Saving Scraps

I started my career as a seamstress. I didn't know then that it would be my career but I loved sewing and I loved speed. So when I put the two together I became a speedy sewer. I could make a skirt in 30 minutes or whip up a dress in an hour. I relished that speed. I walked fast, all my movements were fast and the older people said I was "fast". I think they meant something else by that. My uncle would say, "Why do you walk so fast? You are going to be old by the time you are 24." We would both laugh. I don't know why he chose 24 nor could I figure out what he meant. Now I know he was saying that I was rushing through life and that I should take some time to smell the roses.

Consequently, all that fast sewing accumulated a large amount of scraps. I'd been taught (very thoroughly I might add) that it was bad to waste. So throwing those scraps of fabric away seemed like a waste. As the pile grew larger and larger and turned into boxes and boxes, I kept telling myself that one day I would make quilts with those scraps. Then my husband started saying little things like, "you sure have a lot of scraps." He helped me store them in the attic. I didn't even miss the boxes that went to the attic. When we moved he conveniently left them there. Some friends moved in the house and Damu brought over the boxes of scraps. He was beaming as he said, "you left something."

I was elated and my husband was disappointed. We all laughed and said, "if it is yours, you can't throw it a way". My scraps came home.

My uncle would be glad to know that I have learned to slow down. I finally started on my quilting journey and fell in love with the lack of speed. I like the idea of taking a project and working on it over a length of time. Quilting has nurtured that in me. Last year it paid off as I received Honorable Mention at the Pinnacle Exhibit for "A Quilter's Dream". I've been able to create some pleasing pieces from my scrap box.

2011 Calendar

My newest work is the "Laughter, Lessons and Triumph Calendar" for 2011. I am so excited that is ready early this year for pre-orders. This is one of my triumphs because it means I am finally getting a better handle on the use of my time.
Last year I didn't get a calendar out at all. I was a little down about that. I love consistency and dependability. I felt like I wasn't either one last year, although, I did a lot of other things. This year I have had to cut some activities and focus.
This calendar is great. It really showcases my work from all the different angles I like to look from. I said once that I struggle to go outside my box. Even though, I struggle so much to do that I still find a instantly recognizable quality in what I do. I have done some traditional quilts with a slant. I have done some modern quilts with a flair and most of all I have done some people doing what I love to see them do. We all go through times where we laugh, sing, and just "be" happy. Then there are other times when we just barely make through the tough lessons life has to teach us, like it or not. But the sweetest of them all is the triumph we feel when we wake up yet another morning to either laugh or learn lessons. I say, if I wake up in the morning, it is on. I have another day to make it work. That is why this calendar is the epitome of some of the laughter, a lot of the lessons and most of all the triumph.
Pre-order today at www.obaquilts.com and save $5.00.

Father's Day

I had such a great Mother's Day that I find myself looking forward to Father's Day. My dad raised us, so Father's Day was always a big deal for my sister and I. I can't say we did very much to make it special but we always thought it was a special day.

Now I have the great fortune of making it nice for my husband and young adults (that I used to call my little children). I went into a store yesterday and said I don't have to help my children pick cards for their dad anymore. They show up with the most wonderful cards that they have searched out for themselves. And like most Dad's, he saves them all.

When I was vending last month, a woman walked into our booth and looked at this quilt called Father's Love. She said, "This is nice. I wish I knew a father." I rattled that around in my head for a while, trying to figure out what she meant. Maybe she meant that she didn't know a father that she thought would appreciate that quilt. Maybe she meant she didn't know her father. Could she have meant exactly what she said, she didn't know any fathers? Whatever she meant it made me feel sad for her. I'm not sure why.

Here's wishing a Happy Father's Day to all those deserving dads out there.

Mother's Day

I can say I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I worked at a festival, but my children came. It was not the best day for a festival and I don't think they are going to do it on Mother's Day next year.

I met a lot of great artists since we had a lot of time to talk. I love seeing how other people process their view of the world in art. I believe creativity is one of the attributes we share we our own creator. It shows so clearly in the work that people do.

There was a nice mix of kinds of art, from glass blower, painter, hand bag specialist. seamstress, several jewelry makers, a Mary Kay consultant, a chocolate company, Pizza and sandwich shop, a crochet artist, a quilter and many more. Not enough traffic though.

Time vs Organization

I seem to always feel like I don't have enough time. It looks like I have the same number of hours as everyone else but they seem to get more done. Everything I have read and watched on HGTV points to the fact that organization would save me time. When will I find enough time to organize. Don't get me wrong I organize a little then get back to work. Then I work a lot until it gets the best of me then I stop and organize a little.

I have found that when I am working I don't have time to organize and clean. The elves nor the fairies come in to surprise me during the night. And when I am cleaning and organizing the work time is ticking away. I want to balance the two but haven't worked that out yet. I'm open for suggestions.

I've been watching the way I work and that has helped a lot. I know that I need little baskets for projects that I am currently working on. If I pack it way away I forget about it. It becomes "out of site-out of mind." Then I need places for short term put aside, where I can see them but not put completely away. I have plenty of places where I have put things away and some days I open them and say oh I forgot I had this. I can use it now.

Still Working

I think I had forgotten how time consuming it was to remove all that paper. The first time I made this quilt, I cut the center rectangles and strips to measurements given in the book. It turned out a little wavy and I liked that hand made-free looking effect. Someone asked me did I paper piece it. They knew very well I had not paper pieced it by the curves in my lines. But it kind of got under my skin. I wondered if they asked that to insinuate that I should have. So I figured I'd just try it with the paper and see.
I absolutely loved it! The paper piecing fed right into my need for control. Now I'm wondering if I will ever make a free flowing house quilt again. It doesn't matter though, because I make so many other free flowing quilts. It is okay to feed my control issues some times. Isn't it?

How Long It Takes

"How long does it take to make that one?" the inquisitive viewer asks. It seems that question infuriates some artists and gives others a chance to express themselves even more. The artists that it infuriates perceive the viewer to be questioning their price. I guess I am naive in that I take a question for what it is and try not to read my own prejudices into it. I have found that most people who ask this question genuinely have no idea of what goes into making a piece of art, whether it is a quilt, oil painting, or a novel. I think they are trying to understand what goes on inside a mind that can sit for hours and hours and come out of it with something cohesive. They seem to be wondering if their square thoughts can fit into that round artist hole.
Then they say, "You must be really patient." Patience is definitely a big part of it but so much more goes into making it happen. At first I want to tell them how long I thought about the project before I started it. But there is not really a record of that. I didn't jot down how many mornings I woke up thinking about the best way to compose the piece or how long I thought about what colors I wanted to use to make just the right statement. I realize that part of it can't be contained in a number like two hours in all over three years. What sense would that make to the viewer?
Then I want to say, I searched the fabric stores and online quilts shops for just the right fabric. How much time? Can I say 5 hours online when I really bought fabric for 3 other quilts at the same time? Can I say 8 hours of quilt shop and fabric store shopping even when I bought fabric for other projects at the same time? No don't say that. Maybe this doesn't count.
Finally, colors right, thoughts right, pattern/design right and I get down to cutting. Is this one that I cut all at once or is this one that I cut a little at a time so that I could think about how it is evolving? Sometimes I have thought it through and when I start to work one of the fabrics just doesn't work. I have to re-think. How much time does it take to replace that fabric that didn't work. Eventually, I have something to sew and I dive right in. This is when how long it takes really gets dicey. It gets down to how the artist works.
I work about 8 hours a day. Some people only work on weekends. Others work at night after they get off work, while some early birds get up at the crack of dawn before the family starts to stir and work in the peacefulness of early morning. Then there are the night people who work late into the night.
I started a quilt of row houses in January. I have tried all different kinds of things to get an accurate count on the time I put into this quilt. I decided to do one house a day. First of all it took more than 8 hours to do one house. That got boring after about the second day and I gave myself a break and worked on something else for a while. Then I tried to do 1 1/2 houses a week, which would have given me 6 houses in one month. I got on a roll. I made one house, then it turned into two, then the next day I started on another one and I ended up making 5 in one week. By the end of that week the monotony got the best of me. I found myself thinking about another project. One quilter emailed about the fact that she only works on one project at a time. I thought, how wonderful. I tried that once and it almost drove me crazy.
So now it is March and I have 16 houses done. Three months of actual sewing time and only two more houses to go. I don't know how long it is going to take to make that border or how long the quilting will take. I know it will take me about 4 hours to bind and close it. So I round the time up when someone asks, "how long did that quilt take?" I'm standing there going through all of that in my mind. They are probably wondering why I am hesitating. Don't I know how long it takes. I say about 4 or 5 months. They seem happy at that and I know in my heart that the actual time cannot be measured. It is truly a labor of love.