Transitions.....

It is amazing how one takes a step back and re-evaluate life during/after a health problem.    I was forced to adapt to a slower pace of living - and I actually liked it.....         

Suddenly I had so much time to think - a recurring thought was something that my friend Charmaine said to me once!     She challenged my creativity by telling me that there was so much more to explore and I was actually in a rut!   Straightforward....!   After thinking it through, I realized it was so true...    I realized that the realistic themed quilts really consumed me while I was creating them and I needed something less intense.    For the first time since leaving East London, I somehow felt lonely and had the desire to belong to a quilt group.   BUT...........

Personally I find it very difficult to fit into a mould and after discussing it with a friend, she suggested that I start a small creative group....     The idea stewed in my mind for a long time before I approached 4 friends to form an art quilt group.    Three of them accepted the invitation and we met for the first time in February 2009 and tentatively  decided on the route forward.   We named our group Transitions - Beyond Borders!   We meet once a month in my studio and spend the time experimenting with different techniques,  equipment, gadgets, concepts etc.     The emphasis is on exploring with lots of cross-pollination and interaction while having fun.    

Starting the group, we all found the transition  from traditional and innovative techniques to freestyle/fibre art a huge challenge and extremely intimidating.   We desperately needed to get out of our boxes - quite a journey for all of us....!    I think the success of our small group is the fact that we are friends, there is mutual trust and respect, we served on committees together (so we work well together) and we are equal members within the group.   The interaction at our monthly meetings is lovely and we discuss problems we encounter with our projects and share advice (and criticism) freely.    We decided to keep the group closed as it was an experimental group and we did not really know where the journey would take us...

Transitions - Beyond Borders Group
From left to right - Brenda Dickeos, Marilyn Pretorius, Elaine Swan and Nadine van Westenbrugge

We often spend our time playing in the studio.   Brenda loves surfing the internet and often shares very interesting information and ideas.    We have all now settled into our own routine which is very peaceful and feels just right.     In the beginning we worked on specific projects, but as we are all in different phases in our lives, it became rather stressful to be productive all the time...   

Forming our art quilt group, had a major influence on my quilting style.   Next time I will show and tell my very first art quilt...

 

Changing the Pace...

I've missed chatting to you...   Willem and I enjoyed a 3 1/2 week holiday on a road trip to Namibia and are safely back home after driving 7 272 km.....   I wrote a journal while travelling and am thinking of adding a page to this blog about the trip...    As you know, most of my inspiration comes from nature and I took so many photographs of trees, rocks, landscapes, old buildings, lights, old furniture and animals...    A lot of it might be inspirational for fellow quilters, let me know what you think ....  We saw beautiful carved pieces of furniture, ideal for applique patterns, lots of interesting painted walls with all sorts of stenciling....     You can find me on facebook under Marilyn Stevens Pretorius....

Back to my story - after the 2006 National Quilt Festival in Port Elizabeth, I was emotionally and physically exhausted.   Making the majority of my quilts are really such an intensive process of concentration and  labour which while in the process, would consume most of my time, thoughts and energy.    I have no pattern books to refer to and have to find my own way, very exhausting...    I felt that I needed something easy to stitch which would be ideal to unwind.....  I decided to handsew a quilt using a Japannese Folded method.    Using this method, the quilt would be quilted by the time it was sewn together - just what I needed.  I decided to make a quilt for my friend for her next birthday.   Planning this quilt was so easy and uncomplicated, just what I needed.   

While making this quilt, something else happened....    I experienced a terrible pain down my one leg and eventually was diagnosed with a prolapsed disc in my spine, a condition which had a severe negative impact on my mobility and quality of life.    In the meantime, I quietly sat and stitched this quilt, not being able to do anything strenuous as it immediately brought pack the terrible pain.    I finished the quilt in time for her birthday in March 2007 and I was so surprized at  how much I actually enjoyed hand stitching this scrappy quilt......   Yes, me who are so in love with a sewing machine.....

My friendship with Amanda started early 1982, we had babies together, shared tears, laughs, losing parents and survived the phase of difficult teenagers...!    The two of us share a very special bond and the friendship has always been very harmonious, open, honest and easy - so referring to the our friendship, I named the quilt Harmonie (Harmony)!
    

Harmonie 2007 

Towards the end of 2007, it was clear I needed a spinal fusion.   I would be in a corset for 3 months, no sitting, driving my car or going anywhere in a vehicle.   I could lie down, walk and stand.   Wonderful recipe for cabin fever....    I immediately realized that I had to prepare some hand work to do afterwards....    Being productive, time would pass quickly....


I decided to make a quilt for our guest room in greens, teal and purple using the Folded Japanese method.    I wanted to make a quilt with triangles and decided to join 4 squares in a four patch, then fold it over batting in a diamond shape which will have the effect of a block with 4 triangles....    I prepared most of the blocks before going to hospital and packed a small trolley in our bedroom with enough work to keep me busy for the first days back at home...    I was ready to keep myself busy with books, music, tv and some quilting.....    I got a pair of reading glasses as it is very difficult to read flat on the back with bifocal lenses.....


Soon I was home, pain free and doing some stitching,  flat on my back....   My stitches were not great, but I was not perturbed..    I was sewing and excited about my project.    Soon I was stronger and Willem moved the trolley back to the studio where I could stand at the worktable because the height is perfect for me.     Soon it became routine, I would be in the studio with all my quilting stuff around me early in the mornings, taking breaks to rest a bit and my daily walk in the afternoons.    Soon the 195 blocks were stitched, quilted and ready to be joined into a quilt.   It took almost a week to arrange the blocks in a colourwash formation.   I pinned the rows together in long strips using safety  pins.    It was such a sense of achievement to make this quilt, mostly standing.     I should have called it "Standing Up" but named it Happy Colours for Me as it truly is my happy colours.   The 3 months went by so quickly...

Happy Colours for Me - 2008

While I was making this quilt, I  had lots of time to think about my quilting...........

A dream come true...

The workplace of any creative person is such an integral part of the creative process...    

I always had a room in our homes which was my place where I could make a mess  until we moved back to Port Elizabeth in 1996.    Suddenly there was no extra room for all my sewing stuff and I had to make do with working all over in the house....    It was challenging as my quilting and later painting fat quarters for the brush rags range, took the house over....    It was a constant battle to try and maintain order in the house....    I always looked at the garage with long, droopy eyes, dreaming of converting it into a studio...   It would be perfect as it had a door leading into the house and I would have my own place safely inside our house.....   Then, one day Willem said that he would add on another double garage to the house and I could convert the existing double garage into a studio...    Oh, some dreams do come true....    A whole 33 square metres of my own creative space...

I think the most important thing when planning a studio is to establish your personal creative needs.   I needed ample storage space (cupboards) for all the clutter collected through a long period of time, I needed a zinc with hot and cold water for cleaning paint brushes and tubs after painting brush rags fat quarters, I needed an office with a workstation for the computer, printer and telephone at  hand as I continually found myself involved in Committee work and arranging teaching trips.   I also needed bookshelves, drawers, workstation for the sewing machines and of course a cutting/work table high enough for me to stand and work comfortably.    Enough natural light is important as well as wall space for a design wall, notice board etc.....   The kind of work which one does, also defines the floor covering.     If you convert an existing room in your house, you have to use and plan around what you have....

Planning the studio was such an exciting project for me as I could really do as I pleased!    I measured the inside of the old garage and drew it on a reduced scale and from there I did the layout of my studio.   I used two opposite walls for workstations, one for sewing and the other for an office with bookshelves, ample drawers for storage, computer, printer, telephone and hi-fi!   The zinc had to be on the outside wall close to the bathrooms to link up with drainage, geyser and water supply.   As I would use the studio to paint fat quarters as well, I chose the same quarry tiles for the floor as in the rest of the house.    With 3 walls used and lots of floor space left in the centre of the room, I planned a big cutting table for the centre of the room.    I designed two pedestal units, one with 2 deep drawers on either side and the other with deep storage spaces the depth of the table for rolls of paper, applique paper etc.    The table top would be 150cm x 240cm and would rest on the pedestals with a space in between the two  units.    Big enough overhang on the sides would ensure comfortable space to sit and work.    I also decided one could never have enough plug points, so I have 14!

After all this measuring, planning, adjusting and dreaming, I contacted the draughtsman to do the plans....   Waiting for the construction to start, I was in a fabric shop and saw beautiful curtaining in blue and green, very similar to hand painted fabric....    I rushed home to calculate from the building plans the sizes of the windows and rushed back to buy the fabric as it was exactly the colours which I wanted for the studio..   It was so exciting when the builders arrived and construction started.

Two weeks later, I had my dream studio!    The builder left on the Friday with the studio walls white to return on the Monday to find it painted seagreen!    I used two colours of paint, a teal and a green which I rubbed on with a cloth!    He was gobsmacked and asked me what the hell I did...!     It was the perfect match for all the white cupboards and the walls and curtains were really my creative colours.   It makes me happy when I walk into the studio in the mornings....  

It was such a relief to have a tidy house........!   It was with such a sense of adventure that I started moving into the studio.....

Workstation for sewing machines - worktop is 90cm deep.   Storage space below counter as well as above the sewing machines.



Worktable in centre of room with deep drawers and storages space for rolls of papers etc.   Zinc to the left of the picture with the big cupboard in background for fabric and quilts



Computer workstation (for contact with the outside world) with printer, telephone, hi-fi, drawers, bookshelves for books and files.

Storage space for hoops - on a bracket for gutters!

Some festival souvenirs

A quilted panel for my rosettes and collection of Guild and Festival badges on the side of the fabric cupboard.   Some teaching samples in the background.




The new studio proved rather strange in the beginning as it was so neat and tidy with everything having a place....   I realised after a while that I experienced the same feeling I normally had after finishing a major quilt project - tired after too much excitement!   It was really an anti-climax to have my own creative space again, especially one custom designed around my needs.   I really battled to settle down and be productive, I think I was scared that I would mess it up!    Luckily that feeling disappeared after some time and I have enjoyed many creative times in here.   I spend the biggest portion of my days in the studio doing various things always listening to the radio or some CD's.    I decided not to have a television set in here as it would be distractive - I prefer to listen while I work and only watch some telly in the evenings after supper....



Hope you enjoyed the visit in my studio.   I had to tidy it a bit for your visit - imagine the table strewn with stuff while I work as I am very messy worker.  

This is my last posting for a month as Willem and I are going on a trip to Namibia.....      

Festival 2006

I was so intensely involved with the organising of the 2006 National Quilt Festival in Port Elizabeth which left me with very little time to quilt.   I did however design and oversee the making of a raffle quilt to raise funds for the festival.   As the theme of the festival was "Sands of Time", it lent itself to a traditional type of quilt.   Also, the public who would generally buy raffle tickets, were more likely to buy a raffle ticket for a bed quilt than a piece of wall art.  

I tend to prefer machine stitching to hand sewing, but I do love hand sewn stained glass applique work.    I brainstormed with my friend Joc Honeyborne who again love Celtic work about the feasability of making a stained glass quilt.    As we needed help to make this quilt, we identified quilters who had experience with either stained glass applique or Celtic work.     Fortunately everybody who were approached to help us sew, were very willing to help make this quilt.    The quilt had to be designed in such a way that we could cut and prepare each section and hand out ready for sewing.   We gave a deadline for the work to be completed after which I put all the different sections together.    It was a great sense of relief when all the sections fitted perfectly.   All the joining seams were hidden under the bias strips....     We used a very dark grey fabric for the endless bias strips patiently made by Joc.    I painted fabric for the quilt in pinks and greens, a safe colour choice for the masses.

The quilt was hand quilted by Dorothy Proctor-Golding in record time and eventually raised a substantial amount of money for festival funds.    One of our members bought a ticket on behalf of her daughter who lives in Australia and she was the lucky winner of the quilt.

Floral Window 2006 Raffle Quilt

The success of a festival depends on 3 very important aspects - a stunning display of world class quilts, wonderful and interesting workshops and of course the shopping mall....    Normally all other things take second place...   As in 1998 (when we also hosted the National Festival in Port Elizabeth), we decided to make the teachers small quilts with their names on to hang outside the classrooms on their teaching days.   It was eye catching and created a lovely atmosphere to walk along the corridors past all these little name banners....   I was asked to make the banners for the 3 teachers from overseas and I decided to use a South African theme and embellish it with ethnic beadwork.    As I did not know the teachers personally, it was a bit difficult to decide on colour, but I peeped around on their websites and hoped that I got it right......

The three name banners for Doerte Bach, Jenny Bowker and Pam Holland, the International Teachers at the 2006 Sands of Time National Quilt Festival held in Port Elizabeth

It is always lovely to receive such a personal gift at a Festival....  

Next time I will show you my studio as I have promised some time ago....    I have tidied, took some photographs and since then, created havoc once more....