Meditation II - In the Forest is done!

 

I finally finished, at the last minute as usual.  I am very pleased with it.  I am happy, too, that I found such rich and personally meaningful subject matter from which to develop this series.  I am pleased with the process too.  I worked in my sketchbook first, then with my decorated papers, then with transparencies to work out the quilting desings, and finally on the design wall, and back through this loop again as needed.  Of course there were some stumbling blocks along the way, but I learned from every one.  The most important lesson is to plan better for deadlines.  There is no point in purposefully adding stressors to my life, or to turning my beloved creative life into something stressful.

The painted fusible in the center square was interesting, and the results were not at all what I had imaginged.  I love the effect and will definitely use it again.  Overlapping the leaves was a little tricky, but in my view, well worth the effort.

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Adventures in creating a design wall

I moved from the tiny bedroom studio to the converted carport studio several years ago, and left my old design wall behind.  I missed it, but there just wasn't a good place in the new studio because every wall was busy, with doorways, windows, bookcases, birdcage, etc.  I developed some amusing work arounds, like going up to the loft and looking down over the edge to my worktable below to get some perspective.  Not great, but I thought it was the best I could do until I saw the perfect answer on Pamela Allen's blog http://pamelartnews.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html .  It's a rolling design wall, made from an inexpensive rolling garment rack and a sheet of rigid insulation board.  It's fabulous! So, I got started figuring out how to make one for myself.      

First some problems to work out.  Our local big box home center stores only had Styrofoam insulation board, which is weak and kind of floppy and the edges break down easily.  Solution Laminate the Styrofoam board to a sheet of luan.  Second, how to attach the upholstered board securely to the garment rack.  This took some fiddling, but I think my cable tie solution worked out well.  Velcro could have worked too, but I didn't have any on hand, and getting it snug might have been an issue. 

I am DELIGHTED with the results.  It rolls easily, works great, looks great, didn't cost much, and serves some bonus purposes I hadn't even considered.  When my naughty little studio mate Mylo Birdie shrieks (parrots are SOOOO loud!) I simply roll the design wall in front of his cage and he becomes quiet as a little mouse.  The quiet is followed by his soft, contrite, flirty voice, saying sweet little things like "I love u" and "Hi, baby".

I will soon add light storage, too, by hanging large pot hooks from IKEA over the rod at the back.  This should be ideal for stuff like aprons.   I may even suspend another hanging rod from the garment rack for a few small folded quilts.  I have written a tutorial to show how I created my design wall http://quiltrobin.typepad.com/quiltrobin_my_creative_jo/design-wall-tutorial.html. 

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