Quiltfest Fun

I was so busy during the Utah Quiltfest that I didn't take many pictures.

One reason I didn't get pictures was that I forgot my camera when I taught my lunchbags class.  However I did have my phone:

 Nine out of the ten students finished their lunch and sandwich bags.

One of the students did not bring her machine down because it was too much for her to carry.

All of the ladies did a great job!

I did manage to bring my camera and take two photos of the set up for my Painting on Fabric class.

I showed quilts I have made using different paints and also displayed some books about painting on fabric.

  Once the class started it was all lecture and I think I yammered on about various paints and techniques for  over an hour and a half and about 10 glasses of water that my wonderful angel supplied me with.  I had 17 students and only 16 handouts (there were some last minute sign ups I didn't know about).  I was fortunate enough to have two friends in the class who were willing to share. (Thank you Mickey and Bobbie!)

 The worst part of the class was that there was no painting allowed in the classroom.  So I talked.  No one fell asleep despite the 7 p.m. starting hour so I think they were entertained.  I hope I can teach a project next year where we actually get to paint on fabric.

The last class I taught was about Photo Transferring.

I showed them how to print a photo onto tissue paper, as I did in this quilt:

How to use Citrasolv as I did in this project:

And how print a photo onto prepared fabric or TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) as I did in this quilt:

After I lectured for a bit the 17 (or was it 19?) students were able to play with the Citrasolv using images I brought as well as print off images onto the EQ Printable Fabric and TAP I gave them with their kits.  The next time I teach this class I shall have a helper who is familiar with my printer so that I can be available to help answer questions and work more with the Citrasolv.  

I do think my prejudicial preference for TAP showed as I sold every last piece of TAP I had.

I am loving this stuff!
I love the vibrant colors, the softness on fabric and it's wash-ability.

I plan to put it's wash-ability to the ultimate test by using it to put transfers on baby onesies.  It's a good thing lots of people around me are having babies right now.

A Message for Us All

I was inspired by this message by Leslie Riley and thought those who stop by here might enjoy it too:

The Others

Let's talk about the others. I've always had a love hate relationship with them. There was a time when I stalked newsstands, waiting anxiously for the next issue to hit the shelves. I'd buy them all, devouring the eye candy and inspiration. I lived for those magazines. But then, slowly, it would creep in. You know what I'm talking about - the doubt, the disappointment, maybe even a hint of depression. "I'm not good enough." "Everyone else is so talented." "How come my work never looks that good?" Instead of being inspired to go make something, I felt like giving up. And that was after I had been published in those very same magazines!

Now it's blogs and even Facebook. The others are there, too, happily showing off all they have accomplished this week, today, or even in the last 5 minutes. Not only are they doing the artwork, but they have time to connect with everyone else and post their latest in charming and witty prose. Here I am busting my #@s to keep up with everything I have to do day in and day out. I'm lucky if I have time for a quick glance on FB. I haven't read a blog or posted to my own in a while and... hmmm, I finally sent off the latest art collaborative piece - 2 months after receiving it!

Do I sound envious, jealous? Yes, but more than anything I'm upset with myself for being such a slacker. Yep, even "successful" artists are plagued by the same doubts and insecurities you are.

I started writing this article on my way to the (wonderful) Creative Connection Event. Imagine how shocked (and relieved) I felt to hear that one of the very same women I admire (and envy), Melody Ross, founder ofThe Brave Girls Club, feels exactly the same way. She was on the Women Entrepreneurs breakfast panel Saturday morning. Melody shared this very same thought with us, "Why can't I do all that?" She said she was busy watching what everyone else was doing and paying more attention to her page Likes and blog comments than to her family. Once Melody realized that she could be, and should be, in control of how she felt, she decided to go cold-turkey - no Facebook for 90 days. She discovered that the Likes that she had been so closely monitoring were now coming from her heart. She began to Like her life again.

Years ago, when I recognized that I was comparing myself to the others rather than getting busy doing the work, I went cold-turkey on the magazines. I stopped subscribing to and buying them. It was easy for me to give up reading all but the occasional blog because, well, I never had time in the first place. I like to remain connected and see what my friends and fellow artists are up to so you'll still find me on Facebook, but only in 5 minute nuggets of time. No dwelling in other-land. The minute, the very second, I begin to feel my mood and confidence sink - OFF I go. I've got better things to do.

What I have come to realize is that we feel bad and down on ourselves when we are sitting on the sidelines and not doing the things we want to do, the things we love. When we're on the outside looking in, it's not the otherswe're upset with, it's ourselves. We are letting ourselves down, disappointing our best self, the one that wants to be doing fabulous things.

One solution is to distance yourself from the things or people that make you feel bad, but it's way better to join them in the fun. Not so you can get online and share everything you are doing. You can do that, too, but the important thing is this - DOING will stop you from letting the others make you feel bad. Don't be on the sidelines - play in the game!

3 Ways to Get in the Game:

1. Find out exactly what is keeping you from doing what you love. Dwelling on what the others are doing is really a form of resistance, avoidance and procrastination. If you can pinpoint the reason(s) why you are not in the studio creating, then you can take the necessary actions to overcome them.

2. Just START. You don't need a plan. Action breeds action which breeds art. Throw paint on a background. Stitch random patterns on some fabric. Grab a photo and write a story around it. The secret is to just begin.

3. Know your limits and set aside a specific time to gather inspiration. Looking at other art is fun and inspiring up to a point. Use the magazines, blogs and Facebook like the tools that they are, not the crutches that they have become. 

Lesley Riley, The Artist Success Expert, is the creative founder of Artist Success, Solutions for the Struggling Artist. To receive her bi-weekly articles on creating your own success as an artist, visit  www.ArtistSuccess.com.

Getting Ready

I'm getting ready for my sister to fly in tonight to visit me for the weekend.  I'm so excited.  And at the same time I am getting ready to teach next week at the Utah Quilt Guild Quilt Fest.

Why does it seem that getting ready to teach 3 half day classes is just as intense as getting ready to teach 3 all day classes?  

"I know! I know! Pick me, pick me!"

It's because I still have to schlep the same amount of stuff!

I've been making lists in my head for weeks and I finally started getting them on paper last night.  I'm thinking I need to buy some serious containers to pack all my supplies.

Look how pretty:

I could really arrive to class in style.

I'd be the cool teacher with all the awesome supplies contained in beautiful boxes.

Why isn't there a Container Store in Utah?

I guess I'll need to think practical:

But if I am really thinking practical I will need to keep within my budget:

So whatever it takes, I'm getting ready and gettin' there.

Hope to see you there.

Journal Quilts

Two little journal quilts. . .

I was having a rough week and my friend suggested I make a quilt with a bag to put all my troubles but I decided I needed flowers.  I love flowers.  Flowers make me happy.

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them"

Henri Matisse

I pieced the background from scraps and then painted the flower on with FW Acrylic Inks. I then hand quilted the 6" square with black pearl cotton while I watched my daughter play volleyball.

My next journal quilt was made using citrasolv to transfer an image I created using a cut out from a newspaper photo and some words from the newspaper.

(see how to do it here)

I'm calling it "the elephant in the room."

It is quilted on the machine using King Tut threads.

Claudia and Snowflake

The two newest critters to join the Whimsy family, Snowflake and Claudia from Melly & Me.

State Fair

Spent a wonderful day judging the canning at the fair today.

This was about my 7th year judging.

The pickles in the foreground were delicious.

We don't taste everything just the things we are certain won't poison us - funny but true.  We only taste the jams, jellies, pickles and dried produce.

All those jams and jellies sure put you on a sugar high, even though we only taste a tiny amount of each.  My favorite was the apple butter.  It was fantastic!  

Here is the crew I have been judging with for the past upteen years: