Day In and Day Out: Beginnings

Day In & Day Out 1 © Karen Thiessen 2011

Day In & Day Out 1 detail © Karen Thiessen 2011

Here is the original Day In and Day Out project that basically shaped who I am today. This project taught me how to establish a daily work discipline regardless of whether I feel like it or not. On our first day of class, our teacher Sarah Quinton gave us an assignment to do something to a piece of cloth for at least 15 minutes every day for the duration of the four month semester. She also asked us to document this process in a sketchbook. The day in and day out proved to be addictive and I found myself stitching for much longer than the daily 15 minutes, and years beyond the four months. For this DIDO, I stitched what I found, used, or encountered in my daily life. As you can see I had an unhealthy soda drinking habit, I ate chicken wings, I broke an earring, and I had an odd fixation with angels. What I appreciated about the DIDO is that it allowed me to test ideas, materials, and techniques in a "safe" manner. One might regard the DIDO as a modern day sampler.