Sunday, March 1, 2009

Eat, Pray, and Stitch

Outside looks inviting with the soft blue clear sky and the soft brightness.  Based on appearance I could think it is pleasantly warm outside.  The temps actually read too-cold-for-Karen-to-be-out.  My goals today included 3 things; eat, pray, and stitch.  I've been successful.  While sewing on a binding I reasoned that what I do well in my quilts is create good backgrounds.  When I start I aim for the entire quilt to be an all over focal point (it has a name but I can't recall it at the moment but remember it from Lorraine Torrence's book on design) but and once it is finished I become unsettled thinking it needs a more easily read focal point.  Here is a section of the quilt that I scanned.  The entire size is 24ish x 30ish.  I placed a 1/4ish binding around it. 


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Some options I'll consider is adding beads in blues, a couple of circles in metallic or light blue threads in blue, and words from the poem in larger lettering using Scribble paints in blueish/grayish.  Also on tap for next week is picking up my Janome Jem from the repairman (don't ask, sad story), and selecting some hand-sewing I can do here at home and practice some calligraphy on paper and working through the artist's workbook on marketing.   


For all who might be interested I've started a Calligraphy and Creative Lettering group on Creative Souls (see sidebar).  It is for anyone at any skill level who has an interest in the graphic possibilities of writing, script, by hand or digital.  Also, I started reading Cherryl Floyd-Miller's latest book of poetry, Exquisite Heats.  Cherryl is also a quilt artist and her blog is here.  A beginning review of the book has been started on by book blog (see sidebar), My Eyes Have Seen the Coming of the Word.




6 comments:

  1. Just popping in to say Hey! I am loving the variety of circles in this piece.

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  2. you make me miss blogging so much! (lol) i have been on hiatus since October, mostly because the work has pulled me so thin that i don't always have time to talk about what i'm doing anymore, but also because i'm trying to really decide how/to what extent i want to focus the blog more. i am on Facebook, and that seems to really be my literary base now. so, on some fronts, it seems only logical to make the blog about fiber art, no? when i figure it all out, i'll come back to blogging.
    by the by, i want to say that every time you post an excerpt of a piece in progress, your process, a single square, a new technique, i am AMAZED at what a language seems to be yours in stitching. there is a definite amount of "literacy" i feel i must bring with me whenever i gaze at your work. it's a great thing for me, though. it keeps me engaged and in a constant state of artistic inquiry. some day, i'm really going to "study" you. (lol)
    light!
    ~Cherryl

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  3. That red shade is fantastic! Also love the quilted circles and the blue circles and the text...your technique is just delicious.

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  4. this is really solid for me. I seem to remember you taking special care to get some good red as you hadn't been able to find what you liked/needed.

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  5. Oooooo I like all three goals! Love the new piece you are stitching on...then again I like all of your work - that you have shared anyway!!

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  6. I like this a lot just the way it is. But...if you feel it needs more , maybe some seed beads around a few circles?

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