Somerset Apprentice Autumn 2010 Volume 3 - coming soon!

I'm pickled tink  to tell you Somerset Apprentice's next publication (available September 1, 2010)  will be featuring a 5 page tutorial  on a fabric collage I created entitled When Pigs Fly.  They had initially emailed me askin me to submit  a piece I had created and posted here  but I had given it away as part of a collaborative project  and wasn't at that point too comfortable asking for it back. (I later did and then submitted both)  But,   instead, I offered to create a new piece for the feature.  Well,  I learned never to do that again.  Although I am now happy with the outcome, the angst and self-consciousness that poured out of me for most of May leading up to the submission deadline was too much for me to want to repeat....to say the least.

I am  however very happy with the written portion of the tutorial and especially with the hint section which is detailed and answers many of the questions I am often asked by others wanting to start dabbling in fabric art, stitching, beading, etc. 

I never thought in a milion years that I would be so drawn to this 'medium' to express myself creatively.   Having grown up as a true tomboy, I was also  a bit of a rebel in my home economic class in my teenage years.  Although I promise, I wasn't the instigator, I did have a hand in filling our home economic teacher's rubber boots with porridge one cold and snowy February afternoon.  Her name was Mrs. Traub...I've felt horrible about that ever since.   Mrs. Traub, if you are still alive and reading this, just say the word and I'll send this off to you as a way of making amends.  After all, the poor lady...what a handful of spinny 13 year old girls she had to contend with.   I still remember a particularly mischievous girl standing behind Mrs. Traub on a stool strategically and softly  placing straight pins in her wig as Mrs. Traub (completely oblivious to  what was taking place behind her ) went on with her lecture.  Isn't that cruel?  You may find that hard to believe, but Mrs. Traub was also blind in her left eye making this possible as her peripheral vision was poor.

But, back to the topic at hand, until 2 years ago,  I  never owned a sewing machine that would sew without creating a sizeable birds nest of tangle thread each time I attempted to use it.  Well, technology has progressed since the 70's  - go figure - and even though my sewing machine is modest in its features, those memories of continual failures have now faded and I have come to enjoy the soft whhhhhhhhhrrrrrrr of the machine and the trance that ensues from focusing on the needle and the patina of the cloth as it follows the path front to back.  It's soothing to me.  Similarly, the beading and the embroidery are no longer activities I want to complete or dread, but instead,  a happy and quiet time I look forward to.  I must be ready for grandchildren?

Here's a few photos that I took along the way in May  that don't appear in the feature article -

When Pigs Fly 

 Original  Fabric Mixed Media Collage  5 x 12 inches 

Somerset Apprentice Volume 3 - Autumn 2010

Here is the back side -

A special thanks to the folks at Somerset who provided me with this opportunity to share my creative passion!!  And, for those of you who want to take digital art to a textile application - here's a good place to start!!!

 Thanks for reading!  Oh, just because they've been so good to me,  I thought I'd provide  a convenient   link to where you can order your own copy.

Image Credits - Pig and Bunny - Tangie Baxter at Scrapbookgraphics.com

Crown, Wings, Frame - Marsha Salyer Jorgenson - Tumble Fish Studio

Parachute and Numbers - Holliewood Studios at Deviantscrap.com

Female Figure - the late Suzee Que at Flickr.com

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