Here's a question for you. What is ART? I mean really... What is it? According to various dictionaries, art is the creation of beautiful or significant things; the products of human creativity; a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation.
So, doesn't that mean that art can be just about anything we want? It just needs to be something "created."
Sit back and listen to what people say about quilts. Painting is already an acknowledged art form. But quilts. People say, "It's just a blanket." Umm... sure, whatever. It's taking several pieces of fabric from different bolts of cloth, cutting each piece to specific measurements, and then carefully sewing the pieces back together to form a delightful image. Whether it's a 4-patch, 9-patch, or something more complex like a New York Beauty block. Each one is an art form.
Even quilters can be snobs about what constitutes as art in the quilt field. We look at the quilts that make it to Houston or Paducah and say, "Oh, yeah. That's art!" Then we overlook the 'lowly' quilts that our children and other relatives curl up in. No one would ever dare cuddle up in a quilt at a major quilt show. And yet, those quilts we cuddle up in mean much more to us than the others.
I recently repaired a vintage quilt. It was made probably back in 1960 or maybe even earlier. It was machine pieced and hand quilted. It was obviously meant to be a "utility quilt." To be used up. However, it was the first quilt I ever repaired for my parents. Not the fancier ones that still need repaired that they have. Nope. It was the beloved quilt in our family. I loved running my hands over those patches. Heartbroken at the horrible restoration it went through previously. I then carefully matched the colors and types of fabrics and restored it the way it was supposed to be. It came out beautiful. When I returned it, no one could tell which patches I had replaced. That is the way it should be. Even though it was a "utility quilt," it's still art. Hand quilting is rare these days. We reserve it for our finest quilts. Back then, it was used for everything. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
So, never let anyone tell you that your quilts aren't worthy of being called art. Even our "lowly" scrap quilts are beautiful. Even we "look down" on our scrap quilts. But they're still beautiful. The same amount of time goes into those as we put into other quilts. Maybe even more if we have to carefully sort out our scraps to get the right color combination or the right size to cut out that square or triangle. Nope. Every quilt, every wallhanging, everything we create out of our fabric is art. Then, with love, we give them away. Very rarely do we accept money for our works of art. Maybe in all realities, they should be called "works of heart" for that's what they are.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Still not quilting...
Well, I had a wild urge earlier this week to make a lovely pillow for a friend of ours whose daughter graduated recently. However, the urge passed very quickly when my kids and home refused to let me near my fabric. Ever since I moved my quilting room out of the extra bedroom to spread my boys out more, I haven't had any urge to quilt. Now my fabric is spread between 2 rooms again and that makes it extra hard. Oh, well. Maybe I'll get to it this week. Last week, we had 5 baseball games scattered throughout the week. However, this week only has a total of 3 and 2 of them are on one day. That always makes it easier. *smile* Thank goodness baseball is almost over! LOL
However, I am still doing something crafty. I've always been fascinated by chain mail jewelry. I used to go to the Renaissance fairs all the time here in Colorado. There was always one large booth that had nothing but various jewelry made out of chain mail. Hobby Lobby carries small kits on how to make various jewelry out of gold and silver 'jump' rings. I bought one the other day and started working on it last night. When finished, it will be a really pretty 18" necklace. Well, I do keep dropping some of the rings so it might be quite a bit smaller when I finish it. LOL I keep dropping the silver rings, which there are half as many as the gold rings. All I know is that it's really tedious work, but makes the most beautiful weaves as you put them together. I might have to buy stuff to make a matching bracelet when this necklace is finished. Also, I have all these ideas in my head now of different types of necklaces using this same weave pattern. Though there are other kits out there on wire weaving. I might try one of those too. However, I really do like the things you can do with simple rings. I do find the process of opening and closing the rings after putting them together to be fun. I almost wonder if I could sell any of this stuff online. I might have to make something and try.
Anyway! I guess I'd better get around today. At some point, I will have my other 2 children returned to me. However, to get one of them, I'll probably have to drive to my in-laws to get him. That just means we'll spend a lot of time over there as my oldest has learned to use inline skates and they have the best place to learn. *smile* He'll be sure we stay for awhile. He's turning out to be pretty good on them. Makes me want my own pair of inline skates again. *grin*
Everyone have a terrific Father's Day. If you have your husband or father at home, be sure to show him you care.
However, I am still doing something crafty. I've always been fascinated by chain mail jewelry. I used to go to the Renaissance fairs all the time here in Colorado. There was always one large booth that had nothing but various jewelry made out of chain mail. Hobby Lobby carries small kits on how to make various jewelry out of gold and silver 'jump' rings. I bought one the other day and started working on it last night. When finished, it will be a really pretty 18" necklace. Well, I do keep dropping some of the rings so it might be quite a bit smaller when I finish it. LOL I keep dropping the silver rings, which there are half as many as the gold rings. All I know is that it's really tedious work, but makes the most beautiful weaves as you put them together. I might have to buy stuff to make a matching bracelet when this necklace is finished. Also, I have all these ideas in my head now of different types of necklaces using this same weave pattern. Though there are other kits out there on wire weaving. I might try one of those too. However, I really do like the things you can do with simple rings. I do find the process of opening and closing the rings after putting them together to be fun. I almost wonder if I could sell any of this stuff online. I might have to make something and try.
Anyway! I guess I'd better get around today. At some point, I will have my other 2 children returned to me. However, to get one of them, I'll probably have to drive to my in-laws to get him. That just means we'll spend a lot of time over there as my oldest has learned to use inline skates and they have the best place to learn. *smile* He'll be sure we stay for awhile. He's turning out to be pretty good on them. Makes me want my own pair of inline skates again. *grin*
Everyone have a terrific Father's Day. If you have your husband or father at home, be sure to show him you care.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Answered Prayers
Well, some prayers are answered differently than others. For a year now, like many military wives, I've been praying that my husband doesn't end up in Iraq. Well, that prayer has been answered in an incredibly odd way. It turns out that he won't be stationed in the US after he graduates from AIT. He is going to S. Korea! Okay... Well... At least it's not Iraq, right? My prayer has changed now. It has changed to, "Please let us go with him." As of right now, DH and I figured out that he has only been home for just over 3 weeks in the past year. By the time he leaves for Korea, he will have been home for just over a month. That's not much time if you have to say goodbye to your husband for 2 years. That just includes this past year he's been in training and then including a year tour overseas. If we get to go with him, then we'll be gone for 2-3 years. If we can just be with him, I'm okay with that. As a matter of fact, I've been doing some studying of the Korean language. It really is a neat language. Now that I understand how their words are written, it's not difficult at all. Now, to figure out what those words mean! LOL At least I can pronounce them now. *grin*
As for another prayer that was answered. Compared to the other 2 up above, one of which has been answered and the other is 'pending,' it is a small prayer. It was still important though or I wouldn't have prayed about it. Two nights ago, my boys lost my car keys. I was a complete dork and had never gotten a second key for our car. Can we say stupid? LOL So we were locked out of our car and couldn't go anywhere. Not to mention the scare of not knowing where my keys were and if some unscrupulous person had them in their possession. I was getting ready to change the transmitter code on my car and replace every single lock on our home. However, this evening, a wonderful gentleman knocked on our door and asked if we had lost a set of keys. Oh, praise God! He said that he'd found them on the sidewalk outside of his home. He asked around his area to see if anyone had lost them, but no one had. He said it was bothering him because he knew that they were important and that someone must have been frantic at losing them. He was 100% right. I had cleaned my house from top to bottom looking for those keys. So this evening, he started walking around looking for the same type of car that the keys would match. He was definitely a Godsend when he brought those keys back to me. It turns out that my son had dropped them on the way back from the mailbox 2 nights ago. Trust me, it will be awhile before I trust him to get the mail again! On the bright side, my house is a lot cleaner and I've had a second key made for the car. So some good did come out of my scare.
With that, I'm off to try and relax for awhile. With the news of Korea and my lost keys coming all at once, it will be good to relax from the key problem. A little drama is out of our lives for the time being. *smile* As for Korea? That one will bug me until I know if we're going or not. I don't know if I should be thrilled because we get to go too or if I am to be upset because we're not. To tell you the truth, I think DH is going alone. *big sigh* Oh, well. I've handled it all for a year already. What's another year?
As for another prayer that was answered. Compared to the other 2 up above, one of which has been answered and the other is 'pending,' it is a small prayer. It was still important though or I wouldn't have prayed about it. Two nights ago, my boys lost my car keys. I was a complete dork and had never gotten a second key for our car. Can we say stupid? LOL So we were locked out of our car and couldn't go anywhere. Not to mention the scare of not knowing where my keys were and if some unscrupulous person had them in their possession. I was getting ready to change the transmitter code on my car and replace every single lock on our home. However, this evening, a wonderful gentleman knocked on our door and asked if we had lost a set of keys. Oh, praise God! He said that he'd found them on the sidewalk outside of his home. He asked around his area to see if anyone had lost them, but no one had. He said it was bothering him because he knew that they were important and that someone must have been frantic at losing them. He was 100% right. I had cleaned my house from top to bottom looking for those keys. So this evening, he started walking around looking for the same type of car that the keys would match. He was definitely a Godsend when he brought those keys back to me. It turns out that my son had dropped them on the way back from the mailbox 2 nights ago. Trust me, it will be awhile before I trust him to get the mail again! On the bright side, my house is a lot cleaner and I've had a second key made for the car. So some good did come out of my scare.
With that, I'm off to try and relax for awhile. With the news of Korea and my lost keys coming all at once, it will be good to relax from the key problem. A little drama is out of our lives for the time being. *smile* As for Korea? That one will bug me until I know if we're going or not. I don't know if I should be thrilled because we get to go too or if I am to be upset because we're not. To tell you the truth, I think DH is going alone. *big sigh* Oh, well. I've handled it all for a year already. What's another year?
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