Creativity in the Time of COVID-19`

My blog has long been slumbering.  I've been busy, but the blog hasn't reflected it.

How are you doing?  That is what is on everyone's minds, what we ask each other.  The new buzzwords of our current situation are "pivoting", "be safe", etc..

My experience of the COVID-19 quarantine has been fairly typical of other creatives:  initially, I was unable to stay focused on anything that required much cerebral input.  My thoughts would easily scatter.  I think that was how I was manifesting my own anxiety and uncertainty.  I have been sharing this on Instagram, and I decided to stop worrying about it and just "do something":

So....gardening:

cooking...

 zooming (here with a weekly guild gathering)...

mask-making......

Constructing quilt patterns:

this is "Hunt", a pattern for hand-applique by 

Carolyn Friedlander

"Cabin Fever", a pattern by Joanna Marsh of

Kustom Kwilts (pattern coming soon)

made with my newly-announced line called

"Warehouse District", by Wishwell, a division of Robert Kaufman

And this one is still underway:

The "Proverbial Quilt" pattern by Denyse Schmidt 

made with more Warehouse District Fabric

I'm not following the layout but I am using her letter templates.

My quote is "We Are All Bozos On The Same Bus".

Seems apt for the times.

Here is a peek at the new collection:

I would normally be introducing the new collection at the Spring Quilt Market, which was to have been last weekend in Pittsburg PA.  Due the the quarantine, market was cancelled.

I'm thrilled about this line, which includes 15 prints on Pimatex cotton, 9 prints on cotton-linen Essex, 3 prints on 108" wideback cloth, and an assortment of cotton lawn prints.

The collection will be shipping to your favorite quit shop in August or September, depending on the manufacturing situation.  Print images available (copied from the Robert Kaufman website) below:

I hope you will look for it.  I can tell you have have been truly enjoying working with the collection.  I love combining the beautiful pimatex with the essex prints.  If you have never tried making something with Essex, you will love it!  The cloth gets softer and softer when washed.  It feels like linen and "behaves" like cotton, with far less raveling than pure linen.  I love it.

Here are a few of the objects made with Warehouse District:

Warehouse District Pimatex Cotton:

Warehouse District Essex:

Warehouse District Wide-Back Fabrics:

Here is the collection of prints on Cotton Lawn:

Quilt Retreat with the San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild

For the spring retreat with the San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild I did something I NEVER do:

I was organized!  I knew what I was going to make at the retreat!  I actually PREPARED!  In Advance!  People, this is a rare moment for me.....

I read the winter issue of Quiltfolk magazine.  (Have you subscribed yet?  If not, you should!  It is such an unusual and amazing publication!).  I've linked it here so you can click on over.  

In this issue (Issue #4) Anna Maria Horner collaborated with another quilt artist and they each developed a quilt pattern: one is a traditional iteration, and Anna Maria's is a modern take using her fabric collection.  I was enamored with Anna Maria's version and I purchased some of her fabric, added some from my Urban Garden Collection from RJR, and made the quilt!

This is the unheard of part:  I actually CUT EVERYTHING in advance of the retreat and had all my pieces organized into a 3-ring binder.  Gasp!

Here is a photo I took from the magazine article showing Anna and the other quilt artist 

(apologies:  I cannot recall her name!) showing Anna's quilt

Here I am at home, prior to the retreat, selecting and cutting my fabrics

I'm at the retreat and sewing all my blocks...

Blocks going up on the design wall....

closeup of a section.  I think Anna's collection and mine go well together!

the back....

here is the completed quilt.  It is, as I write, at Joanna Marsh's to be longarmed!

Introducing: Pollinator

If you know me at all, you know this:

I LOVE being in my garden!

Giant Alliums

Monarch caterpillar

Poblano peppers

Pomegranate fruit

butternut squash

 

Butterfly on Milkweed plant

 

Whale Tongue agave

When I am at home and in the studio I am also in and around my garden.  No matter where I have lived, a garden gets established and is an important element in my home.  There is something about the life cycle of a garden that serve as a metaphor for all things in life.  My habit is to walk my garden each morning before I go into the studio to work.  Interacting with my garden clears my mind and sets the tone for my work.  

Since moving to San Antonio I have become increasingly interested in establishing a garden that is xeric (low water), uses native plants, and provides attractants for pollinators.  These three characteristics were the driving force behind my current garden.  Pollinators are increasingly threatened by things such as broad-spectrum herbicides and diseases.  Thinking about these things led me to my current gardening practices and also to the idea of creating a collection of fabrics about Pollinators...

My drawings are always part of my design process.  Often, these are enlarged or reduced in size and made into thermofax screens.

I also use a variety of methods to get imagery onto and through a silk screen to create some of my designs.  Generally, I use thickened dye for my work....

....and I am very fortunate to have a great studio for this work.

Half of my studio is for design work, the other half is a "wet" studio which I use for print and dye work:

My garden environment paved the way for my new collection!

Here are some of the beautiful objects that my wonderful friend Joanna Marsh, of Kustom Kwilts, made for my part of the RJR Fabric booth at Quilt Market:

And here they are in the RJR booth:

 Here I am with Joanna, who made everything on my wall except the quilt!

I am truly excited to see what you will make with Pollinator!

The collection will ship to quilt shops in March, 2019.  

Ask your local quilt shop for it.  Please let me  see what you make with it!

As the designer, seeing what you make with the fabric is the very best part!