theimaginationmuscle   Birthplace to all ideas:please, let me share a few of my own.

I love to create with a variety of sustainable materials ranging from old fabric and wood scraps to rock installations and I cannot forget my trusty camera and years of captured time fragments.

Discarded fabrics find new purpose with me. I create unique versions of art using vintage or used fabrics. Each quilt is one of a kind. Yet my style of sewing is easily recognized.

In the past seven years, I have made 50+ baby-quilts for family and friends. The two photos above are of a quilt in-progress for a couple and their new baby girl.

I wish I had kept a better photo record of the quilts made for local benefits. I have also created ’Life-quilts’ for a few friends dealing with the loss of a loved one. My friend Sarah’s mother passed away far too young and from a rare disease. Sadly, I had only met Miss Elizabeth three times.

Sarah is an only child married to an incredibly caring man. This is a photo of Sarah’s support team.

With the shock of her Mom’s passing still fresh, she and her Dad forge ahead beginning the emotional task of sorting through personal effects. Elizabeth’s taste for the finest silk scarf often clashed with her quirky holiday scarves. My friend finds that she has a pile of her mom’s favorite scarves by her side.

Driving home with a tote full of scarves, cross-stitch project, favorite shirts and other odds and ends with special meaning, Sarah does not want her mom’s faves to end-up tucked away and forgotten. Then she thinks of me and my funky, no-rule kind of fabric art.

Sarah is quick to call me to inquire if I will create a quilt in memory of her Mom. I agree. My main concern is to not disappoint my friend or deconstruct designer scarves only to be ruined my sewing style.

With a huge mental gulp, I ask the universe to guide my hands to create a treasure from contents in the tote. This quilt challenges me to better my sewing abilities. The photo below depicts one side of my first ‘Life-quilt’. My dear friend, Sarah Anderson Petren proudly shows-off the ‘Life-quilt’ made in honor of her mom, Elizabeth Bartley Anderson(Allen).

Fabric is in direct competition with my life-long relationship with rocks. Whether, a heavy boulder by the river to pebbles seen only by a tiny sparkle, my eyes gravitate to rocks. Rocks beg for attention and love to be appreciated. I am both attentive and appreciative of a rock’s worth. The picture below is a small view of rock wealth around the house.

I have to note my love of photography trumps both the fabric and rock interests. A Polaroid camera from my Grandma, for my tenth birthday begins my almost 27 years of collected fragments of time. Thank you, Grandma!

So, back to creating new fabric art for the show in November. Enjoy your Friday! I leave you with a smile!