Creative Community

my first cathedral window, for the pincushion swap, from this tutorial

Over the weekend, the Rhode Island chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild met for our monthly meeting.  I started the group back in June, and it's one of the weekend activities that I most look forward to.  We had seventeen people in attendance, who all brought projects and tips to share with each other.  This month, we did a pincushion swap - so everyone came away from the meeting with a handmade gift.  

I learn so much from everyone in the group, and always come away from the meetings ready to spend the rest of the weekend in my studio sewing.  

Isn't it lovely to be part of a creative community?  It's like recharging my inspiration battery.  And of course, sharing my own energy and excitement for quilting with others.  

Mentors

Working through The Artist's Way has prompted me to remember and reconnect with mentors from my past. My first and dearest thought is of my advisor during my junior year of high school, Jill.  She was 27, and I was 16.  But we had many things in common: we shared a birthday, had the same exact eye glasses, and connected over our mutual love of writing (back then, I was a poet).

I dug through a box in the back of my closet to find this note that she wrote to me at the end of that year, just before she left for a new teaching job. She was in a faculty meeting, but her mind wandered and she wrote this poem for me.

Part of moving forward

is understanding what’s behind.

Like trees, we grow from essential elements,

the nutrients of our youth seeping

through our stretching skins.

Like leaves, our hair will come and go,

like boughs, our limbs may even break,

But our stories, like seeds, will forever be fed

by the heart’s rich soul,

telling themselves again and again

through the truest light in our eyes.

The light in my eyes today tells of meeting

a girl whose roots have mirrored

the pattern of mine, twisting around

the same boulders of fear, exposing themselves

at the edges of the same hopeful, vernal pools,

spreading like a net of chance and faith

to clutch at the core of what keeps us alive.

And as the rings of our years spiral outward,

gaining texture and heft, we’ll know

that we were grafted together back then,

and this is part of what has made us so strong.

-Jill, May 2002

There simply aren't words for how I feel about this poem - its trueness, and the hope and strength that I feel from it, even many years later.  

I treasure it.

Capturing Inspiration

I've been continually gathering inspiration - I joined Pinterest to capture little bits of beauty that I find around the internet.

How do you capture inspiration?

Inspiration

To refill my well, I'm capturing some images that inspire me.

I want to translate this wall into a quilt.

I pass it on my walk to work everyday. It's next to a parking lot.

I love how random but somehow intentional it seems.

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!

Sewing with Julia Child

I've been M.I.A. for a couple of days - my friend Lisa was visiting from the Netherlands, and then I was under the weather for a bit. I barely made it through making flower headbands with some gals for my first day of mentoring at New Urban Arts before I was at home curled up on the couch (or "command central" as Ian calls it when I'm sick!). But I'm feeling much better now, and got a lot of sewing done this weekend (see upcoming posts for the results!).

Today, I want to share a wonderful bit of inspiration I found recently. My creative friend Alyssa encouraged me to read Julia Child's book My Life in France. I haven't been doing much reading these days because I've been sewing so much - but I realized that there's a way to read and sew at the same time: audiobooks!

I downloaded My Life in France and have been listening to it on my studio days. It is such an inspiring book, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone - especially creative entrepreneurs. I love how Julia didn't grow up cooking, but fell in love with it later in life, found ways to learn and perfect her skills, and dove into her craft with all of her passion and energy. She made connections, made thoughtful decisions about her work and how it fit into her life, and was above all patient as it all unfolded. If you saw the movie Julie & Julia, you know a bit of Julia's story, but that really only scratched the surface. Read this book - you'll love it!

Perhaps the best part of the book is the love story. She and Paul Child were just so in love. He supported her in her sometimes crazy passion for cooking and for finishing her cookbook, took photos for her, advocated for her, and always believed in her.

Can I get an amen for all of those supportive partners out there? Who is your Paul Child and how does he/she support you in your creative work?

A gift

Over the weekend, I went to Artist Mentor training at New Urban Arts, the after school open art studio where I teach sewing. We've had a break for the summer, and it felt so good to be back in that space with other creative minds, so ready to teach and to learn. I'm so excited to start my second year of mentoring!

At the training, Emmy, one of the fabulous "Mentor Fellows" gifted us with this beautiful print:

Here is the quote:

"As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us is, that each of us has something that no one else has - or ever will have - something inside of us that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression." - Mr. Rogers

So beautiful. It's now on the wall in my studio. I love the thought that my mission in life could be to help others realize themselves - and that's one of my favorite parts about the community at New Urban Arts, how everyone there is helping each other do that. I feel so lucky to be a part of a creative community like that.

Do you have a favorite quote about self expression or teaching others?