slow stitching

Slow Stitching in Isolation

| janicepd

It has been hard to be creative in this time of social distancing and isolation. Ron and I spent a week in Branson, MO at the end of February. The global crisis had not been called a pandemic yet. We were careful anyway and it was fairly easy to do because it was off season. When we got back home on March 1 we decided to impose our own isolation based on the news reports from around the world.

You might expect all of us creatives would be pumping out piles of new work. For me, not so much. I have taken some time to finish some UFOs and up the game so to speak on a few pieces. These are silk pillow covers that needed some oomph. The centers are eco dyed vintage linen napkins stitched to the silk pillows. They are embellished with vintage crochet work that was dyed with oak gall. The hand stitching is all done in some of my hand dyed embroidery threads. They will be showing up in my Etsy shop soon after a good pressing and photography.

And another one down….

| janicepd

I am loving the slow stitching and mediation of working on this piece. A combination of boro stitching on the kantha quilt, yellow felted wool appliqués and more of the mother of pearl (MOP) button waste. A 12 x 16 feather pillow form completes it. It is for sale HERE in my Etsy Shop.

Happy New Year 2020

| janicepd

    I have a no resolution, resolution this year. It is simply to be a participant and not a bystander.

    Before the new year turned, I cleaned and sorted a closet in my home. It needed done and a thrift shop was richer for it . I unearthed a couple of unfinished textiles and some 100 year old family photos I had forgotten about. The best thing was finding my maternal grandparents marriage license. My youngest son researches the family genealogy and had not been able to find record of it. It is an important piece of a family puzzle. Imagine, I had it all the time tucked away in a box I acquired after my mother died that had never been opened. But I know that I use tasks like that to procrastinate instead of getting down to the business of creating in my studio.

    Good things are coming in the new year of 2020. I became a juried member of the Arkansas Craft Guild. There is a wonderful gallery in Mountain View, Arkansas . It is an area rich in artists and history. I am honored to be a part of it.

    A few months ago I sent off 5 pieces to Art Quilting Studio Magazine. The artwork and an article will be published in the Spring 2020 magazine. They are a wonderful magazine to work with. I previously had the cover and an article in the Winter 2015 magazine. I couldn’t believe it had been that long since I was a participant and not a bystander!

    So here is to a new year and new work and hopefully new successes. This is the silk shawl I uncovered in the closet clean out. It has been moved to my active stitching nest beside my chair.

    A UFO Becoming

    | janicepd

    Left over scraps of moody hand dyed fabrics from my stash begged to become. Beginning stitches with hand dyed embroidery threads pieced them together but it lay hidden for a while waiting for rediscovery.

    A bought with a nasty flu bug has kept me out of the studio with time for hand stitching.  The embroidery is nearing completion and then it will be intensely hand quilted.  It even told me its name but wants it to remain hidden until it says it is done.

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    A4 Challenge Group Looky Looky!

    | janicepd

    This is a re- post since I wanted to introduce you to a new group that has come together from the QuiltArt List. We will do a challenge every 2 months. Here’s the address if you want to keep up with what we are doing.    http://challengeplaygrop.wordpress.com/  (Yes, it is misspelled, my doing I’m afraid.)  My post is the first but others should start showing up in the next week,

    Jeannie Sredl came up with our theme for the first challenge of “Off To The Races”. That could be interpreted many ways by the diverse group of artists in this group.  I think this quote says it all and should be the mantra of this new group.

    The Race was on, the souls of the racers were in it. ~~ Lew Wallace, Ben Hur

    Here is my offering in A4 size and a little about it. I wanted to challenge myself to use the mountains of hand dyed fabrics and threads I’ve been making. I started with only the fabrics in mind and no particular composition. That’s the way I work most of the time. I tell people I am seduced by the cloth as I let it morph into what it wants to be when it grows up.

    I cut and pin, stitch, look at, stitch some more. When it starts taking on a shape I can see the meaning and how it relates to a theme I’m working from.  The quote on the piece is from Aditya Chandra:

    Life is one race I never want to win, I’d rather stroll around enjoying the scenery.

    Here it is, I hope you enjoy my scenery.

    offtothe races copy
    Janice Paine Dawes