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”
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.
I have noticed a lot of, for lack of a better term, quilt clubs popping up. I joined one so that I could watch the Quilt Out Loud videos with Mark Lipinski. Then I didn’t watch many and then he left the show. Now he is back and I can’t login. Oh well.
I noticed this one from All People Quilt today. There are couple of things I noticed:
1. The “value” is always higher than the cost.
2. I don’t know what the cost is by looking at one page.
3. I don’t know if this is the same club as the one I already joined.
4. I am not really excited about receiving a HARDCOVER pattern book. As a librarian, I am just not impressed with hardcover books anymore. They have the same info as softcovers, but they do stand up on the shelves better. However, if you have your quilt books packed tightly on the shelves, the softcovers stand up just fine!
5. In general, I am not sure if I want the benefits the club is offering.
I do like Quilts & More. They often have a good tote bag pattern and bright colors in their magazine. Frankly, after my book bonanza from Christmas and my birthday, I think I may be on quilt information overload. The Leaning Tower of Book Pisa is threatening to injure a small child or kill a small pet. Something has to be done, but I cannot catalog this behemouth, because my quilt book catalog database is locked into a dead laptop
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.
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.
I went to A Work of Heart on Sunday with a group of friends to belatedly celebrate my birthday. I LOVE LOVELOVE 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.
Adrienne’s
Valerie’s
Kathy’s piece
Step Near the End: Embellishing
Step 1: Paint the Frame
Step ?: Distress Some Squares
Creativity Mirror
Maureen, Andrea, Sharon, Julie etc
Mary & Maggie
Helen, Adrienne, Maureen
Julie & Sharon
Kathy, Kim, Terri & Bron
Valerie, Helen & Bron
Kim & Jaye
Andrea, Maureen & Sharon
Helen’s
Bron’s
Mary’s
Maureen’s
Terri’s
Camille’s
Maggie’s
Kim’s
Kim’s also
Sharon’s
Julie’s
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.
Update: 9/12/2011: due to spam this post no longer allows comments. Sorry!
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.
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!
However, if you have your quilt books packed tightly on the shelves, the softcovers stand up just fine!
