QAF - Random Acts of Queerness Map

what's new with you?


my big news is that i finished my piece for the Queer Arts Festival Curated Art Exhibition, barely. i was finishing the last touches 10 minutes before the VIP/Press period of the opening, but it got finished, and now that i'm not massively irritated with it, i LOVE how it turned out.

i have no idea what i'm going to do with it after the show, or even how i'm going to get it home, but it's awesome.

SEEE???? PICTURES!








i'll write more about it, with more detail shots and info about how i made it, in another post, but here's the whole thing. mostly.



my artist statement, which isn't to long, really -


What constitutes an act of queerness? Are all parts of our lives queer, or are some parts neutral or heteronormative? Is an act of queerness different if performed in a potentially hostile environment compared to one where you are among the majority? If I’m queer when walking down Commercial Drive among my peers, I am also queer when walking down the street in a small farming community where I am an oddity, but are the acts equal? Does the potential fallout of the act make one more queer than the other, or more courageous?

Do we create queer ghettos to reduce that potential for hostility or even violence, for reinforcement of our own value or for companionship, or do other people create them for us because they fear us? Do we stick to our ghettos, or will people, once they think about their random acts, realize that they occur all over the city?

The definition of a random act of queerness and its location are as individual as each person’s life experience. It might be where you had queer sex for the first time, or the best time; one-night stands; your first kiss; where you worked when you first came out on the job; where you were bashed; where you’ve volunteered, marched or protested; where you’ve held hands in private or in public; where you parked your U-Haul or took your tofu dish to a potluck; the scene of Queer as Folk marathons; where you danced your ass off; did blow in the bathroom stall; sang karaoke; supported queer artists, or bought the groceries for the first meal you made for your partner. It might be anything else.

Do you have to be queer to perform a random act of queerness, or can support from an unexpected source or in an unexpected place qualify as a random act of queerness?




the unofficial theme for the piece was apparently "running out", because that's exactly what kept happening.



i ran out every thread that i was using, except my aurifil 50wt grey, but even that was super close. i ran out of the blue that i used for the water (twice, actually), i ran out of the green threads that i used for the parks, i finished up every uhu glue stick in my house and had to go buy more (my obsessive hoarding of back to school supplies was totally beneficial for that!), i finished 3 cans of 505 spray adhesive and started on my 4th, i got close to running out of the aurifil 12wt black that i was using and totally freaked out because my only local source had discontinued it, and ended up switching to sulky 12wt that worked way better anyway, i ran out of the blue fabric that i used for the water, i ran out of the stitch witchery tape that i used to finish the edges, i didn't buy enough hooks from ikea and had to run there at 5:55 on a sunday, i ran out of straight pins two or three times, and i ran out of the glitter that i used for the straight pins twice. dudes, it was ridiculous!

part of the problem was that this turned out to be my most expensive project ever, by far, and i didn't want to buy more than i thought i needed. it also didn't help that i was doing this on such a tight deadline, because buying out all of the straight pins in stock meant that i had to wait for more to come in!

and i swear to god, next year i'm going to get wholesale stuff figured out. this is the second year now that i've paid WAY more than i should've, because i bought all of my supplies retail. i probably spent more than $70 on ADHESIVE alone, when you add in tax and consider all of the glue sticks!

also, i am TOTALLY starting next year's piece asap. i've already starting searching for the fabric that i want!




and in other news, I HAVE A FLOOR!!! AND BASEBOARDS! all that's left now is for a plumber to come lift up my sink, sterilize it and reseal it, but frankly, i'm not holding my breath. the floor is kind of ugly, but it was the least ugly option they gave me, and it actually suits my kitchen, cause my building was built in the 80s, so the kitchen was ugly to start with. i'm so beyond the point of caring!

(if you're a newer reader, you might not know that back in november the guy two floors above me decided to take out his grudge on the strata by flooding my kitchen on purpose. it was stressful, and it's taken a million years to get it fixed because everyone involved is an idiot, apparently)

Are You Someone Who? Queer East Van Bingo Quilt

the flowers from opening night are pretty much dead, so i should probably get around to blogging about my bingo quilt. i posted last week about folks helping me finish it and stuff, and i had intended to blog about the quilt really soon after that, but every time i sit down at the computer i get sucked into reading more and more previous posts of thebloggess.com. (i'm at page 105 now and i can't stop! the way she writes is exactly how my head works, it's like she's in my brain!)

i explained in the previous post that this quilt was a piece for the Queer Arts Festival Curated Visual Arts Exhibition. this year's theme was Games People Play, which was an awesome theme, and some really amazing pieces were created based on it.

i'm going to copy and paste my artist's statement here, which is a lot longer than i thought it was, so feel free to skim it if you'd like.

or, if you're one of the people who vehemently hate my lack of capitalization on this blog, you might want to read it over and over again, cause in a rare fit of appropriateness, i actually capitalized letters in it.

artist bio
Amy Dame combines art and craft to create pieces that illustrate their experiences as a queer and genderqueer person with disabilities, the beliefs and political views that guide their life, and the experiences of people around them. Primarily fibre based, Amy’s work regularly incorporates hand and machine embroidery, machine piecing, quilting and appliqué. Amy is inspired by words and imagery not generally expressed in traditional fibre work, and believes that the act of illustrating our stories in time consuming mediums such as embroidery or quilting reflects and respects the true value of the experiences of our community.

artist's statement
Are You Someone Who? East Van Bingo combines the time honoured tradition of signature quilts with the ubiquitous Bingo icebreaker to create a modern form of an art quilt.

Signature or album quilts were historically made as gifts when respected leaders, such as teachers or ministers, moved on to a new posting. Blocks of the quilt were signed by church or community members, and reflected the time the recipient spent in their community. This quilt illustrates a specific time period of East Van community, with an emphasis on the experiences of the artist’s generation.

The other aspect of the piece is a variation of the Bingo game that we have all played at meeting after meeting. Usually tailored towards the theme of the gathering, statements printed in the squares reflect experiences of the participants, and attendees are asked to find people who fit each statement and then have them sign their name on the block as a way to break the ice and encourage familiarity.

In this case, audience members are invited to sign their name to any and all squares that they identify with. They are free to sign as many or as few blocks as they wish, and to use whichever names they are most comfortable signing with.

It will be interesting to see which blocks attract the most signatures, and which blocks the audience members are most comfortable identifying with. Though the majority of the blocks invoke familiarity, nostalgia and laughter, some of them may be viewed as embarrassing or shameful. It is important to include these aspects of our community, even some that may be considered negative, to ensure that our history is portrayed honestly and respectfully.





the specifics - all the fabric on the front is Kona cotton in white and black. the bingo letters are reverse appliqued using wonderunder, and all of the writing on the blocks was digitized and then machine embroidered. the embroidery was done with standard sewing polyester thread, because i didn't want the sheen of embroidery thread. the centre square, which took me forever to design and digitize, is based on this vancouver public art piece, which is actually based on an old gang symbol that has been in use in east van dating back to the 1940s/50s. the quilt is backed in black and white polka dot cotton voile, with a bit of black and white striped voile along one side. it currently isn't quilted - after the show is over, i'm going to undo the basting stitches and sandwich it properly so that it can be quilted. i was originally going to quilt it before the show, but i needed it to be a flat, smooth surface for people to write on, so i changed my mind.





the quilt has 24 blocks with statements written on them, and a smaller companion piece that reads
"Are You Someone Who..."
"grab a pen and . sign as many
or as few of the squares that
describe you. use your real
name, a fake name, your
drag name or your alter ego’s
name, just sign."
the companion piece doesn't hang the way i wanted it to.. which is irritating. but i'll fix it later.




the 24 blocks are:
B
- went to rock for choice at the cultch
- remembers when Tegan and Sara were Sara and Tegan, cute little baby dykes with acoustic guitars (it still trips me out when non-vancouverites/non-albertans know who tegan and sara are. weird!)
- has been part of a collective or consensus based group
- is poly or is consciously monogamous
- owns a pair of skinny jeans

I
- voted for Libby Davies
- moved to Montreal or Toronto for a “change of pace”
- has hosted a potluck
- has thought seriously about your gender identity
- owns a full set of leathers

N
- is vegan or vegetarian
- has an account on superdyke, plentyoffish or okcupid
- east van cross!
- has filled a stamp card at womyns’ ware (local sex store - link NSFW!)
- knows the best friend of the ex girlfriend of the casual partner of the last person you slept with

G
- knows how to repair your own bicycle
- has met a lover, one night stand, john, friend with benefits or future partner via craigslist
- has lived in a communal house with its own name
- has made their own sex toys
- wears a hanky and actually knows what you’re flagging (basic hanky code, an updated version than i love)

O
- has lived in more than 5 apartments or houses in east van
- protested during the Olympics
- has gone weeks without leaving East Van
- has been to a dance party in a completely inaccessible space like the Anza, the Legion or the Secret Location and thought nothing of it
- has been to Michfest or Camp Trans (michfest is an annual event called michigan womyn's music festival that only allows cisgendered women to attend, and camp trans is an annual event that protests MWMF's transphobia and creates a welcoming community near the MWMF site)

it was really really hard to narrow down to 24! a few of my others were: feels as comfy at the Wise Hall as you do in your own home, has dated/slept with/played with/etc a librarian, has performed drag, and has marched in the dyke march, but honestly, i could've made 3 quilts and still have more statements to use.





the quilt was a big hit on opening night, and the opening night Art Party was a big hit on it's own. this year Pride in Art organized two art shows for the Queer Art Show, the curated show that I was in, and the non-themed community art show, so the Art Party was HUGE! i've been going on opening night for many years now, and there's never been that many people. someone said something about 300 people, and i'd totally believe it. it was really overwhelming! i went back on a later night to actually check out the other pieces, because there was no way that i could actually concentrate with that many people around me. my family came, including my totally sleep deprived dad who'd just arrived home that morning, my mom and her best friend, my sister, and my also sleep deprived little brother, who'd also arrived home that morning, his girlfriend, and some of my dearest chosen family members, including my friend J, who i've posted about before, and my best friend K and his partner. both my parents and my little sister got me flowers, and my mom wrote me a super sweet note from her and my dad, and i was so so happy that i was finally able to introduce J to my family. it was a really good night.

omg, people rock.

i don't, i kind of suck because i meant to post this a week ago, but i have to tell you, THE PEOPLE IN MY QUILT GUILD FUCKING ROCK. seriously.


remember last year when i finally got the nerve up to submit some pieces to the Queer Arts Festival? two of my pieces were accepted, the Beth Ditto porn diptych, and the mixed media embroidery piece, Queer Health. (the Beth Ditto porn diptych is TOTALLY NSFW, but that's kinda obvious given the name, and the Queer Health piece is SFW, unless your work has an issues with speculums)


this year the show was curated, so instead of submitting pieces, i was ASKED to do a piece, which was so hella exciting! except for the fact that since i didn't have to submit by a deadline, i didn't have to get it done by an earlier deadline either. and despite my promise last year that i'd learned my lesson about procrastinating, i totally hadn't.


i had a pretty good start on this year's piece, but then i went on a roadtrip, and because my family is completely absurb, managed to get exactly nothing done while i was out there. (unless you count thrifting. i did lots and LOTS of thrifting. but that didn't help me get my piece done)

i had it all planned out, i was going to come home, have plenty of time to work on it, etc. but that totally didn't happen. by the time i got home, days later than planned, it was 3 days before the piece had to be done. and then i had a bunch of personal drama stuff that came up and totally interfered with my plans to get things accomplished as well.

i basically got home wednesday night, slept, and then got up thursday morning and started sewing. by thursday night, i had the main portion pieced, and i took it to our July VMQG meeting for show and tell. i had originally been kind of nervous about taking it to the guild, because i'm already the freaky one who says innapropriate things all the time, but i was so overtired, i totally forgot to be nervous.


(picture credit to the fabulous Holly - i have no idea how she always catches me making the weirdest faces!)

and the guild was awesome. SO MANY people said such amazing things, were so complimentary and positive, it was wonderful.


so then i went back home and kept working, but the aforementioned personal drama came up, and the next thing i knew it was Sunday, the day the piece had to completed and dropped off, and i'd slept in four later than planned. (i have 3 alarm clocks, 2 of which beep for 2 hours before turning off. i slept through ALL of them!)


we had a sew-in scheduled, so my plan had been to take the piece with me right when the sew-in started at 10, finish it up, and drop it off around 12 or 1. instead, i didn't get to the sew-in until 2, and i had to drop the piece off by 4, so i was scrambling! luckily, MY QUILT GUILD ROCKS, and i had 3 people (Terry, Sue and Paul) helping me, and Louise nagging me to hurry (in a totally loving, understanding way).

i made it to the drop off by 4:10, thank goodness, and after discussing hanging, etc, dropped it off. there is no possible way that i would have made it without the help, and once again, i have to say, MY GUILD ROCKS.




and then i went home and slept.


(i'll post about the piece itself asap, i'm sorry heidi!)

halloween, homos and authority. and a red hat.

i was going to post a bunch of xmas pictures, even a few tutorials, when it occurred to me that i still have halloween stuff that hasn't been posted!

obviously, i should catch up on them first. hence, some of the stitching i was doing in october and november. (i posted the needlework vulva a while ago)

these two halloween pieces were just for fun, and were done right after a bunch of pieces that were my own designs. sometimes it's just nice to chill out and follow instructions, you know?

plus, i LOVE the patterns! they're designed by Prairie Schooler (book no 156) and have a vintage halloween vibe going on. i'd love to stitch up the moon and the cat too.

the skeleton


and the owl


they were both stitched with glow in the dark thread, which is annoying to work with, but oh so fun anyways. the skeleton bones are all glowing, and the owl's eyes.


once i'd stitched them up, i moved on to this for a friend's housewarming.


in typical craftydame fashion, i didn't count out from the centre (i hate doing that!) and my piece ended up being an odd shape that wasn't very frame-able.

to solve that, i sewed a piece of kona cotton onto both sides of the aida cloth. then i slipped it into an ikea frame that i'd painted previously, and ta-da!


the homo sweet homo idea has been around for ages, and i don't think it's possible to say who really started it. i'm not as fond of the more traditional sampler style cross stitch (with flowers and borders and bunnies, etc), so i chose to do a more graphic design. i used the same lettering as i did for the queer piece, ages ago now.

after i did the purple one for tara, i played with it a bit more, trying varying aidas. see how tiny the bottom one is? i didn't actually cross most of the stitches!



and somewhere in between all these pieces, i stitched up a radical cross stitch design to hang in my kitchen. (cause the colours match) their patterns are fabulous, and are available from their etsy store (along with issues of hoopla, which i also recommend highly!)


after saying that i'm not into the traditional cross stitch style (even with ironic words in it!), this may seem like a bit of a contradiction - however, there are NO bunnies. ;)


if you looked at the listing for the pattern on etsy, you might have noticed that the colours are a bit different. that's for two reasons. one, because i have six million skeins of thread, but never the right ones. i'm trying to use what i have instead of buying more, cause every time i walk into the stitching store to buy one skein, i walk out at least $20 poorer! and two, because i wanted the colours to be a bit brighter, to match the blue and the green towels i have in my kitchen.


i've worked on a few more needlework pieces since the xmas hoopla settled down, but one is a set of two, so i'll wait until they're both done, another needs to have the edges finished, and yet another is soooo sooo close to being done that it's ridiculous, but since it's my "PG" project that i work on in dr's offices and such, it probably won't get the finishing touches for a while yet.


however, one thing i did do, that i haven't done over a year, was pick up my crochet hook again! several friends were talking about crocheting, and i'd bought bulky yarn in a lovely shade of red at micheals on boxing day, so i got inspired.

i actually started out with a pattern, but quickly changed it drastically. i think i frogged and re-crocheted the majority of the hat about 4 times. it was getting ridiculous, truthfully.





i'm still not entirely in love with it. i kinda feel like it makes my head look like a mushroom, but no one else seems to agree. but i do love the colour!