I starting working on another donation quilt, this time in yellow, pink and peachy-orange. It now has a yellow vibe, so I am calling it Yellow #2, as part of the series of yellow donation quilts, which I started in 2012.
That last sentence is totally pretentious and you can call me out on it. I did seriously start another donation quilt in yellow, pink and peachy-orange and am naming it #2 to distinguish from the first one I made in 2012.
Yellow Donation quilt #2
I am not very far along, but making progress. I started to put the blocks together even though I don’t have enough to make a whole top yet. I am not sure why I started to put it together before having all of the blocks, but I did.
The four block section I have put together is covered, on the left, by another block waiting to be integrated. My design wall overfloweth.
Have you looked at Stash Fabrics? I really like the fabrics they have – motifs and colors.
I finally took a look at The Precut Shop by the fabulous Christa Watson. I am remorseful that it wasn’t sooner, but very glad I did now. First, the shop is Amazon based, so easy payment and, presumably, easy shipping options. The stock, however is amazing. There was page after page of every precut imaginable. I couldn’t even look at all the offerings! Take a look.
Fabric and Tools
Pam has a blank copy of her fabric usage spreadsheet available on a post from a few years back. It is a good time to start tracking your usage. I did it all last year and it helped me to understand what fabrics I was using and how much. I made much better choices about fabric purchases. Cheryl, a BAMer, wrote a great post about her spreadsheet for the BAM blog. She talks about her theories around it, why she does it and how she does it.
Accuquilt is having a die sale through January 31. They have some great dies, even basic options. The site also has an option to register your dies, which creates a list of all of your dies in one place. I have been using my Accuquilt and the dies on and off for various projects as well as for clearing out my scrap bin. It really helps with cutting.
Media
Friend Julie turned me on to Makelight, which has some interesting visual reports. They appear to be in the business of improving followers on Instagram, so they are selling something. I am just in the process of trying out the tools.
Frances of The Off Kilter Quilt podcast fame has a new website called Quilt Fiction. You might be able to read her newsletter on the site, but you can definitely subscribe. If you subscribe to the newsletter, you get a lovely short story. I read the short story and definitely wanted to know more about the characters. If you can’t read the newsletter on the site, there is plenty of other quilty-goodness to read. She has frequent blog posts about books related to quilts. One of my favorite posts is one called Everyday Uses. While it is brief, it makes me think about the everyday use of quilts. I agree with the mother in the story in that you make a quilt and if it gets used up, you make another one. I don’t want to say that quilts aren’t precious to me, but there is always more fabric.
I follow Schmetz Needles on Twitter and was pleased and intrigued to see that they have an online magazine called Inspired to Sew. Check out their site for the current and archived issues.
I am doing the En Provence Mystery Quilt. I have just finished step 1. I am very pleased with the four patches I have made. I have part of step 2 finished, and have some Spikes to cut. I am dreadfully behind, but I don’t care. I saw the reveal on January 1 and am pleased to say that I like the quilt design. It is always kind of a crapshoot when you don’t know what the quilt will look like. Not that there is any shortage of fabric. Some people have already finished theirs and have shown their versions, which is great for me, so I can compare different color schemes. I am happy to pick out colors as I start each step. So far, I have sort of stuck to Bonnie’s suggestions, but I am not going with the purple she includes. Just not my thing. I don’t hate purple, but I think this quilt will stay here so I want something that will work in my house.
This project is part of the reason why I feel like I am treading quilt water. Many steps forward and no finishes.
The other thing I did at Sew Day on Saturday was work on the Circles donation quilt. Gerre finished quilting it, so she brought it and I made the binding while she met with the other Executive Board members.
She has a lot of the plaids so I used one that had enough left to make an entire straight of grain binding out of one motif. It is similar in colors to the large blue and white striped circle in the lower right hand corner of the photo above.
I have a lot going on so she took it to sew the binding on. I won’t be able to add very much fabric to my spreadsheet as most of it was Gerre’s, but I supplied the background, so some.
I am going to miss a lot of BAMQG in the next couple of months, which makes me sad. Perhaps I’ll have something to show by the time I make it to the March meeting?
Mary, once again, did a great job setting up and organizing the room for us. Thanks, Mary!
We all dodged the rain and there was a good turnout.
Haley’s t-shirt quilt
Tim was there with his niece Haley and they put a t-shirt quilt together for her. She just graduated from college and the quilt is made from all of her college t-shirts. It looks great!
I worked on cutting. I started cutting for the second step of the En Provence mystery quilt. People have started posting the blocks and I am glad I am making it. I can choose some colors better now that I know what the piece will look like.
I know I am not quite finished with step one, but cutting is a good thing to do at Sew Day and it doesn’t go bad. I didn’t feel like bringing my machine to the event.
Rhonda’s Handwork Project
Rhonda worked on her Carolyn Friedlander handwork quilt. She started to put the segments together. Another great project!
Normally, I save selvedges for Angela. I decided to try a few out myself so I made this piece of selvedge ‘fabric’ with no particular idea in mind.
Last night I got a brainwave and am going to use it for some pincushions. I saw the pattern in Love Patchwork & Quilting.
Angela will still get most of them. This is just a fun little diversion.
I took this photo on one of my walks. It was late in the afternoon so the sun was going down. One of the beautiful things about this time of year is the way the sun tinges the clouds with pink at about 4:45 or 5pm. I love it. Of course, the clouds help and they have been dumping rain on us. We don’t complain about the rain, but I will complain about the cold. It has been bitter for a place that doesn’t get snow regularly. I have been wearing so many layers!
ColorPlay Jan 7-n.1
My first iteration of a color palette has all of the circles clustered around the upper left hand corner. I am not sure why. However, this is almost a monochromatic palette with a serious number of blues. I see more colors, including a tinge of yellow in this picture, but I do think that the tool has got it mostly right.
ColorPlay Jan 7 n.2
For the second palette, I wanted to try and keep the monochromatic look, but add some contrast. I wanted the contrast to be light so I tried to find areas that might be in the white-cream-light grey realm. The Kona cream and ivory chosen by the tool both have a tinge of pink, which I think is a good choice.
ColorPlay Jan7 n.3
I moved the circles around a little again for the third palette. I wanted to try and capture the yellow. I wasn’t really able to find that yellow in the photograph. I guess that is one reason we should take care of our eyes: they can see things our camera can’t. Still, the palette is pleasing and would make a very calming quilt.
In addition to the general sewing tasks I also list, January requires some additional work to get the year started:
Decide on FOTY shape and size
Make cutting chart for the year
Update Fabric Usage spreadsheet for 2017
Update Fabric purchase spreadsheet for 2017
The sewing tasks remain:
Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed-This will perpetually be on the list. As usual, I made some progress around Thanksgiving. When this is no longer on the list, I will host a party
Cut out 3 notepad covers for gifts
Finish cutting out Day in the Park backpack variation
It has been hard to get going again on the Peacock. I don’t know why. I think it required contemplation and I really have just had snatches of time here and there over the past few weeks. Some projects require concentration and no progress is made without the time and mindspace for concentration.
The problem is that this piece is taking up space on my design wall and until I finish, I can’t make any other progress. Yes, I could take this piece off the design wall, but that would be a huge mess and I am pretty sure I would never get back to it. Not worth the trouble.
Peacock – 1/1/2017
As you may remember, I gathered some solids and they have been laying around waiting for my attention. Sunday, after #politicalwifery was the day. I cut and placed some strips of solids as background onto the design wall and I am pretty pleased with the results so far. I have some very light blues, but I don’t know that I will get to them as at some point in the not to distant sewing, the very darks I am using on the left will meet the lights on the right and I have to figure out that transition. There will be an angle involved for sure. Perhaps the lavender as well?
We celebrate Christmas, in case you hadn’t noticed. I received a few quilt related gifts, which was very nice.
I am excited about the Make It, Take It book, because I want to make that tote on the front. It reminds me of a tote that Angela made, which I also like.
The Hack that Tote book will also come in handy, because I can’t seem to stop changing bag patterns I made.
Chatelaine Scissors from Rhonda
I am particularly pleased with the scissors and lanyard Rhonda gave me. I needed an extra pair of scissors for my Craft Night kit and these are perfect.
Chatelaine Scissors with Sheath from Rhonda
The best part is that my Scissor Sheath pattern fits perfectly on these scissors. I need the Sheath so I don’t stab myself when wearing the lanyard. I plan to add other things to the carabiner as I come across useful items.
I am hoping that this is the last Carpenter’s Wheel block. My fingers are crossed because it would be nice to finish something AND I want to turn this in for the BAMQG challenge.
As I may have mentioned, I have an idea for the layout and I’d like to get to it. Of course, I have to get the Peacock off the design wall.
I feel like I didn’t make a lot this year. The will was there. The need was there, but time and inspiration conspired against me for many months. Still, I have an impressive record: Number of 2016 Blog Posts: 367
Permission is an odd thing. Sometimes you need it to move forward. My husband has only once complained about the quilts we have at home. He helps me with quilt math and did all the figuring for the Triangle Technique chart. In these way he has given me permission to create.
He wasn’t, however, the first. We did a lot of creative things at home when I was a kid. My dad tied fly fishing flies and had us work along with him. My mom sewed and painted those plaster decorative pieces with us. My grandmothers all cooked and did needlework. We often received kits to make things as gifts. It was normal to be making at our houses.
I also remember various teachers who encouraged creativity and making. Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Kay created a entire play based on Fiddler on the Roof called Piddler on the Loose that included costumes, music and a completely rewritten script. There was also an art aspect to our learning in Mrs. Gellman’s class: kites when we studied Japan, a mission built by the entire class when we studied California history and something to color or glue in general.
Bloomston talks about her various teachers and how they inspired her. About one she writes “she gave her students nothing but space, time, materials and permission. She offered an open door to her wild studio filled with crazy, sophisticated materials and tools” (pg.33).
I don’t think we need “assignments, lectures or instructions” (pg.33). I think we need a sense of possibility and permission. Permission can be tricky, however. I don’t need someone to say “it is okay for you to go and sew today”. It is more that I need the space to be able to go and sew. My family giving me the mind space to make the decision to sew is a kind of permission.
Part of permission is the mindspace, but Bloomston points out that the “blessings and resources in our lives that allows us freedom – open doors, yesses, possibility” all have a hand in getting us to create. The good thing is that no matter how much money a person has, anyone can take a pen and draw lines on the least expensive piece of paper and make art.
Bloomston says “Seek out people who say yes. Seek out people who give you permission, whether teachers or friends” (pg.34). One of the most important things that helps me to create are the people in my guilds. The fact that they show up and show their work inspires me so much! It makes me want to make that or this other project as well.
Bloomston has some worksheets in this chapter, which will help you focus on the things discussed in this chapter. Take a look at the book.
Nota bene: we are still working through Carrie Bloomston’s book, The Little Spark. Buy it. There is a lot more to it than what I am writing and it will help you. Go buy Carrie Bloomston’s book, so you get the full benefit of the fabulousness!
After my post of this morning, I have received help in numerous ways. I am really gratified, because I thought I would get bombarded with messages about how I wasn’t in compliance with the sharing spirit of the quilting world. I really have received nothing but support.
Image used for group stolen from my FB page
One person contacted the admin of an FB group using my image for me when she did not reply to my FB Messenger message. It appears that the original image was taken from my FB page and annotated with the words. Because FB has a limit to the size of cover page images, the copyright notice was cut off. That was my fault. I have added the copyright notice front and center and replaced the non-compliant image. Of course, it means there is a &^%$# copyright notice right in the middle of the image. C’est la vie. I suppose I will get lazy again in a few years and trust people again.
FB Stealing Apology
The admin of the FB group wanted to continue to use my image, but I said no. While I could get some publicity, I don’t want it. I don’t want people thinking they can use my image and I will be ok with it. My standard response is “please remove the image; you do not have permission to use it.” She posted an apology in the group, which was nice. One commenter pointed out that she should change the project, which I appreciated. I have a spy in the group, so I hope will know if the image is used again.
FB Stealing -2016 Time Capsule
The admin said she had seen the time capsule post in a 2016 version. My watermark is still there (see that arrow?), but I can’t imagine why someone would assume they could use it for a 2017 project. I haven’t been able to track down the originator of the above post, so let me know if you know who it is.
I am part of some secret groups and I have posted the link to my post there. One person said I should report any transgressions to FB and IG, that they are pretty militant about taking posts, profiles and groups down when something is reported. I will do that as a last resort.
Pinterest Sharing of FOTY
KR mentioned a couple of shares and a Pinterest pin to me. I found out that you can tell how many times an image has been shared and where it has been shared. The share shown above is actually FOTY 2012 and has been shared 1500 times. It is from Flickr, so I went and posted a link to the FOTY Page on all of the FOTY images on Flickr.
IG Stealing 2
IG Stealing
KO sent me a new IG post where the person blatantly admitted to ‘swiping’ the photo from another feed. Was her comment meant to be funny? Am I the only one who doesn’t think this is funny?
I am taking screenshots of all the posts, so I can post here and have evidence, if I need it. I have also talked to a friend who is looking into an IP lawyer who will work pro bono.
In some ways, I feel like I should feel flattered at the attention and should support these projects. On the other hand, my deepest heart of hearts thinks I should do what I am doing and continue on. I am not sure there is a right answer.
While I may feel *itchy and cranky about this, I am gratified that people have taken my side and are helping me to track down these images. I am also happy that the transgressors have removed my image with little to no fuss. I know this morning’s post was not as well written as it could have been, though it has done its job. The word is out; the *itch is back and looking out for her image.
I am hoping that this is the last Carpenter’s Wheel block. My fingers are crossed because it would be nice to finish something AND I want to turn this in for the BAMQG challenge.
