and charcoal, my camera, my pillow (that's all I need) and my down comforter. And my Excederin. That's all I need ... (ala Steve Martin in "The Jerk.") And my thermos. And my favorite tea bags. No candy. Well maybe SOME candy. Or maybe just an apple. (Really, I don't know why they're letting me come at all.)

Seriously though, for me to be at one with God, I just need to sit still in the quiet of the outdoors, surrounded by the tall trees and the brisk air. No big explanation... there IS someone much greater than I who controls the universe, by His very word and I'm good with that. Takes all that responsibility off my shoulders.

Yeah, that's pretty much all I need.

Change is Good.... right?

Again, I must apologize... if only to myself, for not posting in over a month. It seems by doing this, I send my own personal "idea" diary out into the universe and it comes back with notes and thoughts and some ideas from others, which is fascinating to me. It's amazing.

The reason for my long absence? Transition I think. I left a job that I loved, working with people that I love, just because I thought it was 'time to go' and while I'm searching for another one, I'm going to do my best to make my art, be that job.
I'm kind of on the fence about whether or not this will work. I think it could, I think I have enough ideas, a modicum of talent, bravery though? .... not so sure that I have enough of that. Confidence... sometimes yes, lots of times no. But I'm going to give it a shot anyway, because really in the end, what have I got to lose, and what am I doing anyway? I'm just waiting for my resume to knock someone over with my 'ability to juggle twelve tasks in a single bound' basically. And I think there's a zillion people like me looking for a job. So I leave my future in the hands of God, and I'll just put one foot in front of the other and it's alllllll going to work out.

Now, to post a bunch of pictures of my latest art journey.

Kate

One picture is the body of a diaper bag in-progress, that I am making for a lovely little friend and her new baby Wyatt. The usual bags are much too boring and I like the idea of a gypsy/hobo/funky bag much better. I hope she will too... and their last name begins with "Q" ... hence the BeBe'Q... get it?

I've been a slacker....

I've been a slacker with posting... and it's not because I've not been doing anything - it's just that I've not accomplished what I thought I would. Our daughter is moving home so that's created some bit of upheaval (?) because I've needed to move my sewing out of that room and into the already chaotic family room. Seriously ... no family would dare go in there for fear of getting lost. I know pretty much where everything is, but I am hardpressed to do anything about the clutter because I just don't know WHAT to do. I've got a conglomeration of pottery fired, and unfired, glaze, clay, three sewing machines, a couple of cabinets, a hutch, two rocking chairs, a big honkin coffee table, that's too big to be useful and ends up being a 'flat surface'... of which I am the Queen. "FlatSurface Queen" that's me. And that's not even all of it, I've got half a dozen large flat tubs of wonderful had-to-have-it fabric, my drafting table that was an antique I found at an estate sale, four three-drawer plastic rolling carts, a box of gourds... I never told you about those? I do gourds as well.... book I would throw myself in front of a train to protect, although I've not picked up a one of them.

Is there an organizer in the house? My kids mention CleanSweep once in a while but THAT is not the answer... I'll throw the stuff I'm not using away, but nobody is ever allowed to touch any art/craft supplies. Seriously! I've found that I can use the tiny bits of driftwood I've collected and brought home years ago, to hang my tiny quilt bits and they look cool!

So.... I'd love to hear from a clutter or former clutter queen and how they got their groove going by sifting and sorting through their stuff because I could sure use direction.

More later, with pics.

K

Switching Mediums for a bit

So... in case anyone noticed, I haven't been around for a while. My wide range of interests took me outside where the weather was just so so so beautiful, and into my back yard to work on my potting wheel.

Because I have such a wide range of interests it's hard for me to stay with one thing for terribly long, and my sweet, sweet stack of wonderful fabric, is just sitting in my sewing room, waiting to welcome me back as soon as the summer gets too hot, or my hands get too sore or I run out of clothes that I like, to wear. Or I'm magically inspired again, which will be sometime soon, I'm sure.

Anyway, my love of all things clay, and the texture of it, and the quiet it brings me, and the fact that it ends up being me, outside, with my big, big dog, fooling around on my potting wheel, listening to the birds, and thinking in long long run-on sentences to myself --- has taken me to creating wall pieces. I did some bowls, and then I did some little wall pockets .......eh, they were okay, nothing really to write home about, but my latest little thing are these wall hangings.......I guess you'd call them that...... and so I'm posting a couple of pictures of them, still in raw clay form.........now to wait for them to dry and fire them.

I'm always in love with my new projects and it's the same with these........and they are the primary star (hopefully) in creating a nice little pot of money with which to put a down payment on my house - which could be selling later this year, and hopefully to us. (We're renting)

So I'm going to sell these on etsy.com and anywhere else I can hustle them, and work, work, work, until I've made the requred cash. I'm hoping by selling them for a nominal price, $5, $10, $15-$25, I can get a lot of people interested, especially since I'll do special orders and will also have a wonderful line of Christmas stuff probably in August.

So... if you've got any other ideas that I maybe haven't thought of - hit me back.

Kate

I've Got An Idea !!

Sorry for the delay. I've been just going crazy with allergies and such. I've been at the sewing machine but not producing too much in the way of great creativity. However I did come up with this little iPod case, which I think I'll make more of, and maybe even a teensy bit bigger to accomodate cell phones and such.

The iPod was kind of making me crazy because I'd have it sitting on my desk but if I turned around to get into a file, it would fall on the floor, or if I put it in my pocket, I'd worry about if it would fall out, and if I got up to go do something, it would be just sitting there. So I figured an eensy pocket might be quite perfect, and this is all just scrap material so it was just a little labor of love time. I may even put them on etsy to sell for $10 or $12. What do you think?

Kate

Whoops... I forgot to add this little 3x4 inch piece that I finished.

YOU KNOW HOW A COLD CAN MAKE YOU CRAZY?

Well that's about how I've felt. I caught a cold and was out of it for several days. It's amazing how the simple cold can completely wipe you out to the point of making you (me) feel slightly crazy. I just didn't care. I had some work that I HAD to do from home but other than that, it was all about getting juice, whining about not having soft Kleenex and moving from the bed to the chair, watching the intermittent 15 minutes of tv......and then starting over. I haven't even had any ideas, which is really unlike me. I can usually think of stuff all the time. I do have a couple of things I scanned last week that I'll show you but that's about it.

More later.

K

SIX WORD MEMOIR CHALLENGE - Can You Do It?

Robyn, my new friend in South Africa challenged me to write a Six Word Memoir, so here is what I think it should be, and I challenge you to do the same.

How do you sum your life up in six words? I had to draw lines, like playing Hang Man, to conserve thoughts and words and here is what I think I like, but it could change too. So, is this who I am? Or is this who I aspire to be? Or... could I simply jot down words that I admire and try to aspire to them? Interesting thought.

"Singing, laughing, creating. Heart wide open."

So the challenge is this: Six Word Memoir! Hope you play!

Rules:

1. Write your own six-word memoir.

2. Post it on your blog (and include a visual illustration if you would like).

3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post.

4. Tag five more blogs with links.

5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

I'm not sure how to do the linking and the inviting, but I'm going to give it a shot.

K

I HAVE GOT TO DO SOME HANDWORK....

Here are two things I did over the weekend. The fabric piece is 23 inches wide and 13 inches long. It's the top third of a piece I want to actually finish.

I love drawing on paper bags - don't know why, probably the texture and substance of the large shopping bags - they just feel very sturdy and strong.

Anyway, these are my little doodle sketches of ideas I would like to bring to fruition.

K

I TOOK A LITTLE TRIP YESTERDAY...

I took a little trip yesterday, the kind we dont' like to take when we're mid age - the kind where I was just walking along, minding my own business, at work, in the hall, thinking about what my next work related task was and how I could play "Beat the Clock" and beat my best time, when all of a sudden, I pitched forward, and in that millisecond realized that I was going to fall, yet how "could" I fall, when I just don't fall. I don't hurt myself, I don't walk unsteady, I don't do things that bring pain near me......and yet there I was pitching forward, grabbing wildly at a half-wall, feeling my arm slide smoothly along it, no grip at all, wondering where I would come to a stop, realizing that my line of vision has somehow been realigned with carpet and then I hear/feel a thud, which evidently was my head hitting the large, round column which was trying desperately to stop me, yet No, No, it was my shoulder, dragging the length of the half-wall and then down the side to the floor, twisting awkwardly up, up and away, as my knees hit the ground with a thud and a bump..........and there I was looking like I'd just decided to stage my own "lay-in"...... OWWWWWWWWWW, OWWWW much later, and OWWWWIE today. I hate getting old. And I hate having body parts that all of a sudden come alive when they think they can cause you great bodily pain. So that's my excuse and I'm good with it.

Anyway, this is the piece for today.......but more will be coming later because even though I'm in pain, my tiny idea brain is always tickin'. Oh, yes it is!

Kate

HOW WOULD I EVER DO A WHOLE QUILT?

I am really trying to stick to my plan of doing something every single day (after work) on my quilting endeavor. So far it's coming in random ideas so I will probably end up with a huge pile of things that don't necessarily go together. But, that's the story of my whole little artistic life. I can do one thing, maybe two, that are kind of alike, and then my mind has wandered off onto some other idea that I can attach to it, or turn what I'm working on into something else. It's a lot of work for me to stick with one idea, no matter how badly I want to.

Anyway, these are the products of my last couple of days. The tiny quilted piece at the top is actually done and ready to either frame or attach to a mat board. My friend, Laurie, wants me to sell them as patches for people to put on their jackets, or turn them into Artist Trading Cards..... I just like to pat them and hold them. The small pieces are comforting to work on... and I don't have to wait to work on them like I do my other things. I can carry them in my purse and work on them while I'm waiting in my car for something, or wherever. It's not like waiting for kiln space, or waiting for paint to dry........ you get it........it's fun, it's nice...... tuck, tuck, fold.... I like to line them up and pat them. Weird, huh?

Kate

WORKING ON SMALL ITEMS...

Yesterday I started doing some little stitch work on the small hearts that I did. I think that my next batch might be stained with tea or coffee, I like that old look. Since the hearts are only about 3 inches, or less, I need to be very careful not to over do the hand work or add too many things. I started out with neutral thread and I don't know if I'll stay with that or not.... I think I'll go ahead and add backing and quilt them and maybe change my choice of frames and put them in a larger frame, or have them "float"... not sure yet.

K

THE SCRAPS KEEP GETTING SMALLER...

While I was whining about my flagrant use of thread, i.e. the long pieces before and aft on a little piece of sewing, someone wrote to me and said that she just kept two pieces of crazy quilt squares going at a time and thus, saved have to clip excess thread at least half the time. So I was thinking.. .. why can't I do that with my long strips and just butt them up, one right after the other? So I did and I was able to do probably 5 or 6 pieces before clipping them off and then I can snip them apart later. But it also keeps them in one place until I want to use them.... cool deal!!

And then I found a ratty (but clean) piece of old muslin that I had. The texture was smooth and worn to the touch and I've found my background for my "I Heart You" series of tiny hearts and frames. And strips off one side.... they were all chewed up, probably from bleach at some point and I'm going to print words on them after the hearts are done, and attach tiny messages.

What fun!! Here's pictures:

K

ADDING NOSTALGIA TO MY WORK

I didn't make it to the sewing machine last night, but I did however, unearth a small book that I ordered some months back, with beautiful pictures and embroidery techniques.

The book has instruction in both thread and ribbon embellishing, and I thought I'd share.

The pictures are beautiful and it's a smaller book that's easy to slip into my purse/knap sack/magicMaryPoppinsBag. I believe I got this from Amazon.com so while it was a used book it was in near perfect condition. And I like the idea that somebody before me owned it and has now passed it on.

Anyway - here is the book and a couple of pages that I thought were good to share. I just think that adding little bits of interest adds so much to the value of your work and the history of your life - sort of like "can I produce something that will touch someone for years?" ... or last a lifetime?

K

USING ALL I'VE GOT........scraps almighty!

I worked on three small pieces. There was such a mess around my sewing machine with piles of little strips of fabric, all the leftovers from my last several days of sewing, but I couldn't just scrape them off into the trash without trying to at least come up with something useable. I'm a little fascinated by a couple of things - 1) have you ever noticed how much thread you can waste by pulling the fabric out and away to cut it off, and the tail that you started with....it's crazy, so I'm going to sew a pile of it onto something and see how that looks....it'll be fibery kind of. And, the other thing? I may have forgotten but maybe I was thinking that you really CAN make something out of those tiny pieces. I think what I'll do is make a series of very small, pieced hearts, then attach them to a solid background and then frame them in little 4 inch frames. That sounds productive, right?

And I'll embroider a little on them. This will be fun. I just know it.

K

SEWING INTO THE NIGHT.....

I started so SO late last night and almost didn't get to the sewing machine, but once I got going it was great. I got TWO pieces sewn last night and will work on some hand embellishing today.

I sat at the machine thinking that it might pipe up and give me an idea and I had none so I started sewing the little scrappy strips together and that looked kind of cool, but you don't get to see that, and then after I ironed it I cut it into strips and then reversed every other one and ironed them down on Wonder Under....not sure what I'll do with that but it looks good, almost like a checkerboard but not. And then after I did that, I just started piecing bits together and going round and round, trimming and cutting, adding more, and came up with the little 3x4 piece.

So I managed to finish the sewing on a 3"x4" piece and just have to go back and add some stitching, and the 9"x 15" and I need to do the same. And these will be framed and put on Etsy.com when I get done.

So....... a challenge.......that would be fun, I'm just not sure what would be good...... I'm into flowers right now so it would have to be something different, something to stretch my little brain. Any ideas?

K

An Interesting Challenge Link

This looks like a really cool beginning. I love the challenge idea, maybe when people start happening onto this page, we'll have our own challenge. How fun!

http://quiltart.com/challenges/fffc/challenge1.html

K

I'm fudging a bit.......I did this the other day. I'm thinking, after seeing some quilt pieces in frames, bordered by wide, white mats, that I might like to see some of these smaller pieces that I've been doing framed. I don't think that I can actually piece any of these pieces together because they just don't go with each other. Seperately they're fine. I guess if I can to four that are similar, but not alike, they can be a small quilt, but I'll figure that out when I come to it. For now, I think I'll just try to stay on task and get one new thing done a day, and do the hand work while I'm watching tv or something.

Always thinkin'.......

K

Work In Progress

LINKS THAT ARE TOO GOOD NOT TO VIEW:

Here are the links.... I'll figure out at some point how to get them on one side.

This is great, maybe I'll do this with a few of my small pieces. I've never seen a bunch of pieces all framed, behind glass. They're quite impressive.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patchworkmemories/sets/72157603994702558/

Here is from a new friend in South Africa........very cool!

http://artpropelled.blogspot.com/

Here are two that I first saw and keep going back to because I'm dying to see what they've got up:

http://www.goingtopieces.blogspot.com/ and http://www.wowmelody.com/

http://twolimeleaves.wordpress.com/category/quilts/
http://www.andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/

http://www.kristinlaflamme.com/musings/

This should keep anybody busy. Great color, great ideas. These have all inspired me.

Kate

ONE PIECE A DAY? THAT'S WHAT I SAID?

Sunday was a busy, busy day. I barely got this little piece put together. It's about 12x15 inches. And if you ask me about dimensions and why that size, I'm not going to have an answer because I don't know. It just looked about right and it didn't loom HUGE to me. I want to get over that scary "Oh my god, it's a huge blank thing that I need to fill."

So... I think that the flowers shouldn't be so close in height and I am not sure what I'm going to do with that......perhaps embroidering stamen or something, or a little spray of seed pods ....something that will draw the eye away..... I've been warned by a friend of mine not to overwork the stitchery and put too much fuss into it.......we'll see.

I'm gathering quite the little pile of things that I will eventually need to put together or finish them as complete things by themselves. That will be my next thing to figure out ... mostly because I don't think any of them go together with the next thing. Grrr..... it's kind of like something an old boss told me some 20+ years ago - "... have you ever noticed that you can't... cannot, do the same thing, the same way twice? Why is that? It's impossible for you to send this form letter out without changing SOMETHING.....?"

Personally, I think it's a gift.

Kate

Yesterday's Effort

So this is what I did yesterday (well into the night). I thought I'd be able to do more but what I've found is this - the same hesitancy I feel with a blank piece of paper (or blank screen) that is screamin' "type something" "think of something" "PRODUCE SOMMMMMEEEETHING", well it happens just as much and just as loudly when I was looking at a blank piece of muslin. I could NOT figure out what to start with first.

This is probably an insane reference, but you know how dogs circle around and around and around some more before they feel like they're in a comfortable spot to lay in? Yeah......well, I've noticed that THAT is just how it is for me. I have to have just the right amount of chaos around me, just enough tidy cluttery piles of fabric, paint, thread, wood, whatever I'm into that week, and after I clutter myself - sadly like a little pig pen.....well then I'm just happy in my slop (evidently) that I can work to my little hearts content. I didn't even mind that I had to get up and iron (yes Mom, I ironed the seams) the little seams every couple of minutes. Now THAT is amazing.

So today, I'll try to do another piece or at least make a significant amount of progress on something else and see what I come up with. I've got a ton of pieces in progress that I haven't even shown you yet either. That will come as we go.

And in the meantime, here are a couple of really cool websites to check out. And I'm only going to put on here what I love!

http://emmyschoonbeek.blogspot.com/ I LOVE her textures and colors!

And I really want to do something like the Gee's Bend quilts - they look simple but I'm thinking it takes some work to have it turn out as great as these: This is a public broadcasting link but there's some great information and the other website took their pictures down, I think to re work the display. In any case this will give you an idea of what these women have done over the years. Look up Gee's Bend quilts, or Gee's Bend quilters to get more information.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec03/quilts_07-01.html

Kate

After an hour of completely screwing up this template...

It occurs to me that the webmaster people who actually put several templates, complete with color, together for those of us who really do not understand webpages and the making of such - really I ought to just follow them blindly. I do not know how to do it so I've just wasted over an hour of my happy, happy Saturday trying to make this page better.

Another lesson I need to learn. If it's not broken, don't screw it up by trying to improve it. My mother would be the first one to cringe when she hears anyone talking about 'directions' to me. She knows that I hate them. It's almost impossible for me to actually listen to them. I try. Really. But there's a compulsive tic .......

Back to color, fabric and such. I rooted around and found some more paintings that I've fiddled around with, (which I am going to post) and I'm thinking that maybe these will be inspiring to me too.

I also went back to a website that I absolutely love, and it has wonderful pictures and details, and self-challenges. Here it is and it's GORGEOUS!!

http://exuberantcolor.blogspot.com/search/label/art%20quilting

I think that's what I need. I need to challenge myself to do a small piece a day. To really get in the groove of ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Yes! YES!! That's what I'll do and I'll come back and show you (for all of you checking in here.....) what I've accomplished so far today. And this last couple of hours do not count.

Kate

Tomorrow is Saturday, happy, happy Saturday. I don't have to work and I have no intention of doing much past cleaning the bathrooms and putting on a pot of something that will translate into a "you-can-eat-anytime-you-want-without-my-help" dinner .......and so MY plan du jour is to go find some inexpensive silk to dye.

I may not even be able to sleep just thinking about it. I haven't done it in years, but the last time I did, I ended up with some really cool green and oranges. I'm thinking now that they would have translated into beautiful art quilts. Hindsight, huh?

Anyway, I'm pretty excited. I can't wait to see what I end up with.

I'm shooting for the colors in this palm drawing I did (and hopefully will post here).

Sleep well.

Kate

Moving along......

So I don't really know who will see this but while I'm figuring it out, I'll just write and try to figure out how to add pictures and do something fun with the text.....and maybe someone will happen along and find it and it will be interesting.

I've been fascinated by all the fabric, quilt, art quilt, textile, painting and completely random artsy sites and they are amazing! Some are really great with pictures, some with instructions, some with just great ideas. So I can't imagine that there's anything I can do that will come even close but I'll give it a shot.

I've been fascinated with art quilts of late and even checked out our local quilt guild, which was a really interesting experience. I think lots of people think that "quilters" are a bunch of little old ladies, but that is so far from fact. These are accomplished, intelligent, highly organized women....and they are passionate about what they do. I can't wait til the next meeting to check out what's going on. In the meantime I'm formulating what I want to do first. So I'm going to post some of my art work that I may want to use as ideas for a small quilt or wall hanging.

If anyone sees this........ I will appreciate input.

Kate

Mostly, I'm screamin' inside my head

Really.....I don't know what I'm doing. And most of the time I figure someone is going to notice it too. But I'm going to give my friends a rest and talk to the air and try to figure out what all the hoopla is about blogging. You may not even want to read this until I get some real tangible stuff going on.

I'll check back when I have a thought.

Kate