fiberhart

Return of Ms. Muse

Well, I think Ms. Muse has decided to come back out of hiding and play. I completed the first five postcards for my Art2Mail group, and can honestly say that I am happy with the results. My theme did not change from my original idea, but rather the way I 'solved the problem.'

I've come to recognize that my art is heavily influenced by my surroundings and the season of the year. I live in the high desert surrounded by mountains, and we have had plenty of snow so far. We haven't been dumped on like Denver- but I have at least 8 inches of the stuff in my very small backyard, which is creating some problems for our dogs! So, I was attempting to abstract snow on the mountains, using the cool colors of winter. I used my hand-dyed fabric for the backgrounds, and commercial for the mountains. I also was finally successful in figuring out how to cut fused Angelina fibers with a scrapbooker's diecut. We had one of a snowflake- and I tried a number of ways, all unsuccessful. We got it to work by making the Angelina fabric thicker than I normally do, and backing it with paper when we cut it. And, some colors work better than others. We had the best luck with cobalt. Ayway, here's the five completed cards.

I also found these cards to be a good way to practice machine quilting motifs and skills I learned after Christmas with Suzanne Hyland. I did a half-day semi-private class with her, and it was wonderful. I've known for some time that my machine quilting is the weakest part of my work, so I've been looking for ways to improve what I choose to quilt. (Believe me, I already know that the key to improving the quilting itself is practice, practice, and more practice.) I've been "practicing" on paper since the class- this was an opportunity to practice on fabric. I also used her Quilter's Preview Paper to design motifs specific to the cards before quilting them- the stuff is great!

I reach a milestone this week- on Tuesday I turn 56. I now know exactly what my mother meant when she talked about seeing a stranger in the mirror. I certainly don't feel that old. I've been blessed with good health all my life- now I'm having to pay attention to that. I want to live long enough to have a quilting career after my social work career!