Making Art in a Time of Shift

Dream and Trust Close up

A few months ago, a friend and I were talking about getting some artists together to talk about their art and spur us on with inspiration and support.  It took a bit to gather and we began meeting at my house every 5 weeks or so.  It was inspiring to hear about so many different ways these women were creating.  The group gathering was "Let's Talk Art."

My desire was to motivate myself and give me a nudge when I was feeling unsure or tentative with my fiber/mixed media art.  And it worked.  One piece that I had such angst over came to completion. Then another.

I'm not sure, if I'm on a roll.  I'm very happy when I'm making art.  So I'm going for pleasure in my art making; similar to my movement practice Nia dancing.

Our group is on a pause, due to the need to Stay at Home and two of our members very busy with on-line teaching with their University classes.  We may connect via Zoom. 














"Experience..."
I'm very glad to have the sharing of these amazing artists.  It reminds me to ask for a little help from your friends.  See more of what I've been working on in the gallery.

Sleeping Kitty & Miniature Pillow

 The 4th & 5th grade students stitched a sleeping cat with a little pillow.  The cats are made of felt. The pillow is woven cloth.

They gave their cat a name and wrote it on a name plate with their name.

 Focused stitchers, Naser, Payton, and Cooper, 5th graders.

   A basket and a box of sleeping cat supplies.

 The beginning with some faces and tails stitched on and eyes colored in with fabric markers.

 Hunter, Kole and Elijah stuffing their cats.

Kole and Lanie stitching.

                     Kayla, 4th grader stitching.  Lots of good focus on this creating.  It was lots of fun!

Stitching Penguins with 2nd and 3rd Grade Students

We stitched some cute little penguins with the 2nd and 3rd grade students.  They were reading books about penguins and it was fun to learn how to create a form through stitching.  These were created about of felt with a running stitch.

 Piney by Aidan

Happy Feet by Khloe

              Each student gave thier penguin and name and put a name plate near their penguin.

 

        We displayed these cuties in our library for everyone to have a look at a little cuteness.

Here's a tutorial to create your own penguin softie.

Have fun!

 

Stitching Tooth Fairy Pillows

The Kindergarten and First Graders are beginning to loose their teeth and their new permanent teeth are growing in.  To help the tooth fairy locate the lost tooth, the students stitched a pillow with a pocket for the tooth.

I cut out 36 pairs of fabric, 8" x 11" for the pillow and the pocket measured 4" by 3.5."  I pressed the pockets and sewed the hem on the top of the pocket for ease in stitching them on to the pillow.
That was the children's first step.

They learned about a pin and a needle and how to thread the needle and create a running stitch.

I asked the members of my quilter's guild if anyone would like to help the little one's learn to stitch.  I had some wonderful people help the children.

 Betty helping Ingrid; Sue helping Breydon. Kathy, one table over helping Ryder, Elijah, Rozella and Cooper L.

 Carol helping Nora. At the front table Ann is helping Ashton, Hunter and Cooper B.

The first graders are stitching on the first day. Lots of focus with Ann helping Ashton; Bailey hleping Abdullah, Sue in foreground and Carol with her back to the camera.

    Susan helping Delacey.

On the next day, the children learned about stitching the two pieces with the right sides together and leaving one side open to turn it to the right side out and stuff the pillow. Ann helping Ingrid, Cole and Ava.

           Arianna is almost complete.

    Carol is helping Evelyn.

                      Eisley, Kindergartener is very proud of her work.

                      Zoey, Kinder is thrilled with her tooth fairy pillow.

                     Koen, Kindergartener is stitching.

                            Another proud Kinder, Delaney with her pillow.

    Sue helping Superman, Owen, Kindergartner.

 Kathy helping Creedence, Kindergarten.  He is very determined.

                                   Lane, Kindergartner is testing his pillow.  He's pleased.

 Jake, Kindergartner got his finished.

 Abdullah, first grader, taking a little rest.

 A group of first graders, Rozella, Ashton, Breydon, Abdullah with their pillows.

 Nora, 1st grader tickled pink.

 Aiden, 1st grader proud of his handiwork.

 Delacey, first grader feeling pleased.

 

Our first grade students with their tooth fairy pillows and Kathy, Sue, Cindy, Carol and Susan, some of the wonderful volunteers who helped them have so much success.  What bright smiles of happiness. 

Art of Making with Our Hands

Since I was a little person, I’ve loved making things with my hands.  And if I didn’t know how to make it, I’d go to our local library and find a book to help me figure out how to do it.  There was magic in the search to figure it out and then in the making it!  . My Mom and Dad were makers and they helped in many of the adventures.

Dyckman Free Library, Sleepy Eye, Minnesota ~Photo credit~

I hope to give that sense of "loving the making" to my students at Ridgeway Community School.  This autumn, I held a Stitching Club to teach children how to tie a knot, sew on a button and learn some simple stitches.  We made some fun projects.

The Kindergarten through 2^nd Graders made a stitching card with a butterfly, a giraffe and a little pocket to store treasures.  A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped these little ones have such great success.

They were very happy with their stitching projects! 

Nolan and Daniel’s Quilts

 

Boys Flying Kites for Nolan Thomas 35.5” x 45.5”

Two wonderful babies came into the world on March 22, 2013.  They were the third and fourth great nephews in our family.  I had decided to make quilts to welcome them into the world.  Here’s a bit about the process of making the quilts.

I selected fabrics that I thought the parents would appreciate, and the babies would too, when they got a little older.  These fabrics have a special sentimental value to me because my Mom and I chose them several years ago.  My mother and I would go on trips around Southern Minnesota to quilt shops several times per year.  Local quilt shops would host these ‘shop hops’ to invite quilters to see the fabrics.  Sometimes there were prizes and gifts, and often a bit of coffee, candy or a sweet.  It was a favorite activity that my mother and I shared.  We would catch up on one another’s news and I would often ask her about our family history.  She would tell me stories of the quilters, stitchers, and seamstresses in our family.  

I choose the backing fabrics, complementary flannel fabrics for their softness and color just a couple of months ago.  I guess that I was waiting for these baby boys to arrive.  Here’s how the quilts came together.  After the fabrics were stitched together for the quilt top, the batting and the backing fabric needed to be cut to size.

                                                            Inner layer of the quilt, the batting

                                                  Flannel cotton fabric on the back of the quilt

Then the three parts—top, batting, back are pinned together with large safety pins.  This allows me to stitch the three layers together without everything shifting during the quilting process.  Everything gets smoothed into place.

                                               Smoothing the three layers before pinning

                                           The three layers pinned, swirly fabric is the back fabric

When the three layers are pinned, it looks rather industrial.  I’ve thought that it would be interesting to make a quilt that I intentionally used safety pins in the design.  I use a Bernina 1008 for all of my stitching and quilting.

                                                         The three layers pinned

                                                  Quilt labels stitched to the back of each quilt

 

My studio in the background is full of things I’ve made or found, which support ideas for future projects for me or my students.  It’s a wonderful space to create.

                                                  Finished quilt Puppy Love for Daniel Joseph 35.5” x 45.5”