Living in a community where the average age is older than me, I commonly hear women 5, 10, even 20 years older still talking about finding time to get to the things they really want to do. If not now, when?
It's important for me to curb my workaholic and spend some time resting. Maybe on my porch, in my wicker chairs, that I did paint a different colour, if only it would stop raining. This is an especially wet June which is a bit depressing on one hand and a relief on another with hopefully less fires. It's supposed to rain for the next four or five days so yesterday, I painted the first coat on the storage closet, under cover in the carport, did the second coat this morning, and tomorrow, I have a friend coming to visit for a few days. Yes, I know, even with Covid. We have both been taking precautions and we feel the low risk is worth the high benefit of some creative, girl time, together.
If the sun does shine, we can sit out on the porch and enjoy the decorating that is starting to come together. The flowers are fake and the hurricane lamp is battery operated with an LED light on a dimmer. It's fun. Our thrift store opened last week and I didn't even have to go inside to find this side table - $5.00 - that I painted turquoise and coated with varnish so it'll be good outside.
I had an email from another friend a few weeks ago titled Coat In The Wild and attached was this picture of her granddaughter going for a stroll in the coat I'd made. There is something quite lovely about seeing your pieces actually being worn.
The coat was a what if and how can I project and not made specifically for this little girl. In fact, it was made to see what I could do with the scraps left over from a pair of pants and the quilts I'd made for my guest room beds. The pants were the floral; the quilts the stripe. The grey stripes are serger strips of denim sewn in place with pink thread.
The collar is loops. I made really long strips and then sewed them to the upper collar using a ruler to create the same length of loop each time, stitching close to it on either side. I made this coat about five years ago so you may have seen it before in my previous blog. At the time, I was making quite a few versions of this little girl's coat as a way of using remnants, refashioning. and experimenting. Children's sized clothing is a fabulous want to text ideas and play. It doesn't have to fit me or anyone else I know so there's a low emotional impact and high creative one.
The denim was left over from another project. It was channel stitched with the same pink thread and used to make the sleeves.
The quilted fabric was heavier so I knew the coat was most likely to be worn in spring or fall and created a lining with remnants of this floral light-weight upholstery fabric from a coat I'd made for myself.
One of the goals I've been working on over the past few years is ever increasing holistic health, joy and abundance, and growing creativity. I've been journal writing, every day, for over twenty-five years and I've always sewn in bits and pieces. I can remember when I sewed before work, on my lunch hour, and after work. It's how I breath. I can't remember when I started what I call The Morning Hour - one hour, every morning, after my first cup of coffee, where I work in the studio- but relating the hour back to the quote mentioned earlier, scheduling this creative time for myself, actually taking it almost every day, and working on what tickles has allowed me to become the more creative person I wanted to be... with room for continued growth. That hour make sure that I get a daily dose of creativity that in turn nurtures me and makes the day doable rather than trying to fit it in later when I'm an exhausted wet noodle and it's not likely to happen. The morning hour is a good thing. Any time of day actually. If you don't have an hour, start with ten minutes. Nurture what nurtures you.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - picture of the coat in the wild
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