From Frustration to Satisfaction

Well, I have really been sewing up a storm this holiday season. One project that I worked on was re-creating the leaf drawing that I was so frustrated with earlier in the month.

While in Hawaii, I found some additional fabric at one of my favorite stores, Sew Special in Maui, to try in my background. Both the sky and the 'hilly' section are the new fabrics.  In my new version, I decided to not outline the leaves but simply use Mistyfuse to bond them to a background. That worked very successfully. I then did some decorative stitching on the leaves, using my batting and fabric for the back of the piece as support. You can see that I am going for a much lighter, breezier effect this time, which I think works quite well.

My next phase was the quilting. I decided to treat my quilting lines as wind currents. The grain in the hilly fabric actually accentuates this effect. Before quilting, I actually sketched the direction of the wind through the leaves on a piece of tracing paper set on top of the fabric.

I quilted some of lines through the tracing paper  and then filled in more of the quilting. But, I didn't like my lighter quilting thread against the darker trees.

So, I decided to play with the Inktense Pencils that I just got in the mail. These watersoluble ink pencils blur when water is added and fix permanently to the fabric. What I found actually worked quite well for this purpose was to wet the pencil tip and dampen the fabric. I could then easily color in the quilt thread where it crossed the trees. I am quite satisfied with the effect.

 The result of all this pleases quite a bit. A few more touches and I shall be done with this piece.

Becoming a favorite on my Design Wall

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was reading Rule-Breaking Quilts by Kathryn Schmidt. I used some of my free time over the holidays to try one of the exercises. My objective, which I think Kathryn would agree is an objective of the book, was to increase my comfort with just free cutting pieces of fabric rather than measuring precisely. I was challenged by this concept when I took Pat Pauly's class earlier this fall and figured I could use some more experimentation. Kathryn's book gave me a bit of a structure which I really appreciated.

To start, I followed the basic instructions rather strictly. I wound up with a set of blocks.

At about that point, you are sort of encouraged to 'get creative' in assembling them into a quilt. Kathryn gives you some pointers but your finished quilt is really your own creation. After a few days of staring at the blocks, I decided to start playing. It didn't take me too long to come up with a design that I liked enough to sew together.

 I credit Kathryn's tips and many photos for the quickness of my progress. I actually found myself liking the piece the more I walked by it. So, I decided to work a bit on some additional borders to bump its size up a bit. And, I liked it even more. So, I added some more. What is interesting is how this last border really changed the balance of the colors.

At this point, I am really pleased. I am going to let it sit on my design wall a few more days. I may add some more to it. Otherwise, it is on to the next phase - quilting!

Christmas Fun

I spent a peaceful day at home for Christmas. Both of our children are living out west and my husband and I chose to stay home for the day with a simple dinner. As a result, I got to focus on my sewing for the entire day. What a luxury!

For a start, I watched a DVD on fusing by Laura Wasilowski, Fused Art Quilts. I found Laura to be a great teacher. Her DVD is very professionally produced and she even sings a song during it! Laura covers all the basics that one needs to create a fused art quilt and at the end she illustrates what she has taught in a simple project. If you have been following my blog, you know that I have been exploring different approaches to fusing, particularly after a disappointing result a few weeks ago. While my art quilts are a bit of a different style than Laura's, I still picked up quite a few tips that I will apply in my own projects. It is always helpful to see how others approach a goal, particularly when things are so meticulously taught.

I spent part of the rest of the day on a flower piece that has been on my design wall for a few weeks and which gave me a chance to experiment with the free motion quilting settings on my new machine.

This is one of those projects that disappointed me. My basic criticism of it is the heavy look of the petals. In retropsect, I should have shaped the petals more instinctively. The flower came from a photo and I got too caught up in following the lines of the photo. I also had issues with the center of the flower while I was working on the piece. The center that you see is actually a second try. I never had a really good handle on how I wanted to create the center and the first attempt really didn't work for me. I had some fabric that resembled some of what I had wanted to create so I wound up cutting a piece of that and putting it over the original center - persistence on my part.

So, that is what I didn't like about my dear flower. How about the positive? I like the colors in the petals - it was one of my first attempts at creatng petal shading through piecing. And, I like my free motion quilting - particularly the leaf effect around the petals. It is the first time I have tried for that sort of an effect and I can see that I have going to use it in future projects.

Season's Greetings to All

Thank you everyone for your friendship and support in the past year.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

With hopes for a peaceful and joyous 2011!

Obi = Martial Arts Weapons Bag

I am finally back sewing...and exploring a new machine. So, for an opening project, I decided to take an obi that I picked up in Kyoto several years ago and convert it to a holder for my aikido "weapons" - wooden sticks ranging in size from 5' to about 12".

It was an excellent opportunity for me to learn not only how to thread my new machine but also switch to dual feed and adjust pressure foot tension. And, it was a basically pretty simple project - basically folding the obi in half lengthwise, trimming to the length I wanted, and hemming the sides.

First, I created a knife or tanto pocket on the upper inside of the the bag. I found that an applique stitch worked great with anchoring in the extra obi fabric that I had left after cutting the obi to the length I needed.

Then it was simply a matter of adding some additional fabric to hold the drawstring on the inside of the top and sewing up the sides. An applique stitch worked great for that too.

Eventually I will probably add a piece to carry it over my shoulder.

In the meantime, I have a new weapons carrier and the first project completed on my new machine. It feels great to be back sewing!

Giving Value in 2011

My travels of the past weeks have meant not sewing and not teaching aikido. These absences happen from time to time because travels are part of my life. I am always a bit hesitant when I return to resume teaching.

At this point I have been teaching almost 25 years. Our group is blessed with a great core of instructors who can teach as well as me and, at this point, are probably better able to take physical falls, etc. of our art. (I turn 63 next month.) It is a favorite mind game of mine while I am gone to ask if now is the time to retire....but then I return and stand in front of the class. I am lucky as there is always a great group of students. They are inevitably skilled for their rank (due to the high quality of instruction in our dojo) and eager to learn. And, I am reminded of why I teach.

Saturday morning was a great example. I overheard two high ranking students discussing an issue in technique before class started. It became the basis for the second half of our class. As the group practiced, my experience allowed me to offer suggestions to all on how to tweak their throws. They expressed appreciation. I left the dojo feeling that my presence contributed to their learning. And, as a result, I felt great the rest of the day.

Teaching is something I love and continue to do after all these years. Why? Because I can give value.

Anytime in life that we can give value to someone, we receive as much, if not more, in return. This is true in any activity. I find that it is as true in my fiber art as in my aikido. When I feel that there is value in what I am creating, that I know it will lift someone's feeling, perhaps inspire action, then I feel great.

Garden of Dreams, 2008

For all of you, I wish in 2011 that you may appreciate the value you are giving to others in their lives through your art, your work, your many activities, and I hope that you will carry the joy of that feeling with you throughout the year.

A Favorite Travel Book

I enjoy reading and go through a lot of books in a year. On this last vacation, I found one that is undoubtedly one of my favorite all-time books. A Week At the Airport by Alain de Botton has a title that may strike many as a bit strange. A book on an airport? A week at an airport? Why? It seems Alain was invited to spend a week writing about a new terminal at London Heathrow.

I travel a lot and find airports in general fascinating. So, a book by that title is bound to be one I will pick up. As it turned out, it turned out to be one of the more mesmerizing books I have read.

Alain has a wonderful sense of humor - a bit British I might say. I found myself laughing out loud many times as he described typical airport scenes.

He managed to cast a spell over me by weaving in the names of many exotic places in chapter after chapter. That alone might have made me love the book. Where were these places? Might I ever visit them?

But, what really drew me in was Alain's descriptions of humanity. Not just the poignant descriptions of travelers and airport workers. His depth of knowledge of human history is reflected in every page.  His ability to weave in questions that have faced us all through out time makes the book a most thoughtful piece.

Here is one of my favorite quotes:

At the beginning of human history as we struggled to light fires and to chisel fallen trees into rudimentary canoes, who could have predicted that long after we had managed to send men to the moon and aeroplanes to Australia, we would still have such trouble knowing how to tolerate ourselves, forgive our loved ones and apologize for our trantrums?