Around the World Blog Hop

Today I'm joining in with the other bloggers who are hopping around the world visiting blogs and getting to know one another. This Blog Hop is similar to a chain winding its way through the internet.  Follow the links backwards to see who came before me and then forwards to the people that I tag for next week. 

The premise behind the hop is that you receive an invitation from someone that asks you to post your answers to four questions and you, in turn, ask three bloggers to do the same on the Monday of the following week.  Visitors can then visit the blogger that invited you, as well as the three that you send them to.  From there you can branch out and follow links,both backwards and forwards,to blogs throughout the world.  It's a great way to 'meet' new people and find blogs that are interesting to you, as well as to increase readership to your own blog.  Kind of like a chain letter but with none of the threats of the dire consequences that might befall you if you don't send the tea towel, recipe or whatever else they might be wanting.  Nobody likes those!

I received an invitation from Lyn of Linie Cat at Large to play along.  Lyn's blog is funny and informative and covers many different aspects of her life.  She's creative and writes about her work as well as posting really interesting things about the places she visits and often about the history of the area.  I will unashamably snitch a picture from her blog to show you one of her art pieces...

Now, on to the questions....

1.  What am I working on?

Many of you know that I am primarily a crazy quilter.  It's something I am passionate about and spend pretty much all my waking hours doing.  I usually have several different projects on the go at any given time.  I never get bored that way!   Currently I have three things on my work table.  The first is the second white cloth that I'm creating with guidance from Karen Ruane's online classes.  This is not done in the crazy quilt style, but I can't resist adding some elements of it.

This is definitely a work in progress!  The photo above

is the whole cloth, in the process of being put together.

And below is a closeup of one of the sections

of the cloth.

Another of my passions is to read books about organization.  Yes, I read them....but application of what I read is an entirely different matter!  After seeing some examples of hussifs online I decided that I needed one to keep my sewing tools readily at hand and easily portable.  After pondering awhile and deciding just what I wanted my hussif to hold, I created a pattern and this is what I came up with...

 To the left you can see it folded, and below you can see it opened out. 

Each hussif is folded in thirds so there's lots of room inside for holding the things we like to stitch with.

If I thought one hussif was good, so two must be even better...right?  

The front in the photo to the right....

And below, the inside.

So how come I just pieced a THIRD one???  What woman in her right mind needs THREE hussifs? 

This one actually started with a stash-diving expedition looking for something else and discovering that I had a number of rose-themed pieces that I had been hoarding for far too long.  The plan (and I DO have one) is to make another hussif and change the pattern to also include a purse that will not only hold the hussif inside, but also some larger tools and an in-process project.

I also enjoy knitting and crocheting and the time I spend in front of the tv in the evenings is never wasted.  I'm currently working on a knitted baby blanket as you can see....

2.  How does my work differ from others of its genre?

This is a question I seriously can't answer.  Crazy quilters are a breed all unto their own and what differs between us is the access we have to supplies and embellishments.  In my area there are no stores where I can go to purchase the things I like to use and I have to rely on thrift store expeditions and yard sales.  Putting 'the word' out to my friends and family has yielded a lot of my stash, as well as inheriting bits from my grandmothers and my mother.  My work combines common embroidery stitches which I like to augment with the use of waste canvas to add cross stitched patterns.  Having a stash of things like beads, buttons and broken jewelry helps too.

One of the purses I have made.

 

3.  Why do I write/create what I do?

Having a peek around at some of the other blogs on the tour shows that we all feel pretty much the same.  I need to create - I'm not happy unless I spend at least part of each day with needle and thread in hand.  It's a compulsion and  I'm driven to do what I do and simply can't imagine not being able to stitch.  It's a passion, deep within, that refuses to go away.  I like the recycling aspect of crazy quilting  and the connection with generations past who made their quilts using whatever they had at hand.  Crazy quilting is much the same because I use scraps of fabrics, many of them thrifted, and oddments of things that might otherwise be headed to the landfill.  I like being able to keep memories of favourite pieces of clothing alive by using bits of them in my work and using things like a lonely earring that has lost its mate.  Giving new life to things that would normally be discarded gives me great pleasure. 

 I also love to work with recycled denim.

This is one of my crazy-quilt inspired jackets.

4.  How does my writing/creating process work?

My work tends to just evolve with no forethought on my part.  I often pull some coordinating fabrics from my stash if I have a colour scheme in mind and work from those.  The embroidery and embellishments I use are decided upon as I go along.  Sometimes a piece of work will be inspired by something I find in my stash of embellishments (like the rose-themed piece shown above).  Sometimes I will decide on a theme and what I use will be selected with that in mind.  Once I piece the background the fun begins and I just play with ideas and elements until I come up with something that works.

Another of my purses, with recycled denim this time.

Thanks to Lyn for inviting me to play and thanks to you all for reading this far!

I will leave you with a quote from Joseph Newton.... "We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life.  But we can decide what happens in us--how we take it, what we do with it--and that is what really counts in the end"