Dreams and a Touch of Bling

I've been working away on finishing all the little things on my to-do list. Near the top has been finishing my next batch of Art-O-Mat works -- 50 little Dreams and 50 mini art quilts. Most of the pieces were finished a while ago. I only needed to finish the last twenty of each series. Then of course the labelling, boxing and wrapping which takes nearly as much time as creating the pieces in the first place. I really don't mind the repeatative work though. I can cut and glue away while still talking to my family, playing a game with the kids or even supervising school work.

The first set of "Dreams" I created was "Swaddled Dreams." The white cloth and pastel colors reminded me of babies. I'm sure we all have little dreams that are just beginning to grow that we keep tightly wrapped in our hearts. When our oldest was first born we would swaddle her so tightly that we kept checking to make sure she was still breathing. If we didn't, she would get her arms out of the blankets and hit herself in the face, waking herself up. She was so new any freedom would work against her. Our dreams can be the same way. When they are first born, they need to grow in a safe environment. But soon they are strong enough to face themselves and eventually the world. My second set of "Dreams" I was hesitant to create. I try to keep my artwork possitive and joyful. So many messages in our culture focus on the doom and gloom and I don't want to contribute to the negativity. Despite that, "Fallen Dreams" just wanted to be created. I added a touch of sparkle to the black background and used shimmering silver thread to try to capture a sense of hope, even in the darkness. Despite their death, there is still hope for redemption and joy. I trust that these were pieces that needed to be made and the people who need to recieve them will. "Touch of Bling" was created from some of the scraps that I have had hanging around since last fall. I have been meaning to do something with them, but never seemed to have the time. I already had the shimmering silver thread in the machine, so I just kept sewing away. I love the colors with the sparkle, but of course that would make sense since I created them. Now to go finish getting them ready to send off into the world.