I received the Clairefontaine journal yesterday- the one I talked about in the March 5 post. I like it even though I haven’t tried it. It is a different shape that other journals. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Category: 2008
Use for posts written in 2008
Happenings in the Workroom
I am a little busy right at the moment. Too much to do over the weekend, so I didn’t get to catch up, so here is a quick post for my faithful readers.
This is what is on the Design Wall: 
Here is what is on the floor:
I recently spent some time cataloging my books and the above are the newest.
Here is some progress on the Flowering Snowball (Cross Blocks):
Art of the Moment
Ode to Pamdora
Sometime ago Pam RuBert, who has a new blog address BTW, recommended the Jennifer New book on journaling.
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I probably went on and on about how I couldn’t find it at the library in a previous post, so I won’t bother here. I solved the problem by finally biting the bullet and buying it. While my flight was delayed I started to read it and it is a GREAT book. I almost like New’s words better than her illustrations, though the pictures of the journals are great, too. One of the quotes that I REALLY like is “journals are the working stiffs of creative life.” That phrase totally makes it ok to just mess around in a journal. I really like it.
Whirligigs and Pinwheels
You may remember the Whirligig/Wheel of Fortune/Whirling Star/Whirligig blocks that Jan over at Be*mused posted in June 2007.
These were on my mind when I went to Seattle in February. When I got there I saw that TFQ had played around with this pattern after I posted and came up with the following
The above pattern scheme came about because she wanted dots, but didn’t want it to scream dots. So far she only has been playing with the project (you saw the other stuff she has been working on!) and who knows where it will go, but I hope it goes somewhere. I also can’t wait to see what Jan from Be*mused does with her blocks. Read the post, because she gives some good tips on piecing when using templates, as I mentioned before.
Visual Journaling tools?
Pam RuBert had a post about this sketchbook on her NEW blog. I didn’t buy one yet, because I love the Spanish ones I get, BUT if I could find one that I can layer more and has a bit thicker paper, I might be persuaded to switch. I may buy one and try it out.
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Inspiration and Kaleidoscopes
I saw this orange dotted champagne flute (plastic) and thought that it would be a great idea to have a really nice glass in the bathroom. I, of course, also liked the dots. This is a little more Halloweenish than I think I could look at every day, but a champagne flute I could go for. Unfortunately, I have no counter space in my bathroom, so I won’t be wasting my money on a champagne flute that will get knocked off in a day and a half. I did like the reflection from the flash on the wall, the bubbles in the water and the dark spot next to the water glass.
Here is the Kaleidoscope baby quilt that TFQ made. She and I talked about the method of making Kaleidoscope blocks that I learned in a class a zillion years ago. She ended up just using one of the Kaleidoscope rulers. I think it is very fresh and pretty. Lucky baby! It is being machine quilted by Angie at the Quilting Loft.
Below is the propeller quilt again, which TFQ made from the leftovers from the Kaleidoscope blocks above. She said that the blocks needed a little something so she hand appliqued the dots over the centers. I think it looks similar to some of Be*mused‘s quilts, but this one is very cheerful, more cheerful that the quilts that Jan from Be*mused has been posting lately. Ingenious use of the leftovers as well.
More detail below. You can see the fabrics pretty well. Notice the different prints. TFQ said the use of fabric was inspired by my use of fabrics in the Flowering Snowball (Cross Blocks) blocks. It makes me feel good to know that I am inspiring someone else. 😉
Below is one block. The centers were made in the Yo-yo fashion. After the fact, we discussed using buttons instead of applique’. It would make for a different look and might be fun for a slightly older child. One would need a lot of large-ish cheerful buttons.
Inspiration and Thoughts
I have been to Seattle on trips when the weather has been challenging: pouring down rain and a flat grey sky. This trip, however, displayed really beautiful weather with a lot of opportunity for nice shadows in the photos.
This was a door we walked by. The door grille/safety gate is a really interesting design and it made a great shadow. The circles make me think of bubbles and I like the way they are contained in that oval shape.
TFQ’s block of choice for her 2008 Fabric of the Year project is a Shoo Fly variation. She doesn’t necessarily use only fabric she has bought this year. This makes sense to me, since her blocks are much more complicated. She puts the new fabric in the corners, the triangles and the center and then chooses something else, which could be from her existing fabrics to go with the new fabrics.
The three below are very sherbety looking. I love the way this project illustrates how different blocks can look just by using different fabrics. A person can learn a lot about color from piecing the same block over and over. I have done this (though not to the degree that TFQ has done it) and think it is more exciting than it sounds. TFQ could speak to this point much better than I can. As you can see, there is one Economy block, on the right, from her FOTY project last year. 
Below are more of the Economy blocks. Again, we put them up on the design wall in groups and took photos of them.
Below are blocks made with mid-century fabrics: 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. TFQ also used fabrics that look like mid-century fabrics.
Follow-up: Series of Bags
In case you didn’t have a chance to read some of the recent comments, Laume wondered about the sturdiness of the Eco Market Tote that I discussed in a previous post, by asking “I’ve been wanting to make some bags for awhile now and have been resistant to actually buying a pattern – a bag – how hard can that be I think. But I know I really do need a pattern and so instead I just talk about making a bag some day. Are these sturdy? Are the shoulder straps comfortable when they’re weighted down? They all look wonderful, especially the first one with the big art deco print.”
TFQ saw that comments and answered:
“I’ve been using the red/white/black one for a couple of days and the straps are pretty comfortable — not cutting into my shoulder despite my walking a mile and a half to work with about 10 pounds of stuff in it.
I think the straps would be less comfortable if we had not made them wider, and interfacing the handles for the lighter-weight fabric definitely helps. The bags are completely lined — in fact, they are reversible — which helps with the sturdiness factor, but for a bag you’re going to use to haul around a lot, I agree with Jaye, choose a fabric with a little body to it, like heavier linen or a lightweight home dec fabric. ”
The Eco Market tote comes from Favorite Things. Watch out for the errors described in the previous post. The company said that they have fixed them, but the patterns with errors are still in quilt shops.
Can’t Do Without the Fabric
This is what I bought at Quiltworks Northwest. I hadn’t been there in a long time and they had a TON of fabric. It was everywhere. This is where TFQ bought the bag pattern. 
The Quilting Loft is a new-ish store in Ballard and well worth the trip to visit. Angie, the owner, is really nice and has great taste in fabric.
This is the fabric I bought at the Quilting Loft.
The Many Fabrics of Sawtooth Stars
The Sawtooth Star is a great block. Lots of options, but if you just make them out of two fabrics, they are fabulous as well.
Here are TFQ’s 4″ Sawtooth Star blocks: all 685 approximately of them. Sit back and enjoy the fabulous fabrics!
This project was a “clear out my scraps project” and a precursor to the Fabric of the Year project.
Series of Bags
TFQ and I went to Quiltworks Northwest in Bellevue on Friday. At the shop, TFQ saw this bag made up and bought the pattern. The pattern is called Eco Market Tote and is from Favorite Things. I don’t normally buy or even think about non-quilt things, so I didn’t pay much attention. I was interested, but not from the making point of view. I am not sure what lit the spark, but after we visited the Quilting Loft and saw the Alexander Henry Home Dec fabrics, I knew I wanted to make one. TFQ suggested that we make them and it was a great idea. I would have never finished mine if TFQ and I had made the first ones together/at the same time. While we were working with our own fabrics, we puzzled out the directions together. We, unfortunately, got the first printing of the pattern and there are a few mistakes, which have, since, been corrected (TFQ contacted the company). We also made some adjustments, like making the handles wider than the pattern calls for.
The fabulous thing that I found is that this is a great opportunity to work in series. No, it is not a quilt, but it is a great canvas for showcasing fabric combinations. There is also a lot of room for creativity – different types of pockets, different fabric combinations, different fabric ratios and even embellishment. I know that TFQ has picked out fabrics for two more and I would like to make more as well. I have several large conversational fabrics in the quilt backs stack that would really be great as bags. I also have some great French fabrics that a friend brought me from France that would make excellent totes.
This is my bag. As mentioned, the fabrics are from the Alexander Henry Home Collection. They feel like canvas, but may be a kind of cotton duck. I am actually kind of stunned that I picked them out as the accent fabric has a lot of brown and all of the fabrics are very 1960s looking.
This was a great project to branch out in the fabric department and try something new. I wouldn’t buy these for a quilt, but for this bag, they are great!
Back of the bag in construction phase.
Front of bag with pocket pinned on. The back and front are the same until you put the pocket on. The above picture is how that back looks and the picture below, as you can see from the picture of the finished product, is how the front looks.
This is the third bag. TFQ made it today. 
She added two more pockets on this side to break up all the black. The new pockets do a good job of bringing the red fabric back into the limelight.
The lovely piece below has the distinction of being the first bag we completed. It is TFQ’s bag, but I think it was a real collaborative effort – at least int he brain power department. This was also the bag we learned on. The fabrics are fabulous and it turned out really well.
Detail of the the reinforcing X stitching to keep the handle secure.
Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Wood hyacinth. TFQ says they are a weed in Seattle. I just thought they looked beautiful in this setting.
Mosaic entry way on Market Street.
I like the shadow on the tree.
Ornamental cabbage.
Art tree and Seattle face.
Sleeping Well in Seattle
Inspiration a la Red Shoe Rambling
TFQ’s Propellers
Propeller Detail
Circles on the Mind
I have this design on my mind. It keeps coming out in different forms all over the place. I think of it as a Mandala, but I don’t know if it can rightly be called a Mandala. I’ll have to look it up.
