Sunday, June 15, 2014

Art and People

This week included an “art support” experience for me.

I participate in a lot of “group” events for my various art forms: “Open Torch” at a glass studio (definition: up to 10 people sitting around a art studio, each using their own torch for beads/marbles/other small scale hot glass work), Open sewing days and other quilt classes, Polymer clay guild meetings, etc. The commonality of these things is that it is other hobbyists/artists who also practice that craft/art; people of like minds who understand it all.

Those other people are there for the art/craft; they are not there for me. When I was a child, my parents and relatives came to recitals, shows, etc., to see my things and support me. My art/craft friends come with me to things and they critique the work there, including my own things. We are all like-minded individuals attending and/or participating in an event due to shared interests.

However, I am human, female, emotional, needy…. And it is always nice to have someone with me for ME… to support me, listen to me, and just be with me. I do not do girlfriends in the same way that many women do. Some of it is the Aspie behaviors; I just do not travel in groups and attend things like a lot of women – especially hobbyists – do. I frequently see groups of women at things like quilt shows and bead shows who attend together, drive together, do a full day, lunch out, etc. I do not do that. Never have. I have some girlfriends, and while we have shopped together at quilt shops on occasion but that is a rarity; that is just not the way I do things. I either am generally alone or have a partner there with me – for me.

My husband (Chris) supports me in my art, but he really is not all that involved/interested. This doesn’t bother me; I don’t go to car shows, races, etc. I KNOW that if I ever said to him “I need you to: <art related>” he would jump. It’s very healthy that we have our own events. He supports me where it’s truly needed:

Doesn’t complain about the stacks of art supplies around the house
Doesn’t complain about the projects scattered here and there
Has stepped on pins and doesn’t chastise me (too badly)
Will stop at quilt shops and the like on trips
Went to Madison for the Art Glass and Bead Show for our anniversary (but did duck out to the car show next door at the venue

However, local events (at least those not requiring an overnight stay), well, let’s just say that I’m on my own….

Until this week….

I have a close male friend – Perry - who is very important to me in many ways. His opinions matter. His support matters and I enjoy his company.

He has a greater interest in the art/craft world than Chris. He worked directly in an art field business for many years and is an artist in his own right. While Chris has color sense and appreciates my work, Perry sees the details behind it all.

Quilting

This week was the MQ Quilt Show. Attending is pretty much a yearly event for me. While I enjoy looking at the displays, and visiting all the booths, It’s always been a lonely experience for me. As mentioned previously, I go alone, and I feel self conscious. As a result, I look at the things I want to see – quickly – and make it a short day.

All changed!

Perry went with me.

It was SOOO different than other times.

First, I felt comfortable. I had someone there for me, who followed me around, did what I wanted to, let me lead. That took care of the whole set of issues I have with a group interacting.

Second, I felt smart and informative. I love teaching art and craft classes (and sometimes other things). When I teach, I am in control and people are looking towards me for information. I also think I teach well (have been told that I do).

Perry appreciated all the displays, asked me questions, listened to what I said, and generally showed me a familiar show through new eyes. I feel I got more out of the whole experience than I have in the past.

I also spent less than I usually do! I think that was a lot about having someone with me and thus felt comfortable looking at things in vendor booths without feeling conspicuous and thus “needing” to buy something.

The Pink Hair

Also on the comfort / feeling conspicuous streak – I currently have fuchsia hair.

I’m not talking a streak in my hair, or a light undertone…

Nope,

It’s full on, bleached and dyed, anime, candy colored, etc.!

I get a lot of compliments. Some of them come from unexpected sources – women in business suits for example – and others from expected sources. I haven’t done the full on arty color for attention or rebellion; I think the lack of that shows in attitude and bearing. I’ve done it because I like the colors and I’m having fun with it.

I have nothing to prove, am not trying to shock, but it’s is still not typical

(I won’t use the word “normal” in any context here). What is “normal” anyway?

But, alas, the hair also generates negativity.

Amazingly enough, people are generally willing to verbally call out the difference from social norms in a positive manner, but not in a negative manner. Only one person has ever said anything negative about my hair directly to me, and even then, it wasn’t out right negative (he said: “I just can’t get used to the blue (the color at the time) hair”. However, people are more than willing to stare, gape, sneer, etc.

Both Chris and Perry like my hair and like that I have fun with it. Their attitudes are different from each other in how they address it. There are two pieces to Chris’s attitude. He outright compliments me about it, says it makes me look younger and makes him feel younger in turn and gives me a lot of feedback on a daily basis. The second piece is that Chris is more aware of the ways in which people can negatively judge me for the “not normal” hair. Perhaps that is because he works in a conservative office/industry in which pink or red nails, no open toed shoes, and socks or nylons required are dress code rules for women. Perry on the other hand accepts the hair color as me and doesn’t separate it from “normal” hair color; he seems to not see brunette/redhead/blonde as distinctly separate from the unnatural colors. Chris sees how people would judge me for it; I don’t think Perry even thought along those lines.

The quilt show demographic was far more along the lines of Chris’s world of people – median and averages ages probably at 55/60, conservative, “dowdy”, etc. Also – and this is my sense of bias – I find groups of women to be more openly judgmental about appearance than men/mixed groups. Perry commented after the show that he noticed the “sneer” a few times aimed at my hair color.

Which just makes me think something along the lines of: “Seriously people! Isn’t color a big part of quilting?, why judge when it’s somewhere else than in fabric!”

Quilt shop experiences

So, while I’m talking about the negative and judgments on my personal appearance at a quilt show, I’m also going to talk about it in context of quilt shops.

I get mixed customer services experiences in quilt shops due to my looks.

Chris and I together also get mixed (usually worse) customer service experiences.

Here’s the rub… without sounding too arrogant, my looks usually get me better service. I look younger than my age, I have a well proportioned figure (important in clothing shops especially; well made/sized clothes fit me nice and sales people use that to their advantage to up sell, etc). My youthfulness and brightly colored hair get me more respect in art and music related business in general and my height gets me noticed above other customers in some other businesses.

That all reverses in many quilt shops. I’m not sure exactly what it is: Do they think I’m too young to quilt? Are only plain looking women supposed to be able to operate a sewing machine? Do I look like I’m not able to afford quilting fabric? Do I look to young to appreciate a quilt? (read previous posts about people not appreciating the time/expense that goes into a quilt).

Whatever it is, it’s their loss. I spend a fair amount of money on my art/craft supplies and fabric is my first love. I appreciate quality and have been known to drop a pretty penny in a fabric store! I also caution quilt stores about the familiarity they breed and how regulars become a part of it. If someone feels like they are walking into a “Club” of which they aren’t a member, they may just turn around and leave without spending anything. I’ve had that experience at several quilt shops; where I was being ignored as I looked around or even while trying to get helped, only to have a regular walk in and get immediate service.

Additionally, just as I’ve had some negative gender based experiences in hardware/automotive business, Chris and I together have been judged based on his gender in quilt shops.

“Oh, a man, they can’t be serious about buying”.

And then at that point, we aren’t!

What is a Quilt?

Now, I’m going to be judgmental.

Sorry…..

I like quilts. I make a lot of “different” quilts. My own patterns, unique designs, odd uses of color, etc.

However, I don’t like “pictorial” quilts.

I saw a lot of these at the quilt show; quilts where the artist recreated a scene, photograph, portrait, etc. in fabric.

I like blocks, and sashing, and geometrics. “Traditional” types of pictorial quilting is ok too; things like floral, Baltimore Album, appliqué things, etc.

I think some things should be done in paint/pastels/pencils/etc., and put to paper instead of doing in a fabric world.

Just my opinion for whatever it’s worth.

Challenge

Last bit on quilting and the show…. Challenge project for next year’s show. The center fabric is the focus fabric.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Glass

Moving on….

I’ve waxed poetic, ranted, and raved…. All words… the common thread of quilting and art runs through my previous passages, but, there isn’t any “show and tell” contained therein…

So, time for show and tell, and then I’m ending this discourse.

Last week at Open Torch, I seem to have made it “Big Bead Day”

I always think the beads look like a bouquet of flowers before I take them off the mandrals

A pair of cream with orange beads. These are large (about ¾ inch) round beads

A collection of beads made with mixed up colors. The roundish one of the left is a glob. It wasn’t forming right so I left it. The one of the right is about 2 inches long! Also, you can see silver (fine silver) accents on it.

Blue beads. The big one is again about 2 inches. The cream one has LARGE bits of silver on it.

The white bead is a particularly good example of bi-cone shape. The dots on the bi-cone blue one are pretty cool.

A couple beads with a dark red glass in them. The long one is slightly over 2 inches. I’m proud of it – it’s pretty even.

A couple larger, squatter beads. The purple and silver one is a new favorite. I need to start making things with these!

Current Project

For a variety of reasons, I don’t want to show anything on a project I’m working on right now. Let’s just say that I’m trying something totally new to me, am very nervous about it, and want to get to a point before I show the world.

However, I want to show you the chaos that has erupted in my work space!

The Art of Toe Pictures

Just a weird and random thing…. I apparently like taking feet/toe pictures. I take a lot of pictures of my art by laying the piece on the floor and then snapping a picture from above. I catch my feet in them a lot. That also seems to have morphed into purposely taking pictures of my feet to illustrate another point….

My toes appear – with and without socks - in a lot of quilt pictures

Proving to a friend that I have tennis shoes in which to go hiking

Said shoes AFTER a grueling hike

And, relaxing after said hike….

The Art of Words

Yeah, I’m just pushing it here…. But, a humorous ending to my onslaught of words:

http://www.vappingo.com/word-blog/great-examples-of-neologisms/

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Real Life Influences on My Art

I took a 24-hour trip out of town this week – purely for pleasure. This trip involved a historic hotel, complete with quilts on the bed, and then some hiking. (Look up both the Saint James hotel and Barn Bluff in Red Wing, MN if you are so inclined.) It was a wonderful trip in many ways. However, the purpose of recounting it here in my art blog is to try and illustrate to you what the copious amounts of images, textures, sounds, and even feelings of an almost 150 year old hotel with period decorations to a hike on the first real spring day in Minnesota did to my creative urges.

(Here is proof of spring finally arriving!)

Quilting

As the trip closed behind us and we were driving back to the city, each mile passing increased my desire to just go home and play with fabric.

It had to be quilting, because there was a gorgeous quilt on the bed in our room.

Here is a picture of the room…

It had to be different colors than what was in the room; I was not copying, but paying homage.

I had to start on it tonight because, well, because – It is a need!

I wanted to use a lot of fabrics. I had a project in mind, so I already had a color palette semi formed in my mind and I knew that I wanted a “scrappy” look (scrappy = many different fabrics, same blocks, but no two of the same colors in the same places).

Therefore, off to the basement – the dungeon of fabric storage – I went.

I culled and sorted, and hauled a full armload of fabrics up to the living room.

Then I:

Re-sorted the fabrics and culled them again…..

…..Fanned them out a bit and decided what really worked for my vision.

This is to be a paper pieced quilt. This means that I need to pre-cut the fabrics into pieces roughly the size of the pattern pieces, plus a seam allowance.

Hubby and I tuned into Netflix and I started chopping away at fabric.

Each block is actually eight units that need to be paper pieced. There will be two separate block patterns in this quilt. Tonight, I cut out only the “main” color pieces for the blocks; I will cut the other pieces, the background neutral pieces, tomorrow or some other time. One block has five pieces, and the other has four - which gave me nine different pieces to cut out.

I have an idea how big I want this quilt to be, but, since I have not made a block yet, I do not know how big it is going to turn out.

(I will confess here… I drew the blocks out in a program but I must have been tired… when I printed them, they were NOT the same size I intended. I can tell that from the edge seam allowance only showing as 1/8 inch when it should be ¼ inch. It is now a mystery as to what size they will be!)

In turn, I also do not know how many blocks I will need. I figure that I cut a whole bunch out, start making and then the plan will come together.

Do not worry; I do this sort of thing often.

The vast majority of the time, it works out……

Really!

So, tonight was just “free cutting.” I took strips off each one of the fabrics that I chose, and then sub cut them into the right size. I will definitely be cutting more from the fabrics, so I was not neat about either folding them or putting them away.

Apparently that means they are free to utilize for other purposes…..

And while they were inspecting my fabrics, I cut away……

To the right is stacks of the pieces, the scrap pile is to the middle left, and you see my cutting setup.

Ok, that is not my always cutting setup….

I do actually have a large cutting board, setup at a table, yadda, yadda….

However, cutting a lot of pieces is boring, and I am old, and lazy, and easily bored.

So, to ease all those factors…. I set up in front of the computer monitor (no TV), watch, and cut….

This is what the coffee table looks like after two episodes of “Burn Notice.”

Note: the cats also tried to help me with thread......

Beads

Current Production

I started doing torchwork (lampwork) a couple years ago.

(Definition of lampworking: Lampworking is a type of glasswork where a torch or lamp is primarily used to melt the glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements.)

I took a couple of classes and had a lot of fun….

But not a lot of success….

I have mentioned before in here about problems with buying cheap glass, my inability to do a lot of “organic” shapes in art, etc…. I will not repeat, but suffice to say, I have had my challenges in creating what I felt was “good” in bead making.

A few months back, I started making huge strides, and actually liking the beads I was making. I got a little puffed up, thinking that I could make things that were on a par with those selling them at venues.

Then I went to another of those venues….

And once again got depressed about my abilities.

I guess it’s good to be humble and get knocked down….

*Sigh*

One of those vendors was Julie Nordine, a local glass artist. Take a look at her work: http://www.creditriverartglass.com/GALLERIES.html

I know that I will never be of the same caliber as her, and other glass artists, however, I love making the beads, I love making things out of the beads I make (I’m way behind on that though) and isn’t that all it’s really about?

At this point in time, I feel I have gotten very good at making round, even beads with “inney” ends. I can decorate them well with dots – even multilayered dots – and I can make two or more the same size, shape, coloring.

In the style of things that I see at shows and online, I decided to try my hand at making some other styles, larger and different shapes.

Shapes: I am trying to make versions of round, where I flatten the sides and also cylindrical shaped. I am also starting to get better with the cylinders. I’ve determined a technique of my own (probably used by others), where I make two round beads, spaced a little bit apart, and fill in the middle, rather than trying to roll it out to a cylinder completely.

Last time on the torch, I spent about an hour concentrating on making bi-cone shaped beads, starting with a cylinder. I’m pleased with some of the results I’m getting… a couple I gave up on… but overall, I’m excited to see them after they come from the kiln. The next open torch is not for more than two weeks; I may actually head over there and pick up the beads in between rather than waiting!

Size: two times ago on the torch, I made a particularly large bead. Its about 1 1/2 inches.

I am quite happy with it. I am going to use it for a focal bead on something special for myself.

(It does have purple on it…..!)

Therefore, the last torch session, I decided to try and see what I could do with really BIG beads. I used a lot of glass, and a lot of colors…. Again, I have to wait and see!

Removing From Mandrels

Torchwork beads are made on metal (Stainless Steel) mandrels and must be removed from them. Bead release (a water soluble, clay based product is applied to them). Due to some missing arm strength, I have some troubles sometimes. My hubby installed a vice grip in the kitchen to aid my efforts.

If that fails to give me the edge I need, I then need to soak the mandrels for a while and try again. There's usually always a scene like this in my kitchen:

But, the end result is worth it!

(see the bi-cone in the upper left?)

Support

Art is a profession for some, a hobby for others, and everything in between. Some people like one style, and others cannot stand it. People create it, collect it, buy it, trash it, and – again – everything in between. There is no definition of what art is, and no definition of who an artist is, that fits every situation and person.

I “do” art, because it makes me happy, because I crave the ability to create, because I love color, and shape, and even the process of getting to the end product. This is also intensely private to me. I often feel that people see things I make as “cheesy,” “homemade,” and other such terms.

This attitude is backed by a certain amount of anecdotal evidence:

One: Several years ago, I made a formal, two-piece, gown for a black tie event. The inspiration for the gown was a piece of beaded trim/lace from the 1920s. It really was a lovely outfit. Unfortunately, due to weight LOSS, it no longer fits. At the event, I got huge compliments.

I wore the top with black velvet pants later to an event at my hubby’s office. The wife of one of the top brokers there asked me what boutique I got it from.

I should have said: “I don’t remember”

What I said was: “I made it, it’s my own design”

Here response, in that attitude that only a rich, spoiled, woman who’s never worked a day in her life or created anything, can affect, was to call out to her husband “Oh, look, isn’t she so CRAFTY (ugg, hate that word), she makes her own clothes”.

I went from feeling successful and arty, to imagining hayseeds in my hair and seeing myself stitching together clothes from cleaned out feed sacks.

Two: There is a whole LONG thread on a forum I read, devoted to horror stories people have about art/hobbies/crafts they do and how people do not appreciate the handmade things. There are stories about people wanting them to make things for free because “It’s not like it’s work, you love to do it”, to wanting to spend $2 on yarn for the maker and get a high quality silk scarf, and even stories of quilts being given to the dog.

Three: When I used to bring things to craft sales, I got at least one person a day who would argue/complain about my prices. I once quoted a very low price on a quilt to someone – I think about 250 for a king size – only to have her say: “that’s so expensive, I can get a full bedding set at Wal-Mart for less than $100.” I forget the exact amount she quoted – that actually might be high – but the sentiment remains…

So, anyway, the point I’m trying to make with this diatribe, is that – as a result of all this discouragement and devaluation of my art – I’ve retreated to being quite private about it, and have a lot of trouble including anyone except fellow artisans and close family into my “art world”. In a way, I feel embarrassed about showing anything I make.

I have a wonderful person in my life who – for everything bit of evidence I have – truly appreciates art. We have gotten into the habit of going out on Wednesdays. Last Wednesday was an Open Torch (where I play with fire and make beads) session. I rarely miss those.

I swallowed the bit of self-conscious embarrassment that I have about my “homemade” bead making, and invited him to stop by the session for the last part and observe.

As the time approached for his arrival, I got nervous… Should I call and say to meet me somewhere else when I was done? What if he is bored? Finds it all so cheesy and homemade? What if I burn myself badly while he is there and he thinks I am incompetent (or break something, or make an ugly bead, etc.).

Ok, Mary, get out of your own head….. !

Then the studio phone rang and Annie (the “teacher”) escorted him up to the studio…

Yeah, my heart took a little dive….

But….!

He professed to be fascinated with the creative process of torchwork, showed admiration for my beads, and really made me feel like an ARTIST.

With that, I sign off …..

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Returning to the Fold

It seems like the entirety of my life has been spent creating things in one art form or another. I cannot remember a time in my life before I had several projects going at a time. I claim to never be bored with the things I do and I am constantly exploring new techniques.

That said, I have experienced some degree of complacency over the last year/year and a half. I have always tied myself to my creation (or the other way around?). I went through a big period of losing myself a ways back and to a smaller degree last fall. I can tell when it’s happening, but sometimes I feel that there is very little that I can do about it.

For sake of this being a blog about my art, I’ll spare the psychological reverie. Indulge me to the point that I want to brag about the wonderful people in my life and how much a sense of satisfaction that I get from them. That support translates into fun and creative things in my artwork. I can personally look back at pieces and “see” what I was going through at that time. Since I tend to not produce much when I’m sad – my pieces tend to show me joy, happiness, and contemplation. Sometimes they just show me amusement….!

Silver Smithing

Out of the Frying Pan…

I took a couple classes working with silver at a local art/craft place. There, we did some basic soldering and used butane mini torches. I bought one – it’s in my basement on my almost fully operational silver bench – and haven’t used it yet. Then, I took a better class from a local artist, Kirk Sklar, and I used his setup for soldering that included a propane tank and it was so much nicer. Apparently, the butane torches are just not hot enough for a lot of the work I want to do.

One day shortly after that, during a visit to Mills Fleet Farm, available tools were examined and this was the result:

I did considered going to a jewelry supply house and get an “official” setup with a regulator and all that.

It would have been a lot more money…

Maybe a *little* safer…

I am not too worried…. It’s not like I’m going to be doing a ton of stuff, and running gas continually to the point of asphyxiating myself….. Or blowing up the house….

However, there is an old exhaust fan in the basement and I think that I will make sure it’s working and/or replace it.

Shopping Expedition

I bought flux from the same place that I’ve been getting silver plate and various types of wire. What I bought wasn’t the same stuff that I was using in the silver class however. Since I want to imitate everything in my own space to try to repeat success, I decided I needed some of the other type. I didn’t have enough wish list items nor enough funds to justify another order from Rio Grande, so I stopped into a local store – Storm Cloud Trading – to get some.

I went in for one item….

I came home with four items….

*Sigh*

Nevertheless, all joking aside, the woman there knows her stuff and was very talkative today. She gave me some really good advice on a couple points, which is why I bought more things.

She also informed me that my “pickle pot” might not be appropriate.

I have to double check and make sure it doesn’t have exposed screws or an exposed metal rim – that may contaminate the pickle solution.

Will I ever have all these bits and pieces under control?

Resin

The latest in playing with resin is using a silicone brownie mold and laser printer pictures. Doctor Who icons and characters have been my fodder for it right now.

I also used my bench grinder on the edges, and the foredom to drill the hole. I’m getting quite the usage out of my new tools!

Quilting

With my renewed faith in myself, comes a renewed interest in my primary hobby and first love – fabric.

A few months ago, I made a stab at catching up on a lot of projects. I spent a couple evenings laying out a bunch of smaller quilts that I had. Tonight, I finished quilting on that pile. I still have bindings to attach to most of them, and then have to hand stitch those bindings.

However, I do feel a sense of accomplishment in getting though that part of the task.

That sense is strong enough to want to show them now and brag!

(We won’t talk about the large pile of full-sized quilts all pinned out and stacked on the front bench – that’s next)

Pre-Cuts and What to Make

Browns with Pink

This table topper sized piece was made using a set of pre-cut shapes. I don’t consider it very inspired; I had far more fun quilting it. Look at the second picture to see the designs I did inside of the shapes themselves.

Red/White/Blue

Again, something I don’t consider very inspired and done from a set of pre-cut shapes.

Before you criticize me too much, the pre-cuts were something that I was getting monthly as part of a “club.” Some of them were indeed quite nice; these last ones weren’t inspiring me.

This is my July fourth table runner for the picnic table. That’s about the best I can say about it…..

Civil War Little Quilts

A couple years ago, I attended a monthly program in which each month was a different little quilt and the focus was on using Civil War reproduction fabrics. I used a lot of beiges and pinks…..

Small Squares

It’s a cute little quilt and I’m going to give it to some little girl for her dolls or bears. Except for the border, the fabrics are all left over bits from other projects. The border fabric is a tiny print that just struck me as fitting with it all.

Bear Paw

If I recall correctly, this pattern in the “Bear Paw” block. I used two different pinks and they really popped. I particularly like the border print – it’s large but, being so light, it doesn’t take over the whole thing but rather complements it.

The End

This last piece – a very small piece – was done with the scraps from some of the other quilts…

Many of those quilts were also done with scraps….

So this is scraps of scraps?

Scraps

And, speaking of scraps. These next two pieces were both done with scraps.

I can’t seem to throw anything away until it’s positively unusable. Leftover pieces get cut into strips and/or squares, depending upon how much there is and then stored with like fabrics. Strips are rolled up according to color family and width and put into a box. It used to be a small box, now it’s quite large. Every once in a while, I get an urge and go through that box and use up some of it.

Strips

I took all the green strips that were two inches wide, sewed them end to end and then cut that long strip into smaller strips. Because all the pieces I used were different lengths, this is the end effect. I put a border on and – a nice table topper.

You probably can’t see too well here, but I got fancy with the quilting. It’s been awhile since I did anything but loops and stipples. However, words from a friend lately inspired me and I did some flowers and fancier stitches on this piece.

Square in Square

This is one of my favorite patterns to do. I cannot count how many times I’ve made this – full-sized pieces, small pieces, and everything in between!

This particular piece has a story. A friend wanted a quilt for a baby shower but didn’t want pink or blue. She looked through my pictures and found a small, green quilt she wanted.

I looked high and low for that dang thing….

I don’t remember giving it to anyone, but it wasn’t there.

Time was ticking away…..

I told her that I would make her one…in a few days… from similar fabrics.

I dug into that box of rolled up scraps, and the pile of 6-inch blocks and just spent an evening making blocks with green, beige, and brown. I used 48 of them to make a crib sized piece and then had these eight blocks left over after the “block audition.”

I sewed them together, bordered them, and got fancy with the quilting. I did “stones” in the interior of the block and then left the next square empty to make it “pop.”

Floral

Last in this section of quilts is a piece I did from one of those little pattern cards. My intention was actually to showcase the pink floral fabric. This is a piece that is going to be used for an Easter table decoration at my house… or maybe a spring topper for the end table….

For as much as I’m not a “oooo, pink” type of girl, well, I do really like pink (purple is better though) and it is a spring color….

Maybe spring will finally hit here….

To emphasize the flowers, I quilted the center section by going around the flowers themselves and dipping into them at points.

How I Quilt

That’s my biggest sewing machine – it’s considered a “mid arm.” Behind it, at a 90-degree angle - is my primary piecing machine. I do the quilting (versus piecing) on the Juki. It does not have any sort of table for it; most home quilters put it on a large frame and guide it from a platform of sort. I could probably clear the 12-foot or more square area that a quilting frame would need, but I have way too many other hobbies and pieces of equipment around here!

So, I build a small table for it from a 2 ft square piece of plywood and a ¾-inch dowel. The top of it is covered in a Teflon strip with sticky back that I got from Axe-Man. To quilt, I hand guide the quilt; the machine is a single function – it simply stitches up and down – and I move the quilt by hand under it into patterns. I mostly only do simply stipples and loops; I believe the beauty of a quilt is the pattern, colors, pieces – not the stitching on top of it. (I do practice some fancier stuff on smaller pieces though – as detailed above…!)

Photobucket

I sorted out my quilt pictures and loaded them to photobucket: http://s537.photobucket.com/user/FridayDesigns/library/Art%20-%20%20Quilts?sort=4&page=1

Saturday, February 8, 2014

I'm Getting Better!

Quilting

I have actually been doing more quilting lately, but I haven’t taken any pictures. Despite what it appears here – fabric is, and always will be, my first love.

Meanwhile, since this was originally my quilting blog, I feel obligated to include fabric stories. ….

So, to that end, let me verbally illustrate some of my quilting adventures of the last few weeks.

The Iron Story

A good iron is essential to a quilter.

No two ways about it.

Everyone has their own preference; I like a HEAVY iron. Over the years, I’ve collected a few good ones from estate sales and the like. I do like the Rowenta brand, but they are quite expensive and also seem to be getting lighter. I think that “lighter is better” is a motto with many small appliances, but I just really like the feel of a heavy iron. I also do NOT like non stick surfaces in general, and irons fall into that. I like the plain steel (?) bottom. Lastly, they also have to have self shut offs, at least that “pause” feature when you leave it alone for a while. Quilters leave irons on for hours and walk away frequently.

Me and Irons also have a love/hate relationship that pokes at my mild OCD. We’ve taken the iron on vacation (driving trips) a couple times so I wouldn’t stress out about leaving it on.

And, Yes, I’ve turned around on my way to work to come home and check if I left it on…

Only a few times….

Ok, maybe about a dozen over the last couple years.

My favorite iron for the last few years has been a Rowenta. It was sufficiently heavy and not a non-stick bottom. Unfortunately, this favored tool had started to show signs of wear about a year ago. First, the cord came a little loose at the main unit and was giving me mild shocks and heating up. Finally, one day, I pulled at it to straighten it out a little and detached the cord completely.

Not to worry

Hubby is quite accomplished with electrical repairs in small appliances.

So, I batted my eyelashes at him and he patched up the cord. He did a very good job!

Fast forward to about a week ago. I plugged in my trusty iron and….

Warm…..

But only that….

I assumed it was the heating element and that old faithful (get it, steam = gyser?) finally gave up the ghost.

I pulled out another iron, one that is also sufficiently heavy and non-nonstick. However, that one was a little psychotic.

Yes, I personalize my quilting tools and Yes, psychotic is the right word….

It likes to spit water out.

I’m pretty inured to hot on my hands (remember, I also work with torches and kilns), but it does get annoying. It also leaks all over the place, soaks pieces of fabric, messes up workspace, etc. I also use steam and mist a lot – it helps to dampen (not soak) some pieces to press out the seams better – and I don’t want to add a little water each time I pick it up to use.

So, that iron failed to address my needs and there were no more in stock to consider.

Time to buy one

Shopping trip

Chris and I headed off to (major retailer who shall not be named as they are not my favorite, but had other things we needed) in search of the perfect small appliance. We met up with a friend there for other purposes but she assisted us in our search.

I can only imagine the thoughts that may have went through peoples’ minds as they observed us. This retailer generally attracts shoppers who discern based mostly on what is the cheapest item of its kind. Not us. I started at about the mid price point for irons and first picked up boxes. This first analysis narrowed my search to about three and then we all started feeling boxes, hefting them one at a time and narrowed it to two. We then opened boxes and did arm curls with them making a determination.

The one that got chosen was a “Shark” brand; which according to my husband and that friend – is a scrappy brand that dares go against Dyson.

Good enough for me.

It came home with us. It’s been about a week and I’m happy so far.

Other Failures

I destroy and reject irons. Not on purpose. I’m not normally destructive. It’s just that beyond a sewing machine – an iron is the most used powered tool that a quilter employs. We abuse them in general – leave them on for hours and hours (sometimes 14-16 at quilt retreats), haul them around with us, bounce them around in cars, totes, etc, and pour whatever water is available into them. My mother used to keep a gallon of distilled water by her iron and use a clean funnel to fill it. I fill my iron from what ever cup is handy, sometimes my water bottle, even hold it under the tap and clean? There’s usually even cat hair in the reservoir!

Notable failures:

The iron was on the iron board. One of the cats came tearing through the house and hit the board, the iron fell to the floor and there was a visible short/shock/flash. It never heated up after that. There’s also a little dent in the wood floor.
I’m generally not happy with Black and Decker brand. I figured that with that name, it would be a good, heavy duty appliance. Nope, totally wimp. I can’t remember all the details – it was so long ago – but it was sufficiently annoying that I threw it out (probably donated actually) and my brain tells me never again to B&D.
I had one iron that I really, really liked. Met all my criteria… except who every designed it did not take quilting into advisement. As I said, quilters walk away from their irons, piece, and go back and forth for hours and hours. This iron would start a light beeping after it had been ignored for something like 5 or 10 minutes. If you didn’t respond, it would give a HIGH pitched scream for about 1 minute, then it would quiet down and hibernate. For some reason, the screaming didn’t annoy me - I suppose I just could compartmentalize and shut it off in my mind. However, it annoyed the hell out of both Chris and Elinor – especially Elinor.

Fabric Packs Inspiration

Keepsake Quilting has a bunch of monthly “clubs” that one can sign up for. Each month, they send you a pack of fabric. Over a year ago, I signed up for their “Bits and Pieces” club. The description states: “Each month you will receive an assortment of die-cut fabrics that may be 4",6" or 10" squares one month and hearts or other shapes the next month”. While I like squares (and especially packs of squares), I haven’t done much with shapes like hearts, or butterflies (just two they had), and I don’t do much with applique, but I wanted to try it out for awhile.

The packs have been great inspiration and I’ve used about half of them. It’s really quite fun to get a mystery in the mail each month! Yes, I swore to myself I would use every month’s pack THAT month and would create new things…. Yeah….

I made a really nice quilt with a pack of white squares and butterflies, but I haven’t used any other of the shapes. I took that into account, and just recently switched my club membership to the charm packs.

Beads, Beads and More Beads

I’m Getting Better!

When I first tried torchwork, I loved it. However, I’m not an organic artist, or a sculptor, and didn’t pick up quickly and well like many of the people that I saw in the class. I’ve mentioned many times here that I struggle with making the beads, but that I enjoy it very much.

However, despite my own protests of inadequacy, I feel that I’m actually getting a LOT better and am proud of what I’m beginning to produce.

The first big thing is that I needed to use good glass.

I bought a lot of glass rods (what you use to make beads) at J. Ring glass in St. Paul where I get wonderful sheet glad for fusing. He had ok stuff – nothing spectacular. It was “good” glass in that it was quality. However, all he had were plain opaque and transparent colors. Nothing that did fun things, nothing that looked cool, so I went online.

That was a mistake.

I found a place (I won’t name them) that had really cool looking glass – multi colored, cool colors, thicker rods, and thin rods, and things that just plain looked fun.

However, the glass is crap

It thermal shocks VERY easily (breaks with heat) and is very hard to use. I have managed to make some pretty beads with some, but they take longer, break eaisier, etc., etc.

Then, one Open Torch day at Potek about 3 months ago, I drove the wrong car. My container of glass and supplies was in the trunk of the one I didn’t have with me. I bought glass from the shop – some plain colors, some clear and some really cool, expensive colors.

It was like night and day!

It was so much easier to create beads. They held their shap on the mandrals better, flowed easier, etc., etc.

I fell in love with torchwork all over again and have only worked with the soft glass since – haven’t done marbles, or paperweights or other hard glass things – and have made huge strides in beads. My two “styles” are encasing 2 or 3 colors into clear and decorating with multi layered dots. At the bottom of this post, I will have a bunch of pictures. The disclaimer is always: “not good quality pictures”, but you should be able to get an idea.

1000

Malcom Potek says something about having to make a thousand of something before you get good at it/can call yourself accomplished.

So, after looking at all my bins and bowls of beads….

I’m accomplished.

Now, what do I do with a thousand plus beads in all shapes, colors, and sizes…?

(There are a few sets of two or three… but not many)

Dropping Things

My inherent clumsiness and my adherence to routines has a very interesting good point in torchwork.

I drop things. I also know that I cannot catch them.

Hot glass is something that one should never try to catch…..

So I don’t….

Let me explain how this is such a plus – every glass worker drops things off their mandrals or pontis. For example, you may have a marble break off a ponti, or a soft glass rod break. Since these things have been in 2500+ degree flames, it’s quite normal for them to be VERY HOT. Every session that I go to, someone needs burn cream, or complains of a minor burn, or something. It’s also less and less me!

I know I’ve mentioned here about dropping a large marble off the rod and having it fall to my chair. Not only did I NOT try to catch it, I also spread my legs and jumped up, so it did not touch me at all. That incident is still mentioned often during open torch sessions…..

My latest story: two nights ago, I joined a couple partial rods of a purple together to make a usable rod (it’s common to join rods when they start getting short). I started working with it, and I accidentally slid my hand up to far and touched the join. Instictively, I dropped it quickly. It fell, and hit the floor, making a loud noise as it broke.

Unlike the guy across me who was already nursing two burns from touching his hot rods, I did not receive much of a burn. I startled myself and those around me, but the only causality was my rod. It was then in 5 pieces. I managed to rejoin it, and continued working with it.

Although I seem to have a MUCH higher threshold for burns now, and probably don’t have much of fingerprints, burns are still nasty. Moral of the story – don’t try to catch glass.