Carry On, My Wayward Sewn...

There'll be peace when I am done!

At least that's the hope. I have been trying to use up my current stash of fabrics. I have a tendency to say "Oh, but I need more. I don't have any coordinating fabrics." Yeah. That happens a lot. In fact, today I got a package from eQuilter.com, one of my favorite websites for fabric shopping. I can't say enough about them. I've never had to return anything, so I don't know how that works, but I always get my order within 3 days.

Here's why I "had" to order from them: at the Mill End GOOB sale I found an incredible Asian print and bought a couple of yards. It has eagles, clouds and drums on it, the purple background is the most beautiful shade. I haven't a thing to coordinate with it. I looked. So I found a few things on eQuilter. Only one of them isn't a good match, but it's a lovely, only-slightly-Asian-looking print, so I'm sure I'll find something with which to use it. I may not use all of that which I purchased for the quilt I plan on making, so there's that, too.

I mentioned earlier about taking some fabrics with which I had planned on making a sundress and making a baby quilt instead. Here's the quilt top:

I still had quite a bit of the fabric left, though, so I made panels of different widths to make a skirt. I didn't know quite how to give it a waist, however. I just couldn't make up my mind. Did I want to gather it? Put in a zipper and a waistband, or do an elastic or drawstring?

Then, real quick-like, before I took all 6 of my bags of stuff to the thrift store, I went back and found a waffle shirt I had thought about donating. I put a few pleats in the skirt at the seams and in the middle of the 4 larger panels, then I figured out where an empire waist would be on my shirt by putting it on my dress form and cutting it off at the desired length. I made the long sleeves half-length and left the edges unfinished. Now I have a dress, too!

It looks better on a human.

As you can see, I'm really a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of designer. Something has to speak to me. It doesn't even have to be all that loud, either. I will also listen to all of the options it has to give me. This is where a sistah gets into trouble. I end up with so many ideas (and the materials for them all) that I have a hard time getting around to them.

This is why I decided to really dig in and get my stash busted in 2014. Yeah, sometimes I'll have to buy some more stuff. That's because my ideas keep coming. A lot of creative people have this problem, I know I'm not alone in this. It can all get to be a bit overwhelming, too. At least I'm able to come up with alternatives if something just isn't working for me. Even if the "problem" item languishes in a closet for a while. Years, even.

Fortunately, there are times when I can actually think on my feet and change a project mid-oops. Like the issue with the Hell on Wheels project. I had worked so hard on putting together the Dresden blades that I couldn't just give up. I took several small breaks, don't get me wrong. I even worked on a few other projects while I thought about what could be done with Hell on Wheels.

If you step back, you can see that the lighter sections create a star pattern within the plate. I'm not gonna lie, it was mentally and emotionally draining. I made a second one with a different main color. Then I needed a nap.

At first I was just going to use the denim. Then I thought about adding the raw linen. I ended up liking the lightness of the linen better than the blue of the denim. The half plate is the second one I had made with a star. Somehow it got out of order when I set them aside (even though I know I clipped them together in order), so I changed my mind on the design in that aspect, as well. The rectangular blocks use the remaining blades and are trimmed to make them square. The denim became a doggie bed for my mom's dog when they visit.

The final quilt top. I decided to go with a modern wall hanging instead of a  full-sized throw. I'm much happier with it this way than I thought I would be. Another happy accident!

That reminds me, I took the Happy Accidents quilt to Nikol of Sewtropolis for the quilting. It should be done in about two weeks. Then I can bind it and take it to Rachel! 

Sadly, Sewtropolis is now only an online entity. I had been planning a field trip there. But at least Nikol's still quilting and teaching. I hope to get to one of her classes very soon.

Whoops! Another reminder. Because of the bad weather, I cancelled February's Friday Field Trip. I'm just going to move it to March rather than try to put together another day. Hopefully the weather will start cooperating. It has made my various somatic neurological issues very cranky, and by extension, I've been more than a bit cranky. What I wouldn't give for temperatures above zero degrees Fahrenheit!

Well, my flowerpots, jump into your stashes and crank out some stuff!

Flippin' Doodle Dots!

That's the minced curse my kids say when something isn't going right, and I have had a week in which I may rightly use that phrase.

I was working on a Dresden Plate quilt. I put together the plate blades very carefully (just about did me head in!) so that when I got back to them, they would be in the right order. I got two of them done and the third one was half way complete when I noticed that it couldn't possibly be right. So now I have 1 1/2 Dresden Plates and a large Wagon Wheel and I have no idea how they got messed up. I had clipped them together in sewing order for the express purpose of not getting a headache!

Determined to make lemonade out of lemons, I took the remaining blades from the ferkachte plate plus my extras and stitched them together in a series of strips instead of a circle. I squared them off, trimming the angled edges and now I'm going to have a totally different quilt than I originally intended.

I had also purchased a hunk of denim at the Mill End GOOB sale that I planned on using as a background. Nope. Wrong shade of blue. On the other hand, I also got a few yards of linen in a strange, orangey shade of tan that works as a background. Huh. I had planned on making a jacket out of that, but I'm liking the look of it for this piece more and more.

I tried stitching the two background pieces together for a throw, but I'm just not getting a vibe from the whole thing. I take that back. I'm getting the wrong vibe from it like that. So, plan "C" is to take them apart and use the denim to make a doggie bed for my mom's arthritic dog when they come to visit (we have hard wood floors, not very comfy) and use all the pieces on the linen for a wall hanging.

Sometimes you really have to step back and reassess.

On another note, Sewtropolis, to which I had been planning to go for a field trip, has closed its doors, becoming a strictly online entity. The woman who ran it is still teaching and (thankfully) still quilting. I'm dropping off the quilt top and backing for my friend, Rachel's quilt with her today. I'm so relieved! I had driven by where Sewtropolis used to be the other day and couldn't find it, so I got on her website and all the pictures of the storefront and the address were missing from it. PANIC ATTACK! I went to her facebook page where I noticed someone had asked if she had closed the shop and, yes, it had closed in December. What a bummer. At least she still has an online presence and I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am that she's still quilting.

Flexibility is a trait that I feel doesn't come naturally to me. I get nervous when I get interrupted or realize that my plans aren't quite working. On the other hand, if someone else's plans get twisted, I'm very good at coming to the rescue and jury-rigging something for them. Like some people are really good at giving, but lousy at taking their own advice.

Going through my stash of fabrics has helped a great deal with flexibility. I've had so much fun with making quilt tops that I've changed my mind with some of the fabrics and pieced together more quilts instead of oh, say, a sundress. There are some things which really must be made into the garment I intended for them. They'd be just too great not to. On the other hand, I'm making peace with not (necessarily) going according to plan.

Your assignment: Let go of one old idea that you feel is holding you back. I'm not even going to make suggestions for this, since it's a very personal assignment. Let your mind be aware of the new-found freedom that gives you, even if you only do it for a day. See how that works out for you. The next day, try a different obstacle. Maybe something you thought was in your way of progress really wasn't and you can use it to your advantage instead?

It's okay to let go, my flowerpots. It really is.

In progress... Mid-Week Edition

I always seem to have a lot of projects "in progress". Sewists (and probably other artists) like to call these UFOs, or UnFinished Objects. I suppose there are certain finishing touches I find tedious. Sometimes I don't finish things because I don't like how they're turning out (see my post, "What is "Perfect" Anyway?"). However, I'm beginning to think that it's linked somehow to some sort of fear of completion. That if I complete a piece of art or a garment or whatever, I'll lose the part of me that created it. I rarely wear what I make because I haven't put the buttons on, perhaps the sleeves aren't in, or I can't find the right trim. Maybe my overactive imagination is already on to the next thing. Whatever it is, I aim to find out and my goal is to complete every project I begin (or have begun) this year. I will be blogging about it, just so's you're prepared for that.

I mean, for crying out loud! I have more fabric than I know what to do with. A large portion of it is "attached" to a project. Some of them have all the components needed to make said project (zippers, buttons, thread, pattern) I just haven't bothered to take the time to do them. Why not? I'm not going to put too fine a point on it, but let's go with depression.

Depression is one of those things I have to deal with on a daily basis, particularly in the Minnesota Winters. Not for nothing, it blows. I've dealt with it, for better or worse, for around 20 years. Just after the New Year, I sucked it up and went to my doctor for other options. He upped my dosage of Prozac and added Abilify. I'm going to a talk therapist for the first time in years to see if that'll do any good. I've also started taking an additional 2000mg Vitamin D. I saw a report on the news that up in this area there's no way to get enough D in the winter. If you're feeling blah during the dark months, maybe try some D.

I'm not going to suggest medication to anyone, that's between you and your own doctor, but I have to say that, since I switched up my meds, I'm getting things done for a change. I even sold my first piece (Rachel's "Happy Accidents" quilt). That's what I've wanted to do with my artwork for a long time. But as I near completion of this project, my heart races, my palms sweat, I become overwhelmed with the idea of just pressing the top and back on my little ironing board. I have to finish "Happy Accidents"! She's paying me for it!

Probably another reason I'm scared to finish it is this problem many artists have. I'm sure it has an official medical term, but lacking that (and, frankly, not feeling like googling it at the mo') I'm going to call it "Fraud Syndrome". I know many artists of various ilk who suffer from this, and we do suffer. We are in agony that, if someone takes any more than a passing glance at our work, we'll be outed as snake oil salesmen, that we aren't really very good at we do, after all.

Once again, I refer you to "What is "Perfect" Anyway?" I had been posting photos of my project on facebook as I made progress. My friends were all amazed by my artwork. The future owner claimed it was "Perfect". Shozzbot. As I was pressing it this morning, all I could see were the imperfections, the seams that didn't quite line up, the loose threads that would need trimming, the cat hair... Hadn't I just run it through the dryer to get the cat hair off?

Another thing that's making me panic is that I've decided to go to a sewing support group in Minneapolis. Sewtropolis has a quilter there and I've made up my mind to have her do the actual quilting of the...quilt. I read her preparation requirements for having her do the work and I panicked again. It's not going to be good enough for her to do it! NOOO!!! While it'll probably be just fine, I'm worried that it's not good enough for her to do the work. My conversion disorder has decided to make an appearance and I've had to walk away from my studio for the time being. However, as I was folding the top and backing in preparation to go to Sewtropolis, I thought, "Maybe they can help me prep this? Maybe they have a nice, big ironing board I can use? Maybe the quilting lady can help me with the prep?" After all, isn't this what I wanted to do: sell my art?

My dad sold his art and it was a nice sideline for his day job. I used to go with him and my mom to set up his booth at the art fairs and craft shows around my home town. I was fascinated by the variety of pieces at the shows, and I usually got to pick out something I liked from one of the other booths. My corn-husk doll still hangs on the wall at my mom's house and I still have a couple of rag dolls from back then. Come to think of it, I seem to remember seeing a few of his UnFinished Objects at my mom's house when last I visited. For the most part, though, he finished his work. But I digress...

I really loved going to the art fairs. I'd observe as my dad worked the crowd, ever the elegant, unassuming jokester, and inevitably he'd make a sale. I used to watch as he'd record the sale in a special leather-bound notebook. He would even record where the paintings were going; sometimes they stayed in town, sometimes they went as far as Alaska. On one occasion, when my father was dying of a brain tumor, a painting came back. It's a beautiful oil painting of our neighbor's iris garden. It was the last thing he had painted. They brought it back when he was in hospice because, as they said, it had brought them so much joy, they felt he should be able to see it as he was preparing to die. My mom still has it, almost 20 years later.

Dad also kept meticulous notes on the title, size, colors and other features of the paintings, just in case someone wanted one they had seen but someone else bought it first. He could recreate things a bit better than I can.

One of my dad's paintings.

Maybe that's why I'm afraid to finish a project: I might have to make another one! (Clutches pearls) I could never! Could I? Do I even want to? I really don't know. As with "Happy Accidents", most of my projects are on a whim, not following a pattern. I'll use a technique that I've read about and give it a shot, or use a fabric that isn't suggested for a pattern or garment type. I like to think outside of that proverbial box. This would be easier if my own brain wasn't already a Pandora's Box of ideas all jumping around at the same time, vying for my attention.

I do have an etsy shop, there's nothing in it at the moment, but I have one. I have some finished crocheted items (it's easy to be done when you run out of yarn). I've been worried about taking pictures of this stuff. I can't afford models and a photographer; everything I've made is either a garment or accessory and I'm not a great photographer myself. So I had to do some more sucking up and ask around to a few of my friends. I haven't got it scheduled yet, but I have a photographer and probably a couple of models this Spring to have photos ready and chosen for Summer and Fall. You can bet your sweet patootie I'll be blogging about that, too.

Well, I have some fabric in the dryer that's about ready, some of which will make that backing for a quilt top I made yesterday. I call this one, "Le Jazz Noir".

Sadly, when I went back to the store, all of the skyline fabric was gone. I was taking a chance getting it at a going out of business sale, anyway. I did pick up some more of the burgundy floral though, and it turns out that, between what I already had and what I picked up today, I'll have enough to make the backing for this one. Another "Happy Accident"...

No assignment this week, my little flowerpots. Just keep going through your stash and UFOs and plowing forth!