Reinventing the Wheel

In cleaning out my studio I came across a project I did for a quilt shop.  We offered this Simple Country Sampler by The Rabbit Factory for a beginning class.  I loved that it included most anything you would need to learn from piecing to appliqué.  This class was quite a while ago and in colors the shop chose which I still think look good, but I would like to teach this class again in my colors.  It's a reminder that one of the best things about quilting is we all see something different through our own rose-colored glasses and mine are lime-green. 

The original project colors

http://www.therabbitfactory.com

Stencil LOVE,

I recently had a play day with my art group Out of Bounds using Gelli Art plates.  Stencils were a big part of these results.   We all agree we like Stencil Girl stencils and Amazon for our resources.   After that day I had to go home and try my hand at making my own stencil.   I usually make mine with two layers of freezer paper for durability, but after a day of play and paint a toll had been taken on my freezer paper version.  So I remade my favorite design in stencil plastic.  It's the one that looks like orange slices.  My edges are straight but rough because of the melted edges from the stencil cutter.  

If I discover something interesting further about stencil making I will pass it on.  Other wise jump in, the water is fine.

Box tape upper left, Tyvek circle and rice paper on the right.

Fabric with freezer paper backing.

Deli paper.

Not-So-Sacred-Space

The studio is my sacred-get-my-head-right-space.  It's the place I find solace and energy.  However over the past year it had become my not-so-sacred-space.  

My corners will filled with "GUILT" and "I'd-rather-be-doing" projects.  I liked to keep projects out as a reminder that they needed to be done, but since clearly that didn't work..... I dug in and cleaned every corner.  I boxed up each of my cherished projects so when I did bring them out it would have my full attention.  And I made me honey-do-list.  It's made up of projects I really want to work on.  That is now a electronic sticky on my computer rather than a flappy one stuck to my computer screen.  Hopefully that carries less guilt.

I am also finding homes for the tools, fabric or patterns I haven't used.  My feeling is they need to be used and loved properly.  

Now that the studio is cleaned up I took pictures to remind me of what I want it to look like. Non-Chaotic.  If I don't want chaos in my head why should I have it out front of me.

Panoramic shot of the whole studio.

I put a lot of thought in where my heart lies when it comes to art time.  At the forefront is traditional and art quilting.  Wool work and mixed media journaling because of my love of hand work and paper.  Knowing that really helped sort through the chaos and prioritize. 

So happy to have my cutting table free of debris.  After all I might as well use it as a cutting table and not a filing system. 

I have touches of my kids in the studio. The stuffed monkey was Connell's and the cat, Pary's.  The frog has a recording of their voices.  I used to go to my studio to have a break but my boys would follow me there and do their home work or what ever.  Now that they are not around as much these little touches have become a reminder how much my family has been a big part of my creativity and supported me along the way. 

My office is a part of my studio and it was looking pretty crap-tastic.  Yes that is a word I am submitting to Webster's.  If LOL and selfie can make it I strongly think crap-tastic should be included.  On the left is a homemade calendar/journal. I love that I have my computer calendar because it syncs with all my other devices.  But this I can have to doodle or write a word for the day on.  Writing a word for how the day went can really be cathartic.

So that's my studio confession.  I'll let you know if I kept my focus and the chaos at arms length.