I have been suffering from a creative dry spell. It isn't that I don't have any projects that need doing or even deadlines - it's that I'm either too tired or unmotivated or just feel weird about putting hands to fabric and creating.

However, what I have been doing is putting my hands in the dirt. 

We have two decks - a narrow one on the side of our place and a large one at the rear (which is what we use as our main entrance). I don't like the narrow deck - it’s too high off the ground and too narrow and old wood.  Michael loves it and uses it as his 'smoking' room.  He also has the potato planters out there and his greenhouse.  I love the one at the back and have been slowly turning it into the perfect summer oasis complete with flag pole, umbrella, planters, lanterns, outdoor rugs, seat, coffee table - the works. I even created a water garden complete with a fountain! 

It has been such fun picking out the planters, purchasing the flowers and plants, transplanting, staging - out door interior design on a budget!   I have also found sticking my hands in the dirt very therapeutic, too! 

​Now some might say there isn't much creativity in putting together a few plants and a folding chair - but I doubt Mike would agree, considering all the shifting around of planters he has had to do as I perfect this design!  He also figured out how to get the fountain placed perfectly! 

Michael is the 'big garden' guy - he has tons of idea about what to do with the big garden we have over at the farm (which is why he is starting seeds in his greenhouse) - he has the big vision.  I'm more the vignette sort. Luckily both our styles will make for lots of getting our hands and toes in the dirt and a wonderful blossoming & green summer!

And still I am rolling in the dirt of a serious dry spell.

I do have this crocheted blanket I've been working on since 1980 (yes, 1980) - a couple of times I have declared it as FINISHED and have used it, but it is a square and isn't long enough to be comfy.  After the move to the new place, I got this great fabric basket from a big box store and had all the yarn and the blanket in that next to my recliner so I could work on it while watching TV with my honey.

But we don't watch TV together very much (although we did watch a good portion of the NFL draft together......).

So I took the basket up to the bedroom so I could work on it up there watching TV and I have actually done that - so that was a smart move.

Back in February, I picked up some of the 'Downtown Abbey' yarn (great marketing ya'll!) via Amazon and it was pricey and I quickly figured out that I didn't get enough to use on this blanket-that-never-seems-to-get-finished.  Yesterday I found more of the exact yarn I needed at AC Moore's at half the price so I picked up what I needed.  Last night was spent making yarn balls.

​I live an extremely exciting life!

I can't believe that March is almost over and that we've been in the new place more than 3 full months!

What's worse, though, is that in those 3 full months I've created basically nothing. 

Wait - that's not exactly true - I did create some cute valentines on stretched canvas for Michael and my parents - something they can take out year to year and display. 

They are cute but.... I'm feeling pretty creative-challenged.

I've bought stuff to make some projects, but I never seem to get to actually making them.  I could blame being sick, but that's pretty lame.

I'm very frustrated with myself - I have this great place and tons of room to work and yet I'm not creating!   Most lackluster artist ever!

In January, I used Shutterfly to make a hardbound book of my honey's photographs and some of his writings - it was an early Valentine's present but I also wanted him to have a way to display his art in a different way.

After listening to myself whine above (and after receiving a 50% off coupon) I decided to do the same for myself.  It was a bit of a process - I didn't have photographs of all my work, so I had to handle that plus you can do a lot of editing in Shutterfly.... but I finished the book and am waiting for it to be printed and shipped.

I hope it comes out as awesome as Mike's book did!

I think I am the saddest blogger ever!  I get so caught up in work and life that I forget to update my website!  I often see articles and links about how you can make money blogging and I always thing 'what a great idea!' and then I remember that I forget to update my site..... cold dose of reality!

However - I have performed some site maintenance recently - I added an artist's statement page (and filled in the statement!), I added a post or two in the road trip section and I updated the referrals page - so I feel somewhat accomplished.

​I am adding a FAQ pages - so please feel free to suggest some questions!

So bear with me and keep visiting!  Feel free to comment as well - feedback is always appreciated!

I recently re-encountered a friend from long ago and was delighted to learn she, too has become a fabric artist - you can find a link to her website on the referrals page - just look for Carrie Shoup!

She and I have been emailing a lot this week and in the course of our discussions (such as emails are) we talked about our love of fabrics and the things we create from them.  It was through these discussions that I got inspiration for my next piece.  Of course that set off a flurry of fabric purchases (thank goodness I can get fat quarters on ebay and Etsy!) and some other tidbits that I was inspired to purchase.  The crazy thing about my pieces is that while I know what the inspiration is (or who), and I have the materials in hand, I have no idea until I a building the piece how it will turn out and while that used to bother me, I'm starting to appreciate the process.

I don't want to say too much about the piece yet, but here is a sneak peek! 

About two weeks ago, while I was still waiting for the final bits I ordered for the NJF piece I am working on, I decided that I needed to do a challenge piece.  By challenge piece, I mean have someone challenge me to do a piece that was all one color.  Now this could also work for things like all floral prints, all solids, etc.  For this one, it was color and my partner picked blue (and thus the title of my post!).

I also decided to restrict the piece by size (no more the 15" x 12") and I could only use items I already had in house - no ordering decorations or fabric or anything! luckily, I had navy blue binding I could use for the edges!). 

I also sewed a pocket on the back to insert a dowel in order to make it easier to hang up the piece.

Overall I love the look and am pretty happy with how the piece turned out.  My first finished piece of 2015!

One technique I picked up a few years ago was the hang & view test.  Once I have a piece all pinned together, I like to hang it up and look at it until I feel the design is set.  This works great because anytime something bothers me about the piece, I can take it down, reconstruct it and hang it back up.  As I write this post, I have already reconstructed it once! 
I also have to mention another great tool - Pinterest!  I have found a wealth of new embroidery stitches to try, a kaleidoscope of colors to consider and oh such pretty fabrics to drool over!  I am hoping to try some of those new stitches on this piece.
I plan to post some additional 'in progress' photos on this piece - I hope you like them!

I refuse to make another post where I complain that I've been so busy with work or stressed out about whatever that I haven't been creative...blah blah blah.  I won't lie - there has been stress and there has been work but even so.....

That said - I did make one item for Christmas...of a kind.  One of my brothers is a long distance hauler and my usual Christmas gift for him is a musical mix for the road.  Its harder then it sounds (no pun intended) but it is a challenge that I enjoy.  But this year, I wanted to make him something even more special, so I got the idea of dressing up a new lightweight but warm blanket (in a lovely shade of pale green) for his bunk.  I found just what I was looking for on Amazon but had a hard time finding just the right fabric for the dressing part.  Luckily, I visited my favorite fabric store (equilter.com) and found this:

Neat, huh?  (click on the fabric to see it on their website) 

So I bought a few yards, cut it up, sewed it together, and after a bucklet load of ironing, I had lovely binding that I sewed onto the blanket.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to take a photo of it, but I am delighted to say that he seemed pleased with his mix and his new blanket.

But the fact that I haven't been more creative - be it with textiles, paper or words, has been bothering me and while I don't make new year's resolutions, I have become determined to at least make more posts to the website.  This makes the 3rd one in 13 days - not great but better then last year!!

What sorts of urges toward creativity have you felt of late?  What do you think will inspire you to accomplish creativity in your life this year?

Creating wall hangings was the start of my 'artistic career' (so to speak).  I create them for a specific person/group of people; they contain images and textures that reflect the individual person/people. Some of these pieces have been incredibly easy to create; others have been excruciating - not because I didn't want to do it or hated the subject matter - but because I agonized over each piece of fabric, each charm, each placement. I wanted it just right and I wanted the subject(s) reflected by the piece to feel good about my interpretation.

Over on my road trip blog, I recently made a post about Michael. We have known each other for 21 years and have had more ups and downs then a Dorney Park roller coaster but back in 2009,  I felt very strongly that I needed to create a piece about him.  We weren't actually a part of each other's lives at that time, but it was a project my heart really wanted to do so I got to work.  I gathered all kinds of fabric and utilized some new techniques (such as printing photos onto adhesive backed fabric). I even went into my 'Michael memory box' and pulled out some really special treasures that I felt should be a part of the piece. 

But when it was time to put the piece together - I just couldn't - my emotions just made it impossible to put something together that looked half decent.  So I packed it away and hoped I would feel up to the challenge of finishing it at a later time.

Fast forward 5 years to a completely different emotionally complicated now - but a now that was inspiring me to complete this piece.  A big part of it was that although he has given me the gift of his photographs (go see here) on more then one occasion,  I hadn't every gifted him with any of my original artwork. So after he arrived in Chicago, I spent a solid 4 days and finished the piece.

I'm not going to share every intimate detail here about what everything means, some stories are left for telling by someone else.  But I did want to point out some of the bits that you might find interesting or special.

• There is a photo of Michael and his dog, Molly on a hike - that is a photo printed on adhesive backed fabric (as is the tiny photo of the two of us together)
  
• There are license plates from the 3 states where he has lived/is living - Illinois, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.  These are all cut from fabric printed with license places from each state. (If anyone has any of this laying about that they aren't using - I'd be happy to take it off your hands!)
• When we first met - he had a grey '88 Grand Prix - I LOVED THAT CAR! I honed my driving skills driving cross country in "Esmeralda".  It had over 205,000 miles on it when it was finally dragged off to the junk yard (kicking & screaming, I'd like to think). There is actually a name plate from the car sewn onto the piece along with my car keys....2 very special items that are difficult to part with but add so much meaning to the finished artwork. The name plate was yanked off the car and came away in 3 sections so isn't in the best condition - it took a lot of thread to anchor it securely.

A close-up of the name plate & car keys....

This piece really was a labor of love and I'm pretty pleased with the final result. The finished piece is one of the largest I've done - approximately 22 inches x 34 inches (give or take a few inches each way) and while that doesn't sound large, trying to get into the middle of piece that large to do the embroidery while maneuvering around lots of pins can be a challenge.  But I'm pleased to say I managed not to bleed on it and it looks rather nice, I think.

I have tried to sign every piece I make but I usually just write on the back with a sharpie (unlike my mom who carefully embroiders her name, date & the recipient on the back of each of her creations! so gorgeous!) but this time I used the 'print on adhesive backed fabric thing' and stuck it to the back.  Of course the sharpie still made an appearance because I had to edit the label.

Yesterday, I carefully packed up the piece and sent it to him in Chicago.  No one else has seen it yet - I wanted him to be the first.  I won't publish this post until after he sees it - just because, you know? Art usually speaks when the body can't.

I have mentioned in a previous post the St. Daniel's Quilters but I really wanted to go into more detail.

These ladies are AMAZING - not just because they sew so beautifully and devote so much time to help raise money for their church, but because these ladies are some of the busiest women I have ever met!  Honestly - I am surprised they don't all have social secretaries considering their full dance cards!  Besides quilting, they help with their grand & great grandchildren, they have monthly school reunions, play cards and work at the polls on election day.  They attend church (and a variety of church events), donate their time to various charities....some of them even have part time jobs! They are also some of the most gracious and interesting women I have ever met.



I'm proud to say my mom is a member of this group - that's her in the middle facing the camera.  The quilt they are working on was made by my friend, Tony as a gift for his wife for Yule.  He is the one who helped me put together my autumn quilt pictured below.



Aside from their passion for the art of quilting, this activity at St. Daniel's is specifically a fundraiser for the church - people hire them to complete the quilting portion (and sometimes even the binding) of their handmade quilts. I've never asked but I'm sure they have an accounting of how many quilts they have done over the years and I would guess the number is considerable.  The wedding quilt I mentioned in a previous post is in their queue and while the bride and groom may have to wait until after Christmas for their quilt (they were married this past March), believe me, it is completely worth the wait! 

Here is a quilt the ladies did for me - it is black thread on the black squares only. They did a fantastic job and my quilt is wonderful!

If you have a quilt that needs completion or if you are just interested in the efforts of these marvelous artists, please click on the link below!

Quilt Ladies of Robesonia!