Week 5-A Slow, Slow Process...

      

           The above is what I have accomplished thus far in the project.  I have essentially doubled my sets of 4 square strips.  I'm still dealing with not having a sewing machine.  I actually have used sewing machines in the past.  In fact, when I was little and curious about how sewing machines worked, my mother would draw a simple design on a piece of paper and have me try to sew right on the line using the machine.  I must admit the loud noises and speed of the needle scared me.  Even now, that fast needle is intimidating.  So, I'm still doing this all by hand.  I'm running short on pre-cut squares now, so this next week I will have to stock up again.  

            I'm pleased with how it's turning out.  I think the colors are working really well together.  They aren't too random, but still unique in design.  I had this epiphany the other day while I was laying in bed that once I sew the strips together, I could sew random patterns and "swirls" which could serve as reinforcement for the hand sewing I'm doing now.  It would take less time and appear more frivolous in design than going over every seam again.  

           I attended the ArtsWeek event 4 Miami women this Saturday, 2/20.  One of the woman mentioned how a major part of her motivation in completing her craft was the calming effect had on her.  It is the same for me I find.  In all crafts I have done since I can remember, I enjoyed sitting still and completing something I cared about.  Sure, you sit still in classes for hours...but you probably don't feel relaxed or especially accomplished in doing so.  

           What next?  More monotonous hand-sewing.  Oh, and some cutting of squares to stock up my pile of fabric again.  It's in a pretty boring stage of the process right now, hopefully I can continue to enjoy the repetition of the craft and get through this portion of the project.

Week 4-Where Are All Of The Sewing Machines?!

           This week, I spent my "crafting" time sewing together the quilt squares one at a time.  While this sounds relatively easy, I had some difficulties with it.  First of all, you have to make sure you're sewing the same distance from the edge of the fabric each time, or else they won't match up in the end.  My mother told me this a long time ago and won't let me forget it anytime soon.  I did my best using a ruler, but this is a flawed method.  Another problem is that all I am equipped with to sew is an emergency sewing kit my grandmother gave to me shortly before I came to IU.  The spools of thread are very small and I have only a few choices of needles and colors to work with.  I've decided the next time I go home I'll have to invest in a couple more full-sized spools of blue or green thread.  The following picture is of the progress I have made this week.  4 rows of 4 squares each.  

            I'm slightly disheartened with how insignificant my progress seems to the big picture.  Which leads me to another issue I had this week, the thought of a sewing machine.  A friend of mine majoring in Apparel Merchandising recommended the sewing machines in the basement of a building here on campus where the textiles lab is.  Her directions were sub-par, and I'm not sure I can even use them seeing as I'm an anthropology major, not a textiles major.  Because I have not had access to a sewing machine, I used my needle and thread described above.  The lines resulting, however, are uneven and not as strong as they would be if I was using a machine.  

    

         I've done the best with what I could.  I will definitely be utilizing my sewing machine at home over spring break for this project.  There's never been a doubt in my mind that "art" takes a great deal of "craft" to complete.  I know we have discussed their overlap in class, and I think this project definitely gives an interesting example.  Measuring edges, lining up fabric and so on are not just aesthetic, girly, tasks.  If one does not have some grasp of crafting, they could not do art at all in my opinion.  I will be continuing to sew these squares together by hand through this next week, hopefully I limit how many times I stab myself with the needle.  

Week 3-The Epic Journey to Hobby Lobby

            I, stupidly, braved this weeks winter storm to go home this past weekend.  On Saturday I went to Hobby Lobby in Muncie to get my needed supplies.  I ended up buying these 4 different prints of fabric, all of which happened to be on sale.  I realize they clash horribly and that the only consistency is the theme of green and blue but, as I've said before, I prefer a little chaos.  My friend Bri came with me to do the shopping, and happened to be in a terrible mood.  However, this ended up being to my benefit because she was brutally honest about my choices in fabric.  I had chosen a bright green instead of the circle/square print, but I was given a stern look and a, "that's ugly."  I'm actually glad she said something, because in retrospect...she was right.  It wouldn't have looked good at all.  

             Bri actually needed something from JoAnn Fabrics, which is about two doors down from Muncie's Hobby Lobby.  So we went there next and I purchased the ribbon and some bright green buttons (since there was going to be no bright green fabric involved).

              

           Saturday afternoon was extremely uneventful, so I decided to go ahead with the next step of making this purse--cutting quilt squares.  My mom had a quilt square (used to measure and mark different sizes of squares so they are uniform) which she allowed me to bring back to IU to use for the remainder of the project.  I chose a 2.5 x 2.5 square for the majority of the pieces of the bag.  However, I will use a 1.5 x 1.5 for some extra layered patches on top later on.  Scale wise, this seemed to be the best option for an oversized purse.   Being Superbowl Sunday, I knew I couldn't do my reading for Folklore during the game...so I decided to work on the purse.  I found myself relating to the Gelber article, where women did crafts to make something productive in an otherwise unproductive situation.  This is exactly what I was doing.  Instead of giving up and only watching the game, I crafted while I watched.  The rest of this week, my "now what," is monotonously cutting out all of the needed squares.  Below is a picture of one of the squares to get an idea of the size (compared to my hand).