How Long Did It Take You To Make That?

You get that question, don't you? How in the world do you answer it?

From start to finish, this little freeform looping vest is going to clock in at over a year. I only know that because I looked it up on this blog. The first post was in February of 2011. A month later, I'd overcome a minor hurdle and was making progress. Then, of course, I got busy preparing for and traveling to teach workshops. Like plot developments that impede the course of true love in a novel, there's always been some good reason to set this piece aside.

But this week, I may -- may! -- get it finished.

As far as I can tell, I'm satisfied with the back. It took about 20 shots with the digital camera and a full-length mirror to see what it looks like from behind on my actual body.

I'm finishing the edges with cross-knit looping, using a brilliant technique I learned from Laverne Waddington. The binding is done on both armholes and the back hem. I'm guessing three more evenings ought to finish the front edges and neckline.

How much actual stitching time have I spent on something people will probably assume is crocheted? Snort. Maybe 40 hours. So far. And that's a guess, because I haven't been keeping track. I hate keeping track, and only do it when I have to know a project fits within time parameters given by event organizers.

Time is sooo far down on the list of things I'd like people to wonder about, if they're going to wonder about anything when they see this garment. I figure I'm not alone on that score.

What do you wish people would ask instead of "How long did it take you to make that?"

Picking Up The Thread

Fingers crossed, I'm regaining control over a bunch of loose threads that have been trailing since before the willow harvest started a few weeks early. There are still some available spots in the next section of the New Age Looping Basics eCourse, which begins on April 10, but registered students have received their orientation and starter materials. My usual to-do list of class proposals and follow-up tasks is mostly under control. Preparations for upcoming workshops, online and in person, are well in hand. The itinerary for next year's Ireland trip (details to come soon), is nearly set. And materials I need to deliver next week for a show are ready to go.

That means this week, I'm finishing that freeform looping vest, come hell or high water.

Do you have a project that's this close to being done, too?

Two Red Threads In An Unfinished Sampler

I'm the current custodian of an unfinished cross-stitch sampler. It’s faded and hard to photograph through conservation glass, so let me tell you its story.

Back in the early 1970’s, my great-aunt Ruth Matthews Wiggins gave the sampler to my parents. In 2005, they passed it on to me. The information passed along with this linen sampler says it was made about 1815. The maker’s name was Elizabeth Hodge.

Elizabeth used two different green threads, one of which is still pretty vivid, to work an outer border and designs that separate the major sections of the sampler.

The first two sections -- an alphabet (upper and lower case letters) and a poem – are worked in one shade of red. Part of the third section -- her name and dates – is worked in a different red. The last section says, ”Elizabeth Hodge was born September the 4 186 (we would read that 1806) and was married July the 6 1824.”

She would have been 9 years old when she began the sampler, and 18 when she married.

The sampler is about 18 inches square, and there’s a good 5 inches of blank space between the last stitched date and the bottom border. Maybe she meant to sample different embroidery stitches there, or fill the space with some design or motif. Maybe she intended to fill in the birth dates of her children, then had children and never found the time.

I know a lot of people who feel weighted down by projects begun but not completed. Maybe Elizabeth felt the same way. I don’t know. But I do know this: Even if my great-great-great grandmother had bought this sampler at a carriage-house sale, I would still treasure it. Even though it appears to be unfinished, to me it represents the process of learning.

Learning is a lifelong adventure. It doesn’t always fit exactly into the framework we expect, or the timetable we would choose. There's something to be learned from everything we make, and it’s not all related to design or technique. It may be about patience or perseverance or learning to accept our own imperfections. It may be about celebrating achievement instead of feeling guilty when our reach exceeds our grasp.

I know you know that, but sometimes we forget.

Take a look around in the corner of the world where you make stuff. If you find things you’ve been lamenting because they never got finished, ask yourself:

-- Is there more I want to learn from this?
-- Can I learn more from it, or is the lesson complete?
-- Is this a project or a sampler?
-- Can I be happy with it just the way it is -- at least for now?

If it’s weighing you down, give yourself permission to pass it along: Sell it at a garage sale, take it to a thrift shop, offer it to a friend. Or reclassify it in your mind from Unfinished Project to Material or Supplies, and use it for sampling some new product or technique. But please, think twice before you send it to a landfill.

I’m grateful to all the people between Elizabeth and me who made the choice to save this faded, unfinished artifact.

Two red threads represent a passion for learning that never fades. Now, that’s a legacy.

Two Red Threads – 194 Years In The Making

Haven’t we met before? I’m Donna Kallner. I teach fiber art workshops around the country (and take workshops, too, when I can).

At these events, wonderful, interesting people begin fascinating conversations. And I’m the one who cuts in and breaks the thread of thought. When I’d like to say, “Tell us more!” I have to say, “Excuse me,” so I can do another demo, answer a question, or check on progress around the room.

This blog is a place to continue the conversation, untangle ideas, share stories, and reflect on what we learn by making fiber art. Thanks for coming by and joining in.

I’ll be posting a couple times a week (more some weeks, less others) about topics like looping, stitching, surface design, image transfer, digital fabric, mixed media textiles and vessels, stuff I’m sampling, books and blogs. I’ll post occasional tutorials, creativity exercises, prompts and challenges. And I’ll be asking readers to share work made in response to classes and challenges.

You can make sure you know what’s happening at Two Red Threads by subscribing, using the button in the sidebar.

So why is it called Two Red Threads? Stay tuned, and next time I’ll tell you about an unfinished project that should make you feel better about your own UFOs.