Birds of A Feather

My latest art quilt pattern “Empty Nest” was inspired by the metal version I have plasma cut and welded before. My friend Ann gave me the idea to make an art quilt chicken pattern this week. Ann had wanted to buy the metal chicken sculpture this summer at the Spenard Farmers Market and was going to put it in her living room. Thankfully she was talked out of it and suggested I add the hen to my art quilt pattern idea to-do list. Well, this little chicken got bumped right to the top! I was so inspired that Kristen (she has great color sense) and I went fabric shopping and with her color help “Empty Nest” flew the coop! I’m going to work on the vector file and pattern instructions this weekend. I’m finding that designing, cutting and piecing, whether it’s

in fabric or steel are very similar. Trying to give each piece some movement or illustrative style in both mediums is also important and a fun creative objective. The challenge for me working in fiber is the use color –I’m still working on being color brave.

The "Hawk" commission was completed this week too. I told myself that I needed to cut and

weld steel the majority of the week before I could even start on “Empty Nest!” If I don’t work by some “Cindy Rules” in the studio my production schedule would go out the window. Sometimes, I get so inspired that I want to ignore my regular work and can get so caught up in the timelessness of inspiration that a lot of other important work suffers and more importantly, so do my bills. So, before I even went to the fabric store with Kristen, I told myself that I had to have the Hawk which is approximately 50” long, cut and welded -well. No rush-rush, hurry-up work either. We could go fabric shopping ONLY after I put the finish clear coat on the Hawk and it was drying! It felt good to have such a productive week full of all kinds of

various projects and Kristen being able to help me. She packaged pattern orders, made Gallery trips with me, made deliveries and was a huge help in the studio. And speaking of flying the coop and Kristen…my sweet studio assistant and eldest offspring flies back up to UAF tomorrow ~sigh~ we’ve had such a wonderful Holiday together I’ve actually gotten used to bumping into another body in the studio! I’ll miss her and I know she’ll miss the brain break as she returns to wrap up her thesis work in 20 below zero winter weather. Thanks sweetie for all your help and FUN these last couple of weeks!