Well, it's been a long time in coming, but I finally managed to get inspired and create some fiber art over the weekend/this week. Ironically, even though I have literally hundreds of yards (if not more--seriously) of fabric in my stash, I ended up using scraps for this piece. Don't ask me why--I did, and regardless of how silly that is, I was inspired and made something beautiful (at least I think it is) and I'm glad I did.
It's been so long since I've made anything that I had forgotten how wonderful I feel when I'm doing it--how relaxing it is, and how I feel such a sense of accomplishment when it's done. And the nice part of this piece is that it immediately has a home. My mom needed something for over her fireplace in her new house, and this one fits perfectly (it's about 16" x 22"). The funny thing is that I brought it over today, and she had just put out some pillows on her sofa that matched perfectly (a lovely shade of turquoise), and had also put out a quilted throw I made her last year, which also goes really well.
Given all of the colors in this, I suppose it would be hard for her to have something that didn't go with it! Anyhow, it's lots of different fabrics, randomly pieced and then cut into curves and free motion quilted. I added some Angelina fiber accents, and sewed on some fabric flowers with beads as centers, and then last night, while watching the Red Sox lose, I sewed some very cool trim on the border. Here's a close up of one of the corners:
Is it the most beautiful thing I've ever made? Not by a long shot. But it's bright and cheerful and chaotic, and given that my life has been chaotic, but not particularly bright or cheerful in the past few months, I think it's a good sign that I made this (it could have been black or angry-looking, and it's not either of these). I'm hoping that this is just the beginninng of a new phase of me making art and making myself happy at the same time. I think I'm ready for a new chapter of my life, and this seems like a good start.
