My heart will be glad with the Sound of Music

My childhood bedroom is still intact at my Mother’s home. Some things have changed as the next generation of children have gotten to know the amazing woman who raised me and stayed with her in “my room”. The interior of the house has slowly changed over the years. Less wall paper, new floors, fresh paint and different window coverings. For years the windows that served as our view out into the world and as a glimpse into our lives from the outside, housed long ruffled linen curtains. The house was built in the 80’s and was decked out in the country home trend of that time. There was a lot of navy blue, brown and cream colors and my Dad stenciled patterns around the top of the walls in many rooms. My room still has the pink flowers stenciled and serve as a reminder to me of the artistic, intelligent and loving man that I was so fortunate to call Dad.

The long linen curtains have been gradually replaced room by room over the years. My Mom has passed them on to me. Those curtains have been the source of many projects.  First, I made a wreath out of them that was accented with hand felted flowers. It hangs in my niece’s room. Second, I made a purse that also sported a felted flower.  After that, I hand dyed some of the linen and made a shirt. They have been used as table covers for my craft booth and curtains in my studio. The most recent creation using the curtains is my mushroom hat costume. I was brainstorming a way to make the gills on the underside when I remembered the ruffles. Perfect. I washed, cut and bleached the ruffled edges of the curtain, used a straw hat as the base, widened the brim and created a support structure with cardboard.

I’ve loved fabrics for a long time. I love their patterns, imagery and colors. I am inspired by the unlimited possibilities of what can be created with them. Fabric can be functional, decorative, 2D or 3D. It can be painted on, altered, added to or shredded.