09.01.09
Posted in General at 7:00 am by deRomilly
I work in a strange conflict between throwing things out and a scarcity mindset (Ricë Freeman-Zachery had a good post on scarcity a while back) where I feel the need to keep everything that has ever meant anything to me, or which might someday be useful.
This has come about for many reasons: my parents were raised during the depression – you reuse everything. Somehow, my father missed the “must have everything” consumerism of the sixties and on. Mom saved everything, like her mother before her. So mom would stash it, and Dad would throw it out — it’s a good thing they stayed out of each other’s stuff… Mom was a seamstress and embroiderer… It’s dangerous to throw out a stitcher’s stash!
But then it happened. Mom died during my freshman year of college. I was in the dorms. This left us with a true dilemma. There were several (tons) of things I wanted to keep, and Dad’s mantra has always been “if in doubt, throw it out.” (This caused many many rows when I was growing up and he decided to “help” me clean my room…) Notice this is not, for the most part, “repurpose, donate to someone who needs it, or sell it.” Into the trash it often goes. I talked him into an estate sale when he was finally ready to clear out the house. I had to give things up — there was no way I could finish school and care for Mom’s stash (and her mom’s, too, since we had never gotten around to clearing out Nini’s basement apartment after her death in ‘79.) We sold a LOT. And for the most part I was allowed to keep the money for college expenses.
There are things I miss and regret letting go, though.
- All of the handmade Christmas ornaments — Mom made a different kind each year to put on presents and the tree, and we had enough for a tree and a half! I have a few of each, but I miss having the entire set.
- My grandmother’s recipe box and her button jar. Both full. Both gone, I know not where. I don’t think we sold them, but they are definitely gone.
- My grandmother’s 1930s cast iron sewing machine. Dad, bless his heart, figured I’d want the “newer” one, and kept Mom’s. (I wanted, and in this case needed, BOTH.) He also didn’t keep the cabinet that made the sewing machine truly useful. I still don’t have a cabinet for my machine, but it’s high on the list of “needs”.
- All the lace and trim remnants from years of sewing. This one’s my fault. I had no idea I’d get into crazy quilting, and there wasn’t nearly enough of anything to do anything other than doll clothes with. As I recall, I donated it all to an organizations that made doll clothes, so it’s not a waste, but still…
- All the photos — “Why do I need these? I’ve got the memories!” said Dad. Mom was always annoyed when he threw out photos. Now his sister’s on his case about it, too… I miss them, but there are still enough left that I have a record of some sort. Just not complete, and I’d LOVE to have his old baby book that I couldn’t get him to keep. If I had them all, I’d scan them into the computer before they went away, since I’m sure I don’t have enough time to scrapbook all there were, even just into albums.
But mostly I miss the fabric – the lace and trim, my old ballet costumes. Things I can’t replace, but had no room to keep at the time. It means that now I fight the urge to keep everything. I try now to work stuff into my artwork before I throw it away – And now that I’m working on shoveling out my studio so that I can organize it and actually USE it I’m fighting the urge to just throw everything away and start over. Yup. I’m definitely a conflicted combination of my Mom and Dad’s tendencies.
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08.26.09
Posted in Stitching Genres at 7:00 am by deRomilly
I am really enjoying my foray into the deeper levels of Crazy Quilting. It will likely remain something I do mainly for myself: it’s extremely time consuming, but also very satisfying.
It has also renewed my interest in my little band sampler – I got it into my head to work all the stitch combinations in Carole Sample’s Crazy Quilt Stitches book in thread of some sort. Of course, choosing different thread and spacing can make the exact same stitch combination look completely and utterly different. Currently, though, I’m using what’s easy – the cottons in my “traveling” box with few, if any, beads or embellishments. I’m changing the weight of the thread by adjusting the number of strands, and I’m mostly only stitching each stitch combination once, in one color or thread-weight scheme. I may amend that as I go, but this is a DENSE book that will keep me busy for years as it is!
And then there are the historic works available online for free, like this book, which has nice, clear diagrams that “pop.”
Some of these techniques could be adapted to embellishing clothing – without the “crazy” element. Maybe that’s my next step… I do have this tunic in progress… and there’s that velvet choli top I need to finish so I have something to teach in….
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08.17.09
Posted in Blogroll at 5:59 pm by deRomilly
This is a list of some of the needlework blogs I read on a regular or semi-regular basis. Things I really really like to spend time on when I can.
So, in no particular order, my 10 favorite inspirational needlework blogs.
- Pintangle – Sharon Boggin’s blog. Between this and her stitch dictionary, my stitching life could be complete.
- Annie’s Crazy World – I found this site through Sharon’s. Annie is one of Sharon’s Australian friends, and follows her sampler and her crazy quilting escapades. Very cool eye candy.
- Grumpy Shopkeeper – Sally Webster keeps a small shop in Edinborough, and blogs about her adventures with knitting, crochet and other needlework stuff.
- Virginie - yes, it IS in French. Look at the pictures if you don’t read French.
- Moonsilk -Just cool needlework to look at.
- Rooted In Mississippi – Rissa stitches and bellydances in Mississippi.
- Elmsley Rose - Megan is learning historical embroidery by making a beautiful sampler of stitches.
- Needle ‘N Thread - If you’re interested in the broad needlework world like I am, you’ll want to keep up with Mary Corbet’s blog. Pictures, giveaways, and lots and lots of good information.
- Witchypoo - Lovely stuff. Just beautiful work, in everything – art journaling, needlework, and such.
- Linn Skinner – she’s been off and on because of health issues, but Linn Skinner provides really cool links, and she’s a gem of a source for historic needlework information.
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06.01.09
Posted in Design Theory at 7:00 am by deRomilly
Stumpwork detail
If you’ve been following me you know I took Sharon Boggin’s Encrusted Crazy Quilting class. I’m loving it to death. Every time I take another class from this lady I find another layer of myself and how to work it into my work.
In this case, I’m trying to find more depth in my work. A friend of mine, one to whom I’ve taught stumpwork techniques, laughed heartily when I told her this. I think she missed my point. Stumpwork is dimensional, yes, and very pretty – I’ll keep teaching it and doing it. But texturally, it’s not particularly layered or deep. I can find cool thing after cool thing in historic stumpwork designs, but in general they are beside one another. The thing about what Sharon does is the sheer baroque depth of it all –
First Encrusted CQ Block
So anyway, class completed, my block now looks like this (click the photos for details):
And I’ve finished a second one:
Second CQ block
And working on a third and fourth (they’re lighter). These four will turn into a small wall hanging, taking lessons from the Sumptuous Stitches class, and the Studio Journal class, I have built to a theme of Madame Pompadour: something I came to as I realized that my blocks all reflected the colors in paintings of her in my print collection. It’s evocative, there won’t be anything specifically figurative, but I’ll know. Although I am toying with the idea of using her quotes in the sashing when I put it together. I rather like “Intelligence has no gender.”
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03.11.09
Posted in Design Theory at 7:00 am by deRomilly
In photography, depth of field refers to the distance between the camera lens and the object to be photographed so that the subject remains in focus. When you change the depth of field you can decide whether the subject or the background has more clarity. It’s an advantage in SLR cameras that you can play with this.
Block one with many (not all) seams stitched!
Recently I have been focusing my depth of field on backgrounds in my art. Simple is beautiful. but as I discover some of the more detailed and deep layering in mixed media art I want to figure out how to apply that to my tixtile work. A while back I took Sharon Boggin’s Sumptuous Surfaces class — which set me on this path. This year I am taking her Encrusted Crazy Quilting to continue this line of thinking. What better format for adding this kind of depth than crazy quilting? I stitch slowly, so I can’t promise you quick results on my original blocks (though I seem to be moving faster than I originally expected!)
In addition to the quilting class, I took Kelly Kilmer’s Prompt a Day mixed media journaling class last month. Can’t justify the time this month since I havent’ done all the prompts from LAST month yet! But what I’m finding is that the more layered the background, the sharper, and more prominent the focal image appears — a way of adjusting the depth of field in hand-made art as well as photography. This should be an interesting experiment.
I highly recommend sidestepping out of your normal media choice and play for a while. The results to your focus may surprise you.
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