Artquiltmaker Blog – Page 264 – Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity

Creative Prompt #212: Ribbon

This prompt is a bit of self indulgence. I won 4 ribbons at the County Fair, which is held this past week in our county. I was amazed and awed that I had won the first one I saw, then my eyes must have been bugging out of my head as I visited each of the pieces I had entered and saw ribbons on all. So, ribbon is the word for the week. I can’t wait to see your responses.

American Ribbon Manufacturer

raffia ribbon

Bluetooth Streamer

gift wrap, ribbon & bows

font

grosgrain

spool of ribbon

hair ribbons

First place ribbon

Definition (computing) – “In computing, a ribbon is a set of toolbars placed on several tabs. For example, Microsoft and Autodesk software released since 2007 have popularized a form of modular ribbon as their main interface, where large tabbed toolbars, filled with graphical buttons and other controls, are grouped by functionality. Such ribbons use tabs to expose different sets of controls, eliminating the need for many parallel toolbars. Contextual tabs are tabs that appear only when the user needs them. For instance, in a word processor, an image-related tab may appear when the user selects an image in a document, allowing the user to interact with that image.

The usage of the term ribbon dates from the 1980s and was originally used as a synonym for what is now more commonly known as a (non-tabbed) toolbar. However, in 2007, Microsoft Office 2007 used the term to refer its own implementation of tabbed toolbars bearing heterogeneous controls, known as “The Fluent UI”. Thus, Microsoft popularized the term with a new meaning, although similar tabbed layouts of controls had existed in previous software from other vendors. The considerable redesign of the Office user interface caused a backlash and a rejection from some users of previous versions of Microsoft products, as well as from developers because of concerns about copyright and patents.”

toolbar

Pabst Blue Ribbon beer

There are a variety of campaigns to help raise money for research of various diseases, conditions and cancers using ribbons

Colored cloth placed on a uniform to signify rank or status

Ribbon Seal

Personalized timemap

Ribbon Music

Definition – “a: a flat or tubular narrow closely woven fabric (as of silk or rayon) used for trimmings or knitting. b : a narrow fabric used for tying packages.”

typewriter ribbon

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.

My Next Big Idea

I spent a happy hour last week in my workroom after dinner trying to get a handle on the un-ironed fabric that is causing havoc in my workroom. I feel like I have been ironing fabric forever. I know that is why many of you don’t pre-wash your fabric. Trust me, if it weren’t for the smell of burning chemicals when I press, I’d be right there with you. Still, I found a couple of pillowcase bodies that I had cut who knows when. I cut a couple of pieces of Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets dark green for the cuffs and pinned together a couple of pieces of fabric that will be pillowcases soon.

Yes, I am using up some precious Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets. Frankly, I have enough fabric and my fabric is currently overwhelming me, so it is a good use. Also, that green went really well with the taco and burrito fabric I had previously cut for the body of the pillowcase.

The above two paragraphs are a precursor to my post-Star Sampler idea. I don’t know if it will work, but I am going to try to work through some small projects and patterns for bags, etc. Of course, there are quilts on the 26 Projects list that I want/need to finish, so I will work on those. Also, I have bought a number of pieces of fabric for specific small craft items such as pillowcases. I want to get those sewn and out the door. I also have patterns and some fabric for other projects such as bags. I want to make another Petrillo bag. I need more journal covers. I am thinking that I am going to take some time and work on these types of projects. I am going to try, at least.

I may sneak some leaders and enders for charity quilts in, but that is my idea.

Vintage Tuesday #4

Pink Spider Looking at the Stars is the first quilt I ever finished.* Note the word “finished.” I started my Sampler quilt and got to the quilting point and then stopped. Hand quilting was the order of the day and hand quilting takes a long time. I was a UFO girl from day one.

Pink Spider Looking at the Stars was the result of a challenge in the small quilt group I belonged to at the time. We were given pieces of all (or most, maybe) of the fabrics and had to make something. These quilts were displayed at an EBHQ show in the early 1990s, or, perhaps 1989. Again, I don’t remember.

Pink Spider Looking at the Stars - detail — Pink Spider Looking at the Stars – detail

I don’t have any good photos of the quilt, but the quilt is around here somewhere, so I could take some if I were motivated to do so.

One thing you might notice is that the design is insane. I made this piece with templates. I didn’t have a rotary kit at the time, though I think I may have bought one shortly thereafter.

You might also notice all of those mitered corners on the binding. The binding was a pain, I have to admit. Most of the time now I keep my quilts square so as to avoid mitered corners. I subscribe to the notion that if you don’t know you can’t do something, then you can do it. Nota bene: hanging out in space without a space suit is the exception.

From an early quilt age, I could do Y-seams, which is why I know you can do them. Although these are 6 rather than 8-pointed stars, there are a lot of Y-seams. I had done an 8-pointed star in my sampler class and figured 6 would be similar or easier.

Seeing this quilt might give you a clue as to why my hackles raise a bit when I see Half Square Triangles classified as “intermediate”. HA!

*Vintage is a little bit of an exaggeration, but I am using it to denote old stuff in this series of posts

Modern Quilt Studio Homework #12

This is the last one. Did you do the homework? Did you do one of the homework assignments? C’mon, people, pick one and do it. You’ll like it 😉

Weeks writes “Evolve. Lastly, look at your work over time. What makes your best quilts the “best”? How have you evolved? How will you continue to evolve?”

I find it useful to do this. sometimes self reflection is valuable (though if I can’t stand what I am seeing, I know it is a time for a change).

One of the things I am doing with my Vintage Tuesday posts is to look at my old work, as well as the work of others (I am not that vintage, after all!). It is interesting to revisit the work I have done in the past.

One thing that really jumped out at me is the change in colors that I use. I have always thought of myself as using brights, but in looking back at my old pieces, such as the Spiderweb, Starry, Starry Night and the Women’s Work pieces, there is a lot of black. It makes me wonder what that was about?

Black is a relatively easy background. It goes with everything. It is easy to grab for a class or group project and two of these projects fell into those categories.

Still, I have always thought of myself as using brights. And, there are brights in these quilts, though fewer in Starry, Starry Night. I find that the brights have to be very bright to not be overshadowed by the black. OR I should have been more careful about the ratio of black to color in these pieces.

Despite the brights, the pieces mentioned above are not Sparkle Pink, which is an explosion of bright happiness. If anything, I have been working with color. The work might be subtle, but I find myself saying, mostly to myself, “what if I combine this color with this?” or “will this transition be smoother, if I move this blue next to this turquoise?”

I also think that trying new techniques and taking new classes is a great way for me to evolve. I took a lot of dyeing classes at one point and despite my best efforts, found that it wasn’t for me. I also couldn’t really get on board with the whole trumpeting of “I dyed this fabric” messages that went along with the dyeing. It is fabric, I use it in a quilt (or bag or apron or….). Mostly, it was just too messy and there was no convenient wet studio to rent. Finally, despite my painstaking detailed recipes, I ended up with more than my share of chartreuse hand dyed fabric.

My recent formal classes were hand applique‘ (also not my thing, but good to check periodically) and inset circles. I love that technique.

Craftsy really makes this easy as you don’t have to pack up the machine and travel, and you can do the work at your own pace. Oh how things have changed!

Mostly, though, I sit at home and try to make really hard blocks- or sort of hard blocks. or I try new patterns for bags that have the kind of construction that makes your brain do flips, but ends up really cool.

I want to learn new stuff; I want make quilts that are hard sometimes, quilts that have souls. I don’t want to stay where I am in my quiltmaking process. I want to move on.

See my last installment of this homework, which was posted last week.

Images courtesy of the Modern Quilt Studio.

Section 7

I know I am drawing out the ending of this a bit, but the truth is that I haven’t gotten the back done and I need to get the back done before I can show you the entire project.

I’ll get there. I am just not there yet.

No section came out perfectly. I am not talking about precise sewing, though that is true as well, but also in color placement. I tried hard to disperse the fabrics sort of evenly and among the different sections in hopes that this strategy would act as a way of moving your eye around the piece.

This, Section 7, was a bear of a section. I really had to sew carefully and fix little bits and bobs here and there. The fact of the matter is that the Ribbon Star isn’t on the same grid as the Sawtooth Star and that came back to haunt me a little bit when when putting this section together.

Still, I got the monster together and am pleased.

Mosaic No.19 Redux

Remember that I went on a bit about the Mosaic Number 19 and how it wasn’t quite up to par? Still, it was the first block I made for this project and I had some fondness for it.

Well, I remade it.

So much for fondness. It just didn’t fit and I decided that while I was remaking blocks that weren’t working for other reasons, I might as well remake this one.

One thing I wanted to do was make sure that the background was the background. In the green version, there are large triangles of green in the middle center where background should be. Essentially the Sawtooth Star shape is reversed in terms of fabric. I thought the green where the background should be would ruin the flow of the background of the quilt. Yes, this new configuration meant that the corners would be non-background fabric, but other blocks have that quality as well, so it will be ok.

I have to say that I do like the frame around the center block int he green version. It really focuses attention on that center tilted/on point square. I suppose I could have found something to fussy cut and kept that look in the new version, but I didn’t think of it.

That blue that I used is a really nice blue. I think it shows up really well in the photo.

See more about this quilt using the Star Sampler tag. I wrote a whole post about the genesis of this project, which you might want to look at.

Ribbon Star Redux

You might remember the drama of the first Ribbon Star. You also might remember that I made the star over using half square triangles rather than parallelograms.

I have to admit that I never really liked the new version, which you can see on the right of the above picture. I used it, because I had no choice, but I didn’t really like that particular lavender fabric.

Finally, I decided that I would remake the first block. The first block had a lot of problems, not the least of which was that the parts were a variety of different sizes. I unsewed all the squares, rearranged some of the colors and resewed them so that the block, basically, fit together. Many of the seam allowances are so far short of 1/4″ that I really worry about their integrity.

Still I am really happy that I get to use the original version of the block.

FOTY 2013 Early June

There is something I like about this 2013 Fabric of the Year project. I like having a piece of each fabric. Once the quilts are finished, I love walking by them and thinking “that fabric would be perfect for this project” or “OH! I remember that fabric. It was such great fabric.” It is like looking at a scrapbook.

I am afraid I am getting tired of it, though. Perhaps I am just tired. I know I am tired, but having the feeling seep over into fabric is scary.

These are blues from the end of the Star Sampler project. Mostly, I made the 4″ Sawtooth Stars from these fabrics. Yes, I did arrange them purposefully to be only a blue batch. I have a whole additional group that I’ll photograph later that is all different colors.

Modern Quilt Studio Homework #11

Weeks writes “Document your ideas. Use a notebook, a sketchbook or a box to collect even the most simple sketches or ideas for future quilts. Photograph everything you make and keep those images together. Print them and put them in an album so you can see them all at once.”

She is correct. Stop surfing after you finish reading this post and go document. No excuses, just do it. Trust me you will be happy later.

I rip pages out of catalogs that might be inspiring. I keep colors and brochures. All of these go into a [overstuffed, very full] box. Periodically, I look through this box and toss things that don’t work, but once something gets through or groups of bits look cohesive I make a file. Looking through this box is a good source of inspiration.

I make a folder for each quilt I make. I also make a folder for each project about which I am thinking. I am selective about the projects that reach the point where I am actually collecting stuff to include or use in a project, but once I have even a few pieces of paper, I make a file.

I make a file, because I like everything to be together. I am a librarian after all. 😉 I like to open the file, see my drawings, measurements, color palettes, notes to self, etc. all in one place. When bits and bobs are all over, I get crazy.

I also use my sketchbook and journal to jot down quick ideas. If any of these come to something then I photocopy the page from my journal to put in my file.

I also label all of my quilts. My quilt labels are getting more and more elaborate in terms of the information I include. A couple of weeks ago, I dropped quilts off at the County Fair. I made a mistake in categorizing the quilts for the Fair, so they had to be re-measured. I am now including the size of the quilt on the label, because it is easier to look up than measuring the quilt again. I had a quilt stolen, so I am somewhat manic about labeling my quilts. I do have one quilt that is unlabeled. If I can figure out when I finished it, I will make a label.

I want to create a scrapbook that includes each of my quilts. I have a file for this project, but have never gotten to it beyond creating a gallery on this blog.

Obviously, you have to do the type of documenting that is right for you and fits into your life and schedule. What works for one won’t work for everyone. Just do something.

See my last installment of this homework, which was posted last week.

Images courtesy of the Modern Quilt Studio.

A Week Away and Some Quilting pt.3

I guess I am on kind of a star kick. I am showing you MORE stars, after all.

Aren’t the colors pretty? I think they go together well.

This is the miniscule amount of English Paper Piecing I was able to do while we were out with the Natives. I was only able to piece in the car and it was just a 4 hour drive each way.

I thought I would have scads of time sitting by the pool to work on this project, but nope. I was too busy smiling, shaking hands with DH’s constituents to bring this project out. I think I will have a goal of getting it done by the time he ends his term as Grand President in 2017. It will be my political project. Perhaps I’ll have enough for a table runner?

Book Review: Simply Retro

Simply Retro with Camille Roskelley: Fresh Quilts from Classic Blocks by Camille Roskelley

I pre-ordered this book because I really enjoy Ms. Roskelley’s blog and color palette. I also think she does a good job of subtle marketing. She includes her life along with her patterns and fabric. She is part of the community. I like to encourage and support that type of attitude.

Right away, I was inspired. I love her dedication. Dedications are often really sappy and short, but the in Simply Retro is a bit longer and seems so heartfelt.

The introduction is relatively short, but brings up her pioneer ancestors’ quiltmaking. When the reader turns the page, part of the introduction is illustrated with quilts made from, for the most part, Camille’s wonderful fabrics. The introduction mentions simplifying blocks. She writes “…Instead of Y-seams and foundation piecing, I’ll show you how to use simple half-square triangles (HSTs), Flying Geese units, and chain piecing…” there is absolutely nothing wrong with simplifying, but don’t be scared off by her words. Y-seams take a bit longer, but are not scary. You can see a tutorial I wrote for my sampler class. If you sew slowly, you can do Y-seams with no problem. Don’t let that one line scare you away from the addition of Y-seams and foundation piecing to your quiltmaking toolkit.

Ms. Roskelley says in the introduction, which I think is true is “The piecing, combined with clever placement of light and dark fabrics, creates interesting secondary designs in many of these quilts.” I think that line describes what makes blocks interesting and filled with infinite possibilities. Additionally, the author mentions enlarging the original inspiration, so that it turns into a piece like the very large Swoon blocks. I am really glad that she pointed out that this is another way to add interest to traditional blocks.

This book is FQ, charm pack, and pre-cut (she calls them cut-goods) friendly. Camille says she uses yardage as well. In the second section, Ms. Roskelley talks specifically about pre-cuts. I agree and disagree. Make your quilt your own. Use a charm pack, Jelly Roll or turnover, but remove some of the fabrics and replace them with different fabrics, from other lines, from other years, of your own choice. Throw some of your own personality into the quilt. Don’t get hung up on having the exact fabric Ms. Roskelley used and making an exact replica of her quilts. She does not mention this at all, but I think it can be an issue when using pre-cuts.

There are 11 projects in this book, but a few have multiple sizes and/or variations. You can see some of the quilts in her blog post about Quilt Market. Swell, the first project (pg.17) is a great scrap project. Retro (pg.23) reminds me of my Stepping Stones quilt. I love the squares and triangles set on the diagonal look. The bonus of this pattern is that it is simply made from a bunch of 4 patches and half square triangles. Easy as well as leaders & enders friendly! Dapper Canon‘s (pg.45) attraction is the “cut off corners” of the blocks which make them look octagonal or slightly round. You can do this with many, many blocks by using the background for part of the blocks. Dwell (pg.59) is a nice twist on the house or schoolhouse quilts. I love the idea of putting another block inside the basic house structure. There is, as the main character in [book:Anne of Green Gables|8127] would say, a lot of scope for imagination in this piece. Sweet Life (pg.75) uses large prints very well and is not boring, a some quilts with this goal can be. The little 9 patches used as cornerstones are a nice touch.

I have to say I like the names she has chosen for her quilts. I don’t know if I would use them, but I think they work well for a book. The names also fit the quilts.

One FABULOUS thing about this book? She includes the finished size of the block in the pattern! Hooray! While you may be thinking “who cares?” It can be a really helpful piece of information if you want to resize the quilt, mix in other blocks or use one block to make a pillow cover. Thanks, Camille!

I would have liked to see alternate colorways of the patterns in this book. I realize that deadlines are tight, especially for working moms, but it would have been nice to see some of the patterns in batiks or solids as well as Camille’s fabulous palette.

The book has the requisite Quiltmaking Basics section (pg. 96-). As I have said before, I wish someone would just write another, more up to date, big book of quiltmaking basics and allow everyone else to refer to it. I suppose that would mean that people would have to buy two books. Fortunately, there are some gems in this section, which makes it more than the same-old, same-old. She pins (pg.98-hooray!) and talks about she does it. Camille explains chain piecing (pg.100), including a reminder to snip the threads in between. Ms. Roskelley has good instructions on adding borders.

No index, but the book is definitely worth a look anyway.

View all my reviews

Star Sampler Sections

AKA

A Hot Mess as Pam or Tanesha would say. We don’t use that phrase here, but it seems appropriate.

It is certainly true that projects look worse before they look better. This Star Sampler and my workroom are both in the Worse stage right now.

All the parts, which I have sewn together, look great, but the parts are all over the place. Discards are in a pile. Fabric is in another pile. I don’t know how I work under these circumstances. Really.

Making all of those blocks in advance, though, makes it really easy to put together. I have all the parts, so I just need to grab them and sew. Nota bene: If you make this project, I would recommend making all the blocks first. I know I don’t always do that, but in this case, it works.

As I thought, I love the layout. I love it that it is difficult to see how the blocks were set together. I love it that there are 3 different sized blocks used in the quilt. I guess I just like my secrets. 😉

It is fun deciding which blocks will go with which other blocks. We are getting some of our summer weather so the photos have the foggy look to them. I had all the lights on and used the flash, but still…the foggy look.

I think the blocks with the strong (non-background) corners look ok. The one in Section 1 (lower right) doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb, which is a relief.

I thought the Basic Stars might look like big un-pieced blobs in the middle of the sections, but I think I chose fabrics wisely and placement wisely. I think the Basic Stars may provide a slight resting spot for the viewer’s eyes amidst all the pieced blocks.

The 12″ blocks are working well, too. 12″ blocks are so….big. I thought they would dominate the quilt, but the 8″ and 4″ stars soften them up a bit. I do like that Rising Star in the upper left hand corner. That might be my favorite block.

Do click on the photos to see them larger. They look better larger.

Star Sampler - 1/2 of the top — Star Sampler – 1/2 of the top

Believe it or not I had to tidy the whole house including my workroom, which meant tidying that mess I talked about earlier in the post. All of the pieces and parts had to get off the floor.

I put everything up on the design wall. It promptly fell off. All that piecing is heavy and even my super sticky design wall fabric was no match for this baby. I had to resort to pins.

The above photo is half of the piece. HALF! Half does not completely fit width-wise. The blocks on the bottom are still blocks. They had to go somewhere and I did not want them sucked into the vacuum!

I am thinking it looks a bit chaotic. Please tell me I did not go through all this work to end up with chaos.

Remember: if you want to know more about this quilt, the pattern and the project, check out the Star Sampler Background post.

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

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

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 (2^ndtime) 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.