Tagged I'm it!

I have been tagged by Anne Heidi from Piece by Piece to answer questions regarding why I craft.

Firstly, I will say that the word "craft" is not a word I like to use for what my friends and I like to do. I find that it conjures up ideas of plastic canvas tissue holders and a plethora of cheaply made items. I think in America, the word "craft" has been associated with "craft shows", which means tacky hand made stuff for sale. Of course I'm generalizing here. There are individuals who make beautiful things and sell them in shows, however, the majority is not the case. So, I avoid craft shows like the plague.

1. When did you start to create and make crafts?
I have always been busy with some form of artistic expression. If I wasn't colouring I was drawing.

As a youth, I enjoyed photography and had my own Brownie camera. I remember photographing a Girl Scout camping event. Later on, I began to knit some scarfs and by the age of 15, I was hand embroidering my Jeans.
What your are seeing are a pair of jeans I did in high school. No, I no longer fit in them! But I did for the longest time. As you can tell, I've used these for renovations. May Britt had suggested that I make a purse or bag from them, but upon finding them for the picture, I concluded that they are way too messed up to make anything. It would be nice to fit back into them though! lol

After embroidery came knitting. This is the first sweater I made, which used a circular needle for the top part.

Gosh, did I knit lots of sweaters! I still have quite a few tucked away in a bureau. I've also given many sweaters away. I sometimes wonder if my old boyfriends still have the sweater I made them.

After knitting came photography. I think this medium has always been a part of my life on and off. In my early twenties (20) I had access to a dark room and bought my first serious camera, an Olympus OM1n. That was quite the camera back then!

In my early 30's I studied photography full time. On weekends, I would often head to the park or downtown to look for photo opportunities. I rarely left home without my camera!

This is one of my favourite shot! I have many that I love. I'm a black and white kind of gal. I still have all of my darkroom equipment that I hope one day to set up again.

I started to cross stitch when I became pregnant with my little girl. My doctor informed me that I needed to give up the dark room aspect of photography due to the chemicals. Sadly, I haven't gone back to photography since my pregnancy. For those who like to do the math, it's been over 10 (ten) years. ;o)

I cross stitched on linen. My favourite were Amish patterns. I loved the look of it! As you can see, I haven't done anything with them. There are a few more buried somewhere.

I started to quilt in February 1996. You can read about it on my first blog entry entitled Introduction.

In 2002, on a trip to the Maritime, I picked up rug hooking! I bought this canvas at a shop called Tapis Hookés de Chéticamp Hooked Rugs. Cheticamp is known for its rug hooking! It's a small Acadian town, rich in history.

As you can see, this hobby has been sadly neglected! Not much has been done on it! So... okay I did take it apart a few times, as I felt my hooking wasn't good enough. Stephen made the wooden stand to hold the John Flynn machine quilting frame system. I've never used the frame for machine quilting! lol

2. Why did you start crafting?
I don't know why I started to create! Well, I didn't back when I was young. My maternal grandmother was always busy making something. I have a braided rug that she did a long time ago. My mom can actually pick out fabric from dresses she wore as a child.

3. Why do you create?

I'm an individual that must have some form of artistic expression. I guess you can say that I started "crafting" as a necessity. I cannot be without creating! It's a part of me! At the moment quilting takes up that need. Who know what direction my art will take me in the future. When I look at some of my photographs, I have the desire to get back into it. I guess the complexity of setting up a darkroom in my present home keeps me from getting my hands back into the chemicals!

4. What do you create?

At the moment, quilts!

5. Has this changed since you began crafting?

Not really. I do incorporate other artistic medium in my quilts, such as hand embroidery. I am presently dwelling in machine embroidery!

Well thanks for taking the time to read this. Now it's my turn to tag........ Are your ready? Tag, you're it!