New Website!!

I have a new website.....YIPPEEEEEE!

go HERE to visit.....and please do!

Or go to:  www.AlexaLett.com

Plus, my blog has moved to HERE!!!

Bookmark it please!!!  Lots of fun stuff to come!!!

Order....Organization....Or?

In a former life, I worked in a tourist attraction, and 89.87% of my day was spent refolding the t-shirts that were constantly disheveled.  To this day, I hate to pick up a folded shirt in a clothing store and hold it up for fear of not re-folding it the same way and thus, causing the employee to do the re-fold.  I recently went into this little store and the 2nd floor was dedicated to t-shirts.  This is what I saw as I topped the steps.  Pure order....organization....elite folding.....pristine folded t-shirts.

I stood and absorbed the beauty of order for several minutes.  I then went over and pulled the pink t-shirt out just a wee bit to create...not complete order.  See it smack in the middle of the photo?  I felt disgust....relief....appreciation...and more importantly I feel I saved someone's job.  This kind of precision retail order could cause people not to purchase.  

My mantra for 2015:

Celebrate Imperfection!!

2015! Happy New Year!

A new year has begun!

A new year of creative endeavors has also begun!

A new website has been created....thank you Kreative 1!

Blogging is going to get under control!

and.....

my creative side is going to be out of control!

AVA Gallery Hop and American Quilt Society in Chattanooga!

Well, I have been neglecting my blog in an enormous way.  Just kind of hit the blogger block and needed a break.  But, with further ah-do....I'm ba-ack!  Many new projects...ideas....happenings....and more importantly....I have a new website under construction.  My creative Facebook page is up and running and invite all to check and like here!  Bam!

So, excited about the upcoming week.   

First:  Chattanooga is hopping with cultural art events!  This Saturday is our city's AVA Gallery Hop....check it out here.  Wonderful event where our community opens their galleries and anyone and everyone is invited to visit.  The Chattanooga Workspace takes this community event to heart!  We have so many artists participating...and to the first 75 visitors we have an awesome gift! (tease...tease)

Put this event on your 'to-do" list!

September 6th 2:30-8pm!

This is our fabulous gallery at Chattanooga Workspace!

Next.....

September is the American Quilt Society Convention in

Chatta-Vegas, Tennessee!

The whole city is rolling out the quilted carpet!  So many events and exhibits are planned and I can't hardly contain myself.  Check out the details of convention here.  Please take a moment and see what this is about!

And the cherry on the top of this event sundae is the event below.

One of my besties has the most adorable...inviting...quilt store around.  Check out her website here.  She is featuring a beautiful Quilt Trunk Show with local quilters works of art.  I had the privilege of seeing the largest pile of stunning fabric goodness ever assembled!  Plus, she is opening a pop-up store with quilting kits, fabric, cards, and most anything you might want quilty!  And to make this a wee bit more dreamy, many of the artists of Chattanooga Workspace will be offering some of their many forms of creativity as well.  It is just a plethora of awesomeness!

Just want to show you a little special work of art...they are called "Dewdles"!

On of the Chattanooga Workspace members is Hollie Berry of Art Instinct.  Check it out here.  She rises early in the morning and creates a beautiful quilt block in the dew of Coolidge Park.  One of kind....short lived....block of quilty beauty!  All of this leads up to the AQS convention next week.  

What can I say.....I am about to pop!

Check everything out....and look for the launch of my new website!  Got a wee peep last week....I can't wait to share!

Quilt Pin!

Back in the studio after a week at the beach!  Nothing better than a few days of no responsibility....great sleep...delish food....and oodles of laughter.  Oddly sitting and stitching and watching mindless, somewhat pathetic reality shows (i.e. Real housewives of _____) can be so much fun! 

Officially jumped back into the studio today and started stitching.  It began with a sliver of quilt...embroidery...bauble...and a vintage greyhound cracker jack prize.  A wee bit goofy and I blazoned my feed sack purse with my new quilt badge....kind of like it!

#artsymerchant #embroidery #vintagequilts #quilts

Folk Art Embellished Quilt

The previous post told the story of how the quilt came to be....this is the story of the quilt after I embellished it.  Lots of visual stimulation......

FUN....FUN!!

Vintage Baby Quilt!!

One of my junking peeps found this lovely little quilting nugget.  I graciously took it off her hands for a tiny sum.  The measurements are a perfect size...approximately, 2'x2.5'.  Some of the silk strips have decayed, but nevertheless, it is fabulous.  

I hope to give it some new life....just trying to figure out how that is going to happen....

stay tuned.

Yo-Yo's and Mixed Media!

Feel free to "like" me on Facebook under:

Alexa Lett artsy-craftsy merchant

Working on some yo-you love!!

Vintage Locket!

Just had to share a little treasure I found at an estate sale a few months ago...

Was doing my typical hunt for fabric, quilts...and sewing notions, when what did I see?  but, a old shoe box of thread, needles, ric-rac and hemming tape.  Knowing this was going to be mine, I asked the price with a pleading look of, "please be cheap", and the kind lady said $5.  I immediately snapped it up...continued my search for other little goodies and paid my fees.

When home, this little box went in the stack of other little boxes that needed to be sorted and organized.  About two weeks ago, this began.  Now, for the very reason I find this type of shopping the BEST....in the bottom of the shoe box filled with notions, was a square, black locket.  Thinking it was a cool shape, and always a fan of lockets, I cleaned it up.  It was so pretty and unusual I took it to a jeweler.  Had my initials engraved and added a little stitchiness with my sweet friend's mug and I am in love with it.  

I did spend $12 on engraving and little elbow grease in cleaning, plus a silver chain, but look what I have.....love it!  The jeweler estimates it was hand made in the 1940's....and was a rather nice piece.

All this excitement in the bottom of a shoe box for $5.

And they say treasures can't be found any more.....

Embroidery Stitch Card!

Profound!

Embroidery Words for the Day!

Words for the day!

Stitchy Words!!

Nothing better than perfect words next to a stern face.

Stitchy words to live by.

A Little Double Decker Bus Love!

A friend visited me today....we were milling through my junk....and I remembered this little bus and it was uncovered!  I LOVE IT!

We concluded it must have been a vintage key chain possibly.  Worn, but so detailed.

In all my creative vision....I hung it on a ball chain...and then my neck.  So cute!I love these quirky little goodies!

Just A Little Daily Embroidery!

Just doing a little embroidery mash-up this week!  Love merging all these eras of handiwork into one!

Nothing better than a happy key!  Simple things....made positive!

Happy week!

and only Tuesday!

Embroidery Mantra!

I've said this before...I'll say it again....

Mixed Media Collage with Building Blocks!

As many of you have read...I buy junk and stuff year round, but never get to it for months to come.  This little work is no different.  I found a box of primary colored building blocks at a church yard sale.  The blocks even have the books of the Bible sharpies on the side.  So, you know these little chunks of wood did good early on in life.  I've kept them for about a year...and suddenly a purpose surfaced....

Mixed media collage!  It has taken about three days, but, I have finished two of them.  This was the first.  Very folky I think!

Note the books of the Bible on the side of the block.

It kind has the maximalist feel most everything I do seems to have....junky...stuff....layers....old....

and it all starts with building blocks!

Autograph Quilt!

I love these type quilt tops.  From what I have read...a group of friends would build a quilt together... determine a quilt block (in this case a nine patch) and each would create their block and embroider their signature in the middle.  The best part is looking at the script and more importantly, reading the names.  

What about this name....Chrystalia Byrd?

Love me some Goldie!

Of course, Daisy will always be a soft spot for me.

Ruby!!

I am inclined to think this top may of been made in 1931!

And this name was my favorite...Birdie Cherry!

As a quilt whole, I can't say it is the most beautiful one visually, but the names are more than pretty.  They are memorable...interesting...unique...and there is something cozy about them to me.  They are warm and grandmotherly.  

Enjoy the early creatives!

New Bumper Sticker!

A new bumper sticker develops from the mother of necessity! 

The other day I was talking to several people visiting my art studio and the standard questions and my replies occurred...

1.  Why didn't you do this in your house?  What made you move to a studio?

Alexa answer:  Do you see this 500+/- sq. ft. of stuff surrounding you?  This was all oozing out of my extra bedroom into every portion of my house.  If I worked at home....I would take little projects everywhere I was doing another chore..(i.e. near the kitchen when doing the laundry, in the den when Honey was home, etc.)  Plus, my Honey was near the 'boiling point' with the STUFF!

2.  Where did you get all this stuff?

Alexa answer:  Everywhere!  I am a picker of yard sales, estate sales, thrift stores, dumpsters and free piles on the road.

3.  Do you come here every day?

Alexa answer:  I try!  It is my favorite place to be.  It is my safe haven.  It is my therapist...and it is much cheaper, plus, I can hold something I made at the end of the day.  I have learned that, "a stitch a day keeps the crazy away".

Thus, how this bumper sticker came to be!!

Available here!

Painting!

The sewing machine has been laid to rest.  It has finally pierced its last piece of who knows what.  The awesome little Project Runway Brother machine could no longer bring me joy without costing me massive economic heartbreak.  Plus, it was barely three figures at the initial purchase 8 years ago.  It seemed a bit idiotic to drop $200 on a $99 machine.  Thus, the need to do a little research....test driving of the many options out there....and find a machine that can take the abuse I'm apt to give it.

All this to say, I had to feel my creative time with painting in lieu of the demised machine.  So, with a stack of paint drying up in their bottles and canvas' gathering dust...I broke it all out!  I am not a painter....AT ALL.  But, I do like color...and I like the idea of color on canvas like quilts..so......

“A picture of many colors proclaims images 

of many thoughts.”

-Donna A. Favors

Free Motion Stitching!

Free motion stitching has become one of my new favorite things to do.  I've watched people...seen beautiful things made....but I was a little reluctant to try something new...my error, this is a blast!!

For these reasons:

1.  you can't hardly mess it up

2.  with minimal effort you can't make an error

3.  there is no reason to be concerned about details

4.  just sew for the sake of sewing (detect a recurring theme?)

5.  massively fun!

This shade of green is one of my favorites...and I had a little piece of quilt in the same color family....a collision of great fabric. I started another one...then I bent the needle and I had to quit.  Bummer.  But, tomorrow back on to dress making....can't wait.....

"The new year will be like the old one  

if you keep on doing the same old things."  

-Jean-Paul Malfatti