There’s only 2 of these ladies which will be sold a the Creative Union Show at Redux . I got this fabric from a woman who I made 25 potholders for last year. It’s vintage 1970′s colonial revival.

I’ve been thinking about how I do my work and it seems I’ve gotten into the pattern of taking so many custom orders that I’m beginning to feel more like a seamstress and less like an artist. After talking to a few people I’ve decided to try something different. When I finish the remaining orders I have to this point I’m going to take less orders and concentrate on making and collecting an inventory and selling what I’ve made. I think this will allow me to be more creative and develop ideas that otherwise I wouldn’t have time to explore.

This doesn’t mean I won’t take any custom orders, just that I’ll be more discriminating.

I’m excited to try this new way of working, things were starting to get stale in the studio. I was beginning to feel like a factory worker and with the hot weather, every story of sweat-shops I’ve ever heard kept coming to mind. Seems to me like it’s time for a change.

On July 24th at the Creative Union Show at Redux in Vermont I’ll be raffling off my quilt “Red and Purple”. It’s 51 1/2 x 55 1/2 and the colors were inspired by the reds and purples sometimes seen in traditional Amish Quilts.

Each ticket will be $5 and the winner will be picked at 3:30 pm at Redux. You can get a ticket the day of the show between 1 and 3:30 or, if you can’t make it to the show and would like to buy a ticket or two you can contact me at maria@fullmoonfiberart.com.

The money raised from the quilt will be donated to benefit the victims of a recent fire in Fort Edward NY.

back view of ‘”Red and Purple”

I would say we came up with the idea together, but I do have to admit it was Jon who specifically suggested the raffle be at the Creative Union Show.

I’ve been contemplating having a quilt sale for some time and this morning I declare to Jon that I was going to have a “Letting Go” Quilt Sale. I have a few quilts that have been around too long and a couple that I’m still not sure I want to part with, but I also believe in letting go. It’s been a theme in my life lately and it seems I work everyday at trying to let go of something, (usually some obsessive self-denigrating thought.) But I also believe that there are times that the “old” needs to go for there to be room for the new. I think creative energy gets stuck (just like the energy in our bodies) and needs to be released, sometimes by selling things , giving things away or just throwing them out.

So I thought of raffling off one of my quilts and donating the proceeds. And when Jon suggested doing it at the Creative Union Show it seemed a perfect fit. This way everyone can see the origins of the potholders, I move a quilt and a worthy organization benefits.

Now I know that Jon beat me by posting the idea on his blog before me, but since his post, I got the okay from Christine at Redux. So it’s official, ( and I posted it first) I will raffle one of my quilt (still to be determined) at the Creative Union Show on July 24th 1-4pm in Dorset Vermont. Details to come.

So I woke up the next morning and went into the studio and knew just what to do. Above is the result and it went so smoothly when I was done I made the eyeglass case. I’m sure I worked it out in my dreams, who knows how many steps it took.

This is the one that didn’t work out. Now it’s just a cute little bag with no predetermined purpose. I’ll sell it at the Creative Union Show for $15.00 and let the buyer decide what to do with it.

step 1:  I looked up the dimensions of a Kindle (8″x5″x1/3″) and made a cardboard mock-up.  Used an old curtain for the pattern.

step 2:  Sewed the bag together and sewed a strap on the sides adding the flap on last.  Put the cardboard kindle in the bag to make sure it fit. Designed the  real kindle bag. (in the upper right  corner of the photo.)

Step 3:  Sewed the real kindle bag together using the dimensions of the pattern.

Step 4:  Realized the real kindle bag was much too small and it would be impossible to sew the strap on because with the batting the seams are too bulky to stitch onto.

Step 5:  Removed stitches and tried to figure out a way to make the bag work.  Decided it couldn’t and that I would cut it down into a glasses case.

Step 6:  Sat at my desk sweating and staring at the bag in a heat induced stupor.

Step 7: Admitted to myself I would just have to start over knowing more that  I did a few hours ago.

Step 8:  Stared a bit more, tried to get myself motivated and realized I needed a break.

Step 9: Left the studio with every intention of going back, walked around like a sweating zombie and accepted that tomorrow is another day.

I went to my studio this morning to do some shipping and was sweating in moments, just sitting there. I decided to spend the morning in the office in the house (just a little cooler, the fan blowing the papers around) doing paperwork, which always seems to back up somehow. I have a new bookkeeping system on my computer and have been meaning to update it for weeks. Today I put my numbers in my notebook instead. The computer doesn’t have a back up yet and I’m afraid to lose it all. For me, when it comes to technology, every step is a leap of faith

I’ve gotten some advice about Sophie and the fish tank, often conflicting. I decided to go with Jon’s advice since it appears he know a thing or two about fish. Sophie spent a few days on the bottom of the tank. Each time I went into the studio I thought she was dead and when I nudged her with the net, she would swim away. I’d find her head first in the plant, it was hard to watch seemed to me she was suffering.

Jon assured me he could quickly put a fish down (without flushing it), so I decided it was best. He came back a few hours later with 2 more fish. They are big and healthy. One all orange who I named after Sophie and one orange, silver and black, Ophelia. They’ve been doing great. I put up an opaque curtain to keep the sun off of them in the morning and they are swimming around like crazy even in the heat. Actually, I’m envious, wish I was a fish today.

I recently got a comment from someone who said she recognized this cat fabric from her childhood. (vintage 1970′s) It’s actually a pattern for a stuffed cat and a dress for the cat to wear. She said she thought still had it somewhere.

This is the last piece of this fabric I have left. I used the other 2 pieces to make potholders for the woman who gave it to me. It was from her mother’s fabric collection and the potholders were distributed amongst her family.

So this “Cat dress” potholder will be a one-of-a-kind available at the Creative Union Show at the Redux Gallery

in Dorset Vermont on July 24 from 1-4pm. Most of the potholders will be limited editions and everything in the exhibit ,my potholders and eyeglass and cell cases, along with Jon’s notecards are all not more than $15 .

I finished this custom book bag yesterday and only after emailing the customer did I see her email to me. She said she had to cut back on spending and wanted to cancel her order if I hadn’t started the bag yet. I emailed her back and let her know I would sell the bag and she wasn’t obligated to buy it.

So here it is. A 14×16 book bag made with chambray, and small blue floral prints, with a touch of pink on the back. It has 4 little individual button instead of one big one which I think adds just what is needed. The bag is $50.00 + $8 shipping. It’s available, so if you’re interested just email me at maria@fullmoonfiberart.com or go to the contact me page.

This is what it looks like from the back.

Have a good 4th of July weekend. Sounds like it going to be a good day for sitting on the porch.

It seems that Sophie isn’t well. She got stuck against the filter again, and for the past 2 days has been barely moving and sitting on the bottom of the tank. There may have been something not right with her since the beginning which is why she had a hard time in the pull of the filter.

Is it possible to get attached to a fish, and so quickly? I really feel for her, and hate to see her struggling on the bottom of the tank. I’m sure it has to do with the fact that I felt I saved her from the filter the first time. It seemed as if she needed me.

Hell, as a kid I was once made a cardboard box into a horse. Not that I made it look like a horse, just by giving it a name (Whitey, it was a white box) and pretending it was a horse. I can still see what it looked like in my mind ( It’s neck was a cardboard tube , and it’s tail was shreaded red paper and had a real white horses head). I also remember what it looked like as just the box it was. I cried and pulled it out of the garbage when my mother threw it away. She apologized and said she didn’t know it was a horse, she thought it was a box.

I’m not saying that you can’t get attached to a fish, but maybe it’s only real when that fish or cardboard box, can give something back.

Last year I planted sunflowers in front of my studio and one on the side by the door. This one reseeded itself and is doing nicely, much bigger than the ones I planted from seed.

These are the seedlings in front of the studio. Two types of sunflowers this year, a bit of sage and oregano too. I’ll transplant some marigolds from seeds I put in, in a garden by the house.

Check out Appearances and Events to see the latest dog potholders for the Creative Union Show.