clipped from www.sewstitchcreate.com Fabric Design I have known about Spoonflower for a while, but didn’t really have any interest in making my own fabric design.  Truthfully, I don’t know where to begin or what to create.  But tonight I had an “aha” moment.  Morgan and I were looking at a pattern for a fabric egg (more on this soon) and she said she wanted one with her name on it.

I haven’t tried Spoonflower, but I am eager to do so. I have been thinking about making more of the Windham fabric using Spoonflower.

I mentioned a week or so ago that I had spent some time doing rote sewing. Part of that day of roteness (is that a word?) was making backs.

Tarts Back

Above is the back for the Tarts. As I said previously, it went together really quickly. I am showing it again so you can see the contrast. Making the Tarts back  made me think that I could get the back for FOTY 2009 done really quickly.

HAHAHAHA!

FOTY 2009 back

I gave myself the rule of using only fabrics I bought or received in 2009 for the back. That meant a lot of rummaging through fabric. That meant a lot of FQs and piecing fabrics together to make them fit. When I finally finished at 9pm on Sunday, I felt like I had accomplished something.

It is a strange looking back and I hope all the seams won’t be a problem on the longarm.

FOTY 2009 detail

One thing I found when I came back from the CQFA Retreat was a bunch of other FOTY 2009 blocks! Nooooo! I can’t believe they weren’t with all the others. I could have added another row of blocks if I had found them BEFORE the retreat. I decided to get over it and put them on the back.

The CQFA meeting last Saturday went really well. We laughed a lot. Nancy, one of the members, is on a quest to improve her art. She took a long course (certificate program??) in Seattle that ended last year and is diligent. When she comes to the meeting she brings works that are very different from what the rest of bring. She often has interesting construction problems that make us think outside of the box. We were helping give her ideas about what she could use as a form and that led to extreme silliness as many great ideas were generated.

Everyone looked at the two Lark Books I received last Friday thoroughly and Terri said that she thinks Lark sold at least 10 copies by sending me those books.

Maureen’s ATC exchange was a raging success. I showed mine last week in the Saturday post. I liked them, but they didn’t seem to be that popular. People made wonderful pieces, so perhaps it was just hard to choose.

March ATCs

The ATCS I Received

Below are the others that members brought. The lower left is one of Sonja’s. Originally I picked a different one, but when I saw the chair, I switched!

Maureen's

I didn’t get one of Maureen’s. I did get one of hers last time that I keep where I can see it all the time.

Bron's

Bron’s have a very New Zealand look to them. She doesn’t do a lot of fiber, so I was glad I chose one of hers.

Caroline's

Caroline’s jacket was in these same colors. I think she works in them a lot.

Dolores'

I was also sorry not to get one of Dolores’. She did a great quilt at the retreat in January and I admire her dedication to her work. How do you like that one curved corner? Clever, don’t you think?

Sonja's

Sonja’s are very subtle this time.

Diane's

Robin's

Sue's

I think this is the first time that Sue has participated. I didn’t get one of hers either. The flowers really attracted me.

Debbie's

Debbie hasn’t been to a meeting in a long time, so I was pleased to see that she brought ATCs. I was also pleased to see that she used her signature style on them.

OH  MY GOODNESS! You would not believe what happened to me on Friday morning. I was sitting at my DH’s computer (my laptop is dead), watching a Quilt Out Loud episode (Yes, I did find my login and password) and avoiding preparing the taxes.

The doorbell rang and I thought “who the heck is at our door midmorning?” People don’t generally come to visit us unexpectedly. Most of the people who come to visit just walk in while shouting “Haaaalllooooo!” The other group that routinely knocks are The Child’s friends. Kids are all in school (or should be!) at the time, so I knew it had to be a door-to-door sales person or a delivery. I couldn’t remember ordering anything and we don’t encourage people to send us things unsolicited to our house. I am not big on surprises, in general.

My best guess: door-to-door sales person. I hunkered down by the computer not wanting to be the one who gave the bad news that we wouldn’t be buying the new latest and greatest home security alarm system-vacuum cleaner combo today. Without me even saying anything or the doorbell ringing a second time DH ran down the stairs, and opened the door. I heard a brief chat with the person and the door close.

Hhhmm.  I was almost home free. Next I heard steps coming toward the laundry room (where the boy computers live). Uh-oh.

It was a package. A relatively large bulky package. My darling sister has been sending us weird things that she thinks we need (Waterpik showerhead last week) so whether she had sent us something was his first question. I looked at the label and it was addressed to me at Artquiltmaker Blog and was from someone I didn’t know.

Huh? I don’t really make a business of my blog at the moment, except for the Amazon thing (which is slow so far), so I handed it back to DH who  proceeded to open the package. He is good that way. He was pretty excited. I was excited, too, but more cautious than excited. I work in an environment where getting something for ‘free’ means that you are usually giving something (often large sums of money) away.

Out popped two books and a very nice letter from Ray Hemachandra of Lark Books. Yes, THE LARK BOOKS!!!! The  Publisher lark Books!!!! A Publisher sent ME something to my little corner of the country.

Two New Books

As the above was happening, which took a few minutes at most, I felt confused. I did not order books from Lark Books (remember I hadn’t read the letter yet) and one of them was probably one I wouldn’t order without getting it from the Library first. The art quilt book has been showing up in my Amazon recommendations, but I hadn’t really tried to find it at the library yet so I could take a look. I thought it might be a repeat of the same old art quilts and it wasn’t a high priority….blah blah blah.

WRONG!

WRONG!

WRONG!

Part of the letter says:

“I am pleased to submit for your consideration two fantastic Lark Crafts quilt titles…”

and

“I hope you enjoy the books. Please contact me if you any questions at all. I’d also appreciate being sent notification of any blog or website posting, a copy of your publication or a tear sheet (no idea what that is), if you choose to review any of the books…”

I will do full reviews (of course, I will! They sent me FREE books! Why wouldn’t I??? I want to encourage more of the same), but first impressions are:

Pretty Little Quilts: great colors, different sorts of designs, interesting shapes, embellishment. I have to read the intro to see what the intent of this title is, but first glances tell me that Lark was thinking of smart quiltmakers. Yes, there are patterns, but again they don’t seem to be the same old pattern thing. There is beading included, hexagons with holes in the design, different types of thread work, etc.

500 Art Quilts: AWESOME format! No patterns. When I saw it on Amazon, I thought it would include  some more views of the seminal art quilts that I have seen over and over in other books such as Masters: Art Quilts: Major Works by Leading Artists or the book, The Art Quilt, by Robert Shaw. Nope. Wrong again. The quilts pictured look like quilts I haven’t seen before. There are some Name Quilters in it, but showing recent work. I also saw a lot of names I didn’t recognize and even a quilt from 2008. Again, I will do a more formal review soon-ish, but I am looking forward to getting more in depth with these books.

I know there has been much more squealing, yelling and excitement in this post than normal. It is so great to get a good surprise like this!

THANKS, LARK BOOKS!!!!

Every horizontal surface in my workroom is covered, mostly with fabric, but other stuff, too. I don’t have large enough horizontal surfaces, but that is no excuse. I have so many things going on. On the top of my list is sewing!

I am trying to pick out fabric for my latest Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker Tote. I’d like a new one for spring and it just isn’t going well. I tidied up a little after I got home from CQFA, but I still don’t have enough space to work.

I was looking for a red or a pink to bring out the middle of the flower, but am considering another green to encourage subtlety. I looked at pattern on the fabric as well as the color and I am not really sure any of them work. The above are some that I tried out to see if I liked them. I think I need a red with a little more pink.

Final Selection?

Perhaps you like the above?

No? I found more fabric choices in the pile behind the door. they caught my eye when I was wandering in and out. This area is like the Tollbooth in the Phantom Tollbooth and they haven’t been on my radar since my sister moved a bunch of stuff around in my workroom.

Option A

I definitely like the pink dot better. It is a lot of dots in the piece, however.

Option B

The small dot kept catching my eye as I looked at some of the other choices. It was on the top of my ironing board because I had just ironed it. I kind of like the lavender/pinkish color.

Option C

Stripes don’t work for me. Well, actually, the stripes work, but the color of the stripes doesn’t work. Too Pepto Bismally.

Option D

Too much green?

I really wanted to get going on that tote today. It has been too long since I sewed. Since I couldn’t decide on colors, I was stuck. NOT!

AMH MTT in Progress

I have plenty of fabric and had just come across the perfect green to make the straps for another AMH MTT, so I started in on that and got pretty far after I made the  straps.

The reddish pink fabric is a Martha Negley for Rowan fabric from the Variegated Garden collection will be used for the exterior. This particular print is MN-40 Dahlia.

That fun dot is the inside. As you can see I have the pockets pinned and ready to sew, but haven’t sewn them yet. I was tired.

I added a cell phone pocket, which is the smaller pocket also waiting to be sewed on.

Cell Phone Pocket in Progress

Sorry, this photo is bleary. I have been up and down the stairs (4 flights) at least 8 times to fix photos and I am not doing it again. This idea is from the Sweet Harmony bag. The dimensions of this  pocket are 4″x5″. I cut it 8″x5″, sew around the outside with right sides together, turn it and then sew it to the lining of the AMH MTT bag. The way I make it fit the cell phone is that I pin the bottom so that it measures only 3″, which makes a pleat.

Last week, I posted an Odds and Ends post that included some information about a new Judy Martin video. Hope you watched it.

After I watched it I had the following question:

“I was just wondering if I cut the black line off before I stick the template on to the ruler or if I cut on the black line? Or do I leave the entire black line on the template?”

Judy got back to me with the following answer:

“That’s a good question. Do not cut off the black line. Cut on the outside edge of the black line. Technically, the center of the black line is the perfect size. However, including all of the black line in the template will compensate for the take-up due to seam allowances upon stitching.  Judy Martin”

Put that in your arsenal! Thanks, Judy!

Maureen is a great ATC Shepard for CQFA. She reminds us to get our ATCs done and how many there will be to exchange. At the meeting today we will be exchanging 4 each. I worked on mine a couple of Fridays ago when I kicked the boys out of the house and spent the day sewing. I don’t normally sew during the week, but don’t have as much time so forced myself to pretend it was the weekend and sewed.

March ATCs

I wanted to use the current Creative Prompt and remembered an African fabric I bought with eyes on it. Amazingly, I was able to find it and use it. First, I found the mask fabric, which I thought would work. I wasn’t as happy using it, so I went back for the eyes.

I thought of Pamela Allen the whole time I was working on these as she has a thing for eyes.

I made an additional 8 (only 6 shown above) thinking that we would be exchanging in multiples of 4. Then I went back and read her message and found that she only wanted us to bring 4. No problem. Now I can send one to a friend and keep one for another project I am working on.

Leftover ATCs

In case you can’t tell, I am making a series. The two highlighted above are first in the series and I thought I would bring them along (had to finish them first!) and see if anyone didn’t get the first series.

a fruit

pear shaped

Pear Press

Prickly pear

Pear tree

California Pear Advisory Board

See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.

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

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

As I mentioned before, I find pencil rolls to be a pretty quick project. I have have the hang of them now and they put themselves together, pretty much, as long as I am paying attention.

Deirdre's Pencil Roll closed

or so I thought.

Not so with this beauty. Trying to be the good little green girl, I used a beautiful teal, feather design FabMo fabric for the outside. I talked about these fabrics before. That fabric became the bane of my existence.

Deirdre's Pencil Roll half open

It would not stay put. I tried to sew all of the pieces (back, front, flannel, pocket) together, like the directions say, and that upholstery fabric wouldn’t cooperate.  It was very slidey for some reason and I would end up with an inch of flannel on the top and an inch of upholstery fabric on the bottom. I ripped the whole thing out three times. It was very frustrating.

Deirdre's Pencil Roll open

If you don’t look too closely the piece turned out ok. That FabMo fabric looks really good, but I will pay more attention to my how my selections feel next time. This is a gift and I hope the recipient likes it. I can’t, however, send it off until I show it at CQFA on Saturday.

Aurifil done

Yes, it is possible to finish a spool of Aurifil thread. I did it! I love Aurifil because of the high thread quality and the amount that can fit on a bobbin.

I first bought a bag of spools in a Kathy Sandbach machine quilting class in about 2001. I still have some of those spools, but not the grey. I have never had a problem with the thread except having a lot of colors that I don’t use.

Creativity Mirror

I went to A Work of Heart on Sunday with a group of friends to belatedly celebrate my birthday. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that place! I love the space, the creative energy, Andrea (the owner). I want that creative wonderland to be down the street from my house. Really, I want to live there, but I would settle for it being down the street from my house.

I invited some non-crafty people so Andrea the Awesome suggested the Altered Mirror project. I wasn’t that excited about that project, but went with it and am very pleased at how mind came out (top), how successfully everyone was able to work and how well all the mirrors came out.

The place is great and all of the supplies you see in the backgrounds of the above photos are available to use.

Step 1: Paint the Frame

The first step was to paint the frame and the little chipboard squares. I ended up painting all of them (top and sides). Above it shows the squares as I was painting the sides.

The color scheme I chose was to coordinate with the way we are going to paint our bedroom. I didn’t mean to put ‘CREATE’ as the message, but creativity is on my mind lately and it seemed like the right thing. I don’t know if the mirror will end up in our room ultimately, but we will see.

Step ?: Distress Some Squares

Each of the squares has something done to them: cover with paper, paint with crackle paint, ink, etc. Above I was using distressing/embossing powder on some of the squares. BLECH!!! I sincerely disliked how they came out and the effort was not worth the result. Live and Learn, though. I am glad I tried it and now I know.

Step Near the End: Embellishing

Above I have lined up all of the squares and glued them to the frame. I have also started to embellish. Andrea has FABULOUS glue and I only had to stick down some of the papers a little bit. The glue used to stick the squares down is different from that she suggested I use to apply the embellishments.

Kathy's piece

Kathy, from Everyday Bliss, wrote a great post about the day. She expresses some self doubt in the post, but I didn’t see that at all. I saw her start looking at the paper and dive right in. Kathy’s piece, with its orange base, reminds me so totally of her. It has whimsy and a little reality check (see the martini glass? She is the parent of a 2YO, after all) and a fabulous girly, but elegant girly look. Check it, and her project out, at the Everyday Bliss blog.

One of the great things about the afternoon, as I mentioned, was that everyone was successful. Everyone worked on their mirrors and created beautiful pieces. Everyone seemed happy and to have a good time. There was  a nice creative and relaxed feeling that permeated the event.

Julie's

I love Julie’s message. Her message of “Today” makes me think about not looking to the future too much. It is a good reminder to be in the moment – or to balance planning for the future while living in the moment.

Helen's

Helen seemed really uncomfortable when she started. I don’t know what Helen’s creative experience is to date. She did the most amazing work. I love the color scheme and her selections of paper and embellishments. It was so fantastic to watch her work.

Bron's

Bron’s embellishments came across to me as delicate.

Mary's

Mary knew not getting the squares straight would drive her crazy, so she made the squares wonky. That small changed added movement and now the straightness is not an issue. I adore her background color.

Maureen's

Maureen used her hand dyed fabric instead of paper to cover the chipboard squares. It reminds me of a painting I saw at the SFMOMA. I’ll amend this post if I remember which one it was.

Terri's

I love the red that Terri used for the background color. Her piece has a bit of an Asian feel.

Camille's

Camille insisted that she was not crafty. Her piece, for her daughter’s new bedroom, tells me otherwise. I had a pink and purple bedroom when I was a girl, so I am partial to this piece.

Maggie's

Maggie wanted to make a piece to commemorate our sorority. I love it that she used yellow to to prevent the pink from getting to sickly sweet. This piece is very cheerful.

Kim's

Kim has more experience than anyone with the various tools and supplies. If you look closely at her piece, you can see where she used a rubber stamp and then embossed. The embossing actually came out well on hers.

Kim's also

I think the above photo reflects the colors she used a little better.

Sharon's

Sharon’s piece reminds me of sailing and code flags. She says that she chose a color scheme that would coordinate with her duvet cover.

Adrienne's

Adrienne, or AJA, is one of the quiltmakers with whom I do the Bullseye Project. She came all the way from Tucson to be at my party. I was so happy! She and Julie and I went to dinner after the party. I love the way she used the bottle cap and the garter hooks.

Valerie's

Valerie and I see each other once a year. We met in the baby class when we were both pregnant and our kids used to play together when they were small. Now we see each other about once a year, but it is great. She is a great sport at being creative with me.

I am thinking of having my birthday there again next year.

Judy Martin Video

I really like Judy Martin and always have. I especially love her block books, but they are old and she doesn’t seem to be publishing those types of books anymore. I love block books, but think I am in the minority. I kind of wish she wouldn’t rush out her books, but she does have to make a living, so I do understand why she seems to produce a book a year. She has finally reached the YouTube age with a new video.

The video talks about how to rotary cut odd shapes, specifically the kite shape for her Kyoto Garden quilt from the new book she just published called Stellar Quilts. I have long wanted to take a class with Judy Martin and this is a great start. The video is filled with good information and I really learned something. It is about 5 minutes long and I recommend it.

Podcasts

As I have mentioned, I really like podcasts. I listened to two episodes from Notes from the Voodoo Lounge recently that I thought were really good. One was an interview with Deborah Rapaport, who talks about style. She talks about wearing things that make you feel good and is adamant that sweats do not make you feel good. She does not talk in a way that made me feel like a loser. She talks in terms of transformation using baby steps and she talks about all of this regardless of a person’s size. I have been thinking of changing my wardrobe and my style, especially since all of my clothes are wearing out (great timing!). Perhaps I will take this podcast as a kick in the pants to go to the thrift store and see what I can find?

I also really liked Rice’s podcast with Diana Trout. I have never heard of her, but I liked the fact that she talked about her workroom being a pit until recently. It was a good reminder that things take time.

Paper Craft

My sister loves scrapbooking and paper crafts.  She does really amazing work. She also has all the toys and has brought them with her while she is up here working. I have had a piece on my mind which was inspired by a piece by Dana Barbieri. I want to make a piece like this to start the process of transforming my workroom into an inspirational space.

CREATE

Originally uploaded by dana.barbieri

My sister has a machine called a Cricut, which I plan to use to cut the letters. Then I will put them on other paper for the background and frame it. I may use bits of wood or foam to make the letters stand out from the background paper. I haven’t decided. Dana used fabric in her piece and I am not sure I will. I’ll have to play around. I am getting closer to execution. My next task is to pick the papers I want to use. You can be sure they will be bright!

Classes

I signed up for an EBHQ class in April. It is with Dale Fleming and s/he will be teaching a class called 6 minute circles. I have had a circle quilt on my mind and thought this might be a good jumpstart. There are a lot of odd things on the supply list that I need to start collecting. I am glad I have time.

Mark Lipinski’s Big News

I have heard rumors about what happened between the publisher of Mark’s old magazine (now run by Jake and Melissa) and Mark (bankruptcy, creative differences, the usual). Now he has landed on his feet and announces his new partnership with All American Craft. I have never heard of them, but they must have enough confidence in his star power, because he will be heading up 3, yes THREE, magazines not just one. Good luck, Mark!

Moon & Stars (full)

Moon & Stars is an old, old project. I started it after my mom gave me a FQ pack of the moon and stars fabrics in the middle. I wanted to show them off, so I made this kind of window scene with very little piecing.

It was in the same bag as Kissy Fish, except wadded up at the bottom. Who knows what I was thinking? Some of my bags tend to turn into dumping grounds. I pulled it out last week when I, once again, needed a hand project for a serious amount of TV watching. I don’t remember when I last worked on it or when I started it, but it had to be around the time I was working on the Sampler, because, I am apparently, hand quilting it.I don’t do much hand quilting anymore with regular quilting thread.

Moon & Stars (detail)

The thread for the middle is really thin – or seems thin – and I couldn’t find it in the depths of the bag. It appeared that I was pretty much done with the hand quilting of the middle, so I took some of the Laura Wasilowski hand dyed thread and worked on quilting the border.

I may add some machine quilting to it as I like my quilts quilted close together and there is only a very small chance that I will hand quilt it as close together as I like it.