This put up introduces what I count on to be a brand new sequence: This Week in My Studio. Because the title implies, in these posts I’ll be exhibiting what I’ve been as much as lately in my work area. This may imply a detailed take a look at a quilt I’m engaged on, or it could imply following alongside as I reorganize my materials, and even that includes all of the completely different locations my cat Djinni has claimed as her sleeping spots!
I hope in any case, that what I share can assist you in a technique or one other—by supplying you with some new concepts or a contemporary approach of taking a look at issues, or simply to entertain you for a small a part of your week. You could even discover the theme of a put up acquainted or comforting as you say to your self, “See, even Susan has a pile of materials she doesn’t know what to do with!” Let me know what you assume and share your individual experiences within the feedback under. Have any subject requests? Embrace them within the feedback part as nicely.
This week outdoors my studio, storms moved by leaving us with a ravishing snowy panorama. It’s the primary 12 months in many who now we have snow accumulating from storm-to-storm which has created a pleasant snow base—with no melting as a result of a month of frigid temperatures. I’ve been in a position to go snowshoeing from proper outdoors our door! Tom’s nice about protecting the trail between home and studio open for me, and the little hen prints beneath the dried worm feeder greet me at my studio door.
Inside my studio this week, I’ve been doing a Do-Si-Do, as Tom says. As he defines this use of the phrase, it’s how that as a way to accomplish one factor, it’s important to transfer, full, or in any other case handle a couple of different issues. Ever been there? This week I used to be doing a Do-Si-Do between material, pins, and glue.
What I actually wanted to perform was additional progress on our February Fish Workalong. This week’s “homework” that I gave myself in addition to our Thursday night attendees, was to finish a first-draft of our chosen fish—by including the tail and fins—plus contemplating background concepts and materials. Getting the fish tail and fins pinned after which glued, was simple although it does take time, which isn’t a foul factor to immerse your self in.
Nevertheless, the hunt for background material prospects concerned minor path blazing to achieve material cabinets obscured by: a rolling six-foot shelf storing a portion of my lace material assortment, my journey suitcase of sophistication supplies, stacked baskets of cloth on high of flat surfaces, two large studio lights, and a digicam on a tripod. Oh, and the basket of cat toys.
I had been avoiding that rearranging process for months, however now I wanted entry to my stash of orange materials. Different materials pulled for different initiatives have been piling up for awhile, able to be put away as soon as entry to shelving was restored. You’ll have a guess as to what I’ll be doing this weekend—the Material Do-Si-Do will proceed.
The Pin Do-Si-Do refers partially to tidying up my good and large pinning wall. For the second half of final 12 months, I made a decision to pin up a couple of unfinished initiatives together with smaller completed collages (above photograph), to encourage me for each private and sophistication concepts in instructions to go.
This week I began un-pinning and re-pinning the initiatives that will probably be labored on subsequent, and shuffling different cell pinning boards out of the best way (photograph under). By the Thursday night presentation I used to be in a position to pin the large blue fish quilt you see under left, onto my board for the Zoom assembly backdrop—my laptop is simply outdoors of the photograph. The opposite bits and items of art work you see are but to be handled.
For my class presentation prep, having an open space on the board was what I wanted to briefly pin on among the doable fish background material I discovered (photograph under). In lieu of utilizing an iron, I spray materials with water to simply clean out any folds. It’s like magic to me—the folds simply soften away—and whereas the material dries good and flat, I do different issues.
For more information about my pinning wall (the “everlasting” expanse is 14 ft lengthy by 7 ft tall, different panels are movable)—take a look at this put up describing my studio and particularly developing the pinning wall (in any other case my studio has modified a bit for the reason that unique posting date!).
As Thursday rolled nearer, it was time for the ol’ Pin and Glue Do-Si-Do with my blue goldfish class demo. In the course of a collage, I by no means have sufficient pins—no matter having, in all probability, hundreds of them. What occurs to all of them?? So I go searching for one thing to un-pin (another excuse to tidy up the pinning wall). However often they’re proper there, protruding of the piece I’m engaged on. I pin liberally. Once I run out of them, it means it’s time to connect and “launch the pins.”
Within the photograph under, the tail has been glued. The quantity you of pins you see on the magnetic pincushion are simply what was freed up from the tail. It took me one other few hours of gluing and unpinning to complete the remainder of the fish. To learn (and watch) extra about gluing, take a look at this put up: “Why Glue?”
The reward for this week’s Material, Pin, and Glue Do-Si-Do was to see all of it come collectively. Beneath, is among the doable material combos for my Goldie’s background. There have been not less than one other 4 or 5 “favorites” that the category, and Tom, chimed in on.
We’ll see the place this venture goes and what occurs over the course of subsequent week, in my studio.
It’s not too late (there’s per week left) to affix in on this February’s fish class!
Join any time this month and obtain any recordings you might have missed
and, when you can, attend remaining session dwell.
February 6, 13, 20, 27, 2025 — 7 pm, Jap Time
Fantastical Material Collage Fish Zoom Comply with-Alongside
REGISTER HERE
Value: $78
For extra info click on right here
BONUS VIDEO: February 2025 Fish Comply with Alongside Spotlight
How have you learnt when it’s time to connect? One trace is while you run out of pins. One other, as within the case under, is when the pins begin getting in your approach. This video demonstrates how I tack issues in place with glue as a way to safe my collage as I work—and to release pins so I can add extra material!