Various & Sundry 2013 #7

Doing Good

As most of you have probably heard by now, Kathreen Ricketsen, founder of WhipUp.net died in an accident in May. There has been a fund set up for her two children, Otillija and Orlando Shugg. You can find the details on WhipUp.Net. You can find more about the circumstances in Australian news sources and also on WhipUp.Net. CraftSanity has nice tribute up as well. Jennifer links to one of her podcast episodes in which she interviews Kathreen. It is an interview that is definitely worth a listen. You can also find a tribute on While She Naps. There is an interesting link to some controversial posts on WhipUp.

An update on Libby Lehman can be found on the Quilt Navigator site.

Many of you have mentioned wanting to help the victims of the tornados that recently hit parts of Oklahoma. Here is a point of contact to whom we can send anything we make, create, sew for survivors in Moore, Oklahoma. The quilt shop is Stitching Post in Moore. The owners are Robert & Robin Hall. I spoke with Robert, and thank God he and his family are well. Robert has worked with Project Linus and advised he would be very happy to distribute anything we send in support of those impacted by the tornado of Sunday, May 19. Stitching Post has a Facebook page (I couldn’t find it, but you might have better luck), and additional contact information is as follows: 316 N. Broadway Street, Moore, OK 73160 (405-241-7896). E-mail: sewbargain@coxinet.net. Carole or Gretchen, one of the Twilters mentioned sending sewing supplies. I am sure you can buy them from the Stitching Post and save on shipping. The quiltmakers in Moore and other parts of OK will want to get back to their machines as soon as possible.

Marianne Jackson created a FB page that will serve as a general clearing house for disasters. She writes “… I created a FB page, Sewing for Moore, Etc. that I hope will allow quilting and sewing folks can communicate in order to provide support to survivors of disasters. I have included previous posts, including information pertaining to a local contact to whom we can send sewing donations. Please let me know if you would like to be part of this group.”

The Oklahoma Modern Quilt Guild is also collecting quilts, etc. See more information on their page.

Ellen Medlock has set up project for quilts for families who have suffered from the tornados. She writes on FB: “QUILT DRIVE for OKLAHOMA Tornado Families. If you wish to donate a quilt, please send to our shop- and we will make sure it is placed in the right hands! Ship to: OK Quilt Drive, c/o Ellen Medlock Studio Store, 10032 S. Sheridan Rd, Suite H-1, Tulsa, OK 74133. (We will be happy to place any kind of blanket, for that matter!)”

Over 1500 flags were collected to show love for Boston and “to honor the victims of the Marathon bombings and bring messages of hope to a city trying to heal.”

Thank you for all the love you are sending via fabric.

Keep Anna Maria Horner and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Her mom died on May 17. I can’t imagine how that must feel, but she wrote a beautiful post about it. Go tell your mom (or she who acts like a mom to you) that you love her.

Products and Tools

I broke a needle recently and part of it went down into the bobbin case. I couldn’t get it out without removing the sole plate. The sole plate was on so tight that DH had to help me get it off. Lintpocalypse indeed! We could barely see the parts for the lint. We kept pulling lint out from around, in and under the bobbin case. We ended up pulling out a fluffy tennis ball sized amount of lint in the end. The machine does sound happier. I don’t have any pictures, but you can look at Pam’s as my situation looked the same, if not worse.

Barbara Brackman has introduced the latest in quilt hilarity, the Quilt Book of Saints. Didn’t know St. Ann was the patron saint of seamstresses? Or that St. John the Baptist was that patron saint of cutters? Check out the hilarity and support Barbara.

Media

I am very sad that Rice Freeman-Zachary is taking a break from podcasting. I know that podcasting doesn’t pay much, if anything and is relatively thankless. I love her podcasts, because she talks about the spark of creativity and this topic is great with interspersed with Pam and Sandy and Sandi and Frances et al. 🙁 Perhaps I’ll have to go back and listen to the ones to which I have already listened.

Jennifer, over at CraftSanity, has some photos of a quilt show up on her blog. One of the photos shows a man with his quilt related wood projects. One of the items he sells is quilt ladders, like Tanesha, of CraftyGardenMom fame, mentioned on a recent episode.

This app, Quiltography looks cool. The blog post is a review not from the developer and the photos are great. I haven’t tried it, but will look it up. Have YOU tried it?

Quilt National 2013 opened last week and my friend, Pamela Allen, has a quilt in the show. She was also on a panel discussion about her process. I wish I could have been there. It would be great if Craftsy taped/recorded the panels. Deirdre Adams has a wonderful Gallery of photos on her blog. Anyone who wants to send me to the Dairy Barn to report on QN13 in person, get in touch.

CraftyGardenMom (Tanesha) periodically comes out with a long essay post. Don’t miss her most recent missive on 10 quilt peeps you should know. I am sure there is some tongue-in-cheek, but also some pearls of wisdom.

Quilt Market

Yes, Quilt Market was in Portland last week. I wish I could have gone. Someday, I hope. In the meantime, I collected some images from those who were there that I enjoyed. I really liked the lushness of Amanda Herring’s booth.

I also really liked the gradation of the black and white quilt in the Dear Stella booth. Gradation! In a black and white quilt! I know! Amazing.

Sara of Sew Sweetness has a great post about all that she saw at Quilt Market. It is very Tula Pink heavy and I loved seeing the way the TP fabric was used on the Petrillo Bag. I also like the row quilt in the post where the maker used TP’s animal fabrics. I enjoy looking at it because it is very different. Tula Pink has a new line for Aurifil and there are photos of some of the colors as well.

Camille Roskelley shows pictures of her booth (love those colors!) as well as the quilts from the new patterns and Simply Retro book. She also has a video of a Schoolhouse and mentions Sample Spree. As a bonus, she has links to other blogs talking about Market, so you can truly indulge! I love that cupcake table mat and the stack of FQs at the end of her post. Anyone looking to buy me a gift? 😉

Kelli also has a post up about people she met at Quilt Market as well as showing lots of photos.

The vendors were well represented as well. You’ll love the first photo on the Timeless Treasures post. I like the sample quilts in their post. They weren’t quick or easy. somebody took some time with the piecing, which was well worth the effort. They have a lot of impact.

We can leave Oliver+S out either. In her post, Liesl links to a video about the fabric design process.

Creativity

Linda and Laura Kemshall, UK artists, quiltmakers and mother/daughter team, have a Creative Sketchbooks online course now OPEN! You can find all the information on the website including the enrollment form. If you’re interested please read through it all carefully and hopefully the answers to any questions will be there, but if there’s anything you’re unsure of please email. Here is the link to the section of the site that you need: http://www.lindakemshall.com/DesignMattersOnlineCourses.html. Look for their Creative Quiltmaking course next.

The Kemshalls also offer a Bespoke service, which means that you can create your own unique fabrics, just send us the images, choose your fabric and size and they’ll send back your own custom cloth. I don’t know if their service is different than Spoonflower, but my Europe and UK readers may want to give them a try. They have a very interesting newsletter, which is not just a sales pitch. Every issue has a tip or trick.  Join their Mailing List!

Carole, one of the Twilters, posted a picture of her round robin after I talked about picking out fabrics for my Modern Round Robin project. I love her colors. That red is fabulous!

Sunday, June 23 from 2-4pm: Fiber Talks! Find It! Buy It! Use It! at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles: Armchair travel with Roberta Horton and Mary Mashuta as they tour the world in search of fabrics for their quilts. Once these treasures are in hand, they then answer that great quilting question: “What do I do with it?” The sisters each have found their own solutions and will show you some of their quilts made with fabric from the same country but executed in a different fashion.  Each talk is $20 for Museum members and a great opportunity to hear each these fqs (famous quilters).  Reservations are encouraged http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/fibertalks.html

Technique

I send my Young Man off to school every day by saying “do your best.” I think that have a good day means that if he hasn’t had a good day, he will feel bad. I know that regardless of the kind of day he has, he can do is best. If his best is terrible today, it will not be terrible tomorrow. Here is another discussion of the dumbing down of quiltmaking, which is actually more about bad technique selling.

I really like this line “I’m not talking about perfection; I’m talking about attention, respect, commitment.  Attention to detail, respect for your own work, and a commitment to putting out the best work that your talent & skill allows.” because it is inclusive. It doesn’t matter if you only put squares together or are working on your first quilt. The part “…the best work that your talent & skill allows” includes YOU! This is a well written piece, because she is right. Teachers and designers should be better than us. They should be able to teach us something to make us better. Teachers and designers don’t have to be a lot better, but better. When I teach I may only be one or two steps ahead of my students, but I know the path. If don’t know the path, I don’t teach.

I agree that technique is important. I think that we can all get better at quiltmaking (points matching, straight topstitching, etc) if we practice (YAY! more sewing time!).  I want my work to look good even if I can sell crap (and you know I don’t sell my stuff). Good technique matters. Ebony is a good writer and she puts herself out there offering tips and tricks in future blog posts. Go to her blog and take a look. And do your best work.

Scrapbooking

Yes, occasionally I put photos in albums. I recently received this information from a consultant via my Lis Sissy: CM has filed bankruptcy (2nd time) and plans to lay off 160+ workers (out of 230) by this summer, meaning they will be operating with a 30% workforce. They recently cancelled Showcase, the annual conference, due to lack of time and resources. You can find more details on the bankruptcy at tcbmag.com. Business has slowed over the past few years for many consultants. She has no idea what the future is for Creative Memories as a company, so she wrote the email to encourage you to consider stocking up on your essentials, or purchasing tools you can’t live without – even if you are stalled in your album-making! There are rumors that CM is moving from a product line of 350 down to 50, but there is no confirmation at this time. If it is, it would seem that product line would be albums, refills, protectors and a few basics. You might want to order what you may need now, or maybe shop a bit each month just in case. You can order at Ellen’s site. She is a great person.

Updates

I made some updates to the Week Away with Some Quilting post.