What I am Reading
- City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn
- Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriker
- Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley – one of her older novels that has recently be released for Kindle. I enjoyed it, though there were a couple of parts where I had had enough of the chaos.
- Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn – novella prequel to City of Jasmine. One of the best written novellas Raybourn has done.
Other Artists
SherriD has made two significant finishes this month. She does beautiful handwork and I have been watching her progress through her U is for Unicorn quilt. She finally finished it and I am in awe at the work. it is beautiful. I finish a number of things over the course of a year, but they all pale in comparison to the work required for this piece. Congrats, Sherri!
Elly at Aurifil posted a link to a piece called Reaching for Words, that in technique, reminds me of my piece, What Comes Next. Seeing it makes me want to stamp letters on fabric again. Fruiti and Spagetti threads are also mentioned and I would love to learn more about those as well.
Patterns, Tutorials and Projects
A Quilter’s Table has a great tutorial on a 3 zipper pouch. Nice colors, too.
Someone brought scissor pouches to show at the last meeting. I looked up tutorials, because I thought it would be a good gift. I looked at two. One was from StamperDog and the other from Stamping with Gail. I thought these would be good gifts.
Services & Sites
I found something via Twitter called the Playcraft Palette Builder 2. I have seen people put up a picture with the exact matches for fabric in neat little boxes next to the image. I thought that they were much faster and more dedicated than I in picking fabrics. They might be, but now I have a secret weapon OR now I know their secret! I loaded Beachtown and came up with a palette! I am not sure it is a great palette. I didn’t realize there were so many greyed colors in the quilt, but also there are a number of buttons and features I have not explored. I can see this as a fun tool.
Fabric, Tools & Supplies
I recently found a site called Polka Dot Tea Fabrics. I don’t know what tea has to do with fabric, though I do drink tea pretty often when I work on my projects. The shop has a lot of great colors, plenty of solids, Japanese fabrics, FQ packs as well as pre-cuts.
I get my rotary blades from LP Sharp because I can send back my used blades and get a discount on new blades. I don’t know what else to do with the used blades besides throw them out and I like the idea of them being recycled. This time I went through rotary blades at a tremendous rate and suddenly I had no new ones. Quickly, I packaged up an order, but the blade in my rotary cutter was sad. On a visit to the Intrepid Thread down in Milpitas, I picked up a Clover Rotary Blade refill. It was 45mm, but I wasn’t sure if it would fit my Olfa cutter. I asked and Colleen told me that Julie buys those because they have a small plastic holder which allows the quiltmaker to replace her rotary blade without actually touching the blade. You can see the tab in the photo. Cool, huh?
I haven’t tried cutting with it, but will let you know if I like the way it cuts. I will probably still use LP Sharp because of the recycling, but I will definitely consider this blade again when I am desperate.
Events, Shows and Exhibits
The East Bay Heritage Quilters show was held March 22 and 23 at Craneway Pavillion in Richmond.
Judy Martin is ramping up her lecturing circuit again now that her son is headed off to start his life. She has some lectures scheduled in the Midwest. I wish they were closer as I am dying to meet Judy in person! I love her work. How long does it take to drive from California to Iowa? The events are:
- March 15, 1:00-3:00 – Pella, IA – The Quilted Windmill (formerly VandeLune Fabrics) – I’ll be signing autographs. Their phone number is 641-780-0676.
- March 21-22 – New Ulm, MN – I’ll be doing 3 Log Cabin lectures at the Prairie Piecemakers biennial quilt show. The show is open on Friday from 9:00-6:00 and Saturday from 9:00-4:00. On Friday I will lecture at 2:00. On Saturday you can see me at 10:00 or 2:00.April 1 – Pella, IA – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture for the Pella Area Quilters Guild. The meeting is at the 3rd Reformed Church, 708 East 13th Street in Pella. April 7 – Dixon, IL – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture for the Petunia City Quilters. The meeting is at the Loveland Community Building, 513 W. 2nd St. in Dixon.
- April 8, 6:30 – Danville, IL – Threads of Time – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture. You can read more about my visit at http://www.threadsoftimefab.com/classes/judy_martin/
- May 14, 7:00 – Ottawa, IL – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture for the Illinois Valley Quilters Guild. Meetings are held at Epworth United Methodist Church, 627 Gentleman Road in Ottawa. You can read more about it at http://www.illinoisvalleyquiltersguild.com/Guild_Programs.html.
- May 15, 7:00 – Naperville, IL – Pride of the Prairie Quilters – I’ll be doing my Log Cabin lecture. Meetings are held at Zion Lutheran Church at 11007 Book Road in Naperville. For more information go to http://www.prideofprairie.org/Programs.htm
- May 16, 6:00-9:00 – Westmont, IL – QuiltFabric.com – I will be doing my Log Cabin lecture. The shop’s address is 818 E. Ogden Avenue. For more information go to http://www.quiltfabric.com/index.htm
The 2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge: Radiant Orchid is now open for entries.
Not Quilt Related
I am a fan of the show Castle. Recently I found two sites that are great. One is a writing about fashion blog called Once Upon a Blog by Julia where the authors periodically mention characters from the show. The other is called Dress Like Kate Beckett. I want to be Kate Beckett! I don’t want to be a homicide detective, but I want her height, boldness, fearlessness and wardrobe. I also want to be able to run in 4″ heels.