House Warming Quilt

My friend Deb is leaving Providence next week to move to Brooklyn with her girlfriend. We've had lunch together frequently as she's been planning her move, and I know she's been dreaming about her new place, and about making a home for the two of them together in the same city for the first time. I wanted to send her off with a small tolken of gratitude for her friendship, good talks, and great lunches.

I went back to the color palette she had inspired back in February - yellow, black, and cranberry - and tried out hand-quilting on a small scale by stitching around each letter.

I hope this little wall hanging will find help Deb and Ann feel right at home!

I'll miss you, Deb!  Safe travels and happy new home!

In Full Bloom

Over the past week, the warm weather has really kicked in here in Rhode Island. I was inspired to embrace it, and as one of my portable projects this month, I stitched up these yo-yos to create a spring tree.

Now Spring has joined Summer and Fall on my mantle!

Christmas Memories Tree Skirt

For Christmas this year, my family did something a little bit different. Following up from last year's "gifts from the heart" - handwritten notes - we each brought one gift that we could all enjoy while we were together - food, drink, games, movies...and it was great. I've been dying to reveal my gift to the fam for forever, since I made it back in August when I was surprisingly feeling Christmasy.

Last year, I had my family write Christmas memories, and we all talked about the history and traditions in our family. I collected each notecard of memories written in each person's distinctive handwriting, and I knew I had to do something with them...

Here it is! A tree skirt!

It's my own design, inspired by the "little forest quilt" I found here. I scanned each notecard into my computer, enlarged them, and printed them out on iron-on fabric. Tah dah!

Here is my grandpa's memory: "I remember my first electric train! It had a loud horn."

And my grandma's: "I remember midnight mass on Christmas Eve when Pete came home from the war and gave me my engagement ring. He was so cute with his look."

I was so excited to give this to my family as something that we'll hold on to forever. And it looks great under the tree!

Ready to Start the Countdown!

I've been working on this advent calendar for a couple of weeks now, and I'm so excited that I finally finished it in time to start the Christmas countdown!

I've decided to take on ONE Christmas project each year, since there are so many Christmas-y things to make, and they can be so time intensive. Last year I made Ian and I hand-quilted stockings, and this year I found this advent calendar tutorial by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson.

It took a long time to make, but we'll have it forever. I'm going to fill each pocket with ornaments, and we'll add them to our REAL Christmas tree one at a time!

Saying Thanks

I'm feeling especially grateful this year, this month, this week. I've been doing a lot of reflecting on all that's happened in my life this year, and I feel so lucky.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's about just that - saying thank you - and not about buying people things and going to stores. It's for feeling warm and fuzzy and looking around and taking stock of all that you've got. I love honoring the spirit of this holiday, and I've been making an effort to say thank you to a bunch of important folks in my life this past week.

One way I said thanks was by hosting a dinner party for all of the wonderful women who have been featured as My Creative Friends here on the blog. Ian and I invited them and their partners to our apartment for an elaborate fall meal. I wanted it to feel super special, so I sent out these paper invitations in the mail.

Unfortunately, everyone was super busy so only Rachel & Alyssa and their partners could make it - but Ian and I could only round up so many chairs in our small apartment, so it was kind of nice that it was small and intimate!

I decorated with everything I have that's red, gold, orange and brown. And we cooked, and cooked, and cooked all of our favorite fall eats. Here's what we served:

Course 1: Vermont cheese & crackers, squash tarts with tomato jam

Course 2: Turkey squash soup with crusty bread

Course 3: Butternut squash lasagna, Maple roasted chicken and sweet potatoes, Green beans

Course 4: Pumpkin Pie, Baked apples with roasted pecan crumble

Here's the gang after we ate - we're all so stuffed!

And my creative friends Rachel and Alyssa. There in spirit: Joanna, Moira, Marisa, Claire, and Alice - we missed you, ladies! Thanks for always being supportive, encouraging, and for being your creative, inspiring selves!

Custom Providence Collage

My friend Aaron recently moved to New York City, and since he's missing his old home a bit, he commissioned me to create a piece to remind him of Providence.

I created this paper collage of Providence's iconic Industrial Building. While I mostly work with fabric, I secretly love paper collage as well. I particularly love using paper with text - like these old flyers for a local arts venue.

I've never tried this type of collage before, but I think it came out well, and I was a little sad to see it leave my house, so I'm certainly going to make more.

What other iconic building (in Providence or elsewhere) would you like to see me create?

Meet Winnie

We met at a yard sale last weekend, and it was love at first sight.

She looks very at home in my living room.

And every time I look over at her, I feel so happy! Best $20 I ever spent!

Mini Quilt: "When It All Changed"

{ "When It All Changed" - mini quilt, November 2010 }

The annual Artist Mentor Exhibition is coming up at New Urban Arts (December 10th!) and I've been working on a special piece to show.

Last year, I was a new mentor, new to calling myself an artist, and it was my very first exhibition ever. I ended up bringing in lots of things to show - a milk carton coin purse, bag, wallet, a wall hanging, an apron, earrings....there might even have been more. I wasn't sure what to show, so I just showed everything.

While that was a great first step to showing my work last year, I feel like I'm in a different place this year, and I want the exhibition to reflect that. I wanted to try my hand at creating something that's a little bit more of an "art" piece, rather than strictly craft.

But what's the difference between art and craft? Why are they separate in my head?

I had a long chat with my friend Emmy about that question, and she helped me realize that for me and my work:

Craft = created with some kind of usefulness in mind

Art = created with some deeper meaning, something that's very personal to me

So I guess they're not necessarily separate things - there can be overlap - but I also know that my definitions are still evolving.

So, to get to the piece I created:

For the past few months, I keep going back and peeking at this mini quilt created by Elizabeth at Oh Fransson. It was inspired by the Tokyo subway map:

{ Tokyo Subway Map Mini Quilt - Oh Fransson! }

I love this piece, and I love art inspired by maps. I thought about making a similar quilt myself, but the Tokyo subway map doesn't mean much to me, nor does Boston, even though the colors would be so beautiful. (This is how I realized that art = personal to me...I was looking for inspiration that would be more connected to me).

After holding the idea in my head for a few months, I came across a different kind of map that does have a lot of personal meaning to me: a time map, my google calendar. I chose to translate the month of March from this year into a mini quilt.

March was a big month for me - that's when I took a great leap, cut down my hours to part time, and decided to devote more time to Connect the Dots and other arts in my life. That's really "When it all changed" for me - my schedule, my priorities, and my feelings about myself as an artist.

{ pattern sketch }

This was the first quilt I've made that I designed the pattern for myself.

I used only my favorite fabrics, choosing a different color for each calendar that I have - work, The Hive, New Urban Arts, Connect the Dots, and my personal calendar.

Like Elizabeth's map quilt, I wanted mine to be beautiful and seemingly a little random when first looking at it, and then have another level of meaning once you see the title/discover where the inspiration came from.

{ back }

I had so much fun creating this, and I'm so excited to show it at the mentor exhibition!

What do you think the difference between art and craft is?

Happy Halloween!

Fall!

I had a fabulous weekend. A productive day in the studio on Friday, some quality time with my main squeeze on Friday night, a board retreat for The Hive Archive and Artist Mentor training at New Urban Arts on Saturday, and relaxation on Sunday. I was in such a good mood all weekend - excited, creatively stimulated, and relaxed (which doesn't happen often for me!).

And then I realized why I really feel so content. It's FALL! My favorite time of the year!

The colors!

The delicious, warm food!

Butternut squash! Pumpkin pie!

Jeans and a sweatshirt!

Scarves!

Hot tea!

So many wonderful things...

Since I was feeling oh-so-seasonal, I created the second of four hand-sewn "season" blocks that I've very slowly been working on.

I raided my scrap bins for the perfect colors.

I created my summer block a few months ago, and now they can stand next to each other on the mantle, waiting for winter and spring to join them. My concept is that I'll create each tree with a different method. Spring was created in pieced hexagons, and fall was inspired by this tutorial.

Any ideas/inspiration for how I should create winter and spring?

I also created this hand sewn fabric circle wreath titled "Fall" to donate to an auction benefiting the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. Aren't the colors so pretty? I hope somebody wants it!

The very best part of the weekend came at the end - Callie cat must have sensed my good mood because finally, after being my kitty for 9 months, she decided it was safe to SIT ON MY LAP! We had some quality pets not once but TWICE today. I think she likes me!

I hope you had a great weekend, too. What's your favorite part of the fall season?

Being Green

I've been slowly over time compiling my own set of dishes - all mis-matched, goodwill/thrift store finds in varying shades of solid green. Over the weekend, Ian and I hit up the local goodwill and found quite a few pieces to work towards completing the set.

What I love about not having a matching set of dishes:

• Each dish has its own distinct character, and it feels special to use any one of them for all different reasons.
• If I break/chip one, no matter! No need to find the same set and get a specific piece to replace it - I'll just find something new next time I go thrifting.
• It's fun, funky, and green! There are so many beautiful, lonely plates out there that need rescuing - rather than buying a new set.

Here's to finding more green pieces to complete my set!