Adventures in Quilt Making

For the past few weeks I have ventured into the world of quilt making.  Trust me, it's harder than it looks!  My grandmother, Norma Fehler, who is now in her nineties, has been making quilts for as long as I can remember.  She's made a full size quilt for each of her 6 grandchildren, and a few of the great grandchildren I'm sure, before her age got the better of her.  She also spent years as part of the quilting group at her church, where God only knows how many hours they spent around the quilting table, creating elaborate blankets for all kinds of things.  I remember being a child sitting on the floor next to her while she and the ladies stitched away, with the small project she'd given me to learn with.   My quilt has always been a cherished possession, a physical manifestation of my grandmothers skill, creativity, and love.  She liked to make quilts with dolls, but I wanted cats.

That day sitting on the floor at my grandma's feet was a long time ago, I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6.  Since then I've grown up, I graduated collage, got married, and moved to 'the big city.'  I've realized that my parents and grandparents are much smarter than I ever gave them credit for!  With the deaths of both my grandfathers and the realization that I don't get to ask them any more questions about their lives and what they've learned, I've decided not to make the same mistake with my grandmothers.  So, I went to Kentucky to visit Grandma Fehler, and ask her to teach me to quilt...and the adventure begins!

As soon as I told her what I wanted to do she took me to her quilting room, a small bedroom with bright red carpet, equipped with quilting books, magazines, a work table, an old sewing machine, and a closet full of fabric in plastic tubs that she's amassed over the years.  She proceeded to have me pull out nearly every tub and take all the fabric I wanted.  She also sent me home with a rotary cutter, cutting mat, a bias square, ruler, a bag of thread, and a bag of stencils and patterns.  As well as a basic 'how to' book with 101 different block patterns, and a history book of Appalachian quilting traditions.  Among these things I found fabric that had been used in the quilt she made for me, as well as unused blocks, and the stencils she used to make my quilt.  With a box full of supplies, I traveled back to Chicago to get started.

After my first failed attempt:

I choose a different pattern with pieces that are all the same...it may not look easier, but trust me, it is!  I know how to sew, I can make clothes, and am pretty good at it actually!  But piecing together a quilt is not the same, while some of the basic skills are transferable, many of the rules in sewing clothing just don't apply!  For example, when you're sewing clothes, you have to alter the pattern to fit your body, lots of curves and improvisation.  In quilting, it's science, each piece has to be a perfect geometric shape to fit in with the other shapes so the seams all line up and there isn't extra fabric where there shouldn't be.

Where I had to stitch together a place where the seams didn't line up.

Where there was too much fabric, creating a weird bubble.

This blatantly obvious example of seams not lining up. 

...It's a little exhausting.  

My first few blocks were coming out pretty good, and because my grandmother is just as computer literate as most other ninety year old women, I took a picture, sent it to my parents, who printed it out and showed my grandma, who (because she can't hear you on the phone) gave her thoughts and advice to my parents, who called and relayed them to me...this also is a little exhausting!

I worked feverishly to piece together the entire quilt, and after pulling out my quilt Grandma made me (many times) to see how she did things, I had the thing put together.  As if that part wasn't hard enough, now I had to cut a huge piece of fabric for the back, and get batting (or stuffing) for the center.  One important thing about batting, get something that won't shrink, or preshrink it.  Otherwise, when you wash the quilt, the center with shrink and the rest of the fabric won't.  I have no idea what that will look like, but that's what Grandma told me!

While at the store I went to the quilting section to find a hoop (the only thing Grandma didn't have for me) and saw an entire shelf of huge packs of safety pins.  I should have bought them.  I have a total of 4 safety pins, and I discovered the best way to hold together the three layers of the quilt while you're stitching is with safety pins.  I laid out the three layers and started basically sewing it together using obscenely large stitches between each block (something my mother told me she once saw her grandmother do).  Realizing that I'd smoothed out the top layer and not the bottom layer and ended up with a really bunched up back and had to take out all the stitches and do it over again.   As you can see, the cat was pretty excited about it.

She really didn't make the process any easier!

Once that was finished, I got to start stitching.  I found a few stencils from the bag of them from Grandma, and began to trace and stitch...trace and stitch.  It's a very long process!  For about 5 seconds I considered using the same boarder pattern that Grandma created herself and used on my quilt.  I feel like it's obvious why I decided against this.

During this entire process I was continually sending pictures for my parents to take to my grandma.  Once it really began to take shape and look like a quilt, my dad told me Grandma was impressed with my work.  I was doing it right!  This seasoned quilter looked at my very first quilt and was impressed!  Deep down I think we all want to do something our parents and grandparents will be impressed by.  I've never had a really close relationship with my Grandma Fehler, they lived 30 mins away, went to a different church, I just didn't see them that much, and really didn't have much to bond with them over.  Now I feel like I have finally found something to connect with her through.  This process has not just been about my learning how to make a quilt, it's much more than that.  It's been about getting to know my grandmother, learning from her before I can't anymore.  I have learned invaluable lessons from my grandparents.  I am so incredibly blessed to have them, and I believe I am a better person because of them.

This past Tuesday, I finished my quilt.

 I even added a little tag with my name and the date, just like Grandma did with all of her quilts, they are after all, works of art. 

Now I can't wait for Thanksgiving, when I'll travel back to Kentucky to show my finished work to my grandmother, and teacher. 

I hope she will be proud of me.

Status: Employed!

Finally I get to post this post!  My very first post on this blog was about not having a job.  I've been interviewing for jobs since I left my last one, but haven't been able to find the right fit.  I've been working to better my business in the mean time.  The last few weeks I've been working on a quilt (more about that adventure later!) and I've been going through a long interview process with a chainmaille jewelry company.  I got the job!

Part of the appeal of this job is that it will fit perfectly with my business!  The woman who started the company, and still owns and runs it, started it from a spare bedroom in her home, much like what I'm trying to do!  They also support their employees in having their own enterprises.  I'm hoping that I can learn a lot about starting a business from working there, and that it will motivate me further to pursue my own dreams.

I found that it is incredibly difficult to stay motivated.  I started a different project a few weeks ago, quilting, as well as focusing so hard on trying to find a job, I kind of lost sight of my goals.  It's hard to keep to a schedule and it's hard to keep my eyes on the goal.

I'm hoping with a job schedule to keep I'll be able to set a solid schedule outside of work.  In the mean time I'm working on a few new posts that will be published soon!  I've been working on a quilt, a new painting, and some new photos that I have a lot to write about!

More on all that soon!  I only wanted to share my news!

Product Photography is Hard!

This is a fact: You cannot take any old photo and throw it on your listing and have it look good.  Having good photos of your product is crucial to online sales because your customer can't pick up your item and look at it, they rely on your photos.  That being said...product photography is hard!  I have a wonderful friend (Liz) that has done some incredible photography for me in the past.  Here are a few of my favorites:

She's incredible right!?  Sadly, she lives in Kentucky, and I'm in Chicago, while she's graciously offered to photograph anything I send her, it's just not feasible to send her every new piece and then have her send it back.  So, I've been trying to come up with some solutions of my own.  I have a nice DSLR camera, a Nikon D3200, which I would recommend if you're shopping for a camera.  I also have a set of macro lenses for close up shots, a set a clamp lights with day light bulbs in them, and lastly, and probably most importantly, I have at least a rudimentary knowledge of photography.  

But product photography is a whole other animal when you compare it to photographing geese.  Instead of finding a good position, adjusting your aperture and shutter speed, then hunkering down and waiting for the perfect shot, you're constantly trying to find the perfect way to configure the lights, then what kinds of backgrounds to use, and how to make your item look it's best.  Like I said, a whole other animal!    

The very first product photos looked like this:

...less than amazing.  Over the past year and a half I have gotten better, my most recent photos are starting to look like I want them to.

My set up for these included a box fan, fabric, 2 clamp lights with daylight bulbs, an art book, and a poinsettia, among other things.  My photography equipment is currently taking over my kitchen table.

  Part of the reason Liz's photos are so good (aside from her incredible talent) is that she was able to take them outside, living in the city with no (private) outdoor space keeps me from doing this, so I've had to get creative.  Editing photos is also a crucial skill.  Not just cropping, but actually adjusting the colors and contrast to make the item look it's best.  I have a program called Gimp, it's a Photoshop knockoff and from what I've heard not as good, but it's free, and I've learned to use it pretty well.  It does make a difference!  For example, this is pre-editing:

Post-editing:

Using a photo editing program can only enhance an image, the art is in the actual taking of the photo.  There's no way to simulate good lighting or a good background that complements the item.  It's a skill that looks like it's going to be hard won for me, but the journey continues!  

Check out the rest of my photos on Etsy!

Kentucky Music Weekend 2014

Finally getting some much needed rest back in Chicago!  The Kentucky Music Weekend suffered somewhat this year but I had an awesome time none the less!  I got to meet some great people and certainly learned a lot!  I tried my best to keep facebook updated throughout the day Saturday, but a couple facebook posts really don't do the experience justice!

Friday was set up day, after getting in, visiting with some friends, selling some earrings, and of course a nap after the over night bus ride, we got to the park for check in and set up!  My amazing parents pretty much had everything ready to go when I got in.  My dad and I went to the park Friday night and set up our tent, which is pretty much the only thing we could leave out over night.  It was quite interesting trying to figure out the tent after it spent the last year in a box!

As you can see, we got it figured out!  There's my dad!  He wasn't too keen on getting his picture taken.

Saturday stared out amazing, we got there bright and early, got everything set up, met my neighbors and got started!  Ironically the first thing I sold was my father's dulcimer that I was using as a display for one of my necklaces. 

This year, I brought some of my paintings, drawings, and photos in addition to my jewelry, so we had to be a little more creative with the set up.  To keep with the theme of the weekend, my dad (who conveniently had all this stuff at home already) used music stands, mic stands, and instruments to display my work, on top of the jewelry displays he built last year.  

As the day progressed, the temperatures got well into the 90's, but we toughed it out and still had a great day.  I had a few memorable customers;  One woman who bought a necklace and earring set, who went on and on about the jewelry and how much she liked everything, she even stopped back by later in the day with her family!  A gentleman stopped by and asked about one of my new designs, I answered his questions, he thanked me and left, I wasn't sure what to think about it, until he returned wasting no time in pointing out the necklace he had asked about before and said simply that he wanted to buy it!  I like to think he went to all the jewelry booths, decided he liked my necklace the best, and came back to get it.  The most memorable customer of the day was definitely a woman who told me a story about her pink and peacock pearls she got in Florida, and a few years later her home was broken into and her pearls stolen.  She picked out a necklace and bracelet set, (pink and peacock pearls,) handed them to me with a smile and said "these will replace what I have lost."  She purchased them, and then returned later to get the matching earrings.  She reminded me of why I like doing this so much, simply to make people happy.  

I did have several family and friends also make purchases, and of course all my facebook friends showing their support with 'like's throughout the day.  These people are simply invaluable to me, the amazing show of support has been incredibly uplifting!

The day did have it's challenges, the wind was great in keeping the temperatures from feeling as hot as they were, but they also caused some serious issues for us!  The partition was blown over once, thankfully not doing any significant damage to person or merchandise, and one of the jewelry displays was blown over twice, and we almost lost one of my favorite necklaces!  After some intense re-staking and added weights we managed to get everything safely nailed to the ground.  With storms on the forecast for the evening, we took everything down for the evening and went home to recover.  My feet were so swollen from the heat that I couldn't put my sandals back on, and felt like a true Kentuckian walking back across the parking lot in my bare feet!

Sadly, the storms ended up being our downfall.  That evening, the weather got so severe the amphitheater lost power, there was damage to some areas of the park, and a few tents were damaged.  During the evening concert a storm hit and blew rain and debris onto the audience, they had to be pulled up onto the stage out of harms way!  Due to the evenings events, and the forecast of more storms on Sunday, the second day of the weekend was cancelled.  I'm sure it was a hard decision to make, and I believe we were all disappointed, but I had a great Saturday none the less!  I was able to take advantage of my unexpected free time, got my Etsy store up and running, and spent some time with my family.

All things considered, I will most definitely be coming back to the Kentucky Music Weekend again next year!  Despite the storms, I was reminded of why I am doing this.  Getting to hear all the great complements about my work, realizing that I am a pretty good artist, but more than that, I got to make some people happy!  I was able provide a woman with pearls to replace the ones she lost, able to alter pieces on the spot so some amazing ladies could have jewelry that fit them just right, and able to offer many people jewelry and art to bring beauty to their lives.   

 In the mean time, please take a look at my Etsy store, and send me your email if you wish to be put on my email list, where I will send out special announcements and offers!

Geese at the Beach

Have you ever been at the beach and seen Canada Geese?  Well, apparently that's a thing that happens here, but it did make for a great photo taking experience!  It was a beautiful day Friday and the beach was understandably crowded, I'm not really a fan of crowds so I found a little forgotten corner of the beach where the sand turns to rock and climbed up to get my camera set up.  This was my first real chance to use my mono pod!

Not long after I got there this little flock of Canada Geese swam up.  We got along!

This little seagull did not seem too pleased about the geese being there, they even ran him off a couple times, but he seems to have claimed this spot of beach for himself, and knew the geese wouldn't be staying for very long, just a stop on their migration.  They spent time cleaning themselves, eating, and swimming.  They knew I was there, they would look over at me every few minutes, but they never seemed to mind my presence.  It occurred to me that these birds are probably the largest wild animals I will see in the city.  Birds are fascinating, they have a freedom that we will never know, they can go anywhere, fly anywhere, and they are so incredibly beautiful while doing it.  I get to admire these animals , and maybe somehow imitate them.  I'm embarking on a new journey in life, maybe this is my chance to fly to freedom?  Since I have no idea how to be an entrepreneur so I've been reading books about it, they all talk about the freedom of working for yourself, despite the downsides of it, I want to be like these birds.  

I love the experience of being tucked away in a forgotten nook in the rocks, being the silent observer while life happens in front of me.  I get to capture quiet moments that happen when no one else is looking.  Photography is different from painting in that way.  Painting, is about creating an image from the world around you, communicating some idea or point.  Painting is deep in a different way, photos capture one moment in time, while painting is an expression of many moments rolled into one image.  I love what I do, in moments like these I am so happy with my decision to get an art degree, instead of choosing a more secure path.  Maybe at the very least, I will be able to grow old without the regret of never taking this chance.  

Well, back to the geese!  Something that is equally interesting and frustrating about photography, is that you can take a zillion pictures and think that a certain shot is "the shot" and then when you go back through the pictures, you find one you don't even remember taking, and inevitably, it's one of the best pictures in the roll.  For this outing, this is that picture:

I love the colors in the water, the fluidity of it.  On top of all of the beautiful, sinuous, undulating waves, is this one creature, just floating.  For whatever reason, I find this beautiful, peaceful, and wonderful.  There is something really special in capturing one singe moment.

The Rebel Entrepreneur...Me

Today was a first for me.  A kind of tough first.  Today, Jon and I went to the library, although I've been to the library many times, it was the first time I went and did not visit the adult fiction section.

Now that I have realized my dream of being an entrepreneur I'm trying to figure out how to go about chasing this dream of mine.  Simply figuring out that I wanted to do this with my life was a two year long process.  Since graduating collage with a BFA, I have been searching for a job, and been wholly unsuccessful.  There is a specific way I was taught how to be an artist.  Which involves writing press releases, somehow convincing galleries to show my work and then getting collectors to buy the work and giving the gallery 50% of your profit, all while continuing to create work around whatever job you have to do to pay your bills.  It all sounded so horrible to me.  But there is a really wonderful thing about our culture today, there are no rules when it comes to making a way for yourself in the world.  I don't have to be content with a 9-5 job, I don't have to write a business plan and get a loan, or open a storefront.  I don't have to go to business school to run a business.

To tell you the truth, I never thought I would choose this.  When I was in high school I had a class on economics, it was taught by this older man with white hair, a large belly, and coke bottle glasses.  It was always the goal of us students to get the teacher going on a rant about some unrelated topic so we would get out of doing any actual work.  Often he would tell us about the businesses he and his wife owned, on top of his part time teaching job.  He would tell us how many hours he worked, how hard it was to run these businesses.  It sounded awful.  Why would I not want to just get a job that came with benefits?  I was very disenchanted with entrepreneurship.  What I've realized in my research thus far, is that I don't have to do business the way my high school teacher did.  I can go about it in a way that works for me, and even if I have to work those long hours, I will be doing exactly what I want to do.  I choose this work and I enjoy it.  What more could I want from a career?

So as it turns out, the book I've been reading, called "The $100 Start Up", was put on hold by another library patron so, I had to return it.  I did however, find several books that look promising in helping to guide me through running my business.  One called "The Rebel Entrepreneur, Rewriting the Business Rulebook"  I'm particularly excited about!  That's how I'm really viewing myself, as a Rebel Entrepreneur, and I couldn't be more excited about this new chapter in my life!

Going for the Dream

Jim Carrey is one of my husbands favorite comedians, recently he spoke at a graduation and said this: "So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality.  What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect that we never dare to ask the universe for it.  I'm saying, I'm the proof that you can ask the universe for it... You can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance and do what you love."

I don't really believe in asking the universe, I believe in prayer, and God, and His sovereignty.  What I am learning in my life, or maybe what God is teaching me in this experience, is that maybe I'm not meant to work a day job.  I have always thought that I had to get a job, somehow, I needed to figure out what job I could do to support myself and my family.  I never thought I could live off my talents.  I'm not sure what in my life has taught me this.  I grew up with a mother who always told me that I could do what ever I wanted to do, as long as I could pay my bills of course!  My parents are so amazing!  I haven't really realized just how amazing until I became an adult.  So many people I went to school with, other artists, did not have the full support of their parents.  They had to fight to do what they loved, they had to justify the years and the money  spent learning and developing their craft.  I didn't.  I had parents who were fully supporting my decisions, they loved me, fed me, housed me, my mother worked at the school I attended so I could get my tuition covered.  While the University of Louisville has many more lucrative degrees to pursue, and my mothers job would only pay for one degree, my mother never once questioned my choice to major in fine arts.  Her only issue was with how late I stayed on campus working, but it wouldn't have mattered what I studied, she wanted me safe!   My parents have even bought and commissioned work from me, they are my greatest patrons.

My husband is another great supporter.  I came to Chicago with Jonathan to support him in his acting career.  I came to a place I never really wanted to go,  because I loved my husband, and I believe that God has a plan for him and I believe Gods plan for me was to come here with him.  Yet I haven't been able to figure out what God has here for me.  I've been trying to figure out what I want to do for the past 2 years.  I was recently asked what my dream job is, I had no answer.  I know that the artists who can live off their work are rare, so, have I been trying to find a job because my dream seems so impossible?

In short...yes.  I never thought I could run my own art business, so I've never dared to go after it.  I never dreamed that my dream could become a reality.  So I've been trying to find a different career.  A safe career.

Jonathan checked out a book from the library about starting a microbusiness.  I'm reading it, I didn't want to at first, but Jon insisted.  He told me that he always thought I could do this, he's always thought I had what it took to be an entrepreneur.  He quoted Jim Carrey to me, he said, "I know it sounds cheesy, but you can do what you love."

So here goes, I'm going to try.  I'm going to do this.  I am going to 'ask the universe' for my dream.  I've been trying to do this my own way for the past two years, I have no idea what God has in store for me, but I can no longer ignore the direction my life is going in.  God has a plan for me, and maybe this is it, so I'm going for it, and praying for God to guide me as I go.

It is my prayer and my hope that you will go on this journey with me.

The Newest Painting!

Seagulls 4

Finally after several weeks of struggling with this image, I finally have a new painting!

This is a 12inx14in oil painting on panel.  It will be available for purchase at the Ky Music weekend in 2 weeks along with several of my other works, photos, and of course, jewelry!

If you're interested in this piece, or any of my other pieces, you can either find me at the park, (I'll be there!) or get in touch with me by commenting on the blog or through : facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LaPetitePearls?ref=hl

Painting is a Dirty Job!

I've been watching a lot of the show "Dirty Jobs" (I think it's on Animal Planet, for a few hours during the day, not that this show is really about animals but its better at least than some of their other shows that have nothing whatsoever to do with animals...but that's not something I'll get into tonight!)  I've never really considered painting to be that dirty, it's practically spotless when put next to some of the stuff Mike Rowe has done!  Yet tonight while trying to finish a painting, I'm reminded of just how messy it can get.

I got up from my easel to wash my hands before getting something to eat (oil paint is toxic, not like kill you toxic, but its at least make you really sick toxic, the fumes alone will make you crazy if you breathe it enough over a long enough period) so I go into the bathroom, washed the big paint streak off my arm, then found this...

...Nice.  At least I didn't walk out in public!  I'm reminded of being in art school and for us in the painting suite, it was pretty much assumed that we all had paint on us all the time.  We just ignored it, there was no use in trying to keep ourselves clean.  But we did at least try to warn each other before we left the studios.  One day, I was sitting outside the building when a fellow painter come out with paint of her face, I told her, and she thanked me said that she thought we had gotten so used to seeing paint on our faces that we just stopped noticing!  

I think that's true...and I have no idea how I got this on my chin!

The Kentucky Music Weekend!

I am officially going to be a part of the Kentucky Music Weekend's Arts and Crafts at Iroquois!  (It's a good thing too, because I bought my non-refundable bus ticket for this like a month ago!)

For those of who have never heard of this, the Kentucky Music Weekend is a music festival at Iroquois Park in Louisville, Kentucky.  It's bluegrass and folk music, which despite how annoyed some former co-workers have gotten over it, is my favorite kind of music!  There are so many amazing musicians that the world is missing out on because they can't enjoy the twang of a banjo!  I love it!  My dad is a musician and songwriter, he plays a number of different instruments, primarily guitar but also the banjo, mandolin, 2 kinds of dulcimers, and piano, and probably some others that I'm forgetting.  I spent quite a bit of my time as a kid in my parents basement with my dad listening to him play and trying to copy him.  Of course, he taught me all the basics, I know how to read music and can play (not well) the guitar.  I guess folk and bluegrass remind me of home, but more than that, I truly love the sound!

Last July I went to my first arts and crafts fair at this festival, and I'm going back again!  In case you missed last year, here's what I did:

The displays, are all thanks to my awesome dad!  He made just about everything!  My mom, who is in a few of these pictures, pretty much hung out with me the whole weekend, going on food runs, keeping me company, and of course being a constant source of encouragement!  

This year, on July 26th and 27th I'll be doing it again, this time I'll be bringing some of my paintings, drawings and photos!  Oh yeah, and new business cards!  (You can come get one of these for free!)

For more information about the festival, check out their website: http://www.kentuckymusicweekend.com/

and of course come check out the awesome art and other crafts!  We will be located at Iroquois Park near the amphitheater!