Inspirational Wednesday (Portugal 3)

“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” 

– Samuel Johnson

I loved all the cement work in Portugal.

Inspirational Wednesday (Portugal 2)

Architecture arouses sentiments in man. The architect's task therefore, is to make those sentiments more precise.

-Adolf Loos

Portugal has the most outstanding door knockers...and door handles...and doors.  Enjoy!

 

Inspirational Wednesday (Portugal 1)

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

 – St. Augustine

When I return from a trip, I am full of ideas and things I want to make. One of my most inspiring trips  was to Portugal and Spain with my sister, Jill, and my niece, Katie.  During the month of April, all of my Inspirational Wednesdays will be from this trip. 

My niece, Katie, and my sister, Jill, at a sidewalk cafe.

While we were in Portugal, all the stores we having clearance sales.  I stocked up on fabric (40 meters of it!).  Interesting that all fabric is kept behind the counter and only men cut your fabric...hmmmmm.

Label, Label, Label...

 We adore chaos because we love to produce order. 

--M. C. Escher

I cannot say that my studio is very neat, but I do feel it is organized.  I learned (the hard way) to mark everything in my studio. Below are the lessons I learned and how I changed things.


I love to experiment with anything new and different in the mixed media world; I have learned that what a absolutely needed one day, I have no idea what it is a few months down the road.  To remedy this I now put the following things with items that I may question at a later date:

• Instructions that came with the item
• The cardboard packaging 
• Any good information that I read about the product on a newsgroup
• The page from the catalog that I purchased the product from

Backside of the Perfect Pearls package with instructions

My bottle of Paverpol has a baggy taped to it with  a print-out from a newsgroup regarding the use of the product.

Sewing Machine Feet

I have the original card that was packaged with each foot

There are times that  when I need to reorder an item; the lesson I learned is that it is much easier if I know what I purchased previously and where the item was bought. 

Again, I keep packaging or just note on the item the details of the purchase.  

For every embroidery thread that I own, I have the cut the original tag down  to make sure  I retain the name of the company and the color of the thread.  I fold and tuck it in the edge of the card that the thread is on.

I know this picture is tough to see, but when I buy beads, I label where they were purchased, brand, color and size on the storage container.

Closer view of storage container.  The beads in the top container  were purchased at the store, Little Bohemia, whereas the ones on the bottom are a mixed called Margarita.

The last lesson that I learned was about how time flies.  I will often purchase something to find that it is dried up.  In reality, I do not remember how long I have owned the item.  Now I mark everything that could dry-up with the date that I puchased it.

Above: I date all paints

Below: My paint box with dated jars.  I also put a dollop of paint on the top of the container to help identify the color.

Above: Pens marked and though these are older, they are still good!
Below: Stamp pads dry out so fast, the dates are helpful

What are your favorite studio tips?

Jackie's Art Quilt

When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt.  

--Henry J. Kaiser

I am very fortunate that I am surrounded by many talented art quilters.  As I mentioned earlier this month, I am part of a group mixed media art exhibit at a local gallery.  One of the other exhibitors, Jackie,  is a retired art teacher and over-all extremely talented woman.  I love using her hand-dyed fabrics in my work.

Jackie has an outstanding art quilt in the show (a piece of art that definitely speaks for itself!) that she made from using the gelatin/fabric paint printing method. Below is her final piece and a close-up (the piece is approximately 60" tall by 36" wide).

So, so beautiful! The color is amazing! Makes you feel like you are at the bottom of the ocean with all of the beautiful sea life.  I am not sure if my pictures show it clear enough,  but the quilt is made of of smaller individual quilts that were assembled into the large quilt. 

Jackie has spoken about the fun she had creating the colorful pieces with the gelatin process.  Conversely, she talks about how time consuming and frustrating  it was to sew a satin stitch around the edges.  I have had the same problem with satin stitch edges.  I was fortunate to find an inexpensive sewing machine foot that fits my sewing machine called Satinedge.

Below is the foot on my machine.  There are two things that make this such a handy tool:

1. The white arm on the right, as you look at the foot, is the guide to make sure your stitching is  aligned up with the edge of your fabric.
2. There is a wire that goes down the center of the foot.  This wire stabilizes the edge of the fabric so it does not pucker and it also creates a smooth edge of stitches.

Below on the left is stitching without the specialty foot.  You will notice that the stitches are inconsistent and the fabric puckers a bit at the end.

Below on the right is the stitching using the Satinedge foot, a much more consistent look.

The first picture below is the top of the foot; the second one shows the bottom of the foot and the wire that goes down the middle of the foot.

Thanks so much to my friend Jackie for letting me share her fabulous piece of art!

Sewing Sisters

Memories are sewn together with heartstrings. 

Have you ever met someone for the first time and immediately knew you were kindred spirits?  It has happened to me a few times and it is pretty magical.  This happened about eight ears ago when I was in Huntsville, Alabama at a Martha Pullen week-long class.


The first day a met a woman named Vanese and our friendship began.  Here is where you may think this is a little strange...in the past eight years we have not seen each other nor talked on the phone, but to this day I feel a strong connection to her.  I am so thankful  for Facebook because it is now easier to keep in touch (versus our annual Christmas cards).


Recently, I know my friend has been going through a tough time so I thought I would post a picture of us to boost her.  This photo was at Martha's house where we presented her with a quilt that our group made in our free time during the week.

After I posted it, guess what Vanese said?  OMGoodness! Kathy, you made my day! This pic is on a bulletin board next to my sewing table. I LOVE seeing it when I see. It is also a great memory for me. Thanks.


Funny, eights years have come and gone and we both still have the same photo displayed in our studios.


Do you have a Sewing Sister?
 

Hand-Stitching

Apart from yoga, meditation, reading, needlework has to be one of the most serene things to do. Don't lose your needles though, that can create a severe lack of serenity.  

--Carole Berman/Jennifer Lazarus The Needlepoint Collection 

The first quilt I made was in a class.  I remember how proud I was of it; I also remember once I had the binding stitched around the front of the quilt, I was shocked and dismayed to find that I would have to hand-sew it to the back of the quilt.  My fellow classmates had the same feelings; we kept inquiring if there was anyway around this hand-stitching aspect of the project.  I bit the bullet and painstakingly finished it.

                                    Fast forward fifteen years and it seems like hand-stitching has become my primary method of creating my works.  Now I cannot imagine a day without picking up a needle and thread to sew. 

As my love of hand-sewing grew, so did my collection of embroidery thread.  I soon found that I had embroidery threads tucked everywhere in my studio.  Alas, I found a cabinet from DMC that solved my problem perfectly. I now feel organized!

Below are photos of my cabinet and my embroidery stash.