Artist block or blocked Artist?????

On the Quilt Art list there has been a running thread about artist block and how each one deals with this, but I have blocked artist.Let me explain, for the past few months we have been packing up our present home for a move to a new home and so I had also to pack up my studio.This has made me think of what I want to take with me, what I want to do/work on, and as space is tight (non existant really) I had to think small. All of this has really helped because I decided to try new things, e.g. hand felting for one, also a limited pallet, and only hand work (not easy with arthritis in your hands) I could have looked at all this as a negative situation but instead it will give me a chance to try out new techniques in a small way first and if I like what I do when my new studio is ready work larger. If I need inspiration I only have to visit some blogs I really enjoy and I'm off and running again, not with copy-cat work but ideas sparcked.Now its only two weeks Friday to our move, then the fun begins. How do you get over artist block?Hope you call again.

Take Care,

Janette

Counting time!!

I have packed ALL my goodies from my studio and its all in boxes but I have no idea whats in wgat box so unpacking could be fun.Its only four weeks before our move and I know time will jjust fly past.I have already "sent" some creative goodies down in our caravan (dont tell Bill) and I'm looking forward to trying my hand felting goodies and relaxing a little. On a more seriouse note my friend has cancer in more areas than was first thought so things are not looking too good, all we can do is hope and pray.I must go now, I will have a new e-mail addi after we move so I need to find out if that means I will be unable to access this blog???????????Have I said I'm computer challenged???????????????
Call again I am always pleased to hear from you.
Take Care
Janette

Thoughts on Magazines

As I have had to decide what to spend my hard earned cash on I had to take a long hard look at all the magazines I either bought or subscribed to and figure out which ones if any I wanted to continue subscribing to and buying.I have cut it down to One subscription, and Two I buuy on a smi regular basis. My subscription is to Quilting Arts, in my opinion this is my inspirational magazine, when it went to bi-monthly I did wonder if the content woow wrong could I buld suffer, LOL, how wrong could I be!! This magazine has got better and bigger and while I do'nt like everything in every issue this is my must have subscription.The down side is it costs more for the international postage however there is nothing this good published here in the U.K. so I will continue to subscribe for as long as I can afford to.
The two magazines I buy are Stitch and Workbox, neither of these are quilting magazines but both have have quilting articles in them. Stitch is more an embroidery magazine but as quilting and embroidery often cross over these days and it is also a very informat and inspiring magazine I llike to look through it before I decide to buy. Workbox is also more of an embroidery magazine and again has quilting articles, it also is informative, and again I look through before I buy.
These three magazine plus my internet connection give me all the help, information and inspiration I need. What magazines help you?
Take Care
Janette

Talking quilts and other things.......

Well now that I have packed all my fabric (Yikes!) and books what am I to do???Well my Quilting Arts mag. arrived as did my S.A.Q.A. (Studio Art Qults Association) newsletter , both of these magazines are full of inspitation and helpful advice and I read them more than once as I usually miss things first time round.When we move I plan to make new work using techniques I have never used before maybe more discharge then dyed , painted then thread painted over and use paint to accent areas of work.Information in Q.A. mags will help me work through lots of new and interestin techniques . The fact that I will be cut off, isotaled, on my own means no distractions so on my work day I can do just that WORK, I'm also hopeing that because I'm working solo I will not be influenced by other peoples ideas even if they think they are helping.I will take my hand felting tool and some wool tops as well as other bits and bobs.My plan is also to enter quilt shows both U.K. and in the U.S.A. as finances allow as entry fees can be quite steep however two of the web lists I,m on both have access to shows that I may not think of entering by myself , they have challenges with a theme and you enter a piece of work which is entered as part of an exhibition within the show.This gives me an in to people seeing my work in shows without the stress of everything that goes with entries, one entry fee for more than one show, thats in the U.S. and does not apply in this country which is a shame. In a way I am quite looking forward to the "rest" and plan to use my ideas book in the mean time., makes me wonder what others do if they have time without tools etc. Thanks for chatting, hope you come again.
Take Care
Janette

Time out

My Ichie Quilts book arrived today soI had some time out, mmmmmmmmm dont know if its quite what I expected however the inchies are lovely and the quilts look good.I have learned at least one new thing from the book, use a smaller satin stitch than the one I was useing, and it does make them look better.I think like most things its practise but they are fun to make which ever way you make them. In the book they are made from a single piece of fabric either just cut at random or fussy cut, in a tutorial I saw on line they used fusible to make fabric from lots of bits, while this is great fun it does mean there is a lot of "glue" so the needle gets gummed up fast.All I need now is TIME to try out all the things I want to try.I have looked and found wool tops, plain and coloured to use in my hand felting, now that I have a hand felting tool.This is an attempt to do something creative in a very small space. We are off to meet up with friends for a meal at a local restuarant so more time out (from packing!!!!) Its only 8 weekst to move day and I know it will fly so I am really trying hard to organise everything but some things will have to besorted at the lastminute.Time to go out now, you take care, and call again
Janette

Inchies and other quilty things.

Have you found inchies? I have only just begun to make these little works of art and I find them adictive, I am already planning to do more. I have also ordered a book called Inchie Quilts forget the name of the quilter, yes another book after I said no more!! One of the reasons I decided to give inchies a try was the size, no need for a large work area or lots of fabric, I also think they could be done by hand yet another reason to make them, and they can be used in quite a wide variety of ways.Can you tell I'm hooked??? Because of all the stuff going on right now my brain stops working and my memory goes on holiday, do you get the picture, so small is good.Its now only 10 weeks until we move and it may sound a long time but it will fly in with that in mind we have readied our llittle caravan and its close to ready to go. I have another quilt to finnish very soon, this one needs to be ready to go BEFORE we move however I think its almost there not much more stitching by machine then its embellishing and hand work which I can do later. This one has to be mailed to the U.S. and if all goes to plan I can send it off July ish.The theme was famouse pairs. my first attempt morphed into Sonny and Cher still w.i.p. but what I started to do was Adam and Eve so I had to start all over again this time it stayed as Adam and Eve with an apple.I tried to work the same way as Pamela Allen, I have her DVD Think Like an Artist but dont think I'm quite there yet however I have worked in a new way for me. Well now I must go and do more packing, will it never end!!!!Hope you enjoyed your visit, come again.
Take Care
Janette

Quilt Show thoughts.

Hello again, yesterday I went to a quilt show in Edinburgh, its an anual event by Grosvenor Exhibitions.First of all this comppany charges vendors a high price for the booth and this has resulted in fewer and fewer vendors.One vendor I know well told me yesteday that this will be her last time in Scotland as the overheads are just too much so yet again we in Scotland loose out. Two vendors I wanted to buy from were missing and I only bought two books (like I NEEDED another two books) two little pieces of fabric, well they were cheap and some buttons, all in all a cheap day out. Now for the quilt, as usual Grosvenor had a number of quilt exhibitions within the overall exhibition, I'm not sure if this is too fill space because of a poor entry exhibit and at £10 +per entry I can see why the entry section may be small, that said there were one or two quite nice quilts however the overall standard in the judged section was questionable, e.g. one quilt was Highly Commended, this quilt was poorly bordered, did not lay flat and the corners were dreadful. My first thought was that this was a first ever quilt but when I read the artist statement I discovered it was a quilter I know and she teaches, so I had to wonder what the judges were thinking when they made this award.I did pick up a couple of entry forms and hope to enter one show in England and the next Scottish one after all if I am going to be critical I should put my quilt where my mouth is. This was probably my last time visiting this show as Campbeltown is just too far away. I still need to finnish my pair's quilt and do more packing in my studio so its back to the grind stone.
Take Care
Janette