2013 – Page 25 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Creative Prompt #194: Grow

grow out your hair

Book: Grow

grow exponetially

growing pains

grow a beard

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow – an essay by D. Everett in The Columbian Orator, 1797

Grow a thicker skin

Oxfam’s GROW campaign aims to build a better food system: one that sustainably feeds a growing population (estimated to reach nine billion by 2050) and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive.

Miracle-GRO

Absence makes the heart grow fonder – The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature, 1832, in a piece by a Miss Stickland

grow “a pair”

acquire

Money doesn’t grow on trees

locally grown

“Oh, Grow up!”

accumulate

grow out of an illness, allergy or condition

Grow the economy

growing like a weed

You are growing on me

Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country

GROW! captures the energy, passion and independence of a fresh crop of young Georgia farmers.

grow legs and walk away

Sloat Garden Center: Plant. Water. Grow.

The latest and best tweets on #grow. Read what people are saying and join the conversation.

Growth spurt

Grow Marketing

design and development studio

Grow Your Lunch

Increase in size; usually getting taller and more mature

a peer support and mutual-aid organization for recovery from, and prevention of, serious mental illness.

Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (GROW)

Definition: intransitive verb

a : to spring up and develop to maturity

b : to be able to grow in some place or situation <trees that grow in the tropics>

c : to assume some relation through or as if through a process of natural growth <ferns growing from the rocks>

a : to increase in size by assimilation of material into the living organism or by accretion of material in a nonbiological process (as crystallization)

b : increase, expand <grows in wisdom>

: to develop from a parent source <the book grew out of a series of lectures>

a : to pass into a condition : become <grew pale>

b : to have an increasing influence <habit grows on a person>

c : to become increasingly acceptable or attractive <didn’t like it at first, but it grew on him>

transitive verb

a : to cause to grow <grow wheat>

b : to let grow on the body <grew a beard>

: to promote the development of <start a business and grow it successfully — J. L. Deckter>

Take 5 minutes to do any kind of artistic response: poem, doodle, quilt, pastel, pencil. ANYTHING counts. Don’t judge yourself or second guess yourself. There are no rules; just do it!

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.

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.

Thoughts on Pressing

Most quiltmakers are taught to press to the dark or in such a way as to enable nesting of seams. Generally this works pretty well for most projects.

Ruth McDowell talks a lot about the direction of the pressed seams. She uses the added bulk of the seam allowance to highlight sections of her quilts.

This technique came to mind when I was making a Drunkard’s Path block for the Sampler Class. I used to use the Drunkard’s Path as the block to learn curved piecing. It is a hard block, though and I want my students to be successful, so I chose the Dove this time. It went together so easily that I was glad I had chosen it.

Still, I may offer the Drunkard’s Path as an additional block in the Sampler Class, so I decided to make one in the colors of the Aqua-Red Sampler. This is where the pressing came to mind. I tried to press to the outside piece (the concave piece), so that I could next the seams, but the curved pie shape really wants to stand out, so I ended up pressing to the inside curve. We will see if it makes a difference in the way this piece stands out in the end.

Book Review: The Last Chinese Chef

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones

Thanks to Ruth and Marlene who added notes about this book to their Goodreads update feeds. I think this might be one of my favorite books. I know I want to listen to it again.

I wasn’t sure about listening to this book. I don’t know who recommended it initially or why I added it. I know I downloaded it, because I didn’t know what else to download.

I am not am not much of a fan of the premise, but find the food aspect fascinating. I love the descriptions in this book of how traditional Chinese cooking separates flavors and textures in dishes, for example. Seeing Beijing and China through Maggie’s eyes helped me appreciate it more. I also thought the idea of meals as community (served family style) was profound.

As I worked my way through the book, I began to see links between the stated theories and principles of Chinese cooking *as it is described in the book* and quiltmaking. There is a beauty and meaning to the way the Chinese cooking is described, which I do not feel when I enter an American Chinese restaurant.

The beginning of every chapter has excerpts from a book called the Last Chinese Chef. I don’t know if this a real book, but the passages are evocative and towards the latter part of the book, especially the last chapters, I found my mind forming connections between what the narrator was saying and the Design Series I work on with Sandy. Throughout the book, the characters talk about links between the food and history, literature and poetry. I find this very beautiful.

Maggie’s situation is very sad, but seems to be about money and since she has downsized, I had a hard time feeling sorry for her with regard to the suit in China. I do feel sorry for her loss of her husband and think the grief she feels is fairly well described. I don’t think the name is a good one for her character. I am not sure why; it doesn’t seem to fit the story or her life story.

After finishing the whole book, I see the sort of crudeness of the beginning chapters in the description of the suit and China. I think that Nicole Mones smooths out the writing in such a way that the reader is soothed as the story goes on. I liked the ending very much and thought it fit. While I think there are more stories for these characters, I was satisfied with the ending.

This is a book where I might want to see the words on the page. This book also makes me want to add a section on Aesthetic to the Design series.

View all my reviews

Star Sampler Fabrics

I have been working on getting the fabrics for the Star Sampler together.

I washed a bunch of new fabrics over the weekend and have added some of them to this group. I have a few more to iron, but will probably add them as well.

It occurs to me that the ones with a lot of white won’t work with the background I have chosen. I want the stars to be crisp and I don’t want the colors of the fabric in the stars to bleed into the background. That might mean taking out that nice graphic dot in the top row.

Additional Star Sampler Fabrics - January 2013 — Additional Star Sampler Fabrics – January 2013

After I started writing this post, I was doing my Qi Gong practice and looking at the FOTY 2012 top, which was in process on my design wall. I saw some other fabrics, which I thought needed to be added.

I do notice that the group is getting very blue heavy, so I need to use a lot of the non-blue fabrics OR find some more of the purples and greens.

It has taken me some time to get the right fabrics and I think I still have more to add and some to take away. This group has more fabric than the group I posted in December.

Now I need to get off my duff and make some blocks. Enough playing with fabrics!

FOTY 2012: Top Finished

One of the things I love about this quilt is that I get to visit with my fabrics again as I sew the top together. I get to say hello and they get to tell me not to forget them and how they can be used.

I also love the anticipation of finishing this piece and hanging it on my wall and looking at it more often, walking by it every day and remembering the fabrics.

I finished the top yesterday and am very pleased with it.

I probably could have finished the back as well, but finishing this top is some kind of miracle, because of how slow I was moving. Working on it, I think it helped to keep my joints a bit more limber. It could just be a perception, though.

You can see the whole series on the FOTY Gallery Page.

Fabric of the Year 2012 in Progress

I have been a bit unwell and not up to a lot of contemplation about the meaning of this quilt. I thought that a slideshow of the progress might be just the thing to satisfy you. Enjoy!

Quilt Class: Curves Part 2

Tutorial on sewing curves

I started a series of tutorials on sewing curves during my last Sampler Class, but I never finished the last two parts. The first part is about fabric and arrangement of pieces.

Supplies:

The Dove pattern
paper scissors
template plastic
glue stick
fabric (at least 2 different)
pen ( I like the Pigma Micron & the Pilot Ultra Fine Point)
Fabric scissors
pins
Sewing machine
quarter inch foot or other marking system
thread
Iron and ironing board

We will be using a quarter inch seam allowance. You will need to adjust the pattern if you are using a different seam allowance.

The Dove pattern is a baby version of the Drunkard’s Path. If you make this piece, the next logical curved piece would be a Drunkard’s path block.

This block, as well as the Drunkard’s Path block is made from two types of pieces: a concave ‘L’ and a pie shape. The pie shape forms the circle in the center and the concave ‘L’ can be considered the background. In this block, the pieces are somewhat larger than in the 12″ Drunkard’s Path I used in my previous class. This design also has a very strong focal point.

Take the The Dove pattern and rough cut the templates.
Use the glue stick to stick the paper templates to the template plastic. You won’t need heat resistant template plastic as we won’t be ironing over the templates. It is fine to use, though, if that is the only kind you have.
Rough cut out the templates you have glued to the plastic.
Carefully cut out the template on the seam allowance line, cutting off the rough cut paper and plastic.
Place your fabric wrong side up on a hard surface.
Draw Around Templates

Place the templates wrong side up on your chosen fabric. Nota bene: If you are using symmetrical templates, then it doesn’t matter whether they are right side or wrong side up, but it is good to get in the habit of doing it the right way in case you use non-symmetrical templates in a future project.
Draw around the template with your marking implement of choice. You will need to hold your template firmly so it doesn’t shift. You can also rough cut out the fabric pieces if trying to cut precisely or carefully with a long length of fabric draped over the cutting table is too difficult.
Rotary Cut 90 degree angles

Cut the fabric out carefully using your fabric scissors, especially the curves. Cut the drawn line off the fabric. I used a rotary cutter for the 90 degree angles.
Check to make sure that the fabric you just cut out is the same size and shape as your templates. You can lay the template over your fabric to check.
Fold Pieces in Half

Take a pie shape and a concave shape and fold them in half. Line up the edges carefully. The halfway point that you create will be used to make sure the pieces are sewn together evenly. You will want to make the marks so the patches nest. That means you fold the concave piece in half with right sides together and the pie shaped piece in half with the wrong sides together. Mark the halfway point with a pin or through finger pressing.
Nestle the pieces right sides together.
Pin in Middle

To do this, line up the middle mark where you have finger pressed to align the blocks accurately.
Pinned 3 times

Line up the outside edges and place a pin close to the two outside edges.
Fill in the area between the middle pin and each outside pin with pins. Ease the area between the outside and middle pins into smoothness with your fingers, lining up the edges of the fabric as you do so. Place as many pins as you need between the middle pin and the outside pin. Make sure the fabric is flat and there are no pooches. You may have to ease a bit, but do it very gently so as not to stretch the pieces. If you have to stretch and tug and pull, there is something wrong and you should check to see if your templates match your fabric pieces.
Completed Pinning

Do the same with the second section between the middle and the other outside edge until you have used a lot of pins.
Sew Pie to Concave Piece

Sew Pie to Concave piece, removing pins before you sew over them. You may want to use the point of a pin to keep the edges of the fabric lined up until you sew over the area where the pin was. I also use a seam ripper as a stiletto to keep the two pieces in place after I remove the pins.
Dove Block in Process

Press carefully.
Repeat for all of the quarter blocks.
Dove Block in Process

Sew 2 quarter blocks together to make a half, then sew the other 2 quarter blocks together so you have two halves.
Press so that the center seams nest
Pin the two halves together, paying careful attention to the center.
Sew the two halves together.
Press carefully.

Creative Prompt #193: Fresco

Louise Ottilie Fresco (born 11 February 1952 in Meppel) is a Dutch scientist, director and writer.

al fresco

Buon fresco technique consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh (hence the name) lime mortar or plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster, intonaco, is used. (Wikipedia)

Fresco Chocolate is an artisan bean-to-bar chocolate maker producing award winning single origine chocolate.

Definition: Fresco (plural frescos or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment and, with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco (Italian: affresco) is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning “fresh”. Fresco may thus be contrasted with secco mural painting techniques, on plasters of lime, earth, or gypsum, or applied to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.^[1]^[2]

Take 5 minutes to do any kind of artistic response: poem, doodle, quilt, pastel, pencil. ANYTHING counts. Don’t judge yourself or second guess yourself. There are no rules; just do it!

Fresco Stainless Steel Coffee Percolator

Fresco Towels are produced by a family of artisans with many years of experience in the field of textile production.

A mobile kitchen serving Southern Oregon

Jacque Fresco (born March 13, 1916), is an American self-educated structural designer, architectural designer, concept artist, educator, and futurist.

Steppping Stones Returns

I didn’t just take a bunch of quilts to be quilted on Monday a week ago I also got the Stepping Stones quilt back from my quilter. I am sort of diligently working on the binding.

This quilt was so big. The boys insisted that I had to take the photo from the top of the stairs. I don’t know, but I didn’t want to fight with them about a photo. I’ll have to figure out another way to take the photo full on with no banister in the way.

CQFA Retreat Work

Rhonda's A-B-C Challenge — Rhonda’s A-B-C Challenge

The last weekend was spent at the CQFA Retreat. We go to a small town on the coast about half an hour away. It is perfect, because I don’t have to drive very far and it is beautiful.

Rhonda and Angela came to the CQFA Retreat for the first time. It was great, because they were able to get to know the other members better. As I mentioned CQFA and the BAMQG were on the same day so it was hard to stay and socialize. It was also great, because we got to spend much more time with Angela and Rhonda.

Rhonda brought her A-B-C Challenge and was able to work on it a little bit. It really looks great and the CQFAers loved her travel concept.
I really admire people who bring multiple projects to the Retreat and then work on them. I brought two projects for the first and was able to work on both. One of my issues is I can’t organize myself well enough to make sure that I have all of the parts necessary for multiple projects.

Julie, unlike me, has a wonderful spontaneity about her work. As a result, she worked on several different projects. The three parts of this piece are really a good aspect of this piece. Of course, she used her hand dyes.

Dolores' FabMo Piece — Dolores’ FabMo Piece

Dolores likes to plan her pieces and does gorgeous, thoughtful work. At this Retreat, however, Dolores was sitting next to Julie and, without Dolores realizing it, some of Julie’s spontaneity wore off (infected???) on Dolores. Dolores took a sample book of linen she got from FabMo and cut the pieces apart. She laid them out on a piece of muslin as a backing and glued them down temporarily.

Her intention was to sew them just enough to hold down the strips until she could embellish them.

The interesting thing about this piece is the texture of the fabric and the fraying of the edges. The colors are earthy with a bit of zing (see the purple?)

Angela's Table Runner — Angela’s Table Runner

Angela came with the SCVQA challenge project. They will be having a show in April and the theme is Oh My Stars!

Along with the show quilts, the organization will have a challenge exhibit and Angela brought her pieces along to work on. She brought fabric and thread and ended up with the piece on the left.

This is a miracle, because there were many, many rules to this challenge. I admire Angela for coming up with this gorgeous piece and still working within the rules of the challenge.

She decided to use the Gwen Marston wonky stars technique. I love this piece. I love the colors (of course!!! Look at that turquoise). I love the embroidery of constellations she did as embellishments. I would love to see Angela make a similar piece but larger.

Sue worked, again, with batiks. Her piece from last year was just as gorgeous and when you look at them together, they look like a series.

I also like the juxtaposition of the classic Flying Geese with the contemporary look of the batiks. I know it is weird to say such a thing, but it looks so interesting to me and really stands out to me.

Maureen's Plus Quilt — Maureen’s Plus Quilt

Maureen started out with this Plus type quilt.

I love the fabrics that she chose. Maureen had a Jelly Roll or strip set with these colors. Instead of using rectangles as some of the pieces Maureen used all squares. She told me that starting with this piece made for a very calming beginning to the quilt retreat.

Maureen's Fabric Map — Maureen’s Fabric Map

Maureen started to have some trouble with her sewing machine so she switched to a hand project.

This piece looked like a map. Maureen did a lot of handwork on the piece and was thinking about others. She added French knots and a lot of couching around the edges of the white and blue areas..

This is what Calm looks like during basting. Big Deal, right?

Rhonda's Hand project — Rhonda’s Hand project

Rhonda took a class on different types of handwork. In the picture above we are helping Rhonda chose the colors for the next set of borders.

Robin's Indigo Ocean Waves — Robin’s Indigo Ocean Waves

Robin had some indigo fabrics from her mother. They were from South Africa. She found some great, and perfect, contemporary companion prints to use with the indigos.

The large squares are the contemporary prints. I also like the way these blocks are a bit off. It gives the piece movement.

Sonja was working on several pieces as well. She was inspired by some of the activities she does with her family. In addition to the bicycle, she had a scooter as part of the series. It was such great work; I can’t wait to see it finished.

Inspiration Tuesday #2

I thought I would give you a bonus inspiration post since I wasn’t able to post anything quilty today.

What do you think about when you see this photo?

It just looks calming to me, which is often what I need. Thanks to racingsquirrel for allowing this photo to be shared.

Inspiration Tuesday

T2i - Fish by doug88888 — T2i – Fish by doug88888

Thanks to Doug88888 for allowing this to be shared.

This is part of my effort to help you “see” inspiration wherever you are.

I sometimes think I should get a fish tank just to keep me calm. I wouldn’t want to do the work to keep the tank clean and the fish alive, though. Sad, but true.

The servers where I host the Artquiltmaker blog were down yesterday when I had time to post, so this is a last minute post or a bonus Creative prompt post, if you want to think of it that way. What can you do it with it?

“Seeing” Inspiration

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my strategies for getting out of the Creative Desert. Getting out of the Creative Desert is different from seeking inspiration. Just because you are piecing a bunch of squares together doesn’t mean you are inspired. Piecing a bunch of squares together is good because you are working, but you are only at the first step back to your creative potential.

I find that if I need inspiration, it doesn’t work for me to go out and look for it at that moment. I can’t rush outside and look around and expect to be inspired JUST LIKE THAT. The world might be boring that day or I might not be able to see, really see. I have to be prepared. I have to be in the habit of looking for it every day as I go about my business. I have to accumulate possibilities so it is available when I need it.

Teaching yourself to see requires training. Fortunately, the training does not require you to spend time in the gym every night. It requires you to clear out your head for 5 minutes and look. Christi Friesen, a polymer clay artist, described what I am talking about really well in a recent Notes from the VooDoo Lounge podcast episode. She said your mind has to go into “screensaver mode” to get your best ideas. (a creative example of this can be found on writer Deanna Raybourn’s blog in a post from last week) That explains why I get my best ideas in the shower or right before I drop off to sleep. Thoughts about lunches for tomorrow, who has to be picked up from where and what’s for dinner are not on my mind and there is space to be inspired, to put together the bits and pieces of inspiration you have encountered into a logical whole. Listen to this episode, if it is not on your regular playlist. Exercise: go out at lunch, walk around the block with a clear mind. Don’t think about your next meeting or the assistant who won’t do your bidding. Look at the world around you.

1st: Identify: I know what I like: mosaics, leaves, color, architectural details are a few. You have to look at a lot of stuff to know what you like. It doesn’t matter what other people like, because if you don’t like something, you won’t be inspired.

2d: See. Walk around with your head up. Stop looking at your shoes; they are fine. Really. They are fine. Get out of your head and SEE what is around you. See what is really in front of you NOT what you EXPECT to be in front of you. Seeing is different than looking. We look at the things around us so we can avoid the slimeball from the sales department, not get hit by a car, and find the right coffee shop. Seeing is the next step after looking. Something deeper sparks your interest and you pay attention to the thing. The thing gets in your head and your mind starts playing with it, turning it over and translating it into a quilt design or a machine quilting pattern.

If you can’t go out or you live in an industrial wasteland, look at sites that provide you with inspiration that you don’t see in your every day life. Flickr and Pinterest can be black holes of creative doom, but they can also provide excellent inspiration. People share photos of their trips to exotic lands and interesting tidbits they see in their daily travels. Put some random words into the search box and see what you get. I found the above photo by putting “Thailand blue” into the Flickr search box. Gorgeous birds, aren’t they? Look at the color combinations! Check out the beaks. I love the feathered tail of the bird flying. Amazing!

3rd: Document. Having a camera in my phone is the best thing ever. I take photos of the strangest things because of some little detail that sparked some interest. I have photos of half decayed leaves on the street because of the color. I have a corner of a magazine page, because of a star pattern that might be good in a quilt some day. I have a photo of a rack of vintage sweaters, because of the shape. I am focused on quiltmaking, so when I see a pattern or design that I like, I document it for a later quilt or machine quilting design. You may not see what I see, which is why you need to collect your own inspiration.

If you carry your camera around or have a smartphone, remember that your photos don’t have to be professional. The photo of the mannequin above has that commercial door in it, which looks stupid, but I want to photograph the whole mannequin without completely blocking the oh-so-narrow sidewalk traffic.

You don’t need a camera in your phone. If you don’t want to haul your camera around with you, bring a sketchbook. You don’t have to be Degas or Seurat. You aren’t drawing on the street or on the bus to win awards; you are drawing to remember something, for your own use. You don’t have to share. Commit to whipping out that sketchbook to record a line or design. This is your inspiration. What it looks like in your sketchbook will never look like the end result.

4th: Manipulate. Put your photo or sketch (after you scan) through Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or one of the free programs available online. Add filters. Change the pixels to a sketch or a different color. See what happens. Save your creation as a new file and compare to what else you have done.

5th: Use. The inspiration you are collecting will quickly become crap if you don’t use it. Look through your folders or boxes periodically. Don’t review your bits and pieces only when you are in need of inspiration. Look through folders regularly just because. If you can’t remember why you saved a shard, then it is time to toss it.

6th: Organize. For every project, I keep all of my notes, swatches, and details in a file folder. Once you have decided to work on a project, put the shards of inspiration into that file folder with your calculations and fabric swatches. Have you ever seen the movie “Working Girl”? She uses her organizational system at the end to prove the deal was her own idea. You can tell where you are and how to move forward if all the pieces are in one place. Also, if they fall out of the folder, the way they land might provide further inspiration. If you let a project simmer for awhile, having your inspirational shards all together will help you get back on track quickly.

Start your training now.

Patchwork Wheels

These blocks got some quality time with my design wall – for about 10 minutes – this past weekend. I put them up thinking that I would get a chance to sew them together, but other quilts interfered.

These are going to be sewn together as shown and I think I will leave the border off so that I can make progress and get this baby to the quilter. I want someone to sleep under it or drag it around for comfort sooner rather than later. I feel like this is the longest it has ever taken me to finish a donation quilt. AND I am not even finished.

The blocks are a little crazy, but I had fun making them. I would like to try this block with some different fabrics. I’ll put it on the list. It might be a good donation block when someone is making a lovey.

Creative Prompt #192: Flourish

flour·ish

/?fl?riSH/

Verb

(of a person, animal, or other living organism) Grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, esp. as the result of a particularly…

Noun

A bold or extravagant gesture or action, made esp. to attract the attention of others.

Take 5 minutes to do any kind of artistic response: poem, doodle, quilt, pastel, pencil. ANYTHING counts. Don’t judge yourself or second guess yourself. There are no rules; just do it!

Flourish (2006 movie)

In positive psychology, flourishing is “to live within an optimal range of human functioning, one that connotes goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience.”^[1] Flourishing is the opposite of both pathology and languishing, which are described as living a life that feels both hollow and empty.

Flourishing is a positive psychology concept which is a measure of overall life well-being and is viewed as important to the idea of happiness.^[1]^[2] Many components and concepts contribute to the overall concept of flourishing and the benefits of a life that can be characterized as flourishing. It exists as an umbrella concept because it includes and incorporates many other concepts in the positive psychology field such as cultivating strengths, subjective well-being, positive work spaces, etc. (Wikipedia)

an extra touch

Flourish Magazine – resources for a happy, healthy, beautiful life

to blossom or grow

what do you need to flourish

Flourish and Blotts

this will help you flourish

start flourishing