Friday, January 23, 2015

Happy New Year 2015!

It's a New Year! Yay! Another chance to keep all those resolutions (didn't make any) pay all those bills, (working on it!) achieve all those goals! (sooo many goals!)

After lots of crafting for Christmas, I have started a sweater for ME, but I've had to take a time out...

Working on a commission for a local church, for a new set of Paraments (altar cloth, bookmark, and lectern scarf) for their Ordinary Time. That means, Green! Lent & Advent are purple, special days like Easter & Christmas are often white, Pentecost can be Red, etc.

So, after a very fun day at the fabric store, and about 10 different 1 yard samples of green fabrics, I settled on a combination of a cool green & gold brocade paired with a printed textural cotton. I'm thinking about the juxtaposition of the mundane and the divine, the ordinary and extraordinary, our daily, imperfect lives, and the sacred, holy ideal life we strive for.

This is a pic of the Lectern scarf, prepared as the sample for the church committee and it shows the style of patchwork I'm doing. Here's a sketch of the altar cloth, which is now actually a finished top, ready to be appliqued this weekend with grapes and wheat instead of a cross and flames.

Many yards of fabric, to be sure, but it's been kind of fun. I did have to switch from my beloved Bernina 1120 to the 1948 Singer Featherweight my mom gave me a few years ago when the Bernina started to protest last weekend. Squeaky, clunky noises are not good! So she's in the shop, getting a "super head cleaning". I'm sure she needs cleaned & oiled, because I really put her to use.

Next up: working on the new quilts for my exhibit at Otterbein, and trying to sneak in more clothing to sell.