Since I didn't create a post yesterday I have lots to catch you up on today. Yesterday's daily schedule got completely blasted out of the water since I took my mother-in-law to the airport. She is off to Tacoma Washington to visit grandkids and a new great-grandson. She called last evening and said that she arrived there safe and sound. We left here at 4:00 AM. So needless to say that I was not very energetic once I returned home as a matter of fact I went back to bed and slept until almost noon. Once I was awake and my brain matter was computing again, I did get into the studio to work on a few things. I finished the quilting and applied the binding to this table runner.
I really like this one. It is a mixture of free form feathers and a stencil motif that looks as though it lies underneath the feathers. I also embellished around the motif with some more feathers to fill in the background. This is a beautiful table runner.
I have to tell you about Tina and my play day on Wednesday. We had decided to work on a cute bunny pattern that we had gotten in our packet from Charlotte and our rules were that there weren't any rules except that we would work out of my scrap bin. We fused our bunny as we wanted to get it done in one session. So here is our day in photos,
The scrap bin as we worked out of it.
You don't see me often in the photos during the creative phase as I am usually alone making the messes.
This is Tina's bunny minus his eye.
and this is my bunny. Once the bunnies were fused together our next step was a little dissection. We laid the bunnies on top of each other and then sliced them through the middle with a gentle curve.
Then we swapped bottoms and realigned the bunnies.
We were amazed, although we shouldn't have been, how well they lined up after the cut was made. Tina chose a blue fabric for her background and put her bunny on point,
while I chose an over-dyed polka dot print and set my bunny square.
That is where we were when we had to call it quits. I have added 2 borders since to my bunny piece but that is all the more I have done. I am letting some creative ideas brew before I decide what else I will do with this piece.
I did take some time to do some more drawing exercises Wednesday evening. The first one I found harder to do as there were a lot more details and shading and the lines were a lot more implied and not so bold. It worked out though. It is of a knight in armour seated on his horse. This was also drawn upside down.
I also changed the scale of mine a bit. That also made it a little harder to do. The second drawing I did was of a girl sitting also done upside down.
I had more trouble with this drawing than the horse and rider. I had the tv on in the background and I do believe that had a lot to do with the difficulty that I had drawing this one. So lesson learned do not try to multi task while drawing you will not be as pleased with the results. I find that often times in the studio while I am quilting I do it in quiet and solitude. I do not like to have my concentration broken by multiple interruptions. So the lesson learned here and it will be different for everyone, is to find the mode that you work best in. Do you like energetic music in the background, do you prefer to be in a group were you feed off of other's ideas and energy, or do you prefer to be alone? Do you have a particular time of day that you do your best work? What happens when you get interrupted or if your whole day is turned upside down due to an obligation? How do you get yourself back into the creative frame of mind? I know for me that if I have some sort of quilting to do that I get back into that creative mode much faster than if I just go into the studio to "create something". The quilting portion gently eases me back into creativity faster than other stages of the creative process. So another lesson for me is to have several pieces at the stage to quilt on and if I am having difficulty getting into the creative zone I can warm up by quilting and then the ideas and energy start to peak.
Do you see the importance of creating? Do you even think that it is important? I do! Because the beginning of the Bible says, "In the beginning God created..." Genesis 1:1, it goes on to say what He created but do you see that He felt it was important to tell us that, In the beginning...He...Created...and then He created us in His image so therefore if He created us in His image and He began the whole process with creating it must be a very important component of His nature and ours. It is in our nature to create things. Don't put yourself down by saying that you are not creative or that you could never do this or that. Did you walk without ever falling down as a toddler? Did you write your name in beautiful understandable cursive handwriting the very first time you ever held a pencil? So why do we think that we have to succeed with a beautiful masterpiece the first time we try to create something out of a pile of scraps? I think our bunnies are fabulous but Tina and I have played a lot with fabric and we know how to put things together and we aren't afraid to experiment with new ideas and even cut things apart and put them back together. It is supposed to be fun and if you are trying to follow what someone else says is fun but you don't then stop... and find out what makes you forget time when you are immersed in the middle of it. Try something new, try something old, try to find what truly makes your heart sing when you are doing it. That will bring you great joy and the Author of all creativity will also find great joy in you.
Have a great day and remember that you are creative everyday. Take a look at you outfit that you are wearing today. You put that look together, perhaps you accessorized it with jewelry or a scarf or something unique that says "this is me". Wear it boldly and let yourself be known by your creativity. Someone somewhere will appreciate it.
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