In the studio

Posted on | August 28, 2008 |

Quilt of Shipwreck Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

I’ve been hunkered down in the studio this week. I needed to just sit in the studio and be with myself and not out and about. And I’ve learned to honor those needs.

This week, I’ve been working on some projects that have been sitting around unfinished. For example, you may recall the quilt top I started months ago when Angie and I took a quilting class at a local retreat. It has been sitting in my studio moved from place to place until this week. The technique was quite different from what Jane taught us earlier this month. We used glue to baste the pieces together and then we were to do hidden hand stitching to finish it up and ready it for quilting. However, I found that the glue made the hand stitching tedious. Also, I had used many small pieces, which made it even more difficult to hand sew. This week, I decided I wanted to finish it and so I took it to the sewing machine and pieced it and then quilted it. I let it sit for a few days up on my bulletin board and I decided it was done and just needed a border. Today I finished up the binding and it’s finished!

Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz fabric collection - quilt in progress

I’ve also been working on a personal sewing project. I have always been a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz. And “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” has always been one of my favorite songs. When I saw that Quilted Treasures had Wizard of Oz licensed fabric, I came close to purchasing it several times, but I couldn’t figure out what I’d do with it.

Well, finally, after seeing the fabric in real life at my local fabric store, I caved and bought some of what they had. I don’t regret that decision at all! Quilting up these images makes me smile. The hope and dreams evoked by the scene in which Dorothy sings “Over the Rainbow” always makes me smile. Having it hang in my studio will be extremely uplifting! To the right is the beginning of this project. It’s in process, so there’s a lot more to do. I think I finally figured out how to make it work, but it will require some experimentation. When I finish, I’ll be sure to share it here.

I’ve also been working on some CreativeTherapy catalysts. You’ll see those in the next few weeks, when they are published on the CT blog. I hope to do more drawing and painting in the next few days.

In addition to the work in the studio, I’ve had some housekeeping stuff to do - the car needed service; the sprinklers and French doors will be installed next week. The following week is my treatment, so I’m glad to get it all done in the next week.

Overall, It’s been a busy but good week. I’ve been feeling pretty good and I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend with Dave.

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