Time is precious

There’s no time to waste in this precious thing we call life. There are endless things outside of our control, but one thing we DO have control over is ourselves. How we respond and what we give to the small whirl of living that is around us has ripple effects we cannot fathom. Hug someone today. Call someone you love to just check in. Smile in the checkout line - even if your cashier doesn’t. Standup for what is right and be guided by the possibility that we can contribute in positive ways every moment of everyday without it emotionally taxing us. It is so worth it to make someone else’s day better in simple ways.

Now go find your person to hug. Someone in your life needs one.

Tracing paper

One of the tools I most often use is tracing paper. Most of my design is printed beforehand, but small changes or a shapely sky can easily be made with some good old fashioned tracing paper.

Here I drew the design on the muslin background (the cloth for you non-fabric folks) in chalk. Then I pinned tracing paper to it to and traced those lines. You might ask why I didn’t just trace it straight on to stabilizer or blue sky fabrics.. I have to make all the pieces upside down. And after a lot of tries it’s a lot easier to work with the template in reverse.. 🤯 yeah, getting heady over here.. so the short answer? After a lot of trial and error this is what works so I don’t mess up more than I naturally do. 🤓

Let it happen

Before going to the sewing machine I have to mostly decide how I want the stitching on top to look. It’s stressful because I don’t like having to take stitches out if what I’ve planned doesn’t look good.. and it does happen.. more than I would like for it to.. I’ve decided with the turkey feathers to let the fabric be the texture and depth and to use the stitching as an insignificant accent. There are times where the stitching brings the layers together. There are other times where keeping it simple is key. There’s no hard science here. It’s all just trusting the process and letting it happen.. why is it that’s so scary??

Self lessons

i keep going to click on a bigger image to show you all my progress.. and this BIRD!! Then, I stop because I’m really just not ready to yet.. I’m running out of pictures - that almost never happens.. And the process of settling into holding it to myself for a little longer is this weird juicy discomfort of selfishness.. and I think it’s okay.. sometimes it is alright to hold something solely for yourself because it’s what you need or want. I’ve always felt like selfishness is “bad”.. for the right reasons I think it’s actually pretty okay. It isn’t necessary to share everything all the time.. sometimes that takes all the spark out of something.. and when you finally let whatever it is out it’s more on your own terms which is how things should be..

but revel in it with me and just look at how the piecing is coming together.. The textures of the fabrics laying with each other.. the way the feathers have developed is more than I imagined. I am completely enraptured with this Wild Turkey.

Feeling so thankful that I listened to that voice in my head that “knew” to get ::Almost Heaven:: out of my system before starting this so it could have all of me.

Snood

The longer the snood the more attractive a male is to the female..

I just like the word snood.

I’m going to just keep saying it over and over because it makes me giggle a little.

Bull Thistle

bill thistle

I imagine it marvels at the march of ants and the detailed lines of spider silk reflecting the first vestiges of light in the morning dew..

I imagine it laughs at the curious chipmunks who scurry along in search of seeds filling their cheek pockets to line their winter stores..

I imagine with its deep tap root that it stands in rain and wind proudly tempting the goldfinch with its magenta colored flowers who land on it eagerly awaiting the eruption of its feather-like seeds.

I imagine the cold shivers that run through its harsh spines in the eerie quiet stillness of a slithering snake making its way across the spaces of dusty earth and grass..

I imagine it rests in the butterflies who flitter effortlessly on the summer breeze.. who stop to drink the sweet nectar it contains within.

When I see it I imagine it is just waiting to share all that it has seen if I can get close enough..

It’s wrinkled

I had it all finished.

All the handwork was done.

All the quilting complete.

I put the backing on.

I put the binding on.

I ironed it.

Then hung it.

I turned a spotlight on it.

Stepped back..

And it was wrinkly.

Something had gone terribly wrong when I attached the back.

I looked at it devastated.

All that work.

I had to sit down.

I was feeling Frustrated. heartbroken. Defeated..

There was a lot of dramatic sighing..

And some explicative language.

Over several days..

I ironed it several times.

I couldn’t get the wrinkles out.

The only solution I could come up with was to start over for a third time.

For those of you holding your breath I did not start over.

I just couldn’t bear it with out exhausting every skill I have.

I decided to cut all the batting I could out.

I re-layered it and then basted it by hand from the center out so I could tug and stitch simultaneously.

I’m going to add some quilting..

That will hold the batting in place.

I think it’s going to be okay..

Crisis mitigated. 🤞🏻

Would I have gone for it a third time? To get it right?

Probably.

But I’m glad I didn’t have to.

A history of embroidery thread

I inherited my mom’s embroidery thread a million years ago - 4 pristine boxes of thread wrapped beautifully around little cardboard cards all in numerical order.

I made friendship bracelets with my kids. I made friendship bracelets with other people’s kids.. countless hand embroidery projects and I still have never really knocked a dent in all there is.. naturally though, working on a project years ago there was one particular color I needed.. the fabric shop was having a sell so I bought more - you know the colors I thought I didn’t have?? 🤷🏻‍♀️

unlike my mother, I left it all in a bag that I drug around on road trips. Pair of scissors, messy skeins of thread, embroidery needles.. this way, I would have something to do with my time. Idle hands are a dangerous thing on a long road trip.

The deeper I get into these wildflowers the more I am pulling from all this embroidery thread I have.. and so I decided on another adventure trip we recently took to take my moms lead and get these skeins on cards.. so much better.. why didn’t I do that to begin with?

I’ve also reorganized her boxes by color - I’ll show you how pretty they look later after I clean up this mess I’ve made. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I make art for me

I love the details. I love getting lost in the details. These spokes are different shades of grays a detail no one except me will ever notice. That’s okay. I make art for me.

Hidden gems

I’ll be honest. It’s the fine details that get me. It’s the fussy cut or the right highlight or stitch that keeps me coming back to the creative process. I live for the hidden gems that surprise me again and again because of slowing down and taking my time to look.. and listen..

::sit spot::

2013

A photographic journal

I was asked recently why I take pictures of my work process.. and do I really go back and look at them? It’s a good question.

I enjoy seeing the progression of a project or place. It puts a pin (pardon the pun) in that spot in time for me. Sometimes when I am trying to remember a step I took previously to achieve something, photos allow me to go back and retrace my thought process. I’m visual so the photos are a big deal. I can then match the dates to the notes in my art journal to get the nitty gritty of what I was thinking and doing.

For these reasons I try to be diligent about documenting my work and process. Not so that others can replicate it - maybe one day I will teach classes and make patterns.. So that I can REMEMBER when I need or want to.

The photos, journaling, and social mediaing has become a vital part of my creative process. It is the manifestation of art in me that helps me create order - which I very much like.

I regularly go back and look through old projects that I’m going to pull techniques and ideas from to incorporate into a new project. You often see the jewels of those photo and journal dives here.. when I show a throwback. 😇

Playing with color

Playing with color is so fun. Imagining rolling through a wildflower field full of color and butterflies and bees and all manner of buzzing things..

And so it continues to grow.

Planning content

I should have put a dime down so you can see the size of these wildflowers but.. that would require more preplanning than I can manage most of the time.

In reality I “plan” pretty well, you’ve seen snippets of my art journal, my studio, and my templates but these content creators who have all the cool transitions in their videos.. probably never going to be me.

Can you see it too?

I’m pretty sure this road is out in Arnoldsville, Georgia. It’s summer. My hair is soaked from my sweat. My skin is beginning to turn pinker than usual in spite of putting on sunscreen. There is a hawk calling somewhere in the distance. And, that thunderstorm rolling towards me means I’ve got to keep my head down and keep going..

Can you see it too?

Evolution

This piece is interesting how it’s developing for me. I have a template to work from but my ideas for the complete story keep changing. I have no idea yet what this will look like. At this time I have a general plan but.. the focal image is not what I thought it would be.. and the poppy field may or may not happen. What’s fun is just letting it happen. I’m even debating getting to a stopping point and moving on to the commission I have lined up. I can almost never work on two things at once. Partly because of space and partly because I am not a good multitasker.. it’s anyone’s guess what’s going to be happening in my studio in the coming weeks - well aside from something. 🤪🤷🏻‍♀️☀️

Listen

Really glad I started over. Really glad I listened to that nagging voice telling me to not settle for less than I am capable of.

Really glad there is a voice inside me that urges me to create and release the stories that live in my head.

Making time

Making time for the studio can be a challenge. Here is how I plan..

I choose time each week to devote to being in my studio. Tuesday evenings and usually early Saturday and Sunday mornings while Jason sleeps unless we have adventures planned.

Between these times I prep myself and my space for the time I have in there so I’m ready to work when I turn the lights on with focus on the menu.

This may mean getting new fabric washed so I am not trying to do that in the precious hours each week I give to creating. It might mean folding fabric and getting it out of the way. It could be tracing new pieces or setting things up a little differently so that when I get there everything is ready to go. It all happens in snippets with the goal being ready to sit down and create when I have larger amounts of time.

I’m thinking ahead to make the most out of my time. Planning..

The prep also keeps me connected to my work without also feeling resentful that I have 10 hours a week at best most weeks to make art.

Layers

Layers.

Upon layers.

Building upward.

Forever studying texture, shapes, and color.

.

::Great Horned Owl::

Hangs in a private collection