Artquiltmaker Blog – Page 360 – Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity

Book Review: Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts

Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings by Kelly Rae Roberts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I first started reading this book, I immediately noticed the tone: kind, positive, inspirational and soft. Not disgustingly so, but in a way that made me really feel inspired.

My overall feeling of this book was it was a book that would be useful regardless of what the reader makes. This book is about having confidence, being inspired, getting rid of roadblocks and trying new things.

The format of the book incorporates the patterns/projects into the chapters, so they don’t seem slapped on because publishers think that “everyone must have projects if they are going to buy a book”. I didn’t try any of the projects as I cannot craft late at night in bed (too messy) and I didn’t have most of the supplies needed (too cheap). Still, I though the projects were interesting and would make good exercises for a class.

Kelly Rae Roberts has also peppered the book with interviews with other artists, such as Judy Wise, Mati Rose, and Christine Mason Miller. This feature brings some liveliness and interest to the book.

Ms. Roberts was interviewed on the Notes from the Voodoo Lounge podcast, 17 November 2009. The podcast is a great companion to this book as it gives just a bit more insight into KRR.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was size of the font. There is a lot of information crammed into this 128 page book, but you might go blind trying to read it.

I think this is a book that I would like to put on my wish list as I think it would be good to dip into on occasion.

View all my reviews , including my non quilt reviews

Various and Sundry Wednesday

There is a lot going on. I realized at some point over the weekend that I had not really inventoried what I for gifts. This year will be a much leaner Christmas even than last year, but I still have a few things to buy and a lot to wrap. There is a lot going on at work and I have just been ignoring everything, and focusing on the gifts I need to make. I got myself in gear, did an inventory and started working on my Christmas shopping.

I am an inveterate cyber-shopper. Before the web had stores, I would spend the Friday after Christmas with all of the catalogs I had been hoarding on the phone ordering via phone. Since I do mostly online shopping, I inevitably find other sites that might be of interest.

Liesl from Oliver + S pointed me to her free mitten ornament pattern. It can be used for gift tags, winter decorating, tree ornaments or an advent calendar. I could see where the maker could have a nice little reminder of favorite fabrics from the year by using project scraps for the mitten cuffs. Thanks, Liesl!

Liesl pointed me to Alabama Chanin. I like the look of their blog, which they call a journal. I believe they are a clothing company. They do sell scrap bags of organic cotton fabrics. I saw an interesting jacket on the cover of one of their catalogs via their blog/journal. I am thinking about renewing my wardrobe, but want classic pieces with interest which look good on me. That is a project for much later, but it is on my mind.

Quilts, Inc in Houston has website with a list of the winners from this year’s show. Robbi Joy Eklow won second place in the Art-Abstract Large category. It is one of her gear type quilts. I saw Moon Garden by Judy Coates Perez last year at PIQF She won Honorable Mention in the Art-Painted Surface category.

I was pointed to the Running with Scissors Blog for an interview of Susan Shie. She talks a lot about her airpen work and how it has changed the pace of her work (she can do a lot more). She is doing less hand work, but I don’t know if she has completely stopped that. She also talks about spending the day with President Obama sitting by the side of a river and talking with him while they eat cheeseburgers. It is a very sweet image. After the debacle with the White House party crashers recently, I was thinking that it would be nice if a “regular Joe or Jane” was invited to every White House event. It is, after all, our tax dollars at work.

Also, some time ago I took a class at the Marin Needle Arts Guild weekend retreat from Gwen Marston. It was a two day class and we learned Liberated Quiltmaking. I ended up with my quilt Women’s Work 1. I used her technique to having making a lot of different house blocks.

I found a blog called Block Party and they show a tutorial for making star blocks similar to the ones that Gwen Marston teaches. I thought you might enjoy making a few. As I scrolled through the blog, I found they had tutorials for other blocks as well.

Somehow I found my way to a Dutch site full of Mariner’s Compasses and other round designs created by Jacqueline De Jonge. I have linked you to the English version. De Jonge’s work reminds me of Judy Mathieson and her work looks similar to Barbara Barber‘s circular work. I took Barbara Barber’s class at PIQF once and should be able to make these without another class, but De Jonge’s quilts look so cool, I would happily take a class from her as well. There is a review and picture of a great block one of her students made. You can buy the patterns and fabric collections at BatiksPlus. I was surprised at the cost of some of the patterns ($46), but I think it would probably become clear once I actually saw the complexity of the pattern in real life. Not all are that expensive. I think I would rather have a class form her or a book and do the drawings myself.

This reminds me that I have an idea to make a circle quilt a la Malka Dubrawsky, but with inset circles like Ruth McDowell teaches and shows in her Piecing book instead of the dyed circles that Malka uses.

If I had unlimited money, after I bought the diamond earrings, I would buy the Aurifil Suitcase. Have you seen this? If I bought it I would probably never use any of the thread, because I wouldn’t want to break up the set! The colors are luscious. I love the thread and having it in a suitcase keeps the dust away.

Spiderwebs are all over the place. I saw another one on Oh Fransson’s blog. Her spiderweb has her signature colors with a tinge of Christmassy-ness and grey centers.

Janome has a content running called “Pass it On“. You answer some questions about where you learned to sew and are entered to win. Your entry and photos become their property and will not be acknowledged or returned blah blah blah. You can win a sewing machine, serger or big pack of thread. How did you learn to sew and who taught you?

A lot of brain dumps lately, I know. Hope you are keeping your inspiration high during this busy time of year.

Christmas Inspiration Tuesday #2

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I have been a slacker on the days I am not in the office. Yesterday, I decided to make a to-do list so I would have a guide for today. The list was unexpectedly long!

I spoke with TFQ yesterday on the phone and she told me about a podcast by Rice Freeman-Zachary called Notes from the VooDoo Lounge. Since Amy over at the Creative Mom podcast and Jennifer over at CraftSanity actually have lives and aren’t posting podcasts as fast as I can consume them, I thought I would listen to this one and see if I should add it to my weekly repertoire.

I actually listened to 4-5 of them today while I was at the gym and as I plowed through my quite substantial to-do list. One of the artists interviewed, Judy Wise, talks about art patrons. I thought I might as well put the request out there, because you never know. I really like this podcast for a couple of reasons:

Rice (pronounced Ree-sah) has a nice interviewing style. She isn’t too robotic, but is also professional, humorous and has really great speaking voice. I think she hits the podcasting sweet spot very well.
Lots of information about creativity: how to be creative, how to maintain your creative inspiration, how to get out of the hole of no ideas.
Variety of guests.

One of the episodes to which I listened was an interview with jazz saxophonist Tom Braxton. I am not a jazz fan and don’t know much about jazz, but thought I would keep an open mind. I am glad I did, because he was great! He talked a lot about things that are required for living a creative life. He said he thought musical education was important and that making it big because some producer heard your band as s/he drove down the street or you won American Idol were REALLY rare. He also said that a creative life is work and that the performance (on stage for a musician, at the easel for a painter, etc) are a small part of the job. An artist has to get up in the morning (no lazing around in bed), go to the post office and mail packages, practice their craft, market their services, and be professional at all times, etc. He spoke from a musician’s point of view, but what he said was relevant to all creative types. I think that this particular episode is a great reality check for those wanting to live a creative life without being a slap in the face.

I also really enjoyed Freeman-Zachary’s interview with Roz Stendahl. I loved her tips on time management and her practical advice about living a creative life. One thing she says is to track your time for a week in 15 minute increments, so you know where your time goes. Then you will know where you can find a few minutes to be creative. She has a funny, but no nonsense approach to her business. Listening to this interview made me feel good about my to-do list and the progress I was making on it. This is an episode I will put in my ‘Favorites’ playlist and listen to again with notebook and pen in hand.

She also has an episode she calls ‘Rants from the Grammar *itch’. It was hilarious and I want to have the Child listen to it, but the ‘phrasing’ may be a bit old for him. I have to decide if I am comfortable answering questions the episode might bring up. However, i was definitely a worthwhile 15 minutes. I learned about reflexive pronouns from this episode. Of course, I knew how to use them (and, no, I am not telling you what they are. You have to listen to the podcast), but I didn’t know the whys and wherefores. I learned it at some point in the distant past and promptly forgot. Now I know, because she made it interesting to learn. I will probably remember, because thinking about her examples brings a smile to my lips.

This podcast is well worth a listen if you are the podcast-listening type.

Book Review: Seams to Me

Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing by Anna Maria Horner

I received this book as a 2009 birthday gift from wonderful friend. Today, I listened to Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood’s podcast interview with Anna Maria Horner again, which made me think about my review. I came to see what had when I first looked at the book. Shock! Horror! I didn’t write a review, nor did I even put it on my list. Shame! I have no idea what I was thinking. The first thing I like about this book is the pre-Table of contents. It is arranged in a very visual and 9 patchy way. It tells you what to expect and what the book contains. The layout alternates words with pictures, which keeps the reader’s eye moving around the page while giving some spots to rest as well. The next thing I like about the book, which Jennifer mentions in her interview also, is the nice tone Ms. Horner uses in the introduction. I found that the tone continues throughout the book, ebbing and flowing in different ways to achieve different points. When all of that glamor is said and done, this is a book that gets people started sewing. Horner goes through all different considerations from where to sew, what sewing machine to use, considerations when buying a sewing machine to notions, gadgets, tools, color and my personal favorite, fabric! While a lot of this section was not new to me, it was well laid out and clear. Anna Maria has some brief definitions about what different needles are for and also a needle size chart with fabric examples. The color wheel is fabulous and like no other I can remember seeing. It is a bunch of squares of fabric arranged like a color wheel. These are not Amish solids, either; they are prints. I am thinking about photocopying this page and hanging it up so I can be inspired. I buy tons of prints, after all, and need some help using them sometimes. This book is entertaining, too. The entertainment starts with the chapter headings, such as “A Place to Perch” and “Let’s Bolt” and continues on to the text with examples like “Tedious Terms” and “Width Wisdom.” Such touches tell me that Anna Maria Horner cared about the details and was confident enough to inject a bit of fun into her writing. Tucked into the section called “Tedious Terms”, the author has included a helpful conversion chart for yardage. You could copy it (again for personal use only!) and keep in in your handbag when you go fabric shopping so you know that when you ask for an 1/8 of a yard you are getting a piece of fabric 4.5″ wide. There are lots and lots of pieces of helpful information that make this a book that I will keep on the shelf very close to my machine so I can refer to it frequently when I want to clip curves, put in a zipper, make a french seam, stitch some piping, gather cafe curtains or make a decorative edging on a garment. As a result, there were quite a few things that I learned. The basic information was so beautifully laid out and written in a way that kept me interested so I was shocked to find that I had finished that section and was on to the projects. I am not much for buying project oriented books, but some of these projects intrigued me. One of the first was called “Cozy Cubes”. They are in the organizing section and I can see where these would be fun, beautiful and useful. I also want to make the Wall pockets, the “I’ll have one of Everything” bag, and am attracted by the “Playing Along” quilt. I also think the “Full Contact Cooking Apron” is fun and useful, though I suspect the fabrics make the piece. Some projects I would probably never make, though I hesitate to say never, because saying never guarantees I will end up making it! I am sure I could learn something from some of these projects as well. I am not excited about the big squares on the “Sideways Skirt,” nor do I find the “Smashing Smock” very smashing or the “Right off the Cuff” cuffs very practical. I might too old to appreciate some of these stylish projects! All in all, I was very pleased that I had gotten this book out again and look forward to working with it a little more.

View all of my reviews, including my non-quilt reviews

Fabric Design Must-Haves

I have been thinking about fabric design a lot lately. I think it is something that I would love to do. Well, the finished product with my name on it would be great. After hearing Anna Maria Horner talk about the process, I am not sure if I am motivated enough to do all the work entailed for an actual fabric collection. If a fabric manufacturer came knocking, I would definitely find the motivation!!

One of the things I have been thinking about is must-have motifs in a collection. What parts of a collection do I always buy? Stripes and dots, definitely.

I like the above stripes, which I bought during my week away at Fabric Crush in Magnolia, because they are relatively bright and regularly spaced. I also like the ratio of white to color. In my regular fabric psychosis mind, I keep thinking “oh dear! I didn’t buy enough! I should have bought 2 yards!” despite the FACT that I haven’t used any of them and they were just washed over the weekend.

I also liked the stripes from P&B’s Pop Parade collection if the mythical fabric company wants some wonky stripes.

Ta Dot/Michael Miller & Emmalynn's Days of the Week

Above are a couple of the dot motifs that I like. Both are regularly spaced, but have slightly different sized dots. The Emmalynn’s Days of the Week by Susan Osborne are on the top and the Ta Dot is below. There are some scatter kind of dots that I like as well. I find myself gravitating towards the regularly spaced dots lately. I think I need something to count on in my life lately. 😉

Perhaps in my mythical fabric collection I would have a couple of regularly spaced dots (smaller and larger??) as well as some scatter dots or spots.
Barbara Brackman brought a new thought in this vein to mind in a post where she talked about how paisleys were must have motifs in a certain era (Civil War??) of fabric design. I haven’t noticed many paisley type prints lately so I don’t know if they are modern enough to go along with the popular prints today. I haven’t been looking, so they could be out there. I have bought a few paisleys in the past as I recall. I definitely won’t be a designing fabrics in Civil War era colors! Still paisleys are an interesting shape and have a lot of opportunity for designexploration. I’ll have to play around with some paisleys and see what I come up with.

I’ll have to think about what else I would include. I am not sure if I would want a focus fabric as I have no idea what I would design for a focus fabric. Flowers? Trees? Snowflakes? I don’t know. A collection without a focus fabric may be a total non-starter for the mythical fabric company that comes knocking on my door, so I’ll have to think about it.

I have always thought that ‘basics’ collections were very appealing. You can buy a lot of them in many colorways (regular stream of income for the company!) and they are useful for a variety of projects. They tend to stick around in terms of being able to buy them, which is an added bonus for those of us who don’t manage to finish projects very quickly. 😉

I would love to see basics types collections be expanded upon rather than just dropped because the Color Council issues new colors. I think Moda Marbles are an excellent example of a successful basics collection. Not only do they have their basic tone-on-tone version, but they expanded out to the Moda Marble Dots and the Moda Marble Stars. Very clever of Patrick Lose to expand in that way. How about Moda Marble Stripe, Patrick?

P&B New Basics was fabulous as well. I have linked to their current colors, which are very dark and not as interesting to me as the previously issued brighter colors.

So, I wonder if I should include some tone-on-tones in my fabric collection? It might be easier to coordinate them with the Moda Marbles or another basics type collection? Hhhmmm…

So, you can see what wanders around in my head as I navigate the rest of my non-quiltmaking life. What do you think your must haves are when you consider purchasing a whole fabric collection?

Creative Prompt #44: Winter

It has been very cold here in the West. Not cold like Minnesota or upstate New York, but a little on the dry and bitter side for us. This inspired me to get started on Winer even though we are still officially in Autumn. Enjoy!

There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.

Winter Wonderland.

Snow

Ice skating

Winter Solstice

Skiing (Schifahren)

Cross Country Skiing

Winter Olympics

S.A.D.

Winter definition: Meteorological winter is the season having the shortest days and the lowest average temperatures, which have the coldest weather. (from Wikipedia)

Snow boots, mittens, hats, parkas, snow shoes, long underwear, Smartwool socks

Ice scrapers

Isicles

ice storm

Weather safety and awareness

Winter poems

Winter in the Country by Claude McKay
Sweet life! how lovely to be here
And feel the soft sea-laden breeze
Strike my flushed face, the spruce’s fair
Free limbs to see, the lesser trees’

Bare hands to touch, the sparrow’s cheep
To heed, and watch his nimble flight
Above the short brown grass asleep.
Love glorious in his friendly might,

Music that every heart could bless,
And thoughts of life serene, divine,
Beyond my power to express,
Crowd round this lifted heart of mine!

But oh! to leave this paradise
For the city’s dirty basement room,
Where, beauty hidden from the eyes,
A table, bed, bureau, and broom

In corner set, two crippled chairs
All covered up with dust and grim
With hideousness and scars of years,
And gaslight burning weird and dim,

Will welcome me . . . And yet, and yet
This very wind, the winter birds
The glory of the soft sunset,
Come there to me in words.

A Winter Eden by Robert Frost
A winter garden in an alder swamp,
Where conies now come out to sun and romp,
As near a paradise as it can be
And not melt snow or start a dormant tree.

It lifts existence on a plane of snow
One level higher than the earth below,
One level nearer heaven overhead,
And last year’s berries shining scarlet red.

It lifts a gaunt luxuriating beast
Where he can stretch and hold his highest feat
On some wild apple tree’s young tender bark,
What well may prove the year’s high girdle mark.

So near to paradise all pairing ends:
Here loveless birds now flock as winter friends,
Content with bud-inspecting. They presume
To say which buds are leaf and which are bloom.

A feather-hammer gives a double knock.
This Eden day is done at two o’clock.
An hour of winter day might seem too short
To make it worth life’s while to wake and sport.

See the Creative Prompt page if you have questions about this project.

Post the direct URL where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. It will keep all the artwork together.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, now, has a Flickr group, which you can join and where you can post your responses.

Gifted Pencil Roll

Julie made me a pencil roll last year, which I discussed in a post in January 2008.

I recently bought a pencil roll pattern from Pink Chalk Studio and, after a bad pattern experience (from a different company), have a great deal of respect for Kathy’s clear instructions and helpful notes.

I wasn’t able to show this until now even though I made it during my week away, because it is a gift. I made it for Julie‘s birthday and wanted it to be a surprise.

The fabrics I used for the strips all came from TFQ’s strip box. They are, what she calls, Fresh Modern fabrics. They are not exclusively Amy Butler and Valori Wells, but are in that vein. The green is an old Marimekko fabric I bought at the Crate and Barrel outlet a long time ago. It spent some time with TFQ and was on its way back to me when I decided to do this project.

This is the small version of the pencil roll. Kathy gives directions for a 12 slot and a 24 slot. You can, with the directions, make one any size. I didn’t quite realize how big they were when I was making this one.

The pattern is really easy to follow. This is a fast project to make. The only part that takes time is the quilting/making the pockets. You have to be aware of what you are doing.

I hope Julie likes it and finds it useful.

Christmas Inspiration Tuesday

Yes, the holidays are upon us. Hold on to your hats to see what this season brings. What are you doing to reduce the stress, increase the fun?

Share and Share Alike

Sadly, no child close to me is really very interested in learning to make quilts or about any fabric related opportunities at all. I am hopeful that Kathy‘s Jessie may take an interest, or one of the nieces will come around eventually.

You can imagine how thrilled I was when George X (11YO) came over and was interested in making a small stuffed animal. One reason he was interested was that The Child was not home and George X had nothing really to do. I explained the basic process to him and we got started.

I gave him a large sheet of paper folded in half. On one half, he drew the detailed version – his ideal. On the other side, we drew the pattern together. He drew and I told him how to do it.

I knew I needed to get him to stitching pretty quickly, so I tried to keep the process simple. After he cut out the pattern, we picked fabric, pressed fabric, cut out the fabric and he began stitching. I tried to show him what to do, inspire confidence and supervise. I tried really hard not to hover. It was easier since I had a project I was working on as well.

I wanted him to do as much handwork as possible for two reasons. First, I wanted him to get the feel of the piece. Second, I was using the machine.

I had him sew the tummy on with a running stitch. Yes, it is raw edge applique’. I know that the tummy will ravel, but I will help him fix any problems.

George IX came home and George X lost interest in fabric. Video games were just too tempting. I put the piece away – with all the parts – for the next time.

I was pleased when George X excitedly wanted to show his parents what he had done. I look forward to working on the monkey with him again.

A Dotty Bag

Here is my latest Multi-tasker tote. As usual, I made it from the Anna Maria Horner pattern. The more MTTs I make, the easier this pattern gets. Will this be my new tote bag pattern of choice?

I bought the laminated cotton (oilcloth) at the Quilting Loft in Seattle on my week away. As I mentioned, it poured rain part of the time I was there and the regular cotton Julie MTT got wet. When I saw the dotted laminated cotton, I thought it would be a great winter bag. I made it big, even though I still need to make the Mini Multi to see if it is a better size for my height and shape and the amount of space I usually have on public transport. I had a lot of stuff I was hauling around from cafe’ to cafe’ that week.

Aside from the laminated cotton, the inside is an old, but still fun and fresh and bright Marimekko print, and the pocket panels are some random turquoise that I had. I am not happy with the outcome of this bag. I am not happy with the pocket panel fabric I chose (the turquoise). It goes well with the other fabrics, theoretically. Made up it just looks wrong. I wish I had used a stripe. I may make another one and use this one for a gift or something else. I have more of the dotted fabric.

One great thing about this project was that I was able to utilize a skill I learned during my week away to add a cell phone pocket to the inside. Apparently, cell phone pockets have a little pleat in them (do they all??). While I don’t know if I would put my cell phone in this bag, I might if my jacket pockets are full of other things. The pocket might also be useful for a Nano, or other small electronic devices. It is definitely a pocket I will use in other bags, mostly because it is cool to make and I feel proud of myself for learning to do it.

After I made this bag and looked at the seven (yes, SEVEN) hanging on my workroom door, I started to wonder if I was giving up quilts and moving on to other accessories? I don’t think so, but the speed with which I can churn out a bag is very attractive and very fulfilling. I will have to put some block making on my agenda for the rest of this long weekend.

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