Month: August 2019

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ICAD Week 8

I just realized that I did not finish posting here about my participation in the 2019 index-card-a-day challenge.  The good news is, yes, I made an index card for all 61 prompts!  I’ll admit, I did not finish everything by July 31, the official end of the challenge, and of course I am even later in posting about it!  Here are the cards from week 8:

The prompts were: escape, number, friendship, note to self, shadow, pendulum and spin.  I will post the final five cards from the challenge on Thursday, and I want to take an in-depth look at a few individual cards in the next few weeks.  My next goal is to make the cards that I did not complete from the last two years of the challenge, at a leisurely pace.  I need to make my art quilts a priority now, along with another long neglected daily creative project.

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Seven Days

I was going to write about something else today, but while I was in and out of the kitchen and porch grilling dinner, I found this lovely creature:

It is a Luna moth.  I have only seen one other Luna moth, also where I live, a couple of years ago.  The one I found today was clinging to the doorjamb of my porch door.  Since I am short, I almost missed seeing it.  While my dinner cooked, I watched the motionless moth, taking in the rare sight for as long as I could.  These moths are not considered rare, but they are not always observed as they are nocturnal and only live for about seven days (more information here).

This evening I have been pondering measuring progress in seven day increments, one week to us, but an entire lifetime for the Luna moth.  I caught myself feeling bad about all the times this past week that I goofed off instead of stitching, writing, drawing or being otherwise creatively productive.  Over the past year, a few things have happened that reminded me of how short of a time we are here, and as a result, I have been more aware of how much time I waste in a day.  I still struggle with time management, and it is easy to get overwhelmed by balancing things I want to do with the things I have to do ASAP.  I know I am not the only one with these issues!

Finding the Luna moth today reminds me not to dwell on what I haven’t done, but celebrate what I have done, and to look ahead seven days to what I can try to accomplish.  I am going to head downstairs to see if my little moth is still on the porch, and look for some fabric to match that delicate celadon color.  I won’t spend too much time looking for the fabric, I have some older projects that I want to stitch.  How much will I get done in the next seven days?

 

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Happy Distractions

Yikes!  If I miss a week of posts, it is because I am in a groove with something, or just really having fun.  Or, both situations – if I’m in a creative or other productive groove, I’m having fun.  Last week flew by from canning green tomato relish, and preparing and participating in a local art festival.  I was not a vendor at the festival, but I volunteered to demo my stitching and fabric collage techniques.  Here are a couple of views of my table of creative collage chaos:

The weather was perfect, and I enjoyed renewing acquaintances with local artists.  We all agreed that we need to get together more and promote our skills in the community, and encourage others to learn new things.  One of my goals is find ways to stitch more out in public view, and talk to people about what I am doing.  There are many ways to accomplish this: make something while waiting for an appointment, get out and sketch while on break, have artist trading cards to give away to anyone who asks about what you are doing.  Talk about why art is important to you, and why you like your chosen media.  Have fun!

 

 

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On the Road Again – To Quilt National!

Well, I’m not am exhibitor in Quilt National, but I am pleased to announce that I will be a vendor at the Dairy Barn Arts Center’s QuiltFest.  Hours are Saturday, August 31 from 10-6 and Sunday, September 1 from 10-4.

I will have my own hand-dyed fabric, embellishing trim packs, vintage textiles, Ohio Amish made sewing baskets and embroidery thread from House of Embroidery.  In addition to the creative supplies, I will be selling some of my fabric collage wall hangings and boxes.  Come on out to beautiful Athens, Ohio and buy some beautiful things!