I see shiny doorways waiting for me in 2011. It always seems that when one door of opportunity opens, another one closes. This past year, I watched doors close behind me, but not as many new doors opening. I guess that is how it sometimes goes, doorways are not synchronized to work simultaneously. Sometimes you have to watch several opportunities to their completion before one new one presents itself.

The good news is as I am moving forward on my journey, I planted seeds for new things. It takes awhile…but I’m starting to see the potential of my efforts. Friday, I received the community college catalog and there it was, the sewing classes I developed are advertised and I’m already getting great response. No worries about canceled classes here.

Tuesday I’ll be pitching another class to someone else. This one will emphasize my skills as a C&T Surface Design Ambassador. You can see an example of my surface design in the featured picture. Surface design is a wide ranging variety of concepts that focus on altering fabric with paint and other media. In July, I’m scheduled to teach fabric painting to the local guild.

I have some other ideas to pitch around town and the big secret that I anxiously can’t tell you about until it happens. In the mean time, I’m working through what I have and where I’m going. This year I’ve discovered a lot about me. I’ve always loved to teach, so I’ll be teaching. And I’ve re-discovered that I love making my own painted fabric. My new work features painted fabrics that I made a few years ago and am finally figuring out what to do with it. I think I made a full circle. These fabrics inspire me, but they also remind me that sometimes you have to step back and review what you’ve been doing in order to move forward. All it takes is to continually put one foot in front of the other and it all will work out.

In the last few weeks, I did something that proved to be startling and which removed a creative slump that I’ve been in. I am amazed at how simple this task was and the extreme impact of its results. I probably shouldn’t share this advise, because someone may try to bottle the tip and sell it as the cure-all for all the world’s woes. Yes, it was that earth shattering (at least for me). Since, you are my friend I trust you with this bit of information. Cherish this advise…are you ready?

I cleaned my studio! I know, such a simple thing. It was amazing the cool stuff I found “almost” finished! I was inspired and excited about finishing these projects, because I didn’t have to fight the overloaded work table. I can actually sit down at my table and start working whenever I want. I don’t have to push piles of stuff around to find that 1″ of free workspace. Ahhh! I’m ready to create and can begin whenever the will strikes me.

Of course there’s the everyday life stuff that still gets in the way, but when I find those free moments I can zip up to my studio and create for whatever time I have. I’m amazed at how much more productive I am. The pincushions shown are the result of the cleaning spur. They were ready and waiting for me to add the flower toppers. With just a little time, they were complete and ready for sale at Artist Alley in Southern Pines and on my Etsy shop.

So now the trick is to keep things neat and tidy, so the creative energy keeps flowing. Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Today is Thanksgiving. It is a day to stop and reflect upon the bounties in your life. This morning I am reminded that I have many things to be thankful.

This week I spent time cleaning my studio. The messy chaos that took over in this room fed my creative slump. I had many ideas, but little motivation to start those ideas because I couldn’t find the space to work. Now that I see the top of my work table and I can find things in my closet, I’m excited to start work again. For this I am thankful.

This cleaning spree has allowed me to see the wealth of supplies I have accumulated. I am fortunate to have the financial resources to support my habit. For this I am thankful.

As I sorted through fabric, yarn and other supplies, I found projects in various stages of completion. Finding these things, reminded me that I have talent and a passion for what I do. I am fortunate to have the time and ability to work with my fibery passion. I am also fortunate that professionally I am able to do what I love. For this I am thankful.

I am also reminded that I am fortunate to have your support. I am thankful for my customers who buy my work, it warms my heart to know you “get it” and are willing to spend your hard-earned dollars for it. This means a lot in these economic times. I am thankful for my students. You bring me sunshine, it is truly a gift to see you smile and be so excited to learn from me. And, I am thankful for my family and friends. You encourage me to continue and are ever so grateful when I gift you with my work. It is your enthusiasm that keeps me moving forward.

So here’s to having a clean studio and re-discovering lots of cool stuff in my closet. My goal is to thin down my stash of supplies by creating more things to share with you. For this I am thankful.

Note: The 100% silk hand-crocheted flower pins featured in this post are available for sale in My Etsy Shop, just in time for holiday gift giving (www.nanettesayz.etsy.com).

It is three days until Black Friday. A term I never heard in my youth is now as common as mistletoe when describing the holiday season. Our economy depends on this season. For an artist, it is important to take the opportunity to get our work out there. Some of us fuss to get our work into shows for selling and some fuss to get our work finished for gifting.

All the selling and gifting around the holidays unsettles me. We stress ourselves too much about it. I don’t like to be told when I should give, I give when it feels right. My favorite day to give is a “Just Because” day, because it is a wonderful opportunity to surprise people. The recipient isn’t expecting it, which makes the gift stand out, because it isn’t lost in an overly saturated pile of other gifts.

I also am conscience about who gets a hand-made gift from me. Creating takes time, energy, and passion. A hand-made gift cannot be compared to a store bought gift, because the soul of the artist is nested within the layers of a hand-made object. To me, there is almost something sacred about it.

Unfortunately, in our big box world of the throw away society, some recipients of hand-made goods don’t value these gifts. They can’t imagine how a hand-made item can compare to some new electronic device. As an artist, I feel the need to determine who these giftees are and keep them on a separate gift-giving list. I will not knit them a pair of socks or sew a quilt in their honor. I have to remember that they would probably more appreciate a big box gift card, then something I labored hours and my soul over.

It is wonderfully rewarding to spend hours and hours working on a project, knowing that  the recipient will understand the deep value of your sacrifice for them. I know sometimes, grandma’s tea cozy may not fit your style. Just remember to accept it with grace, cherish it, and realize her love is in every stitch. I promise you it will last longer than that new electronic gadget.

Note: The 100% cotton hand-knit lace shawl featured in this post is available for sale in My Etsy Shop, just in time for holiday gift giving (www.nanettesayz.etsy.com).

It’s that time of year again. November is Art Every Day Month! It is once again time for me to be aware of the art that I do and make sure that I try to do something everything day. I was quite inspired last year. Trying things that I had been wanting to try and finishing things that I started before. Nothing in the rules says I have to complete anything, just incorporate art into my day. I think I can do that.

Yesterday, the first day, I made a Priority Quilt for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. I can’t show you, it because it was part of a secret challenge. But it’s on its way to Houston to meet up with the other quilts in the challenge.

Speaking of finishing things that I started , I’m proud to say there’s another thing off my list. About 10 years ago (yeah really 10 years!), I got together with some friends to have a little play date. We brought pre-cut fabrics in light and dark colors, stuck them by color in paper bags and assembled the strips into a framed square design. I loved the results of this project, but only finished 12 blocks . For several years, I thought I would make more blocks and finish the quilt. Didn’t happen. Every so often I’d find the blocks in my stash and think, “how pretty, I should do something with these.” Again this year I had some ideas come to me, so I arranged the blocks on my design wall and pondered the right time to work on this again. Then, I got the wedding invitation. I like this couple and I know they would appreciate something handmade (This is a good topic for another post, I have to remember it).

Anyway, 3 weeks ago, the blocks started coming together into a quilt for our friends. I have fabric, believe me, and I’m trying to use it instead of buy more. My idea was to build a stash buster quilt, using only the fabrics I have on hand. Part of the mental reasoning behind this is if you already have it, you don’t have to pay for it, so its FREE, right?

So I built this free quilt from my stash. It forced me to be creative and step out of my own boundaries. Now really? Matching red with deep purple sounds horrid, but it really looks good together. I did have to break down and buy the border fabric and the batting, but everything else came from my stash (even the pieced backing). I’m impressed with this little quilt, its the first one I’ve done in almost a year. It has inspired me. It’s time to do more stash busting.

As I have indicated before, the creativity bug has been evading me the last couple of months. Sometimes you have to think everything is really out of whack to understand what is really right. Its all starting to make sense to me.

I have worn many hats, but none of them ever really fit right. Like Goldilocks, I had trouble finding the one that was “just right.” Over the last few months, I’ve been pondering whether my current career choice was the right one. Was it time to re-invent myself…again? As I pondered the options, I became more and more resistant to the idea of change.

Its finally dawning on me. I’m resistant, because I’m not suppose to change. I found my niche. I am an artist. There is something about making objects from fiber that breathes life into me. I want to share the excitement, because I’m a teacher. I want to explore, create, and bring inspiration. I can’t do that behind a computer or stuck in some cubicle all day.

This self-realization has motivated me. The motivation has brought opportunities that I didn’t realize were there. I am on the right path.

The motivation helped me find the elusive creativity bug. The other night, I assembled my first quilt top in over year.  What was exciting for me is that I used up a lot of material I already had (I need to thin the stash). I’m excited to be creating again, even if its only in baby-steps. Soon, I’ll have something to show you when you ask “What’s new pussy cat?”

I was just visiting with some friends. One of them had just purchased a card that said “Hey!” Now you’ve got to say it like Jerry Lewis would, otherwise it doesn’t sound so funny. It made me chuckle.

It also is very fitting for me right now, because “Hey! I haven’t chatted with you in awhile.  How ya’ doin’?”

Life really got in my way the last couple months. Everyday we all face little trials and tribulations. Just sometimes, all those little things hit you, and hit you, and hit you, and…. You get the picture, right? After awhile tons of little things eventually feel like one GIANT thing. That’s were I’ve been the last couple months.

Along the way, something had to give and that something was my art. Although my journey the last couple months was difficult, I can honestly say I learned a lot. I’m still assessing the damage and performing triage, but I’m moving forward. Studio time, which has been absent, is anxiously knocking on my head. I have things to make and new paths to venture.

In a few months, I hope to announce something exciting I’ve done (Just waiting for the go-ahead from the higher ups before I can tell you). Until then I am pleased to announce I was accepted as a Surface Design Ambassador for C&T Publishing. I’m going to be busy discovering new opportunities with this adventure.

Although I feel like I’ve been stagnant the last couple months, I know I’ve been moving forward, just at a slower pace. So life is good and I’m glad to say “Hey!, I missed you!”

Life is a journey…. so, walk it!

Early in my quilting life, I met many quilt police (QP)…well at least “THEY” thought they were the QP. I have since realized this variety of “law enforcement” is a figment of their imagination. Who gives them the power to judge me and tell me what I’m doing is wrong? Now I realize if I enter a quilt show, which is a competition, I must stand by the rules of order or be critiqued accordingly. This fact is true for all competitions, not just quilting.

I remember one incident in particular when the QP were in a shop of primarily machine quilted quilts. There in a corner was a lovely hand-quilted wall hanging. The self-professed QP patrolwoman jumped at the chance to pronounce her authority, “That quilt,” she said, “is the only REAL quilt in this entire shop. REAL quilts are hand quilted.”

I was taken back by her comment. My thoughts were “OK, now that you’ve insulted every quilter in this shop, what do you think these other things are? Silly Putty? Of course, they’re real quilts!” I have pondered her comments and share the story every time I teach machine quilting.

What I think this imaginary patrolwoman was trying to say was that the hand-quilted variety was a “traditional” quilt. But that doesn’t sit well with me either. What makes tradition? I personally think anything that can be documented for more than 100 years is a pretty traditional thing. Sewing machines have been around longer than that.

And this year I proved it, I bought a treadle sewing machine. Yeah…the kind that doesn’t plug in the wall and runs totally on foot power. She’s a lovely little Burdick machine sold in the 1890′s by Sears and Roebuck, Chicago. Why a treadle? Because I want to sew on it, why else? I was fortunate enough to find a copy of the owner’s manual online. Imagine my excitement when there on the very last page of the manual where the directions on How to Quilt…YES!!! on a treadle sewing machine. I now have proof that the patrolwoman in question, is truly a figment of her imagination.

And now I ask myself, even though the manual shows a straight-line crosshatch quilting pattern, can I do free motion quilting? I’m sure I can. I’m going to take on the challenge and have Lady Burdick quilt with me. Originality and creativity comes from stepping outside the boundaries and facing our fears to try something new. I’ve done that very thing more than once this month, good things are coming. I can be innovative even without electricity.

Sometimes life gets in the way of our creative process. Priorities must be established to keep the things functioning at some semblance of sanity. Every day we are all faced with choices, just sometimes the process of choosing seems heavier than others.

Some times our choices can resemble procrastination. We rationalize that what we’re doing is more worthy than the other things on our to-do list. Sometimes life adds extra challenges which force us to set some things aside. We’ve all been there.

“The laundry will have to wait while I finish knitting one more row?”

Of course, this statement is trivial. There are many more important choices we have to make. I think of a Juggler tossing 8 tiny balls in the air. One of these balls is special, signifying a chance (not a choice). What is the chance that the Juggler will drop that special ball?

So goes the chance that we’ll develop Alzheimer’s after age 65 (1 in 8). Our priorities change when we receive this diagnosis in ourselves or loved ones? Life becomes focused on caring for the disease process. Hopes and dreams can be annihilated. The burdens of everyday life become taxing. Everyone involved is affected by the slow loss of self that occurs with this disease. Its the process of juggling life.

********************

“The Juggler“ by Nanette S. Zeller (9″ x 12″, 2010) has been accepted as part of the touring exhibit curated by Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) entitled “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope” . AAQI is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer’s.

Support AAQI by making Priority quilts, bidding on and purchasing quilts, donating money, and spreading the word. Read more on how you can help.

Read more about the full-size  “Juggling the Chances” quilt.

(The images in this post are small so I can fit more on the page. Click the image for a larger view.)

As a kid, I remember going to outdoor fairs/exhibits during the summer. I remember the Renaissance fair at the local college, the air shows, the fire works displays at the local parks and of course, being a child of the 70′s I remember the Bicentennial celebrations and outdoor events.

On Saturday I celebrated Summer and Independence Day in this days-gone-by kind of way. My friend invited me to Old Threshers Reunion in Denton, NC. Having grown up in Chicago, I really didn’t know what I agreed to do.  I thought it was some sort of overgrown reunion for the Thresher family. Boy, did I get that wrong.

A thresher is a a farm machine that separates seeds or grain from husks and straw. For example, Eli Whitney’s cotton gin is a thresher. So knowing what a thresher is, you may wonder why they would have a reunion.

I got it the answer as soon as I saw all the tractors lined up. Its like antique car collecting. The people who attend this reunion are proud of preserving the history of our nation, especially how machinery has played a role in farming.

In an era of Internet, cellphones, cable TV and a plethora of other technical devices, it is fascinating to see real “machines” in action. Steam and early gasoline engines where everywhere. We were greeted by a beautifully restored working steam train and the sound of “hit and miss” engines was the melody we heard all day.

Along with the engines that were entered into the judged events, there were vendors of all sorts. There was a mix of carnival-style vendors selling t-shirts, trinkets, chicken on stick and Italian ice.

There was also a wide variety of flea market and antique vendors. Clearly the mission of these vendors was to entice the sales from the thresher enthusiasts. We found tables and tables of old tools, gears and spare parts. I found myself attracted to all the old oil cans. Do younger people even know what these are?

As someone who loves the “old way” of doing traditional craft, I found myself fascinated more than I could believe. The wood and iron combined with the beauty of the machinery and the smell of engine oil, had me mesmerized as we wondered the fair grounds. The people that were around us weren’t the big city type I grew up with.  Overalls seemed to be the respected uniform of the day. It was a step back in time, comforting me as it reminded me of my summer excursions as a kid.

At noon, everyone stopped. I mean everyone and we all turned toward the American flag to listen to the National Anthem sung over the loud speakers. This event alone sent chills down my spine. I so wanted to take out my camera to capture what I was seeing around me, but it was most important to respect what we were all doing. This day reminded me I am proud to be an American.