Empty Spools - Asilomar 2006

PLORK: To play with a spirit of adventure while simultaneously working with focus.

  

Janis 'plorks' on the sign to welcome Thursday's visitors to class.

In my Empty Spools classes, hands and hearts come together in the spirit of sharing.

  

Smiles abound in a relaxed yet focused class environment.
Look for my new class, Fabric Collage & Exquisite Embellishment to be offered during session IV, March 30 - April 4, 2007. Emphasis will be on creating art quilts with alternative methods of embellishment.

John C. Campbell Folk School- October 2005

The folk school provides a unique educational opportunity in the heart of Appalachia. Look for my next class there in October 2007. Check out their website at folkschool.org

 

Empty Spools - Asilomar 2005

Empty Spools Seminar - April 2005

Quilts, tunics, vests and and a coat were created by happy artists in Rosemary's fabric collage class which was part of the Empty Spools Seminars. The popular quilting seminars are held annually at the Asilomar Conference Grounds at Pacific Grove, CA on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula. Check out www.emptyspoolsseminars.com for information.


Mighty books and those that are small:
I love books that inspire my work. Here are two for you from both ends of the spectrum, price wise. Let’s start with the sublime. Probably the most useful book in my modest collection is by Max Tilke: Costume Patterns and Design, Rizolli, NY. I found it on a ‘remainders’ table several years ago and almost passed over it because of its $35 price tag. I checked bookfinder.com (a search engine for used books)  yesterday and it’s readily available - for $130-250. Well, Christmas is coming!  It’s a large format book, packed with full color plates printed on one side of the paper. The designs date from Babylonian antiquity through European styles of the 19th Century. There are even indicators of how some of the patterns are constructed for the costumes. Great reference! 



On the ridiculous end of the spectrum is a paperback charmer for those of you who either groove on the hippy styles of the 60’s and 70’s or still draw on the exuberance of the era to inspire your work. It’s Native Funk and Flash by Jacopetti and Wainwright. I found it through bookfinder.com for $7.95 and up to $75. It’s got great photos of all the clothes you’ll remember fondly, if you’re old enough.


Scenes from Rosemary's Garden
I've just been introduced to a new sewing notion that I'm excited about. For all of the years that I've been doing free motion stitching to create my collages, I've never used aids except Tacky Fingers(c) to keep my hands in contact with the fabric as I move it under the needle. When I was teaching at the Empty Spools Seminar at Asilomar in February, one of my students introduced the Quilt Sew Easy Discs,
manufactured by Cheri Morning Star. Before long, half of the class was sewing with them and finding them to be very useful. Click to order.

Here's how they work. The discs consist of two oblong pieces of thin foam rubber mounted on white plastic (photo 1).The smaller of the two discs is held in the right hand. It fits in the small area under the arm of the sewing machine and gives better small motor control in moving the fabric (photo 2). I believe these will help the beginner to free motion stitching to get the idea that you don't have to change the direction of the fabric to change the direction of the stitching. Those of you with a history of free motion stitching and machine quilting will find that your hands are more relaxed while stitching as the foam does the job of grabbing the fabric and moving it instead of using pressure from each of your finger tips to hold and move the fabric. The benefit is that there's less stress to your hands and wrists. For those of you who do machine quilting, the discs are wonderful aid in opening up the 'ditch' and keeping it flat for stitch-in-the-ditch sewing.

For the past 6 months, I've been having shoulder pains which my acupuncturist labeled as 'frozen shoulder.' He says it's a common complaint among 'mature' women, whatever that means! I suspect that part of my problem stems from residual stress from the repeated motions of many hours spent doing free motion stitching. I won't make any medical claims here, but my shoulder is improving and I'd love to give credit to using the discs! (Of course, this is gardening season in California, so my shoulder may be improving just because I'm getting more exercise, which I'd also be happy to advise.).

I never had time to try the discs while at Asilomar. But I tried them after returning home and was sold on their usefulness after one ten-minute session. Unlike many sewing gadgets, there was no long learning curve. I've since then demonstrated them to two classes and almost everyone has tried them and liked them so much that they've purchased a set for themselves

You may order a set of discs for just $12

 

 

When I was in junior high school, our science class was given an assignment that I just loved doing and still remember quite well. We were to design a house of the future, with any features our hearts and imaginations could desire. The most futuristic object I could imagine was a television that could be hung on a wall like a picture frame. The greatest luxury I could imagine was an indoor swimming pool (I grew up on Iowa farm!). While skinny TVs aren’t readily accessible today, they are available. And though I’ll never own an indoor swimming pool, I do water aerobics in a public indoor pool a couple times a week. 


A Sewjourner's Studio


My Sewing Corner


Laying Out a collage

My wildest childhood imagination couldn’t stretch to sending messages via computer to an unknown audience. My first experience with a computer was during the 1960’s when I was a student at Iowa State University. There, the Cyclone computer filled a complete building. But here I am, working at this computer which has come to feel almost as familiar to me as my sewing machine. 

I’ve included this Sewjournal in my Webpage so I could share some of my thoughts from time to time. This isn’t going to be a blow-by-blow accounting of my days, nor will it be a complete how-to-do anything. But I decided I’d like to have a venue to share events, viewpoints, and an occasional technique. Over the years when I’ve interacted with other folks who like to make things by hand with fabric (my quick-and-dirty definition of a fiber artist) I’ve found that we share some strong commonalties. If I’m interested in a subject, it’s likely that some of you will share that interest.

We fiber artists all love fabric and have an uncanny ability to find it in remote corners of remote shops anywhere on the planet. I’ll share my finds with you. I’m hoping that you’ll share your finds by contacting me  so I can share them in this venue. These won’t be the obvious resources that we all know about and look up when we’re in metropolitan areas.

I use lots of home decorating fabrics in my collages, so when I find a store that has LOTS of them, I’m a happy camper. My sister-in-law in  northern Alabama introduced me to Simi’s. It’s located at 248 Seville Street, in Florence, Alabama. If you’re in the area, you can contact them at 256-760-8288

The largest selection of Hoffman batik fabrics I’ve ever encountered is in the General Store in Kealakekua, Hawaii. When I was there three years ago, there were two bolts of Alexander Henry fabrics and a galvanized wash tub in the window. There was just enough fabric to entice me through the doors. When I paid for the new additions I’d collected for my stash, the clerk recognized my husband’s name from when she’d lived in his hometown, Marshalltown, IA. Ron’s dad had secured a job for the clerk’s husband in the 1950’s. Small world. Forgive me: I digress. Contact the store, H. Kimura, Inc. Box 535, Kealakekua HI 96750. Phone: 322-3771. I don’t have the area code, but you’ll be there and will know it if you’re calling.
Ron listening to
Rosemary digress
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