Tag: creativity

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Working Through Challenges

Using vintage linens and working in a collage style presents some challenging problems.  Certain traditional quilt methods of assembly just don’t work well with my creative visions and materials of choice.  If you’ve visited my booth at a quilt show, you’ll know that I sell quite a few dyed vintage damask table linens.  Many of them have a nice finished edge that I want to preserve while using them in a collage.  I am still trying to come up with an easy way to bind all the layers and not lose that finished edge.  Today, I am embarking on my latest attempt at this quest.

Starting with a medium size dyed damask napkin that will be the base of the collage, I picked out a couple of smaller squares on which to stitch scrap compositions.  These smaller squares will be similar to the 4 x 4” square that I have been featuring in previous posts.  The next step was to select scraps to add to the little squares:

I pulled out more scraps than I’ll be able to use in this project, but that’s OK – it is good to have more to choose from during the early planning stages.  Next, I started working with the wool square.  Several little scraps jumped out at me, and the placement of them came together quickly.

Notice that all the pieces are separate from each other.  How would they look with a piece of fabric underneath (other than the background) that connected them together?

I like the second version, the additional piece of fabric adds another layer of interest.  I’m going to take a look at some trims and funky yarns to add, as I think I’m ready to start stitching this one over the next couple of days.

I invite you to follow along in my quest over the next week or so, will this work out, or be a dead end?  This will also be another look into my creative process.

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I Wonder What I Have Yet to Discover

Music is incredibly important in my life, and even though I have not played an instrument since high school, it is crucial to my well-being and I’d like to think that it has an influence on my visual art.  I listen to a wide range of musical genres, and I enjoy discovering new sounds.  Every once in a while a new-to-me song or musician comes along that first hits me with an electric jolt, then melts into my mind with the deliciousness of liquid chocolate.  I had one of those musical magic moments last weekend.

 

Many of these squares were made while listening to music.

 

First of all, the 1960s and 1970s music scene is generally not my cup of tea.  Especially not the more popular singers and bands.  The singer whose sound sent me reeling recorded two albums in the early 1970s and was relatively unknown (at least in the U.S.) until a documentary was made about him in 2012.  Being perpetually behind the times, I did not discover the documentary until last week, when I made a dash to stock myself with a few DVDs on my last day of work before the Great Coronavirus Shut Down.  This isn’t a review of the movie, or a summary of the life of Rodriguez, but I highly recommend the movie (Searching for Sugar Man) and you can read a bit about the fascinating story at sugarman.org.

Color, shape, line and space from rhythm, melody, harmony and tempo

 

This is about the shock wave that hit me as I listened to Rodriguez’s songs throughout the movie.  Some of his lyrics are very much tied to the time when they were written, and steeped in angry protest.

“Cause they told me everybody’s got to pay their dues

                And I explained that I had already overpaid them.” (“Cause,” Coming from Reality)

Some of his lyrics transcend time and hit life experiences that all of us go through.

“I wonder how many plans have gone bad…

                I wonder about the loneliness that’s mine” (“I Wonder,” Cold Fact)

Some lines were a raw nerve, something that we’ve thought, but wouldn’t even admit it to ourselves, other lines were fairly simple sentiments that we overlook for being too obvious.

“Treasure what you’ve got, soon you may be caught without it.”  (“Inner City Blues,” Cold Fact)

We all need to be reminded of the obvious thoughts and the raw nerves from time to time.  I’m still stunned that this product of 1970s counterculture has appealed to me.  I’ve watched the movie four times now and I’ve been playing a few songs over and over on Youtube, and I am trying to remember that jolt of surprise that I felt while hearing the songs for the first time.  How does one describe that to another?  Each one of us experiences a song, movie, work of art, etc. in different ways.  I have often found that we can more easily describe what we don’t like, but struggle to explain something that we love.  We don’t like everything that we see or hear, and not everyone is going to like a particular work of art, and that’s to be expected.  There is so much out there, and I wonder what I’ll discover next.

Lyrics quoted written by Rodriguez from the albums Cold Fact (1971) and Coming from Reality (1972).

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Cancelations? Get Creative.

Here in Ohio, the coronavirus has caused a multitude of event cancellations, and the list seems to grow by the hour.  I’m not going to get on a political soapbox about the response to the virus, other than to suggest that if you suddenly have some spare time due to event, school or work closure, take the opportunity to learn something new.

Turn off the TV, turn off the news, get off the internet for a little while, (after you finish reading this post, of course!) get out your needle and thread, or pencil and sketchbook, or any tools or supplies that you’ve had sitting and make something!  If you’re like me, you might have a stack or two of craft books that are begging to be read.  Pick out a book, open it and start a project from one of those books.  Think about the creative skills that you have mastered, and take some time to teach it to someone else.  Making something or expressing yourself creatively is a great escape from the troubles of the world.  With, that I am off to escape from my laptop and get lost in some stitching.

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UFO Showcase, Part Two

Sometimes, I pull out an old half-finished project and wonder, what WAS I thinking?  These two squares put the crazy in crazy quilt:

They were the result of piecing demos that I did while teaching a crazy quilt class a couple of years ago.  Obviously, I was grabbing random pieces of fabric during the demo and not paying attention to color, pattern, and the fact that they would need to be heavily stitched and embellished.  I’m not sure if I should even try to finish them, especially considering the amount of projects that I have already underway.  Part of me wants to see how much worse I can make them!  These two squares remind me of a couple of quotes from the BBC series Top Gear, “ostentatious and ghastly,” and “ambitious, but rubbish.”

Finally, what in the world will these bits become?

Chunks of wet felted wool, and funky yarns that will be transformed into more of an ongoing series.  One of the finished pieces in this mystery series has already earned me an award at a regional quilt show.  More on that next time.

 

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UFO Showcase, Part One

UFO as in Un-Finished Object.  As the year draws to a close, it is time to get pensive and reflective.  As I walk around the house, I’m not coming up with any art quilts that I finished this year, so rather than mope about what I didn’t get done, I’d rather look at what I want to finish.  Maybe by putting these UFOs here, I will be more motivated to finish them.  Today, here are three things I want to finish soon.

This is the first of two sample pieces that I started in the same color blend to show off what can be done with the dyed vintage doilies, napkins and fancy pieces that I sell.  These are both at the midway point where I start doubting the whole project, which is why I have set them aside for far too long.

The second sample, companion to the one above:

The last one for today, another sample of making use of a slightly damaged vintage tea towel:

This one is also stuck in that midway phase.  What I really need to do is just sit down, stick another bit of something on it, and stitch.  I need to stop thinking so much on these, and just stitch, stitch, stitch.  Check back on Thursday for three more UFOs.