To Blog or Not to Blog

I confess, I’ve resisted blogging for awhile. Who wouldn’t? Don’t we have enough to do? And more technology to learn? But then I came across the “$600 Throwaway House” (“RateMySpace,” HGTV), which led me to “The Dilettante Proprietor” blog. Lisa took a junk heap and has made it into a marvelous home with a gorgeous garden on a limited budget. It all sounded so familiar, to start with almost nothing and a dream, and build it into something—I was hooked. From there I discovered art quilt blogs and home décor blogs and mosaic blogs and the list is endless. I began to see the possibilities.

I played with my blog design, savoring the visual aspect and lingering over the choice of words and photos. Finding a name proved difficult as so many are already taken. “GoneToPieces” was my first choice, but it had been claimed so I tested others. Ultimately, “MulticoloredPieces” expresses well enough the idea of my life as a mosaic of activities about which I am passionate. 

The blog background is a detail of “Improvisation I” (Jan. 1992, 31” x 30”). I couldn’t bear to part with the scraps of velvet, satin, silk, and brocade from a huge project, “Flowers for Abou Jihad” (Nov. 1993, 79”x79”) that took several years to complete. The improv was machine pieced and quilted, and provided a welcome change from “Flowers,” for which I forced myself to use a repeating pattern. 

If you look at it long enough, it begins to move! I intended to send “Flowers” to the International Quilt Festival at Houston, but it ended up several inches over the maximum size. Someone asked me why I didn’t simply cut off the sides to get the correct size. Ouch! 

In the end, a work takes over and has its own voice. "Flowers" is machine pieced, appliquéd, embroidered, and quilted. When viewed together, these two artworks represent a reflection on life: dark and light, order and disorder, discipline and improvisation.