look ahead.

My favorite class in High School was Art. My teacher, Mrs. Laman, was the best teacher a student could ask for. She was so easy-going and friendly, always encouraging us to develop our own techniques with various mediums. One assignment was to create a useful item out of fabric and adorn the finished product. That was the beginning of my love of textiles. I recall that I made a tote bag and adorning the tote bag was our dear girl, Holly Hobbie. Holly was a 70's icon, much like today's Hello Kitty. She was everywhere and I always loved her simple, homespun sweetness. Without knowing what the technique was called, I appliqued each piece of Holly's clothing to my bag, painted her face onto the tote and finished with braided hair made from yarn. I recall a flower held in her delicate hand...

Fast forward, really fast, to today. My love of textiles hasn't diminished, as proof of all the fabric overflowing in my sewing room. But that's OK, because I am about to get crazy-busy. Yesterday, I carted all of my finished products to the Museum of Contemporary Art's store, to show the manager what I've been working on. One of my recent projects has been mini key-fobs, that you wear on your finger. I took the whole bag, along with a slew of wristlets and a purse that I had made the day before. And that cake pincushion I've posted about. The manager looks through what I bring and then selects what she thinks will sell and I take the "rejects" home with me. Well, to my complete shock and awe, she took it all! I am wiped out. Not to mention that I booked three Saturdays for the Riverside Arts Market in September, November and December.

So if you come to my door for a cup of coffee and a visit, you had better stop and pick up two javas(one for you, one for me) and be prepared to work! Sparks will be flying!