More Stretching Exercises

A few weeks ago, I shared a brief video with a suggested stretching exercise that you can do while you are sewing. It was enthusiastically received so I thought I would share an additional exercise with you.  I would like to thank both my friend, Nancy Hicks, for video taping this piece for me and Linda Fellows, owner of The Bobbin Case in Brighton, NY for the use of her store.

If you would a bit more review on the posture form that I mention in this video, you can check out this previous post. In the coming weeks, I hope to share some more ideas on stretches and on the mind/body state of center.

Latest Art Quilt - Center

I  have heard that art quilts have a mind of their own and can take over their destiny at some point. This is certainly true of my latest piece, Center.

The peacock feather came from a fan I received a few years ago as a gift in India. The background is a hand-knit square I made  and wanted to experiment with.  I used some soluble stabilizer to create the inner border (I will post detail on that on Friday.).

At that point I considered submitting the piece for a SAQA exhibit but there was size constraint of an 8 inch square. Center did not want to be an 8 inche square. I put it in a drawer for a bit but it kept calling out for more. Hence, the blue border.

And so, Center became my piece for the 3 Creative Studios Quilt Challenge 2010. The word for the July/August challenge was reflection. Center is reflective for me. In the art of aikido that I practice, we speak of having 'one point', a mind/body state of calmness and relaxation. Reflection and meditation contribute to our development of one point. The 'eye' of the peacock feather reminds me of one point.