Help Me I'm Ugly!

This past June, my friend Barb spent three weeks in Japan. When she came to visit last week, she brought a purse kit comprised of two handles and a large scarf. You can see on the instructions below how to pass the scarf through the handles, wrap it around, and tie it with a bow in front. The only trouble is, this scarf isn't big enough. I end up with a teeny tiny tote and not a cutely tied bag like the picture shows far right.




Barb had low expectations for the kit but loved the idea and said this floral fabric was the best of the lot. It had potential. I thought it was rather desperate. It started screaming help me I'm ugly the minute I saw it. While it won't be a hang on the wall art piece, this is the first time in a year that I've been intrigued with the idea of creating a textile piece. My goal is to improve the fabric and create a purse that in some way mimics the original pattern with a definite Japanese flavour.




I like the firmness and body of a quilted purse as opposed to using a plain fabric or stiffeners. Below, you can see the scarf in its entirety layered with backing and batting. It's 25" square.

When I taught Self Expressions, one of the assignments was Start With Dislike. Each student picked an object, usually a fabric, that they did not like and then step by step responded to the developing piece turning it from ugly into something. Success was finishing. Masterpieces were a bonus.

The workshop was for quilters who wanted to move away from patterns into pattern-free work and to discover their style. The point of the assignment was to learn to listen to your intuition and to follow through on where it led you. Typically, because the students started with something they disliked, there was no fear of failure. Anything would be better than this.

Start With Dislike was a lesson on working through, around, and with artistic fears. Once I learned that lesson, I came to enjoy the challenge of refashioning. Not every project is a masterpiece; all are challenging, creative, interesting, skill developing, and an amazing opportunity to learn.




The backing fabric shown above left is a Japanese looking piece that was a gift from a woman I gave a ride to the airport after a retreat in the fall of 2004. I've been stashing it for that long so it's nice to finally be using it. The piece was not much bigger than the scarf. That's all I have. Another limitation. More fun.




Since I haven't done any free motion thread work in over a year, I started with a practice piece. Apparently, it's like riding a bike. It came right back. More likely, twenty five years of daily practice could not be wiped out by one year of doing something else. Wish exercise was like that - LOL.

Yesterday, I stabilized the background by stipple stitching with a slightly shiny black thread in curved and flowing patterns. Then, I started satin stitching around the leaves with a shade of teal chosen because it's the direct complimentary to the orange-red, a color I dislike immensely. Together, they are beginning to give the scarf more energy. I have plans for making that red a whole lot more fun.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - that my friend would think about me while on holidays and take the time to buy me a gift that she knew for a fact I wouldn't like but that would spark my creative juices. She's waiting to see what I do with this.

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Personal Growth - I'd never heard of Mitch Albom until I read his book Tuesdays With Morrie quite by accident. A friend gave me his recent book Have A Little Faith for my birthday and I finished reading it Sunday. Both books make you think about how you see the world and your role in it. I highly recommend them.

Yesterday, I was sent a link to a twenty-two minute ad for a training program by Dewitt Jones. It too makes you think. It's a simple, powerful, message. You soon forget that it's an ad and are gripped by celebrating what's right with the world, by the possibilities.