Artquiltmaker Blog – Page 339 – Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity

Odds and Ends Tuesday

“Be compassionate to yourself” is the message that stuck in my head after listening to Melanie Testa interviewed by Rice Zachary-Freeman on the Voodoo Lounge podcast. You have to listen to this podcast. it is very calming, Rice talks just enough, but not too much and she lets Melanie tell the listeners everything. It is a wonderful.

A few weeks ago, I talked about Christine Barnes. She has replicas of the color wheel I showed in the post on her website for sale. I mentioned it before, but took a look at some of the books and things she has for sale also. it was interesting to see the Interior Design books.

Malka Dubrowsky has a lovely Dresden Plate quilt she calls The Cupcake Quilt up on her site.

Did you see Vicki Welsh’s recent Field Tripping in Fiber? Aside from including my Chocolate Box, she has some other GREAT quilts. One is called the Cupcake quilt by Malka Dubrowski. I am not sure why she calls it a cupcake quilt, because it looks like a Dresden Plate variation to me, but who am I to judge? Cool name, regardless. there is also a pattern for a pleated handbag. I like the idea of pleats on a handbag. I am not sure if I like this particular handbag. I am so happy that she surfs quilt sites and compiles them in this newsletter like post.

Take a look at this orange sewing machine. Isn’t it cool looking? I would love more information, but I wasn’t able to see the name very well. I think it might be the Brother Innovis Quattro 6000d. Cool looking, if nothing else.

Periodically, I listen to a radio program called To the Best of Our Knowledge. I have gotten into discussions about whether the show is actually discussing the best of ‘our’ knowledge and whose knowledge that might be. Regardless of the philosophical meanings behind the name, I enjoy the show, because they discuss different topics with artists, physicists, philosophers, writers, professors and a whole host of other people I would never, otherwise, hear about. I missed the Superheros show a week or so ago, so, for the first time, I went to their website to see if the streaming would work. I was pleased that it opened right up and worked well with the Quicktime player. The Superheros show also included a segment on Wonder Woman’s new fashion look and the controversy surrounding it. The discussion was interesting and it made me, of course, think of the fiber involved. Does that new jacket hamper her flying?

There are a lot of other interesting shows on that site. You should check it out for good listening ideas when the podcasters on hiatus.

I am still thinking of a spiky border for my Zig Zaggy quilt. I saw one on Flickr that I really liked the other day. The problem is that I like the whole quilt as well as the border. I am still not sure if the Spiky border will go with the Zig Zaggy quilt.
The Textile Collection: http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/ST.html
VADS is the Visual Arts Data Service that contains over 100,000 images that can all be used in learning, teaching, and research. The Textile Collection, from the University for the Creative Arts at Farnham, is one of 46 collections available on the website. There are two ways for visitors to peruse the 1051 image collection. There is the “View all images” link below the search box, and the browse method allows visitors to choose from such categories as “Function”, “Maker/Designer”, “Raw Materials”, “Cloth Structure”, and “Process”. Process includes such categories as batik, knitted, machine woven, and wax resist. Visitors should check out the “blocks for printing” under the “Function” category, to see many beautiful blocks that were once inked up and pressed onto fabric. These blocks were then deployed to produce patterned fabric for clothing, linens, and other items.
In case you didn’t hear, Bonnie Leman, founder of QNM died last week. I didn’t know she was sick and didn’t see an obituary. She did a lot for the quilt industry and her death is a huge loss to quiltmaking. We are fortunate to be the beneficiaries of the fruits of her labors. Fred Bloebaum also died last week. She was a teacher at a local school called the Sewing Workshop. She was also the creator of the La Fred pattern lines.

Podcast Reviews

Quilting for the Rest of Us

I talked about Sandy’s podcast a little bit back in August, but I wanted to do a real review. Sandy is a relatively new podcaster who started out podcasting like a pro. Her podcast has good sound quality, she is organized and doesn’t say um, uh or like very much. Sandy has a great sense of humor, works hard to make her podcast professional while keeping it human and has a great voice. She has about 20 episodes up as of this writing and I would suggest going back and listening to all of the episodes.

The episodes vary quite a bit, both in length and in content. I think Sandy intended to give a lesson or information with each episode. She doesn’t always get to it, because of listener comments, which is fine with me, because when she talks about listener comments, it seems like a conversation. Sandy’s idea seems to be to create a community, so she honors her listeners by sharing comments. it is nice to hear what others have to say when I don’t have time to read all of the comments on the accompanying blog.

There are other podcasts that provide information and lessons. Sandy does a lot of research into her lessons and seems to do research beyond using the Internet. I particularly liked her color episode. I thought it was thoughtful and provided a couple of points of view that made me think a little differently about color. There was a companion episode on value. Both were really well done and made me want to drag out my Itten color wheel. I appreciate the research she puts into her episodes and appreciate it that she doesn’t perpetuate quiltmaking myths. She often doesn’t take sides, as evidenced in her episode on art vs. craft vs. hobby. I thought the addition of hobby was an interesting twist to this ongoing debate.

Sandy has began to do interviews in about episode 4 and does a really nice job. So far she has interviewed quiltmakers from her guild, a Hawaiian quiltmaker, a longarm quilter and a quilt appraiser. Her interviews are great, because she doesn’t interrupt the interviewee and just lets the artist/quiltmaker talk. Sandy does jump in to keep the conversation going by asking pertinent questions, but never interjects her own experience while interviewing. I really like her style.

I think you will be entertained by the Quilting…for the Rest of Us podcast. Check it out.

Off Kilter Quilt

Frances, of the Off Kilter Quilt, is also nearing 20 episodes. She has some funky numbering going on at the beginning of her episodes, so there isn’t a number 20 yet, but I think Frances has recorded 20 episodes. The funky numbering is an example of the charm of her podcast.

Frances starts out her episodes saying “hello hello, I’m Frances and I’ll be your hostess.” If you don’t listen to anything else (though you should) listen to the beginning of one of her podcasts. The intro is so friendly and welcoming.

Frances is a beginning quiltmaker. Initially I was skeptical about how much I would get out of the content. I was pleasantly surprised. While listeners do get to hear about the idiosyncracies of quiltmaking that puzzle a beginner, Frances also provides thought provoking commentary of various aspects of the quilting world.

In one episodes she talks about Product vs. Process quiltmakers. Frances does not purport to have all of the ansers, but she is a critical thinker and brings up some interesting points on various topics.She uses language really well, has a great sense of humor and sharp insight on the marketing practices of the quilt world. Additionally, her brief comments about her life outside of quiltmaking make the podcast, and Frances, seem real.

Definitely worth a visit!

September ATCs

Here are the ATCs I am trading at the meeting today. I made them at A Work of Heart at the end of June using a shaving cream Marbling technique. It was fun.

Zig Zaggy Progress

I had some fun over the weekend piecing the Zig Zaggy quilt. I felt a great deal of joy in my sewing this weekend. I know that sounds weird. It is a weird word to use for sewing, but I can’t think of another word that expresses how I was feeling. I am in love with piecing and color right now and simply, as I said earlier this week, cannot. get. enough.

I decided early in the weekend to try to piece the entire quilt over the weekend. When TFQ and I are together we can get an entire quilt top done. We do large wall quilts or up to single bed sized in a weekend. I got over the idea of finishing the entire quilt top over the weekend, but I made significant progress. Best of all I had fun.

The first order of business was to spend some time piecing the first row together. I had to figure out how to do it.This way of putting together the quilt goes completely against what I told Frances not more than a month ago. However, this quilt is not really block based, so it has to go together in rows, I think. I tried a couple of different things, but finally settled on a process for the fourth row.

Piecing the first row together meant that I, first, needed to organize the colors and the fabric designs in such a way that there was variety in the layout. Once I got that task finished, the rest was just rote sewing. Not completely rote sewing, but enough to force me to keep my mind from wandering too much.

Some mind wandering is always in order and I spent some time thinking about the border. I’d like to do a spiky border a la Gwen Marston. The more I think about it and the more I look at the four finished rows, the more I think I won’t do it. We’ll see.

Inspired Wednesday

This is an uncropped photos of a piece of public art on Mission Street. The circles moved. I don’t have an SD card in my Blackberry so I couldn’t take a video.

The “evacuate the building immediately” alarm went off, so we all evacuated. Of course, it was a false alarm, so I went to lunch instead of going back into the building. It was late and I hadn’t gone anyway.

I headed up to the SFMOMA bookstore. I am on a mission to find out what books on developing a creative habit are out there. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but I was inspired by being there and walking up and back.

Weekend Diamonds

My design wall is a mess. It is an even bigger mess than when I showed it before. I have at least four projects on it, which makes it difficult to photograph anything cleanly. As a result, I used the eraser function in Photoshop Elements to erase some of the things surrounding the diamonds in the photo on the left. I wasn’t completely enamoured with the effect, so I left the bits and pieces in the photo on the right. I don’t know how to outline a shape and clear the background completely. I would like to learn that.

I have been intermittently pressing recently washed fabrics and cutting pieces from them, so the diamond accumulation continues. I know I will be needing to cut a lot of the border pieces late in the year, so I want to make sure all the diamonds are cut. I am sure I have said that a thousand times. It is on my mind.

I still haven’t figured out if the Fast2Cut 45 degree half and quarter diamond ruler will work for the side, edge and corner diamonds. I still need to figure that out. I haven’t actually seen it in a store, so it is hard to compare to the Creative Grids ruler that I have. It would be nice if Creative Grids made a ruler to go with their diamond ruler. I did see that they have a Triangles 120 degree ruler. I think it would work for the side pieces, which would be great. It would definitely make an easier time than when I cut the side pieces for the Eye Spy.

I simply do not have enough time to sew. I spent a day and a half over the weekend just sewing. I made a lot of progress on the Zig Zaggy quilt and it was still not enough time. I don’t know how much time would be enough time. I haven’t reached that threshold yet. I simply know that I need more.

Birch Bundles Ideas

I trolled the web for some ideas for the Birch Bundles that I talked about yesterday. All of the photos are linked to their original locations.

Green Couch Designs has a great pattern/idea that I might be able to use:

Here is a detail:

It is simple, but effective. I am not sure if the fabrics from the pink and purple bundle will show up well enough in this design, because of the size of the pieces.

I also like this one from Cherry House:

The thing I like about the above pattern is the black strip (I would use something different depending on the color scheme), but it anchors all the blocks together. I am not sure the effect would be the same with different fabrics used for the blocks. Part of the effectiveness of this quilt is the solid colors. This is from the City Quilts book, which is making me consider buying it….very soon.

Samelia’s Mum has a very cheerful blog. I like the lower right hand corner of the quilt on a recent post.

I think I really like the top quilt, but would make it with slightly larger rectangles. What do you think?

Left to My Own Devices…

Left to my own devices, I will buy fabric.

Above is my CrankyPants fabric. There was a weeklong stretch a couple of weeks ago where I was just cranky. I couldn’t think of a reason, but EVERYTHING annoyed me. The boys were smart and just stayed out of my way, did what I told them and just generally were compliant. For the rest of the world, I stayed away and/or kept my door closed. As a small attempt to make myself feel a bit better, I bought the above three fabrics. It would have been nicer, if annoying people at work had just piled up gorgeous half yards outside my door. I think the middle one will go with my red and aqua quilt. Perhaps, the red and turquoise piece on the left as well. We will see.

The ribbon candy fabric is for a Christmas gift bag. No, I don’t need more gift bag fabric, nor do I need more gift bags. Still, this ribbon candy fabric brought back a boatload of memories from my childhood. My grandmother would have covered glass dishes (one was clear and in the shape of Christmas tree) filled with different candies during Christmas. One was filled with these ribbon candies. I didn’t like to eat them, but I loved to look at them and dream about the way they were made. Those curves are so beguiling!

I am still collecting red and aqua fabrics. I couldn’t resist a bit more of Big Plain Jane fabrics, though it isn’t as big as the one I bought before.

I recently found some more of the Martha Negley tossed vegetable fabric on violet. I have been wanting to remake the tote bag I made and then kind of ruined with the front panel. Now I can do it. Now I had better do it.

I bought some more of the taco fabric as well, so I can make something for the Child. Back of a quilt? Not sure yet. Photos to follow!

The print on the top looks just like the print at the top of the second photo. It is, however, a larger scale. That piece as well as the the fabrics in the second row will go into my blue and aqua quilt. I am trying to be ok with having some colors just a bit off from the cherry red and aqua that I am imagining. I may put the grey dot in as well. I kind of like how it looks with the brights.

As I have mentioned, Birch Fabrics/Fabricworm puts out bundles periodically. I mentioned them when I reviewed Birch Fabrics last month, after my trip. I am starting to think of them as Birch Bundles. These bundles are like candy. Expensive candy. The reason they are like candy for me is that the fabrics are from different lines and designers, but still go together and I didn’t have to do the work. I like using full lines, as I have mentioned, because it gets me into the sewing faster. Using Birch Bundles expands my visual horizons.

The above pack may have been a purchasing mistake. I haven’t decided yet. I like the various fabrics, but I would not have bought them all. Still, I want to try to use them together. I am still working on thinking up a project for these bundles. I am thinking about doing the same design for my three bundles just to focus on working with the fabric. Perhaps the Diamond Chain design? Or stars?

Does every girl have a pink and purple bedroom? I did. My parents and their friends worked hard on that bedroom. My bedroom was different from the colors above, painted much more of a sweet pink and lavender. Still the bundle above reminds me of it. The bundle is one that I love. I LOVE the violet. I also love the scale differences of the motifs.

I probably would not have bought the Tufted Tweets fabrics alone, because of the strong pattern. Still, they fit really well into this group. Those flowers also would not have been first in my basket at the fabric store. Cynthia and her team have helped me imagine a new and different fabric combination. Let’s see how it works when I actually put something together. You can buy one, too and show me what you make.

I resisted the Good Morning Sunshine Birch Bundle. You should definitely buy it! 😉

Transitions in Creativity

Sarah Bush on Make Great Stuff blog was talking about transitions while being creative in her blog post recently. She give some great examples, which make this concept easy to relate to our own lives.

I cataloged the techniques I use to being creative. They are below. I think you also need to know some other things about yourself:

when you work best. I am a morning person. By 6 or 7pm, I am done machine sewing and just an accident waiting to happen.
self motivation. I am very motivated, which is good. I can work early when I don’t have anyone around to spur me on. I also don’t need groups (mostly) or to follow something like a mystery quilt project to be creative.
your morning ritual related to your creativity. I like to get up pretty early on the weekends, do my exercises, drink my tea, perhaps write in my journal. If I go to bed at midnight the night before none of this will happen, because I will get up too late. My whole date will be off.
how you get back on track. If I am off track like described above, I need to know my techniques for getting myself back on track.

I keep a lot of different things going so I always have a hard thing or an easy thing depending on my mood.
I keep the creative inputs coming using podcasts and blogs if I can’t be actively engaged in creating personally.
I also do warm ups. My warm ups are sewing squares or random pieces together. Eventually they may end up as something, but their important function is to get me engaged in my work for the day.
Pressing fabric is a good way ease transitions and give me a few minutes to think about what comes next. Pressing is also a good activity when someone calls and they are interrupting, but you can’t not talk to them.
I also prepare work to be done later. Not only is this a good activity in itself, it prepares work for later (see #1 above). For example, I may make the straps for a bag, but not make the bag until later. When I do get around to making the bag, the straps are ready. Also, I often cut all the pieces for a pillowcase or set of napkins or a bag and then sew later. Breaking up the steps of projects eases transitions from one project to another or from a non-quiltmaking task to a quiltmaking task.

I am not sure if the techniques above always help with transitions. I am constantly seeking a way to move smoothly from life to quiltmaking. Many of the items above do help me NOT have to think about what comes next. The podcasts and other “creativity on the go media” help keep me immersed in quiltmaking.

I also have to be strict with myself. For example, I sew first and play on the computer later, or if I finish this journal cover, then I can play on the computer for 15 minutes.

Sarah mentions other tricks and tips that help as well. Clearing off your cutting table or organizing your supplies. Last week, when I felt so grumpy, clearing off the desk in my workroom helped change my attitude. I didn’t even really do a great job.I did, however, go through everything on there and file a few things, which helped make me feel better.

I think humans like rituals. Part of transitioning to getting down to business is creating a ritual that gets you there. What is your ritual?

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