Wine a little

Our neighbors have a yearly wine tasting party that is so much fun.
When we travel by car, we bank back and forth between wineries and quilt stores. We will also look at local scenery, walk in cities, visit parks, but wineries and quilt shops are plotted along the way before leaving home. My husband and I have different tastes with wine but both love the process of trying a new one and taking it home for later. Back to this party...

The rules are bring a bottle per couple to taste, keep notes on taste, and our host Steve compiles the results after the last tastes are poured. There is always good food, as Elaine tries out new appetizers each year, and always the artichoke dip, which is cleansing to the liver, heh, heh. The people are so much fun, and it's the only time we see some of them so we can catch up on their lives.

Just to keep this poodle related, (you know how I am) another couple we see here each year, live with two standard poodles, so we compare notes on grooming and antics with them.
If you have been to my blog before you know how much I value a connection between people. This couple knows how to bring people together!

And the wine winners this year were...

Everyone seemed to love them, both red and white.
What a way to start off the holiday season as we got together just before Thanksgiving. Good food, good friends, good times. All that and we could walk home!
LeeAnna

and the baby bear said...

This is the donation quilt/bear given to the Salvation Army last night at our guild meeting. One of our charity projects each year is to dress a bear, and give in a quilt to be given to children in the area. This year I bought a newborn dress in the colors of the quilt, and the quilt is made from some fabrics given to me in a friend's cleaning out day.
I am ALL about the scraps. For some reason, scraps stimulate my creativity. When a friend handed me another bag of her discards, I pulled out all the princess, pink and purple pieces. I found a common size, made 9 patches til they ran out, then decided to use one of my fave stripes as setting or background. The whole thin is so sweet. It came mostly from something that might  have been thrown away. That makes me happy. Right now I'm carrying around a tote bag, tutorial to follow soon, made from more scraps given to me.
This is win win. The person clearing out wins, I win, now a child wins. Yea!

The other thing going on around here today is soup making, and I'll tie it in with the three bears. Didn't they come into the cottage and have soup--- too hot, too cold, just right!
The process of soup making is time consuming, with all the cleaning of fresh vegetables, the dicing, the chopping, the spicing. I used to enjoy cooking, and my food generally tastes good, it's another creative endeavor for me as I seldom if ever use a recipe. I cook with with items I like. My husband also likes it. This soup uses the drippings from the turkey which was cooked Thanksgiving with veg. in the pan. The leftover turkey, fresh ginger, mushrooms, potatoes, onions, leeks, carrots, zucchini, lentils, brown rice, S & freshly ground 4 color pepper, oregano, basil, garlic, organic chicken broth. Took a long time to prepare, but now it's on the stove top simmering and the house is smelling good. It'll be  just right, hopefully.
LeeAnna
linked to http://www.freshlypieced.com/

Comparing yourself to others-Overcome Roadblocks

comparison chart

One of the Creativity Killers is comparing your work to that of other artists. We all do it. We all hear other people doing it at exhibitions. There are a lot of opinions out there. A professional judge will hopefully make decisions based on principles of good design. A certified quilt judge makes decisions based on their criteria of a well made quilt derived from traditional guidelines. A non professional viewer makes their judgements based on personal preferences and what they like or think makes a good quilt. All of these are somewhat if not totally subjective opinions and we often take them as more valid than our own opinions.

I do lectures to groups about increasing one's creativity. We all want to be more creative and authentic in our work. We want it to reflect our personal vision. We want it to express something about us. Then when we get up our courage to show it to others, we worry about how it will be received.

Will they like it???

This fear of judgement actually paralyzes some people into never showing their work. It stops some people from making original quilts because they aren't sure of their choices. Someone else's quilt they've seen at a national show was so good, theirs would never be that good. They choose to follow a pattern instead, because for some reason, that person's vision is better than theirs because they are  published.

This is a major roadblock.

What would you create if you'd never seen these nationally shown quilts in shows, magazines, or books?
Would it be more fun if you didn't know what else was being done?  Would you try odd things because no one ever told you that wasn't done with fabric? What if your opinion counted more than other people's opinions?  What if you knew other quilt artists also felt these concerns to varying degrees? Maybe they wonder how their work will compare, but are not limited by their concerns, or have learned to overcome them.

Once again, this is a series to start a discussion, an inner dialogue between your 4 year old self who loves to create and the inner critic that compares your work to other work. From my personal interviews with artists of all media, I know we all have or have had this dialogue and come to terms with this issue in our own time.

I can only encourage you to learn what you can about techniques and design, then make art that expresses your vision. There will be people who like it and get it, and there will be people with no taste (smile)

the other side of the discussion can be read in R.. Genn's letter HERE

I'd love to visit your group, and get a chance to give my lecture on creativity. I welcome all opinions on this post, love the connections between makers, and I learn from all of you. Thanks for reading.
LeeAnna
you might enjoy other Overcoming Creativity Roadblocks-  CLICK HERE

Visit to a Craft show

We three visited the big Sugarloaf Craft Show last weekend. It's one of the few around here that do not discriminate against dogs, and Cole loves to go with us. He has always been a shopper. He looks at all shelves, he visits with people who (obviously) came there to see him. He is right there next to us when we test the maple syrup and cheeses. The show is held at the Fairgrounds so the smells must be fantastic to a poodle's nose, evidenced by his near constant sniffing.

These mugs are our first purchase of the day.
We love Michael Natale's mugs and already have two. We do NOT need another coffee mug, but the grace and colors are too hard to resist.  When it was time for a rest, the husband and poodle tried out the rockers. As soon as the two of them got, er, off their rockers, we moved on...

to purchase a dress done with bleach discharge. I tried it on right there in front of God and everybody, and it looked so cool, three other women bought one like it. Drew bought two pair of alpaca wool socks, and Cole dithered over another dog bowl

These were so cute but he decided to spend his allowance at the gourmet dog treat store, BARK!, coming later in the evening.
There was a lot of jewelry shopping going on, the kind where a dog can't even SEE the merchandise, but eventually we stopped in to visit with a photographer extraordinaire, Bruce Bozman www.iconartphoto.com from NY. 



We enjoyed a wonderful few minutes interviewing him and learning about his process.
 His work is colorful, abstract, visually textured and very Quilt-like to me. High praise!
The idea came to him when he saw dripping against the hull of a boat, with the sun just right. Ahh, living the creative life. Cole got some serious petting, and caught a few zzzzzz's while we chatted.
We bought some roasted chestnuts to fortify us all, enjoying the warmth on a cold day.

This is a fabric artist going by the name Seeing in Fabric, Jamie Langhoff. I had a great time talking to her about her creative process too.Unlike me, she keeps it neat in the studio or she can't work. Like me, she must keep control of  unlimited ideas coming to her all the time, enough to sit down and actually make them! We also both agree that dealing with computers is a pain, even though she is a young thing. It's not a short-coming. It's just who we are. From what I could see, she works with basic sewing supplies and machine, and turns out works of art. www.seeinginfabric.etsy.com

It was somewhere about 4:30 that the check poodle light came on and a nap was called for. No argument from Drew who had been hauling around our purchases, the dog, and me. I looked at more jewelry while this was going on. Last stop for ToffeHouse yummy toffee drizzled with chocolate and nuts. What a worthwhile indulgence.






 As night approached, we moved on to... listen to the angels singing....mecca. The Container Store.
When we get that close to Rockville, we have to go by TCS. As all crafters know, we could be brilliantly organized if only we had the right plastic containers.
 Then on to BARK! for venison treats for Cole, picked up dinner to go and dragged our selves home.

I am so glad Drew enjoys or at least tolerates my love of craft shows, and the artist interviews I do. It's all part of the package.
LeeAnna

I could eat...

We are three for dinner. Even though our family is small, we planned a traditional meal of turkey breast, roasted vegetables, zucchini casserole, home made cranberry sauce, citrus salad I always had as a child, and some pie.
Cole is having some white fish, and green beans in his kibble. He is highly allergic to turkey, so he has to smell it all day with his trained poodle nose, and then eat fish.


I made citrus salad last night. I grew up in Florida, with lots of oranges and grapefruits because my father worked in the industry. I took them for granted, as you will in times of plenty, but up here in the North a grapefruit costs the better part of a dollar a piece. I section grapefruits and navel oranges, mix in fresh pineapple, coconut, bananas, and maraschino cherries.
The whole time I am peeling the fruit, I'm thinking, don't cut your hand.... like a mantra. I got to the last orange before I cut my hand. Not badly, just a reminder of what could have been.

The sketch of Cole is my on-going attempt to develop a style of drawing. I decided to accept  this kind of whimsical child-like drawing I do, and to embrace it. I yam what I yam and it's fine with me.

We are thankful to have each other, a home and food. I am thankful for TV movies although they make me long for a close family. We are thankful it stopped raining. I am thankful for my sewing supplies and you who read what I write.

 I am thankful to be a creative soul that sees exciting possibilities for art in every day life. We have a lot to do around the house this weekend, including the monthly grooming of the poodle, horrors! but we might take a moment to visit the Smithsonian museums as it's another tradition with us. What are your traditions?

Love to those of you reading my words...
LeeAnna
please scroll down for pictures of a quilt, and pin cushions I finished, thanks!

And the winners are...

picture from costume works  http://www.costume-works.com/pin_cushion.html

What fun to have so many new visitor to Not Afraid of Color!! I hope you all come back sometime to read what's happening around here.  There is a lot more to come, watch for interview with an artist videos coming soon. The connection project will begin in the new year. The regular posts will return now that the hop is finished.

Speaking of which, I decided to have not just one drawing but all three! I am feeling especially thankful for my new readers, and hope you love your pin cushions.  Give them a good home with lots of fabric and sewing supplies. Take them along on retreats, and please send me a picture of them in your studio.

The winner of the bird, "Fly" is  Turid from Norway!
The winner of the mouse"Imperfection" is Deb at Simple life
The winner of the fabric hound is Kay in the UK
Congrats! I'll be mailing them out next week.
 If I don't hear from these lucky winners in the next day or two, the alternate names will win.

For those of you who want to make your own, these are links to the pattern sites
The mouse is from Bustle and Sew, link http://bustleandsew.com/free-patterns/
The dog is from Allsorts, link http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2006/05/softie_scotty_d.html
The bird is from spool sewing.com   I added a few features, such as bead feet so it stands freely, and stuffed, turned quilted wings, and embellishments. I painted the body as well.

 The give away was so much fun I'm considering doing it at random several times a year, so please keep  in touch and keep reading our antics.LeeAnna

Gratitude

In honor of Thanksgiving week, let's resume the Creativity Roadblocks series next Monday with
"Comparing yourself your QUILTS to other's"  Please check back and make comments.

The picture above is one of my pine needle paintings cut out of the painted strip,( to see the tutorial post CLICK HERE) and appliqued onto an exchange square. I randomly couched thick threads and left edges raw, added some bugle beads and the word Gratitude embellished with some gold paint. It is in the hands of one of my bee mates now...
I have pictures of three others to share with you later.

If you are in the Thankful Give Away blog hop please scroll down for my give away.

Thanks for visiting and y'all come back again later!  I have posts in line for after the hop, such as Wine Tasting party, Trip to a BIG craft show with artist interviews, Roadblocks series continues, and another sketch-like-a-four-year-old.
LeeAnna, grateful for visitors reading my words!

Quilting Gallery ( Click here for participant list)