I talked about some giveaways I was planning. This isn’t one of them and I don’t have the stuff in my hand, but Chronicle Books is giving away stuff. Thanks to Cool2Craft on Creating the Hive for her post!
Here’s how it works:
I was supposed to make a post on here on the blog (check!) listing Chronicle Books valued at up to $500 that would be nice gifts under my tree. Check! They are:
Then I had to go to this Chronicle Books link and complete the form (Check!) and, theoretically, I was automatically entered into a drawing to WIN my list of books! And, one of YOU, dear readers, who comments on your post on your blog will win the list too! The rules don’t say a substantial comment, but you know how I am. While you are hanging around, go and take a look at the other posts. The scrap post was nice. the Modern Quilt Guild Meeting was fun. etc.
You can put up a post on your blog as well. Last day to submit entries is December 10th! Read all about it at Chronicle Books! Official Rules!
Leave your substantial comment here to be entered to win!
I am working on a, as yet unnamed, purple project using the fabrics on the bottom of the photo to the left. Those fabrics are from a Birch Bundle I bought at the end of the summer. The project is based on a picture I saw on Flickr and posted here in September.
I was cutting the rectangular patches for the piece in a random manner as I pressed fabrics, but wasn’t really ready to get busy until this week. I ordered some possible fabrics and got busy sewing yesterday.
I thought the Crocus (on the right, above) would be perfect. I picked it out using a color card that TFQ brought with her when we went to PIQF. I finally got around to ordering it. When it arrived, I looked at it in various lights around my house. Then I laid it out with the other two solids: Violet (left) and Deep Violet (middle). the two additional purples are from Free Spirit.
The Crocus is too grey/dusky for my project. That was clear from looking at it. That left me to decide from the two other choices. I think this experience is a good reminder for me to remember that a piece of fabric that looks good in a small piece may not be as perfect when I see it in a larger piece.
Violet as Piecing Possibility
In order to make the choice, I laid out some of the pieced rectangles on the Violet. The photo above looks a lot more red than the real thing. Still, I should consider that the red may show up more in certain lights. The quilt will be going to live in a much different lighting situation.
Deep Violet as Piecing Possibility
I am liking the Deep Violet. There is a lot more pink in the above piecing that I intend in the overall quilt. I need to stop the random cutting and be more organized about my cutting now that I am serious about piecing this.
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!
Amy posted a great and enthusiastic review of this book in episode 32 of the Creative Mom podcast. It spurred me on to finally get this out of the library and read it. After reading several pages, I realized that I may have read this book before. It seemed very familiar, but I kept on. The tone of the book is good and I like the idea of two people working together to write the book. It is too project oriented for me, however. I would have liked more inspiration, whys and wherefores of what they do, what they are thinking and more guidance rather than step by step direction. As you know, I don’t need projects. What I really need is a way to be inspired and have no fear on my own journals. I didn’t find that they gave tips for moving on from their book. For art or visual journaling the adage to “Just Do It” doesn’t seem to be working for me.
I asked myself if this was one of the first visual journaling books and found it to be strange that I really needed to know the context of this book.
One of the projects that I thought was interesting was the Personal Palette (pg.13). I like the idea of using shipping tags and making this to use in later work. I found, though, that I was unable to assign colors to people. I talked to my mom about this and asked her what color she associated with herself. She enthusiastically gushed “daffodil yellow.” Then I asked her if she wanted to decorate her house and receive gifts in that color. She was adamant that she did not. Therein lies my dilemma. I really can’t even think of what color I would assign myself.
The authors included a prompt page (pg.35), which did generate an idea for a Creative Prompt response. I ended up not using it (forgot, oops!), but think I may go back and use it again for a second response.
One of the projects is called “My Buttons” (pg.36) and explores the flaws in the maker’s personality. My reaction to that is why? What would this type of project achieve outside of a therapy session?
The end of the book was more my speed. One section (starting on pg.92) talks about changing your routine. I call this “greeting the bus driver.” I have found that small changes do make a difference in my outlook and, as a result, my creativity.
There are a number of things I like about this book. I like the supply lists, the project step outs as well as the design and layout of the book.
I don’t know what I am looking for in these types of books, but I haven’t found it yet.
As my mom moves into her new house, she is unearthing all sorts of interesting things. She brought this handkerchief with her when she came to help me on Saturday. The butterfly is crocheted and we think there is a bit of tatting around the edge. This was made by either my godmother or my great grandmother. We both have significant amounts of similar needlework from both women. I want to find a project where these bits of needlework can be showcased.
Recently, I was thinking about scraps. Part of my thought process stemmed from a discussion I had with a New Zealand quilt friend, another part had to do with the completion of the Cheerful Baskets quilt and, finally, looking and thinking about some of TFQ’s quilts and process.
For me, a scrap quilt is a quilt made from many, many different fabrics. The fabrics do not have to all come from my scrap basket. Cheerful Baskets is a scrap quilt, because many fabrics were used. Most of the triangles are different. The triangles, for the most part, did come out of my scrap basket. The baskets did not, but are mostly different. We purchased a small piece of many of the yellows based on the exact shade of the yellow. There are many different prints used as the background.
Cheerful Baskets is a thoughtfully made quilt, not just in the piecing, but also in the color selection and placement. I do not think that any old scrap should be placed next to any other scrap. Scrap quilts, for me, are not a jumbled mess.
I don’t have a large scrap pile, because I either toss the scraps or use them up. I don’t like to waste, though, so periodically my scrap basket overflows.
Four patches
One thing that I do is plan a bit ahead for my projects. I have list of pieces I need to cut for scrap quilts. One shape I am cutting now is 2×2″ squares in turquoise and purple. I am making some four patches from these pieces. I put these through the machine in between other chain piecing, so they act as leaders and enders a la Bonnie Hunt (she mentions this technique in a recent post, but I think she goes into more detail in an older post). This type of in between piecing/leaders and enders also is great to warm up your sewing muscles when you start a sewing session.
Along these lines, I also cut squares of various sizes and keep them in a bag for when I need some squares. This is not a well thought out plan and I should probably cut squares all the same size and put them in bags according to their size. I haven’t gotten that far yet.
The idea is to cut regular sized pieces so that you have a selection to choose from when you need some shapes for a project. You can also cut different shapes such as triangles with an eye towards half square triangles, rectangles, etc. This is also a good task when you don’t know what else to do.
The Fabric of the Year (FOTY) quilts are, technically, scrap quilts. They are also charm quilts, but scrap quilts do not have to be charm quilts if you are working TJW. As you know, for the FOTY quilts, I cut a piece from each fabric I purchase or use throughout the year and then make a quilt top from those pieces in January. This concept can be used in general as I am with an upcoming pink quilt and an upcoming blue quilt. I am cutting 2.5×4.5″ rectangles of all of the pinks I come across, either newly purchased or from my stash. When I have enough I will arrange them on the wall and sew them together. I am doing the same for blues.
I don’t do this, but I think it would be useful to sort my scraps by color. I don’t think I have enough scraps to sort by color. I don’t want to devote fabric space to scraps, so I try and keep the scrap pile manageable.
Corner Store block and patches
I found a new source for scraps when I started the FOTY 2010 project. I use a ruler when I cut the diamonds and end up with two triangles. After seeing the Corner Store project in Pretty Little Mini Quilts, I decided I could do that with the triangles. The block is shown in the middle. The triangles are added to a square of Kona Snow and then trimmed to size. The triangles are all slightly different sizes and I am trying to take advantage of the wonkiness. The nice thing about this project is that the triangles never even go into my scrap basket. They go into a separate pile and are sewn on to the squares.
The Red Journal is also a scrap project. As longtime readers know, I have been sewing together little slivers of red fabric for awhile to make a new piece of fabric. The technique is called Mosaic quilting, a concept developed by Shannon Williams. It has all the qualities that work for me for scrap quilting. The maker sews random pieces of like colors together to make new fabric. I do this with red and want to do it with all of the colors, but haven’t gotten to it yet.
I think there are a lot of ways to think about scraps. Above are a few of the ways I think about and use scraps. Hope it is useful.
I am really sad that the weekend is over. I really could use another day or two off.
There was lots of cooking and baking and visiting and guests. We also went and saw a movie, had 6 boys over, destroyed and fixed our network (sort of) and talked to Grama on the phone. It was a busy weekend.
November Pillowcases
I had hoped to make lots and lots of things. In reality I was only able to finish three pillowcases. For some reason, I couldn’t put one of these together without ripping out significant portions. I had problems with all of them. I have to admit that I just took the ripping in stride and dealt with it.
I have three more pillowcase burritos pinned and ready to sew, but haven’t done it yet. My nephew came over and he started a pillowcase also. He has to sew the front and do the French seam and then he will be done.
The Young Man gave the pillowcase he made to his friend who lost everything in the San Bruno fire. He was able to, finally, make the gift this weekend. The friend’s mom almost started to cry. I was glad we could do something small for them.
So, it was a big pillowcase weekend. What did you make?
I went to the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild Meeting on Monday night. It was a perfect confluence of events that allowed me to go. Thanks to DH who picked up the slack at home!
We did show and tell. The quilts were very modern, for the most part, and there was a wide range of experience and styles. I should have brought the Zig Zaggy top. It would have fit right in. I want to quilt it or get it quilted before I drag it out into the world. I don’t want people to be sick of seeing it. I brought It’s a Merry & Bright Wrap, because I wanted to work on the sleeve. I think I put in about 2 stitches. People admired it.
Mostly, the members seemed like people who had just started sewing again after a hiatus or were new to sewing/quiltmaking. There was some discussion of the tube method of binding and various shops – two I hadn’t heard of! One is along my beaten path, so I will have to check it out and take TFQ there when she visits again. It was a great group. I really enjoyed the people.
Someone brought some great books. I was able to take a look at the new Amy Butler bag book, Style Stitches, which is a beautiful book. There were two bags in it that sorely tempt me, though I am a bit scared to take on another Amy Butler pattern after the Sweet Harmony bag. I was also able to look at Elizabeth Hartman’s new book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork: New Basics for the Modern Quiltmaker (yay! quiltmaker in a title!). I liked the look of it and found some tips and tricks that might make it worth a purchase. I also took a quick look at I {heart} Patchwork, which I had never heard of. There was so much going on that I really only had a minute to look at it. I don’t know what Zakka is, but what I saw was interesting and worth another look.
Everyone was really friendly and welcoming. One person, Adrianne of Little Bluebell, went to Quilt Market! She has great pictures on her blog about the experience. I can’t believe that they accept bloggers as press! You have to show some effort at a business, but she said it wasn’t that hard to register. WOW! A whole new door has opened to me!
I saw Chris, again, and still didn’t get much of a chance to talk with her in person! I hope to see her again!
There was a guy there! George magically appeared at the beginning of the fabric exercise. I don’t know if I just didn’t see him or if he came in late. I liked hearing his perspective, partially because of all the press about guys and lately, but also because I am never around quiltmaking guys. He talked about his experiences in fabric stores. As a result, we asked him what fabrics he gravitated towards, which spawned an interesting discussion.
We did a GREAT fabric exercise. Ruth, who is the owner/convener/president/quilt maven of the group asked everyone to bring 20 pieces of fabric. She promised we would get them all back unscathed. I was reluctant, but threw a stack of reds and aquas into the bag just before I left.
BAMQG Fabric Selection
There were a huge variety of fabrics. Laying on the tables, a lot of the fabrics looked like the old Hoffmans. As people started digging around, I could see that they were what people consider to be modern. Without the Kona Snow, they look really different.
The first exercise was to pick one fabric, get together with someone (great ice breaker as well) and pick 6-8 additional fabrics for a quilt. Subsequent versions of the exercise ensued.
There were a number of great things about these exercises:
no cutting = no fear. We weren’t actually going to make the quilt.
working with fabrics that weren’t mine opened my eyes to different possibilities.
working with someone gave me different ways to look at fabric combinations and learn from them.
reminded me that a fabric avalanche might be an opportunity to see fabrics in a new way.
there is always more fabric, so put the fabrics together in interesting ways.
Fabric Combo
Above is the last group I put together with another quiltmaker. The grey is something I never would have added, but the exercise was to pick two fabrics and they had to be touching each other. I picked that lovely turquoise/aqua and white in the upper right hand corner next to the red/white plaid. It was touching a grey. I picked a couple of other greys and more red and aqua and I think the group works.
I think this is a group I could really feel comfortable with. The meetings are not convenient, which is a real shame. I am going to try and go again and see where my attendance and participation on the Ning part of the guild lead.
Some people asked for a way to purchase cards and such from some of my CPP and quilt images. Head on over to my Cafe Press store to buy some fun cards and gifts!
I actually finished this last weekend. My mind kept saying ” Get this over with! You have been working on it for sooooooooooo long!” When I stopped to think about it, I realized I had really only worked on it for about two days. The top itself took almost no time. The back took, what seemed like, forever. After adding the borders I had to add more to the back. I think the back has more piecing than the front! The problem was that I didn’t want to wasted the fabric leftovers. If you don’t want to waste the leftovers, then you have to sew. I am pleased with this. I don’t know what I’ll do with it as I don’t really want it. We’ll see who likes it. I had some small hopes that I could get it done for Christmas, but my quilter won’t be back until January 5, so this will be one of the first quilts I finish in 2011, I think. It has good borders for complicated quilting.
I would like to wish all of my American readers a Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for your participation in the blog, your comments and your continued reading. I would also like to tell my international readers how grateful I am for your readership, your comments and your participation in this blog.
Pie in Progress
Yes, the prompt is a day early. I thought I would shake things up a bit and I had nothing planned for today. 😉
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!
What are you doing? Reading your blogs, of course! I, on the hand, and slaving away cooking for the, approximately, 30 people who will show up and demand food tomorrow. My mom is helping. Mostly we are making pies, which will be done soon, if all goes well. If you want my attention, you have to wait. 😉
It is getting to be the time of the year where I need to hound you about making gift bags out of fabric rather than buying gift wrap. I should have hounded you two months ago when you weren’t panicking about how fast the holidays were approaching. I do dislike being a nag, though. Lynn left a comment last week, so I went to peruse her blog and came across a tutorial for gift bags. She makes a casing and uses a clever method for not threading the ribbon through later. I’ll have to try out her tutorial. I’ll let you know if I can do it!
Look for a couple of upcoming giveaways. You know substantive comments and creative prompt responses are my thing so start preparing! One giveaway will be a bunch of selvedge edges. I have been saving them and thought that might be a nice little treat for one of you. Another will be a book. I just have to write the review. Stay tuned on that front and don’t say I never gave you anything!
I am fortunate to have 2 dads. One of them is VERY handy. He used to have a handyman business and can really fix anything. He fixed my old iron! the cord was severed and he soldered it together and I have been using it again. YAY!
I followed a link from one of the Quilt Market blogs and found the Sew Serendipity book on clothing sewing patterns. The clothes look interesting and wearable. Am I going to start sewing clothes? I don’t know.
I ran across a new way to look at fabric over at Glorious Color. The method they are showing is not about the pattern, but about the color. If you need a certain color, click on that color and the site shows you the fabric that is similar to that color. I think it is a great way to fill in holes in a quilt project.
A Work of Heart has a video up on their blog that shows the Spontaneous Scrap journal (remember mine?). It is a quick and fun video. Once you look at that video you can link out to YouTube and see the other videos by the artist, Mary Ann Moss. She shows a variety of journals from other people. I enjoyed the video and journal about Carol’s Istanbul journal.
I know you are thinking about pie and have completely forgotten about the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Did you see the winners? I can never enter. I love the quilts I make, but these are so totally out of my league. How about a category just for me? 😉
12 Days of Christmas Selvedge
Isn’t this a weird selvedge? There are 12 little bubbles, but most of them are white. I thought it was strange to have that many different colors of white (not that white is a color, of course).
I am always looking for inspiration. You have been the beneficiary of some of my musings in the form of photos I take as I travel through my life. Recently I saw a blog post interview with Kate Spain, where she talks about her inspiration and how it leads to designs. I thought the interview was lengthy enough to get some meat out of it and interesting enough to keep me reading.
Not that I need anymore projects, but I went trolling through Judy Martin’s site and saw her Blustery Day pattern again. Love it! She periodically puts up free quilt and block patterns. Nice!
WTTW out of Chicago has a video about the blankie collaboration that FunQuilts works on with developmentally disabled adults. If the link doesn’t take you immediately to the video, check the scroll bar for the correct video. The navigation from the link was a little funky.
Here is the finished (completed! done!) Red Journal that I started on Halloween at A Work of Heart. I went to the second (and last) class on Sunday and finished. I could have done a lot more embellishing on the pages, but my ephemera wasn’t that good and I wanted space to write. Yes, I want to use this as a journal and not just a scrapbook. If my ephemera was more personal, then it would have been a good scrapbook making project, but I like the idea of writing in something that I made.
Red Journal - page 1
Above is the first page. You can also see the Malka Dubrowski fabric that TFQ gave me as a gift. I like the idea of see it more often. I may not really like writing in the Red Journal, but it is only 40 pages, so I can blow through it fairly quickly. What pen to use will be an issue. I see a Sharpie in my future.
Red Journal - pink crayon
The pink page looks like it was made with a crayon. I don’t remember doing it, but it came out of a big box of paper I had saved. I like it. We’ll see if I can write on it.
Red Journal - Star12
I really can’t say what possessed me to make the pages the way I did. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
I had homework and kept putting it off. After class last time, I knew there was no way I could finish all the sewing if I waited until the next class (Sunday’s). I was finally able to get to my Red Journal project in a serious way on Friday afternoon and evening. Essentially, in between the Frosted Stars and Frosted Stars Leftovers I worked on the pages of the signature.
Red Journal Signatures - in progress
I was particularly happy with this page, which was made from just an image that I had been saving for awhile. I was happy because I finally got to use it.
Red Journal Signatures - in progress
Making the pages took a lot of sewing. There are 2 signatures of 10 pages each, folded in half to make a total of 40 pages.
I really want to make another one of these journals. I can think of two people who would really like them as gifts. It is a ton of work, so I would only be able to make them for people who would really appreciate the time and effort. We’ll see.
As I have probably said 42,000 times, the outside of this journal is made from fabric I made by sewing scraps of red fabric together a la Shannon Williams.
