Looks like the quilting bug has bitten twice here at the DOC! Like Kayte, I’m a fabric aficionado and have a thing for scrappy little pieces of fun fabric. Spring has sprung and all of a sudden, I’m awash with pregnant friends and co-workers! That means it’s the perfect time for me to tap into the active side of my ‘quilt enthusiast’ crafty-personality. Usually, I’m more of a quilt-browser and planner than I am a quilt-maker but I’m looking forward to making a few small baby quilts. I found this awesomely fun fabric collection from Moda called ‘Monkey’n Round’ and am planning on making a simple but fun-looking quilt using 4″ patches and 2″ strips.

There are quite a few patterns I could have used, but I think I’ll take a queue from the DIY handbook and wing it (after sketching out a rough idea first!)

flickr photo by WhimsyPatch

I’ve been experimenting a lot with old-fashioned paper piecing lately, a method used to hand assemble geometric shapes in quilts. It’s really fun but super time consuming. It took a bad cold and lots of time on my hands to start but now I am hooked!

These pieces are going to make their way onto linen table runners and pillow covers. I’ve been playing around with these ideas in my head for a while and I like the idea of turning these age-old techniques into products that are more modern and graphic.

Hi, all!

I’m in three exhibits this spring. In April, I’ll be in a traveling photo exhibition curated by Sara Gomes called “Home.” The show starts in Portugal and travels around the world. Each photographer was asked to shoot four pictures on the theme of “home.” I shot four pictures of my pigeon companion Daisy in various homes. Here’s one in a crafty, red nest I made for him.

I’m also in a five-woman show called “Her-steria: Art and Feminism” at the Next Gallery in Tribeca, NYC (75 Varick Street). The show runs through April 11.

And finally, on March 28, I’m staging the Feminist Fashion Show II at the A.I.R. Gallery Gala in the Puck Building in Manhattan. Ten designers are showing their works in an installation inspired by Judy Chicago’s “Dinner Party.” From 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, the show is free. After that, it costs $50 to get in. Information is available here: A.I.R. Gallery Gala.

Love, Enid

This is Kayte of Love Forever here to let you know that I just added a few new eye pillows to my Etsy shop. Each one is one of a kind and they go fast, so snap one up today! All the eye pillows are made with only the best supplies-organic lavender and flaxseed, colorful cotton prints and pure silk backing for total luxury.

Page 291 interviewed me about my self-portrait photographs recently. To read the interview, click here: http://www.page291.com/blog/archives/48

Also, some self-portrait photos with Justin Duerr are part of The Ones We Love, http://www.theoneswelove.org/info.enid.crow.html, a really terrific collection of portraits.

The holidays are here again and we at the DOC are going to be celebrating all month and into the New Year! Come join us at this years BUST Craftacular on Saturday, Dec. 8th. Details below.

Saturday, December 8, 2007 from 10 am to 8 pm
The Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City, 125 West 18th Street.
Visit BUST Craftacular site for more details.

Hi, everyone.

I’ve started shooting a new photo series of people and pigeons they’ve rescued. Here’s one of the first pictures of Justin Duerr and Daisy at Coney Island. Daisy is a three-month old feral pigeon who got hit by a car and is brain damaged. He cannot walk or fly; however, he is recovering day by day.

A little bit on the history of pigeons and why I am doing this photography project. I think that pigeons represent everything that’s rotten about lots of peoples’ attitudes about animals and the dire need for humans to step up and protect animals’ best interests and demand changes to very old, ineffective animal cruelty laws. Common street pigeons were imported from Europe to the United States to clean up garbage and horse manure on city streets. For many years, they were cherished by humans as companion animals, war heros, natural fertilizers, and messengers. In the ‘fifties, humans’ attitudes towards pigeons began to change, thanks in no small part to the burgeoning pest control industry and Woody Allen’s quip that they’re “rats with wings.” So now that the horses are gone and humans no longer have a need for them, people hire exterminators to kill pigeons, primarily to get rid of their droppings (which don’t carry diseases that humans can get from casual contact). It shouldn’t be legal to kill or harm animals for such a trivial reason.

With my photos, I want to open the public’s eyes to how lovely and sweet common street pigeons are.

There are lots of animal activists and wild life rehabilitators who haven’t turned their backs on these innocent creatures. And lots of ordinary folks who take care of flocks in their neighborhoods. If you rescue or care for pigeons, live in NYC, and want to be photographed, please contact me at enidcrow@hotmail.com.

I’m incredibly thrilled to announce my latest project– one which requires pixels rather than needle and thread, but is engaging and thought-provoking nonetheless…

My dear friend Karina Tipton and I started the Tiny Choices blog about two months ago– it’s a place where we explore our environmental thoughts, opinions, questions and concerns, and our brilliant community of readers weighs in with answers, more questions, and hearty debate:

We co-realized that we each spend a lot of time thinking about the tiny choices we make in the world. Many of those choices have something to do with the environment, and what kind of impact we want to (or don’t want to) have on it. Purchases, food, states of mind–they all impact something, somewhere, in some way. And we are the kinds of people who consider every side of the equation before moving ahead. Now, that doesn’t mean we always make an ecologically sound decision. And it doesn’t mean that everything we buy is made from compostable hemp-based plastic grown on a co-op farm and processed in a fair-labor factory. Or that we are any kind of Super Green Ladies. We think the point is that we think, and consider, and move from a place of contemplation. We try to tread lightly, and sometimes that works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. We like to talk about that. And that’s pretty much it.

Come on over and say hello! If you’ve got a pressing question, add it to the queue and we’ll do our best to round up an answer. Take our survey. Add your thoughts in the comments of a post and in join the Tiny Choices family fun!

Love,
Jenn

I was interviewed for Sister Diane’s most recent Craftypod podcast about crafty overload. The podcast is chock full of information on overload of the crafty variety and wht to do when you’ve hit your limit. We also try to answer the inportant question: when is a good thing too much of a good thing?

Also, if you are going to be in Seattle on October 12, be sure to check out Plush You 3 at Schmancy, Fancy and Nancy, a rhyming “trilogy of awesome” boutiques in Capital Hill. In it’s third year, Plush You is a gallery show featuring the work of plush designers around the world.
My Big Breakfast plushie is going to be at Nancy. And, so will I! I decided that this was as good an excuse as any to get back to Seattle, visit some family and friends and do a little gallery schmoozing. If you’re there, say hi!