Yesterday morning in a state of grogginess I suddenly remembered I had a regional SAQA meeting to attend. I threw on some easy clothes and fled the house, leaving my mocha behind. I arrived about 10 minutes late and heard the group in the middle of sharing what they LOVE about making art quilts. When the question came to me, I found my own answer inarticulate and lacking, which, as always, caused the question to circle around and around, and this is what I WISH I had said:
I LOVE dipping my hand into the color and texture, I LOVE manipulating the material and watching the colors play and dance as I place them together. I LOVE the tiniest details of frayed edges, a straggling thread, a sketchy line, embroidered X’s and French knots in a wobbly row. I LOVE a mix of folklore and modern abstract. I LOVE a LOT of things about making textile art!
I realize one of my biggest joys is the TACTILE. Do you remember that tiny scene in the movie Amelie when the narrator is telling us all the things Amelie likes, and one of them is dipping her hand into a big sack of lentils? That is me. I LOVE to touch things and enjoy their texture! Lentils are especially delightful, but I also like running my fingers along rough brick walls and tree bark, and I LOVE holding smooth river rocks. I am obsessive about touching, squeezing, and nuzzling soft yarn. Truly, when I hear knitters talk about yarn porn I know exactly what they mean. It’s embarrassing.
ok, so in this image she's not dipping her hand into a sack of lentils, but she IS about to tap tap crack the crème broulée, conjuring up all sorts of sensory pleasure, including the tactile!
Going all the way with luscious yarn!
I’ve been losing myself on Pinterest for the past couple of days – it’s my escape from the daily political news which has been making me insane and irritable and irritating to others. I whisk myself away to wander in the forest of the mori kei – the lovely Japanese idyll of quiet girls living in nature with layers and layers of fabric that probably wouldn’t do so well in the real forest. My love of the mori kei style began before I knew that it was a style, several years ago when I bought like this dress from REBE at Crafty Wonderland and combined it with a polka dot skirt and cute boots.
Rebe dress with Goodwill polka dot skirt
I was up and running with something that was very me. Shortly after that purchase I saw a pattern book at the Japanese bookstore inside Uwajimaya called Stylish Dress Book and found that I could make a similar dress, and then I found out about mori
mori kei
And lagenlook
lagenlook style
And Magnolia Pearl
magnolia pearl
And NOW Östebro!
Östebro
And Une Fée dans la Citrouille
Une Fée dans la Citrouille
And whatever THIS piece of gorgeousness is!
Be still my heart! evdokiyah.livemaster.ru
At the end of the SAQA meeting yesterday another member asked if I knew about Tina Givens patterns – it was the second time in a week I’d been asked the same question! She said I could model for them, based on what I was wearing – the easy clothes I threw to rush to the meeting! This is what I wore, on the left, and look what I found on Pinterest this morning, on the right!
My outfit on the left: layered dress from Mexico, petticoat from an estate sale, sweater was on sale in a shop on Haight-Ashbury, about 4 years ago. (I knit the scarf.) On the right: Une Fée dans la Citrouille
Oh, and YES! I do know about Tina Givens! But I will save that for another day!