Productive Day

You know how some days you just seem to be firing on all cyclinders? (And some days not so much?) I had a great day on Wednesday. I must try to recreate all the influences from that day in the future.

I began working on a series of small quilts that will be the sample for a workshop I'm developing. I had always intended to use our recent move to Texas as an opportunity to take my art to the next level. So, I'm plodding along and feeling pretty good about it.

I think there is some influence from Melody's stack series. And from Liz Berg's amazing postcards. I haven't done abstract work in quite this format. Of course, this is an early early photo. They still need life!

The workshop will be partially inspired by the Elements and Priciples of Design. And if you have not studied Liz Berg's article in the recent issue of Quilting Arts, you really must go back and read it again.

Claire joined me in the studio while I was working on the pieces above. She was using the rulers and drawing concentric squares and we decided to make a pillow. She picked out all the fabrics looking specifically for fabric that didn't really go together. "Because that makes them zing," she said. Well, of course, she is correct about that.

She was really focused on the measuring, but I was not too excited about really teaching her to use the ruler and rotary cutter properly, so I said. "You know, sometimes you can get even more zing if you make the shapes a little random. That would be arty!" She thought for a moment then said, "No, I chose the colors for the zing, the shapes need to be straight lines." Ah, she gets that from her dad.

So, we did the whole ruler, rotary cutter, measuring, accounting for seam allowance thing. As you can see we only completed one side of the pillow. (She has another square-in-a-square planned for the other side. Then I needed a break. But it was very fun! And I felt like that was the kind of thing I should be doing with my kids during the summer. Yeah.

Then I arted up my new jewelry holder.

It's an old cabinet door with screen in the middle. I got it from an architectural salvage place. I took off the hinges and handle, cleaned it with a Mr. Clear Magic Erasure, then used a pack of Sharpies to art it up. Yes, my beloved leaf shapes and concentric circles are there. I haven't hung all the necklaces yet... but isn't it so fun!?

I hope you've had some productive days lately too. But, don't be too hard on yourself, some days your brain and body need to rest. (Right?)