The snow has forced me indoors for creative work. I’ve done some writing, quilting and a little marquetry. I’d like to be doing more wood working, but with the extreme cold we’ve been having it’s hard to get the shops warm with the electric space heaters I have. My shed shop takes about two hours to get warm enough to work, but the bigger problem is glue. Most of my work requires gluing things together and the glues I use have to be 55F degrees or more to dry properly, that would be a lot of electricity to keep the shop spaces over that temp and it’s just not worth the money. I do bring some of the smaller projects into the house to dry, but it limits what I can do. So I’ve been doing more writing and quilting. Here is where I am with the table runner:
I’ve made the edge banding. Next step is to sew these on and then the top is done. I’m hoping to get to putting the back on and quilting in the next week or two.
I have been working on a small marquetry project and have made four coasters:
This is a set of four with each 3 x 3 inches. These still need sanding an a final varnish. The pattern is the bento box pattern I used for this quilt last year:
This is part of a plan I have to link my quilting to my marquetry. The idea is that for every quilt I do, I’ll do a marquetry companion piece using the same pattern. I’ve also considered doing some kind of writing for each set – a story or poem. The general concept is to approach the same pattern, design from three different artistic interpretations. I’m hoping this creates an interesting artistic something. We’ll see if it works.
I have submitted a few of my poems to different publications, but so far it’s still 100% rejections. I’ll be sending another round of poems out next week. Maybe this time I’ll get something. If you have any recommendations on places to submit poems, let me know (I normally use submittable to find places to submit).
That’s it for this week – if you need me, I’m out shoveling snow before the next storm.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Wonderful creativity, Andrew! You are so talented and skilled. I love the table runner and coasters. 🙂
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Thanks!
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Wow, your table runner is spectacular! What a difficult pattern – you must be glad to be doing the relatively ‘easier’ work of putting on the edges. And I love your idea of quilting, marquetry, and poetry companion pieces. You’re so creative!
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We’ll see how that works out, but I do like the idea.
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Marquetry is cool (and so is the word itself). The best I could probably do is a chess board if that even counts, although my LEGO projects feel like marquetry sometimes. Interesting idea to combine your creative talents into a coordinated effort. I hope you’ll blog about that effort.
Reno gets colder than I ever thought! I’m thrown off by my childhood trips to Tahoe up above, but I really thought getting out of the Sierras meant higher temps. Spring is almost here…
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It only gets hot here in the summer. During the winter we’re only 10, 20 degrees warmer than Tahoe at most. So when it’s 20 over there, we’re at 30, brrr. Marquetry is easier that it looks, but unlike Lego you don’t get an instruction booklet … 😉
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I am sorry you are limited by the weather, but you are certainly making good use of your creative time. I think that most types of creativity are linked in one way or another. There is a lot of overlap. I love that you are making a wood project to complement your quilting project. That will be awesome. I love the table runner and it is just coming out beautifully! I am currently working on a personal project which includes stumpwork (dimensional embroidery) which will be used on the lid of a wooden scroll-sawn box. There are nearly 100 separate dimensional petals that I am nearly done with (after many months of evening lap work) and then after a few leaves, I will build the box and see how it goes. It is relaxing to ‘slow-stitch’ in the evenings and each petal takes about an hour to do. Unlike much of what I do, this is for myself and there is no pressure as to when I need to finish. Those are sometimes the best projects.
Anyway – I am rambling too much. Coffee must have kicked in. I enjoyed the post a lot. 😀 Have a great rest of the week.
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That sounds like a very detailed project. Interesting too. I find there is a lot of overlap between different artistic methods and a lot of the basic creative things like inspiration, idea development, etc are the same across the board. I think the best artists are the ones who can work in different mediums.
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As you know, I agree fully. Different mediums are so much fun to work with. It makes things so much fun. 🙂
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Have you everr thought of solar panels feeding into a battery? My daughter has just invested in some panels, and she has been pleasantly surprised with how much power they produce, even with a dull, damp climate like ours.
It might be expensive initially, but you will only have this time once, so enjoy it!
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Actually, I have been looking into it, but I’m not far enough along in my research to decide if it will work for me. Where I live is perfect for solar. The question is whether to do it just for my workshop or the whole house. I might do a DIY thing for my shed shop just and later hire a solar installer to do the whole house.
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Beautiful projects! That’s hard work. I think you can start selling them together as a package. HEY, Xmas will be here soon… I see an Etsy shop starting. Good luck with the poems. I’m not a poem writer, so can’t help you with that.
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It’s a lot of work and each is a one of kind thing. I rarely make enough to sell, but you never know what I’ll do.
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Follow your passion… like you say, who knows.
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I love your creativity, Andrew. Your quilts and woodwork are wonderful. My younger son and I are attending a charcoal drawing workshop on Saturday and I am so excited.
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That sounds like a fun class – enjoy.
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Love the blues in that runner! And what an intriguing idea — doing the same designs in both quilting and woodwork and, perhaps, poetry.
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We’ll see how that works out, but it’s appealing to me.
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A few suggestions, in case you’re not familiar with them: Duotrope, ChillSubs: https://www.chillsubs.com/browse/magazines (put poetry in the genre box); Author’s Publish: https://authorspublish.com/about-us/ (they send out a weekly newsletter of journals accepting submissions in various genres).
P.S. – Beautiful needle- and wood-work!
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Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve looked at Doutrope, but always seem to forget about when searching (my brain seems stuck on submitable). I’ll check those other two out.
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Some pretty stuff there.
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I love making these things.
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Love it, Andrew!
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Thank you!
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your projects turned out great
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Thank you.
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Wonderful work Andrew and I like the colour combinations in the runner
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Thank you – the fabric colors is what drew me to the project.
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