quilting-#1 How can I make time?

With our busy lives it is becoming harder and harder to find time to quilt.  I have had to choose to make time rather then find it.  Some things that work for me, as a very busy mother of 5 children and a wife of a dairy farmer, are

• Prioritising-When I had the children at home during the day, the children would go down for a rest no matter what the age. This would be my time.  Not time to race around the house cleaning.  The housework will always be there.
• Creating in 5 minute doses-I try and leave out what I'm working on so I can do little bits of work
• Work on smaller scale pieces so they have a chance of getting finished
• Good routines in the house so my time is freed up.  Now my children all go school each day I have housework,  dinner,  washing,  etc all done before the children leave for school so I can create all day. 
• Dovetailing jobs-When I take the children to lessons I do the groceries,  library drop of etc so i only have to go into town a couple of times a week
• Planning-if I plan what I want to do on a daily basis I am more likely to accomplish it
• Writing down my goals of what I want to achieve.
• Only creating one piece of work at a time so I get the feeling of accomplishing something.  When I finish something I am more likely to keep going back and doing more
• Keeping my work space tidy and clean
• Having handwork I can do while my children are watching a movie or T.V.  I can still be with them and create at the same time
• Quilt, paint and stitch along side your children-this teaches them new skills
• Make time for yourself-it helps our children see the importance of looking after me so that we can give to others with a full spirit
• Have a meal plan so you know what you need to cook each day
• read about other peoples art and techniques.  I try and take a book with me on quilting everywhere I go in case i have a chance to do some learning.
• Allocate a night a personal date night every week where your husband/partner or friend looks after your children or if you have no kids a night that they know about so you won't be disturbed so you can quilt, stitich and create to your hearts content.
• Sometimes turn of the phone,  the comuter and the I Pod.  Have techno free days where no one can reach you.

I know if I can create on a daily basis I am happier,  healthier,  a much better mum and a much more completed human being.  Making time for my needs is imperitive for my life.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week three

I wanted to explore the running stitch in this weeks challenge piece.  I chose to stitch a nikau palm which are found in our beautiful New Zealand bush. 

The background fabric is hand dyed and stamped with my own "eraser stamp.  I then embroidered the nikau palm on the middle of the card.  To finish with I used metallic paint sticks to give a shimmer to border of the art work.

Close up of nikau palm. 

Art photography

Taking photos and "playing around" with them on photo programmes seemed like I was cheating.  But when I changed my view from cheating, to an art form I was hooked on "art photography"  

I found when I began to change colours, contrast and lighting,  shapes in the photos began to change,  interesting patterns emerged and different parts of the photo was highlighted. 

To begin with this photo of a palm leaf was completely green and the contrast was quite strong between the background and the leaf.  I love the sculpture of this leaf and how the leaf disappears into the back of the photo.

When I started to play with the negative and positive,  contrast and colour a whole new photo appeared.  The different tones of the leaf have been really highlighted with the introduction of red to the leaf. 

By taking the negative of the left photo and making it black and white the structure of the carnation is the focal point.  The structure of the flower takes centre stage and makes a very powerful image.  The petals are almost translucent showing to the viewer how fragile they are.

Having a new point of view has helped me to see the world around me in a different way.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week two 

In this weeks playing card challenge I decided to quilt first and add colour second.  I quilted using a variety of brown threads.  Next I painted a a variety of tones of brown onto different parts of the art piece.  I finished with metallic shiva paint sticks to make the quilting pop out and to give a nice sheen to the material.

Here is a close up of this piece.

My inspiration for the design of piece came from a piece of art deco iron work that I loved.  I chose the colours to be very gentle to match in with the very fluid lines.

Quilting - the need to create

Do you have a need so strong that if you don't do it your life doesn't feel like it is worth living.  I find if I have a gap from creating and making art work I don't seem to fuction as well.  I need to make things and create with my hands.  I think it comes from a desire to visulize what thoughts I have inside so I can share them with others and to also express hidden desires and emotions in a constructive and safe way. 

It is a need to journey down an unexplored path and to not know what is around the bend.  To create the ending and to have others find meaning and pleasure from your work.

quilting arts calendar challenge

I am a winner again of the Quilting Art calendar challenge!! I entered 2 pieces and both accepted in the calendar.  I have won 2 price packages.  The theme this year was flavour of the month.

The first piece is a cup of hot chocolate sitting on a magazine with a roaring fire in the background.  The second piece is a pea pod opened.  Both pieces are crayoned,  painted and heavily machine quilted.

To see these pieces visit the quilting arts website  http://www.quiltingarts.com/

The calendar will be out later this year.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week one

After having children,  family, school and the government coming for handouts,  this week I thought I would begin on a piece entitled money doesn't grow on trees. 

This is the tree that every parent has in their back yard for any whim of any child or school.  An ever open cheque book ready and waiting.

This piece is machine felted with wools,  threads and dyed unspun wool,  embellished with beads ana money disks.  The tree is made on a piece of wool tweed.