Belated Thank You

Top Down View
Top Down View

K and Mrs. K came down for the Pamela Allen class. They had a four hour drive, which was above and beyond IMO. Still, I was (and still am!) so thrilled that they joined us, because they (not in any particular order):

  1. did great work
  2. added great comments to the class critiques
  3. brought loads of fabric that we all rummaged through
  4. are FABULOUS company

I invited them to stop and have dinner with us on their way down to Santa Clara. After the long drive I didn’t want them to have to forage for food as well. I thought we could have a nice chat; they could get a look at the Child and we could talk about projects.

They showed up and I come to find out they have a gift for me! I love gifts, especially unexpected and perfect gifts. It was a perfect gift: dot fabrics. It was a perfect gift with a wonderful presentation.

Perfect Presentation
Perfect Presentation

I love seeing the fabric the people think I will like. K and Mrs. K know I love dots! Perfect!

Whole Dotted Enchilada
Whole Dotted Enchilada

Thanks, for the fabric, for your friendship and support.

Daisy Yellow Inspiration Charms

Amy of the Creative Mom podcast, once again, pointed me to another creative blog, Daisy Yellow. It took me a few days to get over there and when I finally did, I was thrilled to see her inspirational word charms project. My mind started to whirl around with ideas for adding little messages to quilts and, perhaps, the Teacher Pillows. I was looking at Diana Swim Wessel’s Inspiration Odyssey book the other day and the little doodles she has in it would also be great in place of words.

I don’t have any Shrinky Dink material, but can easily get some. I’ll put it on my craft supply list.

clipped from daisyyellow.squarespace.com

daisy yellow: a vivid life with kids
clipped from daisyyellow.squarespace.com

How to Make Word Charms

shrinky dink plastic + markers = inspiration

The Ingredients

  • Shrinky Dink plastic paper. 1 sheet
  • Fine point Sharpie permanent marker or PITT pen
  • Optional: Colored pencils, sandpaper
  • Small hole punch
  • Embroidery floss, raffia, or thin twine
  • Oven
  • blog it

    Book Review: Quilt National 2007

    In honor of Quilt National 2009 opening soon, I finally wrote the book review for QN 2007 from Lark Books.
    Quilt National 2007: The Best of Contemporary Quilts (Quilt National) Quilt National 2007: The Best of Contemporary Quilts by Lark Books

    My review

    rating: 2 of 5 stars
    I have to admit that I have a love-hate relationship with Quilt National. I love the idea. I often intensely dislike the quilts the jurors choose.

    In this year’s work, I love the photos, but, in general, my initial reaction was that the quilts look the same: lots of squares intersected with a square or another piece of fabric. I felt like I was judging the book too harshly, so to be fair, I went back and read the entire book and scrutinized each quilt and thought about them.

    The jurors, Tim Harding, Robin Treen and Paul Nadelstern (whose work I greatly admire), seemed not to be as motivated by notions of beauty or status as they were intrigued by the possibilities of transformation.

    Nelda Warkentin’s quilt, Harmony, has a calming ocean-like feel to it. Part of her description/artist’s statement includes the words “quiet, flowing movements,” which I think describes the quilt very well.

    Spring Cascade by Virginia Abrams reminds me of calming fences and certain motifs in my my quilt The Tarts Come to Tea. Next to Abrams’ quilt is Dress Circle by Thelma McGough, a black and white piece with umbrella reminiscent motifs. Although it is made up of photos, it retains its quilt-like quality.

    Weeks Ringle also has a piece, Tankini, in this book. Hearing the name and looking at the piece don’t mesh instantly, but the concept comes together after a bit of gazing. I love his piece because of the simple lines and the fact that she uses commercial cottons in an innovative technique. It isn’t just the type of fabric she uses, though. The simplicity does not mean simplistic. I think that there is a lot to look at in this quilt.

    I am not a fan of realistic faces made into quilts. They freak me out for some reason, but Kristin Tweed has created a successful quilt in #42 Big Head Series: The Gladiator. One successful part of the success of this quilt is the lack of quilting on the face.

    There are some good designs in this book. Mostly they are simple, linear designs. There is more digital photography manipulated into blocks and quilts than I remember from the past.

    View all my quilt and non-quilt reviews.