I went to CQFA and the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild Meetings today (total quilt extravaganza!) and had a great time. As an added bonus, I increased by Stars for San Bruno collection of blocks by 2! The top two are from Bron. She has upped her contribution to 4. Yay and thanks, Bron!
Adrianne is the owner/author of Little Bluebell. She also contributed 2 (the bottom ones) blocks to the SFSB cause. She came to the end of the meeting just to give me the blocks. I met Adrianne at the first meeting that I attended back in December. She told me about attending Market on a press pass. She also made a Flea Market Bag, which inspired me to make mine. Thanks, Adrianne!
We now have a total of 14 blocks, which is a great start. Do you want to contribute some blocks?
All star blocks are welcome!
Block background: dark blue
Block design: Yellow star (any pattern, technique)
Block size: 8″ finished or smaller (we will work with any size)
Remember to sign your block!
Deadline: TBA
Contact us through our blogs for mailing instructions. Thanks so much for your generosity!
I thought about taking a break, but some new people joined and I thought that would be mean. Here is a prompt that is pretty. 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!
a mixture of red and white. The use of the word for the color we know today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century.[2]
Although the pink is roughly considered just as a tint of red,[3][4][5] in fact most variations of pink lie between red, white and magenta colors. This means that the pink’s hue is somewhat between red and magenta.[6][7][8][9] (Wikipedia)
Code Pink
pinky finger
Pink Ladies (from Grease)
Pink Cadillac (movie)
Pink ribbon
Pink’s Hot Dogs, Hollywood, California
pink slip
line of loungewear clothing from Victoria’s Secret
I didn’t do any massive gift making, but it turns out that I did make a fair number of gifts. I wanted to test the journal cover tutorial and use the fabulous bas relief fabric I talked about a few weeks ago for someone who would enjoy and appreciate it. My pile of gifts for Friend Julie looked a bit pathetic, so I rushed out and bought a journal and made her the journal cover with this fabric.
I had a fat quarter of the fabric and I wanted a journal that would show off as much of it as possible. Flax had a huge pile of black sketchbooks on sale, so I rummaged through them and finally came up with a 10×10″ size. I thought it would be a useful size and show off the fabric nicely.
Bas Relief Journal Cover Open
It turned out to be a bit too big for the fabric, because, of course, of the requirement that book has to open. As a result the pockets for the covers are a bit small – only about 2.5″, but I hope they will stay on when she is drawing.
I had some trouble with the measurements. This is a different journal than the Miquelrius journal and I needed different measurements, so I adjusted the instructions in the tutorial and have, hopefully, made it more clear for future.
Bas Relief Journal Cover Closed
I think I centered the fabric nicely and it is shown off well. I thought of a lot of different ways of wrapping it and ended up with just a ribbon. I salvaged the ribbon from somewhere, but pressed it and it is of nice quality, so it looked nice.
Hopefully, the gift will spur on a plethora of creativity at Julie’s house.
I made these journal covers in November and December, but didn’t get a chance to post them.
TFQ told me that she made journal covers for all of her journals. I got tired of using the blue one, so I made a quick one (the b/w dot) and thought I would just transfer that cover to each new journal. I tired of that plain cover very quickly. It showed me why piecing a journal cover is important: the piecing adds visual interest. I left the b/w dots on the journal for which I made it after I wrote the last page and made yet another journal cover with the Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush Grape. I don’t love/adore that fabric, but there is something about it I like. It is also a more complex and, thus, a more interesting fabric than the dots.
I think I will see about making a new cover for each new journal I start. I don’t know if I will piece the next one. I have plenty of fabric and can make a journal cover in a half an hour if I don’t piece it. On the other hand, pieced covers are more interesting and I could piece bits together as leaders and enders. My scrap basket is starting to overflow and I need to do something with the scraps. Stay tuned.
DH’s family has a tradition of his siblings and cousins giving each other’s families small handmade gifts at our big Christmas Eve celebration. People make bread. One SIL makes tea and other hot drink mixes. There is a lot of food that I can’t eat, but it is all in good fun.
Green Holly
We have fallen into the habit of making ornaments. Last New Year’s we were thinking ahead to another year of strained finances and we bought kits for ornaments from the revered craft company, Herrschners when they were on sale. We planned to be very organized and have them done in a timely manner well before Christmas. No last minute beading for us.
Red Chandelier
You know where this story is going and know that our plan didn’t happen. We were beading and poking pins into styrofoam balls a few days before Christmas.
Red Snowflakes
Each family received three ornaments. One seems so meager, though I know everyone would have been happy with one.
Red Snowflake - detail
DH was the primary maker in this endeavor and he did a great job directing me after I was able to get away from the pies and help him.
Blue Ice
Some of the ornaments, especially the round one called for many more sequins and much more beading, but DH decided they were sparkly enough and we passed on some of the beading. The round ornaments required a lot of pins to keep beads on.
I found it fun to work with DH on a craft project. In general, I enjoy working with people on projects, as long as we are companionable.
I took the young Man and his friends to laser tag for an outing after Thanksgiving. While they were shooting each other with little beams of light, Mom and I wandered around trying to get away from the noise of the place. There was a Starbuck’s nearby, so we headed there on one of our forays. On the way there we saw a bed planted with these cabbages. I thought they were very pretty. I have never seen anything like this except at Disneyland and thought it was very enterprising of the owner or the gardening company or whomever thought to do it. Wouldn’t it be nice if they grew the cabbages and then gave them to a food pantry?
I love my Tivo. It is a relatively cheap date in terms of entertainment and after YEARS of never being able to watch a show all the way through, I finally can. The problem turned out to be, over the holidays, that we watched all of our shows. We were home a lot, and working on Christmas projects in front of the TV. Many of the shows we like were pre-empted by holiday specials. I was able to watch a lot of Fons & Porter and partially clear out that playlist.
Still I was looking for something else. I am not much for watching YouTube and other videos on the web, but I saw that Laura and Linda Kemshall now have Design Matters TV. I watched one of their free shows where Laura shows how to use photocopies in your sketchbook. I really liked the episode which was called “Those Shoes.”
First, Laura is a very calm presenter.
Second, she talks through the whole process, including tips and tricks about the paint and the process. I am not a confident art journaler and watching this video made me think that I could do what she is doing. I really think that using photocopies is a great idea.
Third, Laura is confident in a way that makes me feel confident that I could do the same thing.
Finally, the show is well produced. I don’t mean shiny and fake, but edited appropriately, no wobbly camera and good information.
There was a project in one of their Thr3fold Journal issues using a photocopied hand on a bag, the Hands on Bag project, and seeing the project with the shoes makes me want to use the shoes on a bag as well. There is a list of shows on their site. I haven’t decided whether to subscribe (cost is about $35 for 3 months). I have renewed my Quilt Out Loud subscription and was given a The Quilt Show subscription. I haven’t watched either. I wish I could watch them on my TV and that they provided a list of shows I could tick off so I didn’t have to start them and stop them when I found I had already watched one.
I also adjusted the Tivo search I have set up for quilts and am now recording Eleanor Burns’ Quilt in a Day program. It doesn’t come on as often as Love of Quilting, so I don’t have as many. The first one I saw was about 2 star blocks from her Victory Quilts book. The stars were Army Star and Hope of Hartford. Army Star has a Sawtooth Star in the center and she showed her quick way of making Flying Geese. I liked her show, which I don’t remember seeing before, because she gives the dimensions, so I can go up to my workroom and make the blocks. I tried the Sawtooth Star bit of the Army Star and found that I couldn’t finish the last bit because I don’t have the specialty Flying Geese ruler Burns uses. I also think the measurements she gave or the Flying Geese must be finished sizes, because they seem too small for a cut piece.
Creativity
Stress has been a constant, and not so welcome, companion for the past few months. I have been seeking ways to reduce my stress and this article on the effects of stress on creativity make me all the more determined to accomplish that goal. I certainly don’t want my creativity affected by work!
Lisa F from C&T publishing has a new blog called “My Blissful Lack of Focus.” I really like the layout. She talks about her creative adventures for 2011. I wish the CPP were included, but, as yet, I haven’t been able to persuade her to take part. Will YOU take part in the Creative Prompt Project this year?
Color
The Pantone color of the year is Honeysuckle. It just looks like a warm pink to me. You can download palettes for the Adobe Creative Suite application, FB ‘like’ it, tweet it, etc from the above referenced site.
Doing Good
We are making 3 quilts for victims of the San Bruno Pipeline explosion. I have been trying out different quick methods of making Flying Geese with minimal success (see above re: Eleanor Burns).
Eleanor Burns Method
I was trying to avoid the bias and get really nice crisp stars, but as you can see, I am a bit stymied in the process due to not having the correct specialty ruler. I have to decide whether to buy that ruler or just try to cut them and see what happens.
Jo Morton Method pt.2
I saw Jo Morton on Fons & Porter one day and thought I would try her method of making Sawtooth Stars. Of course, Fons & Porter does not include measurements in their show or on their site (mostly), so I went searching for a pattern/directions for the Flying Geese method, which eventually renders a star. I found one called Jamestown that had her method explained. I know that she wants to sell her books, but this was a hard method to find.
The directions were part of a pattern for the whole quilt, so my star didn’t come out the way I needed it to for the San Bruno Stars quilts.
San Bruno Star Wrong
I’ll use it on the back.
Finally yesterday, I dug out my copy of Around the Block and made them the old fashioned way.
Around the Block method
These look pretty good. I plan to make more and perhaps put them down one side of the quilt. I like them in the on point orientation.
On point orientation
I have to kind of see what other blocks I receive before I can decide how to use them. I also have to make more than 2. These are 6″ blocks.
I need a lot more blocks, so if you would like to contribute one, three or ten 😉 the parameters are:
Block background: dark blue
Block design: Yellow star (any pattern)
block size: 8? or less (we will work with any size)
Remember to sign your block!
Deadline: TBA
Contact us through our blogs for mailing instructions. Thanks so much for your generosity!
This is the finished Flea Market Bag by Grand Revival Designs. It is made with Innocent Crush by Anna Maria Horner in the grape colorway.
I have mixed feelings about this bag. The straps weren’t the same length when I went to topstitch them together at the end of the process. The bag was easy to put together and especially to turn, but the straps ended up a different length (probably my fault when I traced the pattern), so I had trouble sewing the straps together.
Also, the maker has to press all the edges of the strap under before topstitching, which was a pain, but turned out ok in the end.
The bag is a little small for a tote. It is more handbag sized, but may fit an iPad or Kindle or something. I don’t know yet if I’ll keep it or give it as a gift.
I decided to rename this post. I just don’t like the term UFO. It is too negative. My pieces may be unfinished, but they are all in progress.
Below is the 2010 inventory of my current works in progress. Let’s see if I made any progress since the previous roundup post of December 31, 2009 and where I am in the process as well as what I need to do. First, I want to tout my accomplishments. 😉
2010 started off very well in the quiltmaking and reading departments.
I read 49 books this year. Of the 49, 11 of them were quilt, bag or creativity related.
Completed Pieces in 2010
One of the great things about completing quilts and projects is that they go off the ‘not done’ list and on to the completed list. Two birds with one stone and all of that. 😉
Completed means to me that they are now usable and can in no way be considered to have anything left to stitch. I donated House & Garden , which was completed on 5/17/2009 to XXX organization. A former work colleague asked me to do so and I thought what the heck?
Mostly Done, Need Finishing
I added this new category to break up the UFO list and to make myself feel like I had accomplished something, which was quite overwhelming. Also, these are all mostly done, IMO.
Frosted Stars: at the quilter; needs quilting, binding and sleeve
Kissy Fish: top finished, though I may want to add some more machine quilting to it, needs binding and sleeve or binding and framing.
The Tarts Come to Tea: quilting in process. Needs embroidery and embellishment, binding and sleeve.
True UFOs
Here is my list of UFOs. You can see many of them over at Artquiltmaker.com or look at the links I have provided.As mentioned last year, this list in no way implies that I will discontinue starting new projects or finish any of these.
Original Bullseye: Still have those directions for doing the border the way I want it (the directions I found late last year). Took a Dale Fleming class and learned a technique which may help me with the border. No progress in 2009.
Flowering Snowballs/Cross Block quilt: I did not work on this quilt at all year and have finished the center blocks. The side and corner blocks are drawn out on EQ6. I worried on and off about how to keep the blocks from fraying after I square them up. Got some good ideas from fabulous readers after my December 20, 2008 post! No progress in 2010.
Garden from Pamela Allen class: needs hand embroidery and embellishment. Worked on it in the 2009 Pamela Allen class and it is much improved. Needs quilting, embellishment and binding.
Laura Wasilowski Flower Garden: started in the Laura Wasilowski class CQFA held in July 2007: needs machine quilting, hand embroidery and embellishment. No progress in 2008.
He Tried to Make it Up to Her: needs back and to be quilted. This is probably a quilt I will want to quilt myself. TFQ has dug out a number of quilts, but I don’t know if this was one of them. No progress in 2008.
Her Eyes were Bigger than Her Stomach: needs a back and to be quilted. Very active quilt; probably not the best design, but a mile marker in the quiltmaking journey and an excellent learning experience. No progress in 2008
Pineapple: All blocks are done. Need to put them together. Still facing the reality that some blocks are much too large and trying to figure out how to move forward. I measured all the blocks and found they were all different sizes. I think that I will cut them down to all the same size and let them be wonky.
Pointillist Palette 4: Night: This is the fourth (of six) in a series of Pointillist Palette fabric by Debra Lunn and Michael Mrowka that was popular a number of years ago. No progress in 2008
QA Challenge Quilt: need to fuse the parts and rubber stamp the words. No progress in 2008
Quilt Sorbet: on hold.
See: started in a David Walker class. Needs fusing, satin stitching around fused pieces and quilting. No progress in 2009, but I did think about it alot.
Self Portrait from Pamela Allen class: needs more piecing, hand embroidery and embellishment. No progress in 2009
Solid Star Friendship Quilt: need more friends so they can make stars for me in solids with black. Do you want to exchange a star block with me? No progress in 2009
Spiderweb: foundation pieced project, still piecing. Need to create the templates for the border blocks. Aside from collecting more strips, no progress in 2008
The Tarts Come to Tea: Top and back finished in 2010. Needs quilting. embroidery and embellishment, binding and sleeve.
Under the Sea: brown piece from April 2009 Pamela Allen class with CQFA. Needs machine quilting, hand embellishment and finishing.
Women’s Work 2: last year I said that this quilt “needs focus.” Was inspired and have the design. No progress in 2009, except for finding my drawing and making a file.
Zig Zaggy quilt: started in 2010. Finished piecing top. Working on piecing the back.
On My Mind
Here are the quilts and projects I am thinking about. Some are on the list from last year. In some cases I have purchased fabric, but no sewing has been done, so they are not yet considered UFOs.
Paper pieced Nativity scene: I downloaded this pattern when it was free years ago and have never gotten up the energy to be as organized as I need to be to make this, but I still want to make it. You can find the pattern, for purchase, at Paper Panache.com
Interlocking triangles #4: love the technique and have at least one, if not two, idea[s] for more quilts using this technique.
Dot quilt with inset circles a la Ruth McDowell: more uses for dots and a good exercise in piecing. The Twinkle quilt shown in the January 2009 issue of Quilting Arts magazine is similar and renewed my interest in this design. Took a Dale Fleming class in April of 2010 and learned another way to make circles.
Feathered Star dot quilt from Summer 2007 issue of Quilts & More: more use for dots. Thought I would get to this after making the Pineapple, but the Pineapple is still not complete, so this this dot quilt has not been started.
Some kind of pink quilt with all the pink fabric I have still been buying. I have begun cutting 2.5″x4.5″ rectangles of pink fabrics that cross my cutting table.
Colorblocks 3 with silks: I want to use this pattern from Sandy Bonsib; silk fab will use silk fabric with a luscious sheen instead of the regular cottons. Background will be black cotton sateen again. What’s been holding me up? Backing all the silk. I have the backing and just can’t bring myself to do it. Barsha told me to skip the backing and just make the quilt without it. Can’t decide if the project has new life or not. Definitely not on the top of the list.
Garden Quilt: I have been collecting photos and patterns of interesting flowers for years and have always wanted to make some kind of garden or flower quilt. It will probably be something like The Tarts Come to Tea. Need to finish the Tarts first before starting the same kind of project. Now I can use the Soft Fuse for this quilt.
Jack’s Chain: I saw a quilt of this pattern years and years ago and have always wanted to make one. Probably at least a partial hand piecing project after the Flowering Snowball (Cross Blocks quilt). I am more confident seeing how Liz Porter and Marianne Fons handled equilateral triangles. I also have that new ruler to use. I could, additionally, decide on a size and start piecing nine patches.
P&B Pop Parade quilt a la Serendipity Puzzle
Bathroom ‘quilt’ out of heavy clear plastic. I want to make pockets that I can put interesting things in that won’t get waterlogged. I also think the stitching would be an interesting addition to the piece. I also saw a tallish tote bag with many pockets that is similar to what I have been thinking for this quilt, so perhaps I will do another tote instead.
Abandoned Projects
This is also a new category. I decided to be upfront about the projects I got rid of.
Nothing abandoned in 2010!
Other
I am still trying to enjoy the process of quiltmaking more than the finished product. I think there is more work to do, but I also feel like I havesucceeded so far.
I have added other projects to the On My Mind section because tote bags have been a big part of my life since 2008 and I expect that to continue in 2011, as it did in 2010.
Well, girls and boys, we made it to 100! I didn’t think we would. I have been posting every week since February 2009! Can you believe it? I also love it that 100 came at the end of this year. It is so neat and tidy.
I don’t know what will happen next. I am in the groove of posting and have plenty more words. Perhaps I will advertise and get more participants? We’ll see. I’ll let you know next week.
memory upgrades
memory loss
Alzheimer’s
Memory stick
Memory card
RAM, DDR
memory loss
In Memory of….
memorization
Definition: In psychology, memory is an organism’s ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. (Wikipedia)
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!
Lil Sissy nagged me to go with her to A Work of Heart on Tuesday night. She started last week and kept asking. We had some pending, but tentative plans that fell through, so I was able to go. It was one of the worst weather nights of the year – lost power, water on the road, rain for hours – and the drive was a bit arduous. Still, I am really glad I went. The piece above is the piece I made.
Not a quilt, or fabric related piece, so stop reading now if you are not interested in mixed media.
Andrea, the AWOH goddess, was inspired to make her original piece after reading Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts. This type of mixed media isn’t really my thing mostly because it is so messy and I just don’t have a space to be supremely messy. I really went to the class to hang with my sister and mom and because I want A Work of Heart to be successful. Also, I need to learn to be more spontaneous.
I love this piece. I didn’t think I would, but I love the end result. I needed a bit more time for the class, but I got done. I just felt a bit rushed. I love the messiness of it. I love the spontaneity of the piece. I love the mix of turquoise and ‘titan buff’ over the ripped paper. I think I would like to do one of these with copies of some of my great grandmother’s letters. She had beautiful handwriting and it would have so much meaning to me.
Dream detail
I feel like this is really a successful piece.
Dream detail 2
I didn’t plan to rip the paper, but I saw my sister doing it and copied her. When Andrea mentioned ‘titan buff’ (the beige I rolled over the background with the turquoise) I heard “tight and buff” and we had a good laugh about the implications of such a name.
The good thing about being off of work for a few days is that I can post things as they occur rather than waiting until I have a spare minute. Mom made this star for the San Bruno quilt this week and I think it will go very well with the others.
All star blocks are welcome!
Block background: dark blue
Block design: Yellow star (any pattern)
block size: 8? or less (we will work with any size)
Remember to sign your block!
Deadline: TBA
Contact us through our blogs for mailing instructions. Thanks so much for your generosity!
If you would like to contribute the parameters are:
See? I really did go on a jag making these wallets. It was a great project that I could make quickly. After making the first one, I was able to make one in about half an hour, not including the bit of hand sewing required.
Philip Jacobs Wallet - closed
The version above uses that great Philip Jacobs fabric I bought at Always Quilting after PIQF.
Philip Jacobs Wallet -inside
One issue I am having with this project is the selection of fabrics. As you can see from the various choices I have made, I have tried different things. I like this combination, mostly. I like that the Philip Jacob fabric has different areas that I could select from. The ‘foil’ fabric was a challenge. I don’t mind the solid, but I would have liked something a little more active (a tone-on-tone, perhaps?) since it shows quite a bit on the bottom, especially when the wallet is open.
Philip Jacobs Wallet -outside
I love the Philip Jacobs print! It is so fun. This particular colorway is quite loud, but it works. It works for my mom, the giftee, as well. I made it with the intention of putting a gift card in it and the young man ended up getting her a gift card and I gave this to him as the wrapping.
Julie, over at High Fiber Content, has been making Halloween Houses for some time. You can see her most recent post about the project. I found some cool skeleton fabric few months ago with the intent of making her some houses. I didn’t do it right away, because I was busy and also because I started to doubt whether it was a good idea or not. I am not sure if it is a friendship block project or just a project she is working on herself. In the end, as you can see, I made the blocks. After 25+ years of giving gifts to someone, a person has to get creative. If she doesn’t like them, she can put them the back.
Halloween House #1
The above block uses some Dia de los Muertos fabric I found somewhere as well as some Jay McCarroll fabric for the walls and roof of the house. I intended to use the same Liberated Quiltmaking technique I used for the Women’s Work 1 quilt to build the houses. That was a fun technique when I was in the class.
During the process of making WW1, I really got into a groove doing the red houses for Women’s Work 1. I thought it would be easy to get back into the groove, but it wasn’t. I had to rip and redo, because my ratio of roof to walls were off and looked strange.
Halloween House #2
I had a little scrap of the Dia de los Muertos fabric so I made the above house, too.
Halloween House #3
This is the last block I made and, as you can see, the skeleton fabric is different. It was a much larger print and a little hard to work with. I could have made a really large block, but didn’t want a block I made to dominate her quilt.
I included the leftover fabric in the gift bag, so she can make some others. I hope she has already received the package before she reads this!
The Young Man has to do 2 hours of art at home every quarter if he wants to get an A in the class. That isn’t difficult since my mom is an artist and she ADORES doing art with him.
Boy Art #2
Getting him started in the hard part. Once he gets started, he can create and create and create. He is like me in that he needs space to create.
Boy Art #3
These turned out especially great. I would love to see them as fabric. Do you hear me fabric companies? The squiggles could be separated out and be a companion fabric.
Boy Art #4
These are also a test of the media he was using, apparently, and warm-ups. The xes could also be companion fabric, perhaps resized a bit?
Boy Art #5
And, voila! The piece de resistance! It looks like spin art, but no machinery was involved. I see an additional stripe as a companion print as well.
