where does the time go?

So if you had all the time in the world to do what you love, in my case that would be  painting fabric and turning my hand painted fabrics into something that was not here before, touchable before. what would you do?. And this the last year has been as such a time, Did you use it well? i did not. i fell into that camp of people that were sort of frozen. it all started  with viewing  you tubes on how to make cloth face covering masks until i was completely numb. i have a lot of fabric to tinker with but i was not inspired . i  experimented . i found pony tail elastics hurt my ears as i  could not get my hands on  that soft, thin elastic that was a limited as toilet paper at the beginning of the Covid 19 season. there is a difference in stocking up and hoarding  

i managed to bake a bit when i was able to find flour at grocery store. That accounted for some yummy things and the extra pounds i carry around still. 

i found i was often not inspired, often tired and well just sorta lazy.  so many options were limited or curtailed  and   then there was.... " i look at the floor and see it needs sweeping..."  

reading and caching up on the 3 magazines i still subscribe to and falling asleep in the big red leather chair while doing so.

Finally i started with the old tee shirts my DH had all stacked up. i found  the sleeves made good covering and the 1 1/2 inch ripped strips were comfortable on my ears. and  i could paint them any color i wished! 

this  one is my favorite so far and it washes up fine after a wearing to the food store .

It hangs from my rearview mirror between stops reminding me of the years, well decades gone by, when we hung our graduation  cap tassels from just such a mirror. 

                                                            so                                                           

 who  knows  where  the   time    goes ?

sandy dennis sings " who know where the time goes"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oBMDcLf6WA

be well, sonja

How long did it take to make?

Sometimes i take photos of various stages of making  a project . This is  probably due to my desire to see what i do from a distance and it helps when i am asked that most unanswerable question, the one most frequently asked  of " how long did it take?" straight  off i would have  say

 "i have no idea but i had a great time making this.". So if asked  i might  explain about the time before i begin , the lifetime of gathering information  to get to the place this  idea seed  popped up, and wool gathering , and  before i can get the concept what materials to gather to make this, the  redo when it goes arye, and how it changes as i work through the project

 and the problems i solve that i set in motion.... 

That might be too much info for folks. Thank you if you have read this far.

This week i am making some journal covers of paint, cloth and  thread. And imagination!!

i start with a plain vanilla cotton fabric, in this case a heavy cotton, and some fabric paints diluted slightly screen printing ink in squeeze bottles, oh and paint brushes.
after cloth is dry it is time to layer up a bat sandwich and

 

picking out threads i wish to use, takes a moment..

i call this free motion quilting  pattern 

"Pebbles in a stream, drifting"

after a song line in  "And this is my beloved" from Kismet

.

 after free motion  quilting  is done  and if i used different colors, 

i need to weave back the the tails of starts and stops, that is so much less fun than watching paint dry!

watching paint dry...........

inside of a journal, the lining 

Wa La!...probably could have googled  on

" How to make a journal cover to fit the composition book you just  bought."

instead of reinventing the wheel. 

So yes, stuff  takes time, Art takes longer.

From glimmer of  that idea seed to the time you can pick it up and turn it over in  your hand,

I still  think my best answer is

"It took all the time!"

 I'll be in my colorful booth # 88  near info tent
 at  

The Haleiwa Arts Festival

 July 13 and 14  10AM to 5PM  both days!

Be well, Sonja

How long did it take you....pinkly sqaures quilt in progress

I don't know how often i am asked, 

How long did that take you to make that?

 They might be looking at a quilt perhaps ,one that i made. 

Today i am working on one, I am calling her "Pinkly Squared! so far.

 here is a shot of the backing using  some my splattered hand painted fabric, pieced

                                   back and  front squared off, showing quilting using variegated threads.

In  block closeup i use random stitching, what comes to mind for that area, quilted .
 No marking, just seat of the pants, on the spot choices.

You have seen this pile of color in other post if you are a reader,

 This is where i start with strips of color painted on cloth that have been trimmed and saved for just such an occasion. i use some batiks but about 90-95 percent are my hand paints.

The squares are trimmed up to 5 and a half inches here.

 i will add a long cabin strips on all  4 sides next

 Here the log cabin surround pairs strips have been added  to
front and back shot of the next quilt in the pipeline of my life.

 For my bindings i often like a fabric like this one, one that has been languishing on the shelf,
as an overall floral decorator type of fabric. i will add color to them.

Now painted in the  pinkish tones in the quilt body, now transformed,

now drying in the sun .

Here we are now watching paint dry....

So how does one answer such a question such as 

How long did that take you to make that?
I don't know how long.

It takes All the time!
I DO know my work takes many decisions and processes, many, many.

I  would prefer to tell you the Why, the story behind the ideas that propelled me to Here!

I don't know how long. I'm not sure it's finished Yet!!

Be well and enjoy  the journey!!

Sonja