Make More Art: Take Sewing Projects on the Road – Quilting Daily

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Here it is, the second week of January, and I still haven’t settled on my Word of the Year. You know, the mantra that you use to help you focus on what you want to accomplish before the next time the ball drops.
Make Art Bag by Lynn Krawczyk, featured in the Feb/March 2014 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. Fill it with supplies for on-the-go hand embroidery projects.

Several words are circling around in my mind. But one that keeps floating to the top is “yield,” with all its many meanings.

One of the definitions of “yield” that appeals to me in this New Year is the agricultural sense: to produce or provide. This year, I am very serious about getting back to my artistic roots and actually creating more art.

I have set a goal to continue a series of quilts that I started making several years ago, and that will take a large chunk of my creative time.

But for those days I can’t work for hours on sewing projects, I am trying to spend at least 5 minutes a day making art. Every day. My goal is to stop procrastinating and to just commit to creativity.

One way to make more fiber art five minutes at a time is to create art while you’re on the go. I like to keep a little bag or case with supplies for hand sewing projects.

Spending five minutes here and there adding hand embroidery designs to mini fabric collages, hand stitching appliqué, or paper piecing patchwork designs keeps me in touch with my creative side and helps me complete projects bit by bit.

hand sewing needle case by paula cheney
This Needle Case by Paula Cheney holds your hand sewing essentials. From International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene 2013.

Here are some supplies to keep in a hand stitching bag:

  • Squares of felt
  • Small fabric collages, fiber postcards, or patchwork squares, ready for embroidery or piecing
  • A selection of needles
  • Embroidery thread in various weights and colors
  • Small embroidery scissors
  • Small plastic bag for snipped thread ends
  • Small tin with seed beads
  • Thimble

I think I’ll put a making a hand sewing bag first on my list of sewing projects for the year. Then we’ll see how many pieces of fiber art I’ll yield in 2014.

If making more quilting and fiber art is on your list of goals, you’ll find plenty of projects and tutorials in the Quilting Daily Shop.

P.S. Did you pick a word for the year? Reveal it in the comments section below.

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