Jaye – Page 90 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Finished: Petrillo Bag

Yes, I completed the Petrillo Bag.

Really and truly.

Cross my heart.

I sewed the inside bottom opening I used for turning and the bag is done. I haven’t used it yet, because I entered it in the Fair and don’t want to get it dirty or anything before that event. I will take it to guild this weekend and next and show it off.

It occurred to me that one good thing about this bag is that it wasn’t too easy and it wasn’t too difficult. There was the right amount of challenge in the making.

I have to say I love that Soft & Stable. I’ll have to see if they have it at Joann or Beverly’s. The way it makes the bag stand up is awesome!

Now I am thinking about the next one. My list of to dos or changes to the next version are:

put iron-on vinyl on the bottom of the bag to protect the fabric
make the sides bigger, but enable them to close so the same shape is maintained and it is easier to get stuff in and out of the bag. Tutinella suggested that it might be a good idea to add an inch or so to the flap to accommodate this change
I may change the zipper pocket to a cell phone pocket or group of pockets that can hold things like pens and cell phones.
add side pockets on the outside. Tutinella did this, so I can get tips from her
make the padded inside pocket larger to accommodate my iPad AND its case. An inch and a half would probably do it.

I don’t know why I can’t just be happy with a bag as is. I can’t, though. I can’t help myself.

Stress Relief

I have no business buying fabric. I have a big pile to iron, another big pile to cut and another pile that has not made it to the washing machine yet. Yes, I participate in wine o’clock occasionally, though my #1 stress reliever has come to be buying fabric. Last week was stressful, so I bought fabric. I didn’t buy a lot on my recent trip down south, but I did buy some. It is so nice to buy fabric in person.

Roxanne's, Carpinteria — Roxanne’s, Carpinteria

We stopped at Birch Fabrics in Paso Robles (aka FabricWorm on the web) on the way down, and Roxanne’s and Quiltin’ Cousins on the way back up. I have talked about Birch before and will write another post about it later to update you on the changes there. I wanted to talk about Roxanne’s first.

Roxanne's fireplace — Roxanne’s fireplace

Roxanne’s, it turns out, used to the be the Treasure Hunt, which I visited and enjoyed in the past. Roxanne told my mom, who talks to everyone!, that she had a quilt /craft shop in that location for 25 years. After 25 years, she kept the building, but sold the business to someone who owned the Treasure Hunt. Last year the owner of the Treasure Hunt decided that owning a quilt shop was not her idea of a good time, so Roxanne gutted the building, which was completely empty, remodeled, upgraded and re-opened Roxanne’s. They have a large selection of crafting supplies such as yarn and paints, but their biggest offerings seemed to be in quiltmaking. It is a gorgeous building on the inside. I love the wall colors and the decorations.

I don’t know if Roxanne’s was a house at one point. The street seems to have mixed zoning and it kind of looks like a rancher. The inside has been completely redone, as I mentioned, so it is most definitely a shop now.

Roxanne's cutting counter — Roxanne’s cutting counter

One of the reasons to LOVE this shop is the tile mosaic counter front.

California Adventure in Anaheim has an outdoor mosaic like this. I think it was the first one of this creative type that I ever saw and I wanted to do a backsplash like when we remodeled our kitchen in 2007. I wasn’t really up for the amount of work or the cost or the time, though, and let it go. I do want to do a piece like this in a frame as a welcome sign and hang it next to my front door. Something large and impressive.

Roxanne's, Main Floor — Roxanne’s, Main Floor

If you hadn’t noticed, I love color. Bright colors and lots of them. I don’t like gaudy, but I love putting interesting color combinations together.

First, of all, the blue of the wall color is fabulous. Second, that wall sculpture add so much interest to the room. It reminds me of It’s a Small World in Disneyland, but not in an annoying way. It makes me smile. The rectangular areas under the roofs of the wall sculpture have small areas for quilt samples.

Roxanne's, Philip Jacobs fabrics — Roxanne’s, Philip Jacobs fabrics

I almost had a seizure when I saw this group of shelving.

Do you know what it is?

Philip Jacobs fabrics.

A whole 3 long shelves of them!
There were some Martha Negleys thrown in as well. I have never seen anything like this before and could have bought all of them. I didn’t, though. I bought cuts from two different yardages that I hadn’t seen before and walked away before I truly lost my mind. I really need to win the lottery so I can A) not work and sew all the time; B) buy whatever fabric I want in whatever quantity I want whenever I want. It may not seem like I restrain myself when buying fabric, but I really do. I could have bought so much more than I did.

Roxanne's, Pink dot area — Roxanne’s, Pink dot area

Next to the blue wall on one side is a pink wall. I love the combination of the two next to each other.

This is a great store. Definitely stop if you are in Carpinteria. Well worth it!

Giveaway Reminder

It might be worth your while to check out my latest book review post and read to the end for special instructions about my giveaway. 😉

Update 5/5/2013: Giveaway closed. Thanks for playing along!

Creative Prompt #206: Soft

Softies

soft drink

soft tissue regeneration

soft focus

soft law

soft story building

L-Soft is the exclusive provider of LISTSERV brand mailing list software, email marketing software and email list hosting services for email newsletters.

soft pretzel

soft-point bullet

Soft systems methodology (SSM) is a systemic approach for tackling real-world problematic situations. (Wikipedia)

Softness (disambiguation), various meanings
Soft (band), a musical group
Soft!, a novel by Rupert Thomson
Soft matter, various states of matter with low resistance to external force
Soft magnetic material is a magnetic material with low coercivity
Soft skills, a sociological term relating to a person’s emotional intelligence
“Soft,” a song by Lemon Jelly on the single “Soft/Rock“
“Soft”, a song by Kings of Leon on the album Aha Shake Heartbreak
Sorgenti di Firenze Trekking (SOFT), system of walking trails in Italy
Society of Forensic Toxicologists, a professional organization for forensic toxicology in the United States

Definition: A texture which is the opposite of roughness (Wikipedia) or 1.yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff: a soft pillow. 2. relatively deficient in hardness, as metal or wood. 3. smooth and agreeable to the touch; not rough or coarse: a soft fabric; soft skin. 4. producing agreeable sensations; pleasant or comfortable: soft slumber. 5. low or subdued in sound; gentle and melodious: soft music; a soft v (Dictionary.com)

soft serve ice cream

Soft Scrub

soft rock

software

Soft Cell

soft reboot

soft shell clam

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/or your blog.

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

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.

Various & Sundry 2013 #5

Housekeeping

I finally fixed one problem I was having with the email subscription tool. If you subscribe via email, you will now be receiving the email from AQ Admin, poste [at] artquiltmaker [dot] com. Hooray! I can’t tell you how long it has taken me to fix that AND how many stupid questions I had to ask. Oh well, that is how we learn, I suppose. On to the next stupid problem.

Just a reminder that if your comment looks like spam to my super duper spam filter, it will be sent straight to the spam anniliation tool, never seen by any human and deleted. As I said earlier, I no longer look through the piles of comments asking me to buy their fake C-o-a-c-h and L-o-u-i-s V-u-i–t-t-o-n bags. So sorry. I just don’t have the time and would rather spending it writing here or sewing stuff to write about here. Of course you can always email me at poste [at] artquiltmaker [dot] com. I always love to hear from you, my fabulous readers.

And thank you for the comments. I appreciate hearing what you think.

Creativity and the Creative Prompt

iTunes is giving me fits, which manifests in not being able to download new episodes of podcasts, so I have been listening to a lot of back episodes of Notes from the VooDoo Lounge. These were not episodes I had already listened to, but episodes I had not yet listened to, because I was busy with Pam, Frances, Sandy, Susan, etc. This is a really good podcast. It is not a quilty podcast, but more of a creativity podcast. Rice (rhymes with Lisa) talks with artists who create in a variety of media and they discuss a lot about creativity and inspiration.

I think it was in one of these episodes where index cards were mentioned.

Source: fineartamerica.com via Jaye on Pinterest

A light bulb went on in my head!

People could do their creative prompt responses on index cards! This would:

Make them less precious
Provide a smaller space to fill
Not use precious materials
Easy to fill in 5 minutes or less

Go do a creative prompt on an index card!

Jill, of the Quilt Rat blog, one of the original CPP participants has taken her responses to a whole new level. The new Janome machine has several of her designs included as stitches in the MC 9900! She writes about it in a blog post and shows in progress and completed pictures. I take full credit. 😉 Truly, Jill is extremely talented.

Listen to episode 171 of the Creative Mom Podcast. It is on iTunes and there are quite a few gems of creativity and life inspiration there. I love that podcast for Amy’s great voice and well put together episodes.

I have also been on a Notes from the VooDoo Lounge binge recently. There is a lot about creativity in some of her recent episodes. She gives a good description on iTunes, so branch out and take a listen.

Shows and Exhibits

BAMQG was included in a special exhibit at the recent Santa Clara Valley Quilt Show. The Quilt Show had a blog post about the show as well. the banner for the BAMQG Modern Exhibit is photo #55 and the Renewed Jelly Roll Race quilt is included in that photo. YAY! Tons of people will see it, though they won’t know who I am! 😉 Kelly promised me photos, but I haven’t seen them yet. I’ll share when I get them.

Take some time to make some flags for Boston in the “To Boston with Love” Project. Check out the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild blog for more details and the palette.

Techniques

Is my triangle technique not working for you? Need more half square triangle tips? Triangle square tips? Check out a recent post by Camille Roskelley. While you are at it, buy one of her new books.

Kati has some tips from Jackie Kunkel on her blog about paper piecing.

Other Artists

I Quilt so I Won't Kill People — I Quilt so I Won’t Kill People by Susan of Canadian Abroad

My mom was plowing through blog posts about quilting with Perle cotton (when did she get so smart? I would have just threaded a needle and dived in!?!) while we were sitting with Grama. She came across a post by Susan of Canadian Abroad about quilting with Perle cotton, which had a picture of the embroidery to the left included. I would say that the sentiment is true for many of us.

Thanks to Susan for allowing me to post the picture.

There are a lot of quilts with letters right now and I have never felt the urge to make one until I saw this saying, which rings so true with me.

Mark Lipinski had his kidney transplant and is doing well. You can follow along with his updates at his Facebook Fan Page.

Sadly Libby Lehman suffered a brain aneurysm yesterday. She underwent surgery and is recovering in a Houston hospital. The Quilt Show put up a basic post about the situation. Keep her in your thoughts. She is a great teacher and I really enjoyed the class I took from her and have always wanted to take another one.

Projects

Torie told me about a BOM a long time ago, but reminded me again recently. I took a look and really like the look. Torie is encouraging me to do the BOM in brights, but my excuse is that the Star quilt is taking all my time. 😉

Like Camille Roskelley? Having trouble focusing on a project? Jana is hosting a Quilt-a-Long with Camille’s new book, Simply Retro, and this might just be the project for you. Buy the book and go sew! It doesn’t come out until June 5, so you have plenty of time to clear your decks. You should preorder, though, so you are ready. From the blog post, it looks like Jana has a lot of features that will make the camaraderie factor high in this QAL.

NQR

Being to think about life in a serious way lately has made me think about things like my own mortality, if I will be affected by the same things my grandmother is experiencing now, my parenting — essentially my entire life. I am questioning and examining my entire life and how I have lived it and how I will live it going forward. I came across two blog posts that relate to topics on my mind: parenting and body image.

FOTY 2013 – Early May

I have cut more pieces for the Fabric of the Year 2013 quilt. Many of the fabrics in this group turned out to be more greyed… or not as bright perhaps as I thought. That is the problem with buying fabric online. The colors just don’t reproduce as well our eyes see them.

Still I am pleased with Texture Basics pieces (dots, stripes, diamonds & houndstooth). They are not ugly and the red and teal are particularly nice.

I am already cutting them up for a project, which is great as well.

The Petrillo Bag Along Week 4

This week we are finishing. You may already be done. If so YAY!!! If not, keep at it! You can do it!

Me? Yes, I am mostly finished. I have a bit of hand stitching of the inside to do then I can say I really am finished. I will put up a completed project post when I am done.

As I have mentioned, I was out of town for part of last week including the time I usually spend sewing. That meant that I had to get back in the groove of where I was with this bag. I found that I rely on regular sewing time to keep me on track. Not having that time completely put me off my game.

It turned out that more ripping was in store for me. I had forgotten to, not only, cut the inside flap piece for the main flap used on the top of the bag, but also to sew it when I put the main flap together. Sara clearly says in Step 17 what to do and I just missed it. Sigh.

I ripped out the Main Flap top stitching, put in the inside Flap piece to line the Main Flap and resewed.

Then I thought I could make some progress, but when I tried to sew the flap to the back of the bag (Step 29) I found that I had sewed the straps too close to the top of the bag (Steps 24 & 25). Sigh. More ripping ensued. I would recommend stopping an 1″-1.5″ away from the top of the back of the bag.

I also started the inside of the bag. The inside of the bag starts with the zipper pocket (Step 33). I did Steps 33-36, which include cutting the opening for the zipper. As soon as I cut the zipper opening, I was sure I had the placement of the pieces wrong. I stared at the picture in Step 33 and the picture in Step 36 and they didn’t compute in my mind. I emailed Sara and she was kind enough to email me back fairly quickly to reassure me. I still was not convinced, but I soldiered on. As she promised, the zipper pocket worked out fine.

Do I seem like I am struggling with this bag? I am a bit. It is really hard for me to read directions and do what they say. I am much better when someone shows me what to. I got through it which gives me an image in my mind. I’ll be able to breeze through the next iteration of this bag. Yes, there will be a second bag. 😉

I have to say that I do like the shape of this bag. Good thing since there is so much ripping. 😉

The inside of the bag, which went together very well, after I made the zipper pocket and the padded pocket, seems a little big to me.

More Hilarity

Tutinella made a second Petrillo bag and wrote about it recently. The thing she did differently was add side pockets, which is a great idea. I might add side pockets to my second bag. I may also add inside side pockets.

Another thing I like about this bag is the opportunity to use new products. I have talked a bit about the Soft & Stable, but the Shape Flex is on my mind today. I still have the skirts I planned, to make. One thing that was holding me up was lining. The pattern I have does not call for a lining, but quilt weight fabric is not very thick, most of the time, so I will need something under. I am not sure my clothing skills are up to the task of a lined skirt out of the gate. I got to thinking about the Shape Flex and may try it to give a bit of weight to the fabric and to provide a kind of lining. I will have to give up some drape, so I will need to think about it. Let me know if you have experience with using Shape Flex on clothing.

I have to say that I am amazed at how Sara could have conceived of this bag and the way it goes together. I thought the same thing about the Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote, which is a great bag, if you haven’t made one.

26 Projects – April Update #2

Finished 2013 Projects:

Corner Store: Finished on 1/1/2013 YAY!
The Garden. Finished on 1/5/2013 YAY!
Stepping Stones: Finished on 2/14/2013 YAY!
Fabric of the Year 2011: Finished on 2/27/2013 YAY
Calm: Finished on 3/14/2013 YAY!
A-B-C Challenge: Finished on 3/31/2013 YAY!

Still WIPs

Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances is working diligently, though I know she feels frustrated and I think part of that is because she is left handed and I am right handed. I finished the foundation piecing tutorial, along with my block for this part of the class. I am not
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though I did think about working on it. I hope that counts for something. I really do need to get back to the quilting. I am still a little mad at myself for making such good progress and then getting sidetracked. I thought quilting the Whole Cloth quilt would get me back in the swing of quilting, but apparently not.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. Mrs. K. gave me more PP fabric and I won some from a giveaway. I still think it is a sign that I need to work on this. Leaders and enders.
See: needs satin stitching. Small, also a possibility for finishing. I really have the feeling I came so close to working on this project this month.
Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. I like the piece, but don’t know where to go from where I am. Mouth? Hair? The attitude I need to have is that I can’t ruin it; there is always more fabric.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much.
Flower Sugar Hexagon: I thought about sewing more hexagons together. Although not difficult, sewing Y seams is a bit of a chore, so I get tired of doing it after awhile. I could, perhaps, use leaders and enders to get this piece moving?
Young Man’s t-shirt quilt: have cut up the t-shirts and am still in the process of applying fusible. He cleaned out his drawers and found some more t-shirts to add to the quilt. Oh Yay! <– just a bit of sarcasm. He asked me again for another quilt, so I think this one is next in line. I plugged in his heating mattress pad, though, which should keep him quiet for a bit longer.
New: FOTY 2012: top, finished, though I can’t decide if I need a quilting border. Working on the back.

Ready for Quilting

Original Bullseye: At the quilter
New: Wonky 9 Patch: needs basting, quilting and binding. Not on original list
New:* Super Secret Project #2: At the quilter. Not on original list
New: Super Secret Project: At the quilter. Stay tuned. Not on original list
Infinity blocks: blocks sewn together into a quilt top, borders on. Back and binding made; ready to be quilted.
A-B-C (A-Z) BAMQG Challeng e –At the quilter. Due April 1.
New: Sparkle Pink – At the quilter.
New: Swoon – At the quilter.
Spiderweb: Top is together, binding is made. This is at the quilter.

Please note that even if you combine the two lists above, I do not have 26 projects on this list anymore. That is something, IMO.

In the Finishing Process

Abandoned

Nothing so far for 2013

Hunting and Gathering

Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. Cutting fabrics as I go. TFQ does not consider this a UFO and made some good points to that end, which is why I have moved it to the Hunting and Gathering section. She says, and I have to agree, that quilts are not ‘projects’ until the sewing starts. OK. I’ll go with that.
Windmill quilt: Still hunting and gathering.
Stepping Stones #2 using Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but still in the thinking stage while I decide on the background colors. I want the contrast to be good.

Last update for the 26 Projects List. Read it. There’s some interesting stuff there.

*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list

Book Review: Art Quilt Portfolio: People & Portraits: Profiles of Major Artists, Galleries of Inspiring Works

Art Quilt Portfolio: People & Portraits: Profiles of Major Artists, Galleries of Inspiring Works by Martha Sielman

I am not a big fan of representational quilts of people. There is something about the quilting on faces that freaks me out. Also, why make a quilt when I can just take a photograph?* As a result, I often skip past these types of quilts at shows. When Art Quilt Portfolio People Profiles by Martha Sielman showed up, my heart sank even while feeling very glad it was a quilt book and not a jewelry book. 😉

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. There is a bit of freaky face quilting in this book, but overall Sielman has done a 100% excellent job choosing the quilts for this book.

As I looked over the table of contents, I found there are a lot of artists in this book with whom I was unfamiliar. I was really only aware of Pam RuBert and may have heard of Jenny Bowker, though I can’t think where. It is nice to be introduced to new quilt artists. As I read through the book, however, I found many artists represented who were not profiled. Susan Shie and my friend, Pamela Allen, both have pieces in this book as well as other quiltmakers whose work I have seen in the past.

The book starts out with a well written, smart introduction discussing faces in our society, pareidolia, the organization of the book and much more. Sielman weaves stories about the artists and their work to whet the appetite for this book. As I re-read the introduction, my fingers itched to move on to the images.

The artists included are international and have different ways of working. Their work has different messages and meanings, which Sielman discusses at the beginning of the book. As I re-read the introduction, my fingers itched to move on to the images. I think this quote describes the artwork in this volume beautifully “…we come in so very many different sizes, colors, and shapes. Our human family is infinitely varied and unendingly interesting, and– as this book demonstrates– it serves as a rich source of inspiration for artists around the world (pg.9).”

The book is organized by artist. I like art quilt books organized this way, because I can see relationships between quilts and the style of the artist. In some of these quilts, I like the colors. In others the imagery, aside from the human form[s], is interesting to me. Also, there is some information about the artist and I can get an idea of what their work is like before I have to go trolling multiple different websites and blogs.

The book is also organized by theme. I am not going to try to explain this. You can buy it (or get it at your local library) and see for yourself. In the first theme, happiness, the reader is introduced to Collette Berends. I can only describe the imagery of her quilts as “nightlife.” I do like the way she has represented the people. They are a bit fuzzy and impressionistic.

Yoshiko Kurihara’s quilts (pg. 66-71) are very angular and the people represented are clearly not meant to convey real people. They have no faces and the angles of their bodies are sharp. In no way are these attributes negative, though, because I was clearly able to tell that the figures in the pieces were people.

Kathy Nida’s (pg.164-169) work stuck with me as well. It is a little bit gross for me, but the quote “…of trying to NOT be pregnant, then trying TO be pregnant, and then NOT again. That little group of organs, the uterus and the ovaries, rules a woman’s life. (pg.164)” really stuck with me as one of life’s truths for women. Much of Ms. Nida’s imagery involves detailed imagery of the inside of the human body: the organs, food and medicines going in, etc. Her work and this imagery, especially in relationship to women fascinates me.

Some of my favorite quilts are:
-Kate at 40 by Kate Themel, pg.55. I like the yellow that she used as well as the blue. Both are on the face, which makes it clear that this is not a representation of how any actual human looks, but an impression or suggestion.
-Motorcyclist Portrait Project: Kari and Jim, 2007 by Cheryl Dineen Ferrin, pg. 61. Mostly I like the lips and the sunglasses on the woman in this piece. The lips are a wonderful shape and I adore the color. There is something about the sunglasses that is very appealing as well.
-Time Traveler, 2011 by Louise Schiele, pg.157. I love the colors in this piece as well as the large clock and the repetition and balance of the figures.
-Pam RuBert’s quilts are punny and fun (pg.170-175). I like it when, though serious about our work, we can also make people laugh. I love her work for the series element of it as well as the laughter.

There is something great in each of these quilts whether it is a color combination or a curved line or some details. Even in quilts where I didn’t like the overall look of the quilt, I saw something that inspired me or gave me an idea.

This book is well worth the cost and I would encourage you to buy a copy for your personal library or donate a copy to your local public library. Enjoy!

Thanks to Lark for the review copy!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!! I have two copies of this book to giveaway. I know I announced that I would be doing a giveaway a few weeks ago. There was some family stuff going on and I couldn’t get my act together, but I have now! I have two copies of this book to give away, thanks to Shannon at Lark.

There are special rules for this giveaway:

You have to like my page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artquiltmaker OR
Be an email subscriber to my blog. If you were an email subscriber on 4/8/2013, then you get an additional entry. If you unsubscribe before the drawing, you cannot win. Only current email subscribers win.
No whining.

I will draw a winner around Sunday May 5, so you have a week to subscribe to the email version of the blog and like https://www.facebook.com/artquiltmaker.

Update 5/5/2013: Giveaway closed. Thanks for playing along!

*I really need to understand this, so please tell me what you think. I just don’t get it.

View all my reviews

Creative Prompt #205: Starfish

Sea star

starfish therapy

Asteroidea

class of echinoderms

Rutger Hauer Starfish Association

Throwing starfish – World of Warcraft

Crown of thorns starfish

Starfish stay-put bath sticker

Definition: Starfish or sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea.^[2] The names “starfish” and “sea star” essentially refer to members of the class Asteroidea. However, common usage frequently finds these names also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as “brittle stars” or “basket stars”. About 1,800 living species of starfish occur in all the world’s oceans, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern Ocean regions. Starfish occur across a broad depth range from the intertidal to abyssal depths of greater than 6,000 m (20,000 ft).

Starfish are among the most familiar of marine animals found on the seabed. They typically have a central disc and five arms, though some species have many more arms than this. The aboral or upper surface may be smooth, granular or spiny, and is covered with overlapping plates. Many species are brightly coloured in various shades of red or orange, while others are blue, grey, brown, or drab. Starfish have tube feet operated by a hydraulic system and a mouth at the centre of the oral or lower surface. They are opportunistic feeders and are mostly predators on benthic invertebrates. Several species having specialized feeding behaviours, including suspension feeding and adaptations for feeding on specific prey. They have complex life cycles and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Most can regenerate damaged or lost arms.

The Asteroidea occupy several important roles throughout ecology and biology. Starfish, such as the ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus), have become widely known as an example of the keystone species concept in ecology. The tropical crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is a voracious predator of coral throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Other starfish, such as members of the Asterinidae, are frequently used in developmental biology.

(Wikipedia)

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

Book Making

Sometimes, very occasionally, my personal creative world and my professional world meet.

This happened a few weeks ago when the social committee of one of the organizations to which I belong scheduled an outing to the San Francisco Center of the Book. Of course, it was a week where a thousand things were happening and I almost cancelled. I am glad I didn’t, though, because it was a great class and it got me moving in the direction of bookmaking, like the Red, Purple, Well Done and Good Job journals, again.

Not every participant had arrived, so I took some time to look at the exhibit on display. I don’t remember the name of the exhibit, but the books all looked like they had hidden messages.

The piece, Until it is in Flame, is by Beau Beausoleil and Andrea Hassiba. While I do not like the burned and destroyed book, I do like the way a part of the book is hollowed out. The space could hold additional artworks, messages or other books. It makes me think of how to do this sort of idea in the structure of the books I make, but it also makes me wonder whether I should.

Healing Wounded Words is a piece about the power of words by Marina Salmaso, a Danish artist from KØbenhavn. I find this piece to be very light, but the words and the red are not boring. I also like the format.

You really have to click the photos to see them larger. The thumbnails don’t do them justice.

Another exhibit was in another room and it was equally as intriguing as the one in the main room.

I really like the variety of different bindings and different types of books. It was so fun to learn how make a few of them.

Rhianna, the instructor, passed around lots of different types of books with different bindings. We did 4-5 separate books and bindings. Of course when I saw the binding on the green book, I immediately thought it would make a fantastic journal binding.

Guess what?

This book was a teaser for another class! I really want to take that class so I can learn how to make the binding. If I made it I can decide whether I can translate the binding/bookmaking type into fabric.

From the inside, this binding looks like it would hold a lot more pages than the other types of bindings we learned.

It also looks like one could see some of the fabric through the binding.

The San Francisco Center for the Book is a great place. It is in a hip, up and coming neighborhood that still has a bit of grit with their Whole Foods.

There are a lot of interesting things to look at in the facility and it is light and airy as well. The exhibits I looked at were two in a series of ongoing exhibits.

If you are making a trip to San Francisco and want to get off the Fisherman’s Wharf-Ghirardelli Square-Cable Car beaten path, you might want to check out the San Francisco Center for the Book.

Be Creative

I stopped by my sister’s house last week on my way to visit my grandmother. I don’t get to see my sister that often and she is getting ready to move, so I wanted to stop by and see her studio. My sister and I are having an argument, but I decided to celebrate her creativity anyway.

The last time I saw my sister’s house, she was living in a place that I don’t remember having a lot of wall space and I don’t think I saw her studio, or perhaps it wasn’t set up? I don’t remember. Last week, she was coming home from work and we were going to meet her at her house for a quick pow-wow before we went down to Grama’s. My mom and I got there before my sister. The dogs had had a little party, so we cleaned up for her and, in the process, I couldn’t help looking around.

I was so blown away. My sister is unbelievably talented. She paints (By the way, you can get some of her stuff at her Cafe Press A Paper Addict store. Her paintings are really great, but her creativity doesn’t stop there.

Her creativity extends to decorating as well. Her whole space has the feeling of light and air. Some of the pieces that were in our childhood home are now in her house. They don’t look heavy and large in her house. They fit in really well.

This is the wall in her bedroom and I just loved the variety of canvases paired with the large sized letters.

The best part was that she turned the Master bedroom and bath into her studio. What a genius!

She really did a good job thinking outside of the box. The room was large and she put tables all around the room with her supplies on them.

She also put decorations and things to inpire her on the walls. Don’t you love the giant glassses?

I really didn’t have much time to talk to her about her studio as we had other family business to discuss.

I really would like to have known more about the space and how she created the organization, but another time.

I look forward to seeing what comes next.

More Star Sampler Blocks

I think we are on week 12 of our Star Sampler project. We are still making 8″ blocks. These are from the week of April 15. I am now behind again, because I was able to sew over the weekend. I chose these blocks:

Basic Star
Whale’s Tail (Once Again Around the Block, pg.126)
Centennial (Around the Block Again, pg.40)
2142 Mosaic #19 (R1, C5)

Whale’s Tail: There are a number of the blocks with chevrons making up the legs. I kind of wonder about the name of this blocks.

Since we are nearing the end of the pieced larger blocks, I am trying to make sure that all the fabrics I have used in other blocks have been used at least 3 times, so that there is some balance in terms of the colors and fabrics. If you want to read more about balance, Sandy and I did an episode in the design series and we talked about it.

Centennial: I really have to wonder why this block was named Centennial. I looked up the block on the web, because I don’t have my Jinny Beyer book handy. I found some interesting settings for this block.

2142 Mosaic #19: I should look up this block in the Jinny Beyer book, because it is such a weird name. Were there 18 other versions of this block?

I have also done similar blocks. I paid attention to the fabric placement and, as you can see, fussy cut the fabric for the center.

I think all four blocks came out nicely and look good together.

I have now made 37 4″ blocks. I am almost half way finished with them. TFQ is going on vacation and my goal is to make them all during the first two weeks of May so they are ready when she comes to visit.