I'm a big fan of Christopher Guest movies. One of my favorite ones to quote is Waiting for Guffman. If I have a big event and it's the day of the event I always say, "It's the day of the show, y'all." I occasionally refer to the "muse of dance" for no reason. My absolute favorite quote to use is "Corky has a vision," I replace "Corky" with "Erin." Like Corky, my visions don't always work out as planned, but they're always fun to try.
Here's the finished Abstract #2. I need to photograph the two abstract pieces together, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Progress is still progress.
This week's "Erin has a vision" moment didn't have anything to do with the stitch journal, but with my next project. I'm taking a break from the From the Back series while I decide what I want to do next in that series and need to have a non-stitch journal project to work on. I narrowed it down to three possibilities:
- A mixed media piece involving a large spider sticker, a photo of a tree that fell in my friend Kelly's yard, black tulle, and whatever weird embroidery I decide to add.
- The start of a series I'm now called "Iconic" featuring quotes from people I know (or know of) that are iconic despite the person not being famous. The first quote is from a friend's daughter: Coffee makes my life sparkle.
- The cicada kit I bought last year during the cicada invasion, but didn't have the time or focus to do because of the 2021 365 project. I love cicadas.
I've decided to work on the first two now, in stages, and save the cicada kit for the winter. It makes sense in my brain. Anyway, I was starting to plan for the mixed media piece, tentatively called Spider Tree, when I got the idea that I should try to dye the paper I'm using for the piece. Since the spider is a sticker, attaching it to fabric isn't going to work, so I decided to use mixed media or watercolor paper. I also really love stitching on paper, so this is all a win-win in my book. I've never tried to stain or dye paper before; fabric I can handle, but I wasn't sure what to do with paper. I found a few videos online and they were all basically the same: Brew coffee. Soak paper in coffee. Dry. Viola!
I tried it out yesterday and it was a lot of fun. I used instant coffee and regular ground coffee for this round of test papers. The instant coffee produced a darker color across three types of paper (larger watercolor, small watercolor, and small mixed media). The regular coffee looks good, but is lighter and more parchment paper-like (large and small mixed media, small watercolor). The watercolor paper has the most interesting textures (blooms like you'd see if painting with watercolor paint). I may re-stain the larger mixed media paper today. I also want to try to splatter or spray paper as well. I'm pleased with this first round and have options for working on Spider Tree. My vision is coming together...at least for now.
Before I share this week's recap, I thought it would be a good time to share some stats on the stitch journal. I should have done this last month since it was the halfway point, but month seven is fine. Some fund stats (if you like that sort of thing like I do):
- Average time spent per month on the journal: 6.17 hours
- Total time spent on the entire journal as of July 31: 43.22 hours
- Number of times the fabric has been moved: 3 times
- Number of new stitches learned: 7 (Russian chain stitch, colonial knot, cast-on, scallop stitch, rosette chain stitch, twisted chain stitch, and herringbone)
- Unintentional dinosaurs: 2
- Most used stitch: back stitch
Last year's project was amazing, but also exhausting. I spent at least 2-3 hours a day on each square, so I really had no time to make other things. That's why I decided to go with a stitch journal this year; I wanted to be able to do a 365 project and other projects at the same time. It's much more manageable and the journal has become its own thing in a way I didn't anticipate. It's fun to add to it every day, but it's also helping me be a looser, more experimental artist. I don't know if I would have decided to coffee stain paper this weekend if I hadn't started the stitch journal. I also have a bunch of other plans for other projects and remaking a series from 2020-2021 that I don't think I would be planning if I wasn't doing this stitch journal practice.
This week's recap:
The fabric has moved! This time I moved to the right and up. There's not a lot of fabric left when you look at the piece from left to right. I think I can get through September with this next move. Then I'll have to decide if I work down or work across the three main sections I've already created. I'm excited to revisit this side of the piece; I'm heading back to Detroit this week and this is the side I was working on the last time I was in Detroit. Good stuff. My posts may be a little earlier or later in the day depending on what we have going on while traveling.
WIP: Here's a look at the coffee stained paper, the spider sticker, and the finished Abstract #2 from the From the Back series.
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| Instant coffee |
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| Regular ground coffee |
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| Watercolor paper and instant coffee |
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| The spider is from The John Derian Sticker Book - it was a birthday gift from my aunt and uncle. |
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| Mixed media paper and regular coffee - this was the paper I was planning to use for Spider Tree, but now I'm thinking I may use the large watercolor paper since the color was so much more pronounced. Decisions... |
Here's the finished Abstract #2. I need to photograph the two abstract pieces together, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Progress is still progress.
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