Jaye – Page 193 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Catch Up Saturday Again!

Well, my brain seems to be really full these past few weeks. Once again, I am writing another catch up post for you. I know that catch up isn’t exactly the right term, but Full Brain post sounds a little odd to me.

1. Tote bags: Always on my mind. I haven’t made any new ones, but I did listen to a new podcast called the Quilted Cupcake Podcast. Jean, the producer has a very friendly and professional not ditzy style. She is methodical, but not talking head boring about presenting the information she wants to communicate in the podcast, which was easy to follow. The show notes blog is a must, at least for this episode, because Jean packs the podcast full of information, links and tutorials. The episode to which I have linked is episode 11, which is about tote bags. I downloaded all of the episodes that were available, but listened to this one, the most recent, first. I found it on iTunes and you can find it there, via a link from the show notes blog or also on Libsyn at http://quiltedcupcake.libsyn.com/.

Some of the blogs and sites to which Jean links are sites that I already claim to read.

Jean mentioned Rachel Griffith’s P.S I Quilt blog, which has a great tutorial about gussets. I haven’t tried it yet, but will, especially since I am thinking about expanding my bag making horizons. Jean also does a great book review and mentions several tips and tricks that should have been obvious, but were revelations to me.

She also mentioned a couple of books, Sew Sublime Bags and Sew What by Lexie Barnes. I was able to reserve the former at the library, but not the latter. Will have to think about that. I’d like to see it and not buy it at the moment.

I spent some time listening to her earlier podcasts and she has definitely improved her style. Some of her discussions talk a lot about thrift store shopping and saving money. She mentions a lot about how much she spends on things in the course of the discussion. It is apparent that saving money and getting a deal are important to her. My only criticism would be to leave the price tags out.

Her episode on aprons (#5) was really good and I do like her book reviews; they are very complete.

2. Flickr Creative Prompt Project Group: I am very pleased to report that a number of participants in the Creative Prompt Project have joined the group and uploaded their responses. Quilt Rat, SherriD, and Kathy (new member-YAY!) have all joined. Quilt Rat and SherriD have uploaded all of their responses and Kathy has uploaded several photos so 80+ drawings/photos/art are all available to view together. I am really thrilled about this. There is always room for one more, so join in and upload your responses. You don’t have to go back and do them all.

3. Free MOO cards: Get a free pack of MOO cards. There is no free lunch so there are some restrictions, but free is free and the MOO cards are really cool. Thanks to Deirdre for this tip.

4. C&T Publishing has a list of blogs by their authors and fans. Others were new to me, such as Barbara Brackman’s blog, which includes lots of tidbits about quilt history. I also like the logo C&T created for this particular page. the different artistic letters are fun.

5. I am weeding the links. I find that blogs change over time and don’t suit me anymore. If you are using my blogroll as a fave page, you may want to rethink that. 😉

FOTY 2009 Progresses

Slowly, but surely the FOTY 2009 blocks are stacking up. I doubt that FOTY 2009 will be as large as FOTY 2008, however I consider it to be more complex so smaller is better. I know I know, sewing in addition to cutting is part of the quiltmaking process and doesn’t necessarily constitute ‘complex.’

😉 I just like to see if you are paying attention sometimes.

As I said before, these blocks make great warm up blocks before a serious bout of sewing, so that is what I did on Saturday after getting the 9K set up again. If you look at the photo in Sunday’s post, you can see one of the green blocks under the feed dogs.

I decided not to combine the two Ginger Blossom prints that I used in the Striped Tote with Flowers and the Flowered Tote with Stripes. They already had enough cavorting and will get some more time to do so when I make the quilt for which I have been collecting fabric. I really like the effect of the dots with the flowers.

I had some hot pink dots that I hadn’t yet made into a block, so I used that with the flower print. Haven’t done anything with the stripes. I need to press some more fabric and then we’ll see what transpires.

I do really like that pink Gigner Blossom flower print for some reason. It makes me feel happy.

Book Review: Single Thread

A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Evelyn is having a rough year and this book doesn’t sugar coat her problems. The book is about how Evelyn gets help getting over that rough year, which includes opening her quilt shop. The difficulties she encounters seem like real difficulties that any normal person could encounter. The way she resolves the issues seem like real resolutions as well.

I really enjoyed this book and I think it may be a book that I would want to read again. I enjoyed the sections about the Quilt Pink project, because I think it gets a great project out to people who may not know much about the quilt world. I also thought the book incorporated the quilt aspect very well without shoving it down the readers’ throat. I think this tactic wold make this book appeal to people who are not quiltmakers.

It is a typical feel good chick-lit book, but is written with depth and doesn’t seem to include any affectations. I like books about real people where the things that happen to them seem like they could have really happened. There is a scene or two which made me raise my eyebrow, but this is still a great page turner and doesn’t dwell too much on the medical aspects. I enjoyed the way the characters learned from and helped each other. I want to read about these characters again. I hope Marie Bostwick doesn’t make the mistake that Jennifer Chiaverinni makes when she recounts the previous 3,4 or 5 books to catch readers up with the story. That tactic makes the books seem repetitive.

View all my reviews >>

Nearly at Infinity

The Infinity blocks had been languishing for a little while. I needed some test subjects for the tuned up machine, so I sewed a couple. The middle one is of the ones I made on Saturday and the others have been hanging around for awhile waiting for me to photograph them.

The fabric I used for the middle blocks is an old Jinny Beyer fabric and it is really crisp to press and sew. Lovely!

I have only a little bit of the white left, so the block portion of this project is nearing completion. I will have to see how many blocks we end up with, however. It needs to be some kind of normal number and not one that won’t work in putting a quilt together.

Tarts Progress Also

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. All the bits and pieces that I have wanted to change are done and I can start sewing the whole piece together. I don’t really think that it is nearing completion, because I have lot of ideas for handwork and embellishment in my mind. I just have to figure out the order of the next steps.

After I determined that the 9K was behaving admirably yesterday, I didn’t listen to anyone’s 2 cents about this space and made the stack of cups the way I wanted. I am pretty pleased with how they came out, though I think the pink I chose is a little bit darker than the flying geese background. It works, so it is fine.

Confession time: After I put the stack of cups up next to the curly pot, I started not to like the yellow print cup very much. I started to think how nicely a slice of cake would work in that area. I even had a fleeting thought that a scone or chocolate chip cookie would work. (SherriD: stop laughing!)

Really, I am trying to stop fiddling, but I may not be able to finish the piece with that cup on the front. I started to sew the sections together, but I have stayed away from this section until I can decide if I can live with this cup. The other issue is that I don’t have a replacement design in mind. I really want to get this top off the design wall in one piece and do something easy.

I am shocked to admit that quilting this myself actually entered my mind last night, as I worked on Beach Town. This piece is pretty large, so I’ll have to really think about that. Beach Town is small and I am still working on the last bits. The last quilt I tried to quilt was Seeing Red. I densly quilted about a 14″ square, then ripped all the quilting out and took it to my machine quilter. I don’t want a repeat of that.

Back in the Saddle

I stayed away from the computer all day yesterday and sewed.

The 9000 is back and better than it has been in a long time. It is quieter. I can punch any button I want and the machine reacts instantly. It was a pleasure to sew.

I did a lot:

made a receiving blanket
finished the last bit of the Tarts

almost finished the machine quilting on Beach Town
made some Infinity blocks
worked on some FOTY 2009 blocks

Normally, I sew early in the morning and stop in the evening. I am a morning person and I have learned the hard way that when I sew tired I make mistakes. Last night, however, I stayed up late and sewed. It was wonderful.

Creative Prompt #26: House

A shelter, building or structure that is a dwelling designed for habitation by human beings (Wikipedia definition).

What does your house look like?

House of Blues.

House plans.

Dollhouse

House of Cards

House of Pain

Madhouse

House, M.D., a TV show.

Mouse house.

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.

There is more information on the recently updated Creative Prompt Page.

More Inspiration

I know this must seem like inspiration week to you. I guess it is. Anthony, from French Bull, who commented on Tuesday, sent me wandering around the French Bull website where I found these cool mugs. I don’t collect mugs anymore, however I do enjoy admiring them. I also think they make great gifts. The bottom one reminds me of designs by Anna Maria Horner and Heather Bailey.

clipped from www.frenchbull.com

Inspiration Thursday: Paint Chips

Remember Saturday when I talked about picking out paint? Here is a miniscule part of of one of the paint chip displays for two lines of paint. The perfect red, Red Statement is smack in the middle. Poppy and Rapture are on a different display, so no picture, sorry. There is now a second coat of paint on both test areas and Rapture looks like it is winning. At this point I am almost willing to go with anything that is not hideous. Did I tell you we bought some glaze to try out a steel-wool faux finishing technique in out bedroom?

DS Quilt Returns

stroller quilt.

Originally uploaded by Erica Sage

Remember after Christmas when I started making the Hop, Skip & Jump pattern from the Denyse Schmidt book, then quickly abandoned it pretty quickly? Here is a stroller quilt by Erica Sage. I saw it on Flickr. This is a really nice version of the pattern. I still like the pattern; just don’t want to make it.

Inspiration Tuesday: Dots

I saw these great dishes at Cliff’s Variety yesterday. I noticed they are by Jackie Shapiro. I don’t know if it is the same Jackie Shapiro that designed the Botanical Pop fabric by Baum Textiles/Windham Hill Fabrics. BTW, I still want some of that turquoise dot that was part of the collection! Anyone who finds 4-6 yards of this fabric will get, at least, a tote bag. Of course, I will pay your costs and shipping for the fabric as well.

French Bull Brand

I don’t want a whole set of these dishes, but some bowls might be nice.

Auxilliary Creativity

Yesterday, I went to CreateIt Studio for a glass fusing session. CreateIt is a place that does pottery painting, but you can also create mosaics and fused glass pieces. They won’t be doing the mosaics in their new location, so go now if you want to make one. I am sorely tempted, let me tell you. I have wanted to make a mosaic for years.

I have been to the pottery painting places and they are really fun. When I saw the glass fusing that Bonnie, the granddaughter of one of the CQFAers, did, I HAD to try it. A group of us from CQFA went and tried it, thanks to Dolores who pinned me down for a date. Thanks, Dolores!

True to form, I didn’t hem and haw, just got down to work. I really did the project quickly and simply, so I was done way before anyone else.

The fused glass technique is really easy. Basically, you place bits of colored glass down on another piece of glass in a pleasing manner and are done. I think part of the reason I was done so fast is because I already had an idea in mind. The others didn’t and had to play around a bit. I think I feel more comfortable and successful if I have an idea in mind when trying something new. I think I might loosen up a bit if I tried this more than once.

My first job was in a stained glass store, where I learned to make leaded glass windows. As a result I am not afraid of glass, but have a healthy respect for the sharp edges. As with quiltmaking, the glass cutting tools have GREATLY improved, so I just nipped and cut quickly and was done. The gluing down of the pieces, which was done to keep them in place until the firing process, was the most time consuming.

After finishing the trivet, I wasn’t really ready to leave. I decided to add to my casual serveware collection by painting a piece of pottery as well. You might remember the pieces I made in January at Color Me Mine.

I am thinking salsa and guacamole would work well in this piece.

I wanted those long, red, roundish pieces but Dolores took them all. I am not bitter, don’t worry. There weren’t enough of them anyway. I love the small bits that Dolores put in between the squares on the border.

Reva was the first one to use the cut outs. I followed her lead when I found the spiral and it was the right color.

Diane’s piece looks like her silk paintings.

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