Really, after I post this blog, I am really really really going to go pack. I am going to Art and Soul Monterey retreat. I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up, but I am feeling all kinds of guilt and doubt about going now. It's so hard to leave my family and stay-at-home mom duties. It is especially hard when I know that this is a trip for fun. For my own creative growth. For me. Go I shall though, and I will take all kinds of pictures to share when I get back.
Instead of really packing for the retreat, I am just beginning to think about the actual trip itself...my partner-in-art-crime Amy and I are driving up the coast tomorrow. Actually, she is driving, I'll be sitting, so I hope to put some of that time to use. Above is the bag I had last touched on my flight home from fiberfest last June. Rug hooking. Perfect road trip activity.
I took rug hooking from Tracy Roos at artfiberfest last summer. It was fun. I have always wanted to rug hook and this was the perfect way for me to start...a no pattern, no rules way. Tracy gave us each muslin and had us draw a design of our own on them. Mine is of a big blue bird that has long, scroll-y (I know it's not a word, just the easiest way to describe it) tail feathers, surrounded by circle flowers. It will say Mama Bird. It's hard to make it out so far, but I think it will come together more and be more clear when I have finished. I think I'm going to use it to cover a book when it's done. I really enjoy the process. Tracy brought a bunch of fabric that we cut in strips to use...regular cotton quilting fabric, not wool. From there we were off! I even used some velvet ribbon I had with me. I really had fun in the class and appreciated how generous she was with her supplies. Tracy's blog was the first blog I ever discovered and read regularly, probably a couple years ago now, but that set the seeds in my head for sharing creative endeavors through photos and words on a blog of my own. Thanks Tracy!
Ok, off to pack. Have a good week.
