Working towards spring - on daffodils and quiltmaking

I have been working on the next - third - quilt in my Meditation series.  This one is on daffodils.  Spring cannot come soon enough for me.  It has been unusually cold in Atlanta this year (read spoiled southerner) and I am so tired of dark, damp outside, bone-dry indoors, muddy paw prints all over my floors and cold.

I'm very pleased with the way this quilt is coming along.  I want to enter it in a show with a due date later this month, and I'm starting to get a little concerned that I will create that last minute panicky rush for myself again.  I really want to change that.  The rush, the tension, adds  nothing positive to my life or my art.  So, as I so often do when trying to sort something out, I made a list of all the steps that still needed to be completed.  I was stunned when I got to the end of this list.  No wonder it takes me so long to make a quilt!  No wonder I am always rushed and panicked at the end.  No wonder FedEx and I are getting to be such close friends!

I decided to take the list backwards to the beginning of this piece to see if looking at the whole process will help me improve my time estimates and management.  It certainly will.  Here's the list:

Concept, research, design work in sketchbook, design work with decorated papers (photo above), color study/fabric selection and design, dyeing, transfer printing, design & cut stamp(s), surface design, fusing sheer overlays, starch & iron fabrics, cut and sort fabrics, piecing and assembly, layer and baste, quilting research & design, thread selection, stitch samples, quilting, square and trim, apply facings, block, make sleeve, photography, make label.  As I'm writing, I thought of a few more - cut slat(s), prepare storage/shipping container, complete and mail show application.  Ouch!!!

That is a lot of steps, 27 in all, but I wouldn't eliminate any.  What I am going to do with this list is create a work schedule and set some milestones, leaving myself some breathing room at the end.  And of course, change my time management and goal setting going forward.  I see this as another rung on the ladder of my work process, all of which will, I'm positive, lead to more satisfying work for me, and more control over the results.  To synthesize what I've learned about myself: hit-or-miss approach = hit-or-miss results!

I'm curious, how do you work towards deadlines?  Do you plan or fly free, or are you somewhere in the middle?  Striving for something different?

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My Doodle A Day Diet!

I just added a photo album called "Doodle a Day Diet" to share my progress on my daily doodling exercise.  Click this link or you can find it on the sidebar on the right under Photos.  It is amazing to me that as you add definition - with depth, outlines, fill, embellisments, color - even a poorly drawn shape or a weak composion will morph into something pretty darned good!  I am quickly finding that the more I do, the more satisfying the results.  I guess this is another variation on the old musician's joke:

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?      Practice, practice, practice!

I challenge everyone who reads this to try my "Doodle a Day Diet" for yourself for two weeks. It's simple - no grocery shopping or cooking, just a writing implement and paper.  You don't have to buy a snazzy new sketch book unless you really, really want to.  You can even make it a "green project" by recycling the envelopes from your bills or your junk mail.  I encourage you to try a nice black pen with a fairly bold line.  I'm using a medium point PITT Artist Pen - india ink, which permanent so it doesn't bleed when you add color and doesn't soak through the page.  Second choice would be something like a fine Sharpie, although they do soak through the page.  Forget about pencil - commit to ink!  It's just doodling.  If you don't like it after you've done all you can with it, move on to the next page.

Please let me know how the "Doodle a Day Diet" is working for you by posting your comments here.  If you blog or flicker, etc., please let us know where we can see your doodling photos.   I'm betting you find it a joyful adventure, too!

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Exquisite Corpse Textile

I am really excited about participating in the third round of Exquisite Corpse Textilecollaborative art project.  In case you are not familiar with "Exquisite Corpse", here's a link to the Wikipedia article: Exquisite Corpse . 

Exquisite Corpse is basically an old parlor game in which a collaborative drawing of a human figure is created.  Each player draws a portion of the body (head, torso, etc) in sequence, then folds the paper over her work and passes it to the next player.  The completed work is revealed only at the end of the game.  This group will be working in fabric and embellishments rather than sketching on paper.  I think it is going to be a lot of fun!

Please click here to read more about the group, and to see the beautiful work from the two previous rounds.  Since each part is to be kept secret from the other players, you won't hear any more about this project from me until the finished projects are revealed.

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Amazing Feats of Creativity

I am constantly amazed by the huge and apparently endless variety of creative accomplishments I see on the Internet.  The Skittle Wrapper Prom dress is one of those amazing things that I never would have seen without the wonderful world of blogs.  I first saw this on the Craft Gossip Blog Network. The dress is made entirely of Skittles candy wrappers.  It is a stunning dress, beautifully designed and executed, and truly original. It looks very well made, too. The young lady who made it for her prom dress is simply a genius.   Please follow the link below to see photos of this VERY COOL dress and to read more about her process and, of course, the prom.   Note the matching shoes, too. Everything about this outfit is so inventive.  I am particularly impressed by the way she acquired her materials.  WOW!

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=243397.msg2687230#msg2687230 

Reading about the dress led me to look at more candy wrapper art, which was a delightful journey in itself.  I've seen small candy wrapper handbag at a local eco clothing store.  They were too small for me (I like a roomy bag) and not inexpensive either.  It turns out that there are lots of websites with tutorials on how to make these bags and other accessories from all sorts of wrappers.  Here are just a few.  I'm wondering about trying the weaving technique with fabric strips.

www.candywrapperpurse.blogspot.com     http://rubyreusable.com/artblog/?p=805   http://iwannanewbag.blogspot.com/2007/04/purses-made-from-candy-wrappers-etc.html    http://fluffyland.com/blog/?page_id=50

Fun, interesting, plus an excellent  and very responsible reason to eat more candy!!!

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