A Quiet Japanese Couple

Perhaps by now you're craving a palette cleanser for all the emotional posting that's been going on around here- an antidote to my cathartic oversharing.

And so I give you "The Quiet Japanese Couple", a textile series I've been working on in the studio.  (SEE, there is still the sewing!  And you thought it was going to be all that touchy-feely stuff all the time.)

They are chambray fabric backed by some kind of freaky starched poplin I had in the studio and then thin batting in between.  Follow by sewing for ten thousand hours each and here you go.  They're really just placemats, and I planned to make a set of six, but they are so lovely as a pair, I am torn!  (As I usually do you the courtesy, I will note here that I refrained from more than one joke about "looming decisions", etc.)

I want to offer you the chance to admit that you too *swoon* when faced with chambray selvedge.  When marrying the selvedge of nice chambray becomes legal in the eyes of the federal government, I will be there.  Marrying the selvedge of nice chambray.

The Quiet Japanese Couple is a set of two panels that are inspired by Japanese boro textiles, which I just cannot get enough of.  You feel the same way, no doubt.  I mean, look at these muvs!:

yukaipa.tumblr.com

ddutch.tumblr.com

pilgrimandpie.blogspot.com

Middle Of The Night Mama

You know, as soon as I wrote that post headline, I had a mini-epiphany.  Mama hasn't used needles in so long that I would be shocked if I could sew a straight line out in my studio.

There's a problem with balance happening over here.  I haven't so far found a way to shoehorn a couple of extra hours into the day, so my studio is all alone, having been set aside for more noble pursuits.  Like the gym.  I go there every day and do these crazy exercises like I'm training to fight Blago in Rocky V.  Blago is Griffin, my two-year old.  I have decided I need to fortify to prevent injury.

So, there's that, and a host of other things I have to do to keep up with this here juggernaut.

But what about MEEEEEEE?!

Somehow, last winter, I was able to hole up in my studio for at least an hour and half each day for six weeks and finished a huge writing project.  Now I can't even get a blog post up because I've got to cleanthecerealoutofmyhair.  I thought it was supposed to get easier as these twins got older.  Lies.  All of it!

All I've accomplished this winter is this poor little failure of a batik project:

The results of which didn't even merit a photo.  As in didn't even merit the pixels spent on a digital photo.

I've realized the extra time isn't going to come from the sun.  I will have to make it for myself.  So I've taken to getting up really early.  Like, this early:

Oh, and last night, I fell asleep to the soothing sounds of Annika, repeatedly running her tiny starfish hand over my furrowed brow, declaring "Stripes! Mama stripes"

Yeah, thems my stripes alright.   I got them from you, you crazy little creature of madness.

(Author's Note: the child dresses herself up like that.)

So, here's to the New Year.  And more Lisa Time.  Even if it is at 4am.

This is Crazy, This Is Crazy, This Is Crazy!

Hi cornpones,

I HAVE been working you know.  I've been workin' on my twerkin'.  Yes, all these months I've been spending all my free time perfecting my booty bounce.  Because, well...zeitgeist.

Also, I made this recently.  It is the Grabbox Quilt for Phinny.  This is just the front and it may remain as such since I'm afraid to eff it up by trying to back it.

It's about a kertrillion pieces of sweatshirt sewn together.  Here's a rather lovely shot of multi-generational art-making.  Rug handmade by my Grandma Agnes Boyle, and wooden bird sculpture by Phinny!

For scale:

And here's a bonus close-up with Phinny's wooden bird.

And I have done other things, too, so you stay tuned to find out what they are, okay?

YES!! No.

You want to see something kinky?

That, my friends, is a binding attachment for an industrial sewing machine.  You see there a very handy diagramatic illustration of what it does.

Yes, you remember all the hours you've whiled away making bias tape, ironing the bias tape, lining up and pinning the bias tape then sewing on this bias tape binding to something, only to find out that it's not lined up between the top and bottom?  Hours you no doubt could have used catching up on Real Housewives of Atlanta trying to decide if you love NeNe Leakes or hate NeNe Leakes.  I'm sorry, but those hours are gone.  But waste no more!

Or so I thought.

I bought a version of this attachment to bind the edge of the shearling/ sweatshirt baby quilts, and in my test samples, I finally got it to work perfectly, as proven in Exhibit A:

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you- that is perfect.  Bias tape made from t-shirt (a continuous length for the whole binding cut strategically from a single t-shirt), and a layer of sweatshirt and shearling.  You feed them in together and the attachment folds, encases and stitches it top and bottom.  That is a truth and not a lie.

So I finally put a finished quilt up for slaughter, all scared and holding my breath as I tried to feed it through my machine.

Demons.  After having to call my nanny out to the studio to hold the tape as it fed, while I held 'fore and aft' and surgically manipulated the tape with tweezers every time it jammed, we got all the way around.  Triumphantly, I said "We made it!  Yes! This looks pretty j'awesome!"

Then we looked closely and realized it is all gobbled and ripped and ruined.

But now it's ours which is a sort of nice downside to ruining a for-sale item.  "Seconds", they're called.  So back to the drawing board.

I emotionally recalibrated from my high then low extremes by making a good old-fashioned piece of do-nothing art.  (And taking half of a Diazapam.  But that's really more for the kids.)

Chevron Quilt and The Potty Zombies

I know it's been a long time since I loved up on my blog, but I have been getting chased by The Potty Zombies in an especially vicious manner lately.  The Potty Zombies are Annika and Griffin and they are like zombies in many ways right now, which, since they kept me awake last night (SEE!  Zombies.)  while Julie was out of town, I am going to go right on ahead and detail the similarities for you.

1.  Like zombies, they teeter menacingly in your direction with arms poker straight in the air.
2.  While doing so, they drool, usually across previous patches of dried up face plaque of unknown origin.
3.  If you try to run, they come faster.  Their talent for somehow matching increasing speed defies physics.
Four. (You remember the spilled coffee on my computer's 'four' button right?):  They bite.
5.  If you try to go to the bathroom alone- if ANYONE tries to go to the bathroom alone, they will be immediately set upon by two teetering, high speed, drooling creatures who, if you are lucky to get the door closed, will bang on the door until it falls to the floor in a pile of splinters.

Still, they're very cute, which ameliorates some of the terror.

Here's what I made, while running from The Potty Zombies:

 

It's part two of a series of six.

For scale:

 

The Real Workroom Reveal + New Quilt Panel

Since I promised I would post a photo of the new studio with all my junk strewn, I must do it.  I'm sure you can guess how it pains me to have defiled such a chapel.

Heal thyself.

I finished this sweatshirt fabric stroller blanket top this morning.  I am working on a series, officially now, so I am going post them as they come.  It may take some time, since sweatshirts are out of season and all my fabric sources have dried up for the time being.  I was smart this summer and bought a load of t-shirts to work with for the winter.  I will be smart this winter and buy a load of sweatshirts to work with off season.  I'm headed for bulk buying soon.  500 lbs. of sweatshirts in my studio?  Sign me up.

Meaningless but pretty color composition shot:

 

Now, you've been wondering about that fraying in the seams on the sweatshirt quilts I made for the babies.  I've gotten many e-mails about it.  Not really, but writing that made me laugh out loud and I take my kicks where I can get them.  But, if you were wondering, I am trying out a seam reinforcement to try and prevent this problem.  This is called Stay-Tape (creative play on words, isn't it?)  I'm hoping it will solve the problem, but I will resent the added 3 bones per blanket it will cost me to put it in.  

So last, but not least, for all you lovers out there...Super Sexy Stitch Time:

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The Epic Endeavor Named Grabbox

How satisfying is THIS?!

 

Phase one of Grabbox, complete.  Here's where I'd like to leave it.  Just hanging on this door for all time.  I'd like to not piece this together in rows now because it will get all wobbly and obstinate and terrible.  And I think it's lovely the way it is. 

Alas, in order for Phinny to ever snuggle underneath it, I will have to keep going on the path to quilthood.  

I have to lay it all out and arrange the rows, and I don't really have the best wide open space for that, so I may have to wait until my new studio is built.  Thasright- my new studio!  We are waiting on permits to construct a detached studio space behind our house, in which I will plot and execute the takeover of my inner procrastinator, nag and creative confidence goblin.  It's about the get REAL up in here.

For now, let's just behold these hundreds of bits of sweatshirt.

I Am a Very Fancy Artist

I am not a very fancy artist.  Though I used to think I wanted to be.  The day I matriculated at the University of Chicago in the Master's Program for contemporary art, I left all notions of craft and actual art-making behind in favor of putting my brain on a conceptual treadmill.  I'll tell you about the day I quit:

One student, Mince, let's call him, turned in as his semester final a twenty page long list of everything in his studio.  All my professors were standing around scratching their chins, contemplating this tidal wave of unbridled genius.  One said, "Now, let's talk about what Mincent meeeeeaaaaans with this list."  When they came to me, I said, "It means I should quit.  Like, right now." No Master's Degree from The Committee on Visual Art.  AND THAT'S HOW I WAS GONG TO MAKE THE BIG BUCKS, GUYS. 

So since then, I've been on a slow trek down from the pretentious peaks of high art.  I used to be self-conscious, in a way, about a love of craft (both in the work of contemporary artists I'm drawn to, and just craft for the glory that is something well-crafted).  But that's over now, and I get my kicks out of loving on all of it.  I see the germination of high art forms in the simplest and most mundane craft work and I can also appreciate the craft that is inherent in certain contemporary works that may at first seems off the cuff and careless. 

So it brings me to some recent work on textile panels.  These here I made.

I was really interested in the strong feeling of satisfaction I have with these and the influences I was channeling when I designed them. 

OMG, I just had a revelation that the color is totally and exactly Matthew Barney Cremaster!  I loved that work once upon a time.  And I think the composition is a little bit Anni Albers, little bit Clay Ketter?  Anyway, it's really fun to see all the compartments in my brain for design, craft and art bastardizing one another.

I am tired now because I have so many children.  I better stop writing.  Suddenly.  Before I say something stupid.  That above paragraph is starting to show the strain of sleep deprivation.  Goodnight.

What I'm Seeing Lately...

Periodically I need to post links to other stuff so I can follow the trail of my recent inspirations.  You will like this.

Vera Neuman scarves, which I came to know from a link on my friend Libby Vanderploeg's site.  She likes good design, I like good design.  Exciting things will happen.

This particular image is linked from the Uono Design Blog.  Jeeeaaalluuzzz:

Next, conceptual objects and installations by the duo Mischer'Traxler.  They are based in Vienna and make gorgeous things in very inventive ways.  Like these vessels, which are constructed by a machine activated by viewers who are curious about the productions process.  The more the audience shows interest, the more the machine applies color as it wends the reedy spirals into a pot shape.  That's the short description- the long description can be found on the duo's website.  But I didn't read the whole thing, because you know sooner or later you'd run into words like "dialogic" and "hermeneutic".

Gray Label children's clothing: "Organic Clothing for the Little Minimalist".  Hilarious.  But beautiful.  Here's a snippet of my daydream featuring a little Minimalist: "Mama, can I wear Elmo with Agnes B. or does that clash?" "No, that's bad, wear your Helmut Lang, honey."

Handsome Griffin, who clearly knows his color.  He knows that lavender is the most killer accent to yellow and charcoal.  Throws in a little orange because he has that kind of confidence.

And then you know, sometimes you get a Two-For-One deal, right?  Well here's another picture of my baby son then:

(He enjoys to mix styles high and low- here with an everyman's chambray button down, paired with some japanese-inspired harem cords.  Daring little man.)

Industrial rolling canvas basket.  Someday I'm going to have one of these in the house, and I'm just going to roll it through all day long and fill it up with anything that gets in my way (including small children) then leave it at the door for when Julie arrives home.  At which time I leave to go have a very dirty vodka martini with Rachael Burs.  I think you can agree that it would be incredibly useful.

 

AtSwim-Two-Birds blog and the crochet work of  Renilde Depeuter.  Namely, these seat cushions and pot holders.  Yes, I am in love with pot holders.  Because her color work is flawless and amazing.

  

And finally, my new heros, dutch design duo Scholten & Baijings.  I am so uncontrollably in love with almost everything they design.  (Also, with THEM, hello.)

I would eat crushed glass if it was designed by them.  If you want to drool all over yourself, look at their website.  You will notice some pretty sneaky work on the thumbnail images there, by the way.  So rad.   I have been looking at it until my eyeballs dry out.

My eyeballs are dried out.  Goodnight.

Stylin' and Textilin'

I CANNOT HELP IT WITH THE CHEESY POST TITLES.  I AM SORRY!  YOU WILL HAVE TO FILE A LAWSUIT.

I always get my best ideas in the shower. Apparently, something about scrubbing the sensual contours of the armpit helps my mind assimilate all the visual fragments that have been floating through during the previous night.  Hey I know you wanted to know that.

I have been very interested for some time in textiles, as my dedicated reader knows.  I have for a while been kicking around the idea of doing some pillow/ cushion covers...WAKE UP!...in sweatshirt fabric.  And I have found that it provides for a very interesting set of challenges. 

First, the same problem I have with the clothes I design using the fabric of pre-existing clothing is the size limitations.  Since it would be nearly impossible to ever find more than one garment in exactly the same shade, I am confined to either making very small things, or conceding to mix the pallette in a single piece of clothing.  Usually that's great.  Sometimes it makes things look overworked and obvious.

So when I started making these textiles from sweatshirt fabric, I ran into the same problem, though now compounded by issues of scale and whatnot.  I won't ever have enough fabric from say two colors to produce even two large cushion covers.  Which at first I found frustrating, but now see as a really good exercise in color.  I am basically forced to mix more colors than I usually would and it puts my color intuition and knowledge to the test.  I am interested to see how I can stretch my tolerance for color in any single piece without crossing the line.  When I imagine these objects in a room though, it means that they have so much color that the rest of the room has to be neutral.  They basically suck up the color allowance for an entire room in the space of a 18 x 18 inch throw pillow.  How nerve wracking!

In terms of sewing, there are also technical limitations with using this fabric for these designs.  Picture, then explanation:

 

Here's the problem- these lobes are each like 6 inches wide, and they can't be made smaller because those opposing curves are a bear, and the serger will not comply with curves any tighter than these- especially on the concave lines.  Holla:

 

So in order to give this pattern the breathing room it needs, I have to make at least a 24" x 24" piece.  If I'm making two, as in a set of cushions, I will not have enough fabric in these three exact colors.  NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO I ASK YOU?!

Use smaller pieces of fabric, so I can get more out of all the nooks and crannies of a single sweatshirt?

Then there's this piece, using the same colorways.  I guess it could be cool if I handquilted the pieces, but I am not doing that.  No I am not.  So this design, with all its sewing, and final product that is less than perfect, is not practical.

See?  Lots of sewing.  Hey I kind of prefer the way this looks from the underside.  Hmmm.

Piping Gone Wrong

As soon as I laid eyes on this cotton duck fabric from IKEA,  I was imbued with a superhero's confidence.  "This fabric has drawings of planks of wood on it," I said to myself.  "With this fabric, I can do anything clever and complicated, and the power of righteous design will send me aloft to new heights of cushion sewing achievement!"

Nevermind that I had only once before attempted a cushion with piping, and on a much smaller, ahem, less expensive scale. We have an uncommonly shaped table nook in our kitchen and once we found a solution to finding a table that fit (we had it made), I began to fantasize about the praise and appreciation I would get from my wife when I saved us no less that $800 on custom made cushions.  I was very sure she would stroke the perfectly streamlined finished product over breakfast day after day and gaze at me lovingly over breakfast, if not just literally throw dollars at me as I sat in my pajamas in the dawny light of morning.

But then my goddamned cushion is all wrinkly and twisty!  What?!  What?! Arggggghhhh!


Exhibit A: Nook and first cushion, from afar:

 

Exhibit B: the incriminating view of the grand wobble:

How much does that suck?!

I swear this cover fits this cushion.  When I first put it on, it was straight, and taught and amazing.  Okay, not like, amaaaazing, but really really good.  Look, it seems like it fits, generally:

And then after very few sittings, the piping got all googly and the fabric was all loose and all sort of goblins of physics broke free under our asses.  So frustrating.

I wonder if it needs a lining.  Maybe the fabric is catching and pulling onto the very rubbery upholstery foam?  When you sit on it, it wants to curve up ever so slightly at the end and then stay that way.  YES!  As if it is caught in the evil grip of the faulty foam and just wants a nice slippery square covering between it and the foam!  Yes.  I think that's what it is.  

What else could it be?  Please, gods of sewing, answer me.

So then I sewed this coaster from boiled wool fused to sweatshirt, which is, as you can see, perfect.  It's a sad day when a woman has to sew a coaster to get her mojo back.