Itching for Hand Stitching

I have a spring jacket that I hardly ever wear. I bought it when I went to visit my daughter in Galway several springs ago back, knowing how misty-moisty damp the weather in Ireland can be. After stubbornly putting away my winter jacket while hoping spring would actually arrive here on the North Coast, I had to pull it out today to keep the still chilly weather at bay.

When the silhouettes of the trees on the horizon begin turning that beautiful shade of lime green, I know spring here is around the corner, and my mind automatically starts making lists of things to do: rake the leaves away from the emerging spring bulbs, gather up dead tree branches, wash the kitchen floor.

Gayle's stitched collage, Changes
In my Magic Baby work studio, I am slowly sewing up the piles of designs I tend to cut out at night while watching the news or a movie with my husband. Once I have finished a design idea and my prototype, I sit and cut and cut and cut at night, and end up with large piles of sewing to await me each morning when I start to work.


Detail, Changes by Gayle Pritchard
I have decided to stop cutting out new garments to sew until I get my piles of unsewn ones under control. I get stir crazy, though, if I don't have something creative to do while I am sitting. Spring's imminent arrival has made me itchy to have some handwork to do.

At I seminar on creativity and work productivity, I made a note of the speaker's comment, paraphrased here. She said, when you want to begin new work, and have nothing in particular in mind, go look at your body of work and be inspired by that. I have always remembered that. I am rarely short on ideas, but frankly, at the end of a long work day in my self-created sweat shop, I am tired. I still want something creative to do with my hands, but I also want to relax. Handwork, for me, has always fulfilled that desire. With a composition already created and put together during my peak thinking hours, at night, I can just sit and stitch. Rhythm, pull the thread, put in the needle, repeat. It's wonderful.

The framed collage here hangs in my living room. I have always loved it, refreshed by its quiet colors and serene symmetry. I love the raw edges of the antique linen and other fabrics used for the collage, and I love the stitching marks that lead my eye around the piece, and back to the slightly obscured drawing I transferred as the focal point. This will be my inspiration for some light night stitching.

Happy spring, Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it, and may peace find you in the wee hours of the night.

Granny Would Be Proud

For Sadie Jane, two page artist book spread by Gayle Pritchard

We have family visiting (again) and in last night's conversation I got on the topic of Granny Pritchard, my husband's grandmother. The cyanotype image on the left is a picture of her on her wedding day. Anyway, I was remembering last night that it was Granny Pritchard who taught me how to make pie. I was in my early 20's, in her kitchen, my trusty old Betty Crocker cookbook in hand. I made notes all over the illustrated pages about making pie crust. Granny had a lot of tips, such as keeping the water for the pie crust in the freezer, along with the dough fork, pie plate and all other utensils until ready to use. Her most important tip, however, was to place her marble rolling pin in the freezer until it was time to roll out the pie dough. I proudly own her marble rolling pin, and I dutifully place it in the freezer as soon as I begin gathering the ingredients for pie dough. It works like a charm. Now, if I can just find a member of our family's next generation who is interested in learning how to make pie!

I am traveling again this week, this time to watch my baby granddaughter while her family moves into their new home. Instead of bringing my bag of art supplies, I am bringing my idea journal and a small quilt I am finishing. I don't anticipate having a lot of free time to sketch or work, but always like to have something to grab when I do find a few minutes. That is always how I accomplished so much when my own children were small, and why I prefer to sew by hand: it's portable. I pieced, appliqued and quilted many artworks while sitting at dental or doctor appointments or school activities, or even waiting in my car to pick them up.

Once I return home, I have a lot of artwork-work to catch up on. I also desperately want a playday, since I got a Yudu home screen printer for my birthday.

Here you see it sitting on my dinner room table. It is now in my temporary "garage" studio, calling my name. I have watched several online links demonstrating how it's used. Fortunately, I have done silk-screening before, although it was many years ago at the Cleveland Institute of Art. They, of course, have a wonderful facility, with very large work tables and a separate wet room. With the Yudu, everything is self-contained. The screen size is limited, but I am hoping it will be sufficient for my needs right now. I'll keep you posted!