Beginnings

Lots going on this week with the end of a semester, getting ready for a new class to teach this summer and attend a new Art Festival this weekend so I wasn’t able to get the blog I planned done.  But with all these new beginnings and uncertainties I thought about my very first blog and thought I would repost that.  It is a good reminder of starting new things.

I have come across two philosophers in my life who have the best advice ever for people exploring their creativity.  The first was a German poet and scientist by the name of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe who wrote "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." (That quote gives me goosebumps.)

The second philosopher was my nephew, Alex, at the age of five who, when I asked him how we were to make a housecleaning robot he wanted to give his father for Christmas, very blunted told me that "You just do it, Auntie Cheryl." 

Both wise men had a point.  If there is something you want to do, you will never know whether you can do it until you begin it.  Is there some creative technique you want to try but are afraid to?  Just dive in.

Now it is okay to start at the shallow end (sorry, it is hot outside and water metaphors seem cooling to me somehow right now.).  Dip your toes in.  Paint a page of just one color. One color can express any emotion. Write one line to start a poem.  One line can say a lot (Alex had a lot to say with his one line and it has stuck with me for 23 years.)  Sing one note.  A continuous note can be very relaxing to the diaphragm.

Just begin it. Don't jump from the high dive. Don't plan a gallery show yet.  Don't figure out your office at the Library of Congress for when you are considered the next Poet Laureate.  And the Grammy nominations are already made for this year.  So relax.  All you are doing is beginning.

And beginnings are wonderful.  There is mystery in them - you aren't quite sure what will happen next.   And there is an adventure in them - traveling to a new area of your heart.   And the excitement of them - you actually did whatever it is you were wanting to begin.

You have had beginnings all of your life.  You survived all of those  - school, college, work, marriage, family.  You can survive this one.  But you have to just begin. As Alex said, "You just do it, Auntie Cheryl."  Who can argue with that?

© 2016. 2019 – Cheryl Fillion

Make a Declaration

The Student Art Club at the college where I work does a food drive every semester to help stock the local food pantry.  I let my students (I teach psychology) earn bonus points (extra credit) if they bring food for the food drive.  I usually deliver the cans and boxes of food to the art department after every class. I like doing that because it gives me a chance to see what the students are creating.  Very talented young adults study at our college.

Today I ran into a friend who teaches art at the college.  We don’t get to see each other very often and usually have enough time to say hi and bye but today we got to visit.  He asked how my quilting was going and I told him I didn’t have enough time to do much and shared with him all I was doing.  I asked about his art and he said he hadn’t thrown a pot in quite a while and he shared all that he was doing (he also works more with our Honors program students than art students).

It was a little comforting to find another creative person in the same boat.  But when I told him I had promised myself the night before to do some needlework but then didn’t get a chance to, he still said “Good for you”.  I started to say “but I didn’t accomplish my goal” when he added “You made a declaration.”

He went on to say sometimes making a declaration of what you want to do is important even if you don’t follow through on it, especially because of other obligations.  You are telling ourselves, he said, what is important  and making a promise to do it.  The more you say it the more determined you become to do it. And eventually, you do.  It is when you stop declaring a goal that your goal flits away. 

I really like that idea. If what you want to do is important to you, you will make plans to do it and if something gets in the way (and life often does), you will continue to make plans.  Eventually nothing is in your way and time has allowed the creation.  But if you say you want to do something only once, how many people actually remember that and somewhere down the line do it.

So make that declaration to be creative in whatever form you want and continue to repeat it until you are able to find the time.  The time will come eventually and if you keep declaring your intention, it may come sooner than later. 

©2019- Cheryl Fillion

Buying at a Market or Craft sale - Revisited

I am getting ready to sell at a local Crafter’s/Artisan Fair so I thought I would repost my blog on being a customer at a market or craft sale.   If similar fairs or sales are around you, make sure you check them out for gifts you might need this year.  It is never too early to go gift shopping.

If the craft sale is big and you will be doing a lot of walking, forget fashion.  Dress comfortably.  And if the sale is in the summer, dress cool.  Remember to wear shoes meant for walking.

If you are going to be there a while especially in the summer, bring something to drink.  Make sure it has a cover on it, so it doesn’t spill on anyone.  And ask before you put a drink on a vendor table.  The last thing you want to do is have your sticky sweet drink spill all over a vendor’s product, especially product that cannot easily be cleaned like fiber or fabric. Remember this product is the livelihood of the artist.

Know that not all vendors will have credit card capacity, so if you are planning on buying something expensive or a lot of items, bring enough cash and maybe your checkbook (many vendors will accept checks if they cannot do credit or debit cards.). And remember to bring small bills.  Most vendors will have enough cash on hand to make change but if you hand them a $100 bill and you are purchasing something for $5 or $10 that could wipe out their available cash.

If you have children with you, watch out for little fingers.  Lots of things craft vendors sell are bright, shiny and colorful; so tempting for little eyes to see and little fingers to grab.  And this is too where you want to watch for sticky fingers.  One little boy at my craft booth thought the fleece fish toys (for cats) were nice.  So nice, he took every one of them out of the basket they were displayed in.  When his mother asked what he was doing, his answer: “Going fishing”.  His response was cute, even to me the vendor, but not if he had chocolate ice cream all over his fishing fingers.

The same idea goes if you bring your dog to the market, watch them as well.  Small shiny colorful items can look like food to them.  One gulp and you are on your way to the emergency vet. And don’t blame the vendor; it is not their fault they are selling something attractive to your pet.  Also remember that not everyone loves your pet as much as you do.  You will find people, including vendors, who will avoid your dog’s friendliness.  Maybe they have had a bad encounter with a dog so they are afraid or maybe, and most importantly, they are allergic.  I like dogs and cats but get me near one and I start sneezing and wheezing.

Remember if buying at a craft market that you are not just buying the material in the craft or art work but the labor as well.  Yes, artists and craftspeople enjoy, even love, what they do but they are also trying to pay the bills.  You might be able to buy a similar item in a store but it will be machine manufactured not hand crafted.  I will admit I am biased when I say; hand crafted is much more valuable.

If you know how to do a particular craft, know that not all people do things the same way. Don’t consider a knitted shawl, for example, is inferior just because an artist uses a different stitch or yarn than what you would use. So in other words, don’t criticize the artist’s work.

Selling at a market isn’t easy for the vendor but it makes it worth it when you, the buyer, want something hand crafted and one of a kind. So if you get a chance, go shop at a market. And thank the artist for the work they do.

©2017, 2019  Cheryl Fillion

Mini Yoyos

I like making fabric yoyos, little round pieces of fabric gathered together at the edges to make a little textured piece of fabric.  You can use it for all kings of things.  At one time women would sew the completed yoyos together to make comforters for a bed – often used in the summer.  I have made Christmas ornaments, pins, table mats and wall hangings.

Usually a finished yoyo is anywhere from 1½ inch to 3 inches in diameter.  But a few years ago someone challenged me to see how small I could make a yoyo and that began it all.  My yoyos were as small as ½ and ¾ inches in diameter.  Yes that is small.  So what do I do with tiny little yoyos?  I make things. 

Most of what I make are table mats or doilies as I often call them.   It started with a miniature challenge.  I made a wall hanging that was about 14 inches wide and long.  It had about 225 yoyos in it.  Sounds crazy, huh?  Yes well, I won a blue ribbon in a miniature category in a quilt show for it.   I don’t mind crazy for a blue ribbon.

But what I like about the mini yoyos is that you can do so much with them.  I often use them in quilts and other needle work where a button is required as an embellishment. But I can also take small cross stitch or bead designs and use those designs as a guide for my yoyos.  Where you would put a cross stitch or a bead just sew a yoyo.  So for example if you are making a design with 3 beads in a row, take that design and sew 3 yoyos together.

With that I have made all kinds of table mats or wall hangings.  I have a small 2 inch heart cross stitch design, which I have made into mats with my yoyos.

I used a bead design of an awareness ribbon, to create a pink ribbon out of yoyos. 

               

             

My favorites are some bead designs for a pumpkin and jack o’lantern.

Now these designs could work with bigger yoyos but understand that it would make the entire piece huge.  Let’s take my little heart. It needs 9 yoyos across and 9 down.   With ¾” yoyos, it’s about 7 inches square.  A nice size for a table mat.  But if we use let’s say   2 inch yoyos, that would make it finish at about 18 inch.  Now we are talking about more of a table cloth.  (My Blue ribbon yoyo piece I mentioned above used 15 yoyos across the top and 15 down.  With 2 inch yoyos that would make it 30” wide and 30” long.  This could be more like a baby quilt or coverlet.)

To make the small yoyos you need a piece of fabric that is twice the size as the finished yoyo with about ¼ inch for a seam allowance.  So for my 3/4 inch yoyo, I start with a circle about 1 3/4 inches in diameter. What I really like is it uses all kinds of small pieces of fabric (I was taught by my Grandmother to never waste fabric.).  If you are not sure how to make a yoyo of any size, here is my tutorial on making yoyos.

Now yoyos are one of those things that you either enjoy making them or you don’t.  I enjoy them.  It is not something I have to concentrate on.  It is very repetitious so it tends to be relaxing.  I often do bunches at a time when I am really busy and just need a little relaxation or am mentally exhausted and need to keep my hands busy like when I am grading term papers.   I often have a supply of hundreds of yoyos and then it is just fun to see what I can do with them.

So if you are one who likes yoyos and likes the challenge of making tiny things and don’t like to waste even a little bit of fabric, try making some mini yoyos. They are fun to make but I warn you they are addicting.  You can’t make just one.

©2019- Cheryl E. Fillion