Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #1975: Five (six) favourite makes from 2014
This might very well be my favourite make of 2014 – a Dala horse, hand sewn for my 3-year-old (horse-crazy) niece Grace. While she is much too young to appreciate such an endeavour – I will point out to you that the saddle is English-paper-pieced hand-piecing and took me about 8 hours to do… but that’s not my favourite part. What I fell in love with is the embellished “straps” crafted from felt, ribbon, buttons and red embroidery thread. Something about that piece makes this little treat all the more lovable to me.
The pattern for this came from Love Patchwork and Quilting out of the UK – same folks who publish Mollie Makes and a host of other great magazines for makers.
2014 was a pretty good year for making things all around – despite the fact that work and other things (like cabin-building) have kept me very busy. I haven’t always been good about posting the handmade things here, unfortunately, as it wasn’t a really great year for blogging and I often just threw photos up on Facebook instead of logging in here. (Part of that was related to a firewall issue at work that made it difficult to post photos to my wordpress posts – this seems to have been resolved recently).
A few of my other favourite makes from the year are posted below – these are the items that I fell in love with – but not an exhaustive list of them. As I winnow away at my disappointment at not being “perfect” in my hand work (because I am not, will never be, don’t need to be) I find a great deal of enjoyment in most of the articles I complete. Probably the area where I feel the least satisfied in the last year is on the clothing front. I just didn’t give myself enough space to make clothing which requires nitpicking with sizing and patterns – and thus aside from one sweater and a tank top, most of the garments were pretty forgettable.
So what were my top five makes from 2014 aside from the Dala horse?
There are, of course, many things that took much time and did not make it up here today (like the lace table runner I spent four months crocheting) – and it’s not because they are lesser projects. Just that some things catch me with a particular appreciation – and they do tend to be the things I use everyday – the marriage of utility and aesthetics striking a deeper chord in me. I feel very lucky that I fell into this form of hobby almost ten years ago (spring of 2005 to be exact) – something I never could have envisioned that has brought me a more comforting home and a more aesthetic life.
Happy New Year to all of you! I encourage you to find beauty and new projects in 2015 – light in a sometimes dark world. xo
Post #1974: In 2015, let there be air.
I came to work this morning and I cried. I want to say that I don’t know why that happened, but I do — it’s because I’m working two jobs at the same time and I’ve got a crazy to-do list full of things I don’t feel like doing. Also, I always feel crappy post-Christmas – too much sugar and not enough good sleeps. I am hoping that despite hosting a big NYE party this week, I will rediscover my equilibrium shortly and enter 2015 with good feelings instead of the dread that comes with being overbooked and overworked.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I want to stop doing things! I am one of those people who likes to do things, see people, get involved in my community – and so on. But I’ve felt recently like I’m doing too much of the wrong things – things which burn me out and leave me frustrated (like work) – instead of enjoying time with myself and others.
For 2015 I want my focus to be on finding space – in my words, my actions, and my life. Not space so that I can do more, track more, be more – but space, for the sake of space. I plan to attend a meditation retreat in May, take more long weekends this summer to work on the cabin, and allow myself time to go to the zendo for formal meditation practice. I have recently realized that being outside frequently is not a “luxury” but a necessity, and in 2015 I intend to take my activities out of doors when they allow for it. And I also intend the space for making – music, clothing, quilts and art – not forced into the corners of my existence as though unimportant or frivolous. Once I finish my Master’s degree in April – I’m sure I’ll also find some brain space for thinking about new things.
What I will not do in 2015 is track myself. I will not write down my exercise days, the foods that I eat, the number of minutes that I meditate each day or how often I go for walks. I have a tendency to track as though it makes me a better person, but really I think it becomes one more thing that I am doing (or not doing) and is neurosis inducing.
In fact, I think it would be grand if I set no trackable goals for 2015 at all – they seem really the antithesis of my focus on space after all – and instead a prayer: Let 2015 be a simple year of being and accepting instead of doing and wanting.
Post #1973: A new fiddle for me
I have to admit that I feel.somewhat ridiculous about the fact that two days ago Brian and I had a big discussion about budgeting and getting focused on paying down the big cabin debts…. And then yesterday I went out and purchased a new violin on a layaway plan. But there it is. That’s exactly what I did. I’ve been pondering a new instrument for a long time with various motivations.
At first I wanted to get a cheap instrument for taking camping, then I liked the idea of five-string, then I wanted to upgrade and get another classic violin like my Stainer copy, but an older/higher quality version, and then I was confronted by the fact that I need to be able to plug in at shows and I really dislike most of the attachable pickups on the market (and mini-mics aren’t an option because they cause feedback on my vocal mic). I had read about these Gage Realist 5-string Violins on the Internet and listened to all the audio reviews of them – liking what I heard about and from these instruments. It’s one of the only electric-acoustics on the market at a non-custom price which was also attractive to me since I wasn’t prepared to spend more an a couple thousand dollars. Because I am taking the week off work to complete my term paper (very close to done!) and Brian took yesterday to hang out with me – we decided to go down to Long and McQuade and check out the Realist 5-string that they had in stock. Needless to say, I didn’t just try it out – but decided instead to purchase it on a lay-away plan (Brian offered up a decent downpayment towards it). I was far too attracted to the hassle-free pick-up with phantom power and the ability to get by without a pre-amp – to just walk away from the thing once I picked it up!
The amplified sound on this instrument is great, but as it’s a new wood instrument, I expect the acoustic sound to get somewhat better with regular playing over the next few weeks. Unplayed violins always sound a bit “crunchy” to me, attributed to the tightness of a wooden body that hasn’t had much resonance. If I had a stereo with a big speaker, I would simply put the instrument on top of it for a week or two to loosen it up, but given the fact that I don’t have much of a stereo setup, I’ve got to play the life into the thing. Still and all, this violin has a really resonant, almost reverberant sound – and the extra low string (which gives it the range of the viola) is pretty fabulous.
Unlike my lifetime violin (I’ve been playing my Stainer copy for 30 years), the low range on the Gage is really rich. Also unlike my lifetime violin, this instrument is full-sized and it’s got a significantly wider neck and body (my Stainer is a 7/8 and those violins are known for their slender build). So it’s going to take some regular playing to get used to and build up the musculature in my shoulders for a bulkier instrument. Since there is a 30-day return policy, I’m aiming to play as much as possible between now and early January to ensure that it is the right sound and feel for me. But so far, so good – I’m pretty excited about its tone quality and feel already. I’ve got a gig in two weeks time and my goal is to play this on stage – so I’ve got a lot of playing to do between now and then! (not to mention three sets of song lyrics to memorize – yikes!)
Post #1972: In which I work on my creative learning process.
I spent my weekend in a creative process workshop which was the last event of the 2014 Maiwa Textile Symposium this year. The class, taught by the fabulous Natalie Grambow, was an exploration of various techniques for stimulating creativity, and a small dip into some specifics such as colour-theory, design elements, surface design (stamp, block and mono printing), photo transfer, and collage. Although the class finished on Sunday (with the creation of the book cover pictured last in this series of photos), I took some of my monoprinted fabric that was leftover from the class last night to do a final piece in my block shape which I felt was the culminating piece in some ways (it was what I would have done for the cover had I had more time).
As someone who has never indulged in much *art* process outside of basic textile/basic quilt work – I found a freedom in working with all new materials that was a lot of fun – pastels, paints, printing blocks, lino cuts – because I had no expectation of having to be a certain way about the work. As you can see from the photos below, I carried a colour and a shape theme throughout the three days (which arose from exercises that Natalie had us do) which was helpful in that I didn’t have to think up a new *thing* each time – I could simply take the form/colour and work with it in a different medium.
I really have an affinity for mixed media textile work – and all the pieces I have envisioned thus far are of that variety. Taking the weekend class was a great introduction to some of the ways in which I might work – as well as materials to incorporate – but it was also a reminder to slow down on the pieces I *want* to make for the time being, and just enjoy learning about how different things work together (or not).
This was my first Maiwa Textile Symposium workshop but I am certain it will not be my last. As I finish my degree this spring, I look forward to signing up for more symposium classes next fall.
(Click on any of the below photos for a larger view)
Post #1971: Many handmade things
Over the last few months I have made many things but haven’t been showing them off here. These include:
I have come to realize that despite the lack of perfection in everything I make – it all gets a lot of use and over time I grow to love the small oddities of the items that grace our lives in this house.
Red Cedar 