A Sewing We Will Go ....

My days and dreams are filled with cotton weaves, acetate Sulky threads, and the clicks and tricks of the embroidery computer program. I have to say, I don't mind it too much. In fact, I would love to have a Husqvarna Viking Diamond digital embroidery machine (or any of the less flashy models, I am not picky). I am now acquaintances with all of the staff in the media lab, as well as many frequent users. Hopefully one of SVA's artists in residence and I will soon be working together on a collaborative project.My quilt is almost done! I finally have all of the individual elements sewn (with love in every stitch of course!). I will hopefully finish piecing it together tomorrow and start the backing. There is just so much to do in this next week before open studios.
I little side project that I have been working on with the scraps, trials, and dare I say a few errors, that I had during my element block making is these little pillows. Hopefully I can get these babies online and sold asap!I am also making an embroidered book of "Madison Square Park Flora" filled with perenials, trees, and all the little grassy things you can think of! Here is the first part of the cover the I have embroidered and did a little watercolor background.
During my travels to fabric stores, my hubby and I discovered one of these infamous NYC Subway posters. These posters actually made quite the controversy when they were first discovered. There's one for the scrapbook!
Just in case you can't read the small print:

How does this affect my trip?
- You're not going anywhere
Why is service being changed?
- We are making service cuts because we want to screw you and make you think there's nothing you can do about it.


Priceless

Short and Sweet

The quilt and coming together quickly as well as my other artistic endeavors as the school year's end looms just three weeks away. In the next few days I will post more pictures and progresses, but for now, I had to show this picture that made my heart do a little happy dance. Shit Woot is one of the websites ( little side note, shirt.woot is part of the "woot family" that has absolutely AMAZING deals. If you haven't checked it out before, take a peek!) that I view daily for a little laugh or just for a creative t-shirt. Other than the Lord of the Rings reference shirt that was up a week or two ago, this one is near the top of my "I am kind of a nerd and things like this just make me so happy" list. I am not quite sure how much I like the Chuck Norris reference (but eh, it is a Chuck Norris reference after all, and I wouldn't want to irk him for fear he will destroy my quilted periodic table), but the whole idea of on element completely wrecking havoc on all of its peers (since I have been wrestling with them for this quilt!) brings a little sparkle to my day :).



I mean come on! How cool is this!?!?

I Found my Niche!

A busy week of art making, work, acupuncture, and a little bit of rest has led me to the conclusion that I LOVE digital embroidery. After spending 38 hours on any art project, I am ready to finish that baby up, hang it on the wall, and call it a day. I have been working on a quilt/applique of the Periodic Table of Elements, and I can not wait to hop back on that embroidery machine again tomorrow. I went to City Quilters with a fantastic array of patterns with beautiful detail and colors. Each pattern I chose with the idea of a specific elemental group in mind (this idea will become more clear when you see the final project).

I have also made a few more matryoshka dolls (some are still in the works, as you can see by the jump stitches :) ) to hopefully sell on Kickstarter.com, Etsy, or something similar to raise some money for this giant quilt and other college bills, so keep an eye out.

This spring has also been filled with beautiful weather and fantastic friends to enjoy it with! Walking to museums and galleries while weaving through the glass and metal maze of buildings will always lead the traveler to new and exciting place. Churches are sandwiched between skyscrapers and the windows reflect the city traffic down below.

Central Park also become quite a sight during the spring season. Adri and I strolled through the lower end of the Park, trying to make sure we didn't get lost in the Rambles (a small forested area with numerous twisting paths). We finally found Belvedere Castle and went up the winding stairs to view across the whole of the Park. The Great Lawn was closed, so people flocked like seagulls to the shores of the lakes and ponds on their blankets and towels (all those little white dots of bodies were so crammed together!) . I can't help but laugh at this image.

So much for my little break. Back to stitching!