Virginia and Jeanne came through with two more blocks each for the Stars for San Bruno Project. We now have 18 star blocks. A good many of them are the same pattern as Virginia’s, which is Friendship Star. I think that is a nice message to send to the people who will get these quilts.
Virginia is a wonderful quiltmaker, bagmaker, teacher, helper with the upcoming show and all around good person. She is such an inspiration.
Jeanne (said the French way)
Jeanne is an awesome colorist. She has been making quilts for a long time and loves fabric and color and scraps. Many, many of her quilts are scrap quilts and go to auctions, the babies of her office and other good causes. She works mostly in tiny block sizes so she mentioned that these blocks seemed like behemoths to her. I love the Sawtooth Star in a Sawtooth Star block. I also love the Pinwheel in the Sawtooth Star block.
Want to help? We now have a total of 18 blocks, which is a thrill. Do you want to contribute some blocks?
All star blocks are welcome!
Block background: dark blue
Block design: Yellow star (any pattern, technique, eg. embroidery, painting, silkscreen, etc)
Block size: 8? finished or smaller (we will work with any size)
Remember to sign your block!
Deadline: TBA, probably around the end of March
Contact us through our blogs for mailing instructions. Thanks so much for your generosity!
2. Salivary foam released as a result of disease or exhaustion.
3. Something unsubstantial or trivial.
4. A fit of resentment or vexation: was in a froth over the long delay.
froth assistor on the steam wand (espresso making!)
Froth is an open-source, Objective-C web framework for Cocoa developers. It enables people who are familiar with iPhone and Mac development to feel at home… (frothkit.com)
The Froth House is an Art House Café; not only do we serve delicious food and beverages, we also provide a space for our community to enjoy Fine Arts (frothhouse.com)
Have fun and link to your responses! Ask a friend to join, too! You can do the prompts together.
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. Are you already a member? I created this 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!
I saw an episode of Quilt Out Loud yesterday (?, Saturday maybe) where the Door Knock artist had her scraps divided by color.
Others are thinking about this, too. SherriD wrote a post about this very subject recently. Don’t you love the way she colored some of her words? Very clever!
Mine are all heaped into a, now, overflowing pile. This situation has been getting on my nerves lately, so that one shot was just what the doctor ordered! The basket is too small, does not fit my decorating scheme and it is not working for me at all. I am thinking of changing systems. I need something to keep them in, though.
My brain was on overdrive while I slept last night. I figured out a work problem, my sleeping mind worked on the quilt I sewed on all weekend, and I got an idea for a new scrap organization system. What a nice night’s work! Not sure how rested I was, but you can’t have everything. 😉
I went on to Amazon and they have these:
Rainbow Cart Small - 16 x 8.5 x 36 inches
and
Rainbow Cart - 15.2 x 0.1 x 37.5 inches
These aren’t very different in height, but after measuring my sewing table, the smaller one would fit better and add to the usable horizontal surface total in my workroom. One problem is that the purple drawer is so big. I wish that were for red, though I suppose I could just put the red scraps in the purple drawer. There isn’t a law or anything! I like the colored drawers as that means pre-coded color coding.
Finally, I saw this version:
Rainbow Cart Double - 16 x 10.8 x 26.5 inches
I can’t imagine how these dimensions could be correct, but if they are, this piece would be optimal, I think. Moving it in would require some moving of stuff around, but would give me a place for scraps, remnants, chunks, etc, as TFQ said.
I stumbled across this on Great Recycled Gifts website. I don’t think I want to use a metal bag, but I can definitely see the advantages. I also love the shape of this bag. I may have to see about making a bag that shape.
I saw this project on Fons & Porter the other day and had to go and watch it again, so I could get more details. It is show #1607 of the 1600 Series.
They don’t provide measurements on their show, because they want you to buy the magazine. Like the Corner Store project, I thought this would be a good scrap project. Frances, of The Off Kilter Quilt podcast, talked about having too many scraps and composting them in a recent podcast.I think Frances should do mosaic quilting, but I’ll bring that up another day. I already inundate her with all of my advice.
Twirling Triangles Half Block
I don’t want to compost my scraps, but I do want to use them. I though this block would work very well. I have the Pyramind ruler and I thought I could use the Kona Snow as the background and then just cut appropriate sized scraps to the right size and make blocks until I have enough….for something.
This project doesn’t look like it would work well for chunking, but it does look like an interesting project. We’ll see.
Twirling Triangles by Kehoeta
This is one I found on the web by Kehoeta. I like the use of the black triangles. I was thinking of that idea as well. I only saw this one example. It looks like she used a lot of scraps, so I am heartened that my idea isn’t stupid.
The photos are bad, because I paused the TV and snapped photos of what was on the screen.
Here are the books I got for Christmas, etc. DH came through with the two books on the left, American Quilts and Sew Serendipity. The American Quilts book is another book Robert Shaw and some of the quilts are the same as those in his other books, but I love to read books where quilts are woven into history. I have glanced through it and read some things that have attracted my attention, but I haven’t delved deeply into it and I look forward to doing so.
Sew Serendipity is a book that has a great pattern for a coat. It is on page 154 and called Classic Tailored Jacket. I plan to try making it from polar fleece, hopefully the two-sided kind that I found once before. My mom said she would help me, but that is all the farther we have gotten.
I heard about Kiss Ass Creativity on Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski and thought it sounded interesting. He has a lot interesting authors on that show. AJA gave it to me and I can’t wait to read it.
Lil Sissy gave me The Apron Book. I think I will have to make her an apron.
Friend Julie also came through with two books, Sew Serendipity and Collage Lab. I am hoping that Collage Lab will help get over my wet, messy at home avoidance problem. Andrea at a Work of Heart has a Collage Lab book club, but it is too far to go on a weeknight when I work.
Finally, I checked the Artist in the Office out of the Library and then I had to buy my own copy, because I needed to make a note on almost every page and the book was a little over $5 (go buy one, you won’t be sorry). I read it and it really made me feel a lot better about my day job. It isn’t inspirational in a sappy way, but gives practical tips about dealing with a day job, thinking about “obligations” in a new way, making choices and getting the work done.
People are so generous! I am so fortunate. Yes, my thank you notes are written. 😉
I am going to write a review of these books so stay tuned.
Martha Negley & Hoffman
I decided to break down and buy the Martha Negley Grapes in Plum. I tried several places and none of them could confirm the color. One of them said she had no idea what color the fabric was. Huh? That I do not understand.
In the course of my explorations, I emailed Batiks, etc & Sew What Fabrics. They actually emailed me back and weren’t lame! They were able to confirm the color and they answered a question I had about a ruler. I was so impressed with their service. I would definitely shop there again! Customer Service is everything, folks!
As you can see I also bought some Peppermint from Hoffman. It is a batik and I do like those swirls.
Martha Negley Red & Plum
Left are the two grape fabrics that I now have. You can see the difference in the colors. They are destined to become bags. Which bag, I don’t know. Perhaps the Jane Market tote? I am in the mood for another AMH Multi-tasker tote, so perhaps one of those. We’ll see.
Have fun and link to your responses! Ask a friend to join, too! You can do the prompts together.
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. Are you already a member? I created this 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!
Some of us are having issues getting our prompt responses out. SherriD is not one of them. Check out her recent responses. She is doing a number of responses in FABRIC on one piece and it is wonderful.
…and some thoughts on donation quilts are posted at Mary’s Art Musings. Mary makes some really good observations about the repair of a quilt and has some great tips on making donation quilts. We will definitely be taking these into consideration as we make the Stars for San Bruno quilts.
Links
I saw something on my blog dashboard that I had never seen before: a way to see who was linking to my blog. Here are some of the latest:
I started another piece of scrap fabric in anticipation of making another journal like the Red Journal. It will take while to make a big enough piece from scraps, but a person has to start somewhere.
Above is the last group of diamonds for 2010. Hopefully, I have to count and make sure I have the right number to make some kind of even quilt.
Background Testing
My first order of business was to decide on the border fabric. I had an idea in my mind and, luckily for me, I think it worked. I pulled a selection of diamonds and laid them out on a large piece of Michael Miller Ta Dot in Stone.
Sample diamonds
TFQ suggested that I make a sample piece to test the size of the finished diamonds. I have been working on this piece and really got going the other day. I got out the rulers and started cutting. After cutting a side piece, I realized that the Tri Recs ruler was the wrong angle! Duh!
Wrong angle!
I didn’t have a chance to get a new ruler before the BAMQG meeting on Saturday, so I went with paper templates and the Fast2Cut rulers. I am not cutting around the paper templates, but used one for a guide for the side triangles. I found a sweet spot on one of the Fast2Cut rulers for the bottom triangles.
Fast2Cut strip triangle cutting
I got the idea of cutting this way from all the Fons and Porter I have been watching. I was able to cut about 14 triangles from each strip, which made the cutting go very quickly.
Corner Final?
Above is what I ended up with. I am not sure about those chopped off corner angles, but I will see if they when I do the test.
Yesterday, as I mentioned, I went to CQFA AND the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild Meeting. I was a little concerned about spending so much time away from home, because I had hurt myself earlier in the week and wasn’t sure how my body would handle it. It turns out that I was fine. I wasn’t 100%, but I had healed enough not to be cranky and miserable.
I headed down to CQFA after performing some family duties at the crack of dawn. I was a bit early so I stopped at Starbuck’s and caught up on a few things. The meeting wasn’t as serious and busy as the last one, which was nice. We organized the meetings for the year and will have a social/big show and tell in July. We were able to spend a lot more time on Show and Tell, too, which is my favorite part. People at CQFA do the most unbelievable work. I wish I had taken a picture of Dolores’ quilt as it was GORGEOUS. She made a sun out of silk tie fabric. The sun was yellow, but then the piecing was a colorwash from green to purple radiating out from the sun. It was beautiful from close up and far away. A real stunner.
This was but one of a number of gorgeous quilts. I brought the Zig Zaggy top and the Flea Market Bag since I haven’t really finished anything else that wasn’t given away. I was also really busy last week and even though I started getting ready early I was still racing around at the last minute trying to get stuff together.
I didn’t get to go to lunch with everyone, because I wanted to attend the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild Meeting. Yesterday was the first time the meeting was on Saturday. The President jumped through whatever hoops she needed to jump through to get the community room for us on weekend days, so we were able to have a sew day. It is a nice room – big, has power, good lighting and some space for food items.
I didn’t want to bring my sewing machine, but I brought my FOTY 2010 project so that I could work on the side and bottom/top triangles. Sadly, I forgot the actual diamonds, so I had to improvise with a paper pattern. I’ll write a separate blog post about cutting the triangles.
It was very informal so people walked around and looked at what everyone else’s projects. The projects are really different than the CQFA projects and it was good to see a different side of quiltmaking.
I brought the Stars for San Bruno to show everyone and people pledged to make some. They were also interested in my FOTY project so I talked to people who stopped by my table.
Angela's Shoulder Bag
Angela had a nice bag. She made it from a pattern in the book from That Patchwork Place,The New Handmade.
New Handmade Book
I have a vague memory of hearing about this book, but don’t remember seeing it. I looked through it briefly and found the bag pattern Angela made to be best one. There were a few others that were interesting, but wouldn’t be on the top of my radar. They don’t have it at my Library, so I will have to see if I can find it at another one. I am interested in making a bag like Angela made.
Angela's Bag - detailAngela's Bag - detail
First, it is a good size.
Second, the pockets are great. Angela had her actual small, leather purse in the top, large pocket, but her cell phone and other devices are in the front pockets for easy access.
Third, I like the way it stands up.
Fourth, the design had a long enough strap to wear across her body.
Fifth, I really like the shape, because it is a useful shape! While I still want to remake the leather, saddlebag style handbag I curently, this pattern has some possibilities for interim hauling.
Finally, Angela used a great combination of fabrics. This has nothing to do with the pattern, but I think that is part of the reason I looked at it twice.
There were a lot of other projects going on. Lynnette was making whirligig blocks and I got a little lesson in how she was doing that. Angela was in the process of getting ready to quilt a 9 patch she had just finished basting, so we chatted about quilting it. She had also made a Little Wallet, but she put a loop with a clip on the outside so it could be clipped to a larger bag. GREAT idea! Joylily was working on samples for a book. Julie had a Sizzix machine and was telling us about the variations between the Sizzix, Go and one other brand of cutting machines. Ruth was combining some embroideries she and her sisters had done with some quarter log cabins she had gotten from a swap. She found some out of copyright designs on Flickr. Another great idea! Someone was basting a table runner. People brought books so others could look at them. Lynette did a 10 minute demo on the tube method of making bias binding. She made me want to try it again.
One great thing about watching these folks work is that they use all sorts of tools I haven’t used. Ruth was using one of those square rulers with the slices in it to make strips. I had never seen anyone use it, though I have looked at it in shops numerous times. Julie uses the Sizzix to cut appliques and other shapes quickly.
Aside from feeling like a complete geezer at the meeting, that group is a real working group with a nice feel to it. And nobody calls me a geezer! 😉
