Make It Yourself March, Week 2: Sustainable Treasure!

Wendy has me doing some deep thinking with her MIY March this year!
I'm loving the slow approach of weekly prompts and creating thoughtful posts.

This week's subjects are Sharing and Caring:
• Sustainable sewing tips
• Material sourcing
• Our most treasured textiles

I'm going to start with my number one textile treasure: The Crazy Quilt!

photo from 2013
click to embiggen

This is my major mending WIP and I'm featuring it in the daily prompts for #MendMarch2020 (see last week's post. The IG hashtag is #crazyquilt_amb). This was "on hiatus" in storage for a few years, I brought it back into use last year, inspired by the mending workshop I took with Ruth Katzenstein Souza. It is both "in progress" and on my bed, so the shredded, holey parts are getting progressively worse.

Moth holes, shredded parts revealing the base sleeping bag, these patches dating from 1973-1987

It's not easy to work on while in active use (potential stabbing from forgotten pins or lost needles) and last summer I got lazy when it was off the bed and more workable and I did no mending.

It's full of nostalgic scraps -- I started it my Junior or Senior year of high school in 1973-74.
I've also made half of it twice! [Here's THAT story]
I think the oldest scrap is from the fabric that covered the couch in our living room and I'm thinking the couch was reupholstered with it when we moved to Millbrook, NY in 1968.

The newest addition has been cut but not yet sewn.
I think I'll use some visible mending, the former sock is super bulky.

View this post on Instagram

#mendmarch 3/8 FUNDAMENTAL Measure twice, cut once. #mendmarch2020 #crazyquilt #crazyquilt_amb #patchwork

A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray) on Mar 8, 2020 at 12:47pm PDT

I made a memory sketchbook about the quilt in 2013 (here's the video compilation).

Last year, I started a new digital version, which I quickly abandoned.

I digitally collaged this using the Notebook app on my iPad.
Wasn't sure about the results and it was a lot of work.

I'm feeling the urge to resuscitate the project here on SpyGirl.
Tests done quickly this morning in Photoshop:

Quilt Dossier concept -- memories of each patch

Patchwork quilts have been a way to use scraps for centuries! Historical sustainability!
And there are "sew" many ways to approach the craft.

Linking up with
Catherine's #sharealllinkup
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

"Anne the SpyGirl" Shop on Society6

I've opened a shop exclusively for my fashion sketches on Society6

[earlier iteration of sketch]
ISM Mode F/W13 Plaid Top
direct link to sketch on Society6 

A widget is now stationed on the sidebar, for your shopping convenience.

For anyone curious about starting their own business selling digital prints, I'm really pleased with the quality and service of Society6. I set up my fine art prints shop there in 2010.

I like the fact that you can add what profit you'd like to make on your work for the prints on paper.

[now you know my markups]

They also offer pieces framed, which I haven't yet sampled. (Almost did for my upcoming show, but then decided I didn't like the framing options). They fulfill the order and payments are through PayPal.

Sizing is dependent upon the size of your original jpg. If you're particular about color matching and output dimensions, then this wouldn't be a good place to use as a service bureau. I've had some "interesting" size issues happen -- especially with a cupcake image that I had to shrink and reorder because the first version was scary big (cupcakes the size of cauliflower heads? No thank you).
Other drawbacks are: not knowing who buys your work, canvas print prices are not adjustable (this one really irks me), and the paper is super heavy and rolled (how it comes for the printing process) so it's impossible to "float" your image when framing.

They keep adding new substrates and products that they print -- the latest is pillows.
I just ordered an iPhone case and I'll tell you what I think when I get it (soon I hope).
The site also has a whole "social" aspect, with "Loves" and "Follows" and all that.

Note: I was not compensated by Society6 for this post.
But if you buy art from me over there, then I will certainly make some money!

Sunday = Fun Day: Virtual Astro Targets

Today's "outfit" comes from a completely random Facebook Page suggestion!
(Yes, sometimes those annoying FB "improvements" will yield something worthwhile).

Fasten your seat belts, this one has lots of twists and turns!

After "Liking" a RI travel consultant
(because a friend had shared her photo gallery of vintage Naragansett hotel post cards)
some suggestions for other Pages came up (new thing that I never saw until this morning).
I hovered over the target avatar and it displayed:

Arts/Humanities?
HAD to click on it! It was a TARGET! (Colorscope FB Page)
Not only a target, but an ASTROLOGICAL TARGET!!!

link for colorscope

Here is mine: Hard to look at, right?

What can I say, they are my favorite colors... I HAD to create a repeat with them! And mock it up on myself!

I located this photo from a shopping expedition in Venice CA from 2011 -- look how it matches "my" target colors so perfectly!

I first did some Photoshop [PSD] retouching and got rid of the red + blue motifs
I'm not showing you that because it was fast + sloppy

Then I went over to Illustrator [AI] and created my repeat:

are you hypnotized yet?
It's no genius repeat, but it'll do

Then I brought my photo into AI to create the areas to apply the print
(I used the pen tool -- I did it in AI because it's easier to scale + rotate repeats in AI vs PSD)

Here's what I came up with:

The green happened from it being 3 layers of print with a transparency effect applied.
I was OK with it

I then exported just the print layers over to PSD, to soften up the print a bit.
This is my final opus:

ADORE IT!!!
The color didn't shift in the same way, OK by me

Don't be surprised if you find me actually wearing this come summer!

I'm linking up with Patti's Visible Monday -- I think I'll be stopping traffic with this one!

Meanwhile, what's your Astro Target?
Please share on my SpyGirl FB Page!
or
leave a link below in the comments

Have a celestial day!

Speaking of Goddesses, Meet Citizen Rosebud

Citizen Rosebud is the newest addition to my pantheon of Fashion Icons!
Sketching her stripes was a fun challenge.

amb on 7-21

amb on 7-21
Originally uploaded by anne m bray
Via Flickr:
I've recently been doing a bunch of line art portraits as part of the Julia Kay's Portrait Party group (www.flickr.com/groups/portraitparty/) on Flickr.

I got to thinking, what if I do a whole figure and add color? I experimented on myself and am quite pleased with the results.

I think I'll start doing this as a series.
If you are a fashion blogger who does outfit of the day posts and would like to be featured, go ahead and leave your blog URL here.