Recognizing routine in my practice

So, I was all set on this quilt idea, but then, after talking with Birthe and Henry I realized I needed to spend more time with the material I’ve been collecting. Why did I start making a record of news headlines? What was I thinking/feeling that pushed me to start this routine which consisted of checking the news on my laptop and writing them out in my sketchbook. I reminded myself that I often work with routines:

  • March 2019 – March 2020: I went into my home studio and set with fabric, needle, and thread for 2 hours each day. I wasn’t always successful sticking with the schedule but that was the intention.
  • October 2019-March 2020: Every day I walked with my dog, I picked up a stick then took it to the studio and wrapped it in yarn. The wrapping would take 15 minutes – 1 hour. Sometimes, I wrapped more than one stick. I hung the sticks on my walls.
  • 2018: For a year, I recorded how many times I went to a yoga session, how many times I did yoga at home, how many times I meditated, how many days I worked at my job, how many times I went to a coffee shop. In 2019, I stitched my data.
  • there’s more, but you get the idea

ROUTINE = STRUCTURE
ROUTINE = CERTAINTY
ROUTINE = CONTROL
ROUTINE = PROGRESSION
ROUTINE = PROCESS
ROUTINE = PROGRESS
ROUTINE = EXPLORATION
ROUTINE = EQUANIMITY
ROUTINE = BEING IN THE MOMENT
ROUTINE = …


I was thinking of creating an object of comfort

How do I work with the covid-19 news headlines I’ve been recording since March? I had this image in my head of transfering the headlines to a quilt…because we take the news with us to bed. Many of us look at a phone or ipad before bed and upon waking up…news, news, all the time, so even the space that should be comforting us is compromised.

Machine embroidery tests

I am planning to machine embroidery the news headlines I’ve been collecting since March. There are beginning tests. Initial decisions are around:

  • what type of font to use
  • what size text
  • how large each panel should be to make a 36″ square quilt
  • what fabric to use: colours, solids, patterns
  • colour of thread
you can see the indentation arount the text…that is the hoop edge, this size can accomodate text within print 4.72″ square, max. text size is 3/8″
the larger hoop can accomodate text in an area of 8.7 by 10.23 inches, max. text is 3/8 inch

How do you check-in when you arrive in the studio?

I enter the space and then what…

I need a moment to settle in…I am here. What do I want to do?

I made a large notebook which has become my portal into saying hello to the studio. I am here today, at this time, and I feel like this…I saw….I heard….I felt…

It’s a way to get grounded in very ungrounded times. It will undoubtly become a record of this time, this very strange time.

Looking for direction

I’m showing up to the studio but feeling lost. Don’t seem to be able to easily settle in and focus on anything, so…I am revisiting recent work and wondering if I’ll continue exploring the deconstruction of the stitch.

How would working with food work these days? How can it be used to connect?

I thought I would explore the use of video…to perhaps formulate an idea of what it would be like/could be like to use an online workshop format: Food + zoom + me + others.

But before “this time” I had been thinking of exploring the physical/face-to-face workshop format as an art format. But how would it differ from a regular workshop? What makes it art?

Books mentioned:
The Futurist Cookbook by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Digesting Recipes: The Art of Culinary Notation by Susannah Worth.