So for fun, here's my "entry" into the Creativity Project. Maybe I'll actually submit it to that website - HA! Because I am SO not like that! Let me know what you think ...
BIO SKETCH:
Trina is a stay-at-home-mom who started sewing because she wanted pretty things in her house that she couldn't afford, but a couple of bloggers convinced her it was possible to make them herself. She grew up actually hating even the idea of sewing, because it was a girl thing and she wanted to do cool things at Scouts with her brothers ... too bad BSA didn't let girls join until Jan. 2019. Her bachelor's degree from Western Oregon University was the generic "Social Sciences" - it was a composite of history, government and journalism. Nothing to do with art. She has entered no quilt shows or competitions, she teaches no sewing classes, and she has received no recognition for her work beyond the Likes she got on Facebook from personal friends when she finished her first (and only, so far) quilt.
red sand on the south shore of Prince Edward Island, June 2018.
How would you describe your quilting style/aesthetic?
Mostly scrappy, because that's what I have. I have lots of fabric from other people cleaning out their sewing rooms and giving me their leftovers. Some was big enough to make into clothes, and some is just scraps. The fabric I've purchased myself has mostly been to make clothes for my kids, and the leftovers have been shifted into starting quilts.
All the pink I could find in my sewing boxes, including scraps from various dresses, into this rail-fence twin-sized quilt. Title: The Pink Babies. Started summer 2014, finished Dec. 2016.
Creativity at my house as kids was focused on music, story telling, and writing. Some of my siblings got into drawing, but not me. Textiles as an art medium is a totally new thing for me.
What artists and makers do you most admire or have an influence on your work?
Dana at Made Everyday gets full, 100% credit in helping me believe that sewing was something that I could even do in the first place. I did not set out to find her sewing blog. I wasn't looking for/at sewing blogs at all. I was doing online searches for home decorating ideas, and somehow managed to stumble across her website. She was posting tutorials of adorable clothes she was making for her daughter who was 3 or 4 - I have a daughter the same age. I didn't necessarily want to SEW, but I did want those clothes for my kid. So I started sewing clothes. A lot of the clothes-sewing bloggers I followed also made quilts, and that also looked like something I wanted to have in my home ... it was a natural evolution that I can't really pinpoint something specific that expanded my horizons. Now I follow primarily quilt blogs, and I've got it in my head to start making bags as well. Again, natural flow of the thought process and not anything I've specifically sought out.
The first article of clothing I ever made: a skirt attached to a store-bought shirt, fall 2011.
Do you consider yourself a quilter, an artist, or some combination of both?
Probably more a quilter than an artist because I'm still very much at the beginning of my quilting/learning process. I knew when I started that I was either making zero quilts, or six. No in between, because I have 5 kids and a husband. I've finished one so far, two more started, and the other three planned. But I do believe that quilts can be art. Mine aren't necessarily "art" because they're meant to be on someone's bed. There are some out there that definitely are art!
How do you define "making with intention"?
I define it as a pretentious phrase to make people feel better about themselves regarding their sewing. Is it possible to make without intention? If you're going to create something, even if it's just experimenting with your materials to see what happens, there's a certain amount of intention just to get off your couch and do something.
Do you think that having a craft makes us more compassionate? If so, then how?
I don't think compassion is inherent in craft. I'm sure people can get pretty arrogant about things they've made, which is an opposite of compassion. But if you're making something for someone, or to provide a service, yes. Craft can absolutely help one develop compassion.
How does creating feed your soul/spiritual purpose?
As a Mormon, I believe that creating IS our spiritual purpose. We get to share creating with God as we grow and develop. It is very cool to take random things - fabric and notions, in this case - and manipulate and organize them into something that's beautiful. That was what got me started in sewing - the motivation to get to the end result. I didn't want to sew, but I wanted the clothes and the quilts, and I was willing to do the work to get them.
Are there any rituals that you perform to prepare/ground yourself in your work?
I need a clean sewing table. My "sewing room" is a table stuck in the middle of an open storage room in my basement, so I'm surrounded by all kinds of random things. Camping gear, food storage, the laundry, all the coats and shoes, etc ... I need my physical environment to be at least a little bit tidy so I can focus, so the table itself has to be clean for me to work.
What is the support system you have in place for creating work?
My husband is so encouraging and supportive, he could carry this all on his own. Fortunately, he doesn't have to. My sister Mindy, who shares this blog, also started sewing around the same time I did and we've had a great time learning together. I've loved our joint projects - we made a quilt for our sister Tawnia, and another one for our parents.
They're also an awesome support - they travel between our two homes more than we can, and have always been willing to haul packages back and forth of fabric, patterns, and projects so we don't have to pay international shipping. The funniest was a couple of years ago - Tawnia was driving from Alberta to Connecticut with two huge garbage bags of fabric in her car, from Mindy to me ... and got quizzed at Customs when crossing Canada-US border. "What's with all the material?"
How do you deal with comparison to/envy of others? Can you describe a time when you used comparison/envy/admiration to push yourself in your own work and self-discovery?
My entire sewing hobby is based on admiration of others! Hard to narrow it down to just one or two specific moments. I read blogs and get ideas - my quilt list of things I want to make is 20-30 different things, so I'd better get busy. I don't really have an envious component to it, because I still consider myself a total beginner. And they are not. I am fine seeking inspiration and guidance.
The only envy-point, I guess, would be that they seem to be able to buy all the fabric under the sun - there's a lot that I want. I don't want to say that I "can't afford" it. I could buy it - my husband does have a good job and we are financially secure. But our income is not infinite and we have higher priorities for our money rather than more fabric.
What was the most challenging thing you ever made?
A dress, actually. The Fairy Tale dress from Oliver+S. The lining being attached to the dress was hard, and it was the first time I installed a zipper. It looks like a simple dress, but boy howdy, it was not! Easily the most complicated thing I've ever made, before or since.
June 2016
What does it mean to you to work in a traditionally domestic medium that historically has been regarded as predominantly female (aka "women's work")?
I find it hilarious, because I always avoided sewing for that very reason. I still shake my head about it on a regular basis. The first time my husband came home from work and saw me at a sewing machine, he stopped, turned around, and came back 5 seconds later with a camera.
The very first picture - the first thing I ever sewed was a Christmas tree skirt, that my friend cut out and pinned for me, and then loaned me her machine to sew it. Jan 2011.
How do you see your current work in the context of quilting history?
I don't. I see it in the context of my family's history. The Pink Babies quilt has a story with the title, and in the pieces in the quilt. I can tell you every single dress I made from those fabrics - who it was for, and why. The quilts I'm making for my other daughters also have meaning and significance to our family, but not really anyone else. If my quilts are only for my children and their descendants, and no one else ever hears my name, I'm good with that. As long as my family knows I love them and made these things for them, that's enough.
the Grandma Nancy's Heritage quilt - my husband's mother made the top, and we found it in her house after she passed away. I finished it and gave it to my daughters, May 2016.
1 comment:
You should definitely submit it to the site. It will probably feel like a breath of fresh air if they publish it.
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