Learning Curve and Progress

This first picture is of my gleanings today. The flock of butterflies (do they call groups of b'flies flocks?) came in a package from the dollar store. They're made of some sort of fabric. The earrings & brooch came from the thrift store...heaven forbid I should go to drop a bunch of stuff off and not come home with something too!! Don't get excited because I'm not about to wear those earrings - they're fodder for something artsy. As I mentioned, I had a learning experience today - thanks to Arlee. I've been grousing about my camera and haven't always been happy with the colour of my pictures when they get to the blog. She very nicely pointed out that perhaps I should look into adjusting them in the photo program. Well. Duh. It's like when you leave the hoe laying on the ground and then wonder why, when you step on it, you get clunked on the head. The wonders of technology - who knew!!

I thought I'd talk a bit about my working process on a block (at the risk of boring a large percentage of my readership). I'm not particularly organized when I work as you can see by the evolution of my blocks. I know a great many people work all their seams, then all their centres, and then add the beads, buttons, etc. I don't. I get bored and jump all over the place working on whatever pleases me at the time. I add the beads and such as I go along, even tho' there's a certain amount of angst when the threads get tangled around them.

I don't hoop my work and find that works best for me. Some people can't work without one, but it just gets in my way. I tend to use a lot of tissue paper for patterns (I make an outline of the area I'm wanting to fill and then sketch out a pattern, pin it on, and sew through the tissue). A pair of curved tweezers work nicely to remove the paper when I'm done. I also use waste canvas in some areas and when I want to be sure a seam is even I will use a piece of 1/4" masking tape as a guide. I just make sure I remove the tape as soon as possible, or it can leave a sticky residue behind. Sometimes I don't use any of my props and just simply wing it. I also use a layer of heavy interfacing behind any areas that have a lot of weight (ie. the button clusters) for additional stability.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my working process!