BBC One: Imagine: The arts series edited and presented by Alan Yentob.
Imagine
Imagine a place
Where everything is calm and clear
Decisions between wrong and right are simple
And you`d never have a second thought
Imagine a place
Where everyone belongs with someone
A soul mate for a soul mate
Everyone is happy
Forget the heartache
Forget the pain
Breathe deeply in love
And never exhale
There would never be a moment of doubt
But this isn`t a fairy tale
This is real life
There is heartache and pain
And not everything is clear
People make mistakes
People make good choices
But in the end
There will always be something wrong
And maybe you`ll forget it
Maybe you won`t
There`s not always a soul mate
Not always someone to love
But it`s always nice
To imagine
Because you`re never too old
To create a block in your mind
And shut out reality
So, take a deep breath
And close your eyes
Imagine a place
Where their are happily ever afters
And dreams that can come true
Jessica Robert
Imagine is a newsletter for precollege students who want to take an active role in their own education.
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett, Washington
Site intended for students age 14 and up, and for anyone interested in learning about our universe.
“Imagine” is a song written and performed by English musician John Lennon. It was released as a single from his album Imagine in 1971.
Definition: (third-person singular simple presentimagines, present participleimagining, simple past and past participleimagined)
Make your response simple. It doesn’t need to be a masterpiece. Take 5 minutes. Just respond and create a creative habit.
Please 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, and how your work relates to the other responses.
The Creative Prompt Project has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. Are you already a member? I created that spot so those of you without blogs or websites would have a place to post your responses. Please join and look at all of the great artwork that people have posted.
What I am Reading: Ties that Bind by Marie Bostwick. I gave up on reading (with my eyes) the Age of Innocence. I loaned my Kindle to a family member who is at home for the next two months. I bought it on audio and will start listening soon. Creating Time: using creativity to reinvent the clock and reclaim your life by Marney Makridakis is still languishing. Audiobook playing on my iPod: The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey; just finished Shine Shine Shine, by Lydia Netzer. Project on which I am Working: The Infinity blocks are put together, back is done and ready to go to the quilter. I am calmly making Swoon blocks and thinking about what comes next.
The Long Version
As you may have guessed from my recent habit of posting info about what I am reading and/or books to which I am listening, I love to read. I actually don’t care about the actual act of reading, but I love the stories. Audiobooks are perfect for me, because I get the story without having to sit or lay somewhere turning pages. I am not good at sitting around. I like getting sewing and reading done at the same time. 😉
Recently I saw a word cloud in the shape of the UK with the names of British, Irish, Scottish and Welsh literary personalities. This tickled my fancy. It is amazing to see how many great writers came from such a small geographic space. Something in the water, maybe? There is also a US version. Somehow it is not as impressive, but we Americans haven’t had as many years to write.
Housekeeping
I have the best readers (pat yourself on the back (or the head or the hand – whatever works). I have been getting so many great comments lately. I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to comment. You make my day!
Around and About the Web
I saw a notice of a new collection of photos at the Library of Congress recently. I always like to test these photo sets using the word ‘quilt’ or ‘quilting.’ I retrieved a few images. If the 2d link doesn’t work choose the first link and put USF33 and quilt in the search box. the thing that I noticed about these quilt photos is that none, but one, have piecing on them. They also don’t look like whole cloth quilts. I am wondering if they basted the quilt upside down? Let me know what you think or know. If you take out the phrase USF33 and leave in quilt, you will get photos of all the quilts in the photograph collection at LoC. Yes, another web time waster, but inspirational!
From ResearchBuzz: “The New Museum has a new Web site with what sounds like intriguing archives: “The Digital Archive has a searchable database of over 4,000 artists, curators and organizations, plus around 8,000 written and visual records. …
Additionally, the site’s new Art Spaces Directory helps artsy travelers gain an insider’s knowledge of alternative art spaces in spots from Cameroon to Vietnam.”
Perhaps I am not done with diamonds after all. Two large-ish quilts (FOTY 2010, Renewed Jelly Roll Race) made with diamonds should be enough, but the project Be*Mused is working on looks very tempting.
The fabulous Lisa Fulmer helped Andrea Currie win the episode of Craft Wars that aired on Tuesday July 17 on TLC. They have been interviewed about the experience on Fave Crafts. some of the Craft Wars episodes are available on iTunes for free. Check out the episode with Lisa and Andrea! Congrats, ladies. BTW, Lisa is currently adding select crafty clients to her Marketing A list. If you need help with Marketing, Lisa can be your best ally. contact her via the link above.
I love Be*mused’s work, so I have to show you this Trip around the World she made for her daughter. What I like about is the “if one fabric is good, 40 is better” sensibility. I also like it that she shows you what works and what she thinks doesn’t. I am also posting this for TFQ’s benefit, in case she didn’t see it.
The next bit is crankiness, pure and simple. I hope that you can all, gently, tell me that I am off base. Jackie from Tall Grass Prairie Studio talked about improvisational piecing in a recent blog post. She talks a lot in this post about wanting directions for improvisational piecing. She talks about the books she looked in. Not once does she mention Gwen Marston. Gwen Marston has step by step improvisational piecing (called Liberated Piecing, though) directions in a number of her books. Gwen Marston writes those instructions in such a way that they are the launching pad for the readers own work. Gwen Marston, however, does not have a robust web presence. Does that mean, in the modern quilt world, that she doesn’t exist? As a librarian, this makes me crazy. There was life before the Internet, you know. ERGH!!! Here is a brief take on the “everything is on the Internet” idea.
Penzu.com is an online diary or journal. I am an inveterate journal keeper. I have kept some kind of journal since I can remember. Penzu.com might work for those of you who don’t want to keep a paper journal. I like the idea of being able to add photos from Flickr. $20/year is very tempting for the pro account. I wonder if I would have the time. I do find that actually writing with my hand works well for me. I really don’t need more computer work either. Sigh. The video showing their concept is cute and worth 2 minutes of your time. More details are available on their products page.
Alex Anderson has an exhibit at the new (??) Accuquilt Gallery. Read the press release.
Shopping
Are you thinking about Christmas yet? Get going! August 1st marks the slow slide until Christmas and other gift giving holidays. You probably want or need to make some small gifts. Here is a new product from Hawthorne Threads that will make your life easier. In their latest newsletter, they write “NEW SCRAP PACKS! Here’s a great way to have a beautiful sampling of the highly coveted Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt at a great price! We’ve assembled our remnants into scrap packs like these seen above. For just $9.99 you’ll receive 2 yards worth of fabric by weight, ranging in size from just under 1/2 yd to 1/8 yd cuts. These remnant packs would be great for sunglasses cases, clutches, pillows, quilts, and more. If you’re hard pressed finding time to sew, these can provide some great material for a quickie project. These are limited release so once they’re gone, they’re gone!”
BlockBase from EQ is BACK!!! If you don’t have it, run out and get it. This is one of the best quiltmaking investments you will make EVER. Over 4300 block patterns that you can adjust and resize. BlockBase is a stand-alone program so you don’t need EQ to use it. This is not an update, so if you have BlockBase, you don’t need to buy it again.
Donations/Charity
Last Four
As you know, I have been on a donation quilt bender. Not a bad bender to be on, if you have to go on a bender. 😉
I love that 16 patch block to which the Charity Girls introduced me. I saw a version on Camille Roskelley’s blog that shows how some different fabrics would look. I didn’t buy any of the Summersville fabric, but this quilt top is a great example how that block (hers looks a little larger-more squares, I think) and can be so versatile.
I am calmly making these blocks one after another. I refuse to think about whether they will be a quilt or whether they will turn into anything at all. Of course, they will be something. What? I don’t know. Some kind of quilt, I am sure, but for now, I am just making blocks.
You all liked this blue, so I made another block using it. The pink is the block is a little different from the pink I selected and used in Swoon #7. I didn’t have enough of the smaller dot (that I could find), so this one is a suitable stand in.
I am pleased with the way the piecing came out in this block. If you look at the blue wings on the star, you will see how the vine looks like it continues from the middle out to the wings, especially on the left. I wish I could say I pieced it that way, but it was the luck of the draw.
Swoon #12
Swoon #12 (middle photo, right) uses a yellow flower print, which is ok, but not great. It has all the right colors, but there is something about it that is just a little off for me. In this block, the orange of that flower print makes some of the points of the star drop out. I didn’t notice until I was done with the block. I think there was some yellow still showing before final sewing, but when I sewed those parts together, the yellow was taken up by the seam allowance. I thought about unsewing it and making the wings over, but I couldn’t be bothered. Perhaps it will make viewers come closer to the quilt to see what I was doing? For all of these little things that are not quite right, I think about antique quilts and how there is a often a fabric that doesn’t go or a botched piecing job. These quilts are charming, so I will think of these little things as adding charm to my quilt. 😉
And Then There Were Twelve
Twelve Swoon
It is so interesting for me to look at all of these blocks together. Different parts of them stick out, which is all about the fabric, of course.
Some of them look like wreaths and some of them highlight the stars.
Making these blocks is turning into more of an intellectual exercise than I thought it would. Very fun.
