Ricky Tims Seminar

  A group of us from Charleston went to the Ricky Tims Seminar in Jacksonville, Florida a couple a of weekends ago.  What a blast it was!  I went with zero expectations and came home full to overflowing (of course, my time at the Cheescake Factory helped with the "fullness.")
When we first walked into the Seminar Room, we were greeted with the rainbow of Ricky's hand dyed fabrics.  Now who could resist that?  Certainly not I.  And if you look carefully at the upper left edge of this picture you can see that they worked out a pretty savvy system.  When you stood at the counter, the people working the "store" looked at your name tag, wrote your name on a shopping bag and handed it to you to fill up with things you wanted to buy.  Then you handed it back to them to pay for later OR to put more things in.  It was all alphabetized so they could quickly find your bag when the next buying break occured.  What a system--very buyer friendly.

 And you can see that I was not the only one taking advantage of the buying opportunities.
One thing that was so great about the entire Seminar was that EVERYTHING ran on time.  If a break was supposed to start at 10:30, that's when it began. 

 As  you walked into the main door, Libby Lehman and Ricky Tims had a table where you could get a photo opportunity or get autographs or just smooze.  Alex Anderson and her husband had a both on the other side of the room doing the same thing.

 And the volunteers from the Guild that sponsored the Seminar had aprons made from Ricky Tims fabric.

A close up of the quilting on one of Ricky's quilts.

 Ricky getting ready for a presentation.  Almost everything was projected onto a large screen so everyone could see.

 And there were beautiful quilts everywhere.  For those who never have the opportunity to go to Houston or Paducah, it was a rare opportunity to see these quilts up close and personal--and to hear the stories behind them.

My best purchase of the weekend!  This stabilizer is phenomenal.  I've been using it since I got home and am converted.

Did I learn anything at the Seminar? Well, yes, I did.  Nothing huge--but MANY little things that added up to one HUGE thing.  To be immersed in an atmosphere of humor, knowledge, artistic genius and an uplifting spirit--well, that was well worth the price of admission--and more.

Zentangles

 I became acquainted with Zentangles after visiting one afternoon with my friend, Gail Blate.  She was preparing for a class on creating mandalas (which is also a very interesting process) and while showing me her Power Point presentation, she also showed me a UTube video with someone drawing a Zentangle.  He was doodling!  Just doodling, but how magical it was to see how those doodles came together to make something far greater than the sum of its parts.  I was immediately grabbed by it and wanted to draw one of my own.  Immediately.    I was spending some time by myself in a house with no television, no radio and no CD player so it was a perfect atmosphere.  I had such a good time doing it. The time just slipped by and, moreover, I was completely taken by surprise by what a meditative process it can be.  It was as if someone had gently laid a soothing hand across my restless spirit.
So . . . what is a Zentangle?  Here is a definition provided by the creators of Zentangles, Rick Thomas and Maria Roberts:
Meditational Artform



Zentangle’s non-verbal language of patterns and proportions can open doors to insights which seemed locked before. Creating Zentangles opens those doors, not because they were locked, but because those doors swing on non-verbal hinges. When you create a Zentangle you can enter a meditative state in which intuitive insights flow freely. Get inspirations, ideas and answers unhindered by expectations or worries.                                                                                                                                                                          

I was completely hooked and drew another one.  And another one.  And another one.  (It's a little addictive). 

As it happens, I am the Project Chairman for our art group challenges this year.  We have a

 Challenge once each quarter and I chose Zentangles for our focus this quarter with the only rule being that our Zentangles had to be on more than just paper.  They could be on cloth but they could also be on plastic, metal, wood--whatever.  Just not SOLELY on paper.  I found this book by Suzanne McNeill that features Zentangles by several quilters and it has served as an inspiration for us.

 I saw a picture of a stuffed cat with some embroidery on it in a catalogue recently and it seemed to me that it would translate perfectly into a project for Zentangles.  You can see here the beginning of my drawing.  For the finished project, I've chosen faux leather.  It's finished and I had so much fun--not only doing the drawing but also figuring out how to construct it and stuff it.    Check back later for the finished photo.

In the meantime, join in the fun--and relaxation-- and try your hand at it.  Get out some paper and a Sharpie fine point marker, find a quiet place with a good drawing surface and give yourself the gift to creation and refreshment.  You'll be surprised how many doodles are just waiting to be released!

It's Always Hard

Yes, it's always hard to get back into the swing of things after being diverted by holiday events and projects.  And I'm still not there.  Much of my time these past few weeks has been time on the computer planning for this year and next year for our Cobblestone Quilt Guild.  I'm the 2011 Vice President and Program Chairman.  The Vice President part doesn't take a lot of time, but the Program part does.  There are so many wonderful quilters out there that any Guild would love to come to present a program and teach workshops but, as with any organization, the factor of funds available and scheduling often limit choices.  And, there really is no ideal teacher that is going to please everyone.  So, you do the best you can do and move forward.
Who would be my ideal teacher?  I have two of them--Ruth McDowell and Sharon Schamber.  Would I be able to have either of them come to our Guild?  Not likely.  Ruth only teaches extended 3-5 classes and the travel and other expenses for Sharon would probably be too high.  But one can dream can't one?  Or go to a larger venue and hopefully get into one of their classes.
So, anyway, that's what I've spent a fair amount of time on lately.  Fortunately for me, I have good help.  My committee is great and our Website Coordinator posts everything I need to be posted in a timely and attractive format.  How blessed I am.
One of the things I did before Christmas was to spend some time on the topic of Creativity--researching thoughts by various people and making small quilts to express them. I will share the following photos that show most of them.

Eye Candy

One of the great things about having out-of-town company is that you take them to see things that you wouldn't see done otherwise.  My sister was here this week and we did all kinds of things that I wouldn't have taken the time to do.  We went to the Joseph Manigault House in downtown Charleston.  And what a wonderful gem that is--from the general shape of the house itself to the exquisite detail of the beautiful sweeping staircase  in the central hall.  Unfortunately, my camera wasn't behaving so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that it is well worth the trip. 

I did, however, get my camera working when we visited the South Carolina Artisan Center in Walterboro, SC.  This is a gallery filled with work of artists from throughout the state.  As we pulled into the driveway, the first thing we saw was this incredible metallic tree sculpture and then, just a few step further along, was another tree--this time a palmetto.  The Artisan Center is located in an old house that is composed of small rooms that seem to meander from a large central showroom.  It was fun to wander around at a leisurely pace and let the surprises hidden in each room unfold of their own accord.

In my former life, I was a potter for fifteen years, so I went to a LOT of craft shows and it was always wonderful to walk through the show and experience all of the unique creativity that seem to be saturating the very air around me.  And I believe it to be true that when you are surrounded by the creative force, you, too, become more creative.  It doesn't have to be in your particular medium--the energy is there.   You can see from my photos that there were many different mediums represented and it's always a

mazing to me to see how an artist can take a very simple material and end up with something truly extraordinary.  I was particularly entranced by some of the baskets as I used to make them myself.  The ones in this picture were transformed into another purpose by adding the turned wooden necks--baskets becoming vases.  And each one of them had a different weaving pattern.  There were other baskets, also--some of the traditional sweet grass baskets and others that started off as fired clay pieces with basket weaving added to complete them.

 Everywhere I looked, there was something that caught my eye--angels painted on wood, fish made from cut tree branches, dyed and painted fabric, trinket collages, fabric embellishment, paintings--and on and on.  Fine craft art is alive and well in South Carolina.  We need to seek it out and relish in its power to renew our spirits and to connect our hearts to the bubbling well of creativity that lies within each of us.  It's more than just eye candy.

It's Beginning To Look A Little Like Christmas

For the last few years, most of my time has been spent in designing and making quilts.  It has been--and continues to be--something that feeds my spirit and enriches my life.  I would hate it if I couldn't do it.  But, you know, sometimes you just want to do something a little different.  When I learned that my friends Corky, Janice and Cindy were going to head up to Accent Sewing in Murrell's Inlet to embroider this 20" high Santa, well, I was interested in going also.  I've done a fair amount embroidery but never a design with multiple hoopings (9, as it turned out). The thing that's pretty challenging in doing an embroidery with multiple hoopings is the need for accuracy--and patience.  You can't just slap the fabric into a hoop and expect it to turn out right.  You actually have to measure--which is sort of difficult sometimes for an "eyeballer" like me.  It was time to change my ways.

 Before we could begin our class, we had to buy supplies.  Accent Sewing is a Bernina dealership--a REALLY good dealership--and they were well-stocked with anything we might need (and some things that we didn't strictly NEED but seemed to jump right into our shopping bags.  Here are Corky and Janice discussing the merits of a set of designs for another quilt.  With a 25% discount on embroidery designs that day, it was hard to resist.  (I succumbed a little myself).

I wish I could say that we just breezed through our embroidery on Santa.  It was, after all, mostly applique which meant there wasn't nearly as much stitching as in a regular embroidery design.   There was, as it turned out, a LOT of angst in between the beginning and the end and you can see the elation  on Janice's face as she and Corky held up their Santas for the camera.  FINALLY.  And the next two pictures are of a little closer view.

 

 And where, you might ask, is mine?  Well, as you can see in the picture on the right, I encountered a problem early in the process.  Things went along pretty good until I got to Santa's red pants legs.  At that point, the thread kept getting jammed up in the bobbin case and no amount of fiddling around was successful.  After a while, Bob-the owner and mechanic extraordinaire--called a halt to the process and decided to give my machine the once-over.  Which meant I was through for the day.  Things did work out though.  He fixed the problem and I embroidered my Santa a couple of days later. 

I think he turned out pretty good.  And I've included a close-up of his face so you can see the detail.  We all agreed that we would like to make another one sometime--but not this year.  I think we've had enough "Ho, Ho, Ho" to last us for a while.  But, in the meantime, I might have a design that would look good on a hand towel and another that would jazz up a sweatshirt and one that would maybe go on a bag of goodies . . .

I'm So Disgusted!

Well, I thought I was doing the right thing.  I went to a craft show yesterday and took my camera so I could share pictures of the beautiful things I saw.  Well, I saw some beautiful things--even bought a couple--but completely forgot to take pictures!
So--today I went to another craft show and took my camera AND remembered to take pictures.  But there was just one problem--I had the camera on the wrong settings and took videos rather than pictures. (I guess I know how to take a video now).  Again, there were some lovely and different crafts but, unfortunately, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.  I can tell you all about a potter's work that had sweet grass weavings combined with the clay to make a truly unique work of art, but without the pictures . . .

I do have one picture for you though.  While I was there, I bought two small purses from my friend Dotty Roberts.  She is a wonderful fabric artist who makes hand-dyed fabrics and then adds other elements--which increases the dynamic quality to her work.  And these are the purses:  Aren't they beautiful?  I think the purse on the left had decolorant used to make white areas and then she used fancy stitching within that space.  And then she used some metallic thread on the solid areas.  The purse on the right has several different techniques--I think some stamping and beadwork and another technique before the stamping.  I was going to give them as Christmas presents BUT I'm becoming quite attached to them.  They may have to stay with me.

Age of Reason

My granddaughter Kate celebrated her 18th birthday today.  It made me think back to my own 18th birthday--which was, after all, only yesterday.  Our world is so different now that sometimes I feel as if I'm living on a different planet.  Some things are better, many things are not.  However, I do think that an eighteenth birthday is still special.  It is the official beginning of young adulthood.  College is close and the nest begins to feel a little tight.  My granddaughter is so busy that her family birthday party had to be fitted in at 10:30 this morning.  She had to start early to make the most of her once-in-a-lifetime day!

Anyway, we knew that she really just wanted money (wouldn't we all like a little more?)  But I couldn't stand to just hand her over an envelope.  So I made her a little cosmetic bag.

I saw the project in the latest issue of Stitch magazine.  It appealed to me because every young woman needs something to put her cosmetics in and it so happened that I already had on hand the fusible vinyl that the pattern called for.  I am a pretty experienced stitcher so I really didn't have any problems with the construction; however, I did feel that it could pose a problem for people who depend on graphics to help them to understand the written word.  There was only one illustration for the entire pattern and I thought that there needed to be at least two more.
The other problem was one of my own making.  The iron-on vinyl didn't add as much heft to the bag as I thought it would and I used a batik as the main fabric.  As a result, I ended up with a somewhat flimsy bag. The pattern called for a paper zipper (whatever that is) but I used a regular non-metal one and it worked fine.  I downloaded an embroidery design from Embroidery Library (Paisley Dragonfly Circle) and was very pleased with the way it sewed out.
But I was most pleased with the fact that Kate loved it and immediately used it to stuff all of the money she got for her birthday in it.