decisions, decisions.

I've been aimlessly flipping through quilting books and magazines for the past couple days searching for some sort of quilt design that looks feasible for me to accomplish.  After all, this is my first attempt at an entire blanket.  I finally came across one last night while I was half asleep. I confirmed my find this morning when I was slightly more awake, but before my first cup of coffee.  After my second cup of coffee, I reconfirmed how awesome my decision was, and started planning my trip to JoAnne Fabrics.  Behold, the string quilt from Sew Quick Scrap Quilts.

Looks easy enough...right...? ...Right?!  No, people that are reading this (unless you're a master quilter with robot hands); this does not look easy.  But it looks like fun, and it certainly looks like something I can accomplish. Especially because there are no real straight lines other than the muslin blocks that I have to sew.  The scrap fabric can be any width I feel like, thank you very much.

Oh, and if you didn't guess this before: I'm finished with stained glass for now.  Making that light box seemed as fun as hitting myself in the face with a raw chicken.  That's one FAIL I can be proud of.

emotional fabric.

This weekend as I was driving up to visit mi familia, I passed by my grandmothers house and unloaded some big heavy tears in the process. It's been four years since I've been to her house.  Four years since our family moved out all of her furniture, polished the word work, and closed the front door for the last time.  Four long years since she passed away from lung cancer.  In that time many things have happened: I've moved (4 times), been on TV (once) and started dating a wonderful person (one that she'd like, she wouldn't say "I never liked that one anyway" about this one). But the one thing that hasn't happened is the one thing that I vow to accomplish during the winter: I'm going to make a quilt, and I'm making it for Audi.  I always wanted to learn how to quilt from her, but I never got the chance. And you can't imagine how angry I get at myself when I say "I never got the chance" because in all honesty, I had the chance.  I had 24 years of chances.  I would have made them all count if I knew how limited my time was.

This past Saturday, three generations of us visited her local quilt shop, and we all left with a goody-bag.  That was a rule with Audi: if you go shopping, you don't leave empty handed! (Ahem, I should also say that we did the same when it came to antiquing, too...)  I found some wonderful scrap fabrics, made even more wonderful because it was only $5 for a bag o' scraps.  She'd be proud.  I have been collecting scraps over the past four years, and now I'll finally begin assembling them into something that I can be proud of.  Something that she'd be proud of.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

hot yoga, you're hot

Recently, I tried out hot yoga and MAN IS IT HOT.  And really enjoyable, too!  This is coming from a person who hasn't even taken a "normal" yoga class.  I just have yoga DVD's that I got from the sale rack at TJMaxx a couple years ago.  HAH.  Being in a class is totally different.  You can't turn off the yoga instructor when you're spaghetti is done like you can with a DVD.  And you can't fast forward him to "child's pose" when you're too tired. I wish I could compare the hot yoga to regular yoga, but alas I cannot.  Alls I can say is that:
I concentrate on my breathing and my posture.
It is so hot that I sweat more than I ever sweated in my entire life.
It gives me crazy amounts of energy after class, and the next day.
It makes my soul feel good.
It's as hot as a _______________ in there.  You can fill in your own blank.  Mine is too vulgar.

It's amazing how much different yoga is from traditional exercise. It's inspiring to see so many individuals that benefit from it, you know?  Maybe after my two weeks are up (I got a two week pass for cheap, yo) I'll sign up for some more classes.  Looks like my interests have shifted from food, to crafts, to yoga?!  This leaves much to be explored.

fall is in the air. art is all around.

So it's true, I've temporarily fallen off of the crafting wagon.  Although I'm not going through withdraw.  Other exciting things have been happening, all of which have been breathing new life into my soul.  Gawd, that sounded cliché. Let's start with Friday, shall we?  

HomeSkooled Gallery hosted a remarkable show at PhilaMOCA.  The Art Anti-Gallery exhibit allowed visitors to participate in the exhibit, which is a far cry from "the usual" art exhibit which can sometimes come across as stuffy and strict.  I posed as a Greek Frisbee sculpture, helped sculpt another figure out of clay, played with sounds, created my own rules, made my own art to hang in frames, ate chocolate covered doodles, and made my own gallery sandwich.  It was a fantastic night, and I think everyone would agree that we're all looking forward to whatever HomeSkooled Gallery does next!

Here's some pics from the night.

I spent Saturday and Sunday outside, and it was desperately needed!  The air was chilly and crisp, the sky was dotted with clouds and starts, and the sound of a crackling fire was barely audible though everyone's laughing.  Sleeping was amazing.  I woke up refreshed... and cold!  The day was spent hiking, biking, and watching downhill mountain bikers speed through a custom course.  Kudos to the past couple of days.  Even though they were not filled with me making my own pieces of art work, it was filled with art of a different kind: LIFE!

where d'crows at?

I thought I'd divert a little from the posts that I was posting to post something different.  (That's right.)  Many if not all of my latest posts were dealing with goals and deadlines pertaining to artwork.  Which differs slightly from the main reason why I started this blog: Which was to document the things that spark my imagination and inspire me to create artwork and to be productive.  The two aren't completely different to be honest.  The inspiration and the drive are needed to create, and the goal is the completion of the task...correct?

That thought came across me this morning.  I left for work an hour earlier than I usually do, and was delighted by the cool, almost fall-like air.  The crickets were still chirping, and I could hear crows in the distance.  That's one thing I miss about living in a suburban area (not that where I live isn't suburban... it's more suburban than city, but I haven't heard a crow in YEARS.)  I wonder if you can buy crows to import to your town?  I google'd it, but the only thing I found was the American Society of Crows and Ravens. I couldn't find an answer in the FAQ section.

As much as I love being inside and being crafty, I think this is a good sign that fall will be the season that I spend outdoors.  I want to spend more time in nature and just listen to what the world has to say.

frustrated.

I've been trying to upload a damn photo of my damned stained glass, and I can't get the damned thing to upload in the right direction.  DAMNIT damnity damn.  I've been so friggin' frustrated this week (and by this week I mean pretty much all of last week, this past weekend and today) with my lack of... well, ANYTHING!  I had all these lofty plans to do SOMETHING and basically none of it got done.  Trying to demo the backsplash in the kitchen?  Fail.  Starting the mounting for the stained glass?  Fail.  Starting the two little side-by-side paintings?  Semi-fail.  Exercise?  BIG FAIL.

I need to get my friggin' act together.  Today.  NOW.  These are my plans.
Work:  Retype all the recipes I've printed out the past year.  Yes, you read that right.  I will do this at work.
Gym:  I will run 3.1 miles and stretch like hell before and after.
Art: I will paint the negative space on the side-by-side paintings.
I will also research where to by the solder patina I need.
I will also revise my stained glass frame drawings, as I was stupid and did not measure the glass before.  I thought each panel was 10x10.  Yeah, it's actually only 9x9.

Time to hold my self accountable for stuff.  Time to get this shit done.

I need his help.

Pepper Festival

SUCCESS!

sketchy sketchums.

This morning in an attempt to play catch-up, I was going to blitz through all of my work and write a new blog post!  My attempt was thwarted however, when I got into work and realized that the phones are down.  And so is my internet connection.  Then to my obvious joy and delight, I saw my USB thingy sitting in my purse.  Therefore I am typing this post at work, and I’ll upload it later from home.  Don’t be jealous of my brain skillz.

So no, I did not get in my copper foil over the holiday weekend.  But that didn’t stop my productivity!  Would you like to hear what I did?  OF COURSE YOU DO!  Why else would you be reading the ramblings of a crazed hamburger-addicted girl?  (I had three hamburgers over the weekend, now I have meatbrainitis.) 

I sketched out a design for two small paintings that I would like to do.  The canvases I have are 5”x5”, and the design flows from one panel to the other.  I’ve been fiddling with similar design patterns for awhile, and it’s something I’m excited about!  Think organic/geometric windows with a touch of intestines.  You read that correctly.  I’m still debating what medium to use (acrylic or oil) but I know that I’d like to somehow incorporate wax.  Should be a fun project to start later on!

I also rustled up four paintings that I completed a while ago.  I’d like to look into getting frames for them and hanging them up around the house.  One painting will have a standard frame, but the other is a triptych.  I don’t know what my obsession is with triptychs, but it looks like that one will have to be custom made too.  Damnit.

I started drawing a design for the light box that I’ll be building to house my stained glass piece.  I really hope that I can plan this out and execute it properly.  I might need more brain skillz to figure this one out.  Or maybe another hamburger?

And lastly, I am going to be starting a tie-messenger bag for my sister!  She’s in her last year of grad school, so I thought I’d make her something pretty that she can bring to class.  I hope I can sketch out the right dimensions and make it work!

delays? but it ain't m'fault!

Great news!  After much deliberation, and many broken-slash-failed pieces of stained glass, I decided to slightly reconfigure my design.  My main purpose for doing this?  The blue glass is still on back order.  For me to complete my piece without more delays, I figured I'd have to push forward at some point and work with what I have.  Here's what I ended up with...

Ta-daaaaaaaa! Here it is. I still love the flow of the design, even though it's slightly different from my original sketch.  And not all of the dark pieces above are black: Most are the transparent purple/magenta color.  I'm hoping that when it's back-lit, the colors will really shine.

Onto my little subject title about delays.  I noticed today that I don't have enough copper foil to complete my goal by this Sunday.  Faaaaaaaaaaaaail.  As soon as I realized that, I ordered more 1/4" 1mm foil from Warner Stained Glass.  Alas, it's a Friday before a holiday weekend.  I sincerely doubt that I'll start foiling again until maybe Tuesday.  I made great progress today though!