an unexpected window

of opportunity yielded a few additional components for an ongoing project (as well as a cheesebox for storing them).

an alternative

So far I like this better than this.

With only four completed of a planned sixteen, the current arrangement is not permanent.

a large project

is currently taking shape but due to the size remains on my design wall upstairs on the third floor, where it's too cold to spend any substantial amount of time. So in the meantime I've been using up bits and pieces of yarn on another project that is really more about process than about the finished item. While I'm downstairs where it's warm and my fingers are busy crocheting, I'm working out the details in my head for the fiber collage/quilt project upstairs.


Recently I came across an interesting quote from Teresa Barkley

“And the realization that this was a very time consuming way to work made me very anxious to do something that was one of a kind. I really like the tactile quality of quilts and I loved working with fabric. But the realization came to me very early that fabulous quilts had been made for a very long time by people with more time and skill than I had and it was really kind of pointless for me to duplicate those designs in contemporary materials when I had so little time, I would rather use it on something that was uniquely my own. One - that it would be more interesting looking, and two - it would be a better use of my time. The world doesn't really need another flower garden quilt and that was the quilt that I had admired so much of my great-grandmother's and the first traditional one I had begun to piece and I've never finished it because I made a lot of technical errors along the way. It was a learning experience but I never felt the need to finish because it became much less interesting to me to make a quilt to use. I wanted something that was interesting to look at  . . . “

in stitches inspiration

Currently a collaboration between Westtown School and the Chester County Historical Society provides an opportunity to see  "select samplers and other embroidery made by girls from Chester County and the surrounding area 200 years ago."

IN STITCHES: Unraveling Their Stories

This exhibit is inspiring on many levels, not just for the needlework itself but also for the approaches, categories of samplers, historical information about differences in philosophy between function and decoration, examples of mixed components that provide inspiration for current art quilt/fabric collage making, and some sewing items previously unknown to me.

There were several examples of this type of pincushion or pinball. This example came from this source.

In the forefront of the postcard you can also see one of the many embroidered globes featured in the exhibit.

not working out

This project (like so much else) is just not working out. I'm going to leave it on the design board for now and have started in another direction with the strips already cut out.

happy hopeful

new year!

In the spirit of bricolage . . . using what was at hand . . . this cuff is the result of working from the box of leftovers from Low Tide.