For the last three days I have been in the house tending to STUFF. Boring stuff. Paperwork. I've also been walking a few mornings a week and if it cools down at some point, I'll do more days.
It has been very hot here but if I walk early enough (e.g. - between 6:30 and 7:30 am) it is manageable.
The other morning, it was not too hot for the turkeys to be out prancing around. This one had stopped to catch a worm or whatever they eat.
I have been sewing therapy strips -- about all I want to do right now. I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with them but as I put these on the piece of batting I taped to my sewing room wall, I suddenly knew what this was going to be about. I just don't know how it will end up looking or in fact, whether I even need to finish it. I'm just getting started.
I often just get started and that's where it ends. Most things don't end up even being sewn together, but that's ok. I figure that it is just not their time. Do you find that is the case, too?
At any rate, this is what I have thrown at the wall - but next week, when I am in the studio, I will bring these with me and see if they work with the therapy strips I have on the wall there. I find it hard to do any real designing at home, any more. I got rid of the design wall, painted this room, and it is more-or-less my office/sewing room. OTOH - what is a sewing room for an artist without a design wall? Hence the messy batting put up temporarily with blue painter's tape.
Quite a few of these strips have been sliced from fabric I printed and had left over or didn't know what to do with. This demo piece,for example: glue resist printed over an ugly piece of dyed cloth,makes great stripes when cut. Another blogger who took a studio workshop with me recently, sent me a picture of something she is making with a piece she printed. She cut it into pieces and it looks much better than it did as a whole piece of cloth.
Tune in tomorrow when I post about the change of pace in my boring life. I have been saying for a while that I could stand some boring time - but be careful what you wish for: I didn't mean this boring!
It has been very hot here but if I walk early enough (e.g. - between 6:30 and 7:30 am) it is manageable.
I stopped at the farm on the way home from doing some errands on Sunday and bought a huge bunch of basil and then wondered what I should do with it. Aha! Basil ice cream! Not as good as the basil ice cream I had last week when I was out, but quite delicious nevertheless. If the basil is still alive when I get back from my upcoming teaching trip, I'll make it again. But the next time, I will strain it so there are not little green leafy bits in the ice cream. And I'll leave off the strawberries. The page opposite this recipe had one for parsley ice cream, but I have my limits.
I often just get started and that's where it ends. Most things don't end up even being sewn together, but that's ok. I figure that it is just not their time. Do you find that is the case, too?
At any rate, this is what I have thrown at the wall - but next week, when I am in the studio, I will bring these with me and see if they work with the therapy strips I have on the wall there. I find it hard to do any real designing at home, any more. I got rid of the design wall, painted this room, and it is more-or-less my office/sewing room. OTOH - what is a sewing room for an artist without a design wall? Hence the messy batting put up temporarily with blue painter's tape.
Tune in tomorrow when I post about the change of pace in my boring life. I have been saying for a while that I could stand some boring time - but be careful what you wish for: I didn't mean this boring!
4 comments:
Beautiful strips! I love that you call it "therapy sewing", because it is exactly what I revert to whenever I get to sew just for the pure love of it. Only I have come to call it "cleaning up my sewing area" (which, as I'm sure you know, is ridiculous since it is the messiest thing a person can do with dry fabric); it all started innocently enough, with me thinking it would be easier to just start randomly sewing these little leftover bits & bobs together than to sort everything out & put away properly. Hah! A severe addiction was born!
After I made Sylvia's quilt (which she's not allowed to sleep with in her bed - did you know that these modern young parents believe that allowing a baby to sleep with a quilt is pretty much an attempt at murder?), I started making baby clothes and such, which led to me starting my little Etsy business - www.sylviasnest.com - and has kept me from doing what I think of as my own, totally freestyle, piecing.
But something in me just busted loose the oher day, and I have spent the entire long weekend hunched over my machine pulling out all my fabulous little scraps and going at it. I realize that this is what I love, love, love, to do, just lose track of the outside world while I play with the colored pieces. Such sweet madness! But good grief, does it make a mess!
I love your strips! Your fabrics are perfectl in this combination
I agree that not all fabric needs to be sewn together all at once. I have given up feeling guilty over pieces that are waiting to be finished. Their time will come....or not.
I like to see the whole process from start to finish with my work. I still have a few pieces that haven't seen the finish line but I try to keep that at a minimum. Otherwise, I just feel like every day I could start something new and never feel accountable or finish it. I guess the structure & discipline is important to me. FWIW
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