I think one of Lisa‘s idea’s with One World One Heart was to show off different artists’ work. It worked for me.
I was checking a comment (some of the comments look just like spam – bleah!) on the OWOH post and was taken to Roc’s blog. As you know, I am a wannabe visual journaler and just haven’t quite gotten there yet. Don’t worry, I am not giving up.
I was thrilled to see Roc’s blog, because her visual journaling work is wonderful. I really like the textures and the different imagery she uses.
I think one of my issues with visual journaling is that it looks messy. I know that the actual process is messy and I am not into messy, especially painting and such. However, the pages look messy. There is a lot of stuff on them. I like that look, but it is also keeping me from trying. That sounds like it makes no sense. I guess I need a therapist to work on that weirdness!
I know I am not even most of the way finished with FOTY 2009, but I am on to FOTY 2010. I guess I have to keep moving forward.
I mentioned that I was thinking of making a diamond one patch. I looked at the diamond ruler that I have at home and decided that it wasn’t going to work. Mostly because the lines that divide the different sizes of diamonds were too thick to be accurate — at least for me.
I looked at the Creative Grids website and decided to buy this ruler. I’ll see what I think when I receive it.
I spent Sunday, and a few minutes on Saturday night, finishing up the FOTY blocks so I can take them to the CQFA Retreat. When I return from sewing bliss, I hope to have the quilt top ready to show you.
FOTY January pt.2 #1
I really like the warm colors in this group. Some of the darker colors, especially the greens were given to me by my sis for my 2009 birthday.
FOTY January pt.2 #2
Getting down to the bottom of the pile made matching up fabrics difficult. I tend to pull out the ones I really like and press and use those first. Some (not all!) of these were my lesser favorites.
In a way the FOTY exercise helps me train my eye and mind to choose fabrics I really love and want to use right away. At the same time, it trains my eye to avoid fabrics that are not my colors. Yes, I did find fabrics that I bought that made me wonder why I bought them. Before I buy, I think I will have to not just look at the fabric next to lovely coordinating bolts. I think I need to take the potential bolt off the shelf and unroll it a little to see more of the fabric. That will make me shop slower, which can’t be a bad thing.
I pressed, cut and sewed the last fabrics on Saturday. Sunday I counted all of the blocks and consulted with DH about the layout. Not the layout in terms of color, but the layout in terms of numbers of blocks across and down. He told me I had to have an even square root number (or something). I ended up needing 14.83 blocks across the top and down the side. I don’t know what a .83 block looks like, but I knew it wasn’t going to fit evenly into my quilt.
I immediately grabbed the fabrics I received for Christmas and shoved them in the washer. Then I went to work on a pencil roll, which you can read about later in the week. When the fabrics were done, I had figured out that I needed to make 7 more blocks to come out with an even 225 (15 across by 15 down). I pick out some pairs of fabrics and sewed them together. Now I am ready to arrange the quilt and sew it together.
FOTY January pt.2 #3
I do have one extra, which I will stick on the back.
Some of the fabrics I bought at the very end of 2009 will end up in the 2010 quilt. As the Quilt Mavs say “my quilt, my rules.”
Unrelated notes:
* I have no Internet at home at this time, so if I am a little slow responding to comments, I apologize! It makes it a challenge to get blog posts up as well!
Update: 2/15/2010: The contest is closed! Thanks for reading. Check the 2/16/2010 post for the winner! Thanks for playing and come back and read the blog!
Welcome, new readers and well known readers, to Artquiltmaker.com. We are participating in One World One Heart, a fun way to get to know new blogs and win prizes! Lisa created this event in 2007. “The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way”, as she says on her blog.
Artquiltmaker Blog is a way for me to share what I am working on with other creative people. I like the idea of this blog being a magazine type information source, so I try to vary the content to include commentary on works in progress, book reviews, media reviews (such as podcasts), Quilt World News, etc. Sometimes I venture outside of quiltmaking to appreciate other artists, different crafts and and report on different events and exhibits I attend. Every week, I put up a creative prompt as a way to spark inspiration and creativity in the Artquiltmaker.com community. You can find more information about the creative prompt on the AQ CPP Inspiration page. In the future I would like to include tutorials as well. It is on the list!
At this time there is no money making venture associated with Artquiltmaker. I write in this space because I enjoy writing, love quiltmaking and want to share my creative journey. My hope is that Artquiltmaker.com and Artquiltmaker blog will inspire you to be creative and expand your creative horizons.
As part of the One World One Heart Project, I will be giving away at least one prize.
Batik Handbag
This is a batik handbag that I made in August, which I will give away to one lucky winner. Depending on the response, I may also give away other prizes. If possible to add prizes, I will update THIS post with other prizes before the deadline. Your comment must be in the comment section of this post. How to enter and things to know about my giveaway:
Leave a comment in the comment section of THIS post on this blog (e.g. NOT on FB or FriendFeed or a reply on Twitter). I would love it if you would comment on something I wrote about on the blog, but any comment will enter you in the drawing. I review all the comments and any spam comments will be deleted and not count as part of the drawing.
It is not a requirement, but I would love to know where you are from and whether this is your first visit to Artquiltmaker blog.
One comment on THIS post will enter you in the drawing for all the prizes I may post. (As of 1/25, I have one prize posted, but hope to post more.)
The cutoff time for comments is 6pm PST, February 14. The time stamp on my blog’s comment area will be the official timer. That means that if your comment’s time stamp says 5:59pm, you are in.
Please leave your blog address, if you have one, in the comments area.
To choose the winner, I will put names in a bowl and pick one out.
Make sure that the email you provide when you leave the comment is valid as I will email you for the address to which you want your prize shipped. Please DO NOT leave your snail mail address in your comment. Let’s all be safe!
I will announce the winner in the February 15 blog post. Sometime on 2/15 or 2/16, I will email the winners for their snail mail address. I am happy to mail internationally.
You don’t have to be participating in One World, One Heart to win.
I am a OWOH newbie. If I find any issues with the rules, I reserve the right to alter what I have written above.
NOTE: I have to be able to tell that your comment is not spam.
There is a lot to look at here at Artquiltmaker blog. Once you have taken your magic carpet ride, I would love it if you would come back and become part of the Artquiltmaker community.
Have a blast!
1/26/2010 Update: ArtQuiltmaker.com Blog is #472 on Lisa’s list! Thanks to Lisa for coordinating this project. Leave her a message saying thanks, if you have a chance.
I moved the Fabric of the Year project forward all weekend last weekend by sewing like crazy. I made over 100 Zanzibar blocks, as well as cut and organized other little pieces that I need for other projects despite the rain, power outages and family obligations.
Keep in mind that these are SMALL blocks. Each rectangle is 1.5″x3.5″, so they sew together very quickly. I do about 8 at a time using chain piecing methods. I talked about the selection and resizing of these blocks on February 16, 2009.
FOTY 2009 January #2
I actually felt rather smug getting so much done. Sadly, that feeling was short lived. I haven’t done anything this week except a little pressing of fabric. Pressing of fabric is the first step in the process so that is a good thing. I, however, had grand illusions of finishing the blocks this week and making another pencil roll this weekend. I have about 18 more blocks to make from uncut/unpressed fabric. Half of those fabrics are pressed and half are not, so I still have some work to do.
I also have about 10 groups of cut pieces waiting for mates that I need to sew. I have a lot of dots, which should not surprise you, and I am trying not to put dots together every time if I can help it. In some cases I can’t help it. In the grander design of the quilt, I don’t think it will matter.
FOTY 2009 January #3
I have been trying to post this blog post all week as well and there were several days where I did not get near the computer at home. I am glad podcasts are around, because they kept me in the creative loop.
FOTY 2009 January #4
One of the things I tried to do with this batch is put contrasting colors together. I did some of that before, but didn’t feel successful. I was bored putting two yellows or two blues together, so I decided to mix it up a little.
FOTY 2009 - January #6
I am in love with the blues. What do you think?
FOTY 2009 - January #7FOTY 2009 - January #8FOTY 2009 - January #9
In case you were wondering, I have about a foot of design wall space because the Tarts are still waiting for me to machine applique some hearts onto the curvy teapot. Below is what I have to work with:
Yes, this photo is a little bleary, as SherriD says. I took it with my phone, which creates bleary pictures unless the picture is of a water bottle or something I want to remember at the grocery store.
I finally was able to take a picture at their house at the end of our visit. The image is a bit trapezoidal, but the reality is that I am just not tall enough to get it nice and square.
Jessie uses this quilt as a ‘wallow’ for her stuffed hippo.
Nota bene: TFQ: if you have not opened all of your gifts, stop reading now!!! Go open them and come back.
Yes, my good friend TFQ is 39 again today…with some years experience. 😉
In addition to the gifts I have been collecting for her, I also made her a couple of things. Did you guess journal cover and pencil roll? I am so predictable, I know.
Journal Cover
The black and white fabrics, from Lonni Rossi‘s Paint Box collection, are the fabrics I used to make Marilyn’s Multi-tasker while I was visiting TFQ in November. She admired those fabrics and that stuck in my mind.
TFQ is an excellent colorist. She can put fabrics together in the most amazing ways. I strive to be like her, which requires cultivating more patience and determination in my quiltmaking process. If I want to make something for her, I feel like I need to really do an excellent job of picking colors, thus the clue that she liked these fabrics gave me confidence.
Using only those black and white fabrics together was too depressing, especially in winter. I had to add the dots. They cheered it up quite a bit.
Journal Cover- front
One of the things I like about some of the prints in the this [relatively] new Lonni Rossi line is the screen printed look. Note the black circle on the white fabric. It really looks like a screen print when you see it up close. It doesn’t have that icky, plasticy sticker feel, though, you find with some screen printed-like fabric.
Journal Cover - back
The small rows of lines under the circle also have that screen printed look. It is much more subtle in the white/grey on black colorway.
I didn’t want a repeat of the size problem I had with my mom’s journal cover, so I ripped out the bottom stitching three times until I was satisfied with the fit. I don’t know if I got it to fit perfectly, but I didn’t have to cut the journal’s plastic cover to get the journal cover on it, so I was satisfied.
Journal Cover - piecing
Lately, when I have started a journal cover I just start piecing until I get a piece big enough for the outside. I use this type of piecing for a warm-up or when I only have a few minutes to sew or when I need a little bit of thinking time. Usually I want to achieve a certain look. With my blue journal cover, I wanted to use a variety of blue fabrics because I liked them and wanted to see them all the time. I also wanted a calming effect.
In this case, I only had scraps of the Lonni Rossi fabrics left and needed to make the best use of them. I wanted it to have a somewhat cohesive design and, finally, but most importantly I wanted it to appeal to TFQ.
Pencil roll - closed
I have started to think of pencil rolls and journal covers as sets. I also love this pencil roll pattern so much that I am looking for excuses to make it. Of course, time is the issue on that front.
Pencil roll - open
This is a rather large pencil roll – 18 slots, I think. When I use my pencil roll, I prefer to put pens in every other slot rather than each slot. I find it easier to get the pens out.
For the moment, this is the last gift to which I have committed to make. When I say committed I mean to myself. There is one I am thinking about making, but I need to finish the FOTY 2009 blocks first. Look for a post on that project later this week.
I really felt a lot of hope for 2010. I can’t say that it has dissipated, but this past week was difficult on a lot of levels, so I don’t feel quite as jubilant as I did as the New Year turned. STILL, I am not going to let one week kick that great, jubilant frame of mind into the garbage.
Fortunately, I couldn’t get away from Opportunity knocks, so here is opportunity knocking!
This isn’t one of my best drawings, but I feel good about having a bit of confidnece to put a figure in. Fortunately cold weather makes a ginormous coat seem somewhat normal.
I have to admit that this week has been a challenge and I am pretty exhausted. I felt this way on Wednesday and just had to power through the rest of the week. It was tough! Boys are gone and I am supposed to go to a party. I am tempted to blow it off, but I have gotten a lot of emails asking me if I will be there. I also really like the people who are giving it. We’ll see.
I’d like to get some sewing done as my brain is starting to wonder what that is. I feel like it has been an eternity since I have been at the machine.
I went to the Timberlake Quilters Guild Blog, which is called Fiber Whimsy and saw some lovely photos from their string piecing workshop. One of the photos was a Spiderweb! They seem to be popping up all over. I guess this is message to get back to mine. I think it is one of the projects I want to work on in 2010. Stay tuned to see. Love the red background on the one pictured in the photo.
Tagging this Blog
As a librarian, you’d think I would have all the answers about tagging, but I don’t. I have been thinking about whether or not I should add a tag for the name of each project so you (and I!) can click on the name of a project and see all the posts about that project. I am not sure I could back and tag all the old posts unless I was laid up in bed for a period of time, but I could do it going forward. Let me know if you think that would help you. I would also like to k now what you do in your blog, if you have one.
I helped my mom download iTunes and subscribe to some podcasts. We listened to a little of the Cast-on podcast and she loved it. I can’t wait to hear whether the whole premise works for her or not. She has really gotten into Cat Bordhi, a knitter, lately so I downloaded some interviews to which she could listen as well.
Laura Wasilowski class "Flower Garden"
Laura Wasilowski left a comment encouraging me to finish the piece that I started in her class. I took a look at it again and realized that the handstitching makes the piece look really spiky and unfriendly. I think I need to add some petals to the flowers and see if that makes it look more friendly.
You can see a watercolor painting that usually hangs in my dining room. I love this painting. It makes me feel calm. I just generally love beach and water scenes. That thought makes me wonder if that is why I like turquoise so much? After the painting project, the art is not back up yet. We may rearrange the art. However, as I seem to never be home, we haven’t discussed it yet.
Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! blog has a laptop sleeve tutorial on Sew, Mama Sew! While I am not fond of beige, I do like the swirly motifs on the fabric. This would make a nice gift. Yes, I am thinking ahead! I would probably add a strap or a handle, however. I have to admit that I find it hard to navigate that site, but sometimes the effort pays off and here is a list of a year’s worth of Elizabeth’s projects just for you.
Oregon Fabric
My sister received Lakers v. Trailblazer tickets for Christmas from her boyfriend. Our dad lives near Portland, so I think they went together. While she was there she took the opportunity to raid and scan our childhood photos. In the course of that project she went to a craft warehouse to get supplies. While she was there, she found some fabric that she said was for me. YAY! I haven’t received it yet, but presume I will soon.
She has sent me some scans of my 5 year old self, which are not new, but still entertaining.
I saw a post on Twitter to a Detroit artist who is doing interesting things with blue. Steven Magsig has a blog called Postcards from Detroit where he posts paintings of little areas of the city and buildings in the city
I seem to remember mentioning that I spent an hour and half last Saturday talking to the CQFAers about developing a creative habit. I got lots of good feedback. Here are some tips from my talk:
Use what you have at hand
Use materials you feel comfortable using
Tools (KISS)
paper
pen
Start small
Acknowledge your distractions
Be process oriented not goal oriented. The goal will be achieved if you engage in the process
Develop a daily practice that works for you
Surround yourself with inspiration
I am thinking about something bigger with more detail on this subject, so am just giving you an overview.
We are doing something different today for the 50th Creative Prompt.
I was driving down the freeway on Monday and saw some graffiti painted on the freeway wall. I am not getting into a discussion about graffiti. I am sure there are lists for the “is graffiti art?” discussion. They are not here, though you are free to weigh in in the comments if you feel the desire.
Normally, I ignore graffiti, but happened to notice the shape of the bottom of the piece, which I thought was interesting. I am still in a different frame of mind after my talk last week, which made me think of this special Creative Prompt.
I would like you to find something that has inspired you – a magazine ad, a piece of poetry, something you photographed, something you saw on the web, etc. – and create a doodle or piece of art from that inspiration.
For example, if you took a photograph of a tree, you could put a piece of tracing paper over the tree shape and outline it and then create a doodle from that shape. It does not have to be drawn. Your piece can be any kind of art including poetry or painting or short stories or collage or…..
If possible, post your inspiration along with your response. Let me know if you have any questions.
See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.
Post the direct URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. It will keep all the artwork together.
The Creative Prompt Project, also, now, has a Flickr group, which you can join and where you can post your responses.
I have been thinking of row quilts on and off for a long time. I wrote about a row quilt idea back in April of 2007. I have seen a number of them that I really like. One I remember was from a Sue Nickels machine quilting class I took a number of years ago at an EBHQ workshop. The quilt was called Blue Tulips on Pink Skies and you can see it in her gallery. She is a great teacher, by the way. I would highly recommend one of her classes.
I haven’t actually made one as I have plenty of other UFOs! Still, I cannot help being inspired when I see patterns and motifs that might work.
As I was walking to the Courthouse from the parking lot on Tuesday for jury duty, I noticed that the walkway would make a great pattern for a row quilt, especially if you wanted a simple one.
I took this with my phone so there isn’t much that you can see. The basic idea of the paving was that they had laid three rows of 4patches (right of photo) by the width of the sidewalk. I was late so I didn’t count. Those four patches were interspersed with many, many (perhaps 20?) of rail fence blocks by the width of the sidewalk.
I would have to figure out how to make the proportions look like the sidewalk without making a quilt that was 1/8th of a mile long! Perhaps really small blocks? This particular idea might also be a good idea for a monochromatic quilt. Hhhhm lots of food for thought.
