Getting new glasses, yea!

It’s hard to believe that it’s already into September. September 1^st marks the official beginning of my machine quilting Christmas rush. It’s the time when I get the most calls for tops to be quilted for others. My waiting list is filled to the max during the rush.

For the next three months my time will be steadily at the quilting machine earning as much as I can for the coming year’s expenses. It could be compared to the harvest done by farmers in the fall. The cash crops are sold so the money can be banked for expenses the following year.

I hope to have these dollar store glasses off my forehead in about two weeks. Yea! One of the nice ladies was kind enough to take me to an eye doctor yesterday. This was a really big help to me. I didn’t have to be trying to cross a busy highway to catch a city bus with dilated eyes.

I don’t have insurance to cover the cost of exams or glasses so I only had the exam so far. I will be taking the prescription to get the glasses made in a couple of weeks. It will take me about that much time to earn the extra money to pay for them.

I have been working on some art quilts as well as continuing to quilt tops for my customers. I also started a top using more of my string blocks too. It will be for the nursing home where my mother is staying. I wish I could show a picture but I still don’t have a camera. That will wait for awhile. I told my daughter that’s what I want for Xmas this year….a new camera.

A quiet week

Since the families with all the bad kids have moved away it is really quiet in my neighborhood! I can actually sit on the porch and enjoy an evening again.

I’ve been working on several projects. It just doesn’t feel right to work on something and not be able to take a picture to show. Also; all the quilt tops I’ve quilted for others that don’t get a picture taken before leaving here makes me sad. I didn’t get a chance to shop for a camera as I had thought I would.

I have an eye doctor appointment Friday. I have a ride so I don’t have to catch a bus with dilated eyes. I will have to pay for that visit before buying a camera. Hopefully I will have enough left over to pay for glasses too. I will finally be able to get these dollar store glasses off my forehead. I can buy a camera later.

I sent an email to Jamie Wallen asking if he plans to teach a thread fusion class at Paducah or Nashville or create a DVD for those of us who can’t go to far away places. So far he hasn’t answered my email. He may be away teaching so it may take awhile before I get an answer. I wish he had finished telling me about his house! He started but was interrupted. Now my curiosity for the rest of the story keeps popping into my mind.

I worked on my 2008 guild challenge and a piece for the Mayor’s 2008 Derby brunch at Farnsley Moorman House. I’m still searching for fabric for the 2008 Art for Animals quilt. I may make another quilt for the city dog pound to raffle too. The dog pound and art for the animals (humane society) are two separate things. I’m still trying to decide what quilt to enter in Form not Function. Of course, without a camera I can’t enter at all. Quilts are juried in by photos first.

I finished piecing and quilted a string quilt for the nursing home my mother lives in. I sent it by UPS instead of trying to find a ride out there. I should have another one made before my next visit to Mom.

Over the weekend I realized my house is starting to look like a garage again. I have things stacked up all over the place which doesn’t sit right with me. I plan to use a couple of weekends in the near future sorting and organizing again. When things start getting stacked up; I realize that the way I have it organized ISN’T WORKING. If it were working it wouldn’t be stacked up everywhere. In organizing what isn’t working needs to be changed.

Can anyone tell me what the little tools on my side bar mean?

Where was I?

I’m back…

Gee, I sure do hate being without a camera. My blogs just aren’t the same without pictures to go along with my story. I've been reading blogs in the ring as often as I could. I just haven't had the time to comment like we are supposed to do. I'll do better starting tomorrow.

The last few days have been a whirl wind of activity for me. I went back to the Nashville show. Yes, I know I said I would never go again. I ate my words and went back. The second trip was much, much nicer than the first one! I met Renea Haddadin, Marilyn Badger, and Jamie Wallen. All of them are major contest winners for machine quilting.

My poor furkids thought I deserted them the last few days. I should be cleaning up after them but I’m excited and I want to tell about it. I went to lunch with the “nice ladies” today. We first went to the Carnegie Art Center in New Albany, Indiana. The featured artist was Penny Sisto. Penny lives somewhere local to this area, I’m not sure where though.

Penny happened to be there talking to a group of school children so it was a special treat to hear her tell about her works. We had just gotten there and not had a chance to really look at anything. While listening to Penny talk, I happened to turn around to look in another direction at her works because I could get a better view. The tears started streaming. I couldn’t help it, I just started crying. I can’t even tell you why I cried.

I learned some very important artsy things while listening to Penny talk and then getting very close up to her work. Most people know my eyesight is not so good. Also, the dollar store glasses I wear are not the best. I need to get up really close in order to see the work. Most places won’t let you get really close. I usually see everything through a blur. It’s sort of like looking through a frosted window. You know something is there but you just can’t make out the details.

I found that art quilting does not have to be perfect like it does for a quilt contest. In traditional contest quilts all the pieces have to line up perfect and all the stitching has to be perfect. With art quilts the idea is to create a mood or a moment or a thought or whatever…. regardless of the way it is created. I think I’ve written about this before but today it really sunk in for me.

Penny said she can finish a wall quilt in from 4 hours to a couple of days. Good heavens, she would have a quilt completely finished before I could even find the right box containing the right fabrics. I’ve got to find the time to organize again!

I wanted to ask the nice ladies if we could ask Penny to have lunch with us. Before I could get the chance, another person interested in buying a piece of Penny’s work took her attention.

I rode with Emma to the thrift store looking for clothing made from fabrics I can use in some quilts. I have some ideas for art quilts so I picked out clothing with fabrics that will work in those pieces. I found one nice blouse that will fit me so I have to decide whether to wear it or cut it up.

All the clothing is in the washer right now in the hottest water I can get. I want everything to shrink or fade or whatever it’s going to do before I cut it up. I spent more than my budget says I should have spent. I have to be very careful shopping thrift stores just the same as shopping a regular fabric store. If I’m not careful; I will way over spend because I find so many nice fabrics. I’ll have to do the rob Peter to pay Paul shuffle for the next couple of weeks. The fabrics were worth it though. (smile)

So that’s it for an update. Tonight I will be cleaning the house really good. Tomorrow I will be back at the machine staying ahead of the waiting list.

Art quilter or quilt maker?

Here is today’s finished quilt…count down is at 23.







I woke extra early this morning. 1:30 am. The neighbors had their music blasting. It’s too early to go to work. Not able to go back to sleep I spent time on the computer looking at blogs of quilt artists. I wanted to see what makes a person a quilt artist compared to a quilt maker. There is a difference; yet, if I were to describe either of them they are the same.

I am equally happy looking at bed quilts in a quilt show and looking at art quilts on the walls of a gallery. It’s the way the quilts are put together that fascinates me most. I love seeing the bits and pieces of fabric that are used in both bed quilts and wall quilts; but, it is the stitching that draws my eyes. I look at a quilt of any type and immediately focus in on what thread was used, what stitch pattern, how well executed, and how did it enhance the quilt design. It doesn’t matter if the stitching is done by hand or by machine. The fascination is the same for me.

On an outing with one of the Nice Ladies a few weeks ago we went to an art gallery across the river in Indiana. It was hard for me to focus on the art of the quilts because I wanted to get up close enough to see the stitching. Dollar store glasses are no help. My prescription glasses are still not right and I can’t see with them. My daughter said to me once; “Mom your work is really great, imagine how much better your work would be if you could actually see what you are doing?” Yes, I do spend a lot of time bent over very close to the machine needle watching what I’m doing and using a magnifier above the needle. It’s just hard to go get my eyes dilated then try to cross a busy highway to catch a city bus.

I have a few hundred books and magazines around my house. My books are a full range of quilt types. I pick most of them up used at various places. Some have been given to me, some I have bought. I have traditional type quilt instruction books from the 70’s to a book I bought a few weeks called journey of an art quilter which is all about surface design.

When I pick up one of the books to look at the quilt pictures my fascination is with how the layers were put together. I’m constantly asking myself why the maker may have chose one stitch pattern over another. This is rarely discussed in any of the books. Most say quilt as desired. Even the blogs of quilt artists don’t talk about why they choose one stitching pattern over another. Why is that? Is it because they believe the stitching is less important than the fabrics used and how it’s pieced?

I bought two used books a couple of weeks ago; both deal with the use of thread and stitching design to enhance a quilt. One book shows the use of metallic threads to add sparkle to an art quilt and the other shows how different the same bed quilt looks with the use of different stitching designs. I find both these books fascinating.

I guess this fascination with stitching patterns is why I have a desire to be an art quilter. I want to use the thread and the machine to create art like this….

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/551950128fMKNij?start=24

Sorry but it's not on my computer anymore. I had to go to webshots to get the link for you to see it.

I love to draw. I’m not very good at it; but, I love to do it just the same. My drawings are very cartoon like as you can see. This is because when my kids were young we all watched an elementary school TV art class. It was for a school class but we watched it at home. The teacher’s drawings were geared toward an elementary school student. You know; circles for eyes, simple lines for noses, etc. So that’s the way I learned to draw. Hmmm….maybe the library has some drawing books. Naw, I don't have time to take on another hobby right now, maybe later.

Ok, enough talking about art, I think I will go mop the floors or something until time to start working.