A Secret Life

Did you know I live a secret life? Yes, I am one of those crazy people exploring the mysterious world of ceramics.

Not ceramics made on a potter’s wheel. No, no no, I’m a hand builder. Once I tried throwing a pot on the wheel and the clay flew off and splattered all over the studio. Hand-building is safer for my fellow students.

Like other art forms you’ve probably explored, working with clay is like working with textiles. Both mediums let you create texture, and shape, and explore favorite themes like houses, birds, and trees. But most importantly for me, hand-building lets me improvise and create whimsical pieces like this tiny home with a hole in the roof for dried flowers.

Once in a while I make sewing related items like this handy pincushion with a loop for holding your small scissors. Now that you know about my secret life as a ceramicist maybe it’s time for you to explore other avenues of creativity too. Do you have an secret artistic life?

Please check out my recent ceramic creations here.

Protect Your Mat from Decorative Blades

Are you using decorative blades in your rotary cutters? Decorative blades make wonderful embellished edges for your fused art quilts. They come in wave, scallop, and, my favorite, the delightful pinking blade

But beware! Decorative blades can damage your cutting mats. Here you see a cutting mat on the right that has been scored by decorative blades. See how the decorative blades have gouged into the mat?

When you cut with a decorative blade you have to push a little harder to cut cleanly into the fabric. This means the blade will etch into the mat and mess up your grid lines.

Save the grid! Flip that mat over and cut your fabric on the wrong side of the mat. You’ll save your mat and you can use a pinking blade to create fun fabric edges like these.

Check out how I’ve used the pinking blade to create this decorative fused binding here.