And yes quilting is a social art

This is what I want to study:

SOCY 548a, The Sociology of the Arts: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives.

This seminar examines sociological perspectives on the arts and popular culture. Emphasis is given to the conceptualization of the arts and popular culture within sociological theory, as well as the interpretation of cultural representations and artifacts, art works, film, music, literature, and so on. Students are exposed to a range of classical and contemporary perspectives and styles of analysis, from the normative to the strictly empirical.

http://www.yale.edu/sociology/graduate/courses/

How do I get there? Once I get there, what do I do with it?

In this era of globalization, many aspects of social life span national boundaries. In his book, Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson stressed the role of the media in creating nations. How does the relationship between art, culture, and society change when communities cross national borders? What role does the media play in creating new kinds of publics? Th is course examines the globalization of the artistic and cultural worlds and how artistic products change in response. We will look at high and popular cultural forms of painting, music, fi lm, and writing. We will explore the interactions between artists, their audiences, and the curators, editors, and music industry moguls who are the gatekeepers of the culture industry.

oooohhhh Yummy

And odd thing is occurring: the more quilters I follow = the more giveaways there are.

This one is yummy, fun, funky Christmas fabric. I would make some welding hats for dad. And other quilty things for people. Maybe even a pair of the kimono slippers.

Friendship & mulling

2 years ago we moved from Dallas to Denver. We had many friends in Dallas. Sadly the contact with them has dwindled. They are no longer sharing their lives with us. Facebook has created a sense of connection. And in some, well very few case it has made connections better.

For me, creativity is just who I am. With vast skills and interests in making things, I can hang with almost any craft like crowd. Currently it feels like I am trying so hard to bring those friends in Dallas closer, when I quilt. In my heart, I am stitching piecing the world together 1 stitch at a time. There are however pieces of this life quilt that need to be frogged. Yet, we can't frog our lives.

Each friend has a block in this quilt, and as time goes on the quilt is being quilted as we go. There are some that I want to ask, "what do we have in common?"

Maybe we don't need to have anything in common; just enjoy each others company. That's what I will tell myself today.

More AccuQuilt Go! giveaway

What the heck is going on? This is the 3rd or maybe 5th person I have seen giving away the Accuquilt Go!. Seeing how badly I want one I think I will try to win by posting and such like. Just a Guy Who Quilts is giving another one away...

AccuQuilt Go! & Hexies

This super cool gal at A Quilting Life is giving away an AccuCut Go! I just about fainted. Yes, I so want one. No, it's not in the budget says the man with the purse strings. This goes on every time we go to a store that has one. Then I pout. But this giveaway would be so awesome.

I do love all of the processes behind making a quilt. The choosing of fabric, the cutting (this tears at the heart), the piecing, then then borders, quilting it (especially now that I have figured out how to use the free-motion foot), the binding, but my favorite thing is the giving. My least favorite would be the cutting & truing of the blocks.

On a quilt, I start cutting the pieces, then ask the hubby to finish. For the past few months I have been trying to convince him that the AccuCut would make both of our lives easier. Still no go.

Crossing my fingers for the giveaway from Miss Sherri.

Vacationy Stuffs

So I was on vacation for 2 weeks & had the thought that I would blog about the progress of my projects. With photos & all. Every time I sat down at the computer to do so, I had to hurry & go back to work on them. I had 2 weeks to make from start to finish 4 quilts. This included designing them & making a design wall. The process is still quite slow for me. Then there was an issue with the quilting part of the quilts. And a road trip, and anniversary and birthday. All in all I got most of the list done. The last quilt is still being worked on because the backing decided that it wanted to be too small & I didn't notice it until the piece was all quilted. Arg!! Maybe after I finish redoing the backing & re-quilting that one I will post them & their process.

Scott's Hexy

Ugh! Slow going I have only 31 of 385 flowers made since May 10th. Though sewing pairs and strips together make it go faster. So many damned little ones. This quilt will have the most pieces ever. 2695 hexagons! *faints* So yeah those flowers got tossed out. I really disliked the background. Found something better. 

They are slowly multiplying

Quick update on the massive hex quilt. 2695 hexagons make 385 flowers; I have 22 flowers done. Those 22 make up almost 1/2 of the solid blues that I need to make. After that its on to counting and matching the greys. Eek, gads I am a bit scared.

Meme Meme

I want to be perceived as witty, eloquent, and charming. Not trite or behind the curve. I quilt mostly. And mostly for gifts. I am a 30-something who feels lost in the world. Other things I like are wine, reading, and disc golf. As for being list I have gone back to school for a 2nd degree in Sociology with a digital media minor. Digital media, yeah that means I will probably have to do some posting and the like. The choice of degree and minor this time follows the same theory of last time. Art, my 1st BA, was harder for me to do than Math. 

See if it Sticks

So, I hate, and I mean really HATE blogging/posting. I would much rather have a good old fashioned conversation. The whole concept of throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks is not appealing in the slightest. And thats what this feels like. Alas, I will try to do this. Things like coming up with a name for the blog has got me completely stumped. Theres all these things I want it to be and yet I feel I fall very flat on it. My hope is to post something here once a month. My ambition is to post frequently, eloquently, witty and with everything spelled correctly. Oh wait, theres spell check for that.

Sharing and mutants

I have a hard time remembering to share my work on the internet. My first step was to post completed quilts to my facebook page. I may start posting about the process, thanks Rossie & Modify Tradition.

A wee bit o'background: I have been quilting for about 5 years now. And I may create 5 quilts a year. Almost all of them are gifts. I am still learning the processes and I keep trying to make a better quilt. By that I mean, try with each quilt to make all of the corners line up exactly. My favorite part of the whole process is the creating of the quilt top, from choosing fabrics and the design to the cutting and sewing of the top. Well maybe not so much the cutting, if I ask really nicely my loving husband will grudgingly cut the pieces.

I love quilting and art. Yet over the years I have had a horrible time trying to verbalize and categorize my work. This is a super cool and lovely explanation of what my work is: r0ssie.blogspot.com/2010/05/mutant-quilting.html. We all have moments where we feel we are mutants. So I say embrace it and pass it along. Yet to embrace the mutant you have to know where you come from in order to pass it along. There are a few things in the article that I don't agree with.

As I grow as a quilter things get easier and as they become easy there forms an opening for more complex techniques. Not everything has to be super complex. There is a simplicity in the big blocks and Turning Twenty designs. My current piece is based on a technique that has been around for many centuries. No it's not "modern" yet the image is not traditional for the technique. I find it humorous that both the image and technique individually are many centuries old, yet somehow the combining of the two feels modern.

I feel the need to share this in many places. So, raise a glass to my first attempt to officially start blogging about my work. Ack! I am so scared...