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Monday, March 16, 2015

Creating with creativity

I'm committing to this idea of not making something that doesn't have my voice in it in some form. Im tired of making things that anyone else could have made. I'm not saying that every single project has to have improvisational piecing... Or curves, or hand quilting or lots of grays and reds... Maybe the only thing that says I made it is the way I put the colors together, but I think I'm tired of making the same stuff as anyone else. I am an artist with a voice that I already know how to express, so why have I not been doing that? These are the thoughts floating around in my head this week...

This little pillow has spring out of that internal conversation. It's an old block I made with scraps... It was sitting in my studio over a year... Just sitting. And with about 3 hours of work, I have finished it and made it something I am proud of.

I feel like I want to ask myself ... What makes this project "Libby" - this one? It's the analogous color scheme... The way I always put colors in families. There's a little bit of improv in the way I put the log cabin together and the hand quilting was very spontaneous in its construction.

I don't really know if anyone is reading these posts, but if you are, I'm curious to know what you would define as YOUR voice in a project.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I'm reading your posts and I'm at a similar point in my making. I've sworn off guild challenges and swaps and the like because they were the only things that ever got finished, while my other, much more fabulous ideas remained just that - ideas. To make a project that's really me, I have certain colors I love; oranges and pinks and green-blues, combined with lots of pale neutrals. I love improv but I also love the alternative geometry of English Paper Piecing. Starting with fabric that makes your heart sing feels so indulgent. Conversely, there's nothing sadder than a 2 yard cut of something that you used to think was fabulous, still sitting unused on the shelf, years after you fell out of love with it. Use it while you love it! became my new goal the first time that happened to me. I don't have much time right now for crafting, but I'm fantasizing about making a giant braided rug out of all the old fuddy-duddies I've fallen out of love with, so all my lovely still-treasured fabrics will have space to be admired and well used. I suppose that's enough rambling from me but thanks for posting, it's validating to come across someone else who's questioning the status quo.

libbydibby said...

I love this! Thank you for sharing your journey with me! I totally agree with you on the need to use it before you hate it. I have a few of those... Keep me posted on how you do. Hearing your aesthetic makes me want to see your work, too! Are you on Instagram?

Unknown said...

I have been following along quietly. But you touched a nerve - one that often brings me misery. It seems as if I lose myself when I am constantly about keeping up with others - I'm older and have been quilting for so many years and I have tried it all. Nothing is new except gorgeous fabric lines. When I look behind I see that I have expressed myself in a void until the internet came along. Now, like yourself, I want to focus on what makes my work important - how it sings out my name. Always informed by tradition, I love contemporary takes on the vintage patterns, but I resent it when someone takes a Churn Dash and calls it their own! I'll stop.
Keep up the GREAT work.

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