Fibers

Create your happiness contest…It is very difficult to choose one image to show how much I love working with my hands. My mother started teaching me to sew at a young age. My first job was being her pattern girl; I was in charge of cutting the pattern out. I always used an orange handled pair of Fiskars and at that young age, I did not understand about using them just on fabric. Fast forward 40+ years and everyone in my household knows not to use those same orange handled pair of Fiskars. I inherited those scissors when my mother passed twenty-eight years ago. She taught me how to pour love into everything I create.

I make t-shirt quilts for people for a variety of reasons. Parents want them for their students who are graduating, a wife wants to gift her husband a quilt made with his father’s clothing or a grieving spouse/parent wants me to create new memories. My favorite quilt that I have made to date is one that I used a pair of overalls. They belonged to a farmer, he had passed and I was asked if I could incorporate them into a quilt. Of course, I could and the son was moved when he saw his quilt. Making t-shirt quilts fills me with pride; I feel I am helping someone with a new creation I have made. Whether it is rejoicing in a child’s accomplishment or helping a family hold onto to their loved one in a new way. These quilts take time and sometimes energy. I consult with the families after I have laid out the shirts, just to make sure it’s right. I saw energy because one order was for two quilts, made for a son and daughter out of their mothers clothing. She had passed away, I knew her and creating these quilts for her children made me think of my own children.

Weaving is a way I can upcycle and reuse items. I save clothes and bedding that is not good enough to donate and I make rag rugs or wall hangings (like the photo I submitted) with the material. I started a new hobby just within the last few years. My husband built me a small loom to make rugs. I recently took a mixed media class; I am finally finishing my BFA at the age of fifty-one. We were challenged with making items and working with material, we had not worked with before. I decided I was going to weave on everything. I used a plastic piece that was on the front of a box fan and weaved a sun/sky image. I used a large embroidery hoop (eighteen inches across) with an old fishing net to create a type of “cross stitch”. I found an old ironing board, cut it into three pieces and weaved a piece from a bicycle tire through the holes. My favorite was the image I have attached. I had a wooden circle that I cut in half and put chicken wire in the void. I then weaved fabric through the chicken wire creating various landscape themes. I have never thought about how the corner of a wall (or recessed corner) is left undecorated.

Resin jewelry is the latest thing I have discovered, by chance, I figured it would be a good way to incorporate something from someone I love. A few years ago, my cousin bought my grandmother's home and has started remodeling. She called me to ask if I wanted the seashell glittery wallpaper and pink and brown tiles that adorned the walls. I said, "of course, I do!” I had no idea what I was going to use those scraps for but I knew I "needed them". Fast forward a few years, I discovered a use. I cut the wallpaper into small circles and used a potato peeler to shave off pieces of the plastic tile to add to resin and make jewelry. I gave them as gifts to my family members, they were thrilled and I think my grandmother would have been too.