When we take a really long car trip, I set up shop!!
Welcome to my nest in the van. My good husband drives while I work in the sweatshop.
The front seat moves just enough in the van to irritate my spinal nerve problem so I sit bolt upright in the second row and put the front seat in closed position. It give me a wee table.
The cd player went out, the van is old so we just got a boombox to play our book on tape. The third in the trilogy Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Oh boy! 10 hours on the road both ways and we didn't finish the last book! But It's good....
I have a hexie project I have been doing for 10 years on car rides and at bee. It was to be a small piece...
It's now in 5 sections and fits the king bed! I am doing borders at the moment, and have lots of batiks basted around plastic templates (cut from yogurt lids) ready to choose from. Right here they are in a cleaned cheese tray just their size. I love a re-use of a container!!
Of course when the car starts up fast, the stuff slides onto my feet!
While at the hotel, Cole and I sat under the patio umbrella and I beaded.
I am designing something very exciting for me. I tried to learn a particular beading technique on youtube but it's just easier to do my own thing. I've done 7 pieces so far and each one is exciting. I drew out some designs on graph paper and am doing even count flat peyote. I have learned so much about color, line and texture by experimentation. It has become the best way to learn for me.
And it's fun.
Each piece is different, and I swear I could make 50 more and still learn with each piece.
I have plans for them....
While my husband was toiling away at work, I was either going from quilt store to quilt store or in the room re-sewing my batik-on-black blocks. I ripped the rotten black away and left the batiks sewn together if possible. When I add back in good black fabric, I then go back and resew the partial seams. It's working well.
I made that bag l o n g ago with a Mary Englebriet transfer and it's still strong. I drew around the transfer with paint.
It says
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes
M. Proust
Well, I saw new landscapes and also looked at things with new eyes. We are trying to decide where to move.
The trip was a way to experience new landscapes and try them on for size. We loved the open fields in Ohio, the friendly down to earth people who had time to chat with a person, the parks, the calm, and at least I liked the quilt shops!
We found out our values still match as we both want more peace in our every day lives.
Do you take art projects along on trips??
This seems like a good life. I can't do hexies in the car, because I always drive myself. But I bring them with me, and this summer I've done my hexies on bus, plane, airports, parks and everywhere I was going. Looking forward to seeing more of your large hexie project.
ReplyDeleteYou're certainly well organised when you go on a trip and I envy the space you have created in the car. I always have some form of handwork with me, and usually more supplies than I need, just in case. But I never sew in the car: the roads are so busy we are always changing speed, and I'm terrified I'm going to drop my needle! I'm interested to see your beading project.
ReplyDeleteI do usually have some kind of hand sewing to do in the car when we travel. One of our daughters lives about 4 hours away and I can get a lot of sewing done on that trip, unless I'm the one driving.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you are all set for many hours on the road. I hope that you got a lot done.
ReplyDeleteYou are so organized and productive. I need to do that......
ReplyDeleteWhat a great setup!
ReplyDeleteI'm usually the driver on road trips so I don't get anything done when I'm away but I do like audio books. Lately I've been listening to Doctor Who in the car!
ReplyDeleteI love your working arrangement. I would suggest a mat made from the that rubbery net stuff that would keep things from sliding around. I think it's sold with shelf liner paper.
ReplyDeleteYou're moving? Oh, gosh, go where it's cool. Did you look in the mountains yet? Northern Arkansas is lovely almost year round. I think they get some snow. Humidity isn't as bad as down south. You'd be closer to Houston.
Diane
I love car trips for getting handwork done! Not so much with the beads though!
ReplyDeleteI keep my "emergency " sewing in the car, old fashioned hand piecing. Every time I have to wait for the kids I sew. By the time they leave school I should have finished the quilt!
ReplyDeleteTravel and car rides is the one time I don't sew. However, I save all my magazines for trips. Love that I can read and toss (recycle of course) as I go.
ReplyDeleteLove your mobile workshop! Ready for art adventures, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI can't sew in the car (I get carsick if I don't look out the window) but I can knit without looking, so I usually have socks or other small knitting projects with me. I'd get all kinds of goofy if I couldn't keep my hands busy!
I have that same ME saying on a plaque!! LOVE IT!! Oh and did you crack me up with this post....of course I have a travel sewing kit...but not a shop!!! LOL!!! I'm actually getting my hexi's out...as we head up to the mountains next week for a vaca....so handsewing is a must. Now, i feel tons better when you said your project was 10 years old as mine is 3. :) :) Hexi love!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great little package of hexies to bring along on road trips.
ReplyDeleteYou are very organised. Im not sure I could be a passenger and sew, Im generally reading the map!! (we do have a Sat Nav but still don't quite trust it not to send us down a narrow lane in the Camper Van). Wow 10 hours each way. I live in the south of England and I could be in Scotland and home again twice with that journey.
ReplyDeleteSo fun to see your travel set up. And the beading photo is so luscious, makes me want to go and get my beads out right now!
ReplyDeleteI always take art to work on with me on my trips, but usually never touch it. I'm afraid I'll miss something to see during the day and just look out the window if we're driving and at night, I'm usually exhausted and go to sleep as soon as I hit the bed. But having my art with me is like a security blanket.
ReplyDeleteI find I fall asleep in the car if I don't do some stitching while we travel along. You have a great hexie set up for the car!
ReplyDeleteI always admire people that use car trips in creative ways! Unfortunately I cannot do anything when I move because I get motion sickness (even on planes) :( so I usually just listen to music or books and I plan my next projects in my head! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteScoping out different areas before a move is so important. DH and I thought we wanted mountain property when what we really wanted was to be able to SEE the mountains (which you can't do if you're among the hills). We thought we wanted remote, but ended up in a gated subdivision when we agreed that was were we felt the most peace. It's on a lake with a mountain view!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely take hand projects with me. But much of the time I read as hubby doesn't want an audio book on. Not an issue, I taught myself to be able to read in the car. Are you guys retiring or just moving on to a new location? We love VA but don't like the hot and humidity. On the other hand we also don't like the snow and cold. Picky, picky us! Good luck.
ReplyDelete