Admin
The Minikins page is updated with my recent Piebald pouches and some other links I needed to add.
The Quilt Class and Teaching page has also been updated. Do you want to be ready for anything in quiltmaking? Get in touch if you want to learn a wide variety of techniques. I am hoping to start a class at the end of July.
I updated the Color Improv donation top page with some new information.
I finally was able to take some good photos of my Pointillist Palette quilts. I will show each one in its own post down the road. In the meantime, I have updated the Pointillist Palette page.
Projects, Classes, Patterns, Techniques & Tutorials
DH thought up these fun decorations for his flycasting club potluck. Aren’t they clever?
Carrie shared a cute bird block pattern with me.
At Bag Club, we talked about Noodlehead patterns in preparation for our group project, the Oxbow Tote. In the course of the conversation, Lynette mentioned the Noodlehead Open Wide pouch, which is a free pattern. Be sure to look at the updated size chart as well. Perhaps I’ll make one to reacquaint myself with her patterns.
Judy Martin wrote in her most recent newsletter “…one common practice makes absolutely no sense to me: cutting strips on the crosswise grain. The lengthwise grain is parallel to the selvage; the crosswise grain is perpendicular to it. Why does this matter? Primarily because the crosswise grain is so much stretchier compared to lengthwise. There is simply no reason to start your sewing off on the wrong foot when lengthwise or crosswise strips take the exact same effort and skill. You can see a vivid demonstration of how stretchy fabric is on the crosswise grain compared to lengthwise…
Another advantage of lengthwise strips is how well the strips follow the print. I cut my strips 18″ long and call them short strips. That length works perfectly for the fat quarters and half-yard cuts of fabric that I use so often. Since I usually make scrap quilts, the shorter-than-your-usual crosswise strips offer much greater scrap variety. Best of all, you don’t have to throw out everything you’ve learned about rotary cutting to start using short lengthwise strips today. Everything is the same except the length of your strips and the direction that you turn the fabric when you cut it.”
See what she means by watching her video. I have known this technique for years and I should do this, but I don’t like cutting off strips parallel to the selvedge. That seems really dumb, so I may have to change my ways.
Tools, Books, Fabric, Notions & Supplies
Have you seen the new line of Philip Jacobs fabrics? I saw them at Sew Hungry Hippie. I am totally in love with this print. I am usually not much of green girl, but this is just so fabulous.
He has quite a few flower prints in his new collection. I am not surprised, but very pleased. The Dorothy designs are interesting.
I haven’t been a huge fan of his feathers, but I really like the yellow colorway. The floating Hibiscus from last year is still available and very tempting. He has a new flower print (coming in August) called Papaver in a grey that is different from some of his other prints.
Martha Negley has a new vegetable print that is similar to some she has had in the past. No idea when it is coming out. I really need to sew faster!
These socks mean that you will always have a color wheel with you.
Media, Books and Articles
A follow-up article to the Women’s View exhibit was posted. You can still see the show. It is open until April 26.
In a recent New York Times article from the Well section, they talk about working with your hands. In the article, Dr. Lambert has another hypothesis. “With depression, people experience something called learned helplessness, where they feel like it doesn’t matter what they do, nothing ever works,” she said. She believes that working with one’s hands is stimulating to the brain, and that it could even help counteract this learned helplessness. “When you put in effort and can see the product of that, like a scarf you knitted, I think that builds up a sense of accomplishment and control over your world.” The article is well worth reading and distributing to others.
Events, Shops, Exhibits and Shows
I visited the East Bay Heritage Quilter’s Guild show last weekend. It was held in Oakland, once again, after many years in Richmond. It was clear that the show was very well organized and had a lot of interesting stalls outside of the quilt show. There were a number of interesting quilts. I was attracted to the geometric quilts in bright colors. I was disappointed that most of the vendors were clothing, housewares, jewelry and skincare vendors. I was in the mood to buy quilt things and there was not much available. New Pieces was there with a few fat quarter packs. They didn’t bring any yardage to cut.
Other Artists
Want to see some one-of-a-kind tapestries by Kaffe? Take a look at his gallery. They are amazing.
One of the quilts at the EBHQ Show was by someone who did the Julia McLeod “Lone Robin” prompt project. I found some of the prompts on the SFQG website. The prompts are from 2021, so it would have been a pandemic project. I don’t know when EBHQ hosted the project or whether the artist engaged in the project at another show. I thought it was a good idea and I really liked how the quilt came out.
Those cupcakes are awesome!
He did a great job!!