I had no business starting another art quilt right now. There’s a deadline looming the end of September for entry in a big international quilt show, and while “Cloud Ribbons” is almost finished and ready to be photographed for consideration for that show, there’s about a week left of sewing. Then there’s the issue of my chronic Lyme’s disease. Having gone into my brain and spinal cord, it could take six months to completely rid my system. Never mind that I’m now being tested for Babesiosis, which is sort of a tick born malaria, as the parasites hide out in your red blood cells and break out when I’m exhausted. So, while the chills and fevers are no way as severe as regular malaria, there are days when I’m too dizzy to pick my head up off of the pillow. Yet. here I am starting out a new art quilt.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve been auditioning the fabrics you see here on my pinning board for maybe two months now. The piece of wall board to which I pin the top layer of the quilt sandwich is to the left of my computer, here in my tiny studio, so whenever I get up out of my chair, whatever is up there is staring back at me, as if to beg me to give them life. These fabrics are rather special for me as a lot of them came from a blouse of my mother’s. They include the black and white spotted jersey, the magenta and black tie that was part of the collar, and the two cuffs that are off to the left of this photo. Right down the middle of this photo is some of the pale pink iron-on applique flowers that I used on the shawl that we buried my mother in. So, you can see that there’s a lot of sentimental material crying to be used in this piece.
In the far left of this photo is one of the cuffs cut from the blouse. There’s a magenta stripe, then a black one, and finally, a black and white herringbone pattern. There were 3 small black plastic buttons at one end, which I left in a row. If you look closely at the bottom of those stripes, are 3 loops to fasten the cuff made from the black and white spotted fabric. Finally, on the very far left is a line of the black and white spotted fabric with black buttons running down the length of it. That’s the placket from the front of the blouse. I was surprised at how difficult it was to get straight pins through the jersey while trying to fasten those shapes in place. The cuffs especially tried my patience (and my finger strength) as they’re two layers thick. I’ll see how hard it is to get a sewing needle through those cuffs. The degree of difficulty will help to determine how many buttons and beads those areas get. Give me my good old dress weight cotton and cotton blend fabrics to quilt and bead on any day!
Now comes the fun part. I have a new shipment of Czech glass buttons from my favorite purveyor on eBay, Spirit_Inc. I probably shouldn’t give this source away, as she has the best prices around, but I want her to stay in business so I can buy more of her gorgeous buttons. I also find it amusing that while the Internet can bring me supplies from all over the world, the owner of Spirit_Inc lives about 20 miles south of me. So off to distract myself from how nauseated I feel right now by sewing on some buttons and beads.
For other exciting art quilts, check out… http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/
What’s your favorite part of the creation process in your medium? Is it enough to distract you when you’re sick?
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You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com (be patient as it loads; it’s worth it), my spiritual healing work at www.transitionportals.com and can find me on Google + , Facebook (for Transition Portals) Facebook (for Fiber Fantasies), and Twitter.
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A simple question to myself, answered sincerely, is: “Does doing this particular thing in this particular way allow the feeling of happiness to erupt within me? “When I answer my own self honestly, I cannot, and do not fail.
O-O-Oh! I really like this comment, Maureen! However, for me, it’s sometimes about being quiet enough to hear that
“No, this isn’t really making you happy”, and then stop doing whatever is what makes problems for me..:)