april first designs [sketchbook]

Trying to Get Back on Track

2009-01-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

This week I haven’t been as creative as I wanted to be. I know the reason - last weekend I started sketches for the first illustration for my story, and as I wrote about here, it wasn’t that successful or encouraging, and I’ve been finding it hard to get back into the swing of things since. I’m used to having ideas that excite me, so that it’s hard to keep me away from the studio, but lately I’ve been feeling intimidated. Mainly, the intimidation revolves around illustrating my main character. Or I should say, the lack of illustration of my man character at the moment.

I have a sketch I want to try, I just need to get started. I have been telling myself all week that I need to get tracing paper in order to transfer the sketch to the wood and clay. This has actually been an affective avoidance technique so far (although it has been a pretty busy week). But I bought some today, so there’s no holding me back now *she says sarcastically*

I have a bad attitude about this now for some reason. But even despite that I have a sneaking suspicion that once I get started it will all turn out all right, so I’m not sure what’s really holding me back.

I try to look a lot at the Children’s Book Illustration Pool on Flickr to get me inspired. It helps to look at all the artists whose work is simple and uncomplicated, because I love their work, even if the characters are almost stick figures. That helps.

About to Snow

2009-01-10T14:21:00.001-08:00

About to Snow, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

About to Snow 2

2009-01-10T14:20:00.003-08:00

About to Snow, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

About to Snow 1

2009-01-10T14:20:00.001-08:00

About to Snow, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Creative Everyday

2009-01-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

Last week I joined an online creative challenge: http://www.creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/creative-every-day-challenge.html This is such a great idea, and a great way to stay motivated. Just today, I started a painting for a friend, and I’m just not feeling it. I was kind of playing with the idea of using polymer clay to make trees instead of the wire I’ve been using, and it worked fine, but I feel like that theme is kind of getting played out with me, so now I’m losing steam on this project. It’s small though, so I think I can pull it out.

I spent a lot of time today photographing and photoshopping images of my paintings. Now that I have my new camera they are so much better than the bad images I had before. I would like to try to enter this juried show at the Providence Art Club, so I need digital images of all my work. The show is highlighting “green” projects, and since all my paintings are done on salvaged wood, I think they qualify.

Friday I wrote about 5 pages of my story, tentatively titled “Angela Joins the Circus.” The reason I started writing this was so I would have a story to illustrate, because that’s a challenge I’ve wanted to try for a long time. I’ve also had this character in my head for years. So I finally started it last week. It took some good advise from a writer friend to get me going. He told me not to plan out the ending too carefully, to listen to the characters and allow them to tell you how the end should come. It was just what I needed to hear because I had this idea that I needed to plan out the story completely in advance, and I just didn’t know how I wanted it to end.

I also did some sketches for my first illustration for the story. I wasn’t too happy with them, and I could feel the old “oh forget it!” feeling coming over me. But I really don’t want to give up on this idea yet, so I’m going to push through it. I just need to sit down and get working on it, and let it unfold.

I think the lesson I really need to learn is to just do things my way and trust that they are the right way. To not worry about whether my “voice” is cool enough, or interesting or quirky or imaginative enough. To just going and do it and trust that it will be right in the end. That internal critic is a REALLY hard thing to ignore, but that’s got to be one of my New Year’s resolutions - to ignore the stupid critic and just make my art my way. It’s not life and death here. The worst than can happen is something might suck. Then I just try it a different way.

City Block

2009-01-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

This is a small one I did half as a test and half as a gift for my sister for Christmas. I was thinking of switching away from all the trees and trying a city scene. I was envisioning multiple pieces that when hung next to each other would form the city. I’m not sure if that’s going to happen or not, but it was fun to experiment.

Again I used the air-dry clay, and the buildings are grouped on layers. The first layer is the three buildings in the background, and it builds up until the wall, which is the fifth layer.

This was a fun one, although a little frustrating. I finally ended up gluing the layers to each other before they were even dry, just to keep them from sliding around and pulling out of shape. Then once they were dry, I sanded the crap out of them just to make them more integrated.

The challenge in this one was the color. In the end I am happy with the way they came out - it was tough coming up with different color grays that didn’t clash with each other. There are A LOT of layers of paint and glazes on there. Also, it took me a while to realize that there had to be deep shadows between the buiding, because I couldn’t figure out why it looked so flat and dead until I went almost all the way to black in the shadows. The layers are not that thick, so I couldn’t rely on them to create the shadows on their own.

This piece is about 3.5“ wide by 5.5” tall (it's a section of 2x4, another scrap). It’s much thicker on the bottom than the top also, which was a challenge to frame. In the end, I made the frame as deep as the thickest part of the painting (about 2“), and used a .25“ spacer in between the painting and frame, instead of my normal 1/8”. That set it off enough.

At first thought this painting was really boring, but in the end I really ended up liking it. It’s a great size, it feels very substantial and solid, more like a sculpture than any of the other ones I’ve done. And my sister liked it too.

Chasing Home Series: #5

2009-01-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

Number 5 in the series. Subconsciously I think I knew the series was winding down when I was working on this one. It’s done on a 1“ thick plank, and it has a very different feel than the previous ones I think. It’s about 11.5” wide by 9.75“ tall, and it's very heavy. I’m not sure what kind of wood this is, some kind of plywood with a thick veneer on it. It’s a left over from one of my dad’s projects. This is a green project!

This was the first time I used the self-drying clay for the large areas instead of the polymer clay you have to bake. It took a little getting used to (hint: keep it wet, because it dries FAST). The air-dry clay was used to make the little islands of land and the moon. I used wire for the trees, left over houses from #4, and polymer clay for the fence, light bulbs and bird. The light bulbs are ”hung“ using black thread. And as usual the tissue paper and gel medium to cover it all.

The theme of this one was choices. This one was just for me, not for art group. I had been thinking a lot about a time in my life when (in retrospect) I had come to a metaphorical fork in the road and had to choose how I was going to deal with something that had happened to me - whether I was going to choose to go right, and make the healthier choice, or spin off to the left. I made a conscious decision kind of late in the process that I didn’t love the picture that was beginning to form in the painting: that either choice was all good or all bad - so I hung the lightbulbs in the trees on the ”dark“ side and put the raven on the ”right“ side, just to balance it out.

I had a lot of trouble with the ground on the dark side. Initially the whole left side of the painting was dark, and I was envisioning a deep forest, but after I painted it, it just wasn’t working for me. The trees were too dimensional I think, and I just had a really hard time integrating them into the background of the ”forest.“

So then on my way into work one morning I was thinking about this painting and that half of the painting specifically, when a flash of white in the grass on the side of the road caught my eye. At first I thought it was a bird, or at least it had the shape of the bird, and that started me thinking about the color white and how it can be cold, and somehow, that translated in my head into a snowy scene for the trees. I tried to balance it out with the white of the sky on the right.

I’m still not sure how I feel about this painting. Sometimes I really like it, especially when I look at it up close, but then sometimes I think it’s a little....boring, compared to what I had in my head. I couldn’t frame it because of the wire from the trees, I didn’t flatten it enough so I couldn’t fit a frame around it. Maybe that contribute to the feeling of incompletion I get when I look at it. To be honest, at this point I think I need to put it away for awhile and get some perspective back on it. It was substantially larger than I normally work, so I spent a lot of time on it. I think I need a break from it.

Chasing Home Series: #4

2009-01-01T08:04:00.001-08:00

Number 4 in the series, and I think, most successful one of all of them. The theme for this one was "mask" and although I didn't know the theme when I started this one, I had a very firm idea in my head of what I wanted to do with the painting.

This painting was inspired by the feeling of being separate from your community, whether physically, emotionally, culturally, whatever. The mask, even though the idea came later, fit well into the concept, my thinking was: you can join the community if you wear the mask, hide your true self.

The interesting thing was that in discussion with some other artists, many of them thought of it in the reverse: when you leave the community you put on the mask, to walk out among the rest of the world, imlying that you are your true self when you are in your community (and by community I mean the people that surround you - your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc). This is a much more comforting interpretation than the one I came up with.

Just goes to show that what you see in art can reveal as much if not more about yourself than what the artist ever intended.

Chasing Home Series: #3

2009-01-01T07:05:00.001-08:00

Number 3 of the Chasing Home Series, using the theme "Vines" from Art Group. I had actually started the painting before I got the theme, so I had to figure out a way to work vines in. Around the time I was thinking of that, I was also trying to think of a piece of text that I could wrap around the edges of the paintings, and the two challenges kind of resolved each other.

I ended up writing a letter to a person I needed to resolve some issues with, and it occurred to me that the words could become the vines. In this series I've used trees as a metaphor for strength and wisdom, and the imagery of these words that I needed to say (but never had) wrapping around the trees, strangling, threatening to take them over, was a powerful one.

Updates

2008-11-16T13:33:00.001-08:00

It's been a long time since I last sat down to write something about what I've been working on, whether here or in my actual sketchbook. Since my last post, I've completed two more pieces, and although they are technically all part of the "Chasing Home" series, I think that really the series started on the first of those two most recent works.

I feel like I've really found my voice with the last two, and I think the piece with the nest (that's what I've been calling it) was really more of a practice piece. I'm not that happy with the color palette at all, but I loved the process, and I think that's the main thing I will take away from that piece. In fact i think I am going to sell it to a friend's husband so he can surprise her with it for Christmas. She loved it, so I know it will be going to a good home. In fact the more I've thought about it, the more I think I will make a newer version, one that is more clearly defined.

Beyond the advancements I feel I've made in refining the process, I think the treehouse painting (will post pics later) is also a milestone, in that it was the first painting I've made in this series where I was thinking of the emotional content, at the same time as the visual content.

Up till this point, each piece has been the product of an idea that literally popped into my head and that I just seized on to bring it into reality. With the treehouse, I got the idea of the large tree when I found a leaf that would be ideal to work with a piece of wood I already had, but from that point on, the subject of the painting came fully from my ideas of community and acceptance and belonging. And everyone that has seen it has said it's their favorite. Although I haven't asked why, I do wonder if it's because the emotional content is so much higher on that one. I have to ask some opinions.

Chasing Home I

2008-10-18T06:09:00.001-07:00

Chasing Home I, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

The first painting I did for the Art Group, theme: Ravens. I like birds a lot, and even before the Group, I found them showing up in the creative/crafty things I was doing.

They found their way into the fabric books I made, the fabric I bought and the print blocks I carved.

Birds to me represent hope, and that is something I can always use more of. I have a ring with the word Hope inscribed on it, I wear it to remind myself to be more hopeful than I am naturally inclined to be.

Chasing Home II

2008-10-18T05:47:00.001-07:00

Chasing Home II, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

This is the finished version of the process I described in the post below (here). In the preious post I was working on the bottom section, which ended up being the toughest to work on, followed closely by the middle section. I think in all I repainted all or parts of the nest at least 4 times. Most often it involved me putting washes of paint on it to consistently bring down the colors to match the rest of the piece. In the end I am happy with it, if nothing else the layers of paint really added some subtle colors in there.

I brought this piece to my Art Group and everyone really liked it (at least that's what they told me!) which was a good affirmation. When I'm working on something I so easily lose perspective on it.

I can't help in some ways feeling that as much as I love this process of mixed media and 3-D painting, I'm cheating in a way. I use the leaves because I am too afraid to try and paint the trees. I use the print block so i don't have to carve out the wood, and I use simple shapes so I don't get intimidated by my lack of illustrating abilities. I use texture because it adds character and depth I'm afraid I can't get on my own with just paint and a brush.

I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself, because it's more important to be productive than it is to live up to some unreasonable (for me) ideal of what it means to be an artist. But it's hard to break years of training and mind-sets. I'm trying though.

The ideas are coming, and I am developing them quickly in my head in ways that I can be successful, which is an accomplishment in itself. I believe (and I am trying to continually remind myself) that as long as I grow from project to project, try new ideas and don't get stuck in ruts, then I am being true to what it means to be an artist. What it means for ME to be the best artist I can be.

Finding New Inspiration

2008-10-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not competely sure how it happened, but somehow here I am, feeling like a real, productive artist for the first time in years. Mostly I have the art group I joined to thank for it, and somewhere along the way I discovered a process that I am completely infatuated with. For now.

The theme for the week was "Doorways" and I "refined" my ideas in my head while walking around my neighborhood, as per usual. I've gotten out of the habit of the compulsive sketching I used to do, trying to work out each detail before I started anything. I finally realized that this process was self-defeating, because I was tired of my ideas before I got past the sketching phase. Simplifying not only the process but also my ideas made it much easier to be successful.

I wanted the doorway to have dimension, be a black hole of sorts, so that left me with 2 options: carve out the wood, or build up the surface, then carve that out. I wasn't too confident in my wood-carving ability, and I had this rubber carving surface I wasn't using, so I decided to use that. It ended up being ideal; there's no backing on this stuff, so I could carve it right down to nothing, whichgave me the ability to give it some really nice dimension and provide a nce transition between the rubber and the wood painting surface.

The block below is the bottom piece of a three piece set. It represents an underground view, with the rubber illustrating the roots from the surface. I sketched it on the rubber, really basic, then carved it out so there would be a mostly smooth transition down to the wood. I fastened it down with glue and a couple of nails to be safe:

Following my new rule of keeping things simple, and also because I wanted trees but was intimidated by the idea of drawing them, I decided to use leaves for the trees. No sketching needed. I pressed some leaves from the cigar tree out front, and then cut out the leafy parts so I was left with just the veins:

Using some gel medium (and a couple of nails in the thicker stems), I arranged the leaves in place to create the idea of roots (I used them in the other two pieces facing upward to represent the trees):

More gel medium, along with tissue (this stuff was wrapped around some jewelry I bought, that's why the color and design), layered over the rubber and leaves to add some texture and soften the edges. This was the last of the 3 blocks in ths piece that I made, and it took me this long to get the idea to shape the tissue to add even more texture, particularly along the bottom to add a little curve for the nest (later) to sit in:

After everything was dry, I gave it a coat of black paint, and then waited a week or so while I tried to get up the courage to start painting. I was so happy with the way the foundation of each piece came out, I was really afraid I would screw it up once I started painting.

And I actually did, the only one of the three that worked the first try was the top, simplest, smallest piece. The other two took at least 2 tries each, but in the end I am really happy with them.

To finish it up I added a coat of high-gloss varnish which really brought out the colors in the acrylic. All that's left now is framing it out.

Inspiration

2008-08-03T19:34:00.001-07:00

more words, originally uploaded by onebyjude.

Studio - Fixed Up

2008-07-05T10:18:00.001-07:00

Studio - Fixed Up, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

This shot doesn't show the mess that is the bookshelf to the right. I actually still need more space!

Studio - Fixed Up

2008-07-05T10:17:00.001-07:00

Studio - Fixed Up, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

A shot of the new improved studio, along with my new sewing machine. Wow, looks messy from this angle. But that's actually a good part of why I love this space, not necessary to clean up after I use it every time.

Studio - Before

2008-07-05T10:16:00.003-07:00

Studio - Before, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Corner view.

Studio - Before

2008-07-05T10:16:00.001-07:00

Studio - Before, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

In progress - cleaning and painting

Long time no blog...

2008-05-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile...

In the meantime, I've cut the long skinny untitled project into about 4 pieces. I decided to do that because all together I thought it was a little flat. In pieces, I like it better, but since I have ad a chance to live with it for awhile, I am not as in love with it as I once was. Again, it seems flat. I think it's definitely savable, with some overpainting that will give it some life and dimension. I will eventually get to that, I think.

Beyond that, I haven't had any projects going really, and a big part of the reason for that is I haven't been feeling well physically and mentally for awhile. I haven't had the mental energy to do much of anything. I also picked up a freelance web design job, so that took a little of my time as well.

But the big thing I've been doing is overhauling the back porch to make it really my studio. I've done a lot of painting and cleaning, and when it's done, it's going to be spectacular. I've had to paint the floor in sections, and with two coats, it's been really slow going, taking days at a time, but it will all be so worth it eventually. It is SO important to have a good place to work, and the studio is perfect, amazing views of the backyard and cove, and two walls almost completely windows, so PLENTY of light. I can't wait for it to be done. I can't wait to have a space I can work in where I don't have to put everything away every time I'm done working. I am itching to get out there.

My next idea for a quilt is to do something with the asterisks pattern I posted. I am going to go to the thrift store and buy soft gray fabric for the background, and pale, buttery yellow fabrics for the asterisks. Sheets, clothes, tablecloths? Whatever I find that works! I'm looking forward to finding something interesting to work with. Something with a little more character and history than the brand new cotton fabric I can buy at the fabric store.

I do really miss having something to work on while watching TV at night, some kind of handwork. Right now I don't have anything like that. Marisa's baby quilt has kind of stalled out. It's big enough now that it's kind of a pain in the butt to work on, so I have it folded up n my book case. Once I get my room done out back and can set up my sewing machine set up, I will probably bang through the quilting and call it a day. I love the idea of completely hand sewing it, but now I just kind of want to get it done. One thing I learned from that quilt is that it is just a little too big to be fun to work on by hand. It's probably the largest one I've made (not saying much, they've all been throw quilts or baby quilts). Just goes to show, they are ALL part of the learning process.

Anyway, I do have the bird fabric I bought to make the quilt for my more, I can get started on that by hand, I just have to come up with a pattern. I'm having art day tomorrow with Lisa, maybe that's when I can get started working on some ideas. The asterisks quilt is done on the machine (because it requires cutting through seams, over and over and over.) That'll be fine once I get the studio workable, but until then, I'm not even going to start it.

So there are a lot of plans in place, just need to bust through the set up portion before I can get my hands dirty. That's ok, the end result will be totally worth it.

Color Inspiration

2008-04-12T18:55:00.001-07:00

quilts throughout the house, originally uploaded by qusic.

New idea for layout, Asteriks!

http://quiltville.com/tonya/asterisks.shtml/

Untitled 1 - April '08

2008-04-06T08:39:00.001-07:00

Untitled 1 - April '08, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Untitled 1 - April '08

2008-04-06T08:38:00.003-07:00

Untitled 1 - April '08 , originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Untitled 1 - April '08 (full size)

2008-04-06T08:38:00.001-07:00

Untitled 1 - April '08 (full size), originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

The full size piece, before cutting.

New Project - Untitled Long Skinny Painting

2008-03-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Process:

Paint muslin.
I used a long strip of plain muslin I already had cut. I also used very old watercolors in a tray, and painted from right to left own the strip. Not sure why I started there... Hit all my current favorite imagery: a young girl, a crow and trees. Each image started as a "scene" (because somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking this would end up being a book of some form) which I tried to blend somewhat seamlessly into the next. It passed from a moonlit beach scene, to a girl, to a crow, to a forest to a blank area that was supposed to be water (but I painted the waves in reverse??) to a dark heavy city.
Wait for paint to dry.
The watercolor dried a lot lighter than I expected it to, and looked faded and weak.
Bring out the details of the painting.
Because of the result of step 2, I used my micron pen and some oil pastels to punch up the painting. I used the pen in the tree, in the face of the girl, around the bird and in the forest (looks kind of like lines, but it's a forest). Used the pastels in the girl's hair, the water and the city. I am disappointed in the pastels, I thought the appearance would be both more blendable and more subtle.
Transfer photos to the painting.
I chose a couple of old photos to add. The barn was an image I printed out ages ago, so I just used it since I already had it. The water and wood scene (between the crow and girl) I happened upon while searching for the city scene I used. It was actually a nice surprise to find old images and find uses for them now. Since my purpose for the images now is so different than when I first shot them, they all seem new to me again. Oftentimes, I only need a texture or lines, so I am examining the images in a whole new way. I used acrylic medium to transfer the images. I think the water shot is the most successful transfer because there are no hard edges. I'm disappointed the bard transferred so weakly. I might end up covering that up.

That's as far as I've gotten so far. I found a bunch of beach glass on my walk today, so I have the idea to transfer them to painting by lightly gluing them in place and then sewing them down so the thread holds them in a kind of cage. I'm envisioning a kind of mosaic...

I want to use some painted twigs in the forest...

I want to stitch/quilt around the girl and in the moonlight scene, but I don't want to make this a quilt... I have an idea to lightly glue black felt to the back and then quilt with those two layers... just enough thickness with no quilt sandwich...

Still not sure how this is going to end up... a book? Maybe an accordion that isn't bound, but folds into it's covers? Maybe nailed to a long 1 x 4 board, painted down with medium?

I'll have to wait to see where it goes...

Going on Vacation - Page 4

2008-03-29T06:56:00.001-07:00

Going on Vacation - Page 4, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Going on Vacation - Page 1

2008-03-29T06:55:00.005-07:00

Going on Vacation - Page 1, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Going on Vacation - Title Page

2008-03-29T06:55:00.003-07:00

Going on Vacation - Title Page, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Going on Vacation - Cover Open

2008-03-29T06:55:00.001-07:00

Going on Vacation - Cover Open, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Going on Vacation

2008-03-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

My first completed book, a gift for my mother: Going on Vacation. Most of the photos are posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/apriljoy45/sets/72157604135488221/, with a couple detail shots to follow. Details on the book are in the Flickr pages.

Books!

2008-03-14T16:24:00.001-07:00

choreosphypage4, originally uploaded by planetmithi.

Inspiration

Workspace

2008-03-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

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Page 1 - Pictures

2008-03-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

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Being Creative is Hard

2008-03-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

I started a book, made of fabric, and inspired by a book I bought called "How to Make Books." I got off to a decent start with a very small one I made that was just an experiment (a "sketch" of course) and I just worked in what has become my regular way of working, designing as I go.

But I got off track when I started wanting to do more, bigger, better.

I have prepared 3 new book bases (long strips of muslin that I pressed into accordion book shapes, blank canvases) and got started on one yesterday, but now that I've finished the first page, I don't love it.

The glue I used to glue down the mountains got really stiff after it dried, and also left stains on the fabric. No good. Also, the content... it was just boring and I think it's because I was trying too hard.

I have this theory that if I can separate my brain from my hands and heart and soul when I'm creating, then I will achieve perfect art, be a true artist. And THAT is what I struggle with every time I pick up a pen, a pair of scissors, a sheet of paper, a piece of fabric. I start thinking too much, and trying too hard to create something that is in my head.

I've realized that the pieces that I love the most have been the ones I've sat down to work on with absolutely no preconceived idea of where I plan to go with it. (I named my blog after the whole concept!) When I started quilting, that kind of defined my approach to it. I had a limited number of resources to learn how to do it, and the ones I did have weren't really helpful to me. So I just jumped in, went ahead and tried my thing, sure in my belief that I couldn't really screw it up, that I'm bright enough to figure something out, even if maybe it's not the accepted, traditional process.

And I fell in love with it. The same thing happened when I tried the mini-quilts. I was able to somehow turn off my brain, my intellectual processes, and just feel my way, and it worked.

And that is HARD. I think of it like meditation... conceptually, it seems really easy to meditate: sit in a quiet room somewhere and zone out. But I find it incredibly difficult to quiet my mind, exhausting in fact. Same thing with being creative (or at least my idea of it). It takes practise.

I also need to accept that fact that when I make something, even if it doesn't come out exactly the way I want it to, it's all part of the process, and that's ok.

Practise, practise, practise.

Peace and Quiet

2008-03-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

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Inspiration

2008-02-12T16:55:00.001-08:00

XOXO quilt, originally uploaded by stitchindye.

XOXO quilt

Future Inspiration

2008-02-11T04:46:00.001-08:00

owl quilt, originally uploaded by *superfurry*.

owl quilt

Lisa's Quilt

2008-01-20T07:35:00.001-08:00

Lisa's Quilt, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

This quilt came together completely by accident. Originally it was going to be the back of the "Heart in a Cage" quilt, but first I assembled it wrong (and had to sew to the underside of the green/blue section), then I cut the yellow too short and had to add the gold, then I realized the whole thing was way too big. And then I laid my eyes on the blue courdoroy and loved the way the colors worked, and all of a suden this was way too cute to be the back of anything.

Deb's Quilt - Detail

2008-01-20T07:34:00.001-08:00

Deb's Quilt - Detail, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Macine pieced and quilted base with appliqued green circles. The polka dotted fabric is a piece of ribbon. Hand sewn, pre-made binding. Very tiny and very annoying to attach.

Inspiration

2008-01-13T06:19:00.001-08:00

quilt with crochet lace, originally uploaded by onebyjude.

Adding the crochet to the quilt, as I am hoping to do with my mom's birthday quilt.

Inspiration

2008-01-13T06:16:00.001-08:00

quilt message collage, originally uploaded by onebyjude.

This woman's work never ceases to inspire and amaze me. The texture, the story that every stitch tells. A true work of art.

Secret Baby Quilt

2008-01-12T06:03:00.000-08:00

Is it strange to make a quilt for your baby, when you don't have any kids?

I don't know why, but I've always felt like my first child would be a girl. Probably she will have dark hair. Never mind that not only am I not pregnant, but I also have no prospects.

When I originally started this quilt, I had this vague idea that I would give it to my cousin who is having her baby in Feb. Never mind that she doesn't know if she's having a girl. I just figured I'll make it for her with the assumption it's going to be a girl, and if it's not I'll make her a new one and give this one to someone else.

But somewhere along the way, I got really attached to this quilt. The colors, the pattern, every single one of the fabrics used, everything. So here we are, a couple months later, and I've decided that this, the sixth quilt I've ever made (and the 3rd fabric quilt), will be mine.

Not just mine, but my future baby's. With every stitch, I've tried to say a little prayer for my baby girl, and also for my own future, filled with the joy an love for a baby.

Someday.

* * *

Materials:
About 8-10 different fabrics and the background fabric (here: tan)
6" square template
Batting
Backing fabric
Regular sewing supplies

Directions:

Prepare the Fabric:

Using the template (or with a rotary cutter), cut enough squares of each piece of fabric to make the size quilt you want. I cut about 5 squares out of each of 7 different fabrics. My quilt is 7 blocks by 5 blocks.
Use a rotary cutter to cut strips (same number as in step 1) from each fabric, at least 6" long, and in varying widths. They don't have to all be square corners, but they should be long enough so that when they lay on the square blocks, if they are at an angle they will cover the whole side.
Cut random squares of freezer paper, the same number as blocks you plan to make. Again, not all squared corners, and all different sizes. They should be small enough to fit on top of the 6" squares you've cut.

Secret Baby Quilt - Building Blocks, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Assembling the Blocks:

Choose random combinations of block, strip and square, attach with a straight stitch the strip to one side of the block. Fold it open, and trim the excess fabric of the block away.
If the strip is too short to cover one side of the block, turn under the other side of the strip and applique it down.
Finger press the edges of the square down and pin it so it lies with one side next to the strip, then applique it down to the center of the block.
Repeat 34 more times!!
Press each block, then use the template to square up each block, and trim excess.

Secret Baby Quilt, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

Assembling the Quilt Top:

Cut the tan background fabric into 49 - 6" x 2.75" strips to go between the blocks, and 7 - 2.75" x 44" (sashing, the width of the quilt, factoring in both the blocks and the background strips).
Alternating background strip and block, sew them together in a long strip, beginning and ending with the background strip, 5 blocks long. Press each assembled strip.
Lay out assembled strips, and alternating with sashing, till the layout looks good, then pin, and sew.
Because of the placement of the background strips, you don't have to ad a border (unless you want to).
Press entire top, then assemble quilt sandwich and quilt or tie as preferred.

Giving Myself Permission

2008-01-12T05:51:00.000-08:00

I'm having a really hard time starting this one particular quilt for my cousin who is due to give birth in about a month. She is not finding out the gender before the birth, so if I make a quilt for her now, it has to be neutral, and that's hard. It makes it hard for me to pick a design, and hard to pick fabric, and even a color scheme. Every time I think I've made a choice, I find myself questioning whether it is appropriate for either a boy OR a girl.

I'm putting too much pressure on myself, I know for sure that she will love anything I give her, but I still fight that battle in my head, because to me, true success on this will be finding something that I will love AND she will love.

And now that I've made a few quilts for family members' babies, there's pressure to make one for her. Of course I want to, but it's always harder for me to get off the ground when I have to.

I have pretty much decided that I am going to wait till I find out the baby's gender before I start the quilt. I know she'll understand, and anyway a newborn can't use a quilt for the first few months anyway. Of course then we'll be into the summer...

But in the meantime, I've been combing Flickr for ideas, searching by "modern quilts." Here's my first inspiration:

http://sixandahalfstitches.typepad.com/six_and_a_half_stitches/2008/01/things-gone-out.html

I love these colors, white, linen, apple green and red. GORGEOUS!! I love the neutrals, and finding unusual splashes of color to use with them is perfect. I think this is a girl color scheme. It looks like there's a hint of chenille in there...love it.

And if it's a boy, I have a scenic quilt idea in the back of my head, blue mountains and hills with roads winding around them, and little cars on the roads, a big moon in the sky.

Love This

2007-12-30T10:41:00.001-08:00

Titmouse-STORE, originally uploaded by badbird.

I love this artist's work, it's giving me ideas for the quilt I'd like to make my mother. I want to work birds into it, but I don't love the idea of appliqued birds, not detailed enough.

Which made me think of painting or drawing onto fabric, and then using that as blocks in a quilt...

Not sure yet, still in the planning, thinking about it, stages. The simplicity and expressiveness of this illo just inspired me. Not to mention the colors...

Looking Ahead

2007-12-29T07:25:00.000-08:00

Current project: No name yet

I had started a quilt for my cousin's unborn baby, but just could not get into it. I even bought a decent amount of fabric for it, but the colors (gender neutral greens and yellows) weren't doing a thing for me. I figured the best thing for it was to go back to the fabric store and buy more fabric for it that would infuse a little interest in it.

I picked up a cute pale yellow with black dots. It would work. I picked up a tan with an interesting picture of trees and cabins on it. It didn't match as well, but I could make it work. Then there was the tiny red floral on white. Wouldn't work at all. And it just went on from there. I ended up with about 10 different fabrics and a completely different color scheme of red, pink, white, tan and a pop of bright blue. I LOVE it. I made up my own little pattern that combines patchwork and applique, and am using a solid tan to assemble it in the same style as the Coin Quilt (love that - simple and easy, classic).

No pictures to attach yet, too close to finishing the last strip to make it worthwhile right now. This quilt isn't going to my cousin anymore, I ended up buying some cute 5" pre-cut squares in a Dick and Jane pattern. I'll bang something out for her. This one is for me, and maybe, hopefully, for my own little girl some day. No sewing machine will touch this one.

If You Love Something, Set It Free...

2007-12-29T07:21:00.001-08:00

Ocean Neutrals - Top, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

I won't write too much more about this quilt, since I wrote quite a bit about it on Flickr, but this was my first quilt ever, which I brought to a family yankee swap. It went home with my cousin, but I miss it. Looking at the photos I took before I wrapped it, it looks so much better than I expected it to come out. It's a testament to how working on something for so long can force you to lose perspective on it, and stop admiring it as a work of art, and just look at it as something to finish up to move on to the next thing.

At least I still have pictures....(more of them on in the Quilts Set).

Stalling

2007-12-08T05:21:00.000-08:00

Making progress on the Heart in a Cage piece, although it's been slowed by the approaching holiday. I am making a advent garland, and also want to finish my first ever quilt to give as a gift at a family yankee swap.

Have been having a lot of issues with my hands, my left one especially. I think it comes from the action of gripping the fabric, particularly when embroidering. I don't use a hoop and I think that is hurting me now. I did a lot of sewing on the Heart piece, and it's come back to haunt me now. The sewing I've done on the advent garland is not helping, I'm sure.

It's scary to think what would happen if I lost the use of my hands, but as an artist, it's crossed my mind often. I think I'd feel like a prisoner inside my own body, all these ideas desperate to get out of my head an into reality, and no way to get there. I know how stressed and tense I get when I have that urge to be creative and for whatever reason, time constraints, artist block, whatever, can't make it happen. I can't imagine what that would feel like if I knew there was no end to that feeling.

I guess though, like anything, you find a way to make it work.

Heart in a Cage - In Progress

2007-11-23T12:21:00.001-08:00

Heart in a Cage - In Progress, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

There's a lot behind this one... memories from a happy calm time, protected. I have a long way to go on this piece, but we'll see how long it'll hold my interest.

There's going to be more teeth around the heart, I'm leaning toward running stitch, like I used in Map, both because it's fast, and because it makes me think of roads. Even though I didn't have a plan behind Map, maybe it had a plan for me...

I started this on on Monday, Nov. 19, 2007. There's a note I wrote on some fabric sewn in behind the heart. A wish about love and happiness. The usual.

Map

2007-11-23T12:18:00.001-08:00

Map I, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

The second one.

This was completely unplanned, I sat down at the table and got started. Originally I was planning on making this into a much larger piece with the natural fabric as the background and a wide reaching tree with yellow leaves appliqued on top. I still have that idea in my head, but it just didn't work out the first try.

It's ok, because in the process I realized how much I loved the look of the running stitch in black over the texture of the fabric. The simple running stitch is fascinating to me all of a sudden.

This one reminds me of farmland from a plane, roads, a map of straight lines in the winter.

I started and finished most of this on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2007, and then a little the next day to finish the binding. It was a quick one.

* the "D" on my keyboard doesn't always work. What a pain.

Sketches - Girl on a Wire 1

2007-11-23T07:56:00.001-08:00

Sketches - Girl on a Wire 1, originally uploaded by apriljoy45.

The beginning...

This is what started me on this track... somehow, calling this a sketch gave me the freedom to constantly move forward... there was no plan, no idea in my head that I had to meet, it was just a classic design as you go. It took the pressure off and got me moving, which is always the hardest part of being creative for me.

I've been trying to figure out what these are, because that's just my need to categorize, make a story about what's going on in my life, especially the important things, and right now this feels pretty important. I could write a book about it.

Not exactly self-portraits, but pictures of pieces of who I am. I don't think they would even add up to be me, they're just pieces, the parts I can talk about or make pictures of, just a little at a time.

I like the idea that the meaning of the pictures/collages/mini-quilt (I don't like that one...) are so hidden behind cute ideas, innocent, happy pictures.

Girl on a wire looks like a circus picture, and I've always been drawn to the images of circuses, gritty textures, sinister almost hidden characters, never in the same place for long, and covered in this veneer of manufactured happiness. A sucker born every minute.

If I subscribe to this idea of myself as someone hidden in a shell that is different than the real me, then I can see myself in a circus, but never the main attraction, don't look too close or you could see the cracks.

The next one is Heart in a Cage.