The Tootsie Roll Quilt, My First Full Sized Quilt

| janicepd

I thought it would be fun for you to see a closeup of my very first full sized pieced and hand quilted quilt. I knew NOTHING! But that little tidbit has never stopped me once my mind is made up.

I had decided I wanted a bed quilt. I went to the new fabric store in town and was blown away with all the colors and patterns of fabric. I stacked bolts up in what I thought were pleasing colors. I bought my first rotary cutter set. I went home ready to just Do It!

I had no pattern so I just cut strips and started sewing. I had no idea how this was going to make blocks or what it would look like. I call this my Tootsie roll quilt.

I did not know the rules of quilting either. Can’t you tell by the stitches right up to the seam lines? I had no frame or hoop so this was entirely stitched on my lap without a hoop. It actually turned out that a few years later I taught classes on quilting without a hoop.

Knowing all the rules now I am sure I would have done things differently. And if I knew all the rules, this quilt would have never been created.

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Synchronicity in Art

| janicepd

Sometimes in your creative life you need to STOP and take a breath. Regroup. Take the time to explore and read some of those wonderful art books you have collected. You might discover why you were drawn to purchase the book.

That is the journey I am on in this place in time. I have a need to rediscover why I am an artist. Is it for myself and my need to create or is it just to please others and sell?

In Seth Apter’s book, The Mixed Media Artist, on page 94 he asks if synchronicity plays a role in your art. I confess I needed to search meanings to answer the question. This is what I found online: “Synchronicity is a concept, first explained by psychiatrist Carl Jung, which holds that events are “meaningful coincidences” if they occur with no causal relationship, yet seem to be meaningfully related.”

So my answer would be; ABSOLUTELY! What would your answer be?

Buy Seth’s Book

 

HERstory quilts at Road to California

| janicepd

The entire collection of HERstory quilts is being shown at Road to California. Kerry Faraone was kind enough to  share pictures in the HERstory artists group.  I just love pictures of my work in the wild!

Hillary’s quilt is front and center with my quilt honoring Betty Frieden directly under it. Don’t they make a great pair?

 Then there is my quilt honoring Alice Paul right above Jackie Kennedy. This one also appeared in Quilting Arts Magazine October/November issue. They both are in the hardcover book. Since I couldn’t see these hanging in person I am grateful to Kerry for posting them.