Art Quilting Studio

Earlier in the year I heard about a new publication that Stampington & Co. was releasing, called "Art Quilting Studio," and immediately I was intrigued! I love sewing. I love art. My favorite things to make these days are things that combine my love for these two things. So this publication seemed right up my alley! I submitted a piece that was my response to a quotation that Stampington published as a "prompt" for quilters to respond to:

"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. "

-The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

My submission is called "I Saw You" and I was THRILLED to see it featured in the premier issue of Art Quilting Studio (June 2009...it's on newstands right now)! Here's the first page of the article and there's a "blurb" about me/my piece down at the bottom right of the page.... And here's the page with my piece on it! It's the piece on the bottom. :)

Here are some more pics of the piece that I took before I sent it in and a bit about how I created it...

I started with the idea that the piece would be in a frame (minus the glass) so I cut a piece of vintage linen to the appropriate size, just larger than the frame so that it could be held in by the little metal tabs on the back of the frame. I sewed quilt batting to the back to give it some "body" and then sewed new and vintage lace and vintage sheet music (yes, you can sew paper to fabric!) to the linen.

I printed out a vintage photo of a group of girl onto a fabulous product by The Vintage Workshop: Inkjet Linen Fabric Sheets. You can find this product HERE. I have used a lot of fabric sheets that you can print in your inkjet printer but this is my very favorite product, especially when working on "vintage-looking" projects. The linen adds to the "aged" appearance and gives it a marvelous texture. I can't use anything else now!!

I used a Ziggy photo marker to "color" the dress of the girl in the front row and then sewed the photo on linen fabric sheet to the piece.

A vintage 1920's love letter I bought on eBay a few years ago has gotten lots of mileage. I cut this snippet out that reads "I saw you" because it perfectly encapsulated my interpretation of the quote from The Little Prince. I wanted to show how, throught the eyes of love, even a "black and white" girl pops into color!

I added lots of vintage favorites...vintage millinery roses, a button I covered with a rose I embroidered on linen, a new heart-shaped "buckle," vintage lace, vintage tickets, a piece of vintage jewelry, very old buttons and delicious vintage tatting. Each piece represented the "dance-theme" of the photo and the feeling of a deep, nostalgic love.

My husband, James, distressed the frame for me, as well as some simple wood "appliques" I bought at the craft store. Putting the finished piece in the frame was one of those wonderful moments where I saw a picture in my head jump into real life. I live for those moments!

So that's it! I just had to share this exciting news. I'm already planning some new things to submit for the next issue!

En Le Jardin....an Alfresco Art Event

Some of you may have already seen some of the lovely posts some of my fellow even attendees have posted but in case you haven't, I MUST share with you the incredible weekend I had last month in Georgia! I'm a little late posting about this, but better late than never!

I have to start by explaining that the hostess of this event, Jennifer Hayslip, of Sweet Eye Candy Creations, is one of my dearest blogland-friend-turned-real-life-friends! I met her in the first few weeks of blogging, when she also was a newbie to blogging. We hit it off almost right away and have been friends ever since!

I had the opportunity to meet Jennifer in real life at Silver Bella last year, along with several other friends I've made online. It was surreal and wonderful to embrace these amazing women in real life!

Jennifer decided to host her very first art event in her beautiful home in Macon, Georgia, and of course attending wasn't even a question for me! It was called En Le Jardin: An Alfresco Art Event. My dear friend, Analise Sledd (another bloggy pal who lives about 20 minutes away and is one of my very closest buddies in real life!) and I got on a plane and flew to Georgia!

Here's Analise and I...this photo was taken by Tiffany (Shabby Scraps) and I LOVE it! What an amazing weekend. I'm going to pack this post FULL of photos and try to keep descriptions brief!

First of all, I have to tell you, if you've seen photos of Jenn Hayslip's home, you know it is BEAUTIFUL. But believe me, it is even MORE beautiful in person!

Here is her daughter Vivian's room that Analise and I slept in. It is full of so many precious details!

Jenn is the perfect hostess. She even left these bundles of towels on our beds, complete with our initials!

After a wonderful night of sleep, we got up Thursday morning, had breakfast and coffee. We were ALL ready ON TIME, which is pretty remarkable considering how many women were getting ready in one house! Me looking waaaaaay more awake than I felt... Lorraine and I...we're trying to get her to start a blog, but you may have heard some sweet peeps about her from dear Amy Powers. She has an amazing pink palace of a home that we learned the incredible background story of...After coffee and breakfast, a HUGE limo came and picked us up for shopping in beautiful Savannah. These are photos outside Jenn's house while we waited for the limo to arrive. You can see it the background. In the foreground are Tiffany and I in front of the gorgeous fountain in front of Jen's house.

The limo ride...Savannah was GORGEOUS. We had lunch at a historical home-turned-restaurant, The Olde Pink House.
We did some shopping at some lovely places, including Vintage General and Paris Market. Incredible "square" in the middle of downtown Savannah that surrounds this breathtakingly beautiful fountain...Back in the Day Bakery was a sweet surprise and the owner, Cheryl Day, was delightful! Here's an AMAZING sign hanging on the wall of the bakery. It's huge!

Tiffany captured this sweet shot from among the delicious confections offered there!

Tiffany with Cheryl Day, the owner of Back in the Day!

Here we are, enjoying the delicious desserts and coffees we selected.

The next morning was the morning of the art workshop and none of us had ANY idea just how many magical details Jenn had created. We were just in awe of all she had planned! Here are shots from the incredibly beautiful and delicious lunch we had, followed by the workshops.

Jenn's dining room, decorated beautifully...so fun to see this room in person after ogling it in flickr pics for so long! Natasha couldn't attend the workshop but she sent a "paper doll" of herself to enjoy the festivities with us! Jen and I are making sure she gets some of the champagne here....Gorgeous white tent in Jenn's backyard, which she transformed into a magical fairyland!
A banner that Kris Hurst made for Jenn. One of the wonderful surprises from the day was that Kris Hurst herself came! It was so wonderful to meet her in person. She is as delightful and sweet as she is talented.A gift for each of us, from Jenn, at each place setting. The "napkin" was a vintage hankie!Each chair had a vintage pillowcase on the back... Incredible tablescapes full of vintage charm...
Kim Caldwell and I...Lorraine and I...We had a mini vendor-faire and I had a little spot on the table but there are no pics of my stuff! But here I am very intently working on price stickers.... Andrea Singarella and I...Amazing centerpieces! That's my head in the background.Tiffany and Andrea...We each made/put together something for each atendee and then Andrea Singarella put each of the gifts in a bag for each of us. Holy cow...you wouldn't believe the treasures I received. Me being a silly coquette with my "vintage hankie" napkin! A charming vignette Jenn created in a corner of the yard...And that was just the lunch! Jenn had prepared incredible projects for us to do. One was a flower pot. Mine isn't finished but this is a gorgeous photo Tiffany took of her and Andrea's pots:

This was the other project: a darling "fairy ball." Here are a few of them hanging from a tree in Jen's yard. Aren't they magical?

That night we went to Jen's friend, Suzanne's house, for cocktails and dinner. Suzanne and her husband were wonderful hosts and it was a delicious good time!

Jen, Jessi and I unintentionally all wore floral dresses that looked cute together! It was an amazing weekend and one I won't forget. I needed (very badly!) to get away and have some "me" time. I got to take off my mommy hat, be silly, be creative, laugh, cry, eat good food and so much more. There is something so special about spending "real time" with other creative women who "get" me. Silver Bella was great in that way, too, but there is something EXTRA special about the intimacy of a small workshop like this. I REALLY got to know these women. Priceless! I hope Jenn does another workshop next year!

A Happy Imbalance

Motherhood, for me, as a young mama of three kids seven and under, is a balancing act. Picture a tightrope walker in a cute pink tutu, gingerly navigating a rope. That's me!

Swaying, bending, righting myself....

Over-compensating...leaning too far in the opposite direction...

A step or two seem perfect, but then comes the near-fall...

Teetering, leaning, concentrating, with the sweat of my exertion wetting my brow...

A balancing act: My needs on one side and my children's needs on the other.

If you're anything like me, your pre-baby self imagined motherhood more like organizing the pantry than as a treacherous tightrope. The pantry in your mind had clean shelves on each side, prettily covered in pink and blue floral shelf paper. You (wearing a PRECIOUS retro apron, hair in a cute ponytail) would gracefully take each can or box or carton and put it on the appropriate shelf. Label side out. In alphabetical order.

The Pantry Shelf Mother shopped carefully before her baby showers, registering for items that would make this carefully-ordered life with her new baby simpler, cleaner, neater and more convenient.

Then Baby arrived. If you are a young mom I needn't spell out the fallacy of Pantry Shelf Motherhood. We know that we aren't dealing with cans of peas.

Tightrope-Walker Motherhood replaces neat and tidy visions of domesticity. Baby quickly teaches us that part of us must....well, DIE (you don't find that gem on a Hallmark card, now do you??). Our goals, plans, dreams and even needs take a back-seat to the ever-present, immediate needs of this tiny person we are responsible for keeping alive. Very soon we experience the "pull" between our own needs and those of our children. The tightrope walk begins. And we feel guilty that we are on it.

But Mom, here's the deal: the fact that you are ON that tightrope at all means YOU are a good mom. Read that again; let it soak in; believe it. You are striving for balance. You are wisely considering the needs of your precious children and your precious self. We all know moms, or perhaps are one ourselves, who have believed that a "good mom" means every bit of ourselves, our time and our energy must be spent on our children, or we are "bad" or "selfish" moms. We are afraid of becoming one of those moms and terrified we already are one.

But of course total selflessness is impossible; no one accomplishes it. So each and every one of us fails miserably, every day, at being the perfectly unselfish mother we are afraid we are supposed to be. To not fail, and often, is impossible. Deep in your "knowing place" you know this to be true; we all do.

And yet, it feels like "either/or" with our own needs on one side (impossible to ignore) and our children's on the other. This means that when we take care of ourselves, we feel we don't deserve it and that we've somehow taken something from our children's mouths to feed ourselves. It becomes an impossible, guilt-laced choice.

Who is taking care of you, though? Hopefully you have a true Partner that gives you a chance to get off the tightrope sometimes. But who knows what you need and takes care of your needs best, at the end of the day? Who makes sure you don't go "hungry"? You know, deep within you, that that role can only be filled by...you.

Choosing your children's needs above your own is something we moms DO. But since we can never give to ourselves without guilt, we often ignore our needs even when we don't have to. We think going without and the accompanying loss, is better somehow than the scary proposition of trying to meet both well.

Your children need you. But they need a mama who is healthy, whole and...happy. They need (desperately) for you to not need them to be happy for your own happiness. They need you to mother you, as well as them.

So hop up on that tightrope, Sweet Mama. Walk that tightrope with confidence...not that you will ever achieve that illusory perfect balance. But have confidence that that's o.k.! Perfect balance is a myth, after all. You will teeter, lean one way and then the other, always in motion, always striving for but never perfect achieving, balance. And in doing so you will find a happy imbalance in which a child and a mother can live messily and joyfully together. Most of the time...

***Photos by MissWhit a.k.a. Aunt Whitney

Yummy New Stuff!

Just a few new yummies in the shoppe....now don't drool on the merchandise! ;) You can find them HERE.

A new Fabricaholic Bag...these are so fun to put together and they don't last long in the shoppe, so hurry over if you want one!

A cupcake applique kit...this is the same cupcake I offer in my Yummy Pocket Pillow Kit, but this is just the cupcake. You can put it on a pillow, a t-shirt, or whatever your heart desires! You get the top and bottom of the cupcake (pre-treated to not fray!), a circle of ticking to make the "yo-yo," matching embroidery thread on cute little wooden spools and even a needle. I have COMPLETE instruction (with photos of me doing EACH step) available if you purchase this kit.
Delicious pink pom-pom trim. I love this stuff and use it a lot, so I thought I'd offer it to you, too.

A yummy bundle of aqua goodness...

Midnight Breeze: A Summer Quilt Pattern

New to the shoppe! Isn't this exquisite? I love the romantic feel of it. I am planning to make one of these for my bed! This incredible pattern by Jackie Clark includes instructions for making this in 3 sizes: twin, queen or king.

You can purchase this pattern HERE.

A Sneak Peek

I've been hinting a bit here and there about some new things I've been doing lately. I'm working on a fabric book for a dear customer (still!) that is nearly done...can't wait to show it to you. But here and there, over the last few months, I've been working on something else...something totally different than I've ever done before. I've been working on some altered clothing pieces and it has been such a joy. I've got a lot more up my sleeve and will give you more info soon, but I couldn't resist showing you a few "sneak peeks" from the photo shoot today. Thank you to my sister, Laura Joy, who is the beautiful blonde model! :) And thank you to my sister, Whitney, who edited/texturized these photos. And last but not least, thank you to my husband, James, who took the photos! :)

Nummy Nums

Some yummy new things in the shoppe!