Happy New Year!

It's the end of another year, and of the resolutions that had been made, some were fulfilled, some were not, and some will continue on as new resolutions for the new year coming up.

Due to family issues, I've only been working on a few things, not very much, but a few. I've finished three more pieces of my 2010 Bead Journal Project, and should have a fourth piece done next week. March, April, and May are now done; June is almost finished; February still needs to be completed. I have the colors decided for July through December, though I don't have all the beads yet. The colors will be: July - brown, August - red, September - blue-green, October - red-orange, November - blue-violet, and December - violet.




I've also done some felt flowers. They were fun to do, and it's gotten me interested in embroidery again. I plan on joining the Embroidery Guild and the Needlepoint Guild this year.



So, what are my resolutions for 2011? More art, definitely! I will be finishing my BJP pieces for 2010. I have three photos to use as inspiration for art quilts for the Visioning Project in connection with SAQA. I plan to finish many of the 118 UFOs I have sitting in my studio and in containers in the garage. I also want to enter just a couple of quilt shows/exhibitions, just a couple.

I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. May all your plans, goals, and desires be fulfilled.

Thanks for reading, and take care.
Michele

I've been away far too long........

I've really missed posting here. Life's been way too hectic! Classes started up again in June, and since it's a summer schedule, they're very short! Prior to that, it's been work and home that's kept me especially busy and off the blog circuit. But I have been creating. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures as of this writing, but I will post photos and more details in the next week or two. Now, where to start......

Studio: I've been cleaning and rearranging my studio the last couple of months. It's almost done. I've got a new table, and am planning on getting another one. That will give me three six foot tables along three walls. I've just recently decided (today, in fact) to dedicate each table to certain types of crafts. One table will be for mixed media painting and collage. I'll keep all my glues, paints and papers on and under that one. A second table will be for beading and embroidery; all my tools and supplies will be there. The last table will be for sewing and quilting. There's a fabulous store in the mall across from where I work. It's called "The Container Store," and that's just what it is. They have just about any and every type of container you can imagine for any and every room in your home, including the garage, as well as containers for traveling and shipping and gift giving! I love it! I've been organizing and containing everything in my studio.

Bead Journal Project: I've finished March (orange) and April (green). May's color turned out to be gray, and is about half done. June's color and beads have been selected: yellow, as in sunshine, "Follow the yellow brick road," and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I know what I want to be doing, and I have so many ideas percolating. I haven't gotten back to February yet, but I will. I've put these aside for the moment because of deadlines in the next couple of areas......

Beading for a Cure: I've been working on this, and need to get it done. I've finished most of the beading, and will then need to assemble the purse. I've got all the materials I need, everything is cut out and ready to assemble once the beading is done. It needs to arrive no later than August 2, so I've got less than a week to finish it! I should be able to get it done.

Hoffman Challenge: Well, I didn't get this done. I actually thought I had another month to work on it, but I just checked the rules, and it's due today! Another year missed! Okay, I'm putting myself on notice! Next year, I will have a project in the Hoffman Challenge!

I also mentioned Bead Dreams and Save the Planet in my last entry. No, those didn't get done either. Bead Dreams didn't get any further than the drawing board, and Save the Planet still needs to be lined and the strap added. It's a shame too. I found the perfect fabric to use for the lining at the Glendale Quilt Show. Ah well, I'll just add that one to my bag stash! LOL!

SAQA Visioning Project: I joined Studio Art Quilt Associate's Visioning Project in March. I've gotten some wonderful inspiration and encouragement from this group, even though I haven't really produced anything yet. I'm focusing on finding my voice as a quilt artist, and have come up with the idea of taking three photos and doing a series of small quilts of each. No quilt would be larger than 24" on any one side. Each photo is a bit more complex than the prior one. Each series would build on the techniques learned and ideas worked on in the previous series. I've picked out my three photos, and have enlarged the first photo to start creating my quilts from.

Online Trade Groups: I belong to three online art trading groups: Fiber Art Traders and Art 4 Mail (both Yahoo Groups), and Swap-Bot. This is where I've been doing most of my artistic work lately. I've done several embroidered pieces, some quilt blocks, my first ever dotee dolls, my first miniature quilt, and even a couple of short stories. However, I plan on cutting back on these trades for a while. Although I love receiving pieces of art from, and sending to, people around the world, I find I'm spending so much time with these, I'm neglecting my artistic vision. I justify these pieces by telling myself, and others, that I'm honing my skills, practicing my embroidery or applique, when the fact is I'm really procrastinating. With work, school, and family to deal with, I have very little time for art. If I continue to do as much with these trade groups as I have recently, I'll never get around to creating the larger pieces I have visions of. I won't give these groups up completely; they are a fascinating and wonderful group of people and artists, but I need to cut back. Perhaps I'll do one trade a month, or one every two months.

Well, that's about it for now. I will get back in next week and post some photos. I've got a mid-term next Tuesday, and a final on Wednesday, so I won't be posting anything before then.

Until next time, take care.
Michele

January BJP, Rob Appell, and Reigniting the Passion

Had the flu last week, so, naturally, nothing got done! I did make some progress on my January Bead Journal piece this week. I'm not sure that I'm happy with it; but, I'm trying really hard not to get analytical and/or critical of what I'm doing. I stopped at this point because I found myself analyzing what I had done and considered tearing it out! I was also not really sure where I wanted to go next. Once my left brain kicked in, it was time to put down the needle! LOL!

Rob Appell was guest speaker at our quilt guild meeting last Thursday. He was fabulous; funny, witty, inspirational, and informative. His quilts are beautiful, and I love his Endangered Species patterns. The Bengal Tiger is awesome, and I really like the Macaw, but I absolutely fell in love with the Red Wolf. I absolutely had to have that pattern. He taught his Quick Fuse Seascape class yesterday. I'll post later and let you know how it all went.

This past week I did get a couple of things done. I finished the last two promised items for online trades, which are now very late. The first is a small handbag in black and white.

My sewing machine started choking on thread a couple weeks ago, so I actually ended up doing the entire piece by hand. It's been so long since I've done that kind of handwork that I had forgotten how much I love it! Its dimensions are 6"H x 9"W x 2.5"D. It's hand-quilted, and the handles consist of an embroidered and beaded organza lace sewn on top of webbing. (No, I didn't do the embroidery/beading on the lace.)

The other project I finished was a set of four Shashiko embroidered coasters. They're 4" square, and also completely hand-sewn. I love Shashiko embroidery, and these were a lot of fun to do.

Both of these projects got mailed yesterday! They will also be the last online trades I do for a while. I have a couple of ideas for making a living creatively and I need to focus my attention on them. I want to see if I can get out of the 9 to 5-commuting-business doldrums. I would love to make my living with my own business, doing something fun and creative, and it's time. I've been bouncing the ideas around in my head for several years now, but never felt I was really good enough. But you know what? I am. Something Rob said Thursday really hit home, and it's time to get started. The passion I used to feel for sewing, fabric and needlework had left me for a long time. I thought the fire had died, but there's still a spark. I can feel it. It's time to feed that spark until it burns brighter than it ever had!

More on that later. I've still got quite a few projects going, and even while working on my aforementioned new business, I'll be doing other projects, mostly to work out ideas to incorporate. I've acquired a lot of skills over the years, but there's always something new to learn and share!

Until next time, take care.