Various & Sundry #18

I can’t believe that September is over – well, nearly, anyway – already! I hope you are doing your Christmas sewing, because it will be upon us before you know it. And those of you who don’t celebrate can just stop laughing! I may get you into my sewing room as a sewing slave. 😉

Tools
Did you hear that Anna Maria Horner is the new spokesperson for Janome? They made an announcement on the new AMH/Janome collaboration site. I wonder what happened to Marie Osmond?

I thought I had mentioned True Grips to you, but I don’t see a reference on any of my previous posts. I heard about True Grips in a recent issue of Quilts & More. They often have a little page of tools and supplies, with interesting blurbs. These caught my eye, because of my experience as well as Sandy and Frances’ recent comments about slipping rulers. Sandy is slowly changing out all of her rulers to Creative Grids rulers. I also like Creative Grids rulers, because the dots on the back provide some traction. TFQ and I have talked about Creative Grids rulers. She likes them, too, except for the big branding circle in the middle of the ruler that seems to always be right where you need to line up lines. Still, I would like to replace all of my rulers with Creative Grids rulers, but it is just isn’t practical. I’d rather buy fabric.

Enter True Grips.

Supposedly they keep your ruler from slipping (after you have applied them). I have tried Invisigrip and haven’t found it to do the job. Also, it is a pain to apply. You know those times where you are trying to get 2 feet of plastic wrap out of the box, cut and applied to the giant amount of leftovers that will take over your fridge? That is how I feel when I work with Invisigrip.

True Grips are little dots that you put on the back of your ruler that supposedly give it some traction. I don’t know if they are thin or thick. I hope they are not thick, because I don’t want to have to deal with a wobbly ruler. I have a lot of square and rectangular Omnigrid rulers that I would be happy to not have to replace. I checked out the Grace Company website, prepared to buy a couple of packages. $5.95 for the True Grips and $11.95 for shipping! Now Grace Company sells quilting frames and they probably have standard shipping rates. For a large thing, $11.95 is probably a good price, but for a little thing like the True Grips, $11.95 is not so good. Even shopping crazy person that I can be, I didn’t buy them.

I asked Julie to buy them. And she did. She will post them in her store soon and you can buy them for your non-Creative Grids rulers!

BTW, Intrepid Thread Julie is being (or was) interviewed on Quilter in the Gap podcast.

Adrianne pointed me to a blog post about pricing handmade goods at the Ink & Spindle (great name, huh?). Definitely food for thought.

Out & About
Another new quilt museum joins the growing list: the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiberarts. There was an article pointed out to me by Morna McEver Golletz, Founder, President & CEO of the International Association of Professional Quilters. If I were planning a quilt trip, I guess I would hit the IQSC first and then drive to WI to see this museum and then down towards Kentucky for the AQS museum. Of course, this trip is not only just in my head, but straight out of my head as well. I would definitely do research before I left so I would hit all the quilt museums that are popping up and coming of age.

Karey Bresenhan and her cousin, Nancy Puentes, are also starting a quilt museum in Texas.

SJMQT Badge
SJMQT Badge

This is the badge that was waiting for me when I went to the reception for my quilt at the quilt museum. I wrote about how weird (in a good way) I felt seeing my quilt on a gallery wall. This badge which clearly says ARTIST contributed to the feeling. Ever since I co-hosted Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski back in June, I have been thinking about art quilting, what it means to me and what I do. This badge was another piece in that puzzle. I keep meaning to write a blog post about my thoughts on the subject, but haven’t done it yet. What I have done is gotten back to working on a couple of art quilts. One is Kissy Fish and I am embellishing like a demon. I would really like to finish that quilt. The more I work on it, though, the more it asks for!

The Web and Social Media
I hate to be a crank, but I keep getting friend requests from people on various social media sites. This isn’t a bad thing, but I don’t know who they are or why they want to be friends. I am not a friend collector so I only want to be friends with people that I know. I always try to write a little note to the person with whom I want to be friends, even if I know them pretty well. At least they will know I am not a bot and it is really me. Am I too buttoned up?

Barbara Brackman has a wonderful Wedding Ring quilt on her blog post about the Quilt Complex. It is a wedding ring with a twist. I can see it being the type of idea that the Modern Quilters would run with. In a way, it reminds me of the more complex version of the Single Girl quilt.

Moda is having a Country Fair blog hop. I have dipped in and out, but haven’t made it a habit. Today I happened upon Barbara Brackman’s blog. It must be BB week for me! She had a chicken potholder project included in her Moda County Fair Blog post. She said that she “made several in different fabrics.” BB is very much into repros, which is not really my style. When I saw the chickens, I immediately thought of pink polka dots. I wonder how friends would like pink polka dotted chicken potholders for the entertainment value not for the decorating value! 😉

Media & Quilt World News
The Alliance for American Quilts needs volunteers at Houston to interview quiltmakers for a forthcoming book. Contact them if you can help out.

Dear Podcasters,
Please interview Ruthann from Mirkwood Designs, Toni from Silly Chick Designs and Jennifer from Patchwork and Pacifiers so we can find out how they are doing. Thank you, J.

I have been listening to some new podcasts just to expand my repertoire. I don’t really need anymore, because I am, once again, filling my iPod with audiobooks. I have found that there are things I like about podcasts and things that I don’t like:

  • I don’t mind rambling and hearing a bit about the podcaster’s life
  • I dislike self deprecation
  • I dislike needless apologies about the length of the episode; just make it however long it is, that is why I have a stop button
  • I don’t need a music intro, but it is nice when people have them
  • I like it when the podcaster introduces him/herself and says the name of the podcast. The date is nice, too, but not a requirement
  • I don’t like podfading. It worries me and makes me wish the podcasters would just say they don’t want to take the time for recording anymore
  • I like hearing opinions, though not so much about politics or religion
  • I like hearing about what you like, the products you use and the fabrics that make your heart sing
  • Thank you for introducing me to new designers and websites

And podcasters….I really appreciate the time and energy you put into your episodes. Keep up the good work!

I am interested in the new Kindle Fire. I really liked the post on the Stash Blog about books as objects, especially her quote from Anna Quindlen about building enough bookshelves.