The Waning Summer...

The summer is quickly drawing to a close. The trees and shrubs along the roadsides seem to be tinged with rust, a precursor of the coming fall. I always look forward to the change in seasons, while also regrettably letting the old season go.
I harvested some lavender last week! What an enjoyable and relaxing task that is! Out in the sunshine with the scent of lavender on the breeze, the drone of bees in the background and butterflies fluttering nearby! It was my second go-round among the four plants we have growing in the front yard. I have been very pleased with the amount of lavender they are producing, as well as the fragrance of the plants and seeds. I hope I have time to create little sachets this fall to give as gifts this winter.
I also created a 5"x5" journal piece incorporating that distressed bottle cap I found a few weeks ago. Here is the result, similar to the previous journal piece:
As you can see, I do enjoy using that burlap! I also used some tree bark, wooden beads, embroidery floss, and the fringed selvage from a striped piece of something shiny. Again, I am just enjoying the contrast in colors and textures.

Journal Quilt 8/11/08

Last week I read Anne Rice's Christ the Lord: the Road to Cana. I started out making this journal quilt just as it is here, but I intended to incorporate this cool distressed, smashed bottlecap I found in a parking lot. It's so distressed that it didn't look appropriate as the center of this piece. It needed a more formal and meaningful focal point. Reading Anne Rice's book, I guess I had Christ on my mind, and was inspired to fashion a cross out of copper foil. I like the way it shines against the rougher weave of the fabric behind it. I used two upholstery fabric scraps I picked up recently. I love the contrasting textures! (If you enjoy reading about the life of Christ, you may enjoy this Christ the Lord series. The first one is called Out of Egypt. I find them very intriguing because they are written from the point of view of Jesus Christ, and it is interesting being inside His head and imagining along with the author how He thinks. I am looking forward to the third book in the series.)

Day 2...

I was all excited about finishing this latest seahorse quilt and adding it to my website, until I photographed it and put it on the computer! I thought it was going to be so vibrant and bold and I'm not sure it is having the effect I expected. I was so excited about the background fabric and so sure I wanted to make my whole book using it that I drove all the way back to JoAnn's fabrics for whatever was left on the bolt! I did have a lot of luck (and fun!) fabric shopping today, but now that I see the collage here, I'm not sure it's what I wanted it to be. If you haven't seen my other seahorses, visit my website for a comparison, www.cindysartquilts.com.

Welcome!

I began blogging at my website, www.cindysartquilts.com, a few months ago, but I found the format to be limiting and didn't post consistently, so I thought I'd try blogger! So here's my first post! I suppose I intend to use this as a record of my creative growth and progress in fabric collage, with the eventual goal of writing and illustrating for children. I sometimes do journal quilts, but again, not on a consistent basis, but when I do, I'll post them here.
I suppose one of the main reasons I am inconsistent with my creative work and blog postings is because I am a working (part-time) mother of three girls and I have difficulty consistently setting aside time. It's more of a grab-as-you-go prospect and I work creatively when I can. Another reason for my sporadic work is that it's summer and they are all home with me for another month, which is a blessing and a challenge at the same time. And summer is also the time I love to spend immersed in a novel (but, I do that in winter as well!) and I'm kind of like an addict when it comes to a good book - can't put it down until I'm done! I just finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer so maybe now I'll be able to focus on some of my own creative work! But first, I have to get the kids some dinner!