Something New & Different

A new look and a different kind of project!

When I was visiting over at Bumble Beans a while back I noticed a new badge on her side bar. Feeling all brave and adventurous I clicked on the badge and learned about this:

At first I thought I wouldn't sign up because they wanted participants to choose from a list of suggested topics. But then I read the list more closely and saw the category, "Jackets, blankets, and sheets." How many times have you heard a quilt referred to as a blanket? Still, I hesitated to sign up. I'm not one who draws by nature. It seems to me to require a type of patience I do not possess. I can sew a thousand tiny seed beads onto a quilt without complaint but don't ask me to slow down enough to really see an object in the way that is necessary to replicate it on paper!

I couldn't sleep that night for all the ideas that cropped up for ways to "sketch" about quilts or blankets or sheets. So the next day I went back to the website and signed up. A couple of weeks later this arrived in my mailbox:

It's about 5" x 8" and not terribly thick (meaning I don't have a lot of pages to fill up!). I intend to make it thicker though. The very first page I did was one to demonstrate the three layers that make a quilt a quilt. I found an old cheater print in my stash and cut it to size.

Then I found a piece of thinner batting, laid it under the fabric, and quilted it to the page.

I didn't do a lot of quilting because I wanted the layers to float free so folks could peel them back to see exactly what goes inside a quilt.

On the facing page I intend to put some text about basic quilt construction. I'm a little reluctant to write it out by hand because I can't always control the quality of my printing or writing. It would be so much more personal if I did it that way though. So maybe I'll write out the text elsewhere and then copy it over when I'm having a good day. (I just thought of that; it's not a bad idea. Honestly, sometimes the only way to find out what I'm thinking is to journal it somewhere, somehow!)

I have to be very careful about what media I use in my artwork. That's one reason I stick to fabric and beads for the most part. I already know what the parameters are to stay healthy. When it comes to pens or markers or paints there's always the risk of running into something my body won't like. Adhesives are out for the most part. I use a lot of double sided tape when I want to collage papers.

It will be fun to come up with ways to fill the sketchbook that may not involve drawing or sketching. But one reason I signed up was to practice being gentle and compassionate with myself, to allow myself to be a beginner. I've been to our local independent art supply store (we're lucky to have one) and bought some new toys to play with: chalk pastels, watercolor pencils and a waterbrush, and a Micron pen with the largest nib I've ever seen on a Micron pen. I use Micron Pigma pens to sign my quilts so I know the pen won't make me ill when I use it. I'll probaly have to spend some time on YouTube learning how to use these new-to-me materials too. Fun, fun, fun!