The local brew pub Der Blokken and Bremerton’s Makers Network are featuring my fiber arts in their tap room. Opening Oct 19th 2019 at 5:00pm thru Dec 1st 2019. I am honored to be chosen for my quilting/fiber art. Happy Hour at 5:00. Nice bonus! I may or may not frequent the establishment often. The food is excellent, the atmosphere is cozy and the staff is super friendly.
How do you integrate creativity into a busy day or work life? A struggle for all aspiring artists. Play With Purpose is about grabbing any free moment in a busy day to randomly sew scraps of fabric together in an eye catching way. There is no telling where sewing/quilting can take you when you throw caution to the wind and sew. Mornings and evenings seem to work best for me. In the past I feel like I had more free time but the necessity of work has made it more challenging to carve out time for creative passions. Couple that with hitting that 50ish age where I find myself waking up early in the morning for no reason. Rather than be annoyed at the early hour, I get creative. It is the perfect time to sit down at the sewing machine and play. Any free moment will do. 15 minutes or just 5.
- 1. engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.
My definition of play time, sew fabric together for fun. Whatever is on the scrap pile next to the machine or in the scrap basket. Random is the key. I have a small cutting board on the table with my machine so I don’t have to get up to cut. Don’t iron, finger press your seems. Scraps are organized somewhat by color and kept in small bins from the dollar store. One is full of color, the other is mostly grey or neutral.
The rewards of play are many. It frees my mind. Planning out a design can restrict creativity, contain it. Play gives the anxiety or stress a place to land. If I’m not sleeping there may be a reason my mind won’t shut up. Giving myself a fun task can help solve a dilemma by changing the focus or just calming my mind down. There is something soothing about sewing a few fabrics together. The fabric changes and becomes something else. It grows into a block that lands on the design wall which over time collects more blocks until it forms into fiber art as a wall hanging or quilt. I try not to get caught up in what that something else will be. Just sew! The other stuff will come another day.
Go! Play with purpose! Most of all have fun.
~Diana
What Goes With What? 