Lace collecting and stoage

 

Anyone that follows me or has seen any of my work knows I love lace, buttons, vintage textiles and all the other wonderful bits and pieces in the baskets of leftovers at the thrift shops.

Above is a sample of my finds from this summer.  I thought today I would share a quick post of how I organize everything.  

First a disclaimer, I would love to have everything in archival boxes and bags!!!  But that is not in my budget or workable for my space.  I do have some items stored in archival products.  They are things that are special and I will not be using in any of my projects.  It is also why I don't collect antique quilts or large pieces.  They deserve better than I can give them.  Hopefully they find a home that can give them the respect they are due.  

Most of the things I have are damaged, unfinished, sweet but not unique.  Most I plan on using either in projects, learning the techniques used to make them or used everyday in my home.  It makes me so sad to see all these little beauties made with such care and love abandoned and forgotten.  To me, if I can add a little of them to my work it's like giving them and their creator a second chance at being seen and appreciated.

So the best I can do is give them a clean, organized, dry space out on the light. A quiet place to rest until inspiration hits and I find a way to play with them.

First, if I can't find it then it won't get used.  Or, if I can't find it I'll waste all afternoon looking through everything till I do.  That usually involves a mess!

Boxes:

#1 Vintage hankies (collecting for a quilt). #2 Special pieces ( small pieces I will not cut-up). #3 Vintage fashion (items like collar pieces).  #4 Pillowcases and aprons.

Boxes:  Things with colors and piece I may use around the house.

Boxes:  #1 Black lace of all types. #2 Vintage trims.  #3 Cutters (pieces in very poor shape, great for cutting up and adding to art projects.

And then there is all the other stuff.

New ribbons and trims. These are all sorted by color.

                                   Buttons and beads and all the fun crazy stuff.

Hope you enjoyed the tour and maybe found something helpful.

Have a great day!

MaryEllen

SAQA Trunk Show-Flowers on the Wall

 

Well it's finally on the way.  I finished this piece about two months ago but it took until this week to do the paperwork and get it in the mail.  The deadline is Saturday!  Any of you have that wait to the last minute habit.  I love doing the piece but that paperwork!  And the thing is the paperwork only took a half an hour once I did it.  But it sure took hours and hours of   "I'll get to it tomorrow for sure".

Flowers on the wall: 11" X 7", Hand dyed vintage linen, various embroidery threads, vintage lace, charms, upholstery fabrics, hand dyed satin and twine.

While working on this piece I was trying to create the feeling of wild flowers and tall grasses as they climb up the side of an abandoned building. Turning the wall into something both sad and beautiful at the same time.

SAQA Trunk Shows are one way SAQA uses to allow people to see up close work from many of our SAQA artists.  The Trunk Show quilts will be traveling the world over the next three years.  I hope you will be able to find a place near you to visit them in person.  More information about SAQA and the Trunk Show can be found at SAQA.com

Have a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

Fall is here and I'm back working in my studio

 

I've been away for the better part of the summer which was wonderful but it does make a person go really off schedule.  Since being back I've been super busy with just getting back to normal, making up for missed appointments and cleaning and reorganizing my home and studio.

So today will be a short post to get my motivation and rhythm back in gear.

One of the things I was working on this summer was using my gelli prints.  I've done some experimenting with printing on fabric and it's been a bit of a trial and error thing. Most of the informatinon I see is working on paper.  I find the fabric  aspect to be really challenging but equally exciting. 

Getting the fabric to mantain a soft hand is hard and I think a lot of experimenting with different types of paint is going to be critical.  I must admit to date my paints tend to be of the cheap variety.  I have been waiting to invest in better paints till I understood the process a bit more. This sounds like a reasonable plan but at the same time poor materials can be frustrating. So the idea of saving money definitely needs to be evaluated often and at some point you may need to just dive in and get the better stuff.

Above is a selection of my current prints.

Most of what I've made so far has been used for journal pages but I have started to use a few prints to make note cards.  

Gelli prints on cotton muslin.

Paint and other fabrics added.

Embroidery, paint, netting and bits of silk ribbon are added. Mounted on cardstock and then blank note cards.

My remaining prints are now wrapped around a wooden spool waiting for another project.

I hope this quick post inspires you to start a small project to restart your creative journey.

Have a great day! 

MaryEllen