Tag: Various & Sundry

Yes, this month you get two Various & Sundry posts! I had planned to post #6 on July 20, but it was getting so hefty that I posted it earlier this month. I promise not to bore you with more fiction books.

Media and Tutorials

Thanks to Daisy for sharing this great blog post putting to rest misconceptions about quiltmaking.

Nancy Rink’s studio was broken into and many, many quilts were stolen. Read about it on Bonnie Hunter’s blog. There is a link to Nancy Rink’s blog/website.

This Penguin UK book quilt is a fabulous idea for a reading chair quilt.

If you want to get the Jenny Doan (Missouri Star Quilt Co.) magazine called Block, you buy them at Always Quilting. They have three issues and the issues look like books.

AuriBuzz has an interview with Camille Roskelly.

If you want to make bias binding or the fabric for piping using the tube method, Whip Stitch has a tutorial.

Ms. Lottie gives some tips on writing a quilt pattern.

I am on the fence about talking about something like the post on a very popular blog. I was disappointed that this was posted after only a few days of viewing the Twitter feed. Personally, I can stop following the person in question if I am offended. I am more offended by things like the Hobby Lobby decision about WOMEN’s reproductive rights than the tweets. Perhaps the tweets are offensive, but to condemn someone so publicly is something I wouldn’t do. Yes, I am being circumspect, because I want to avoid, if possible, my blog being caught up in the firestorm that this has already generated. It makes me wonder if I am too quick to judge and stop buying a product? It makes me wonder if I am making unfair judgments about people based on social media (perhaps they dont’ write well or are still learning technology?) and whether unfair judgments are being made about me?

I heard that the Quilt Life magazine will be ending its run in October 2014. Even with the star power of Alex and Ricky, the magazine wasn’t sustainable. No layoffs are anticipated as a result, which is great. I get the magazine and I have to say that issues are piling up. There are some really good things about it, but others that just don’t grab my interest.

Easy Quilts, Fall 2014 issue is surprisingly cheerful for a Fall issue. One of the patterns, called Viola Blossoms is basically a Flowering Snowball recolored.

Patterns, Tools and Notions

ByAnnie has a series of tutorials that help you use their zippers by the yard. I think I need to try these so I can get the colors and lengths that I want in one package.

In my endless quest to push out corners into a shape that actually looks like a sharp corner, I bought the Quick Points Mini Point Pusher about a month or so ago. I still get a little rounded tip on the very corner, but this does a better job, without poking holes in the project, than anything I have used before. I sometimes have a difficult time getting it in the right location, but the idea is really good.

Fabric and Supplies

If you need to know all about bag interfacing, Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness fame (remember my Purse Palooza post?) has a post all about it. She includes the Vilene conversion, so if you are in the UK, or other places where you commonly use Vilene, this post is for you, too. If you don’t care about bags, you have to go to the post anyway, because the main image is hilarious and everyone needs a good laugh.

They hooked me with Jamaica. If the actual color of the fabric is anything like this color on my screen, I am all in. Yes, please, I’ll take 5 yards. Thanks.

I guess this means there is a new color card (or an update) in my future.

Other Artists

Pamela Allen, one of my favorite teachers, now has an online gallery. Go take a look.

Katie of the fabulous Katie’s Quilting Corner podcast posted some fabulous photos of her Hopscotch Lane quilt. The design, quilting – just everything came out very well. Her photography is wonderful as well.

Exhibits

The following are thanks to Ann May:

•         Fiber inForms Show at the Michaelangelo Gallery 1111-A River St. Santa Cruz across from the Tannery, August 1-24, 2014. The First Friday Reception will be Friday, August 1 , 6-8 pm.  (2 newer pieces)

•          Featured Studio for the Pacific International Quilt Festival studio tour, Santa Clara Convention Center, October 17, 2014.

•          Primal Green II, Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists group Show, San Francisco Public Library, Wallace Stegner Environmental Library, fifth floor Main Library, October 11-April, 2015. I will have at least one piece at this event. I have entered three pieces.

•          Abrazos del Alma( Hugs from the Soul) an art  exhibition inspired by her love of Mexican culture will be a special exhibition as part of Pacific International Quilt Festival, Santa Clara Convention Center, October, 2015.

What I Read

I couldn’t help myself from sharing these non-quilt books with you. If you don’t read fiction, I am sorry. Go ahead and skip this part, because I am going wax rhapsodic about some fiction for a minute.

I have read the three best books recently. I can’t say they are the best books ever, but all three blew me away. You have to buy them RIGHT NOW (after you finish reading my blog), stop what you are doing (ahem-after you finish reading my blog) and go read them.

• Delicious! by Ruth Reichl – this is about transformation and love. It is about grief as well and how grief can stunt transformation. The characters were realistic and there was a lot of kindness and caring in this book. Read review.
• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell – This is another book there there is a lot of kindness and caring (hhhmmm…I wonder if this is a theme I need to investigate in my own life). The characters seem really real. They are not perfect and they don’t always know what to do.
• The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin – it was all I could do not to sit on my bed and read this book cover to cover. Some of the writing is so clever. The story is so great and I love the characters. I wanted to throttle some of them (Augusta for sure), but this is a book I will definitely read again and I might even read the American Heiress again. Daisy Goodwin cannot write fast enough for me. I do wish she had spelled Elizabeth the Austrian way, Elisabeth.

If you don’t like the above reading suggestions, you might want to take a look at the STC Craft suggestions. I am kind of interested in the Natalie Goldberg color book and wonder if they have it at the library?

Patterns, Tutorials and Sew-Alongs

Moda Bakeshop is having a Trifle Dish Sew Along. The first row is a spool type pattern, which I can’t figure out how it relates to Trifle, but is an interesting block nonetheless. Not all of the patterns have been posted, so you’ll have to keep checking back.

Amy has a power cord wrangling tutorial on her blog that I thought was handy. She is trying to get her blog up and running again, so go leave a comment. Life intervenes for all of us, so show her some blog love.

Are we fortunate to have so many people putting up so many tutorials? It is nice to have a lot of resources on different ways of how to do things. Kati has a put up a tutorial on attaching borders without a measuring tape.

Need to thinking about gifts? How about a nail file cover? The J&O Fabric Store has a tutorial. I can’t vouch for the tutorial as I h.aven’t made one yet, but they might make good stocking stuffers or shower favors or be handy for travel

Products, Tools, Thread and Fabric

Lori has a great review up on her blog about Flatter.

Have you seen the second issue of Moda Piece? No, me neither. It is on the Issuu platform which has an Android app as well. I was able to look at the whole issue (124 pages) on my phone so I guess it is free. Don’t quote me.

Look how beautiful this Aurifil display looks! I also love the name of the shop, Crimson Tate. Thanks to Alex Veronelli!

I wasn’t sure whether to put this tidbit in products or media. Judy Martin has designed a game called Quilt Show. After 5 years in design and production phases the game was recently released at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. Steve (Judy Martin’s husband) and Judy were on hand as the first box was opened up. They spent two days demoing Quilt Show to throngs of eager gamers.

The price of the game is $34.95, which is a steal for a game with this many components of this quality. The game weighs 2-3/4 pounds! That’s a whole lotta game! The box and the tiles have a linen finish. The cards are sturdy. Judy thought there was a chance it would hit $50!

Because of the weight of the game and the fact that she can’t ship it by the very cheap Media Mail, she’ll have to charge $10 to ship a game in the United States. 🙁 Judy won’t be able to ship it outside the United States. There will be distribution in Europe, and I’m sure there are retailers who will ship anywhere.

I see games being played at quilt shows, like Quilt-O, which is played at the Pacific International Quilt Show in Santa Clara. I know it is pricey, but support Judy and her small business by buying a copy. I never would have thought that quilting would make it into a game. I wonder how this fits into that study of improving memory, which was reported on NPR and other media outlets.

Gretchen recently posted a review of the Perfect Angles product. Apparently, this tool prevents the quiltmaker from having to draw lines for half square triangles and such. Go read her review and become an expert. Gretchen is also making progress on her BOMs, which she shows.

Jackie gives some ideas on organizing bobbins, including discussing various products available. One of her commenters, Rebecca, chimed in saying she had done a post on bobbins as well. It is always fun to check out a new blog.

Continuing with our hacking theme, Barbara hacks her sewing machine and answers the age old question of “why does the machine need a handwheel?” Fascinating intersection between sewist/sewer and engineer.

Media

Marginally quilt related, and only because many of you Tweet, are Gail Carriger’s blog post about Twitter etiquette. I am not saying she is the guru, but her points are good and I agree with them. If you haven’t read any of her books, try Etiquette & Espionage. I believe Pam talked about this book on her podcast and I wrote a short review. This is an entertaining book by which to sew.

Abby Glassenberg of While She Naps and stuffed birds fame started a series of blog posts about patterns that changed people’s lives. The first one is about Sara of Sweetness. She, if you don’t know from studying this blog intently 😉  , is the authoress of the Petrillo Bag, which I have discussed endlessly and will, no doubt, discuss more in the future. I look forward to reading more of Abby’s interviews.

As an aside, I reviewed her book, Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction, back in February. Did you buy it?

Here’s an interview Judy Martin did for Fave Quilts back in early May. The book giveaway is no longer current, but you might find the rest of it interesting.

Also relating to the Martin Family, check out the Accuquilt blog for the winner and photos of their block contest!

Take a look at the SAQA donation quilts! There is one from Miss Lottie, the hostess of the Slightly Mad Quilt Lady podcast and also one from fellow CQFA-er, Jennifer Landau! Great work, ladies!

Other Artists

Reene over at Nellie’s Niceties blog posted some NY Beauty pillows she made. I showed my mom as we were together and we had a discussion about color wheels as a result. She said that the color scheme of these pillows worked because they are compliments on the Munsell Color System. She swears by Munsell. She wrote a few blog posts, which you can read on her blog, Mary’s Art Musings. She also posted about these pillows as well.

Travel

I went down south to visit Disneyland with some of DH’s family. We had a great time, but that part of the trip is not quilt related (Disney no longer sells fabric in the parks), so you’ll just have to wonder about our trip. 😉 The quilt highlight was meeting up with Susan of History Quilter fame and spend some time with her and her family. I got the grand tour of the remodel, which was great, because it looked like the photos, but was oriented differently in m mind. I saw where the podcast magic happens! I also got to meet her family and talk some quilting. I loved one quilt where she is doing different textures. I actually really liked all of her quilts (got to see her UFOs), especially the free way in which Susan puts patterned fabrics together. Because I am very bossy, I gave her some advice (ideas, hopefully) on how to continue with her UFOs. Now that the remodel is done and school is out, she can get back to her quilting. I look forward to seeing her progress.

Techniques, Tips & Tutorials

I have talked about using French seams in pillow cases and gift bags. They really make the seams look nice. Perhaps I can use them on the free motion tote bag I haven’t yet made if I cut out the batting? I’ll have to see. Here is a tutorial that might give you more information.

I found a video of Sue Nickels machine quilting and was pleased to see that A) she marks and B) she doesn’t run the machine at a demon speed. I don’t feel like such a fish out of water after watching this video and I think it opens up the possibilities of machine and free motion quilting to other quiltmakers who didn’t feel comfortable moving the machine a long as fast as it would go.

The Fat Quarter shop has a YouTube Channel they describe as great if you are looking for tutorials, tips, and fun videos?

I love this binding. the designer embellished it. It is the last thing I would have thought of, but it does provide another venue for embellishment and surface design.

Torie showed a picture of the beginning of her Texas Braid quilt, which I thought was a cool unit. The teacher has a post with students showing long strips of braids. I kind of like the units alone and wonder what I could do with one.

Joe Cunningham, of San Francisco, has a video on the TQS blog about sewing something to something else. While it is a simple idea, it is also profound and opens up your quiltmaking to a host of design possibilities.

Remember the Sarah Ann Smith online class I reviewed? Recently I saw a Melinda Bula video that illustrates the idea in a couple of minutes. I don’t think this video replaces the Sarah Ann Smith online class (which you should buy, if you haven’t already done so), but it does give you a good reminder of the steps in only a couple of minutes.

Exhibits, Shows & Challenges

Homefront Challenge. Entries are due August 30.

I like the layout of this Disappearing Four Patch that ZAnyMouse shared on Twitter. I like the way the small squares form, what looks like sashing and the larger part of the blocks form real four patches. Peggy at BAMQG said she has laid out some of the Disappearing 4 Patches this way. It makes me want to make a Disappearing 4 Patch! If you want to make something like this, check out the Material Girl tutorial.

The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles is trying to pay off their permanent building so they can have more financial options. To do this they are having a fund raising campaign. They write ” 37 years, 37 weeks, 37 reasons why you should join us to Realize the Dream. We have raised 50% of our $1.4 million goal but we need your help to Realize the Dream. These funds will eliminate the debt on our beautiful permanent building and home. Make our dream a reality by giving!” 50% is a fantastic start! Even if you can give $1, $5 or $10, every dollar counts. Give now to help maintain a resource celebrating all quiltmakers and available for all of us.

Media, Blogs and Other Artists

Kathy Matthews is a reader here and she does a quilt column for Chicago Now! Head over to her online space and tell her you read about her here. One interesting post was about a guy who wanted to return to work, because he had no hobbies. Can you imagine? The dude needs to start quilting.

Torina has redesigned the Tubaville Blog and looks cheery. She is working on the Gypsy Wife project. I will have to look that one up as I am not familiar with it. She also shows a picture of her finished City Sampler quilt on an April 29 post.

Anna Maria Horner gives the backstory of her new collection of fabric, which is sweet and sad and triumphant, but all in very lowkey ways. We think of designers in our realm as superstars and this post gives a very real view into the very real life of a woman who is mother, daughter, caregiver, nurturer and how all of that can overwhelm that woman when the roles get out of balance. The description of how her art and craft helped her return to her normal balance is heartwarming and inspirational.

The LA Times had a series of stories about Modern Quilting. Thanks to Pink chalk for the tip.

Quilt Market Recap

My pals at quilting Adventures have great posts on what they bought and saw at Market. Day 1’s post includes Carolyn Friedlander’s booth, which must have been a stunner (anyone have the list of booth winners?), because everyone is talking about it. One of their photos has a wonderful Dutchman’s Puzzle quilt where each block is made from 2 fabrics. I also really like the gridded flying geese quilt with the grey background. I could replace the flying geese with other shapes to make it a little different, but the flying geese are great.

They also did a Sample Spree post. I have a basic understanding of Sample Spree, but it is still a bit of a mystery to me.

Phoebe, on Day 2 of Market, was having so much fun she forgot to take photos for the blog! What a girl! Still she produces a valiant post. She reminds readers to check back for a Market giveaway.

If you haven’t seen Angela Walters post, be sure and read it. It is very poignant and makes me like her all the more. I am very partial to grandparents and she talks about her grandpa in this post quite a bit.

Deer with giant horns were prevalent. I saw a number of prints in various blog posts as well as a full on mounted, stuffed deer head – made form fabric. I think it is a strange trend, but to each her own.

Do you need a good laugh? Check out these photo captions from The Fat Quarter Shop. You can also see the thoughts of the FQS girls by taking a look at their Twitter feed during the show.

Lazy Girl Designs talks about her demos in the Clover Booth of “Press Perfect.” She also has some great photos. Short but sweet recap.

Nicole from Modern Handcraft (I wonder if this was the name of her blog before ‘Modern’ became a thing…when did ‘Modern’ become a thing anyway?) has a photo collage  and lots of detail shots of her Market experience.

Riley Blake has a two part blog post recapping the market experience of that fabric manufacturer. Part 1 talks about their booth theme (sea, beach) and shows stuffies, including a whale!, made from their new fabric lines. They say that navy and orange are the hot new color combination of the season. I guess I won’t be buying much fabric this season. I do like the flamingos (I’ll have to look for a pattern) on the pillows, but wish they were pink and the tree silhouette quilt is wonderful, though I wish it were made from different colors. Part 2 talks about more of their fabric lines, shows many, many projects and fabrics.

Bonnie Christine shows her booth, Winged, which is named after her new fabric line for Art Gallery Fabrics. Her post has mostly a fabric collage and she promises to talk more about Market soon, so stay tuned for that.

Jaybird Quilts has a nice post with a lot of different types of pictures: her projects in various booths, schoolhouse, setup. There is a picture of tula Pink’s new ribbon, one of which has the octopus motif that I used in one of the City Sampler blocks on it. I am not sure on which project I would use octopus ribbon, but I still kind of love it.

It is fun to look at a random sampling of different posts to get a sense of what Quilt Market was like. If you search for “quilt market pittsburgh 2014” recap you should get some interesting results as well.

Moda has videos.

Projects and Patterns

I don’t know how seem to miss blog hops. Moda had one recently called Spell It with Moda. It included patterns for letters, numbers and punctuations. I found it a link on Camille Roskelley’s blog.

I have been thinking about dong the Farmer’s Wife project. It will be awhile since I am working on the City Sampler/Tale of Two Cities projects and a person can only handle so many blocks at one time. I do like looking at them. Lori from Quilting Unleashed posted a nice picture of her blocks in the midst of a vacation post that makes me envy how much she got done.

Fabric

You’d think I had enough fabric. Not in this case. I need the right fabric: fabric with images of California. I want to make shirts for the boys to wear when they are travelling together as Grand Officers, or to wear at Grand Parlor. There seems to be a dearth of nice (read: suitable for grown men to wear on their bodies) California themed fabric. I have seen the following:

• California, USA – this is probably the best of the bunch
• California – this is a little cartoony, but could work
• Zebra Patterns Mini Panel – this could be sewn on to the back of a shirt
• California Poppies Floral – I’d have to consult with them to see if this is too girly. The California poppy is the state flower, so they might be up for it.

Spoonflower has some great designs and I would love to use some of them, but the fabric is pricey. Some of them would have to be cut and matched very carefully and I am not that good at making garments.

• California’s Pride – oranges in a vintage style
• Traffic fabric – a reality of life in California and it is entertaining, but I don’t know if the boys would like it that much
• I left my heart in SF – I don’t think this would work very well for a shirt, because of hte directionality. Again, I don’t know that much about arranging fabric for garments so it might work
• California birds – might be too girly
• Cross Country California – kind of boring colors

I’d really like something like the vintage silk pieces that I saw online at Etsy or another on Etsy or on Flickr, but there is not enough of them to make a shirt and they may be too fragile. I wish Michael Miller or Robert Kaufman would reprint fabrics like this. Tell me what you have found. Perhaps there is some old bolt of awesome fabric that you have found.

Tools and Supplies

A downloadable PDF version of the Aurifil color card is now available! the colors may not be completely true, because of the color reproduction on your computer, so just use it as a backup to your printed (real) color card.

A Fiber Artist’s Guide to Color and Design is back in stock at Amazon! Click below to order it if you have not already bought a copy. This is a fantastic resource for those of you following along with the design series.

Media

I finally got a chance to listen to the Slightly Mad Quilt Lady podcast and I really like it. I like the descriptions of her process and what she is working on. Charlotte, the hostess, also has a very calm voice. If you haven’t listened to her episode #2, it is really great.

NPR had a recent story on improving memory and they mentioned quiltmaking! They also mentioned exercise and Photoshop, all things we quiltmakers discuss endlessly.

One of my wonderful quilt friends and fabulous teacher, Pamela Allen, has a piece, finally, in Quilt National. This has been a long time goal of hers. She is featured in an article about her journey. In the piece she talks about arrogance and ignorance and quiltmaking. Read it. You will be inspired.

I am not sure if over-dyeing antique quilts is a sad comment on not valuing our past or helping the quilts live another day. I know I am incensed by the prices. Read the brief article and decide. Thanks to Charlotte of the Slightly Mad Quilt Lady podcast for the link.

So many different kinds of media! Have you seen Alex Veronelli’s paper.li? Check out the links to machine binding your quilt. I might have to try that.

Want to take a peek at the eInsider? It is a magazine of the quilt industry.

Reddit has a quilting board that I have never quite gotten the hang of. Katie, from Katie’s Quilting Corner podcast, post a link to a heartwarming story about the perfection of quilts. Good food for thought.

Projects

People are starting to finish their Disappearing Pinwheel projects. Not me, but Sandy finished hers. Her layout looks really nice. It looks like a flower bed to me.

People are also finishing their Scrapitude projects. Not me, yet, but Jackie posted a picture of hers. I think she quilted it herself! It is so great to see how different they look. It looks like Jackie used slightly darker fabrics for the foreground and a creamy light for the background.

Products, Tools & Supplies

Alex Veronelli, the Aurifil King, recent wondered if sewing machines with print cartridges to color the thread would put him out of business. I was shocked when I saw the photo of the sewing machine/thread printer from Yanko Designs. There is so much wrong with this ad, but the concept also brings up a lot of questions for me. Why would people who hate sewing create this sewing machine? How many print cartridges would I have to buy? What kind of thread does it use and who makes it? Is the color colorfast? How fast will it fade? Will the designers be at Quilt Market? Let me know if you see them? I am sticking to Aurifil, Superior and Presencia even if it makes me a an old fuddy duddy.

Here is a great t-shirt that Scooquilt (Valerie) shared on Twitter recently.

Shops and Stores

I sold another clock on my Cafe Press store! Clearly I have started a trend, so get yours now while the getting is good! 😉 When I updated my store recently, I forgot to change the image for this clock, which is still a detail image of the Flowering Snowball quilt, and now I am glad. I have sold a total of 3, which isn’t 50,000, but kind of amazes me. What do you think of a clock as a quilt novelty?

I have also been making an effort to click on my own Amazon link when I buy stuff on Amazon, so that I can get credit for it that way, too.

Other Artists

The buzz around Quilt Market grew in the week leading up to that event, which is on now. Blogs, Twitter and other social media all blew up with the hashtag # QuiltMarket. Did you follow along? A I have been starting to listen to the QuiltCast, a podcast that started late last year. Amy, of Amy’s Creative Side, and April, of Prairie Grass Designs, are the hostesses and they have both also just come out with new fabric lines with Moda.

Tips, Tricks & Traps

Need some tips or guidance on sewing laminated fabric (oilcloth)? Check out the Glorious Color tutorial. Thanks to Mark Lipinski for pointing it out.

Do you need help selecting a needle? I really liked the infographic from the Sewing Parts Online blog.

Jackie has some definitions of charms in a recent post, in case you were wondering.

Exhibitions, Articles and Quilt Shows

Cathy Izzo of the City Quilter in NYC reported, in her recent newsletter, about the GRAND CENTRAL CENTENNIAL QUILTS OPENING! It is their joint exhibition with American Patchwork & Quilting magazine and was celebrated in an opening event last Tuesday March 25, 2014. 20 of the 30 quilters represented in the show attended. This is a photo gallery from the party at the NY Transit Museum‘s Gallery at Grand Central Terminal.

The Wall Street Journal published a wonderful feature article on quilting and the Grand Central project last week.

To help everyone spread the word about the GCT exhibit, the City Quilter created an easy to remember web address that provides access to all the key information and links about the Grand Central effort: www.grandcentralquilts.com So you can spread the word, too.

If you are visiting NYC, you can find The City Quilter at 133 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001 or you can contact them via phone at 212-807-0390.

Our Sunday edition of the San Francisco Chronicle had an article about Joe Cunningham (“Joe the quilter) who will be featured on Craft in America, the PBS series, next week.

Blogs, Quilts and Pretty Things

I have seen a few tie quilts lately that have really made me think that people are getting their creative groove on more and more. Perhaps the financial crisis is really over and creativity isn’t such a luxury anymore? Someone pointed me to the 24 Blocks blog where she shows a couple of tie quilts. I can’t decide whether I like the Dresden Plate or the 3D Tie quilt better.

Amy has post up about making Sara Lawson‘s Aragon Bag. The photos really show different views of the bag , which gave me a better sense of how it looks.

Remember last fall I made a Day in the Park backpack for Sara Lawson’s Purse Palooza? Marisa also made a Day in the Park Backpack. I am curious to see how she likes hers. Hers looks really different from mine. Different fabrics really changes the look.

Our friend, Sara over at Sew Sweetness has a lot of exciting news (she’s moving to WordPress!, for one) on her recent blog post. She may need some help sewing!

I love this quilt by Valerie, which she posted on her blog recently. It reminds me of the donation quilt on which I am working, but takes the idea a bit farther, evolves the idea I have been using a bit. It is also very nice in terms of color and arrangement.

Mom is working on Scrapitude. I posted some photos of a block to her blog since she is dealing with the learning curve of her new phone.

The other day I went to Britex with my mom. She hadn’t been there in awhile and was practically swooning at the thought. Britex is a pretty great place. The amount of fabric is startling. The number of button offerings is insane. They have embroidered and beaded appliques, multitudes of patterns and on and on. Of course, we had to go up to the floor with quiltmaking cottons where I saw one of the octopus prints from the Tula Pink Saltwater collection. This led me to finally watch a video that The Quilt Show posted about Tula Pink’s studio, which further led me to look around her website. I took a look at her blog and was kind of disappointed. I view other blogs through the lens of my own blog. I attempt to post good content that includes why I am doing what I am doing. As a designer, I know that marketing is part of the job and I expect to see posts on new fabric collections, machine endorsements, etc. I also would like to see more about their process. I saw a post Ms. Pink had written about her City Sampler blocks that people out in the world had made, which was wonderful, but in a few years worth of posts, nothing about her process. 🙁 I guess we can’t have everything. There must be something I am not understanding.

Patterns, Projects & Tutorials

Sara of Sew Sweetness also a new backpack pattern out: the Edelweiss Backpack. I haven’t made it, but the pictures show great structure. There are a number of different examples in all different types of fabric so you can get a god idea of what it would look like in any kind of fabric from large scale print to small flowers. The only thing I think is missing from some of Sara’s patterns are covers for the zippers. I don’t know how hard they are, but I think a zipper cover would give added professionalism to already professional looking bags.

Pam, of Hip to be a Square podcast and blog, has a hilarious pattern for a charm holder for your quilt guild nametag/lanyard. It is a great idea and her particular rendition is fun and lighthearted. It also provides inspiration for other versions of Pam’s flasher.

Tools & Supplies

I saw a book called Doodle Designs Coloring Book in a magazine ad the other day. I remember getting Doodle Art posters as a kid and spending lots of happy hours coloring them. I don’t know what happened to the posters, but the memory of the fun lingers on on in my mind. This book reminds me of that and I want one. The reality is that I probably wouldn’t have time to color it in, so I’ll probably just admire it from afar.

I have been trying to get a new insert for sewing table that will work with my backup machine. I hope to be able to sew on it more comfortably when my main machine is out of commission (cross your fingers that such a situation will not happen often!). What a drama! I thought I had a Horn cabinet, but after going back and forth with the Horn people several times, they finally decided that I do not have a Horn cabinet. My cabinet (who knows what brand?) is outfitted with a Horn lift.

Before I winkled out this nugget of information I visited the Horn dealer in the City. they are terrible. I really don’t like to bash small businesses, but I cannot find anything good about the shop or the service. They have so little interest in any kind of customer service that it makes me think the shop is a front for some kind of illegal operation. I don’t know that, but why have a sewing dealership and not want to sell? Frustrated and feeling like I didn’t need to go to a Horn dealer (the next closest one being about 30 miles away), I called a shop that is near me called Serge-A-Lot. I have driven past it several times on my way to and from picking up the Young Man, so I know it is close. I called on a whim and they were absolutely willing to help me. I was thrilled! I went in the next day with my insert and the ‘blank’ that fits into my sewing table when the lift is completely down. Sherri, the owner, measured and double checked and really helped me. She wasn’t sure if they could make an insert, but said she would contact her vendor and let me know. I sent a long a photo of my table, per her request and she got back to me right away saying she would know in a few days if they couldn’t make one and it might be several weeks to actually get it made. In either case, she promised to keep me in the loop. I haven’t heard back, so I assume I will be getting an insert at some point.

After we finished discussing the insert, she showed me a quilt that was quilted with the embroidery function of the BabyLock (Serge-A-Lot is a BabyLock dealer). She also showed me the vast amount of Floriani thread and stabilizers they carry. These items give me a reason to go and support her shop. I wish it were bigger and had more quilting stuff, but I am happy to have customer service. Perhaps I’ll be able to cross one thing off my ever growing To Do list. Stay tuned!

Quilt World News

Caryl Bryer Fallert and her husband (partner??), Ron, have sold their building in Paducah and will be moving to Port Townsend, Washington. More information is on the news tab of her site. The “home/shop/studio/gallery in Paducah to JoAnne and Jeff Louis, owners of Paper Pieces. http://paperpieces.com/ JoAnne, Jeff, and their staff will be moving  their internet business into our building in early June, and they plan to re-open the shop as soon as they get settled.” Paper Pieces is the company from whom I buy my EPP papers. Paper Pieces will be selling Caryl’s fabric and publications after the transition.

Charlotte Scott has a new podcast published called the Slightly Mad Quilt Lady. I heard about this from Sandy who mentioned it in her episode #154. As of this writing, I haven’t listened to an episode, but it is on my list and I will report back.

And, yes, I have the next design series concept on my list. I’ll get to it soon.

What I am Reading

• City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn
• Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriker
• Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley – one of her older novels that has recently be released for Kindle. I enjoyed it, though there were a couple of parts where I had had enough of the chaos.
• Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn – novella prequel to City of Jasmine. One of the best written novellas Raybourn has done.

Other Artists

SherriD has made two significant finishes this month. She does beautiful handwork and I have been watching her progress through her U is for Unicorn quilt. She finally finished it and I am in awe at the work. it is beautiful. I finish a number of things over the course of a year, but they all pale in comparison to the work required for this piece. Congrats, Sherri!

Elly at Aurifil posted a link to a piece called Reaching for Words, that in technique, reminds me of my piece, What Comes Next. Seeing it makes me want to stamp letters on fabric again. Fruiti and Spagetti threads are also mentioned and I would love to learn more about those as well.

Patterns, Tutorials and Projects

A Quilter’s Table has a great tutorial on a 3 zipper pouch. Nice colors, too.

Someone brought scissor pouches to show at the last meeting. I looked up tutorials, because I thought it would be a good gift. I looked at two. One was from StamperDog and the other from Stamping with Gail. I thought these would be good gifts.

Services & Sites

I found something via Twitter called the Playcraft Palette Builder 2. I have seen people put up a picture with the exact matches for fabric in neat little boxes next to the image. I thought that they were much faster and more dedicated than I in picking fabrics. They might be, but now I have a secret weapon OR now I know their secret! I loaded Beachtown and came up with a palette! I am not sure it is a great palette. I didn’t realize there were so many greyed colors in the quilt, but also there are a number of buttons and features I have not explored. I can see this as a fun tool.

Fabric, Tools & Supplies

I recently found a site called Polka Dot Tea Fabrics. I don’t know what tea has to do with fabric, though I do drink tea pretty often when I work on my projects. The shop has a lot of great colors, plenty of solids, Japanese fabrics, FQ packs as well as pre-cuts.

I get my rotary blades from LP Sharp because I can send back my used blades and get a discount on new blades. I don’t know what else to do with the used blades besides throw them out and I like the idea of them being recycled. This time I went through rotary blades at a tremendous rate and suddenly I had no new ones. Quickly, I packaged up an order, but the blade in my rotary cutter was sad. On a visit to the Intrepid Thread down in Milpitas, I picked up a Clover Rotary Blade refill. It was 45mm, but I wasn’t sure if it would fit my Olfa cutter. I asked and Colleen told me that Julie buys those because they have a small plastic holder which allows the quiltmaker to replace her rotary blade without actually touching the blade. You can see the tab in the photo. Cool, huh?

I haven’t tried cutting with it, but will let you know if I like the way it cuts. I will probably still use LP Sharp because of the recycling, but I will definitely consider this blade again when I am desperate.

Events, Shows and Exhibits

The East Bay Heritage Quilters show was held March 22 and 23 at Craneway Pavillion in Richmond.

Judy Martin is ramping up her lecturing circuit again now that her son is headed off to start his life. She has some lectures scheduled in the Midwest. I wish they were closer as I am dying to meet Judy in person! I love her work. How long does it take to drive from California to Iowa? The events are:

• March 15, 1:00-3:00 – Pella, IA – The Quilted Windmill (formerly VandeLune Fabrics) – I’ll be signing autographs. Their phone number is 641-780-0676.
• March 21-22 – New Ulm, MN – I’ll be doing 3 Log Cabin lectures at the Prairie Piecemakers biennial quilt show. The show is open on Friday from 9:00-6:00 and Saturday from 9:00-4:00. On Friday I will lecture at 2:00. On Saturday you can see me at 10:00 or 2:00.April 1 – Pella, IA – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture for the Pella Area Quilters Guild. The meeting is at the 3rd Reformed Church, 708 East 13th Street in Pella. April 7 – Dixon, IL – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture for the Petunia City Quilters. The meeting is at the Loveland Community Building, 513 W. 2nd St. in Dixon.
• April 8, 6:30 – Danville, IL – Threads of Time – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture. You can read more about my visit at http://www.threadsoftimefab.com/classes/judy_martin/
• May 14, 7:00 – Ottawa, IL – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture for the Illinois Valley Quilters Guild. Meetings are held at Epworth United Methodist Church, 627 Gentleman Road in Ottawa. You can read more about it at http://www.illinoisvalleyquiltersguild.com/Guild_Programs.html.
• May 15, 7:00 – Naperville, IL – Pride of the Prairie Quilters – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture. Meetings are held at Zion Lutheran Church at 11007 Book Road in Naperville. For more information go to http://www.prideofprairie.org/Programs.htm
• May 16, 6:00-9:00 – Westmont, IL – QuiltFabric.com – I will be doing my Log Cabin lecture. The shop’s address is 818 E. Ogden Avenue. For more information go to http://www.quiltfabric.com/index.htm

The 2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge: Radiant Orchid is now open for entries.

Not Quilt Related

I am a fan of the show Castle. Recently I found two sites that are great. One is a writing about fashion blog called Once Upon a Blog by Julia where the authors periodically mention characters from the show. The other is called Dress Like Kate Beckett. I want to be Kate Beckett! I don’t want to be a homicide detective, but I want her height, boldness, fearlessness and wardrobe. I also want to be able to run in 4″ heels.

What I am reading:

• I just finished Silent in the Grave, Silent in the Sanctuary, Silent on the Moor and Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn and am on to The Dark Enquiry again. Yes, again. Sometimes I need comfort books. If I had A Town Like Alice on audio, I probably would have listened to that.
• Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson

Tools, Supplies, Books & Notions

Fabric Printing leaps to other work environments when law librarians trying not get their Poster Session posters wrinkled on their way to their annual conference begin printing their posters on paper. They used Spoonflower! The article was in a recent issue of a national law librarian publication. Perhaps quiltmaking is next?

Remember when I was talking about the Girl in profile Serendipity Quilt? Caroline, our teacher said to use a glue stick. Recently I saw a Sewline Glue Pen somewhere. It looks completely awesome and perfect for this project. Of course, I haven’t done more than create the pattern, but still….

Nancy Zieman of Sewing with Nancy and the Nancy’s Notions empire has written a book. Go buy it; she is amazing!

The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket is being republished in eBook form. I dropped by her blog and saw the notice there. She is the publisher this time and discusses working with the people who did the technical work required to get it into eBook form.

Aren’t these pretty notions? I love the wood. He has a whole section of quiltmaking items that would look fabulous and, probably, be lovely with which to work. I haven’t bought anything from him, but I am eying the bobbin holder and the seam rippers. I wonder if they are sharp?

Missouri Star Quilt Company is publishing a new magazine. I haven’t decided whether or not to buy it.

Quilt Colour Workshop (with a ‘u’!) is a new book from the people at Fat Quarterly magazine. It publishes in mid-March. I saw a review and it sounds interesting, though I thought there was a lot of emphasis on the patterns on projects. I went and looked on Amazon and there is a “without the u version” 😉 for sale there. I’d like to look through the book before I commit to buying.

Fabric

I thought about including this category in with notions, but decided Fabric is a thing unto itself.

Anna Maria Horner has decided to create a fabric stack reflecting her mood of the month. Her January Gathering post talks about her inspiration, her own rules for creating the stack and gives some words that reflect the month for her. The precise details for subscribing are posted in a lovely PDF on her site. I am terribly tempted to subscribe. As if I need more fabric.

I love this idea, especially to stay inspired with color and fabric. I am thinking that, although two months are almost gone from 2014, that I could do this as well. I could use my own fabric and not sell stacks, but be inspired by the month, reinvigorate my quiltmaking, reacquaint myself with my fabric and generally be inspired. Who wants to play?

Services & Sites

AQS, as part of their membership fee, now has My Quilt Place. There you can create your own webpage, upload photos, post events & link to your favorite blogs. I haven’t tried it, but if you are wanting a webpage, this might be the place to start. There didn’t seem to be any place to search (wanted to see if anyone was working on Scrapitude), but I think they want Nosy Parkers to login before searching.

Not sure what category this goes in, but I found a great story about why you should label your quilts on Bonnie Hunter’s blog.

I finally opened up Feedly and looked through some blogs I had marked. I came across Malka Dubrowsky’s blog and her “What I am Working on Wednesday” post. This has the same or a similar meaning to Pam (and others) WIP Wednesday posts. Somehow the name sounds different. I really had a blast of blog inspiration that I would do this as well. Then I realized that almost all of my posts are about what I am working on. Back to the drawing board!

Susan Brubaker Knapp is the new Quilting Arts TV host. No word on what Pokey Bolton is doing now, but it seems that she is making a lot of changes in her life. Everyone needs a change at some point even if they are immersed in the quilt world. Good luck to both!

Projects, Patterns & Tutorials

Wondering about tension? Eileen has a tutorial on her blog for testing tension, working with your bobbin and general information about tension. You might not need it, but it is a good refresher.

In a recent Quilts & More, I saw a cute backpack and decided to make it for a young lady I know. The Fat Quarter Shop still had kits of the fabrics. While I have plenty of fabric, I decided to use the kit, because I would probably put too much pink in it for her tastes. Want to make it with me?

Remember when I talked about the fabric handbags? I haven’t forgotten about them; I just haven’t put them on the front burner. I need to. I just haven’t. I was surfing the web and came across a post by the Happy Zombie where she makes what she calls the Small Treats Totes. These might work. I don’t mind the other pattern at all. I did think it was a little cumbersome to make, but not terrible and I am sure I can change the pattern a bit if I work with it. Also, all the bags done have to be the same., do they?

Ami Simms recently talked about crumb blocks. Katie of Katie’s Quilting Corner and Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville both talk about crumb blocks and I always thought it sounded faintly odd. Basically I didn’t understand it and never took the time to look it up. Seeing Ami Simms blog suddenly put it all together for me. I call the process that creates crumb blocks Mosaic Piecing. I suppose it could also be called crazy piecing. I am not exactly sure if there is a difference. I know that when I make my crumb/mosaic blocks I use all the same color in one piece. I noticed that Bonnie Hunter used all different colors in her blocks.

Daisy Fraser Wreath told me about a Skillbuilder Sampler, which I thought I would share with you. I am all about building skills as it prevents frustration! There are a number of blocks there that I have not made, which means, perhaps, I should go and build some skills. The quilt-a-long is over, but all the information is still there and my Quilt class tutorials would dovetail nicely.

I stopped by the Be*Mused blog and saw she had made one of Jenni Baker’s drawstring bags. This is another good way to wrap gifts, similar to my gift bags

Carol recently pointed me to the Quilt Rat’s blog where she had posted a post on design and repetition. It isn’t exactly on repetition like we discussed in the podcast with Sandy, but another way to enhance your art with repetition. She shows how much can be done with a simple outline and give examples of modifying it for different techniques. This is a great exercise to add to your arsenal, if you are stuck, as well.

I became aware of the Modern Bias Blog when I saw that someone with that name on Flickr favorited my Russian Rubix blocks. I looked through some of the posts. She has some information about paper piecing in a post where she extolls the virtues of another blogger’s Economy block. A lot of the information can be found in a multitude of other sources, but the fabric combinations are fantastic and might just be the inspiration you need.

Jackie recently posted a link to 15 pincushion patterns. If you need a gift, there are all sorts of different pincushions at this site from which to choose.

Other Artists & Inspiration

Have you seen the Mrs. Billings quilt? It is really amazing. Thanks to Moda for tweeting it out.

Remember my Corner Store quilt? I saw another one on the web recently. It is very nice and I like the cheerfulness as well as the grey background.

How about the Olympic Patchwork Quilt? It is really pretty and kind of reminds me of FOTY 2010. Are Olympic quilts a thing? I remember a book about the Atlanta Summer Games quilts, but do people make quilts for each Olympics? I haven’t searched (no excuse, I know), but let me know if something quilt related is going on for the Olympics in your local guild or quilt group.

Here is a follow-up to the exhibition of Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle’s work at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Textiles. Weeks wrote a blog post about it, some background and the artists’ reception.

Danny Gregory wrote a post recently about his commute to work. It struck home, because of my Ferry Building 365 Project. My commute is the same everyday. I don’t really have the option to walk or bike, but the FB365project helps me look at at least one part of my commute with fresh eyes every day. This quote spoke to me “But with novelty comes a renewed awareness, another bucket of ice water over the head, the shock of the new.”

I heard about the Adventures in Arting podcast (also available on iTunes) recently, perhaps from Tanesha. I downloaded a few episodes, but only listened to the first two over the weekend. Oh My Goodness! This is a great podcast – at least the first two episodes were great. In the first two episodes they talk about a couple of my mantras: intention and failure. In the design episodes with Sandy, I often mention the artists intention. This is YOUR intention when you are making something. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and her guests discuss intention in the first episode and I love what they say. In the second episode, there is a guest, Ronda Palazzari, and the three of them (Julie’s mom is co-host) discuss failure. Eileen, Julie’s mom, talks about what a negative and unhelpful word failure is and gives four different and more helpful ways of thinking about failure. No, this is not a quilting podcast, though, there was a brief mention of stitch, but you can glean a lot about creativity from listening. Give it a try. I’ll let you know if I decide I don’t like it later.

From ResearchBuzz: “Now available: the digitized scrapbooks of Harry Houdini. “The collection contains ten scrapbooks filled with advertisements, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, reports, how-to articles, and almost everything else regarding magic from roughly the 1830s through the 1920s. Houdini owned all the books at the time of his death, but he did not compile all of the clippings.” These are mostly an interesting collection of advertisements, but if you are interested in magic and the history of magic, there will be another element for you. I thought they were interesting as a specimen of scrapbooking.

Housekeeping

I have been receiving a lot of cranky-sounding emails from readers about the email subscription. Most recently I got a frantic comment from a reader asking to be unsubscribed from the email. This comment was followed a few minutes later by an email.

I am always sorry to see people leave the emailed version of my posts. I am happy to unsubscribe you, but you can also unsubscribe yourself. The picture to the side illustrates how to unsubscribe. The spot can be found in the upper right hand corner of my blog.

Please keep in mind that I am one person, I don’t have a team of social media people available to help with issues. I would appreciate it if you would give me some time to help you before contacting me multiple times. The best way to reach me is via email at poste [at] arquiltmaker [dot] com. Comments about unsubscribing left on posts will be deleted. Thank you.

What I am Reading:

• Night Music by JoJo Moyes
• A Place at the Table – not at all what I expected!
• Fatal Grace by Louise Penney
• The Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchy
• How Light Gets in by Louise Penney
• Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardinier

Supplies and Tools

You probably know by now that I am a big fan of Soft and Stable. I may just end up using it for all the bags in which I don’t use ShapeFlex (another fave, thanks to Sara at Sew Sweetness). I received an email over Thanksgiving from ByAnnie, the company (and lady) who invented Soft & Stable telling readers of her newsletter that her husband had died and shipping would be delayed. I don’t see a similar article on their blog, to which to refer you, but perhaps they will post it later. The article in her newsletter was beautiful. It made me truly hope I have such wonderful things to say about my husband when we are at the end of our lives. My heart goes out to Annie and her family.

Alison Glass has a new line of Aurifil thread that are really bright and cheerful. I like them.

Other Artists

I really like this three eyed doll by Daisy at Colorize.

On the Web

June has started a Flickr Group for projects made with hand-dyed fabric. Post your projects to the group. I believe that you can post projects even if you didn’t dye the fabric yourself. You can also find June and her projects at the Stitched by Me blog.

There was an interesting article about inspiring workspaces of the famously creative. I particularly like the pool table in Mark Twain’s space (may be a recreation?). I also want the bookcases that Nigella Lawson has. I need those bookcases! All of these people had light and most had a lot of space. Pablo Picasso’s space is spectacular. I love the shape of the doors. Ruth Reichl’s space wouldn’t work for me as a workspace, but I love it anyway and would add such a corner to some other kind of workspace. Some of the spaces actually fit their people. Does your space fit you?

Sophie commented a few times during BFSI so I went over to look at her blog, Sophie Junction. First, I loved the name. She also had a great quilt on the front page the day I looked that I thought had possibilities to be quick and not boring. Sophie is also a good writer. This is one of the great things about the BFSI – new people stop by and leave their web addresses. It is fun to see what others are making.

I noticed that Joann will provide space for craft group meetings and get togethers. I am sure it depends on the space of your local store, but check with them and see if your quilt group can meet for free.

Chris has been playing with Inktense pencils. I got some from Lisa and need to try them out. In my spare time. Yes.

Projects

If you are thinking and swearing that you will start on handmade projects early next year, Adrianne created a list of projects to get your creative juices flowing. Of course you can pull an all nighter!

Julie over at the Intrepid Thread is looking for Sample makers and pattern testers for her shop. She posted all the details on her blog. Use the special email address she has set up to apply. Great opportunity!

Blog Follow-up

DaisyW shared the following in a comment after I wrote the post called the The Rag Man. “BTW, if you have damaged clothes/other unusable fabric, Goodwill will take it. This article: http://earth911.com/style/donate-worn-damaged-clothing/ quotes a Goodwill VP as saying they’ll take all textiles in any condition. If they can’t sell it as clothing, etc, they can still sell to salvage textile recyclers, sort of like the rag man on a grand scale.”

I receive the Judy Martin Newsletter via email, as I have mentioned a couple of times. Recently she sent out an issue and she included a line from an email she received. It was:

“Sorry you are so Freakin boring. .  I have to unsubscribe from your so-called bragging newsletter. . you’re really sickening to me.     Goodbye!!!”

I really can’t believe someone would send an email like that! What is the point? What do you achieve? I felt bad for her, though she handled it humbly in the newsletter. If you want to subscribe to her newsletter, you can do so at: http://www.judymartin.com/newsletter.cfm and click subscribe

Not Quilt Related

I’ll need someone or multiple someones to attend these events announced in Deanna Raybourn’s December newsletter: “And when you’re filling in your new calendar for 2014, don’t forget to mark January 18 if you’re in the northern Virginia/DC area—I’ll be at the Salem Church branch of the Central Rappahannock Library in Fredericksburg with JOANNA BOURNE and SUSANNA KEARSLEY! We’ll be chatting and signing and hope to see you there. Susanna and I will also be at Murder by the Book in Houston on March 1 to celebrate her newest release, THE FIREBIRD and to launch CITY OF JASMINE on its birthday. Details coming soon on the Tours page of my website.” I won’t force you to buy me a present, but do attend if you can. I’d love to k now about the event. I would attend myself if I weren’t 3,000 miles away.

 

Tools/Supplies

One of the things I wasn’t able to do when my machine was in the shop was to sew on merit badges. I finally was able to sew on the most recent two – chess and sculpture. He has more merit badges than are shown. I just folded over the sash, because I was in a hurry.

I got my Aurifil package for October (or, perhaps, November) while I was away. I was somewhat disappointed with the last installment and I was disappointed in this installment as well. I really wanted bright colors and wasn’t getting them. I decided to cancel my subscription to the Aurifil club. I still think the Aurifil Club is a great idea. I know running a small business is hard, I just don’t want to receive the colors I already own or are locally available. I know some of you are thinking that I should tell Mary Jo and Matthew. Yes, you are right; I just didn’t have the energy to explain at this time. They, of course, have no way of knowing what I like and don’t like. I might join again another time. We will see.

The other day I posted a review of Sarah’s video. Towards the end of the video she mentioned a free Quilting Daily eBook called Quilt Binding and Finishing: Free Tutorials on How to Bind a Quilt Plus Tips on Finishing a Quilt. It is in PDF format (I would prefer Kindle, but beggars can’t be choosers. All you have to do is sign up for the Quilting Daily newsletter. It is annoying to get it everyday, but I usually take a quick glance and glean what I can and delete it. The eBooks are great. They aren’t like real books, but free is good.

I did buy a bolt of ShapeFlex. The bolts are only 15 yards big and about $80. I had a 50% off coupon from Joann, so I used it for that. I am pleased and have already cut into it. One great thing about ShapeFlex is that I can use the little bits and pieces to fill in places where I just need a bit.

Exhibits

I got the notice that my local county fair is starting up marketing for their 2014 exhibit. Commit to entering your local county fair. Usually, the cost of entry is low. At our fair, as I have mentioned, we get entry tickets and parking passes, which makes the cost of a day out with the family very affordable. Why not? What have you got to lose?

Projects

Need an idea for birthday card. Check out how Jill made a great card with machine embroidery.

While Sewing
As many of you know, I listen to audiobooks as I sew. I pretend that I only buy quilt books, but, in reality I do buy audiobooks from Audible.com. They make it easy to download and listen. Still, the cost adds up even with a plan. If you are on the fence, there are free books from Librivox, but also you can borrower them from your local public library.

Other Artists

Camille Roskelley posted another version of her Round and Round pattern. I love that block. It is essentially a Friendship Star, but she has made it better. I guess I should say that she has taken a moderately successful block and made it really interesting. I know I sound judgmental, but I think that the Friendship doesn’t work well as a large block (e.g. 12″), works better the smaller a quiltmaker makes it. Roskelley’s version takes the best of the block and really makes it sing.

You might remember that I recently participated in a blog hop for Sarah Ann Smith‘s new DVD Workshop. As part of that, she wrote a nice post about me! It was fun to see the impression that I make on someone else.

Inspiration

I love this idea: Winter is a chromatic palette cleanser. This is paraphrased from The Lost Art of Mixing.

Go out and get The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister. It is a beautifully written book with gorgeous descriptions and characters that could be your next door neighbors. I finished listening to on Audible and would highly recommend that production as well.

I am also in the process of reading:

• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
• The Private Patient by PD James
• Still Life (Chief Inspector Gamache #1) by Louise Penny

On the Web

I took some time to vote in a recent Spoonflower contest about pie fabric. Only one of my choices made the top 10, which is sad, but, clearly, I am not dancing to the beat of the same drummer as everyone else. Oh well. Dance on, I say! 😉

Nadine Ruggles is back with her blog and website. Well, she has been around the whole time and I have just let her drift off my radar. I first found her when she started a podcast. it was an amazingly well produced podcast, and is still relevant,which you can still find on iTunes.

Need to make a badge? Check out the article that points to a site where it is pretty easy to make badges. The icons and clip art are education based, but you can upload images to make the badge your own.

The Grinnell, Iowa Arts Council created a series of posters that depict art in the community. Judy Martin, one of the people who got her own poster describes the effort as “It was designed to show that art isn’t some hoity-toity abstraction created by self-absorbed cosmopolitans but instead comes in many forms and its creators and practitioners are your friends and neighbors.” I love that it included someone who did hair design and baking, two things that often come under the ‘trade’ label. Aside from quiltmaking, what is your art?

Tattered Garden has shown her finished Easy Street quilt. It looks like she used something similar to the recommended colors. Her quilt came out great.

If you’d like to read some new information (to me!) about Bonnie and Camille, there was an interview posted on the Fat Quarter Shop Website.

I mentioned Judy Martin did some videos for QNM. They are coming out now. The first two available are:

• Meet Judy Martin –
• Tips for Successful Log Cabin Quilts

Patterns, Fabrics, Tools and such

I got another two-pack of thread from the Quilt Bear. I think I need to remind them that I want brights as these are more autumn-y than my quilts tend to be.

Their offerings are always nicely packaged and lovely to receive. This group includes 2692 (black) and 2277 (orange). I might have to start quilting to use up the thread I have received.

As you know, I was part of Purse Palooza. I have been trying to go and read the reviews every day. One day, I found a great satchel bag pattern reviewed. It is called handmade by Mrs. H Satchel Bag. It looks like a good size and I like it that the reviewer made the bag twice.

Let’s all make giant squids. Why not? This pattern is adorable and it isn’t like you have a shortage of fabric. Don’t you think a squid in Philip Jacobs fabric would be GREAT?

I suppose the stuffing would be a pain, but I think this squid is very cute. If the Young Man sees it, he will definitely want it.

If you missed the Don’t Call Me Betsy 2013 Lucky Stars Block of the Month, you are in luck! Elizabeth from said blog will be hosting the 2014 Lucky Stars Block of the Month for the second year. Susan from the History Quilter did this BOM, so she may have some tips and opinions. Apparently, you can still join in on the 2013 blocks for a deal.

I often think I should go on a fabric diet and I do when money is tight. When money is not tight, I drift back into buying fabric because I love the possibilities that come with buying a new fabric. I don’t see a piece of fabric; I see a gorgeous finished quilt. In a recent Judy Martin newsletter, she explained her stash philosophy, which I am adopting as mine. If you don’t read her newsletter, you should. It is much more than just fluff marketing. I love it.

[Judy’s] STASH PHILOSOPHY
I view my stash the same way I view my public library: I’ll never come close to reading or using every book in it, but I am glad they are there because when I am looking for the perfect book, I want a healthy selection from which to choose.

When I’m pulling out fabrics for a scrap quilt, I want a healthy selection from which to choose. While that will get me started, invariably I have to head out to the quilt shops to fill in the gaps. It’s not about the efficiency of dying the day after I use my last scrap so that no piece of fabric went unused; it’s about the efficiency of finding the perfect fabric when I need it to make the quilt I’m making right now. And if I go to my grave with a room or two filled with fabric, it served its purpose by giving me choices when I needed them. (from Judy Martin’s newsletter)

Have you ever thought of Feathered Stars? Marsha McCloskey, the queen of Feathered Stars now has some patterns on EQ in the EQ Boutique. Making the Feathered Stars in different patterns is now possible using EQ. The Feathered Star Quilt Blocks I and Feathered Star Quilt Blocks II collections are available at MY EQ BOUTIQUE. Currently, you need a PC to run the free program that comes with the block collections. (There is a rumor that EQ will soon be available for the MAC, but not now.) The advantage is that the block templates can be printed out in any convenient size. For instance, if you want to make the Radiant Star as a 7-1/2″ block, the program will give you templates for that size.  Here’s the address for the Feathered Star block collections: https://www.myeqboutique.com/Shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=76   To download the promotional flyer with the Special Offer coupon code for 15% off and see Marsha McCloskey’s 7-1/2″ Radiant Feathered Star, go to: http://www.marshamccloskey.com/myeqboutique.html

Creativity/Creative Process

This is one view. I found it on Facebook, courtesy of Lisa Fulmer and the Craft Report. I am not sure about the binge eating, though I do tend to get into the chocolate after 2pm. Please discuss.

What I am Reading

Heat Rises by Richard Castle
River’s Edge by Marie Bostwick
Frozen Heat by Richard Castle
Deadly Heat by Richard Castle
The Murder Room by P.D. James

Yes, there is a lot of murder and mayhem going on in my reading life right now. The Heat books were all Kindle books, 2 of which I was able to borrow from the library. Since I haven’t been around much, the Kindle books are great for reading on the go. The last book is getting me back into the P.D. James/Adam Dagleish series. I am more interested in the character development of Dagleish than of the murder, really. Thus book is on audio. P.D. James writes mysteries that tend towards academic, but you get all the information and there are no loose ends, so I like them. I would have finished it during my trip last week, but Mom and I talk rather than listen to books.

Inspiration
Virginia, a CQFAer, sent an interesting thought: Pablo Picasso said:  “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”

Death Cab for Cutie is also providing some inspiration with their album cover for Narrow Stairs. The name of the album (do they call them that anymore?) looks like a selvedge. I wonder if they know? Is it a secret conspiracy to promote quilts? Thanks to Liesl Gibson of Oliver+S for pointing it out.

Fabric, Tools & Supplies
Look at these nice looking swivel clips! One of my frustrations with bag making is that the hardware isn’t that appealing. I was pleased to find this store so I can get some nice looking bag hardware.

Anna Maria Horner announced a new bag pattern recently. Some of the examples she shows are lush…a little over the top lush, but also a treat for hardworking women. The post also has some beautiful pictures and some of her life.

I might have mentioned that Friend Julie made an iron tote. I liked the idea so when I was on my way down to Super G’s house and happened to stop (ahem) in at Quiltin’ Cousins in Pismo Beach, I saw a pattern and, once Julie confirmed it wasn’t the one she used (she had trouble), I bought it. The pattern came with a piece of that insulated silver stuff. One of the things I liked about it was the fabric they used for the pattern. They used a Philip Jacobs-like fabric and Ta Dot dot for the straps and binding. Why didn’t I think of that?

I think I need to make one for myself. I don’t know that I will use it much, but I love the idea of a Philip Jacobs something that I can carry around.

 

I wanted to make it for my secret Santa at BAMQG, but that is not on her list, so, perhaps, I will have to make some for other friends. I have no comment, yet, on the pattern. I’ll let you know how it goes.

As a result, I don’t know what I’ll make for her. Perhaps a needle case? It seems so small, though it is on her list. I’ll think about it and come up with something to make it special.

On the Web
Thanks to Katie, we can now use the hashtag #qhc when we engage in quiltmaking. Researchers in Scotland have done a study on hobbies and speficially mention quiltmaking. The article in the Daily Mail online talks all about it.

I heard about a QuiltGuy retreat. Only guys? Do they go to quilt shops? Talk about their kids? There were some photos. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Awhile ago, I posted about my work on Chris’ start to the BAMQG Round Robin. Kathleen did a blog post recently about a start she worked on. I am posting a link so you can see more of the group’s work.

I love the quilting on the quilt on this post from Melody Johnson. There is something about the few rows of stitching in, what looks like, Perl Cotton that is simple and effective. I don’t visit Melody’s blog as much as I would like. Her colors are so fabulous.

If you want to be really impressed with some longarm quilting, check out this quilt, which was quilted by Kathy Perino. It looks like trapunto in some places. She does longarming if you need a quilt quilted….

Jill is always doing something interesting and now the ‘something interesting‘ is with wool and Perl Cotton.  She even dyed some of the wool. I can’t wait to be retired. I should buy a lotto ticket.

Out and About
Thanks to Cathy Izzo at the City Quilter for these tips:

• MET OPENS EXHIBITION ON GLOBAL TEXTILE HISTORY The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a fascinating exhibition, “Interwoven Globe”, opening on September 16 (and open till Jan 5) about the world textile trade between the years 1500 to 1800. Already up on the Met’s walls is the complementary exhibit of John Forbes Watson’s extraordinary Indian textile collection. These should be well worth the visit.
• KATE STIASSNI OPENS AT THE ARTQUILT GALLERY·NYC Just opened in our gallery is Spaces in Between: Contemporary Textiles, 16 striking quilts by Kate Stiassni. This show will be up through October 19.

The Virginia Quilt Museum is having a fundraiser. Vicki Welsh turned me on to the antique looking, though newly made quilt. I can think of a few of you in whose houses this would look great. You can purchase chances through PayPal.

Luke Haynes et al will be showing quilts at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC call Alt Quilts. The show will be up from October 1, 2013 – January 5, 2014.I hope some of you are able to visit and will tell me all about it.

Purse Palooza 2013 started yesterday. Have you visited the Sew Sweetness blog to see the bag reviews?

Other
I was reading a blog post by Abby Glassenberg about having a successful craft blog (not getting into the art vs. craft of quiltmaking here or now!), which said that to have a successful blog, you should tell your readers why they should care about what you are writing. Sharing isn’t enough. I haven’t decided if I believe this yet, but I am going to try to figure out why you should care about what I am writing in each post. In the meantime, this post from the Creative Creativity blog is a good start when she says “you create what you consume.”

 

 

Why Should You Care: I write these Various & Sundry posts because I think it is good to expose you to things you might not normally see or read.

 

On the Web

Anna Maria Horner talks about giving herself a break. While the comments are just a few sentences, they made me think. It almost made me wonder if the universe is sending me some challenges to get me to give myself a break.

If you want to read a really nice and sweet 1st blogiversary post, check out Valerie’s post in celebration of her first blogiversary. Congratulations, Valerie!

Katie pointed me to a great interview with Lily Ashbury on the Fat Quarter Shop Blog. One of the greys will work with my background idea for Easy Street. Yes, I bought fabric. 😉

Pam and Darla talk about nerdiness quite a bit. If you want a non-quilty take, check out the N3rdc@st, episode 1. I downloaded it, because I thought there was an interview with Sarah Addison Allen, of Gardenspells, The Sugar Queen, the forthcoming Lost Lake and the The Peach Keeper fame. No interview, but there discussion of nerds was kind of interesting. The podcast, well, the first episode, at least, wasn’t as well produced as some of our quilty podcasts, but we all improve.

I really liked this post from The Cutting Table talking about Sampler Quilts. Moda retweeted it. Thanks, Moda!

I saw this very clever Periodic Table of Sewing Elements on the Scientific Seamstress, first on FB then on her blog. She has files on the 2011 post that are high enough quality for you to download and print or have printed in high quality at a copy center. This post also discusses her thought process for making over her sewing space. Great food for thought.

The show featured in this blog post will be the last for the guild. The guild has dwindled to 10 members. The quilts shown in the photos aren’t particularly traditional, which makes me wonder why other quiltmakers in the area aren’t joining this guild and keeping tradition going? The KCMQ is huge in the area. Can’t they join forces? I am sure I am missing the politics of the guilds in that area and politics are probably the underlying issue. I hope something replaces that show; it sounds great.

Interesting quilts on the Modern Bias Blog. I also like the quilting on the flying geese quilt.

This blog post was painful to read at the beginning as I know exactly what the mom was feeling, but as I read through the post, I saw the blossoming and expansion of creativity on both sides.

Moda posted a review of the True Cut system. I am keeping my system in place, but I find it interesting to read about new quilt technology. I do use the True Grips, as I have mentioned. They are great at helping to prevent rulers from slipping.

I saw this picture on Twitter and thought it was very clever.

Straight from ResearchBuzz: “Check out this cool Web app that turns a collection of Flickr photos into an “average” photo. This morning’s photo is an “Average” for five photos tabbed Lincoln Memorial.” I haven’t tried it yet, but I think it would be cool to try it with my Ferry Building photos.

QNM put up a very interesting layout for a sampler quilt. Everything is on point and the center block is larger. The colors are depressing and I would love to see this in pink and orange, but the layout is great. Thanks to Pam for pointing it out.

Amy Butler is now teaching online via CreativeBug. Have you seen the courses?

Fabric, Notions & Tools

I saw the blog of a Quiltmaker who is really putting the leaders and enders idea to work. She discusses fabric storage and scraps on her blog. Thanks to Adrianne for pointing it out.

Who knew so many people were producing acrylic templates. I did a search on Etsy and really had my eyes opened! Richard, of the Russian Rubix fame, has his shop up and running, so go get your templates, so you can sew along with Susan and me.

You might have seen Alex Veronelli (of Aurifil fame)post about being at the Checker Open House. Checker is a distributor of all things quilty. There are 3 posts about the open house from their newsletter. Take a look at Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 to get the inside scoop.

Katie of Katie’s Quilting Corner mentioned Art Bins in a recent podcast. I use them also for storing progress projects. Katie said that she can fit everything for a project in one, which I can’t do. She might find larger ones than I have found. I like the one that measures 3.5″ x 14′ x 15.25″ (approximately) for projects. I used one to keep the Flowering Snowball parts all together. There is a larger version (15.2 x 14 x 6.2 inches), which holds a lot more, but still not all of my fabric. Remember I tend to use a small amount of a lot of different fabrics for my projects rather than larger amounts of coordinating pieces. The handles are great and keeping most of a project together, especially the cut pieces, patterns, etc is useful.

Sheesh! Camille Roskelley has another new line of fabric for Bonnie & Camille called April Showers. She talked about it very briefly in a recent blog post. It is more of the same type of colorway that Happy-Go-Lucky had with the dark blue. I didn’t think Scrumptious was out yet and I am waiting for that line. I guess I had better go shopping. 😉

Downton Abbey fabrics from Andover for all you fans- coming in the Fall. You can download Mood Boards. Looking at them and the final collections might be a good way to inspire your own mood boards.

Juliana Horner, yes, Anna Maria Horner’s eldest daughter, has designed a fabric collection, which you can find at Joann.

Creativity

I really didn’t know where to put this story about living a life where you do exactly what you love every day. This blog post describes how I feel when I am working with fabric, but especially when I am making quilts.

A post by Danny Gregory echos how I have been feeling, especially the line about “nose pressed to the window.” I guess I need to get in gear and do some stuff before I take the leap.

I did a search for creativity in the podcast part of iTunes and found a number of interesting podcasts of varying lengths and topics. NerdEcon episode X was an interview and discussion with the author of Imagine. I thought it would be too dry, but there were some great tidbits that I was able to takeaway and will use for a big project in which I am involved.

Books

My friend, writer at Little Bluebell and the former president of BAMQG, Adrianne Ove, will be included in a forthcoming book by Kansas City Star, Classic Modern Quilts. See some beauty shots on their blog.

Projects

A question came up about the receiving blankets I made a few weeks ago. The receiving blankets are a great gift and moms love them. They also USE them, which is why I started giving the receiving blankets instead of quilts.

I use 1 layer of flannel. One reason I don’t double them like a quilt is that the mom can layer them depending on the temperature she needs. I buy 1.25 yards and square it up, then I do a double fold hem on the raw edges. I don’t hem the selvedges, but my friend does. I am too lazy. I use a decorative stitch and will, sometimes, stitch the baby’s name in the blanket hem, if I know it. Sometimes I stitch “Baby Jones” into the hem. I give 3 to 5 receiving blankets to each mom.

Remember the pillow covers I made a few weeks ago? DH made fun of me for just putting the new covers over the old ones. Well, what am I going to do with the old ones? On another pillow cover topic, to add insult to injury, the fabric doesn’t even feel nice against our skin. Napping on the couch isn’t nearly as pleasant with those pillow covers. Ergh!

I saw a pillow on the ailyn-Nilya blog that I couldn’t stop looking at. Finally I clicked on the link and ended up on Flickr in the Ferris Wheel group. Ferris Wheel? Yes, the pattern kind of does look like a Ferris Wheel and, while I love the imagery, I also thought that the pattern looked like Jack’s Chain. I looked it up in Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns and the pattern is actually called Ferris Wheel – well, that is one of the names. It is also called Block Patchwork (boring name), Building blocks, Hexagon, Morning Glory and Wandering Paths, in addition to The Ferris Wheel. Jack’s Chain is similar, but has 9 patch blocks where the squares are placed in the The Ferris Wheel. Perhaps I will try The Ferris Wheel sometime. It looks like the makers used English Paper Piecing. I wonder if it would be horrific with Y seams? I should finish the Attack of the Hexies first.

Inspiration

I really like the images in the Basic Grey post from a few days ago.

Inspiration is a funny thing. You never know when it will show up, strike you, appear on your radar.

The hard part is what you have to recognize it when it shows up and seize it.

Seize it? Put it somewhere. Remember it. Keep track of it.

Here is what is inspiring me today:

A Little Sap

Thanks to Carole for taking the time. Though I write this blog for myself, these kind of comments are another reason to continue on.

Free PR
One of my blog posts was featured in Alex Veronelli’s paper.li newsletter. I am not sure featured is the right word, but the post was in the newsletter and I was thrilled. I’ll have to mention that I use Aurifil almost exclusively and am using up my Mettler basting fabric to paper in my EPP Stars project.

I am also going to be part of Purse Palooza. Sara Lawson of the Petrillo Bag fame and Sew Sweetness invited me. Now I have to go pick a pattern and make a bag and review the directions. Yikes! Check out last year’s event.

On the Web
The Getty Museum now has over 4,500 high-resolution images of its collection available for free use, modification, and publication. Thanks to ResearchBuzz. Go forth and be inspired!

Aylin-Nilya has written a bag love-fest post on her blog circling around the new book (due out in November), Big City Bags, by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness. One of the things I like about her blog is that she writes in English and German, so I get to practice.

Remember the bags I am working on perfecting that will be the basis for my gifts when I am Queen Poobah? Well, here is another tutorial that shows, with great pictures, how I make straps for as many bags as possible. The author also has a photo of the kind of interfacing I tried as well. It makes the bags stiff, which is a good idea. As an update, I haven’t gone any farther in my explorations than the previous post. I was thinking about the project yesterday, though and will need to get back to it.

Also, I saw this ‘sleeping bag’ pouch on the Aylin-Nilya blog as well and wondered what you thought about making it part of the gift bags? I would have to put in 12 zippers, but I bet I would be really good at zippers once the project was over.

Those Eff block girls were talking about ticker tape blocks recently. I asked what they were, but didn’t understand the answer, so I went surfing to see if I could figure it out. Stitched in Color has a reasonable description (raw edge applique’ teeny tiny scraps on a background). She also points to a Flickr group that shows a lot of different examples. I think I am officially out of the loop. This concept didn’t even get near my radar.

I am guarding what is on my iPod until I get iTunes on my computer back in order. Some of what I am listening to has been on my to-listen list for awhile. The other day I listened to an interview with Pat Bravo on the Jackie’s Quilting Chronicles episode 32 podcast. It is from December 2011. What a GREAT interview! I don’t think I have ever heard Pat Bravo speak and her enthusiasm was fantastic. Just listening to her made me feel better about my life. Don’t worry she is not so gushy that she makes everything seem perfect in her life; it is her attitude that was a good reminder for me. Take a listen!

Katie talked about practicing an invisible ladder stitch, which is the preferred way of closing stuffed animals, bag linings, etc. She talked about it in a recent podcast (you are listening, right?) I didn’t know what this was, so I checked out some web tutorials. Taffy has some nice photos in her tutorial. I don’t understand the first couple of pictures from the Sewing for Beginners tutorial, but it turned out pretty well, so I’ll probably go back and look at it more carefully. There is also a video from another blog, which I didn’t watch, but may.

Media
I listened to an older podcast of Daisy‘s about Quilt Mythbusting. I loved it! She doesn’t give dissertation quality references, but she does give references to her information as well as practical advice and tips surrounding the alleged myth. Good job, Daisy!

I listened to a  really interesting podcast about creativity from a radio show called On Being with Krista Tippett. Worth a listen. For you quilt/science geeks (Pam!), there is a lot about the brain and other science-y stuff.

Speaking of science geeks, Pam saved me some time by trying out the iron-on vinyl. This a product that makes any fabric (probably not upholstery fabric, but certainly quilting fabric) into a laminate. She used a different brand that the link above, but I wanted to give you some idea of what we were talking about. The idea is to make part of the bag waterproof. For example, you might want to put some on the bottom of a bag in case you set it in something wet or icky. Jennifer Paganelli mentioned using leather on the bottom of a bag to reduce wear (Jackie’s Quilting Chronicles, April 15, 2011). Same idea. I talked about it when I mentioned the changes I want to make to the Petrillo Bag pattern. That updated bag is still on my radar, in case you think I forgot.

Another article on how to find free eBooks and free audiobooks, in case you need some entertainment when you are not sewing.

Stuff to Think About
Tanesha over at CraftyGardenMom podcast and blog posted an essay about the low cost of Anthropologie ‘handmade’ quilts. People made some good comments about the post on Reddit as well. This has been on my mind as well, but from the Garnet Hill quilt perspective. The prices are outrageously low. All I can think about when I look through the Garnet Hill catalog is an ugly room full of desperate women who can’t feed their families without making these quilts. I think about the garment workers in Bangladesh who were injured and killed when the building they were working in collapsed. I could never make a quilt for the price they quote and I couldn’t buy one of Garnet Hill’s or Anthropologie’s quilts, because that is all I would think about.

I think we have a problem with value vs. cost in this country. We will drive for miles for a ‘deal’ and not worry much, or say “oh well” when it breaks next year and can’t be fixed. Some of this is why I stopped listening to one of the podcasts that others love.

Someone will be reading this and thinking “well, I wouldn’t be able to make a quilt and I couldn’t afford a quilt if the cost reflected its true value.” Handmade craft – any kind of craft – has value. The beauty of the hand labor has value. It is hard to put a dollar value on it. I make quilts for myself – to keep myself sane, to have something different from my job work to do, to work with beautiful fabrics, to feel soft texture in my hands. I don’t make quilts to sell, partially because it isn’t worth it. When people inquire I say that my quilts start at $1000 and that usually stops the conversation right there. If a person doesn’t make anything, they can’t conceive of the time and effort it takes. Go make something, even a toothpick house and see how long it takes you. There is effort involved in handmade and we should all be glad to pay for it.

Cool Tools, Thread and Fabric

Susan talked about the Russian Rubix pattern on her podcast recently. I mentioned it also, in a recent post. I looked around the web for version of the quilt and came across the Tiffany is Sew Busy blog where she talks about the pattern and her friend, Richard. Richard is my new hero because he offers to make templates for the Russian Rubix pattern. I ordered two sets, one for me (ruler junkie) and one for Susan. I received them, but I haven’t tried them. They look great, though. Very professional! He even offered to make templates for other patterns as well. I want to take him up on that! He followed up to ask if I had received them and told me he is working on getting them up on Etsy and on his website. I don’t see anything yet, but you can email him by going to Tiffany’s blog and getting the information there.

Why didn’t you tell me Camille Roskelly hooked up with Aurifil and created a Simplify thread pack? I want it. I want it now and I want YOU to buy it for me.  Thank you. 😉

Challenges and Group Projects
EBHQ’s Voices in Cloth Show will be held at Craneway Pavilion on March 22 & 23, 2014. The show will include the WWII Home Front Quilt Challenge, which has recently been launched!  Please visit the Home Front Challenge website for information and to view the Call for Entries. You can print the call for entries from the site.  To request a copy be mailed to you, email your request with your mailing address to: 2014challenge@wwiihomefrontquilts.com.

Quilts selected from the entries will be exhibited online and in a special exhibit at Voices in Cloth 2014. EBHQ is working on other venues and hope to show the quilts throughout 2014.

There is additional information on the website, including a list of partner organizations. you probably need to be a member of the group to participate, but the membership fee is very reasonable and the Voices in Cloth show is one of the best guild shows around. Email  2014challenge@wwiihomefrontquilts.com if you have any questions, or if you need information in a different form. Please help us get the word out and thanks.

The cat beds were delivered to the Homeless Cat Network this past week. Look at this van! Amanda took the photo to show us how much work we had done ‘for the kitties’ as she likes to say. She had to fill the beds with her stash of schnibbles, so she had plenty of work to do after I (we) sewed the beds. You can see some of the cat beds I made in the photo.

Housekeeping
We are up to 39 email subscribers! Yay! I know it is silly and so far below some of the way more popular blogs, but I don’t care. Thanks, chicklets!

I received my Aurifil club selection from The Quilt Bear on Monday and it is cute. I was piecing with turquoise thread other the weekend, because it was in the machine after I did some decorative stitches on the napkins and I figured I didn’t need to change it. I think I have plenty of piecing thread and can use whatever color is to hand. I do like the light grey for piecing, though. You, too, can join in the Aurifil club fun by checking out theAurifil Club page on The Quilt Bear site.

Blogging
Sister Diane (not my sister, but what she calls herself for some reason I don’t know) over at CraftyPod blog had a great post about marketing and blogging. I have to admit that I haven’t been asked to feature any products on my blog, though I do write book reviews for Lark. I write for Lark, because they offer me something. I am pretty sure that you all don’t wait for me to say “go and buy X product” then run out and buy it. S. D. says that we bloggers don’t need stuff to write about. I think we want exchanges with our readers and that can extend to marketers who want our attention as well.

I especially loved these lines “When you ask a blogger “Please mention this to your readers,” you’re essentially saying “Please come up with a great marketing idea for me. I won’t be paying you for this service. Thanks!” ” Sister Diane has good ideas for anyone wanting something from the blogger. If you had done what she suggested I would be more inclined to listen to your proposal than someone who just says they love my blog and does not show that they love it. Loving my blog means reading it periodically.

This is a well written and coherent post. I would urge you to read it and let me know what you think.

On the Web

Piecemeal Quilts has 4 posts on the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. The last one is here.

Katie talked about Fear of Failure on her blog recently. I am less nice and say “get over it and move on. There is always more fabric and you can worry when you are dead!” I know, not very nice, but I bet I made you laugh. I am also really sick of people putting themselves down. Just because you make a mistake doesn’t mean you are a loser. Mistakes were invented so we could learn. Katie shows her progress in machine quilting as an example. I think I will try and do a post about progress on something. NOT machine quilting since you know how I feel about that, but perhaps there is something I felt frustrated about and can show progress. I would do it all for you, Chiclets. I put up mistakes so you can see that it is not all peaches and roses here at AQ. Let’s accept our mistakes and move forward.

Katie asked this question “So ask yourself, what is your fear of failure holding you back from achieving?” Tell me your answer.

Perhaps I’ll go do some machine quilting.

Gretchen has a great book review on one of Carol Doak’s paper piecing books. I am not much of a paoer piecer, but the technique does have its uses. The brief description given makes my mind soin with the possibility of adding corners and borders to blocks to make them more interesting or just different.

Tools

Camille Roskelley has a great photo of another clever use for WonderClips. (scroll about halfway down) Do you have any? No? Go buy some RIGHT now!

History Quilter Susan and I will be working on the Russian Rubix project together — well, alongside each other is a better description. I meant to buy the pattern when I was at Always Quilting for Sew Day, but forgot so I was surfing the web looking for a good price on shipping when I found a picture of a ruler to go with the project. (I know Flickr does sell stuff, but I got distracted!). That led me to the blog post with the link to Richard, who made the ruler/template. The templates are $15 and I think there are two, but you need to contact (info@red-designs.com) him yourself if you want more information on purchasing the rulers.

Housekeeping

Do you know about the Glossary?

34 people are now subscribing to the blog via email. Yay! And, thanks. 😉

Have you see the Quilts in Print page? I started a list of references to quilts in fiction, mostly, that I came across. Obviously it is not exhaustive, but I will note down what I find as I come across references. it is something I have been wanting to do and am glad I started finally. I plan to also surf around and see if someone else has done something similar.

Big doesn’t even begin to express the size of the mess I made over the weekend in my workroom. I think it wasn’t helped by bring a lot of stuff to sew day. It took me forever to unearth the floor. I did get a lot done and that was nice.