Old sketchbooks, one things leads to another

Everyday life here revolves with a
myriad of conversations. For example, a long chat about "Is Doctor Who real?" (7 year old) and "If we take the hen's eggs are we stealing their babies?" (7 year old) to a chat about jumping, "I like jumping. Do you like jumping?" and the old favourite, "What's your favourite colour?" ( Three year old) So with all this noise, discourse and chat, plus discussing things like the merits of biomass boilers with Mr Minnado, thinking about my sewing projects and planningwhat I want to do has a small slight place. I am often thinking about my sewing, planning, mulling over ideas while doing all those other random day to day things and I feel more and more there is a need for me to have plans, notes, diagrams, some way of harnessing my ideas before they slip away. I would like to track my progress and keep some semblance of organisation.

I have kept notebooks and sketchbooks on and off for most of my adult life. At eighteen I went on my year long art foundation course which used to be a prerequisite for doing an art degree here in the UK. The foundation course staff emphasised the keeping of sketchbooks as a resource, part of the process of making art, storing and working through ideas and also collecting inspirations and images. When I was a student the favoured style of sketchbook was the hard bound black books ina range of sizes - there is one under the bird book in the top photo.
I have since being a student veered off into notebook territory and always have several on the go (oddly or maybe not so oddly, I often get given these as presents) the little A6 bird note book above lives in my main bag and travels about with me.


In the past week, we have moved Little I into a proper bed - which meant dismantling the cot, which led to pulling an old portfolio of mine from under the cot, which led me to leaf through old sketchbooks and bits of work on paper which led me to photograph some old pages and scrappy monoprints.


So, here I am planning my next sewing adventures, and hope to share my list with you in a post very soon. I am trying to have a plan partly so I can control costs, consumption and also as part of my effort to be more of a Slow Sewer - so I can concentrate on making less garments but to a better standard. And that they are clothes I would wear a lot. For me part of the challenge of sewing is to improve my skill levels and learn new things. I would like to make clothes where I am not ashamed to show the seams to some one else!
I am also thinking more and more about how to link my drawing into textile work and have been busy sketching away. I want to have only a few projects to work on so I can devote some more time to this. In mid-September Little I goes to preschool, so I hope to have a few free hours. And I am wondering, how do other people track and plan their sewing and ideas? I would love to know.

oh dear

I have become one of those strange women who carry scissors in their handbag - no, not as a weapon but so I can cut down and collect things that inteest me while I drive down country lanes to school. I love the silhouette of these cow parsley seed heads that grow in the hedgerows and successfully cut some down a few days ago. My first attempt to just pick them without scissors was pathetic and I nearly fell in a ditch. Not so good on the way to school. I have been drawing them and their spidery-ness with my lovely Rotoring pen. I have to keep this pen hidden unless both kids are asleep as nothing is sacred and I know my eldest in particular would love to get his mitts on it. But he presses really hard with pens and would doubtless break it. Look, here is an initial scribble drawing, apologies for poor photography, my scanner is broken.

I have been starting my stash bustin - been drawing out plans for beach bags, and little child dresses, but am so tired after another 4am start courtesy of my daughter....I am just off for a nap with her now.