quilt squares and new books

I went through all my scraps this weekend so that I could organize them by strips, larger pieces, and little scraps. I was playing around in my process book and this is what I came up with:

Just a few studies but I like the way the fabric strips look with the pen drawing. Im planning on doing some drawings this way.

These are my four square studies of log cabin and string piecing for my class. I am really enjoying piecing the strips and figuring out color schemes. I just ordered some fabric from Purl Soho and I cant wait to get it!

These are two little books I made that you can carry with you all the time. Chris gets the leather one and I get the green one. I wanted to try new methods of binding and I needed a small book to put in my purse in case I get inspired and these worked out perfectly. They were a big hit with my class too. I am going to give them a bookbinding demo in 2 weeks (after midterms, yikes!).

I picked up the Knit Knit book this weekend at my favorite local yarn shop, Wild Fibre. It is so inspiring! It profiles artists and their work and there is some spectacular knitting going on!

a few things i meant to post last week…

My friend Jen’s quilts in the window of ShopSCAD, one of my favorite galleries in Savannah. It has the most innovative and creative art, and it its always inspiring.

Jen Jenkins is a graduate of the MFA Fibers program. Her fine art website blows me away. When working on her thesis show, a period of only a couple months, she said she sewed over 1 or 2 million stitches and had to have her Bernina serviced twice (or something like that, which apparently is a lot!). The surfaces are heavily stitched and textured. Her production design company, Double J Designs makes gorgeous (functional) quilts. Make sure to check her out!

Vogue Knitting Stitchionary and a handspun skein of yarn from Urban Gypz that I got while I was in Asheville. I love this book! Not only are the samples interesting but the layout is clean and easy to follow. This is really embarrassing, but since working on one of the samples Ive realized I have been doing yarn overs wrong! Wow. But now I know and I am following an eyelet pattern and learning a lot. Like, I dont really like following eyelet or lace patterns… but I do like the way they look so Im gonna stick it out for now.

Im going to use the yarn as the fringe for a dark brown cable knit scarf Ive been trying to finish for a year now. Check out her etsy shop, she is awesome!

Beautiful beautiful raw fleece. I got this from an art supply store in Asheville.

I had such a busy weekend because we were having a few events at my gallery for an Italian artist, Stefano Cecchini.

Thats me on the left, Stefano, Brenda and Joey. I had a great time hanging out with my co-workers and Stefano but I seriously have to get some work done now. I hope you all had a great weekend!

Oh! Before I go……

Chris got a Mohawk! Its awesome!

 

quilting process book

 

I made this sketchbook for my quilting class with fabric from Purl Soho.

Front cover. I bound it using the Coptic stitch.

 

Inside front cover.

 

I folded the paper so that there would be short pages every other page so that I can attach quilting samples and fabrics without stressing the binding.

 

Back cover.

new work

Ive got a bunch of photos so be ready. I’ll start with some dailys:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The book is almost full! I have really enjoyed this project and I plan to make another one very soon.

 

 

Tea bag collage.

Tea stained organza spine.

 

For this one I screen printed my neck x-ray (can you see my scull and jaw bone from the side angle at the top, and shoulder at the bottom?), then embroidered on top of it. I am just learning to embroider and am still getting used to it. Im definitely enjoying it tho.

The very beginning of another embroidered screen print.

Screen printed x-rays. Im thinking about making a new daily that includes the screen printed x-rays and embroidery. Some could be quick and some more involved. What do you think? I’d love some feedback!

And since this is such a long photo post I thought I’d add one more and give you a little sneak peak into my studio.

I have posted a lot of images of my work from this quarter, but I feel like I dont really have any “finished” pieces. Of course, this happens and I had several breakthroughs this quarter, so I feel it was a success. I would love to know what you think and get some feedback on my work. What are your initial reactions? Are you seeing any connections? Your opinions are very important to me! Speak up!

 

 

new dailys

I dont have time for a long post today so I thought I’d update you on my daily practice collages. I started this book on 6 Aug. I hope everyone is having a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

studies

 

I have been saving every tea bag I use this summer so that I can possibly use them in the fall in a quilt. When I looked at the bags last week I discovered some of them had gotten moldy. It was almost heartbreaking to think that I would have to throw them away, so I boiled them all again in hopes it would take care of the problem. I laid out all the bags on a piece of watercolor paper to dry. Their impressions are much fainter than the first round but they look beautiful. I love the shadows of the tea bags.

 

 

The daily teas werent working very well under the rock so I started playing with them. I plan on finishing it this weekend (hopefully) so I’ll show pics soon.

 

 

 

My daily practice has changed a few times this quarter so this is the new book to hold the dailys. I am sticking with the same 5×7 format, but I am allowing myself to use whatever materials I have, not just scraps, so I can paint and draw as well. I really like how the book came out. I have short pages to attach the dailys to.

More pics on my Flickr page.

(Im having some trouble with the editor, for some reason it does not want to left align, but I (Chris actually) downloaded a Flickr uploader so I can upload in batches from iPhoto!! Can you feel the excitement?! Wow. And it was like right in front of my face, but downloading programs makes me nervous so its nice to get a second opinion from the expert.)

saturday morning meltdown and new books

Sawyer and I had quite a morning yesterday. It started at about 4am when he woke us up whining. He does this sometimes so we told him to shush and went back to sleep. He kept it up periodically but I tried to ignore it. Then around 8 he started gagging. I thought he might be choking on the stuffing he pulled out from his bed (bad boy) so I checked his mouth and throat and didnt feel anything. He eventually stopped the gagging so I thought he was better and started to get ready for work. Chris was getting ready to go on a kayaking trip with his friends so he went to Parkers to get something for lunch. I was still getting ready when I heard a weird sound, I looked over at Sawyer on the bed and he had thrown up all over the quilt. Yuck. So I cleaned it up and threw the quilt in the washing machine and didnt think much of it because sometimes dogs throw up and then they’re fine. Chris came back to grab his stuff and go and laughed at me for gagging and being grossed out.

Sawyer still didnt look like he felt good so I took him outside so he could go potty and he threw up out there too. I was thinking, ok, that was probably it. But when we came back in he started again on the living room rug. So by this point Im getting pretty worried so I called Chris and he said we should do something. I had about 15 mins. before I had to be at work so I started making phone calls to my boss, Brenda (left a voicemail) and the nearest vet (no appointment openings) and then to my vet (walk-in hours till 12 only). For some reason with each phone call I started to get more upset so when I called Brenda again and my co-worker, Joey, I was leaving voicemails in tears. I didnt want to just not show up for work, but I had to take care of my boy. Brenda called back and was so understanding and sweet, as always, and told me to take him to the vet.

So as we’re leaving Sawyer is looking all pitiful and sick, but then perks up some when we get in the car and seems to be enjoying sticking his nose out the window. When we get to the vets office there are two other dogs in the waiting room and Sawyer thinks its play-time. He’s trying to sniff and play with the dogs but one is sitting quietly not paying any attention to him and the other one is trying to play but his owner is restraining him. Im trying to keep Sawyer sitting down but he keeps whining and trying to get to them, so I guess he was feeling ok, or at least distracted enough to feel ok. The vet said he probably got into something that upset his stomach, like licking puddles before I can pull him back when we are out on walks. He gave him some meds and he seems to be fine.

When I finally made it to work Joey was already there, covering for me like the sweet guy that he is. He let me go back home to stay with Sawyer to make sure he was ok and then when Chris got back I went in and took over so Joey could leave. I have to say that I am so lucky to work with such understanding and wonderful people. I was a worried mama but everything seems to be ok now. I may have overreacted a little, but I couldnt leave him all day worried that something would happen. Its better to be safe than sorry, and Im glad I was able to get him looked at.

Dont let that pitiful face fool you, he’s just trying to get some kisses. My vet wants us to get him fixed soon. We have been putting it off for a while because even though we know we should do it, we dont really want to. Sawyer isnt aggressive, he doesnt chew things (except now his bed stuffing- but Ive taken care of that), and he doesnt bark unless someone gets close to the window or knocks on the door. We havent seen a major reason to do it yet, but I think it will be better for him in the long run. I guess its finally time.

Amidst all the craziness of yesterday, I got my books from Amazon! Right now I am reading Your Inner Physician and You, by John Upledger, and Wisdom in the Body, by Michael Kern. These books explain the benefits of CranioSacral Therapy and how it works. This information is fascinating and its what Ive been looking for, without knowing it, for a long time. I am still in the early stages of research, but basically the Craniosacral system is the area in the body in which the brain and spinal cord function. Upledger had a theory that the plates in the adult skull are not fused and do in fact move. When these plates get stuck it causes chaos in the body and manifests in ways that can cause chronic pain and decreased brain function. There is so much more to it and as Im researching I’ll post my findings. I am really enjoying these books. Up next is The Mindbody Perscription by John E. Sarno, who thinks that pain is caused by the mind holding on to a trama from the past and when you can let that go, the pain subsides.

Ive been doing some experimenting with tea this weekend and trying to work out a few ideas so I’ll be back to post those soon. I hope everyone is having a fun weekend!

coptic

I just couldnt get this idea out of my head last week, so I had to make it to see what it looked like. I went crazy with the coptic stitch. The book is about 5.5″ x 7″ and it took about 8 hours total, worked over 3 days. Every stitch was very meditative and satisfying. As I got into a rhythm it reminded me of the breathing practice we do in yoga, called ujjayi breath. It is an audible, hollow sounding breath through the nose used to sooth and focus your attention to your practice. In a sense, this practice demonstrates how the breath can connect your physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual selves together. The sound of piercing the paper and drawing the thread through each opening reminded me of the breath. It created an essence. I recorded the sound to capture this essence. I did a few test rounds then a final round, and after each time I listened to the recording as I continued to stitch the book together so it created this stereo effect- listening to the recording while creating the sound. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process.

hit the ground running

I was quite bored with my daily practice of drawing the bird bones so Ive decided to do something different. In my effort to live more “green” and create less waste, I am going to make a collage a day using my scraps from other projects. This will keep (most) of them out of the trash and will be a fun creative outletThese scraps were from a book I made for Cori’s birthday. I learned how to screen print last week! I printed little alpacas on paper and I used the paper for the cover of the book. I bound it too loose the first time and I had to redo it so I had all these little bits left. I broke a needle on my sewing machine going through the waxed threads.

This was the book I made last week that I wanted to show you. Its my process book for Working Class Studio. It has a grey paper cover and green dots on grey fabric interior. Throughout the quarter I’ll add things like scraps or stickers to the cover to make it more fun.

This will be clapotis… eventually. Its taken me months to get this far, I think I started it in March. Geez! But when I do get time to knit its fabulous. Im using a silk yarn by Habu, just about the best yarn company ever.

This gorgeous hand dyed merino wool from Malabrigo Yarn will be a pillow cover. It is kettle dyed and the color is lettuce. I made up the cable pattern and its creating some interesting textures. This wool is like a cloud, it’ll be so nice to lay my head on…. eventually.

I generally dont get a lot of time to knit while Im in school, and this quarter already feels like its going to be a sprint. But thats when the good stuff usually happens in my work so Im looking forward to seeing what I come up with.

I have to go research trends in fabric wall art before I head out to WCS this afternoon, so have a wonderful day!

first week back

As one of my assignments this quarter, I am to maintain a daily practice. For me, this means a small drawing of my bird bones on an index card. I made a little book to hold the drawings using organza that I dyed with a potato dextrin resist and layered it over dark brown linen. I did a few test samples and tried to sew areas of the organza to the linen so it would lie flat and have texture but it didnt look right, so I decided just to sew the edges. I think it still looks strange because no matter how hard I tried, the organza will not lie flat on the linen.

There are three panels. The center panel has 2 flaps to hold the index cards in place.

See where it puckers? Its slightly annoying, but I love the crackle effect that the potato dextrin created.

I had some pics of knitted works in progress but somehow I lost them when I went to cut and paste and I am at work so I dont have the files. I’ll be back later with them though, promise.

My internship at Working Class Studio started yesterday and it was a great first day. My bosses are awesome, they are very supportive, encouraging and hilarious. For our first assignment we had to create 3 tshirt designs for SCAD. Some were really great. I think my favorite was an illustration of a student showing her work to her parents and it said something like, “Rule #124: They will not understand, but they still love you.” So true. Another one of this artists designs was a guy and a girl at their easels, the guy is looking over at the girl with a heart above his head but the girl is ignoring him and it said, “rule #58: There is no time for love in art school.” Very cute. We also did an intro to screenprinting session which was awesome. I have screen printed using drawing fluid and screen filler but never photo emulsion so the process was really interesting to learn. I’ll be back to show you what I made.

This first week of school has already been crazy so Im not sure how relaxing my weekend will be but I have a friend visiting from Florida so Im sure we’ll get into something fun. Have a great weekend everyone!