Kicking And Screaming

Working in series is the term used by artists to indicate using the same subject matter over and over. That might be a topic such as chairs or fences or it might be an item such as the pairs of hands from the quilt that I'm using to make these handbags. Some series are unlimited. Textile artist Lisa Call has made hundreds of pieces in her Structures series. Other series are limited by choice or by circumstances. There were nine pairs of hands on the original quilt. There will be nine hand bags.

Series work is not just for professional, recognized, or traditional artists. The study of fashion garments is just as likely. Topics like seam allowances or zippers or skirts or fitted blouses or _________ - fill in the blank with whatever you would like to study and it could be studied from a technical how to point or from a design point. I've long been intrigued with the idea of studying t-shirts in series work. It's on my "want to do" list.

What I like about series work is how it stretches you particularly when there are limits and challenges built in. With my current project the challenge is to use the original pair of hands in a bag and the limit is to use only supplies found within the studio. As supplies dwindle, I'm forced to get even more creative with my solutions.

Limits and challenges both push creativity by focusing the flow of thought and by necessitating thinking outside the box - like with purse feet made of buttons and rings made of beads. Our minds are capable of great things. When we stop pampering them with easy answers and work a little harder, it's amazing what emerges AND THEN... a worked for answer on one project becomes an easier step on another and we take the learning forward and we grow in ability.

Series work will always hit bumps in the road. Typically the work will flow and then it will not. Often that's when we want to quit thinking we've reached the end of any possible solutions. As awkward as it is, it's not the time to quit. It's the time to push through. Some pieces - like Ruth V's handbag - arrive kicking and screaming into the world. They are un-cooperative and argumentative and fight you each step of the way and still have a need to be born.

Often when series work gets difficult, it's when we've made assumptions - like these bags are going just great - or when we're trying to force the work in a particular direction that it doesn't want to go. I wanted Ruth V's bag to have a very wide top that angled down to a curved bottom with a beach bag kind of look. The bag wanted to be a rectangle. I wanted it to be anything but a rectangle. We fought over that for a while and then the bag won. It's a rectangle.

The first few times I heard about listening to your inner artist or letting the work talk to you, I thought it was all hocus pocus. Really, whose in charge here anyway? The work. In a step-by-step responding process, the artist is simply the means by which the work chooses to be emerge. I know. Hocus pocus. I think you have to try it to believe it.

I was amazed at what learning to create step-by-step taught me about listening to my intuition, about speaking positively to myself, about trusting myself, about making life decisions, about relying on God. Becoming an artist has grown me up in so many other areas of life. Others may grow in those same areas in different ways. I needed to become an artist to do it. If I think about it too much - as you know I'm capable - I would guess it comes down to control issues but that's just a guess. I don't really care because it works for me in amazingly positive ways.

When we allow whatever negative voice that is reverberating in our heads to have power, it drowns out the voice of our artist, the voice of our positivity, the voice of God within us. We all have an inner critic. Most of us recognize that voice. We can give it a face and a name and it's very real. As you give less and less attention to that voice, it begins to recede - not gracefully nor kindly but eventually - and gradually stronger voices fill that space. It takes a lot of work. It's worth it. At first the voice is tentative. It wonders will you listen and as you begin to listen, it speaks more often and louder and eventually, you're having discussions with your inner artist and you wonder if you've really gone crazy. No. You're just talking with yourself and with the gift of and the flow of creativity within you which I call God.

Ruth's bag did not want to be an unusual shape. It did not want to be a slouchy shoulder bag or a wide mouthed beach bag or any of the other of the ideas I attempted to impose on it. It's a 13 7/8" by 14 5/8" rectangle... as in almost a square. The pictures above are...

1. patting black paint along a strip of pre-quilted purple fern fabric to create loops to hold the bamboo handles.

2. designing the cutest purse feet ever that the bag has since refused to accept although I've tried three different ways to attach them and have a fourth idea in mind.

3. a lot of bulk starts happening when the handles and zipper portions are added. By stitching these in place from the front, I was able to control the bulk easier.

4. the zipper portion folds toward the center of the bag opening. If you click on the picture you can see where I turned under the edge and slip stitched to hide the handle holds and maintain neatness.

5. the bag in two parts. Those metal buttons in the corners of the hand square are thirty years old. They came from stash. Originally, they were on a dress shirt that I sewed my then new husband... which he refused to wear... because it had a weird print and a funny feel. He wasn't used to silky dress shirts.

6. I even left an opening in the bottom edge this time to allow access for sewing on the purse feet. They still refused to co-operate.

7. A tuck sewn on the side is like a dart that forces the side inward pushing the back and front and bottom edges outward. It gives the bag shape.

8. There was just enough of this gorgeous batik to add detail to the front, construct the edges, and line the inside. It's the fabric that brought the project together, saved it from being staid and boring, and took FOREVER to locate in the stash. Batiks are thin and they hide well.

There were two viewings of the house over the weekend. I have cleaned house seven times in three weeks. It's clean. Enough now. I will be so grateful when the need to clean has ended and we are either moving or staying for now. A few more weeks and we'll know. Today, I'm playing in the studio. Tomorrow, the finished bag.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - learning to listen

Rings On Her Fingers

After I drove my son to work yesterday morning, I sat and listened to an interview with Marcy Tilton and her sister Katherine Tilton called Ten Secrets To Being An Everyday Creative. What intrigued me most was that none of the information shared was new. It was information that I use regularly and have taught to my students in the past... when I was teaching.  Again, I wondered why this reminder that I love to teach. It was interesting in one of those weird, I wish I knew the answer, kind of ways and not interesting at all in one of those, it hurts, I loved to do that, why the reminder, kind of ways. 

When I looked at the Sweet Spot website on Tuesday, it was immediately obvious that Claire - the creatress as she calls herself - has a fabulous group of creatives who are willing to invest their success in her success. These are not just friends. They are a group of like minded, creative and business oriented people -  which was one of the points in the talk - about being part of a creative community. Hmm... yes... and not so easily accomplished in-person as it sounds. On-line - as good as it can be - does not have the same energy as face-to-face. They are two completely different things.

Howard phoned shortly after I finished listening to the interview. We had a good talk about the mixed messages and road blocks I've been running into lately that I don't know how to interpret and last night, I had that talk again with a friend - just to make sure I was thinking in the right direction. It's good to have a sounding board. I needed to set some guidelines and make some decisions because one thing I know for sure is that you can't walk in any direction if your leg is hobbled to one spot on the ground. You'll keep going in circles and tripping over yourself. SO...

... I've written an outline for the type of employment I'm looking for and will limit myself to applying only for those kinds of positions AND... while I'm waiting to see if that does or does not happen... I'll  focus on growing myself creatively and be open to the potential for opportunities there as well. This may not sound like anything new but to me it's incredibly more focused. I have felt like I've been going crazy thinking should I do this or that and is this a sign and if so, does it mean this or that, and which way is up.

When Howard and I were talking, he said that he felt I needed to earn sufficient income to pay for my supplies and any workshops I wanted to take so they weren't coming out of household expenses. I think that's reasonable and will be my starting point. I want to contribute much further than that.

I did join the Sweet Spot Salon. We'll see how that goes. Facebook and Twitter have absolutely no appeal for me and I've never been much good at discussion groups once the format moved beyond Yahoo. I understood that system but how this community functions is not as obvious to me as it might be to someone who is more familiar with on-line groups and forums than I am. For example, it appears that if you blog, it's a new blog within the community. If so, that doesn't appeal. I already have this blog and a blog and a website and possibly a sales page are about as technically advanced as I want to be EVEN THOUGH connecting with creative people is a huge draw. At heart, I'm a small group and a face-to-face kind of person and I'd much rather spend more of my time creating than talking about it - which is what I did the rest of yesterday - create.

Ruth V's hands were side by side on the original quilt, both on the beige part of the background. They were of similar value and both contain purple. Ruth is very tiny, loves oversized purses with lots of pockets, is a spring in coloring, and wears rings on her fingers - all of them - all the time - more than one ring on some fingers.

I made sure to sew the embellishments on before getting too far into the project because once the hands are sewn in and the lining is in place, it's a lot more difficult. These "rings" are buttons, beads, or a combination of the two.

I found it difficult to get into the flow of this project yesterday. There was lots of stuttering. That could be the dip in energy I mentioned or the fact that I've been fighting a cold. I started out using 7" purple zippers and then changed my mind to 9" blue ones and then changed my mind again to cutting down 18" black ones all so I could get the cleanest application. My stash of zippers is dwindling radically. That will be something to stock up on again at the next 50% off sale.

As you can see in the layout above, I'm hoping to incorporate another set of handles - bamboo this time - as well as quite a few of the left over scraps from previous bags. I've been digging through the box of bits and pieces and there are a lot of possibilities including a dotted purple from Ruth S's bag, a fern printed purple and a mottled green/purple from Cindy's bag, and the denim stitched brown from Susan's bag. All good.

I have appreciated the comments about the bags. Thank you. It's nice to know that others are enjoying them too. In our conversation yesterday, Howard mentioned that he is enjoying me working on this project, that I have been very happy, and he hopes that I have more projects like this to work on when I'm finished. I think it's the creative energy, the learning and trying new things, and the working step-by-step. Something to think about - as in how to have more of that in the rest of my sewing.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - 2/3 of the way on the hand bag project

Like Homemade Soup.

If you were up early and gazing out the window yesterday morning, you'd have seen the most glorious sunrise as I did from my curl up chair - in the studio - by the window - where I was re-reading The Thoughtful Dresser: The Art of Adornment, the Pleasure of Shopping, and Why Clothes Matter by Linda Grant. If you just don't get fashion or shopping or even if you do, this book is an interesting read especially on why clothes matter. They do. Terribly. I thought these paragraphs from the chapter To The Shops were relevant to our re-occurring financial times.

Lately, perhaps under the influence of advancing age and economic uncertainty, I have started to shop not like a teenager but like a grown-up. Instead of saying, "Ooh, look, I've got to have it," I am starting to buy like a person not so much with caution but with advance thought.

In a recession there is the temptation to stop buying clothes, and at first this can be superficially soothing, for the soul can sicken on consumerism, shopping and spending. There is a mother load of comfort in making your own soups at home instead of going out to a mediocre restaurant to pick over a lukewarm starter slapped on the table by a waiter who is adding up in his head how much he's going to make in tips. With fewer occasions to go out, who needs to dress up anyway? The simper life of jeans and a T-shirt can seem a radical new approach to living, the clothing equivalent of moving out of the city to the country.

You look, with satisfaction, at the deserted shops. You feel the puritan virtue of the nonspender flowing like ice water in your veins. You sell off your collection of It bags and then close down your eBay account. You realize you have not bought a copy of Vogue for months. You have no idea what they showed in Paris or London or Milan. You do not care. You have no idea why Keira Knightley is wearing a demure high-necked blouse with a bow. You no longer have a clue. You have fallen off the edge of fashion and will have to be rescued at some point down the line by a pair of bossy posh women who will force you to look in the mirror at a middle-aged frump.

The you I am writing of is not me but a creature of the imagination because in a recession the last thing I want to feel is depressed, and depressed I would feel if I was wearing dreary, cheap clothes, if I had abandoned, in a mood of austerity, the very notion of style. So shopping must happen less often, but with more thought, for in an economic downturn you cannot afford to buy cheap, disposable clothes.

... So I have a plan; to go and buy the most expensive and most beautiful winter coat I can afford, not the cheapest.

On Saturday, after a day of shopping, I bought one garment, a cropped sweater with a fur collar. I wore it Sunday with a black t-shirt, the Guatemala pants, and high heeled, Victorian, button up boots. I may not buy another garment for weeks however, I will enjoy this one thoroughly. It is so very me. When I slow down and am proactive rather then reactive, the results are typically far better. This is good learning.

Yesterday, I went to the mall and wandered around looking at purses. I looked at how big they were, what shape they were, and how they were constructed. I zipped their zippers, snapped their snaps, checked out their linings and balanced their weight on their handles. The price tag - irrelevant. I never even looked. I was there to absorb the pleasure of purses before starting the next bag and then...

... I went home and chopped vegetables into large chunks tossed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt that were baked until sweet while simmering chicken stock. I love home-made soup. I love vegetables. The same could not be said for the picky people I eat with therefore the vegetables were pureed into a cream base to maintain the nutrients and the flavour while hiding all that wonderful vegetable goodness. Yum.

And then... finally... after a day of resting and thinking and rejuvenating, I starting sewing. It was already after supper. At the beginning of purse seven, I'm feeling a dip in energy which is typically of a project like this so I've decided to record all the steps and thought processes of creating this seventh piece in an effort to increase my concentration. I may include that information in the book I'm putting together about the project. The steps would be an example of how I think, of what I used to teach. I'm planning for the book to accompany the handbags. It's a way for me to learn more about photography and page layout. I'm debating whether I will make it available publicly if - of course - it actually happens. It depends what else happens in my life so only time will tell.

The Susan bag is finished. Above is the high contrast side and below is the low contrast one. I've noticed this same occurrence with almost all of the bags. While it is mostly a result of the hand placement on the original quilt - whether on the beige or the green or the blue of the background - it also seems to speak to the words themselves, to their contrast. To remind you of how the project began...

... the hands are cut from a quilt I made following my 39th birthday party and ten years later have no idea what to do with anymore. I'm cutting it up and making handbags from the pairs of hands. Each hand has a small label with the person's name and a word that they chose to go with the hand fabrics that they also chose to represent a contrast in their personality. Our lives are full of contrast - like spice. Without it, how blah although sometimes plain porridge with a sprinkle of sugar and a dash of cinnamon seems just right. Cozy. Enough. Like homemade soup.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a much needed day of wandering, a bit of a break, and some moments of inspiration before starting the next hand bag.

Correcting My Crabby

Yesterday, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, there were even white fluffy clouds floating around. It was beautiful. I cleaned so everything smells and looks lovely. I shopped so we have fresh fruits and vegetables in the fridge and a chicken ready to simmer for soup tonight. It was all good and even so I felt like I was living under a great big grey umbrella. I'm amazed that I got that much done. I was SO CRABBY.

Maybe it's PMS, maybe it's the land between, maybe it's yet still another one of those you're so intimidating type comments but boy is it annoying. I darn near couldn't stand myself although I apparently hid it well because when I dropped off the afghan squares in the afternoon - I was too crabby to go to knitting last night - Brenda said that she couldn't even tell. Good. It just wouldn't be nice to make everyone else live with my crabby - LOL. I did sew in the afternoon. That part was very very good.

I thought it would be fun to use the hands as pockets. When I separated the "blue" hand from the original quilt, the resulting piece was almost square. Other than truing it and shaping around the finger tips, it's used as is.

The background of the "beige" hand was mostly missing. If you click on the image, you'll be able to see how I pieced in bits of beige using a zigzag stitch. I then matched the square shape at the bottom to the other hand and curved the top edge around the finger tips as well.

To give the edges rigidity, I patted them with acrylic paint which also painted the white Thinsulite a more friendly color. On the "blue" hand, I used black on the edges and on the "beige" hand, I used copper. Both were then zigzag stitched to hold the edges together before securing the pocket to the bag. There's a snap closure on each.

Some button details were added for fun - one blue button in each upper corner of both hand pockets and a fuchsia button with this "blue" hand and a speckled brown/beige button with the "beige" hand. See the line of black just below the button? That's a line of stitching to prevent...

... things from getting stuck in that corner of the pocket. Before I sewed the center seam on the bag front/back, I added a zipped pocket to each side using the light side of the denim. When the hand pockets were sewn in place, they overlapped the zipped pocket creating that weird corner. All four pockets - the two zipped and the two hands - are lined with the dotted print fabric.

There are two things that I'd do different if I sewed this pattern again. The first is to add length to the shoulder strap. When I tried the bag on, it was obvious that the strap length was designed for petite Asian women. Since Susan is taller than me - which is not hard to do - I added five inches by butting and zigzagging an extension in place before...

... wrapping it with the lighter denim and stitching it in place with a zigzag stitch. It looks okay. It fits with the pocket on the front only next time - the second thing - I'd place the back neck edge on fold to eliminate all the bulk in that section. Whenever you're sewing bags, you're constantly looking for ways to eliminate bulk and to neaten the finished project. A hammer works quite well. Other times, you discover a way only you can't use it until the next time you sew that bag or - hopefully - when you sew the next bag. Taking the learning forward is a nice bonus. When I'm out and about, I find myself analyzing women's purses to see how they're sewn together. I've gotten many ideas about the order of the sewing steps that way. Hmm... maybe today I should go snoop shopping to look at purses. What fun!

The zipper was one place to think through dealing with bulk. First, I basted it on right sides together with the line of basting closer to the outer edge of the zipper than the teeth. Then I folded the fabric so that the fold butted up against the teeth of the zipper on the right side and stitched it in place about 1/8" away. Next, I removed the basting and clipped the seam allowance up to the line of stitching and when that wasn't enough, I cut away the seam allowance under the zipper up to the line of stitching and then whip stitched the edge of the zipper to the lining of the purse. Whip stitched, the zipper isn't as smooth as it could be however, the raw edges of the fabric beneath are no longer visible and are protected from wear. It works.

I was wrong. My daughter did NOT like the shape of this purse. Sigh. Just when you think you've got it right... wrong.

When I took the afghan squares over to the yarn store, I ran into Karen, one of the women whose hands are on the quilt. I hadn't seen her in years so we went for coffee. Luckily when she asked me what I was working on and I said a big project, that was the end of those questions and the talked moved to how she's taken up quilting although she did ask for my email and might somehow connect that to my website and/or my blog. If so, the bag may cease to be a surprise but not likely. That would be a lot of connecting so... probably not. Several people have asked me if the women who are getting these bags read my blog. Not that I know of so they should be a surprise but it doesn't really matter. The project is for me with a bonus for them. I've started to think about how to photograph the bags in more interesting ways. We'll see.

Momo wrote - Try lynda.com for Office 2010 tutorials.

THANK YOU. What a great link. I'm going to look into that more for Word and Excel AND perhaps learning about photography. I'll see what they have to offer.

Some of yesterday's crabby was definitely about the land between. Why is that just as soon as we say we're going to do X, we do Y, or Z happens to make the rest of the alphabet seem impossible? I really want to be serene and calm and patient and it's so darn hard BUT... one thing I've learned over the years is that what is, is. You can't change what has happened or what is happening. You can only chose how you're going to react. I'll keep correcting my crabby.

Regarding the you're so intimidating comment. You wouldn't believe how often I hear something like this. It's usually included in some sentence about why we can't get together and I'm never quite sure what I'm supposed to say. At first, I took it as a fault in me as if I was somehow too aggressive or something along that line however, I've come to realize it's not about me. It's about the other person's feelings of comparison and inadequacy. Unfortunately, faking who I am isn't a doable solution... which leaves me alone. I'm thankful for the wonderful friends I do have who don't find me intimidating at all and that over the last few years especially I've become much more comfortable with my own company. Perhaps that's part of aging. Who knows. It works.

Yesterday, we had some interesting news about my husband's place of employment - the potential for someone else to buy the company which could result in changes. I found myself wondering if one of those changes might be leaving Kamloops. Who knows. It reminded me that the future is always undefined. We only think we know what's going to happen.

Also yesterday, three people forwarded the same information about an interview today with Marcy Tilton and her sister Katherine on The Sweet Spot Salon. It was incredibly nice of these people to know that this talk would appeal to me and to send the information. I appreciated that especially as I didn't know about the salon. It's a new website and online community focused on living creatively. It offers interviews, courses, and discussions and reminded me how much I love to teach and especially how much I loved to teach design and creativity. I wondered why I needed that reminder.

We just never know.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - sunshine, blue skies, fluffy clouds, and mood changes

I Don't Speak Japanese

Yesterday, I should have said that as long as I have a reasonable budget, the ability to sew AND SOME CONSUMING PROJECT IDEAS - like the hand bag project - I should be able to be financially well behaved in retirement. Without the project ideas, there's the potential for problems. With it, there's just lots of creative potential. YEAH!

SO... I have figured out how God intends to pay for the courses at the academy. I called yesterday to enroll and the woman I spoke to - for the third time - told me that they do not have a 2010 Word course, they only have a 2007 course. Hello! I wonder why she didn't mention that sooner like during my first call... or even my second. ANYWAY... I can't see the point of paying $500 for the "old" version so I'm back to working through the Teach Yourself Visually manual on my own.

In this picture, there doesn't appear to be anything in the bag which is why it - most likely - has such smooth and elegant lines. I like the simplicity. With stuff inside, it'll be a little more rounded and a little less flat but still wonderful I'm sure. This is so a Susan shape. I also think it will appeal to my daughter although she doesn't like all the colors and textures of the handbags I'm making now. She'd want something more streamlined like this image. Right Jessica?

The pattern is from Unique Clothes Anyway You Like, the book that I ordered a few weeks ago from pomadour24 on Ebay. It's in Japanese. I don't speak Japanese however... luckily... I do speak...

... Pattern and I'm able to interpret the general idea from the illustrations. In the one above, you can see the front portion of the bag to the right and the inside portion to the left. I'm not doing it anything at all like that because I want two right sides, each with a hand facing outward. That has meant thinking through the whole process to make sure that I add the pieces in the right order and can stitch elements in place without accidentally stitching the bag closed. For such a simple bag, it's been surprisingly complicated. It's also been good for my brain.

When you look at the pattern pieces above, the short edges toward the middle of the diagram are the center front or center back of the purse and the long edges toward the outside of the diagram are the outside edges of the shoulder strap. The short edges are shaped with built in darts to curve the bag. The long edges are sewn together at the back of the neck and the curved part that goes down toward center front forms the top of the bag under the arm. I want to insert a zipper into that curve. That's today's project.

The fabric I'm using is the brown/black denim that I made some jeans from a few months ago - the ones that didn't fit me and fit my co-worker at Fabricland just perfectly. These are the remnants. They have that same linen bohemian feel as the photograph from the book. The light brown to the left above is one side and the dark brown next to it is the other side of the denim. It's very lightweight. The white is a layer of Thinsulite and the print is the same lining I used on Sandi's athletic bag. I chose Thinsulite over batting because it's thinner and will drape the body easier. I chose the print for the lining because it was lightweight and went well with the other elements. I'm constructing the bag in such a way that the lining is inclusive instead of added later. That was another complication for my brain to figure out but it means the last stitch on the outer bag is also the last stitch. Nice.

Both hands had blue in them so I used a denim blue thread to stitch the feature fabric, the Thinsulite, and the lining together every half inch. The variegated color makes the lines look more wobbly than they are. On one section of the front/back, the lines go vertically and on the other, they go horizontally. That eliminated any potential for matching -  YES YES - although I ended up stitching an extra section because I forgot to flip the pattern one time and cut three right sides and only one left. I have a lot of bits and pieces left so this background fabric may show up again in another purse. It may suit Ruth whose bag will be next. We'll see.

On Saturday after shopping, Sharon came over to sew. She's working on sheets and receiving blankets for her first grandchild who is due soon. I was working on the purse using the walking foot to stitch the three layers together without puckering. Sharon hadn't seen a walking foot before. Once I showed her how it worked, we talked about the tools and techniques that are constantly being developed to make sewing easier. Although I'm thankful for those, I'm most thankful for how sewing has been a life time opportunity for creativity and growth. Having evolved from a product to a process person and from one who needs instructions to one who rarely looks at them, sewing is increasingly more and more delightful. It occupies my mind. I'm glad we've stuck together all these years.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the ability to problem solve and to see in three dimensions

A Very Loose Woman

My friend and I spent six hours clothes shopping on Saturday. Since the clothes were for her, all I had to do was stand around and look helpful, give opinions, and carry bags. She - the poor girl -  had to actually try everything on. That's a lot of in and out and open and close BUT... she ended up with  a great selection of interchangeable garments that should go well with other things in her closet. Perfect.

We are similar in height and figure type - both bottom heavy with narrow shoulders and a defined waist - so you'd think that the same clothes might look good on both of us. It wasn't true. I tried on three of the sweaters she tried on... or... perhaps... it was more like I made her try on the three sweaters that I tried on. While we both liked them, they were definitely more me than her. As near as I can figure, the factor that made the difference was personality. It was quite interesting and made me consider how the figure type analysis would always needs to be combined with other factors for greater success.

Now that I'm sewing my clothes again, I've noticed that I'm getting more adventurous as well as more reluctant to buy anything ready to wear. I'm quite critical of fit and of price. There were lots of garments I looked at carefully and admired the details on but not too many that I was willing to pay that price for. I did buy one sweater which I thought was a pretty major accomplishment for a day of shopping - only one garment. It's either an accomplishment for my budget as in maintaining it or an accomplishment for my wardrobe as in actually finding something RTW to add to it - LOL.

On Friday, I mentioned that the squares for the baby afghan were going to be a quick knit - about one and a quarter hours each or four hours max. Hmm... well... NOT. Mine took about thirty hours. Apparently, I am a very loose woman. Using the recommended needle size, my squares were 7" and they were supposed to be 5 1/4". I spent an entire day fiddling with needle sizes. Dropping down from 4 mm to 3 mm, my square went from 7" to 6". I tried a whole lot of options and eventually called the woman in charge and said that I could get a 5 3/4" square with a 2.75 mm needle and that was as low as I could go because at that point, the yarn size was a factor. She said she could work with that. I started early Friday morning and finished the last block Saturday morning.

The Lori Jane bag has a definite purse shape. It's narrow at the top and wider at the bottom with an over the shoulder strap. The strap is the same denim as the front of the bag with a purple underside - the same purple used for the lining. There's a zipper along the top and two small pockets inside that will be perfect for her phone and keys. It's a comfortable size and shape for tucking under your arm.

I mentioned that Lori Jane likes bling. While it looks green, this button is silver with a crystal-ish pattern on it that works with the busy side of the bag. That's as close to the white and silver crystals she likes as I could get. The other hand...

... has a brown metallic button on it that looks slightly rusty. Even though the words are upside down, I decided not to detach them in order to maintain the symmetry of the bag side to side. It works. Anyone desperate to know what it says can ask.

I'm working on Susan's bag now. Susan is tall and slim with long blond hair and a slightly bohemian approach to life. I refer to her as organic in the nicest of ways. When she lived here, she grew a garden, went to the farmer's market, and canned and preserved food for the winter. They hunted for meat and raised some livestock so their family was mostly self sufficient. Now that she's moved to a smaller town, we've lost touch but I know they bought some property on the river so I can't imagine that her approach has changed drastically. I'm pretty sure the bag I have in mind is going to work well for her.

Yesterday's sermon was on the land between. The title referred to the space between Egypt and Canaan, the desert through which Moses led the Israelites away from slavery and into the promised land. The desert where they spent FOREVER. The title also referred to those times in our lives when we don't have a clue what God is doing and this burden just seems to vague and too big and too unknown and too much for us to handle. The pastor talked about the desert being fertile ground for several things - complaining, emotional meltdown, God's provision, and God's discipline - and about the importance of living in TRUST. It was a video sermon and I wish I could show it to you because whether or not you have a faith, it makes you think about life and how we approach it. I am SUCH...

... a control freak. I like to know what's going on and have all my ducks in a row and move to a plan. Life's just not like that. Life takes surprise curves and turns and yanks the road out from under us when we least expect it. There's an ING Direct commercial that goes something along the lines of if you're tired of paying bank fees, then stop paying bank fees. I am tired of being in the land between. As one woman at church put it, I'm there a lot. I want to chose to trust that God has a plan and that - as he has promised - it is for my good and not my harm - and I want to walk in that direction even though I have no idea what that direction is. I want to make the choices I can make. SO...

... based on the current economic times, the lack of viewers to our home, and the data that says that NO houses have sold in our price range in our area of town for the last 3 1/2 months, I am going to assume that our house is not going to sell and stop thinking about that even though I have an entire argument about why moving is such a good idea and why I think God should think so too and answer my particular prayer. He has some plan that may or may not include moving and eventually it'll work out and I'll see why this or that was better. It's happened in the past. So... for now... we'll leave the listing up until the end of November and if selling happens, it happens AND...

... because I have time now and the lack of paperwork to say that I know what I know, I've decided to make an appointment with the Academy of Learning and register to take first a Word 2010 and then a Excel 2010 course. This will give me another focus on my way to employment that can only benefit me, especially in achieving a position at the university. I'll stop waiting for the phone to ring and do something while waiting including trust that God will figure out how I'm supposed to pay for this - VBG. Speaking of money...

... I'm intrigued by how little spending I've done while working on the handbag project. I'm not reading nearly as much so I've downloaded very few books. I'm using only supplies that I have on hand, so I haven't even gone to Fabricland in weeks. Since my friends mostly all work full time, I'm not going out for lunch and as I noted Friday, the cost of breakfast has gotten ridiculous so if I do go out in the future, it'll be for coffee which doesn't cost $16.00. I did buy the bracelet blanks but I know that when they arrive, they're going to keep me quite busy like this project and be another way to use up studio supplies. Looking at my spending to amusement ratio, it lets me know that a stashed up studio will be a good way to approach retirement and that staying busy is a great way to stay within my budget which means that as long as I have a reasonable budget and the ability to sew, I should be able to be financially well behaved in retirement. Good to know.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - Kamloops is not on a major fault line and the ability to give

Changing Your Mind - Part Of The Process

Did you know that if you search by cuff bracelet at Etsy.com, you'll come up with over 59,000 options? How on earth does any body find any body on Etsy. The lowest price is twenty cents. The highest price is $21,000.00. Personally, I don't know of  anyone looking for a twenty one thousand dollar bracelet on Etsy but there it is if they are.

Having started my brain thinking about jewelry ideas, they're still dancing around even though I've eliminated going into business. I like the study of design and challenges and formats that make you work. At one point, I created 5 x 7" textile pieces. Cuff bracelets seem similar. A great format in which to develop and grow. So I ordered some blanks... from a place in the US... and shipping typically takes 28 days... so they should get here around the time I finish the handbag project. Fun!

Yesterday was the dentist and the Lori Jane Bag. The bag was way more fun. With this one, it was important to add touches of bling because Lori Jane loves it - usually the sparkly crystal kind - on the back of her jeans. Unfortunately, the colors of the hands didn't go with the white and silver of crystal type bling BUT... they did go with this copper metallic mix of seed beads. They're stitched along the sides of the zipper.

The main fabric is a striped denim. On the left side of the above picture, you can see the original stripes. On the right side, I've added a narrow zigzag in variegated metallic thread. The stitching goes through the denim as well as a layer of "old quilt" as batting to give the bag density. The finished fabric has a "winter bag" feel.

This time I worked in a different order creating all the parts first so it would be a "simple" matter of putting them together at the end. NOT a good decision. I should have know better because one of the important things about creating step by step in a responding format is a willingness to change your mind. With my students, I often saw them producing less than their best product because they weren't willing to take the extra time needed to execute their better vision. They settled for good enough as opposed to good and enough. That willingness to continue creating takes time to develop but after a while changing your mind doesn't feel like a mistake, it's just part of the process... which it is.

I started out wanting to create a barrel bag thinking that it would look like the hands were holding the side of the bag only - once the end was pinned on - and the shape established - the hands were barely visible. That didn't work.

The main body of the purse is a long flat section that can be manipulated around any shape of end piece so even though I'd already cut the end pieces and sewn on the strap and stitched the lining, I changed my mind because I knew the round shape was not going to result in my best for this piece. Changing my mind meant drafting the new end, detaching the handles from the old ends, picking out the side seams of the lining, and testing the new end - read several hours of work. Oh well!



The new end is shaped in the format above because that's the narrowest width that would allow me to re-use the strap. If the purse had been for me, I'd have used another set of handles but Lori Jane prefers a shoulder strap and since I'd already sewn this one and there was no more of the purple fabric left, it had to work.

As with a garment, the lining is a great place to test sew. It's a muslin of a different sort. On the end, you can just make out the black stitching where I fastened down a tuck. Pinning the end piece to the main piece, I discovered that it was 3/4" too high. Better to find that out on the lining than the real thing.  Apparently, I wasn't doing math well yesterday.

One of my favourite things to do is to go out for breakfast, by myself, with my journal, and spend some time writing and planning. I've been doing this for years and it hasn't seemed like much of an issue to me until the other day. My favourite breakfast place raised their prices. With a tip, breakfast was $16.00. That's ridiculous.  Perhaps, just coffee instead.

Tomorrow, I've been invited to go clothes shopping with a friend. Her job is changing and she needs more clothes. I get to give solicited opinions and spend someone else's money. OH... another of my favourite things to do. Should be fun.

Our knitting group is putting together a baby afghan for a member who is pregnant. Each of us is to knit three squares. Last time, that was a pain because they premeasured the yarn and sent it home in packages only there wasn't enough of some colors so there were lots of tied in ends. This time, we get a whole ball of yarn to use what we need and then pass it on. I brought the ball home last Tuesday night so I'd like to get the blocks done over the weekend and pass the yarn on to the next person. It's a relatively easy knit all in one variegated color which is also way less fiddly than the last baby afghan we did. It had three colors. Both were mitred blocks. This one has lace insets. It's a cute pattern. Pictures of my blocks next week.

And the Lori Jane bag will be finished by then.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - dental plans

Reaching the Half Way Point

Apparently, I shouldn't have mentioned the sunshine yesterday because it went away and the day turned grey with only occasional bits of sunshine. Grey is not nearly as pretty. I preferred the sun. Hmm... let's talk about something else.

It seemed like enough time had passed that I could inquire about the curriculum assistant position at the university. Apparently, it has NOT been filled yet. That's good news. I'm still hopeful of an interview and am working through the Teach Yourself Visually Word 2010 book to update my skills - at a faster pace now.

I'm finding it difficult to be in limbo - not sure what we're doing about moving, not sure what I'm doing about a job. Thankfully, I have this major project to work on in the studio. It gives me focus.

The Cindy purse is finished. Howard said this one is his favourite because of the handle. I was just thrilled to finally use that handle. It's been in my stash for so long I don't remember buying it although I do remember I bought it at Fabricland, on sale, 50% off. The beads match wonderfully especially on the side below.

Initially, I wanted a more dramatic shape however, the size of the purple background fabric limited my options. The finished purse is 11" x 14" - the maximum size possible using the purple fabric for the front, the back, and the sides. The top section is the purple flocked overlay over the plaid that I showed yesterday. That section comes down 1 3/4" on all four sides. The purse closes with a large snap inside so that either side can face forward. The lining has several pockets. All in all, I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Next up is Lori Jane's bag. Her hands were side by side on the original quilt. I'd hoped to keep them together only that didn't work for the finished size and shape that I'm working on. More later. This will be the fifth out of nine so I'm reaching the half way point - YES YES

I'm working in the studio this morning. The dentist's office called and they had a cancellation and can fit me in for a cleaning early this afternoon. Not exactly what I want to do but sooner than the appointment I had in December. Since I have no idea what I'm doing in December but hopefully working, this is good.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the half way point

Purple Up The Perspective

We have had some absolutely gorgeous sunshine this week. Hopefully it lasts. The fall colors are extra beautiful with the sun on them. The vibrant red of a burning bush after the colors have turned is one of my favourites. While I enjoy the colors of fall, I find winter the most productive season. It's when I settle down in the studio and get a lot done. In fall, I tend to do projects around the house. What about you?

Have fun, and in the process, learn about the clay. Dive into it, play with it. Squish it, squash it, squeeze it, roll it out, roll it up, stack it up, cut it down, slice it, slam it, smash it, stretch it, turn it, twist it, cut it, chop it, bake it, bend it, break it, carve it, grind it, reduce it, reuse it, mold it, mash it, poke it, prod it, tease it, finesse it, and of course, polish it. Oh, and one more thing (something else I learned from Pier): Own it. 

When I read the quote above in Polymer Clay Beads by Grant Diffendaffer, I thought about how applicable that attitude is to fabric. I used to see the fabric just as it is. Using the reverse side was an incredible stretch. Thankfully, over the years, I've learned that fabric is simply a surface to manipulate.  In the image above, the plaid at the bottom is the original section. I added an overlay of flocked organza to purple up the perspective. It works for the Cindy purse. Overlays are only one method. There are many ways in which to change and use fabric with a list similar to Grant's. The important thing is to experiment.

I'd intended to seam the purse only the layers were too thick so I moved to plan B which was to bind each edge individually. First I cut 1 1/2" strips on the bias of a crinkle taffeta and pinned and stitched them to the edge. Next I...

... turned the bias over to the wrong side and stitched in the ditch from the front to hold it in place. The most important aspect for me was a narrow, even, tightly wrapped edge at the front. The portion turned to the back is hidden inside and covered by the lining.

And then, I pinned the edges of the fronts to the edges of the side band and stitched through both layers using a zigzag stitch. If I could have neatly stitched in the ditch on one side and exactly landed in the ditch on the other side, I would have only that's far more complicated and talented than I am so a zigzag stitch takes in any differences and works quite lovely. On this bag, I left the edge doubled as shown. On another, I might have used another row of zigzag stitching along the outer edge to join the two layers.

Wrapping one layer at a time before joining them is one option. On the Francine purse, I basted the edges together and then sewed on the binding wrapping it around the doubled edge. It's a different look so it depends on what you're aiming for. With this second method, the important part for me is to measure correctly so that when wrapped, the edge of the binding fits neatly along the stitching line and can be slip stitched in place invisibly and then held securely with a row of stitching. If the binding is too wide, it turns over too far, and ruins that look.

Last night was knitting. The last time I went was two weeks ago when I knit several inches and then pulled it out to fix a mistake. I didn't knit at all in-between and last night made tremendously slow progress BUT... it won't be a nine month sweater although - since it's a girls size 6 - it won't fit me either.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - sunshine and ideas