Monday, February 15, 2010

weekend purse

i tried a new pattern this weekend and i love it. in fact i love it so much that i plan on making four more before the end of the month.  the pattern allows for a lot of play with color and the handle is pretty cool. 
here are the fabrics that i chose.  

outside of purse and the lining. 

finished purse with braided handle.


my beautiful model pretending to walk down a crowded New York street. 

this pattern comes from the book Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner.  i know i've referenced this book before and i really can't say enough good things about it.  whether you are a novice or advanced sewer you will find something to interest you in this book.

Friday, February 12, 2010

by a thread

it's that time of year again, when the The Eisner  hosts it's annual "I Love the Eisner" fund raising event.   this year the advertising museum is throwing a Masquerade Ball which will include lots of good food, music and the traditional silent auction of it's "250 Square Feet of Art".  i have to say that whoever came up with this idea is a genius.  the Eisner invites local artists to pick up a 12' x 12' wooden board from the museum and then do whatever they want to it.  once it's done, it's returned and sold in a silent auction to raise money for the museum.  this works on a couple different levels.  firstly, it allows artists to test themselves and get some free exposure and secondly, it gives patrons the opportunity to purchase one of kind art work at affordable prices.  maybe even from an up and coming.......

this year i decided to create a piece on behalf of  the ABK Weaving Center.

 this is what the board looks like when you first pick it up.

i had a general idea of what i wanted to do.  with a handful of forgotten samplers from the studio, and a couple from my basement, i set out to make a small piece of patchwork.  

i knew that i wanted to create at least one general shape out of the grouping.  i found a tree.  sure, it was the easy way out but i only had 3 days to complete it (due to other responsibilities) and whatever i did needed to be quick.
now the real work begins.

flowers
more flowers

even more flowers, cheeries on the tree and a frog that i was unsure about but which gl insisted " had to be there" (can't argue with a 7 year old)

a river, with fish, and a small vegetable garden

sun and clouds

a couple more little additions and it was done.  i nailed it to the board with small finishing nails and then wrapped it with gold wire.

i'll be at the ball on the 19th taking pictures.  come on out and buy some art.  i know i will be.   maybe i'll see you there. 

Friday, February 5, 2010

new life for childhood artifacts

it's february.  have you noticed?  and i have a brand new list of things to create.  this week i was able to cross off two items.  the first was to refashion an old dress of mine into a play dress for gl.  the dress is a purple velvet affair that i bought for 13 dollars in 1994.  i wore it to a college christmas banquet  that i attended with my then boyfriend (now husband), dan.  i can't even began to explain how much i loved this dress.  i felt like a complete princess in it.  i felt beautiful.  come to find out, a few years after, that dan hated that dress.  hated the way i looked in it.  press pin to bubble. POP !  so anyway, i packed it away in a box and have only recently pulled it out to cut down for my daughter. 

 i left a long train on the back but if she let me cut that off she could where this dress out and about.  it looks really cute on her.  

oh!  and she got a hair cut.  she wanted a mohawk or a shaved head but her father said "no"!  personally, i think she'd look cute in a mohawk.  maybe when she's 8. 

next on my list was some new curtains for gl's bedroom.  i had made her old ones out of a plain white sheet that i had found at goodwill and then sewn butterflies on.  they are old and grungy.  out with the old and in with the.....really old?  in my stash (which takes up a lot of my basement) i found the curtains that my mother had made for my bedroom when i was in high school. my bedroom was yellow.  guess what?  so is gl's!  all i had to do was wash them and cut them down a little and VOILA! 

it's kismet!

so let this be a lesson to YOU gentle readers!  do not be quick to throw out good material,  for you never know when or where it will come in handy.  OR, you could  just give it to me.  




Monday, February 1, 2010

homage

so i have this friend named Nina and she's beautiful and very talented.  Nina has a son, named Malachi, who is also beautiful and talented.  recently they were featured in an article on OnMilwaukee.com.  read it.  anyway, here's the thing, i really admire Nina's paintings but every time i see one my brain can't help but turn it into fiber art. when i saw the painting "you belong" that Nina and Malachi painted together my head nearly exploded.   i was like "but...wha....no....but that....it's got to....where are my.....".  the next thing i knew my previously clean kitchen was once more filled with piles of scrap material. 

"you belong" by Nina and Malachi

dear Nina and Malachi, thank you for your wonderful painting.  i stole a little of it for my own selfish pleasure.  i am sorry.  i couldn't help myself.  it was always intended for you, if that makes my crime more excusable.  i will send it via steev and jess.  love, harmonie

pillow for Nina and Malachi