July 2012 – Page 3 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Various & Sundry #9

I have re-enrolled with Amazon Associates. You should see the widget in the right sidebar towards the bottom. If you buy anything from Amazon, you can do so by clicking on the widget. This may be a duplicate of what you have heard on any number of other blogs. It will give me a few pennies on whatever you buy at no cost to you.

I also have a Cafe Press Shop: www.cafepress.com/Artquiltmaker. Go buy stuff. Thanks.

What I am Reading: I am still working the Age of Innocence on my Kindle, but I am mostly playing Mahjong Solitaire on my Kindle and not reading! As I said before, I think it might a better book to which to listen, which means I might jump to Creating Time: using creativity to reinvent the clock and reclaim your life by Marney Makridakis
Audiobook playing on my iPod: Beekeeping for Beginners, novella by Laurie R. King.
What I am Working On: Garden, and thinking about binding a table runner for my Grama. I may start putting the Infinity blocks together. I am also doing a lot of pressing and cutting of recently washed fabric

Fabric, Spools & Tools

I haven’t been using much DMC floss lately on the pieces that I embroider. I usually head over the Perl Cotton aisle. Mark Lipinski had a few things to say about a DMC floss color card he bought recently. Definitely Buyer Beware.

Weeks Ringle talked recently about elastic thread on her blog. She gives some tips and tricks for working with it. Quick skirt anyone?

I had iron drama again recently. I finally got fed up with my iron leaking and went looking for a new one. Target had drastically reduced their choices, which is where I usually buy my irons. Mark Lipinski suggested I get a Digital Velocity iron, so I went looking for one of those. Joann has them online only, but you can’t use their coupons, except for the free shipping coupon and $165 is a lot to pay for an iron. I saw the other day that Bed Bath and Beyond had them also. They are $140 online at BB&B, which is a discount. Again, you can’t use the coupon online and I don’t know if they have them in store. I ended up with a Sunbeam Turbo Steam Master. It feels cheap, but isn’t leaking and has good steam. I’ll keep looking for a good price ont he Digital Velocity.

Doing Good

Nancy Zieman had a guest blogger talking about The Quilt that Build a Library. One block +$5=a library. Do your part! I made a block and sent it off. Yes, I used the same fabric I bought for the QuiltCon block challenge. I had plenty and it was at hand. After I made the columns, I thought I should alternate, but then I realized I put the greens and greys in the wrong locations and if I alternated the squares and rectangles, some of the contrast would be lost, so I left them. I hope the group likes the block. The information for size, where to send, etc can be found directly on the Princeton, Wisconsin Public Library website. This project goes on through 2013. I may do more and I got a lovely comment on my blog from the director of the project filled with praise for my blog, the block and my writing. We’ll see how many more blocks I make.

Space, Studios & Workrooms

Did you see the new studio that Olabelhe created out of her (his??) dining room? It was being pinned all over Pinterest at the beginning of June, because it is fabulous. It is fresh, clean, uses wonderful colors. Love it.

Creativity

You know I go on and on about developing a creative habit. Part of my solution is responding to the Creative Prompts I post on Fridays (most recent). I am not making this up. Creativity and developing a habit that allows you to call upon it at will is important. At work I get an emailed newsletter called HBR Management Tip of the Day. These are very short tips, literally taking 30 seconds or less to read. Normally, they are things I already do or know about. I was surprised to find one pop up about creativity. The tip was related to work, but I was reminded how a creative habit can help in various aspects of our lives. One of the tips within the tip (a subtip?) was “Let your mind wander. Studies show that day dreaming stimulates a unique mental state. You’ll connect dots in new ways when you allow your mind to roam.” Work or quiltmaking, it applies.

I finally went and watched an episode of The Quilt Show. I am so engrossed in audiobooks at the moment that I never seem to get to them. I would suggest that you watch episode #1013 with Susan Shie (pronounced shy). Yes, you will need a membership, or, perhaps, you can just buy that one episode. She talks about creativity and how to just do it, that your work is always good enough and to reclaim that 6 year old who wasn’t worried about what others would say. I really liked this episode and it gave me a creative shot in the arm. Susan does great work, which was an added bonus.

Other Artists

Lisa Call posted an interview about how she works. I love the reading these types of posts, because I like to compare them to what I do and think about the differences.

Lil Sissy is posting to her blog from Paris and I had to update some stuff for her. While I was nosing around, I noticed one of her links, Weekly Gratitude. The project was a one year project, but the closing post is really good. The author talks about how she will continue to practice gratitude and try to look at life from that angle rather than from the negative. I think that doing a project and then doing a “project wrapup” is a great idea. Many times work projects have this step built in, but we, as creative people, sigh with relief when a project is done and move on. This is a post that I might print as a reminder. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Have you seen Pam’s Pinwheels and Patches baby quilt? It is really pretty. Not in a sickly sweet baby kind of way, but in a sophisticated English Garden Party kind of way. Go take a look.

A librarian friend was laid off at the beginning of the year after 20+ years of service. Needless to say the library is going to hell in a handbasket and my friend is thriving. She is looking for a new job, but she has a bit of leisure because she got severance. She is really beefing up her knitting and dyeing. If you want to buy a gift, take a look at Marlowe’s Etsy Shop.

My sister put up A Day in the Life post on her blog. The post confirmed for me that we are actually related. Her day is like a lot of my days: crammed full of tasks that I just do one after another.

Creative Prompt #164: Sparkle

Sparkle (movie)

Sparkle Plenty, a character in the Dick Tracy comic strip

sparkling water

Sparkletts

Definition: 1. To give off or reflect flashes of light; glitter. 2. To be brilliant in performance. 3. A small spark or gleaming particle. 4. A glittering quality. 5. Brilliant animation; vivacity. 4. Emission of gas bubbles; effervescence.

sparkle in his eye

sparkling conversation

Sparkle Punch quilt by Elizabeth Hartman

Sparkle game

type of catamaran

drink

Sparkle, California, in Contra Costa County

Sparkles From The Wheel

WHERE the city’s ceaseless crowd moves on, the live-long day,
Withdrawn, I join a group of children watching–I pause aside with
them.By the curb, toward the edge of the flagging,
A knife-grinder works at his wheel, sharpening a great knife;
Bending over, he carefully holds it to the stone–by foot and knee,
With measur’d tread, he turns rapidly–As he presses with light but
firm hand,
Forth issue, then, in copious golden jets,
Sparkles from the wheel.The scene, and all its belongings–how they seize and affect me!
The sad, sharp-chinn’d old man, with worn clothes, and broad
shoulder-band of leather; 10
Myself, effusing and fluid–a phantom curiously floating–now here
absorb’d and arrested;The group, (an unminded point, set in a vast surrounding;)
The attentive, quiet children–the loud, proud, restive base of the
streets;
The low, hoarse purr of the whirling stone–the light-press’d blade,
Diffusing, dropping, sideways-darting, in tiny showers of gold,
Sparkles from the wheel.

Walt Whitman

Make your response simple. It doesn’t need to be a masterpiece. Take 5 minutes. Just respond and create a creative habit. Please post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog, and how your work relates to the other responses.

The Creative Prompt Project has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. Are you already a member? I created that spot so those of you without blogs or websites would have a place to post your responses. Please join and look at all of the great artwork that people have posted.

Yellow Donation Blocks

I am back on the donation block bandwagon, though I don’t think I ever really got off. 😉 I am using all of the Art Gallery scraps, but I had to add some additional scraps otherwise there would not have been enough different fabrics. At least, in my mind, there would not have been enough different fabrics.

I started working with the yellows using a different method than I used with the pinks. I sewed squares together and then started stacking them up. I am not sure I like this method, because it is confusing and may yet switch. I was trying to vary, not only the yellows, but also the backgrounds. It made the process a bit more challenging and I thought the variation in method would work better. The blocks definitely go together quickly when the pairs are already sewn together.

I was able to make 3 more blocks yesterday, in between making the backs.

I have an idea in my mind that I want to complete another donation top by the meeting on Saturday. The rational side of me knows that is madness, but the driven crazy person knows she can do it and doesn’t care.

I was able to add a couple of more fabrics as I worked on the yellow back yesterday. As I mentioned, I thought there was too much brown. In general, though, I think the blocks are coming together nicely.

We’ll see what the rest of the week brings for my sewing and see if we can get a quilt top finished. I have a lot of other stuff to do.

New Meditation on Quilt Backs

The top photo is a photo of the back for the Corner Store. The Japanese Chrysanthemum print that makes up the majority of the back is by, of course, Phillip Jacobs. I bought that fabric for a Multi-tasker tote I planned to use for the Autumn, but never got around to making and it seemed appropriate to use it for the back.

Today was back day.

I decided that before I could piece more tops I needed to make two backs and a binding. I was able to finish the two backs, but need some input before moving on the binding. Making backs is something I don’t enjoy that much, but feel it is necessary to finish quilts and part of that process is making the back.

I feel strongly about backs:

Pieced backs are good. I prefer to use the fabric I have and not buy special backing fabric.
I label my backs. Nobody may care in 100 years, but if they do care, the information will be there. Also, if a quilt is stolen and, subsequently, found, the finder will know where to send the quilt.
Make the back look cohesive with itself, and moderately related to the front.

I used to never care about piecing backs and would spend all day piecing a back, but today that part of the process got on my nerves. I would have loved for someone to hand me the perfect back so I would not have to make backs today. What I did to alleviate this was to find some large pieces and use those for most of the backs. Larger pieces of fabric meant less piecing. The piecing on the backs is not symmetrical, but the backs are made.

I think what is happening is that I am far enough along is most of the projects on my 26 Projects list that I am getting to the backing and binding stage faster than I would otherwise. Thus, I am making many more backs than I normally would. I also think I am sewing faster than I have in the past. Rote sewing? Somewhat.

I say all this like it is bad and it isn’t. I just think I have a rhythm for sewing and my rhythm is off. I think I need to consider that rhythm and get back into it. I need to take more time with my projects so I don’t get to the backs so fast. Until the 26 Projects list meets my comfort level, though, I think I might have to contend with this challenge, this sewing frenzy. It is, however, a consideration.

The last photo is a back for the Super Secret Project (#2). TFQ made the top for me and I was stuck with the back. I didn’t have any of the same fabrics she used, so I did the best I could.

One of my big concerns about backs is the well designed modern backs that many of the ‘modern’ quilters are making. Seeing them make me feel like a slacker. Granted, many of them do not include labels, but they are making backs that are almost separate quilt tops themselves and those backs look good.

These two pieces will go off to the quilter next time I head over there.

Analysis of the Corner Store

Last week, I talked about finishing this piece and how it had no soul.This realization kind of sent me into a bit of a tailspin, because I am not used to quilt tops having no soul. I got a lot of great comments, which you should go and read. Everyone had great suggestions and insights. I really appreciated the comments.

I had a long discussion with TFQ about this piece and I finally came to the conclusion that the ratio of color to Kona Snow is off. That means that there is too much Kona Snow for the amount of color I included. It could be that this pattern, which originally came from Pretty Little Mini Quilts, was never really suited to scaling it up. In my version, the blocks are small, but the piece is still fairly large.

Still, I think that there is not enough color and too much white. I think that white can lighten a piece and give a fresh look, but I think the quiltmaker has to be careful about how much white to use. I think I have to agree with TFQ that too much white can suck the life out of a piece.

I was upset about this quilt and it did make me think, but I am glad I have bumped up against the “white wall.” I am glad I pushed the envelope and seem to have a limit. It is good for my development as a quiltmaker. I also have to remind myself that I can’t make a masterpiece every time.

Garden Machine Quilting

I worked, over the weekend, on the Garden quilt. I am machine quilting it. I hadn’t really planned to work on it since I have a back for the Corner Store to finish, a back to make for the Super Secret Project #2 as well as a binding and some other miscellaneous random finishing tasks to accomplish. I also have some bags and smaller projects I could work on to keep my mind off of things. Still, I sat huddled over my machine and machine quilted for hours.

Yes, I am in avoidance mode over the Corner Store, but at least I am accomplishing something while I am avoiding something else. That can’t be all bad, can it?

This is the first time I have done any free motion quilting in a long time. Admittedly, I didn’t do much on this piece, but I did some and I am pretty proud that a) I am still able to free motion quilt and b) my machine could handle it.

I am really pleased with the servicing the store down south did. The machine works like a charm and I have stopped having traitorous thoughts about replacing it.

I didn’t free motion quilt (FMQ, FMQing) this entire piece, but I did some FMQing in some key areas. In the photo of the sun, I did some FMQing in the ball of the sun.

I have annotated the last photo so I can try and show you the differences in straight line quilting vs. FMQing. You will have to make the photo larger to see what I have written.

Inspiration Sunday

I am fortunate to live in a place where I can walk down the street and see a quilt pattern. Recently I saw this tile entryway and it reminded me of the Basketweave Baby pattern I mentioned some time ago.

This tile pattern is also similar to one I saw in Petaluma. I was lame and didn’t take a photo of the corner of that older entryway, but there may have been a reason. I do like to take photos of the corners, so if I decide to make such a pattern into a quilt pattern, I know what to do with the corner – or at least I know what someone else did.

There would be a lot of partial seaming if I made this as a quilt.

Do you see how the piece looks like there are curves. If you click on the photo to make it larger, you will see that there are no curves. That illusion is so interesting to me.

Enjoy!

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31