Author: Jaye

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

FOTY 2016 Starts

FOTY 2016 Starter Patches
FOTY 2016 Starter Patches

I am going to make you crazy for a little while until I finish piecing FOTY 2015, because I have started cutting for FOTY 2016.

A few weeks ago, I started a new donation quilt with Gerre. We cut some neutrals and I had to decide ASAP what the shape and size for 2016 would be. I hadn’t finalize on a shape or size, but had been thinking about it so I just took the opportunity to make a decision. The size of the cut FOTY squares (yes, only squares this year) will be 4×4″. Finished size will be 3.5×3.5″.

 

FOTY 2016 Patches - mid May
FOTY 2016 Patches – mid May

I had the few neutrals and one or two blues on the wall and then over the weekend the squares exploded as I cut the centers for the Food quilt and then even more when I cut the blacks.

All of these are old fabrics – well, fabrics that have been in my stash awhile. A few of them had nothing cut out of them so I know they were pre-2008 fabrics. I am not going to differentiate new vs existing fabrics this year even though I really like that look.

I made a good dent with all of this cutting and was able to move some yardage off shelves and into bins after all of this cutting.

Food Quilt #3: Cutting

Food Quilt fabrics -cut
Food Quilt fabrics -cut

Yes, I am making another Food Quilt. I kind of like the food prints and Disappearing 9 Patch is a good way to use them.  Food quilts are also good for boys as I have probably said 1,000 times before. I should revise it to “I can make a boy quilt quickly without much thinking.

I had a lot of food fabric left, so it really was a no brainer. I had thought to have it done by now, but I kept avoiding the cutting.

I took my machine in for service before I left for Grand Parlor and wasn’t expecting it to be back until Monday or Tuesday so I planned to accomplish a lot of cutting tasks. One of those was the blue fabrics for the center of the 9 patches for this quilt.

Yay! Got that done.

In the process of cutting the blues, I realized that I had either lost the blacks that will be in the center outside positions in each block or hadn’t cut them. I cut those pieces as well and am now ready to piece. I might need to cut some more pieces for the piano key border. Regardless, leaders and enders, here I come.

Grand Parlor Quilt

At Grand Parlor the candidates for the Executive Board have Hospitality Rooms. The rooms open up at a certain time, people walk around and chat with the candidate and other members of the Parlor. Food and drink is offered and the Parlors vie with each other for the best food. Another thing they do as a fundraiser for their Charitable Foundation is to raffle off stuff. You have seen the pillows SIL2 and I have made. DH’s Parlor also usually has raffle baskets. Other parlors have other things, both big and small. anything from commemorative coins to TVs.

Bidwell Parlor Raffle Quilt
Bidwell Parlor Raffle Quilt

The Parlor across the hall from us had a quilt! It was simple, but pretty amazing. The motifs were made with some kind of commercial silkscreen. The quilt has been washed and doesn’t look faded, so the process seems to be colorfast, at least after the first washing.

This is the second quilt this Parlor has raffled, so they do have some quiltmakers associated with the Parlor. I am not sure I would make a quilt like this, but the gentleman who won was thrilled and the Parlor made over $500, so that is good.

NSGW Pillows

NSGW 2016 Grand Parlor Pillows
NSGW 2016 Grand Parlor Pillows

We skipped last year, but are back in the saddle this year with more pillows.

NSGW 2016 Grand Parlor Fancy Pillow
NSGW 2016 Grand Parlor Fancy Pillow

I have to admit that SIL2 did most of the work. I did a little cutting, supplied some fabric, then, was out of time. I had so much to do to get ready for Grand Parlor. I couldn’t get this done. SIL2 stepped in and did the rest. The pillow above looks REALLY elegant. The gold fabric isn’t too showy. It will go well in a really decorated living room.

NSGW 2016 Grand Parlor California Fabric Pillow
NSGW 2016 Grand Parlor California Fabric Pillow

This year we decided to put years on them so they would be more special — limited editions. We used leftover fabric from the shirts we made for DH and BIL3.

NSGW Grand Parlor 2016 Pillows - backs
NSGW Grand Parlor 2016 Pillows – backs

As in previous years, these pillows will be raffled off to raise money to support kids needing surgery for craniofacial anomalies. You can make a donation to the Cleft Palate Foundation directly (tax deductible) without being at Grand Parlor. Sorry, no pillows for a straight donation.

Book Review: Fearless Design for Every Quilter

Fearless Design for Every Quilter: Traditional & Contemporary 10 Lessons Creativity & CritiqueFearless Design for Every Quilter: Traditional & Contemporary 10 Lessons Creativity & Critique by Lorraine Torrence

This is the year of cleaning up little details. This book has been on my list for a long time as I worked through the Design Series with Sandy. We haven’t finished the podcasting portion, but I want this book off my list. This book did not take me 4 years to read! I refused to take it off my list until, first, I finished the design series with Sandy and, second, I wrote this review.

I have taken at least one class with Lorraine Torrence. She is an excellent teacher who teaches concepts and techniques more than projects. In the classes I have taken with her, and articles & books by her I have read, the principles and elements of design infuse her work. Thus I was excited about this book when it came out. As I started my own studies into the principles and elements of design, I found this book to be a good resource and starting place. It is, however, not comprehensive.

The book comprises the creative process as well as five of the principles and elements of design. It starts with a comprehensive table of contents (pg.4) and continues with an introduction that includes a brief history of the contemporary quiltmaking movement. The introduction continues with a section from each of the two authors. Lorraine’s section talks about her long term Design Essentials class, including sketching out the content of the class allowing any shop to offer such a class. I am not sure that was the intent. Jean was a student in the class and talks about her experiences while Lorraine talks about the evolution and teaching of the class.

The introduction is followed by a short section on the goals of the books and some introduction on how to use the book. Critique and inspiration are part of using the book and are described in this part as well.

The overall message in this section is figuring out the exercises and that people learn more when the instructions are vague or do not give all the information. This is not meant to deprive the reader, but to encourage experimentation.

The above sections are followed by “Commit to Create: The Creative Process” There is an interesting discussion about how “being creative is not a mysterious process.” (pg.8), telling the reader that creativity is a process in which anyone can engage. There are comments in this section that I have said to others. This section is not all about telling the reader s/he is creative, there is also a process outlined and how to engage in each step. The process includes: Prepare, Incubate, Create, Evaluate.

I like this process because it is simple yet effective. The authors provide a lot of information, but it is concise, to the point and easily digestible.
The Creative Process is covered in the Critique Process (pg.11). The word critique is scary but this section starts by talking about vocabulary and phrasing, which helps to take some of the sting out of the process.

Throughout the book are references to other books and articles that add to or expand on the content.

Students participated in this book and they are introduced starting on pg.13. “Their work and thoughts appear as examples of design and critique.” (pg.13) “The first part of the design course focuses on the principles and elements, exploring the relationship of these components to the overall success of a quilt design” (pg.11). The principles and elements covered are Balance, Asymmetrical Composition and Value, Scale, Value and Balance, Identifying Value in Color, and Color. As I said these are a good place to start, though not comprehensive. Each of these chapters gives an exercise then goes through a critique section, using the student work as examples. There is also a section within each chapter called ‘the continuing education process’, which suggests different approaches and tools.

These chapters are all full color with many images throughout. The words making up the chapter are filled with helpful information, definitions and examples. One quote, which is a great reminder is “Doing the exercises in this chapter is simply a way to try out color ideas visually to find new combinations….” (pg.50). Replace ‘color ideas’ with other concepts and the line becomes a universal excuse for going to your studio and working.

The next major section is called “Design Sources and Inspiration” (pg.52) and focuses, not surprisingly, “on sources and inspiration” (pg.52). Some of the inspirations are Words (pg.53), Using Images from your Surroundings (pg.58), and Maintaining Unity Using Panels (pg.64). These chapters also show student work in the critique section, include a creativity exercise and suggested reading.

The section called Designing Borders and Quilting (pg.69) is put together like the others, but seems to be a section that the publisher said the authors had to include. It isn’t a comprehensive how-to quilt section; it is more about fitting the quilting to the overall design of the piece. The quilting doesn’t show up very well on some of the pieces in the critique session (pg.70-72).

There is a section on borders, which is interesting. It starts with “A good way to audition borders for a quilt is to photograph the quilt and make several paper picture frames for the photo” (pg.74). Of course, you could copy the fabric you were planning on using or you could take the idea and reproduce it in EQ or another quilt software.

Throughout the book you are encouraged to produce a ‘library’ of designs. In this section, the idea is to add to this concept with a quilting design library. This reminds me of Inspiration Odyssey by Diana Swim Wessel. You could just use her materials instead of creating your own, but creating your own makes your project personal and provides a starting place. Christa Watson has a new machine quilting book that has fill designs, etc, that would be useful. This idea isn’t bad if you have ideas of your own that differ from those published. As the authors say, it “will be a good resource for ideas.” (pg.74)

There is a tidbit in the Creativity Exercise in this section that I really like. The authors say “…do a mental check to see if you have built ‘fences’ around your ability to be creative. Sometimes we can get stuck in what we know have always done, rather than focusing on what we creatively dream” (pg.74). I really love this thought. It isn’t easy, especially when we are in ‘get ‘er done’ mode, but its important to try to remember and practice.

The chapter in this section is called “Designing and Working with Pattern,” which is all about understanding the fabric design process and using those fabrics you create (pg.75). The exercise is to design fabric and the assignment gives you ideas on how to do it such as printing on fabric and others. I immediately thought of Tsukineko inks. This creation process is followed up by using the fabrics.

The next major section is called “Working in a Series” and covers topics such as What is Series Work, Where to Start, and How Long to Work on a Series. This section ends with the reminder that quantity equals quality and is followed by student work.

The book sums up with a Section called “Summing Up” (pg.90) that tells readers where to go from this point. The suggestion is to start your own critique group and the book gives a list of things to consider when doing so (pg.91). In the “Some Final words” section there are thoughts on your inner critic, on inspiration and other things.

I am disappointed that this book does not have an index.

Goodreads is showing the ebook for this review, but I have the print version, which has a nice selection of art quilt books on the last page by such quilt luminaries as Jane Davila, Katie Pasquini-Masopust and Ruth McDowell.

View all my reviews

Creative Prompt #364: Zebra

Yes, more animals.

zebra stripe

Zebra Man

Zebrafish

Zebra pen

Zebra card printer

band

ZEBRA tactical. When it comes to tactical training, Zebra Athletics has everything you need to create a world-class facility that’s worthy of your tactical training

Synthesizer Workhorse with Stripes. Zebra is our wireless modular synthesizer. It combines many different types of synthesis with a powerful modulation engine.

The 2 TW Zebra pulsed-power generator has three stages of power amplification. University of Nevada at Reno

Zebra BI is an Excel add-in so you simply get a new tab on your Excel ribbon.

fashion house

Definition: “Zebras (/?z?br?/ ZEB-r? or /?zi?br?/ ZEE-br?)[1] are several species of African equids (horse family) united by their distinctive black and white striped coats. Their stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds. Unlike their closest relatives the horses and donkeys, zebras have never been truly domesticated.

There are three species of zebras: the plains zebra, the Grévy’s zebra and the mountain zebra. The plains zebra and the mountain zebra belong to the subgenus Hippotigris, but Grévy’s zebra is the sole species of subgenus Dolichohippus. The latter resembles an ass, to which it is closely related, while the former two are more horse-like. All three belong to the genus Equus, along with other living equids.

The unique stripes of zebras make them one of the animals most familiar to people. They occur in a variety of habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, thorny scrublands, mountains, and coastal hills. However, various anthropogenic factors have had a severe impact on zebra populations, in particular hunting for skins and habitat destruction. Grévy’s zebra and the mountain zebra are endangered. While plains zebras are much more plentiful, one subspecies, the quagga, became extinct in the late 19th century – though there is currently a plan, called the Quagga Project, that aims to breed zebras that are phenotypically similar to the quagga in a process called breeding back.” (Wikipedia)

A tropical freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family of the order Cypriniformes.

Zebra builds tracking technology and solutions that generate actionable information and insight, giving companies unprecedented visibility into their businesses

Tall Zebra Designs

ZebraZapps is a revolutionary cloud-based authoring system that gives anyone the ability to collaborate, create, publish and share rich interactive media applications

Zebra Coffee

Irving, Texas based leading supplier of compact high-intensity LED flashlights and headlamps.

Zebra-Ware is the easiest way to schedule your game assignments.

The San Jose Zebras Youth Foundation provide boys and girls of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage the opportunity to compete in tournament level youth basketball leagues across California. The Zebras also strive to instill the core values of sportsmanship, integrity, commitment, and team work which ultimately leads to lifelong friendships and memories to pass on to our future generations.

Zebra Skimmers is a manufacturer of oil skimmers, coolant management and industrial fluid maintenance equipment for metalworking, parts washing, etc

In medical slang, a zebra is a surprising, unexpected diagnosis. In many cases, an uncommon or rare disease which has identical symptoms to a common disease qualifies as a zebra. As such, most medical students have to learn, like Foreman did, to assume during a differential diagnosis that the patient’s symptoms are caused by a common ailment rather than a rare one. However, as House usually only handles patients where common diseases have been ruled out, he often has to re-educate his fellows to not only consider rare diagnoses as part of the differential, but to prefer them. He also frequently reminds his fellows that they often have to ignore missing symptoms as most symptoms are not found in every patient who has a disease. For example, an immunosuppressed person with an infection will not show a fever. (House Wiki)

Zebra Bowstrings

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 get familiar with your blog or website.

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.

We are also talking about this on Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #CPP

Zebra may also refer to:

Music

Computers

Sports

Fish

Ships

Cars

Other uses

Flowerburst Finished!

Flowerburst finished
Flowerburst finished

OK. Flowerburst is finished.

I got the binding on after Colleen quilted it and now it is done.

The binding fabric was a terrible choice. I bought it because it was 54″ wide or something. It frayed too much and was too loosely woven. I sincerely disliked it. I have to think more carefully about decisions and not just focus on how wide the fabric is.

Flowerburst back
Flowerburst back

The quilt turned out well. I like the juxtaposition between the flowers in the stars and the grey background. It isn’t perfect, but it is very nice. I really like the way the big blowsy flowers are showcased in the large pieces. I should do more with the Philip Jacobs fabrics on the front.

The back is pretty great, though. I love the big amounts of Philip Jacobs yardage.

I am thrilled with how this came out. Yes, this is one of the niece-phews quilts. I can’t wait to see what my niece thinks.

Flowerburst Finished with goofball
Flowerburst Finished with goofball

Various & Sundry 2016 #7

Doing Good
Help the people who have been affected by the fires in Canada. TQS has a fire information page on you can help the victims.
You may ship your completed quilts to:
Berkeley’s Place
c/o Lillian Melynk
1712 Turvey Rd
Edmonton AB T6R 2W7

or to

Dorene Wirth
64 Horseshoe Bend
Lewistown MT 59457

This is the address to send to in the USA

Websites & Blogs

A librarian friend of mine sent me a link to Pale Grey Studios who say they add the Nerd into Embroidery and Quilting. Their quilts are very interesting. I like the words they stitch.

Daisy talks about batting. Oh! And did you see her new patterns?

This picture from Robert Kaufman is always useful advice.

A smaller version of the White Fences quilt would make a great donation quilt.

Alison Glass has a new catalog out Beautiful photography.

If you need a guide to yardage of pre-cuts, check out the Bear Creek Quilting site. They have a nice chart that gives examples of yardage for various pre-cuts.

I came across the My Creative Corner blog by Vicki sometime back in March. The reference got lost in my inbox and I just came across it again. The blog posts are really varied. In one, she wrote about being one of the callers on the Mary Fons and Marianne Fons podcast. In another she wrote about tatting. There is a healthy amount of quilting and it looks like she has a longarm, so you longarmers out there can follow a fellow compatriot.

I loved the post from Christa about her quick trip. It is great and it makes me want to jump in the car and go.

Did you see that Sandy over at Quilt Cabana was part of a blog tour? Her pattern is adorable and would make a great cushion cover for a girls’ room.

Media

I love the pictures in this magazine article about the Auckland Quiltmakers.

The Huffington Post had an article with some great pictures about the auction of a journal by Salvador Dali from the 1930s. I don’t normally post HuffPo articles, but the pictures of the journal pages were just too good not to share. I do feel a little odd and voyeuristic looking at the pictures. I don’t think journals are meant for normal consumption. I wonder what he would think if he saw us pouring over these photos?

Ebony Love, the die cutting queen is featured in the latest issue of Inspired to Sew.

Quilt Your Heart Out has ended its short run with no satisfying explanation.

Patterns, Tutorials & Classes

Blossom Hearts has a HST math tutorial, which works great with my Triangle Technique, especially if you only have the cutting sizes for half square triangles. She shows a couple of different ways of making HSTs and her size charts have formulas, so you can do some of your own quilt math as well. Charts and printables are available.

CGM mentioned Emmaline Bags, a website with bag making patterns, supplies and tutorials. I like the bags with the metal inserts in the top that hold the top open. I’ll have to try one of those out sometime.

The Emmaline Bag site led me down an Internet rabbit hole. I found the Idea Pouch, which I love. Radiant Home Studios has bunches of tutorials. The interesting thing about her tutorials is not all of them are complete projects. Some of them are things like adding a zipper pocket to a bag, adding pockets to skirts, and sewing flat piping to a project. Her stuff is worth a look if you want to expand your skills.

Carol, over at Quilted Fabric Art, has a tutorial up on her block for a very cute fabric basket. This would be great for keys by the door, or those pesky extra keys that end everywhere. I can also see several in my makeup drawer to organize all of those lipsticks and extra buttons that seem to have no home. I had a thought as I was reading the tutorial, which was that you could use a knot of Perl Cotton instead of the button or a series of smaller buttons to hold the flaps closed. These would make great gifts.

I am sure you have heard of The Splendid Sampler. I found the site where they have all the blocks. It is a good resource.

If you are working La Passacaglia, you might want to look at East Dakota Quilter’s idea for using transparencies for the fussy cutting.

I found an Armchair Pincushion and Sewing Pocket pattern at the Patchwork Posse and think it would make great gifts for your sewing group or swap partner.

Fabric, Tools & Supplies

Mrs. K finds the most interesting things. She found some California Bear fabric on Spoonflower. I also saw some California Bear Flag fabric that was great. I am tempted to buy some and make some Native Sons something out of it, but I don’t know what.

Melody Johnson has some pre-cuts available for sale at a good price include Kaffe and Kona solids. The page is older, but the pre-cuts still seem to be available.

I am officially jealous. Sewline has a new kind of scissor that is described as “stainless steel blades stay sharp and offer a clean cut all the way to the tip.” They have an “ambidextrous soft grip handle [that] provides precise cutting control.” These sound like the scissors I need for my binding efforts. I am currently using my great grandmother’s embroidery scissors, which are beautiful, but need some sharpening. I am jealous because these scissors only seem to be sporadically available in the US.

I am on the Janome list and one of the emails I get talks about new machines. Recently I received an email about the new Janome Horizon Memory Craft 9400QCP. I haven’t been this excited about a machine since I got my 9000 about a thousand years ago. It looks like it has all the features I want and none that I don’t. I like the screen and the stitch composer. Of course, I haven’t tried it out and the emails make it look fabulous. Someday, perhaps.

Events & Exhibits

The entry form for PIQF and New Quilts of Northern California is now available. “This year NCQC will grant awards for “Visual Impact” for the New Quilts of Northern California exhibit . The recipients will be selected by the hanging committee and will be awarded ribbons and cash prizes of 1st place $100, 2nd place $50, and 3rd place $25.”

Piecemakers Quilt Guild Presents “Legacies of Love Quilt Show”
July 16 and 17, 2016
Dominican Center/43326 Mission Circle in Fremont, California Special exhibit:Vintage Stitchers, Embroiderers’ Guild of America. More info at our website:  www.piecemakersguild.org

Other Artists

As I was perusing Mel0dy Johnson’s site, I saw a piece of hers called Layerings #4 that I really like. I like the spring green and the small Xes on the side.

Remember when I mentioned the blocks we pieced at QuiltCon from the Mostly Manor fabrics? Victoria Findlay Wolfe mentioned that she has been piecing the ALS Quilter’s Dream auction quilt together. It doesn’t sound like she is done and there was no photo, but I was pleased to see something is happening. You can see some additional photos of the blocks as they were made and the table where we sewed at QuiltCon. Another photos of our blocks is also available. I am sure a picture of the quilt is coming soon.

Angela Walters will be the keynote speaker for QuiltCon 2017 in Savannah. Member pre-registration kicks off Saturday, July 25, 2016. Mark your calendars.

Inspiration

I came across an article about a photographer who photographs floors. You know I periodically show you my photos of floors and titles. I love the inspiration that mosaics and tile provide and Sebastian Erras has taken this one step further by living in Paris and having all those tiles and mosaics on his doorstep, not only in France, but in the rest of Europe, Turkey and North Africa. Sigh. I should live in Paris, don’t you think? One of the floors (dark blue hexies) looks like a Libs Eliott quilt. Another one looks like Latifah Safir’s Clamshell quilt. Another one reminded me of the La Passacaglia quilt. Are you sensing a theme? This article provides a lot of information and photos. His website is also great. You can follow the floors on Instagram at parisianfloors.

More Peacocks

In between sewing FOTY together, I sewed more Peacock blocks. I think the pieces are breeding in my fabric closet. I found more pieces for the large blocks and a ton more of the small pieces. I must have been tired to think I was done.

Peacock blocks, batch #2
Peacock blocks, batch #2

Again, in between sewing together FOTY 2015, I sewed Peacock blocks. This batch contains some of the ugly stepchildren. Some are cool. Some will be a challenge to incorporate.

Swirly mini-Peacock
Swirly mini-Peacock

There are a few that I really like. This one looks like draped fabric is at the bottom.

That weird white spot is actually the head of a flower pin. I have not sewn these blocks into hexagons, so that they can be sewed together in rows later and I will avoid the Y Seams. In the meantime, I have used pins to keep the two halves together.

Flower featured Peacock block
Flower featured Peacock block

Another one I like has some of the flowers featured in the center. The blue and green swirls also look like they are pointing to the flowers or curling around the flowers. Such a cool effect.

I just noticed that it was about a year ago that I bought the panels.

If you want more information about this project and my thoughts look through the posts.

Orange T Donation Quilt Finished!

Orange T Donation Quilt
Orange T Donation Quilt

This is the quilt that Gerre and I worked on at her house a few months ago.

She finished it and brought it to Sew Day. I couldn’t believe that she finished quilting it so quickly! I was thrilled. Not just that it was finished, but also that we had another donation quilt to help give someone some comfort.

The oranges worked out really well and while we are working on the circle quilt, I am excited to cut for another T quilt. I am thinking of digging into those green bins and thinning out some of those fabrics. I also saw my nephew’s Wonky 9 Patch quilt over the weekend and think that blue would look great with the orange Ts as well.

Orange T Quilt Back
Orange T Quilt Back

Bolt

Bolt - front of shop
Bolt – front of shop

The other shop I visited in Portland was Bolt. It is near a really nice neighborhood that reminded me of Berkeley.

I have heard about this shop, but I don’t remember where. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.

This is a small shop and a number of my photos were blurry, so you’ll get a taste of the shop then you’ll have to go and visit yourself.

The shop has a respectable amount of quilting weight fabrics. They also have interesting garment fabrics including rayon, knits and non-garment fabrics like laminates.

I saw a lot of indie patterns as well. I think they were mostly garments, but I am sure there were a few bags and quilts as well.

Bolt
Bolt

I was thrilled to find that they had wool felt. Real wool felt. I have seen it online, but have never felt confident enough to buy any without feeling it and/or seeing it in person. I bought two pieces to make…something.

The shop also had a wool-rayon blend felt. I bought a number of pieces of that in order to make a kind of garden scene. I got an idea in my head and will run with it when I am done binding Flowerburst.

Bolt
Bolt

Bolt
2136 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR 97211
1-503-287-2658

EPP New Sections

I know the last time I talked about this piece was back in February. I have sort of been working on it, though there have been long stretches where I have not worked on it. I got a little fed up because sewing big sections to the big main piece is really a pain and I didn’t want to do it. It made me think twice about La Passacaglia, but that is a tale for another day.

EPP April 2016
EPP April 2016

Finally, I put a new section on and it is looking good. A little boring and staid, but good.

I am going to try to put one or two stars on the main piece instead of larger secondary pieces. It means more handling of the large piece, but perhaps the duration of dealing with the main section will be less.

Creative Prompt #363: Xylophone

xylophone marimba

Glockenspiel xylophone

The xylophone is a component of the percussion section of an orchestra and many instrumental groups.

Definition: “The xylophone (from the Greek words ?????—xylon, “wood”[1] + ????—ph?n?, “sound, voice”,[2] meaning “wooden sound”) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African and Asian instruments, diatonic in many western children’s instruments, or chromatic for orchestral use.

The term xylophone may be used generally, to include all such instruments, such as the marimba, balafon and even the semantron. However, in the orchestra, the term xylophone refers specifically to a chromatic instrument of somewhat higher pitch range and drier timbre than the marimba, and these two instruments should not be confused.

The term is also popularly used to refer to similar instruments of the lithophone and metallophone types. For example, the Pixiphone and many similar toys described by the makers as xylophones have bars of metal rather than of wood, and so are in organology regarded as glockenspiels rather than as xylophones.” (Wikipedia)

Super Mario Xylophone

xylophone mallets

Xylophone Master

book by K.Z. Snow

Xylophone Tiki is one of the high-ranked members of the Tiki Tak Tribe in Donkey Kong Country Returns.

The xylophone Nabby is known use when luring in the children of Goldenvale, right before she starts chasing and snapping at them.

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 get familiar with your blog or website.

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.

We are also talking about this on Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #CPP

Final College Pillowcase Tally

Well, my big plans for pillowcases almost fell apart, but not quite. I sent one last care package and snuck in the last pillowcase. What I didn’t do well was report on my progress. My last update was in January.

September

  • Theme: soft
  • Fabric: Minkee and flannel
  • Theme: Back to School
  • Fabric: Timeless Treasures Fun #2306
September College Pillowcase
September College Pillowcase

September College Pillowcase

Back-to-School Pillowcase
Back-to-School Pillowcase

Back-to-School Pillowcase

As I said in a previous post, I was tempted by a “School Daze” theme and he was ok with the fabric.

October

  • Theme: Halloween
  • Fabric: skeleton fabric by Timeless Treasures for the body. The cuff is an old P&B Fabric.
Halloween Pillowcase for YM
Halloween Pillowcase for YM

Halloween Pillowcase for YM

This is a gimme. Very easy fabric to choose and I am pretty sure the YM will like it.

I also made 3 matching Hallowe’en pillowcases for the YM and his roommates.

November – Done

  • Theme: Thanksgiving
  • Fabric: Timeless Treasures Golden Harvest
Thanksgiving Pillowcase
Thanksgiving Pillowcase

Thanksgiving Pillowcase

As I said, I was disappointed I couldn’t find a cornucopia fabric. I’ll keep looking and perhaps will find one next year.

December

  • Theme: Christmas
  • Fabric: California Christmas (not the real name, but it is something like that)
YM's Christmas Pillowcase
YM’s Christmas Pillowcase

YM’s Christmas Pillowcase

January

I did send him a January care package.

  •  Theme: Pokemon
  • Fabric: Robert Kaufman licensed from Nintendo
Pokemon Pillowcase #2
Pokemon Pillowcase #2

Pokemon Pillowcase #2

February

  • Theme: Valentine’s Day
  • Fabric: Moda

Valentine's College Pillowcase
Valentine’s College Pillowcase
Valentine’s College Pillowcase

I really wanted to send him a Valentine’s themed package, so I made a Valentine’s pillowcase and will send it off towards the end of the month. I think the grey (Julie’s suggestion) makes it not too sweet. The color is heading towards pinky red. The original theme below will have to carry over to another month or end up as a gift for one of the nephews.

March

  • Theme: St. Patrick’s Day?
  • Fabric: ?

I was lazy and too cheap to buy St. Patrick’s Day fabric, so he didn’t get a pillowcase in March. It’s an opportunity for next year.

April

I ended up sending him a Viewmaster pillowcase that I had made from Cotton and Steel fabrics with his Easter box. The Easter fabrics were all too sweet, pastel and cutesy.

I still have the Angry Birds fabric. I’ll have to see what I do with that. It could end up as a donation quilt. The YM didn’t seem very excited about the motif, so that might be the best use.

While I may not do an official pillowcase tally again, since I have no plans for making more pillowcases, I have some ideas for pillowcases as gifts and will show you those. I am particularly interested in making pillowcases for a couple of the YM’s friends and for two of my nephews. I went and visited the nephews and they have their Christmas pillowcases on their bed. That is a sure sign they could use more.

Photo Error Identified

A few days ago, I was alerted that photos on the blog could not be enlarged. I have gotten help and have identified the problem. I am in the process of fixing it, but there may still be a few photos that aren’t perfect. My goal is make sure you can see the detail on the all of the photos. Your patience is much appreciated.

Thanks to Mrs. K and Kati for helping me.