ABC Challenge: ‘C’ Block

Cake Stand
Cake Stand

I am a sucker for basket blocks. Cake Stand is a classic. Even though I said I was going to use Around the Block Again and Once More Around the Block, I took a quick peek at Around the Block and couldn’t prevent myself from making this block. I have to admit that the templates that I mentioned in the last post about the project make me not want to use those books. They are not hard to use and it isn’t that I can’t measure the templates and cut them, but I just don’t want to be flipping back and forth. I will get over myself, because I don’t want to give real estate to books that I don’t use.

The gold color is, again, one of the Pat Bravo Pure Elements. I believe it is the Empire Yellow. It has kind of a green tinge to it. I used it, because it was next on my stack to be ironed and I want a bit of a challenge in this project. The dots are a bit light for the background, so I may try the block again with a different background, but we will see.

For the moment, I am still making one block for each letter. I may make seconds for some of the letters. I am going to kind of go with the flow and see how the project evolves.

Creative Prompt #118: North

North by Northwest

North Beach in San Francisco

Northern California

North Dakota

North Beach Pizza

North Korea

North Coast Brewing Company

North County Times

North America

North American Bluebird Society

North shore

North Africa

north wind

Oliver North

The Old North Church

North Caucasus

The North Face

North Pole

North movie

North Hollywood

North Carolina

direction

point on a compass

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

North American Auto Show

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, and how your work relates to the other responses.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. Are you already a member? I created that spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses. Please join and look at all of the great artwork that people have posted. Post yours and get kudos!

Thanks for your participation!

Various & Sundry 2011 #15

I do like these various and sundry posts. I feel a sense of freedom when I write them. I don’t have be terribly organized, magnificently coherent or make all the words relate to each other. I can’t point you in various directions and send you off on journeys, hoping you will return and tell me what you think.

The weekend of the 6th saw a huge event in NYC to support the Alliance for American Quilts. they are having an event called Quilters Take Manhattan. I think all of the unexpected hoopla surrounding Infinite Variety gave new life to quilts as art. All of the quilting glitterati were there and I followed the action as best I could from 3k miles away. Some blog posts I saw about this were:

In the course of following the events, I was pointed to Marianne Fons blog. I like her writing style and hearing about her family. She is a sensitive writer who records her observations in a delightful way. In a way, she reminds me of Rosamunde Pilcher, my personal gold standard for descriptive writing. She writes about her personal life and family, but doesn’t give too much away, but she does write about her daughter, Mary’s, illness a bit, which I had only heard about in passing. I was curious, of course, but such a thing is none of my business, so I wouldn’t ask, even if I had someone to ask.

Marianne, in turn, pointed me to Mary Fons blog, which I will look at and, perhaps, add to my blog reader.

Media
I saw that a show called Why Quilts Matter will be coming to PBS in the Fall. I am looking forward to watching it. The website has a video trailer. It is 9 part documentary in which Shelly Zegart is heavily involved. A lot of the people in the trailer are from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I wonder if Frances will be able to take advantage of any lectures or anything? 😉 There are a lot of other contributors as well. I checked my Tivo and the show isn’t yet listed, but I have a ‘quilts’ keyword search, so, hopefully, it will come up in that search.

Stitched, the movie, came out a few months ago and I still haven’t seen that. My libraries don’t have it yet and I am not a Netflix member.

I think there is something to be said for quilt companies to be small businesses, well any companies really. I am not enamored with large companies right at the moment. Small businesses seem to care more about their customers, though that is a generalization and a stereotype and I know it is not always true. The ones that have been taken over by larger companies, such as Fons & Porter, have become impersonal and don’t really seem to care about their customers. Fons & Porter is now owned by New Track Media LLC, which is further owned by a person and a private equity firm. They also own Quilter’s Club of America, Keepsake Quilting, QNM and others. What is their interest in quiltmaking? Money, I am guessing.

I watched one of the Fons & Porter episodes #1201 on the Spin Wheel quilt project (definitely a repeat), which said that the updated directions for using the hexagon ruler and their pyramid ruler to make the Spin Wheel with these tools would be available on their website. I bought the DVD with the pattern from the magazines, both rulers and went looking for the adjunct instructions. They weren’t on the website. I searched over and over to no avail, so I contacted customer service. The customer service people (called Answer54) were diligent, but supremely unhelpful. They had canned responses and I became more frustrated as it became clear that my question did not fit into their list of responses. Somehow I was transferred to Keepsake Quilting and the person contacted me and responded to me several times, but ultimately didn’t have the instructions. I also posted on their FB fan page. No response. I can make the block without that adjunct sheet of instructions, but it just seems so lame of them not to be able to find a sheet of instructions. I guess New Track thinks of their quilting properties as cash cows. This seemed like a simple request: M&L said the adjunct instructions were on the website, they are not on the website, please send them to me. I guess New Track Media thinks their brands are so awesome that they don’t have to provide customer service. Customer Service is everything, New Track. Get with the program.

SeamedUp is having a fundraiser (you, too, can be a venture capitalist!) to get more server space and a bunch of other stuff. They are a small, women owned company. Only one person has contributed, as of this writing, which is kind of sad. If all of the almost 2000 people who are members contributed $5 that would be $10,000, which is much more than their goal. Go for it and if you are not a member, join up! You can read more about their plans, the campaign and everything SeamedUp on their blog

Tools, Books  and Supplies
I bought a new iron when I was out shopping for the Young Man’s school uniform parts. It is the most expensive iron I have ever bought – $29.99. I figured I should splurge since I have two in the closet downstairs that were cheap and, clearly, not up to my pressing needs once I got them out of the box and heated up.  It is really nice to have steam again. I also like this iron, because it doesn’t beep at me all the time. I need many fewer irritating beeps in my life.

Did you enter the book giveaway I announced earlier this week? Check it out!

Are you interested in how thread is made? Coats & Clark made a video which I saw on AllPeopleQuilt.com.

BryeLynn of SeamedUp and Sew~Stitch~Create did a review of the Frixion pen. It is really nice when someone else does the heavy lifting for you!

Learning
As I have mentioned a few times, I have helped to organize a class at Always Quilting on August 27, 2011, 10-4. It will be taught by Lynn Koolish of C&T fame. It is open to everyone though the BAMQG and CQFA folks have had a headstart on sign ups. The class is now on the shop’s website. You can register via the website or by calling their shop at (650) 458-8580. Hope to see you there!

ArtQuilt Tahoe is coming around again. There are still some great teachers available. If you are able to attend and haven’t taken a class from Libby Lehman, sign up immediately. She is a wonderful teacher – giving, not stuck up, a great presenter, personable. I’d like to go sometime, but this isn’t the year. I’d love to hear about it, if you attend.

Projects
Hooded towels are very popular in our house. The Young Man thinks about things in the show and likes to tell me about them when he emerges from bathing. They are great to wrap up in on cold bath/shower nights when bathrobes are too fussy. The hooded towels have the added bonus of drying the hair with very little effort. They are harder to find as children get taller. I saw a tutorial for a hooded towel. For larger children, I would use two towels. Use a very sharp needle when sewing the two towels together, so you don’t break a needled or jam up your machine. Since you may be having the same issue, I thought I would share.

Yesterday, I posted about the gift I made for Grama. I took it to show a friend visiting from New Zealand and realized I hadn’t done the topstitching from the top hem to the bottom corners. DUH!. It would really help if I read the directions once in a while!

Last week (?) I posted the finished Kona Challenge quilt. Yesterday I saw a blog post about the responses to the challenge from the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild. Some of them remind me of Angela’s Kona Challenge quilt (which she was binding at the last meeting!!!)

Chair Pillowcase
Chair Pillowcase

Due to my ongoing machine issues, I am working on easy projects, or projects that don’t require complicated piecing. The Jem just can’t handle it. I bought some more of the Tufted Tweets chair fabric when I went to New Pieces the other week and cut out a pillowcase to go with the purple quilt. I sewed the whopping 3 seams it took to put the thing together and will send it off this week, hopefully.

Other Artists
I had heard about Claudia’s blog, Machen und Tun from Frances, but had never gone to look at it until I saw one of her quilts in the Quilting….for the Rest of us Flickr group. She is a working on the Attack of the Hexies project and is doing a wonderful red and white color scheme. Why didn’t I think of that? I went to her most recent post (8/4/2011) and was thrilled to see a, mostly, aqua and red sampler quilt. If you scroll down she shows some more blocks and the whole effect is quite wonderful. She talks about looking at the Fresh Lemons Summer Sampler Series blocks inspiring her, but also encouraging her to go off in her own direction. She might select different blocks that weren’t as difficult or required no paper piecing. She also talks about making the blocks a little differently to make them her own. What a great idea for inspiration! I noticed a circle tutorial, which looks very similar to the Dale Fleming method. The other thing about her blog is that she writes in English and German. This is great practice for me. Thanks, Claudia! Her blog is definitely worth looking at.

Angela has posted over 240 photos of quilts from the UK Festival of Quilts. She posted the photos in a Smilebox format on Creating the Hive, so you can scroll through them fairly easily.

Life

Really good reminder of how the inner ambivalence can affect outer life.
Amplify’d from stillmansays.com

Art therapy? How do you connect your anti-passions to your passions? And when you are talking about passion you must talk about Jesus at some point anyway. Look, Jesus didn’t know what magazines were so lets cut him some slack here. Lots of people’s coffee tables are cluttered, so maybe that was a lucky guess. But her violent reaction to it mirrored her real frustration with her job situation. Her inner and outer, as far as she understood them were the same – even though it was hidden to her. What I offered her gave her a chance to actually take the advice from Jesus above and expand her vision of herself and experience entry into a new kingdom.

Read more at stillmansays.com

 

Grama Gift

Grama Jane Market Tote
Grama Jane Market Tote

Mom came over the other day and told me that she had bought Grama her birthday gift. I got into a little panic, not realizing that her birthday was a still a month away. When I got my knickers out of the twist, Mom told me that she had a seen a perfect gift and bought it. Grama liked the Grab Bag I made her, so I decided to make her a Jane Market Tote.

I am embroiled in Jane Market totes for Christmas gifts and I need all the practice I can get. These are fairly straightforward bags to make, yet I seem to always screw something up.

Mom helped me pick the fabric. I wouldn’t have picked this, but Mom said she would like it. I found the stripe for the front panels that goes well with the cake fabric. This one went together very well and spurred me on to work on the other bags I had already cut, but not sewn.

Book Review: Masters Art Quilts v.2

UPDATE 8/26/2011: Giveaway is closed. See information about the winner in the 8/26 post. Please leave other comments in the comments section. I love hearing from you.

Masters: Art Quilts, Vol. 2: Major Works by Leading ArtistsMasters: Art Quilts, Vol. 2: Major Works by Leading Artists by Ray Hemachandra

Another 39 quiltmakers have been included in this volume of Masters:Art Quilts Vol.2, which makes me happy for a number of reasons. First, I think the first volume was successful. Second, there may be more volumes to come. Third, Lark may be setting a trend of inspiration and essay type quilt books. Fourth, more eye candy for me. 😉 I wrote a review of the previous edition in which I wrote the possibility of a series of books on inspiration and I also talked about some of the artists included.

This second volume continues all the good included in the first book. This book also includes different artists, some with whom I am familiar, some of whom are new to me, others who have been absent from my sphere for awhile.

I received this book, again, for free to review from Lark Books. Thanks to Amanda and Ray for keeping me on their list! As if that weren’t enough,  Lark has, once again, agreed to give away a copy of this book in conjunction with this book review to one of you lucky readers! See the rules below.

This book is thick, square and heavy. Each of the 39 artists, again, have multiple pages on which their works are displayed. As I mentioned in my previous review, this layout gives the reader an idea of the breadth of work each artist has produced. Additionally, the layout celebrates the artists throughout the book: the title page has their names. The back cover has the artists’ names. The table of contents lists them and each section devoted to the artist has their name on the edge of the page. This layout seems makes me feel good about reading this book.

Martha Sielman curated this group of quilts. She reminds us, in her introduction, that the point of art quilts is to look beyond the obvious imagery to what the artist is trying to say. Art quilts have been on my mind, in particular my art quiltmaking since I co-hosted Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski, and reading the introduction helping me move towards understanding what I am thinking about in relation to art quilts. In some respects art quilts are about a story and Sielman says “you’ll discover many stories that enrich your appreciation of both art and the world around you.” (pg.7). So far, I think this is true for me. The introduction, which I read after I perused some of the photos made me wonder about photo realistic quilts again. The question in my mind is whether or not the artists that use this technique trust their own drawing or painting or image development skills? I wonder…

I noticed a lot of neutrals throughout the book. I expect that in an art quilt book because a lot of the artists use nature imagery.

Nelda Warkentin’s work looks like fractured ice crystals. Her piece, Tropical Dream (pg.140) is spare compared to other works and it contrasts with other dense complicated work. It gives the reader the opportunity to meditate on the wide variety of art quilt imagery.

Reiko Naganuma’s quilts are bright and cheerful. They are a contrast to many of the other quilts, but they still fit in. Her quilts also appear to have visible texture (pg.169, 171).

I was very pleased to see Rise Nagin show up in this book. Her quilt, Target: On the Beach (pg.221), has been on my mind lately. I remember seeing it in the early 1990s and, lately, I was wondering if she had moved on to a different medium. Her older work has an ethereal quality while her new work has more color and layers. Seeing Nagin’s work again makes me wish for more biographical information in this book.

In looking through this book, with its wide variety of quilts, I found that many art quilts are messy. It occurred to me that messy quilts could be a turn off for some people and made me wonder if art quilts could be made neatly. Warkentin’s piece, Tropical Dream (pg.140) is fairly neat, which further led me to wonder what role the neatness/messiness of the quilt plays in the quilt’s story?

My favorite piece is probably Letters Lost by Margery Goodall (pg.293). I am surprised at the name, but that makes me like it all the more. This quilt has rectangles laid down in vertical rows. The rectangles are sewn with one straight line through each column of rectangles. The colors are very light as well. Not one color, but very pale with hints of brighter colors. I like the texture of the fabric that is not completely sewn down.

I also like the paper doll feeling of Rachel Brumer’s quilt Triplets (pg. 320). I would have liked to see an index with all of the names of the quiltmakers and their quilts in alphabetical order.

There is a lot of piecing in this book and many of the artists used commercial fabric. There are a lot of faces depicted in this book. The editors have not highlighted one technique or image. There is a wide variety of work and artists, so that all quiltmakers could enjoy this book. This book should definitely be on your ‘to purchase’ list.

View all my reviews

Giveaway Rules:

1. Go to the Lark Crafts site and find something quilt related that you enjoy

2. Come back here and tell me about it in a comment on this post. Write something meaningful or thoughtful.

3. The giveaway deadline is 8/19. I’ll pick a winner after midnight on 8/19 and post it over the weekend.

4. Make sure I can get a hold of you.

Block-a-Long #17: 9 Patch Tile

9 Patch Tile #17
9 Patch Tile #17

This block reminded me of a part of a tile floor. I wanted to name it tile floor. I am trying to keep these blocks organized by grid. This is, essentially, a 9 patch grid and shares a lot of elements with the 9 Patch Go Round. You probably need at least 3 colors for this, but 5 would add interest.

9 Patch Tile #17 Rotary Cutting Directions

Creative Prompt #117: Numbers

TV Show
iWork Numbers
the things you count with
vast amounts
Numbers Music
by the numbers
Can everyone give me their numbers?
credit card numbers
Powerball numbers
Numbers Night Club, San Diego
Numbers and strings (programming in Java)
Library of Congress Poetry 180 Project: Numbers
Port numbers
ISBN Numbers
algebraic number
LCCN numbers
Library of Congress call numbers
running the numbers
Dewey Decimal numbers
prime numbers
Nielsen ratings numbers
Bank routing numbers
Account numbers
800 numbers
whole numbers

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, and how your work relates to the other responses.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. Are you already a member? I created that spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses. Please join and look at all of the great artwork that people have posted. Post yours and get kudos!

ABC Challenge

Two ABC Challenge Blocks
Two ABC Challenge Blocks

I really did want to do the Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-Long, the Summer Sampler Series and the ABC Challenge at BAMQG, but decided that I can’t do everything. I have other projects to get busy on, too. As much as I would like to just make blocks forever, I have to do other things. The most important group block project right now to me is the guild’s ABC Challenge. The group is doing two 12″ blocks every month. I am doing one 6″ block.I want to support the BAMQG, so, finally, after getting behind by 2 letters, I sewed two blocks on Sunday.

I might do two if I have time and find two block patterns I like, then I will do two. For now my parameters are:

  • 6″x6″ blocks
  • One per month
  • Pat Bravo Pure Elements solids
  • Riley Blake Sweet Nothings by Zoe Pearn dot

I didn’t find any blocks I felt like making in my favorite block book, Around the Block, so I pulled out Around the Block Again and Once More Around the Block and found the two blocks I made in the former. I was shocked to find that some of the directions included ‘T5’ and ‘T42’ rather than a number of how to cut the patch. It turns out that there are templates in the back. I assume the author intends me to cut them out and use them that way. Instead I measured them and realized that she used templates, because the sizes are weird: 1 5/8, 2 7/8, somewhere in between 3 5/8 and 3 3/4, etc. I just cut to the nearest larger size and trimmed as I was making the blocks. Perhaps that is why I haven’t used this book much until now?

Basement Window
Basement Window
Air Castle
Air Castle

 

 

 

Yes, the blocks are bright. I want bright and I want to use some of the new fabric I have purchased recently. I may add other prints. I will use more of the Riley Blake/Zoe Pearn dots. For now, I am still experimenting with how much white works and how the solids I have look with each other. The next block may be different.

Some of the blocks that other members made are below.

BAMQG ABC Challenge Blocks
BAMQG ABC Challenge Blocks
BAMQG ABC Challenge Blocks
BAMQG ABC Challenge Blocks
BAMQG ABC Challenge Blocks
BAMQG ABC Challenge Blocks

I have always enjoyed making blocks. I don’t do it enough. As I have been walking past these blocks all week (they are displayed on my design wall) they are making me feel happy. Perhaps they don’t have as much interest as some blocks with other fabrics would, but they are really cheerful and are making me itch to get back to the sewing machine. I wonder what block is next?

Finished: Zig Zaggy Quilt

Zig Zaggy - final
Zig Zaggy - final

I find this to be an odd quilt. It was a fun challenge to put together, but it looks so out of place with all of my other quilts. I like it, but don’t know what to do with it.

Nota Bene: my quilt hanger said that this is about the largest quilt he can hold for me. I suggested he train The Young Man and they work in tandem for larger quilts.

Finished: Kona Challenge

BAMQG RK Kona Challenge
BAMQG RK Kona Challenge

On Friday, I made the sleeve for this and the Zig Zaggy quilt. As a result I can say that this quilt is completely finished! Hooray!

Making the sleeves is another one of those tasks that I don’t like that much. I have to say, though, that using Robbi Joy Eklow’s directions from her book Free Expression. It may seem like a lot of fabric, but I love the way these sleeves look: professional and finished.

The BAMQG Board got charm packs from Robert Kaufman.

Block-a-Long #16: Bow Block

Bow Block #16Bow Block #16
Bow Block #16

Somehow I got it into my mind that this looked like a gift. Not sure why, thus the name.

To make this block, please print or look at the rotary cutting guide (see below). Piece the 3 small squares and then sew them to large rectangle.

I would suggest a minimum of 3 different colors or fabrics, but 4, as I have used, would work well, too.

Bow Block Directions

Sketching #114

CPP Response #114
CPP Response #114

This is not part of my regular series of responses. I just had a desire to try my hand at responding in watercolors this time. I didn’t follow the color of the original photo, exactly. I used colors that were similar and made me happy, well, at least for the bottles and the tree. I drew the picture in a modified kind of not looking at the photo kind of way. I tried to look at the picture and not my paper, but I did glance at the paper now and again just to orient my pen. I didn’t draw enough lines for the tree and had to add them later. The tree needed more definition than the paint gave it.

The supplies I used were a set of Crayola water colors and a medium Pitt pen.

 

Book Reviews: 3 Jewelry Books

Chains Chains Chains: 25 Necklaces, Bracelets & EarringsChains Chains Chains: 25 Necklaces, Bracelets & Earrings by Joanna Gollberg

This book was sent to me for free by Sterling Publishing. Thanks to Ray at Lark and his whole team for thinking of me. I am not a jewelry maker, so this will be a basic review.

The first thing I noticed about this book is the binding. I don’t know what it is called, but the books lays flat even though it does not have a spiral. Interesting. There is a comprehensive table of contents and an index (YAY!). The authors, Joanna Gollberg and Nathalie Mornu exploit the chain part of necklaces throughout the book, starting with “A Chain Letter”, which is the introduction or foreword.

After a page of tools, the book starts into projects. The photos are large and appealing. The page layouts are light and airy and I like the circle motif the publisher used throughout the book. The projects come from different designers, but the projects have a modern feel with a lot of space between the elements. The projects do become denser as the maker works his/her way through the book. The projects look cohesive.

There is a basics section at the end, which talks about metals and their properties, including precious metals, and tools and equipment. The techniques section, which follows includes cleaning metal, transferring designs, chasing, bending sheet metal and much more. There are also sections on soldering and finishing, which I am guessing are the quilting and binding of the jewelry world. A very useful Mandrel and Ring Size conversion chart is also included.

I enjoyed looking at the inspiration section, which includes a gallery of additional pieces (not projects). I really like the Double Circle Bracelet on page 134.

Maggie Meister's Classical Elegance: 20 Beaded Jewelry Designs (Beadweaving Master Class)Maggie Meister’s Classical Elegance: 20 Beaded Jewelry Designs by Maggie Meister

Maggie Meister’s Classical Elegance: 20 Beaded Jewelry was also sent to me from Lark Crafts/Sterling Publishing for free. Again, there is a comprehensive table of contents and an index as well as a very small bibliography. The gallery at the end shows several pages of amazing necklaces, which look more like museum pieces than jewelry. When I looked at some of them, I thought they might be historical reproductions, but I don’t see anything that says one way or another.

The first part of the book goes over basic tools and stitches. The author talks a bit about the pros and cons of different clasps, the Great Thread Wars, and different types of ear wires and posts. I like it that she injects a bit of humor into what can be a boring, rote section. Stitches, both in the beginning and in the projects include a lot of diagrams so the maker can clearly see the author’s method of creating. The stitches section would be good for quiltmakers who are embellishing their quilts.

I like it that Ms. Meister talks about her inspiration, which, in part, comes from ancient pieces. Each project has a brief description of something historical that influenced the piece. The inspiration could be common practices at the time, marriage jewelry, and torques worn in ancient Ireland. I would have liked to have seen some footnotes for these comments.

I think most of the projects in the book walk the fine line between lush and over-the-top very well.

Chapter 5, starting on page 96, is called Architectural elements as Inspiration. The facing page (pg.97) has photos of chimneys, title, a Russian (or maybe Greek?) Orthodox church and other architectural elements that can serve as inspiration for any kind of creativity.

Check this book out and see how different things in the world around you can inspire your creative work.

21st Century Jewelry: The Best of the 500 Series21st Century Jewelry: The Best of the 500 Series by Marthe Le Van

For my purposes, this book is definitely the best of the three. This book is pure eye candy. Thanks to Ray at Lark for sending me this book for free!

The foreword and juror statements are a little bit strangely formatted. The designer of the book used different sizes within the same sentences, which makes parts of the text jump out at’ me when I read. I wonder if I just read the larger text if there would be some kind of subliminal message? I didn’t take the time to try that.

Starting on page 12, there is very little text – just artists’ names and the names of pieces as well as size and materials used. The major part of the book is all about inspiration. Most of these pieces are art and could not really be worn anywhere where you had to get in a car or pick up a drink much less to work or to pick up the kids at daycare. The Puddle Series Bracelet is one such piece. It doesn’t matter, though, because these one of a kind (presumably) pieces are gorgeous to look at

These pieces are also not the thrown together pieces that can be made in a few hours. The shapes and forms are, in many cases, organic and curvilinear. The colors are also, mostly, neutrals and golds. There are a few pieces with other colors and they really shine. Most of the pieces are metal, but I saw a few fiber pieces. One of my favorite pieces is I Long for Your Touch (pg. 99) by Roberta and David Williamson. I like the face and leaf shapes.

It is not clear to me what type of jewelry many of the pieces are intended to be. I am not bothered by this, because I won’t be buying or wearing these pieces and can be inspired from bracelets and broaches. If you need to rev up your creativity, take a look at this book, regardless of your medium.

Check the A Work of Heart blog for a giveaway of one of these books. A Work of Heart is San Jose is an awesome art studio where experienced artists teach a variety of jewelry classes as well as other classes. It takes me an hour to get there and it is well worth the drive. In a way it is good that the studio is not around the corner. If it was, i would not see my child grow up or remember my family and I would be broke, because I would be there all. the. time. If you haven’t been there, make the time. Not only will you have fun, you will be inspired.