Creative Prompt #210: Treasure

treasure chest

you are a treasure

treasure hunt

Treasure Island Music Festival (San Francisco)

sunken treasure

Book: “A Treasure’s Trove: A Fairy Tale About Real Treasure For Parents And Children Of All Ages is an illustrated children’s book written by Michael Stadther and published in 2004 by Treasure Trove Inc, which he incorporated to do so.[1][2] The “real treasure” was found by deciphering clues in the book that led to fourteen tokens that could be turned in for unique jewels, each representing an insect or character from the book, or a cash prize representing one third of the jewel’s value.[3] Initially, it was reported that there were twelve jewels,[3] however, it subsequently emerged that there were fourteen prizes. In 2005 it was reported that film rights for A Treasure’s Trove had been acquired by Cruise-Wagner Productions,[4] however, apart from a reported trailer being in development in the New York Times,[5] there has been no further news.”

pirate’s treasure

Treasure Island (book)

Definition: [general] “treasure (from Greek ???????? – th?sauros, meaning “treasure store”,[2] romanized as thesaurus) is a concentration of riches, often one which is considered lost or forgotten until being rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constitutes treasure, such as in the British Treasure Act 1996.

The phrase “blood and treasure” or “lives and treasure” has been used to refer to the human and monetary costs associated with massive endeavours such as war that expend both.”

Japanese video game developer

one person’s trash is another person’s treasure

women’s yoga treasure thong sandal

Timeless Treasures fabric

buried treasure

National Treasure

Treasures of Led Zeppelin

treasure finder

lost treasure

Treasure Island Flea Market (San Francisco)

Google Maps Treasure Mode

treasure map

hidden treasure

Treasure by Bruno Mars

Dritz Printed Treasures Inkjet printable fabric

Tiki Treasure game (kids)

Royal treasure

Treasury

Treasure Detectives (TV)

treasure yarn

Osmosis (also known as Treasure Trove) is a solitaire game played with a deck of 52 playing cards where the object, like many solitaire games, is to put the cards into foundations, although not in numerical order.

Definition: [legal] “Treasure trove is a term that may be broadly defined as an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the heirs undiscoverable. However, both the legal definition of what constitutes treasure trove and its treatment under law vary considerably from country to country, and from era to era.

The term is also often used metaphorically. Collections of articles published as a book are often titled Treasure Trove, as in A Treasure Trove of Science. This was especially fashionable for titles of children’s books in the early- and mid-20th century.”

“You are His special possession… His precious Treasure” Malachi 3:16-17

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.

Various & Sundry 2013 #7

Doing Good

As most of you have probably heard by now, Kathreen Ricketsen, founder of WhipUp.net died in an accident in May. There has been a fund set up for her two children, Otillija and Orlando Shugg. You can find the details on WhipUp.Net. You can find more about the circumstances in Australian news sources and also on WhipUp.Net. CraftSanity has nice tribute up as well. Jennifer links to one of her podcast episodes in which she interviews Kathreen. It is an interview that is definitely worth a listen. You can also find a tribute on While She Naps. There is an interesting link to some controversial posts on WhipUp.

An update on Libby Lehman can be found on the Quilt Navigator site.

Many of you have mentioned wanting to help the victims of the tornados that recently hit parts of Oklahoma. Here is a point of contact to whom we can send anything we make, create, sew for survivors in Moore, Oklahoma. The quilt shop is Stitching Post in Moore. The owners are Robert & Robin Hall. I spoke with Robert, and thank God he and his family are well. Robert has worked with Project Linus and advised he would be very happy to distribute anything we send in support of those impacted by the tornado of Sunday, May 19. Stitching Post has a Facebook page (I couldn’t find it, but you might have better luck), and additional contact information is as follows: 316 N. Broadway Street, Moore, OK 73160 (405-241-7896). E-mail: sewbargain@coxinet.net. Carole or Gretchen, one of the Twilters mentioned sending sewing supplies. I am sure you can buy them from the Stitching Post and save on shipping. The quiltmakers in Moore and other parts of OK will want to get back to their machines as soon as possible.

Marianne Jackson created a FB page that will serve as a general clearing house for disasters. She writes “… I created a FB page, Sewing for Moore, Etc. that I hope will allow quilting and sewing folks can communicate in order to provide support to survivors of disasters. I have included previous posts, including information pertaining to a local contact to whom we can send sewing donations. Please let me know if you would like to be part of this group.”

The Oklahoma Modern Quilt Guild is also collecting quilts, etc. See more information on their page.

Ellen Medlock has set up project for quilts for families who have suffered from the tornados. She writes on FB: “QUILT DRIVE for OKLAHOMA Tornado Families. If you wish to donate a quilt, please send to our shop- and we will make sure it is placed in the right hands! Ship to: OK Quilt Drive, c/o Ellen Medlock Studio Store, 10032 S. Sheridan Rd, Suite H-1, Tulsa, OK 74133. (We will be happy to place any kind of blanket, for that matter!)”

Over 1500 flags were collected to show love for Boston and “to honor the victims of the Marathon bombings and bring messages of hope to a city trying to heal.”

Thank you for all the love you are sending via fabric.

Keep Anna Maria Horner and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Her mom died on May 17. I can’t imagine how that must feel, but she wrote a beautiful post about it. Go tell your mom (or she who acts like a mom to you) that you love her.

Products and Tools

I broke a needle recently and part of it went down into the bobbin case. I couldn’t get it out without removing the sole plate. The sole plate was on so tight that DH had to help me get it off. Lintpocalypse indeed! We could barely see the parts for the lint. We kept pulling lint out from around, in and under the bobbin case. We ended up pulling out a fluffy tennis ball sized amount of lint in the end. The machine does sound happier. I don’t have any pictures, but you can look at Pam’s as my situation looked the same, if not worse.

Barbara Brackman has introduced the latest in quilt hilarity, the Quilt Book of Saints. Didn’t know St. Ann was the patron saint of seamstresses? Or that St. John the Baptist was that patron saint of cutters? Check out the hilarity and support Barbara.

Media

I am very sad that Rice Freeman-Zachary is taking a break from podcasting. I know that podcasting doesn’t pay much, if anything and is relatively thankless. I love her podcasts, because she talks about the spark of creativity and this topic is great with interspersed with Pam and Sandy and Sandi and Frances et al. 🙁 Perhaps I’ll have to go back and listen to the ones to which I have already listened.

Jennifer, over at CraftSanity, has some photos of a quilt show up on her blog. One of the photos shows a man with his quilt related wood projects. One of the items he sells is quilt ladders, like Tanesha, of CraftyGardenMom fame, mentioned on a recent episode.

This app, Quiltography looks cool. The blog post is a review not from the developer and the photos are great. I haven’t tried it, but will look it up. Have YOU tried it?

Quilt National 2013 opened last week and my friend, Pamela Allen, has a quilt in the show. She was also on a panel discussion about her process. I wish I could have been there. It would be great if Craftsy taped/recorded the panels. Deirdre Adams has a wonderful Gallery of photos on her blog. Anyone who wants to send me to the Dairy Barn to report on QN13 in person, get in touch.

CraftyGardenMom (Tanesha) periodically comes out with a long essay post. Don’t miss her most recent missive on 10 quilt peeps you should know. I am sure there is some tongue-in-cheek, but also some pearls of wisdom.

Quilt Market

Yes, Quilt Market was in Portland last week. I wish I could have gone. Someday, I hope. In the meantime, I collected some images from those who were there that I enjoyed. I really liked the lushness of Amanda Herring’s booth.

I also really liked the gradation of the black and white quilt in the Dear Stella booth. Gradation! In a black and white quilt! I know! Amazing.

Sara of Sew Sweetness has a great post about all that she saw at Quilt Market. It is very Tula Pink heavy and I loved seeing the way the TP fabric was used on the Petrillo Bag. I also like the row quilt in the post where the maker used TP’s animal fabrics. I enjoy looking at it because it is very different. Tula Pink has a new line for Aurifil and there are photos of some of the colors as well.

Camille Roskelley shows pictures of her booth (love those colors!) as well as the quilts from the new patterns and Simply Retro book. She also has a video of a Schoolhouse and mentions Sample Spree. As a bonus, she has links to other blogs talking about Market, so you can truly indulge! I love that cupcake table mat and the stack of FQs at the end of her post. Anyone looking to buy me a gift? 😉

Kelli also has a post up about people she met at Quilt Market as well as showing lots of photos.

The vendors were well represented as well. You’ll love the first photo on the Timeless Treasures post. I like the sample quilts in their post. They weren’t quick or easy. somebody took some time with the piecing, which was well worth the effort. They have a lot of impact.

We can leave Oliver+S out either. In her post, Liesl links to a video about the fabric design process.

Creativity

Linda and Laura Kemshall, UK artists, quiltmakers and mother/daughter team, have a Creative Sketchbooks online course now OPEN! You can find all the information on the website including the enrollment form. If you’re interested please read through it all carefully and hopefully the answers to any questions will be there, but if there’s anything you’re unsure of please email. Here is the link to the section of the site that you need: http://www.lindakemshall.com/DesignMattersOnlineCourses.html. Look for their Creative Quiltmaking course next.

The Kemshalls also offer a Bespoke service, which means that you can create your own unique fabrics, just send us the images, choose your fabric and size and they’ll send back your own custom cloth. I don’t know if their service is different than Spoonflower, but my Europe and UK readers may want to give them a try. They have a very interesting newsletter, which is not just a sales pitch. Every issue has a tip or trick.  Join their Mailing List!

Carole, one of the Twilters, posted a picture of her round robin after I talked about picking out fabrics for my Modern Round Robin project. I love her colors. That red is fabulous!

Sunday, June 23 from 2-4pm: Fiber Talks! Find It! Buy It! Use It! at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles: Armchair travel with Roberta Horton and Mary Mashuta as they tour the world in search of fabrics for their quilts. Once these treasures are in hand, they then answer that great quilting question: “What do I do with it?” The sisters each have found their own solutions and will show you some of their quilts made with fabric from the same country but executed in a different fashion.  Each talk is $20 for Museum members and a great opportunity to hear each these fqs (famous quilters).  Reservations are encouraged http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/fibertalks.html

Technique

I send my Young Man off to school every day by saying “do your best.” I think that have a good day means that if he hasn’t had a good day, he will feel bad. I know that regardless of the kind of day he has, he can do is best. If his best is terrible today, it will not be terrible tomorrow. Here is another discussion of the dumbing down of quiltmaking, which is actually more about bad technique selling.

I really like this line “I’m not talking about perfection; I’m talking about attention, respect, commitment.  Attention to detail, respect for your own work, and a commitment to putting out the best work that your talent & skill allows.” because it is inclusive. It doesn’t matter if you only put squares together or are working on your first quilt. The part “…the best work that your talent & skill allows” includes YOU! This is a well written piece, because she is right. Teachers and designers should be better than us. They should be able to teach us something to make us better. Teachers and designers don’t have to be a lot better, but better. When I teach I may only be one or two steps ahead of my students, but I know the path. If don’t know the path, I don’t teach.

I agree that technique is important. I think that we can all get better at quiltmaking (points matching, straight topstitching, etc) if we practice (YAY! more sewing time!).  I want my work to look good even if I can sell crap (and you know I don’t sell my stuff). Good technique matters. Ebony is a good writer and she puts herself out there offering tips and tricks in future blog posts. Go to her blog and take a look. And do your best work.

Scrapbooking

Yes, occasionally I put photos in albums. I recently received this information from a consultant via my Lis Sissy: CM has filed bankruptcy (2nd time) and plans to lay off 160+ workers (out of 230) by this summer, meaning they will be operating with a 30% workforce. They recently cancelled Showcase, the annual conference, due to lack of time and resources. You can find more details on the bankruptcy at tcbmag.com. Business has slowed over the past few years for many consultants. She has no idea what the future is for Creative Memories as a company, so she wrote the email to encourage you to consider stocking up on your essentials, or purchasing tools you can’t live without – even if you are stalled in your album-making! There are rumors that CM is moving from a product line of 350 down to 50, but there is no confirmation at this time. If it is, it would seem that product line would be albums, refills, protectors and a few basics. You might want to order what you may need now, or maybe shop a bit each month just in case. You can order at Ellen’s site. She is a great person.

Updates

I made some updates to the Week Away with Some Quilting post.

Round Robin Fabrics

I decided to use the Rainbow grouping I bought at Birch a few years ago. There are some nice modern prints that the BAMQG color group will appreciate and I will finally get to use this group.

TFQ is in town for a visit. She came over on Sunday to hang out and we looked through the fabrics I wanted to consider for the Round Robin project I discussed last week. I am always pleased to have a second set of eyes help clear the fabric fog, but I especially appreciate TFQ’s opinion, because she has a good sense of design. We were particularly focused on the background. We started with the Kona color card and were looking at a Kona Honey Dew. I wasn’t in the mood to buy fabric and she won’t be home until later this week to send me any, so I put the color card away.

Grey Border
Grey Border

We went through a lot of fabrics and finally came up with three finalists: all dots, two grey and one white with rainbow. The first option is a small grey dot, which worked well with the group of fabric I chose. I believe the dot is from a Camille Roskelly line, but am not 100% sure.

Ta Dot in Stone
Ta Dot in Stone

Ta Dot in Stone is always a good option as well. I thought, and TFQ concurred that the dots were too big and would overwhelm the other fabrics. I do like that Ta Dot Stone as a background, though.

Rainbow Dot
Rainbow Dot

The best option, though is this Rainbow dot. I have wanted to use more dots in my work this year. The white background perks up the other fabrics. None of the other fabrics will bleed into the background and blur the shape of any of the piecing.

Now I have to make a center.

89 Sawtooth Stars

89 Sawtooth Stars
89 Sawtooth Stars

I finally finished the 4″ Sawtooth Stars over the weekend. This project is lingering a little too long for my tastes, but I wasn’t miserable making these little stars and the group of them makes for a very nice accomplishment.

Now I am ready to put the blocks together. I plan to follow the plan from the Oh My Stars QAL, because I think it is an interesting way to put the blocks together.

A Week Away and Some Quilting pt. 2

IMG_0264smLast week, I wrote a big long post, which you might have read, about my quilting adventures while I was off with DH attending his Native Sons event.

Some of what I wrote the other day is repeated below, but I did change and add to it as well.

On our way home, we stopped in Vacaville for a late lunch. As we exited the freeway, Jeanie, MIL’s friend, pointed out a quilt shop. I didn’t even know she was well trained. 😉 I looked at it longingly as we ate lunch and finally said I would walk over and take a look while the rest of the party finished eating. They decided to come along, so we finished our lunch and drove over. It is called A Quilted Heart. It can be found at: 878 Alamo Drive  ? Vacaville  CA  ?   95688. Store hours: Monday – Friday 10-6  ? Saturday 10-5  ?  Sunday 11-4. Phone: 707.447.9000

A Quilted Heart
A Quilted Heart

I liked the shop. They had the little 2″(?) Moda charm packs, the new Camille Roskelley line, a nice selection of batiks and, again, a boatload of thread. I bought one of the mini charm packs so I could look at Happy Go Lucky in person and see it in person and decide if there was yardage I wanted to buy. Last night, I thought that, perhaps, I should have bought a bunch of those mini charm packs and used them for a quilt. Then I mentally slapped myself and reminded myself that I have several projects in process and another several on the drawing board.

The shop sold machines as well and there seemed to be a guy in the back doing repairs. I don’t know what kind of machines, but I did see a large Brother (Innova? Innovis?), but it could have been a trade-in. I think they may have had Berninas. Again, I am not sure.

IMG_0261smThey had lots and lots of samples for such a small space. The samples were on the small side, but it was still fun to see so many. I am actually quite impressed with the variety of samples I have seen at shops I visited lately.

A Quilted Heart
A Quilted Heart

The shop was quite full for the size. I don’t know square footage, but it was smaller than the other shops I visited this week.

Aside from the fabric, they had a good selection of books. there were a number of books I didn’t recognize, though the days when I knew all of the books that were out is long past!

I thought about taking TFQ to this shop, though I am not sure I am up for the drive again this weekend. I have a project for her when she comes over today. She doesn’t know. 😉

FOTY 2013 Late May

FOTY 2013 Late May
FOTY 2013 Late May

I have slowly been cutting FOTY squares. You’ll see a lot of these are the Textured Basics by Patty Young as well as blues and turquoises.

Despite my purported reluctance to use patterns, I found a pattern in Easy Quilts (don’t fall over in shock and horror) that I thought was interesting. In the photo in the magazine, I thought the Patty Young prints looked really fresh. When I got them, they had a bit too much beige in the light areas, but I still like the reds, greens and turquoise. As I was cutting for FOTY, I cut the pieces for this quilt as well. The pieces are large and it will go together easily, but there isn’t really anything to show on the blog yet, especially since my design walls are still both covered with Sawtooth Stars.

I am also in the midst of making a lot of 4″ Sawtooth Stars. I should be able to finish the last 15 today and start putting the top together, thus the other blue fabrics in this group.

A Week Away with Some Quilting

I was away for a week in Redding, California for a Native Sons ‘Grand Parlor’. You will remember that DH and I and SIL and I made pillows for this organization over the past few years.

Redding is about 4 hours north of us and to the east a bit. DH has been a Grand Trustee for the Native Sons of the Golden West for about 5 years and decided to run for an Executive Board position. He ran unopposed, which is not a given, but still campaigned like he had an opponent. that meant that I needed to be with him. Of course, if my mom had not been available and willing to help out with the Young Man, I would have needed to stay home. Fortunately, she is a saint and was happy to stay at our house, shuttle the Y.M. to school and cook for him. I sure she did not harangue as much as I do about homework. She also hired a bassoon teacher. The work on the campaign paid off. DH is now Grand 3rd Vice President. I cannot remember shaking so many hands, being kissed by so many people or talking to so many people in one week in my life. I am sure that RUSH surpassed this number (400 or so) or was close.

To deal with the grueling schedule and constant smiling, I snuck away to write blog posts, exercise and GO TO QUILT SHOPS. I found one before I left, but while I was there, the ladies were kind enough to tell me about two more. I only visited one, though.

Sew What Quilts
Sew What Quilts

The first shop I visited was called Sew What Quilts. It looked exactly like the photo on Google Streetview and I saw it as we exited the freeway upon arrival. It was less than half a mile from our hotel. Perfect.

The outside looks fairly mall-ish and non-descript, but the inside is light and airy and they have a lot of interesting samples. There was some new fabric (Joel Dewberry Notting Hill), lots of batiks, several shelves of Philip Jacobs and Martha Negley, a couple of shelves of blacks and whites, Bali Pops, Kona Solids and lots more. there was room for a lot more fabric, but I didn’t ask them if they were low and nobody offered me that information.

Sew What Quilts WIP
Sew What Quilts WIP

There was a class or a class sample or something in progress. This simple nine patch looks great with these fabrics. I especially like the fussy cut flower. I am pretty sure this isn’t a Disappearing Nine Patch, but it could well be if the maker put the fussy cut flower in one of the side squares. Just a thought

The shop had these fabrics on the shelf, which was nice. I didn’t buy any, but love the fresh, ‘summer drink’ feel of the colors.

Sew What Quilts
Sew What Quilts

From this picture, you can see how large the store is. It has very high ceilings and plenty of floor space. They had really nice decorations and had fabric kites hanging from the ceilings, which looked very cheerful. I am not exactly sure if they have classes, though I assume they do. I haven’t looked at the website.

Sew What Quilts! had a sale going on for books. the sale was that you could buy one book and get a second book of equal or lesser value for free and I took advantage. I looked at all of them and bought the Harriet Hargrave Senior Year book and also the new Christine Barnes color book. I’ll use the former for tutorials and the later for podcast episodes with Sandy. Getting them both was less expensive than buying both on Amazon.

Sew What Quilts
Sew What Quilts

In the photo to the left you can see the wall (far) that is perpendicular to the entrance. In the middle of the room, you can see the looms,spinning wheels and various equipment for the yarn people. Sew What Quilts and Yarn (real name). I think that it is a good idea to have yarn and quilt fabrics together. It seems to me that a lot quilt people are also knitters. I would like to knit more, but I don’t.

There were a lot of fluorescent lights in all the places I went around Redding: the hotel, the quilt shops, restaurants. Fluorescent lights are not kind to my face and hair. I looked in various mirrors and felt quite geezerly.

Sew What Quilts
Sew What Quilts

At the end of the row, you can see the Kona solids and some semi solids/tone-on-tones as well.

Please click on the photo and make it larger, because the fat quarters are displayed very nicely. You can also see the buttons the shop has for sale.

The shop was getting ready for some kind of yarn trunk show and their preparations were fun to watch. I didn’t want to stay and see the trunk show so I tried to hurry and look at everything.

The shop also has a shop dog. She was nice, but barked a little when the shop women put a new shawl on display.

Sew What! Redding
Sew What! Redding
Sew Simple, Redding, Calif.
Sew Simple, Redding, Calif.

I also went to Sew Simple, a shop one block away from my hotel and on the way back to the hotel.

Again it was a shop in a strip mall. Again, it was HUGE. Rather than being a large open space like Sew What, this space was divided into smaller spaces with fabric, notions, Berninas (yes, they are a Bernina dealer), classroom, kitchen, classroom. I am not sure I have ever seen a larger classroom than the one at this store.

Sew Simple
Sew Simple

I didn’t buy a lot at the shop. The fabric wasn’t all Civil War fabric, but their fabric didn’t have the bright vibe that I like.

This shop had an unbelievably large selection of thread. There was a lot of specialty thread. I assume that a lot of it was suitable for machine embroidery. The shop had the largest supply of Mettler I have seen in a while.

I was also impressed with their notions. They had several types of Sewline pencils, all sizes of rotary blades and lots of Paper Pieces paper piecing patterns. I am not sure I have ever seen these patterns in a store.

I have to say that shops in the Bay Area are smaller than these stores because of property costs.

Sew Simple
Sew Simple

As I said, the space was divided into several areas. At some point the space was probably multiple storefronts.

While there weren’t really what I would consider bright fabrics, the shop did have fabrics tending towards bright – some dots, stripes. The colors just weren’t….bright enough for me. The reds weren’t pinky reds or even scarlet, they were tending towards blood red, but weren’t quite there.

Sew Simple did still have some of the Circa 1934 fabrics that I liked. They had a couple of blots of the number fabrics. Call them if you need some for a project. I know they had the cream numbers on a red background and I think they had red numbers on a cream background.

Sew Simple
Sew Simple

The brights I did see were in the baby room and were flannels. They had a quilt made from Fizz fabric by P&B Textiles. You can see the quilt in the upper left hand corner of the photo. I would have bought more of it, but they only had the quilt. They didn’t seem to have the fabric.

The crib was filled with bolts of fabric. It was a little hard to access, but filled completely and cute. In every room, there were tons of quilts on the walls. There was a cohesive look in the whole store – creamy, not quite country, not really bright. Hard to describe.

Amish BOM
Amish BOM

I keep running into this Amish Block of the Month quilt. I saw it on the City Quilter site a few months ago and I saw it again this past week. I have always loved Amish style quilts and this one keeps following me around. My first quilt, The Sampler, was inspired by Amish quilts, but definitely not Amish style.

I have enough projects! I have enough fabric! My country house isn’t ready yet for quilts. But I really like it. I like the way the log cabins form the legs of Sawtooth Star. I like the shading. I like the pieced border.

Sew Simple Redding
Sew Simple Redding

I am not sure why I bought the magazines, except that I was looking for projects that I will make for the NSGW wives/ladies that help me with the events I need to organize during DH’s next few years. I know I want to design a little purse or carrier that can hold their cards, pencil and note pad. A number of ladies play cards while waiting around for their husbands to finish meetings and they didn’t have anything cuter to carry the supplies in than a ziploc bag. Of course, they may want to keep them dray,thus the ziploc, so I will have to think about that. Laminated cotton?

A Quilted Heart, Vacaville
A Quilted Heart, Vacaville

On our way home, we stopped in Vacaville for a late lunch. As we exited the freeway, Jeanie, MIL’s friend, pointed out a quilt shop. I didn’t even know she was well trained. 😉 I looked at it longingly as we ate lunch and finally said I would walk over and take a look while the rest of the party finished eating. They decided to come along, so we finished eating and drove over. It is called a Quilted Heart.

I liked it. They had the little 2″ Moda charm packs, the new Camille Roskelley line, a nice selection of batiks and, again, a boatload of thread. I bought one of the mini charm packs so I could look at Happy Go Lucky in person and see if there was yardage I wanted to buy. They sold machines as well and there seemed to be a guy in the back doing repairs. I promised I would only stay for 10 minutes, so I didn’t take many photos.

They had lots and lots of samples for such a small space. I am actually quite impressed with the variety of samples I have seen at shops lately.

 

Creative Prompt #209: Mug

something in which to put coffee, tea or other hot drinks

a type of assault.

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.

“don’t show your ugly mug around here!”

British slang for a fool or someone who will do anything for you if you just ask.

mugshot

mugrug

Definition: A heavy cylindrical drinking cup usually having a handle.

travel mug

mug makeup

MUG – Michigan-based Linux and UNIX Free and Open Source Community.

Swedish mugg “mug, jug,” Norwegian mugge “pitcher, open can for warm drinks”

Star Sampler: Last Week of 8″ Blocks

I like blocks.

Have you noticed?

I really do. The possibilities are so endless and I love possibilities.

All Pieced 8" & 12" Blocks
All Pieced 8″ & 12″ Blocks

Above are the 59 Sawtooth Star variations that I have made for my Star Sampler Project. I am pretty pleased with the way they look together. There are 2 I may redo, but TFQ is coming to visit this weekend, so I will ask her what she thinks.

Week 15 8" Blocks
Week 15 8″ Blocks

These are the Week 15 blocks.Left to Right, Top to bottom they are Mosaic #11, Sarah’s Choice (again), Basic Star (with a flourish) and Rising Star (another redux).

I am still dying to know why many of the classic blocks are called Mosaic #something. I’ll have to look on Barbara Brackman’s blog to see if she ever talks about it. I like the fabrics I chose for this block. It looks beachy and fresh.

The Sarah’s Choice is a bit blah, but not terrible and it blends in well with the other blocks (see above), so I will leave it.

I decided early on that I wouldn’t get fancy with the Basic Star, but decided on this last one to use my ‘focus’ fabric as the center and different legs for one block only. I wanted it to be clear that the Basic Stars were Basic Stars.

I am pretty pleased with the Rising Star. I really love the design of that block. I used the excess backing (cut off after the quilting process) from another quilt. It is a nice batik fabric and I wanted to use it again.

I still have about 25 4″ Sawtooth Stars to make. I pressed fabrics earlier this week and on the weekend and cut parts to make them, but didn’t do much sewing. I didn’t get to cut all the parts I needed, but I will certainly be ready to sew when the weekend finally arrives.

I am really looking forward to starting the process of putting these blocks together.

Modern Quilt Studio Homework #9 part 2

QuiltCon Homework 9
QuiltCon Homework 9

This is part of an ongoing series of essays responding to Weeks Ringle’s post called QuiltCon Homework. Read my first essay on Encourage. Apparently, I have more to say.

In her blog post, Weeks writes “Encourage one another. Bill and I have an agreement: love it for 10 minutes, which means that before you decide if you like it or not, give it 10 minutes. Look carefully. Think about it. Listen to the point of view and find at least as many positive things to say as negative ones.”

We are trained to compete. We are trained to knock others down so we can feel better than they are. It is so easy to want to be better than everyone else. It is easy to compete and we are encouraged to compete and be better than everyone else.

At some point, this behavior becomes pointless. Not everyone can be the best and constantly competing means that you become secretive and unwilling to share what is not done, your failures, your troubles with a  project. You know by looking at blogs that most blog writers only show their best pictures, the finished, perfect item and not the shredded, ripped out, too large and ugly projects.

We each gain so much more from other people by encouraging them. A kind word after guild show and tell, some encouragement when Twitter shows your correspondent to be down. The encouragement bounces back to us. Giving a bit of encouragement makes me feel better inside, especially if the person to whom I am speaking smiles.

As Weeks says “give it 10 minutes”. While sending a message doesn’t take minutes, looking at projects takes longer than the 30 seconds we usually allot to quilts hanging in shows. Take 10 minutes to look at a piece. Get past the hideous colors and find something to like about it. Ddoes that Sampler have a great block you have never seen? Is there an amazing bit of piecing? Is the sashing put together in a new and intricate way?

You CAN find something to like about each and every quilt you look at, if you look hard enough.

Take some time to encourage someone else. If you are a beginner, you can still say some kind, relevant words to someone who needs them.

By encouraging others, we grow our ranks and teach ourselves to really look at things.

Image courtesy of the Modern Quilt Studio

Vintage Tuesday #3

Parakeet Embroidery
Parakeet Embroidery

I have a lot of needlework from my female ancestors. I am starting to have a hard time appreciating it, because It is taking up space in my cupboards and not all of it is my style. Yet I feel compelled to keep it. I know this is how the Young Man will feel when all the quilts I feel compelled to make are dumped on his living room floor when I am dead.

Parakeet Embroidery-detail
Parakeet Embroidery-detail

This dresser scarf is actually one of the pieces that I like and use. the birds look very cheerful in this piece.

We had parakeets when I was a kid and, though, they were messy, they also made a cheerful noise. We had a green (Bilbo) and a blue one (Gandalf). As an aside: My mom named them, I think, because I would have never named them after characters in the Lord of the Rings series.

I like the embroidery because the cheerful personality of the birds comes through.

Parakeet Embroidery-detail
Parakeet Embroidery-detail

I also like the way the stitching was done. It isn’t really dense, so the stitches seem to have some air to breathe.

I haven’t ever seen an embroidery with this pattern before and it makes me wonder if it is unusual.

I think this one must have been made by my maternal great grandmother, because of the tatting around the edge. I don’t remember my grandmother ever doing tatting.

I looked for an image of the pattern, so I could give some background for those of you history buffs, but didn’t come up with anything. ‘The’ Google’s precision is really lacking. I would love to be able to filter more, but they have dumbed their system down enough that it is nearly unusable for difficult searches.

I’ll add the information if I find it later.

 

Book Review: Scrap Basket Sensations

Scrap-Basket Sensations: More Great Quilts from 2 1/2Scrap-Basket Sensations: More Great Quilts from 2 1/2″ Strips by Kim Brackett

I had seen this book, but when I heard about it from Frances, I decided to buy it. I like this book, in general. I like the examples at the beginning of how to gather scraps. I know that one of the Twilters, Torie, goes to Strip Club and exchanges strips. This program has interested me ever since she mentioned it. As an aside, I think it would be an interesting for a quilt shop to cut 2.5″ strips in a “Club” format for their customers and the customers could subscribe and get a set of strips each month. The strips sets could be new fabrics the shop received or fabrics according to a theme.

The author also talks about gathering strips from your stash, which includes cutting from scraps. Ms. Brackett also talks about sorting and storing strips. I was pleased to see the sections on themes and color schemes.” In the Color Schemes section Ms. Brackett writes “Be alert for color combinations that catch your eye in clothing, magazines, nature, and the quilts of others (pg.10).” This is a great way to learn about color. I keep an idea book where bits and pieces are pasted. Some are shapes I want to remember and others are color combinations that would make great quilts. Once you identify color groups you like, check the color wheel and try to identify the type of color scheme it is (primary, secondary, split complimentary, monochromatic, etc). This exercise will help you to become familiar with the different ways to use the color wheel to make successful quilts.

While this book does have the obligatory basic quiltmaking instructions, there is some very good, useful and interesting information in the front of the book-before the patterns start. The author talks about adding borders and includes the different types of borders (butted-corner, mitered, etc) as well as how to add borders. There is also a section on preparing the backing and batting as well as binding. I don’t think a person can learn to make a quilt using the basics on a few pages, but these instructions can get you started and shows more experienced quiltmakers different techniques.

There is a section called “Special Piecing Techniques” (pg.17), which goes over folded-corner units and split units. The section on split units has some interesting design possibilities! I haven’t every seen these techniques explained in a book before. It could be that I am reading the wrong books.

Then the patterns start. There are 18 patterns in this book. of those, there are three I would seriously consider making: Over and Under, Sparkler and Flower Boxes. Each book is very personal to the author and it is clear what type of fabric this author likes. Her fabric choices are fine, but not as bright and cheerful as I like. Despite that most of the patterns have very interesting lines and shapes. There are a few where the blocks make up an overall pattern.

There are also some great details. I like the sashing on the quilt called “Flowers for Nana Girl.” The pieces appear to form a mini Friendship Star. I really like it when sashing adds a little viewer’s reward to the overall design of the quilt.

If this was the only book, I had, I think I could be very happy with the wide variety of patterns provided. My one criticism (aside from not having an index) is that the borders on many of the quilts were not well thought out. Some of them were just slapped on. I realize the time pressure that authors are under to make a gazillion quilts AND write the text AND test the patterns, but poor border choices can ruin a quilt. I don’t think that any of the quilts were ruined, but I do think different border choices would have enhanced several of the quilts.

All in all, I would urge you to take a look at this book.

View all my reviews

Simple Journal Cover

Simple Journal Cover
Simple Journal Cover

My journal is very important for me. I have spent the last 25+ years keeping a journal, though the college years, which would have been very interesting, didn’t leave a lot of time for contemplative writing. I was pouring my heart out to a spiral notebook from the local drugstore long before the word ‘Journaling’ was a twinkle in any scrapbooker’s eye. These days, I write every day, except Friday, usually, for about 20 minutes in the morning and another 10-15 in the afternoon. I record the books I have read, the progress I have made on projects and any drama going on that I may need to get out of my head.

I find that if I write drama down, it doesn’t dog my days and night. I know that that the words are safe between the covers of my journal and I can move on with my life. If I need to refer to them, they are waiting for me. My journal is a working space.

I sometimes do a sketch for the CPP to try and work out the curve of an elbow or the relationship between sizes of elements. I make lists of things to remember. I records lists of gifts I have received for Christmas and my birthday.

In recent days, I spent entirely too much time writing in my journal about how I needed a new journal cover (see previous covers in the tag ‘journals‘). The pages and pages of agonizing as well as rending of garments is too much, especially since the word ‘need’ demonstrates that I might want to look at my priorities.

The fact of the matter is that I enjoy using journal covers. The Miquelrius journals I use have nice plastic or paperboard covers with VERY pokey corners. I am already bruised and battered from the corner of my desk, the step stool in the kitchen and the general loving of a large teenager. I don’t need any other opportunities to bruise myself. Fabric covers pad the corners enough not to leave a bruise.

Simple Journal Cover-open
Simple Journal Cover-open

Today, I decided, was the day to make a new journal cover. I made a simple cover with a pink dot on the inside and a Philip Jacobs print on the outside. In about half an hour, I had it done.

I didn’t do any  piecing on this one. It is one piece each of two fabrics. I do have some large shards of the Patty Young Textured Basics for Michael Miller fabrics that I thought of using. I didn’t want to take the time, so I will use them for another version.

Simple Journal Cover-spine
Simple Journal Cover-spine

The tutorial measurements are now really great and I didn’t have to rip any of this journal cover out at all. Not sure if that will be the case next time. 😉

Now I can finish the last few pages of my current journal and move on to the new journal tomorrow. If you make one for yourself, please post a link to your version in the comments. Thanks!

Round Robin Ready?

Fabric choices for a round robin quilt.

Color Group
Color Group

As I mentioned in my last BAMQG post, my Color Group decided to throw our colors out the window and do a round robin. I am going to participate, but part of me is on the fence. My last experience with group projects left me with blocks filled with inept sewing, poor cutting, ugly fabrics and a bad taste in my mouth.

I brought this point up a bit tentatively at the group and, not wanting to insinuate anything.  Kelly and Kathleen suggested that it would be different because we know each other. They may be right as the round robin I did, back in the Dark Ages (1999), with my quilt group worked out really well. The piece I got back, Carousel, is really nice. I decided to do it, if for no other reason than to get to know my group better and, perhaps, create a small group that can meet for a long time into the future.

First things first. Fabric.

I have several groups of fabric put aside for a future project. I dug the most attractive and appealing out.

Option 1: Dots. Dots. Dots.

Dots Option
Dots Option

I love these fabrics. As you might remember, they were in my birthday box from TFQ. They have been sitting on my cutting table waiting for inspiration to strike while I plow through Sawtooth Stars. The lightning has not yet struck.

If I use these, I will need a background fabric. I think it would either have to be the Michael Miller TaDot in Stone to be in keeping with the all of those dots or a smaller dot. A stripe might work as well. These are strong fabrics and the background will have to be a real background.

Option 2: Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink Option
Pretty in Pink Option

I am not over the pink thing yet, despite Sparkle Pink. I also like the idea of calling a quilt ‘Pretty in Pink’. The group on the right is a group of fabrics I bought at FabricWorm/Birch, probably on my first trip to Birch. The Victorian style large print on the left is recent and I added it in to give some interesting design options to those working in the group. Besides who doesn’t need a little turquoise and a few birds in a quilt?

Option 3: Rainbow Modern

Rainbow Modern Option
Rainbow Modern Option

These have been languishing since my first trip to Birch. I have been waiting, again, for inspiration to strike. The fabrics are all probably old news and nobody likes them anymore, but I still like the group of them. This is my favorite group, actually, although some of the colors are a bit greyed. I think I would need a larger piece for background and would have to try out different fabrics to see what would work best. I would love to include one of the many dots I have, but I wouldn’t want to overshadow the other great fabrics.

Option 4: Pop Parade by Metro for P&B

P&B Pop Parade
P&B Pop Parade

I bought these fabrics via mail from Quilting Adventures after having great fun using the previous P&B line for Serendipity Puzzle. That was 2.5 years ago. This group was actually the first group of fabrics that came to mind. There are dots. There area lot of interesting design elements in the fabrics. I would need a background and I am not sure what that would be.

Of the 4 options, which is your favorite? I won’t promise to use your favorite, but I am interested in your opinions.

Next up: instructions, guidelines and suggestions.

Journals
Journals

We also need to include an instruction sheet or list of dos and don’ts. There is some information on the Indianapolis Modern Quilt Guild site about round robins, which is helpful. I think I will use one of the journals Maureen gave me for this project. I could also use one of the journals I bought as party favors for my birthday. I don’t want to just include a piece of paper. It would be nice to have a little keepsake. Emphasis on ‘little’, as it has to go in the project folder. Also, I don’t think people will write a lot.

Decisions. Decisions.

Creative Prompt #208: Bar

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.

dive bar

Bureau of Automotive Repair, State of California Department of Consumer Services

saloon

Clif Bar

Genius Bar

granola bar

belly up to the bar

candy bar

“A man walks into a bar….”

State Bar of <name your state>

bars and wine cabinets

“A duck walks into a bar…”

Bar stools

blow dry bar

chocolate bar

BeautyBar.com

BASF

Hello Bar – Hello Bar is a fun, unobtrusive yet highly visible web toolbar that sits at the top of your website and is a great way to engage users and get them to take…

navigation bar

toolbar

pull-up bars

Browning Automatic Rifle

towel bar

Lara Bar

address bar

bar mitzvah

milk bar

Barr (placename element), a pre-Indo-European linguistic root meaning ‘wooded hill’, ‘natural barrier’

Definition: “a retail establishment that serves alcoholic beverages, also the counter at which drinks are served by a bartender”

OR

“in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession

  • Bar (heraldry), an ordinary consisting of a horizontal band across the shield
  • Bar Confederation, an 18th-century Polish association
  • Bar mitzvah
  • Bar (form), a cell phone form factor
  • Dowel, pole, or beam used as a support structure
  • A type of gatehouse in city walls of the Middle Ages
  • Medal bar, a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal
  • Bar examination, an examination conducted at regular intervals to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction
  • Bar association, a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both”

computer science, a metasyntactic variable, like foo

tropical cyclone, a layer of dark cloud near the horizon

American Bar Association

And you thought we were just going to talk about a place to get drinks!