Lotus Series

The Hot Beverage is Bliss series

Hanging above the coffee maker in my kitchen.

Paint Nite

Paint Nite is a lot of fun. I signed up for one on a whim more as a social gathering with some friends (many who didn't actually show up!), and never anticipating the door it would open. It wasn't the finished product that I was proud of, but it was the feeling I got from brushing color onto a surface, slowly spreading it, watching how it created an image from my mind. I found a form of meditation I never knew existed, and fell in love. What's even more incredible is, I work for the largest art supply distributor in Oregon, so my access and choices of paints, brushes and canvas is within easy reach. Don't mind the rosy cheeks, I did have a healthy glass of Merlot.

The blue scrap quilt finished

She is finally done. 

http://www.kerriannjohnson.com/2013/01/blue-scraps-handquilting.html

Groovy Sunset

My oldest child is a gorgeous, sophisticated and also a creative person. Her paintings and drawings are abstract and so brilliant. I made her a children's quilt years ago, but it was time to upgrade to something that was more expressive of her personality. I chose the pattern "Groovy" using warm colors of her choosing. It turned out stunning, just like her.

Revival of my creative journeys

Recently a pen pal friend from a land far far away asked me what my blog domain was in her last letter to me. It got me thinking how I have abandoned my online journal displaying my projects. It has been well over 30 months since I had posted anything, and so much has happened in those 30 months. Life is so completely different from April 2013 in the way of where I live, my family structure, my day job and my long term goals. All of that craziness has not deterred the creative spirit inside however. Creativity has been my saving grace, my therapy through some turmoil I experienced in these past couple of years, and it has led me to new avenues of my creative expression. 

So today I log into this blog, ready to freshen it up. It used to be named "The Joy of Quilting" because I wanted a space dedicated to this traditional form of American art that I have indulged in for the past 10 years. Now, I am experimenting with drawing and painting, deciding to keep the title simple and real by using my birth name. 

In honor of the inspiration my pen pal gave me, please visit her blog at http://sewchicken.blogspot.com/ . Her art is incredible, and I admire her ability to span many forms of creative expression.

School auction quilt 2013

When I received the email from the PTC organization for my daughter's school about help with the auction, I almost disregarded it. I try to read most of these mass emails, but sometimes it get to be a little too much.

This particular email was asking parents to help with a project for the school auction that came from the class. Projects, such as 'wine baskets', 'gift certificates', and 'quilt' were suggested. When I saw that a quilt had been suggested, I thought, I can do this! I have a quilt nearly done that I could donate!

Quickly, I emailed the organizer back saying I had a quilt ready for the auction-but she stopped me dead in my tracks and reminded me that this had to be a quilt that the children made. Since I had already reached out to volunteer, I was on the hook for this quilt.

I will be honest, I wasn't too thrilled about starting another quilting project with the busy schedule I already had, but kept a positive attitude about this. This would be the first time I had ever really participated in my child's school functions, maybe I would enjoy it?

Within a few days of accepting this project, I received an email from another parent of my child's class offering her help in sewing. How fortunate I felt in suddenly having extra help with this! Now it was time to make a plan in how this quilt would be made.

The next challenge would be to figure how to integrate children into making a quilt. Initially the email suggested 'hand-stamping' on the the quilt from the kids. Being that I work for an art supply distributor, I receive generous discounts on paints and crafty supplies. Hand-stamping seemed like a possible option, but what if a child was allergic to the paint? What if the children drew on the fabric instead? Aha! My employer sells fabric markers that are meant to not fade or run when the fabric is washed. Problem solved!

That weekend, I purchased all of my supplies-markers, fabric, and batting-to make a lap size quilt. I chose bold pastel colors, and got as much of a variety of markers as possible. Normally, these markers cost about $3 each, and I purchased 18 of them! I paid less than $20 with my great employee discount. I used coupons from Joann's to buy the fabric and batting.

Now, the fun would begin. Each child would receive a fabric block that measured 8.5" X 8.5" to draw on, and sign their name. The drawing from the special markers then would be set by a low heat iron, and my partner would sew up the blocks.

I had already scheduled a few days off from work around spring break, so I was able to come into my child's classroom to help guide the kids on drawing what they wanted. This was a huge moment of joy for me, to see the children happily drawing on the fabric and being a part of something really cool.

We did this project on the last hour before spring break, so it was a nice way for the children to start their time off. I left with 30 blocks, including one from the teacher, to have my partner sew up into a quilt top. She then returned the top to me for quilting, and within a few days we had a finished product for the school auction!

I am so glad that I volunteered for this project. It was so rewarding to see the children get so excited about quilting!