Thanksgiving is such a nice holiday. No gifts, which eliminates a lot of drama. Also, everyone, whether American or not, can consider the things for which they are grateful.
One thing for which I am grateful are you, my dear readers. Thank you!
Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I started this blog in 2005 – 9 years ago, if you are counting. I have written over 2900 posts, some good, some bad. I have 4,600+ images in my Media Library. I write about a lot of stuff including:
I have 74 items marked as being about a completed project.
Thanks for reading all this time and for commenting on my projects and posts. Without you, why should I bother?
Check out the creative prompt, which was posted yesterday for those of you keeping track.
I feel somewhat self indulgent by sharing my birthday report with you. I had such a great day, though, that I can’t help myself. I love my birthday and really strive to savor it every year. I think I would love to have it more than once a year, but then I would get really old, really fast and it wouldn’t be as special. The bonus was that I had a day off of work!
First, I got up and wrote in my journal and drank my tea. The boys got up and DH made us an omelette (I didn’t even have to ask!), then I started opening gifts. I couldn’t believe the generosity of my friends and family. I couldn’t even open all the gifts at once.
Later, I went to pick up my sewing machine and out to lunch with Maureen. Our favorite lunch place is right near the Granary, so while I waited for her, I looked at fabric. Julie and I are going to do a block project with the 100 Modern Quilt Blocks book by Tula Pink and I saw the perfect background. My mother-in-law gave me some money and the fabrics are the result. I really like the Granary. The fabrics are all commercial and most of the ladies there tend towards non-art quilts, but I like the busyness and the variety of products in the place. They have a lot of fabric that is well organized and it is clean. They have lots of everything as well.
And then there was the birthday box! OMG! TFQ out did herself this year and sent me the most luscious quiltmaking fabric and supplies and inspiration. If I don’t buy anything else this year, I will be all set.
I also put the books that Julie gave me and some gifts that DH gave me in the picture. I am not tall enough to include them all.
One item I received was a FitBit. I have been wanting one and am pleased to finally be able to see where I am in terms of fitness. My first morning workout was over 2,000 steps, which is amazing!
In case I decide to give myself the day off from posting today, I am sharing a birthday card I received from the famous quilt artist, Pamela Allen.
I took this photo back in September at the Alden Lane Nursery Outdoor Quilt Show. The quilts got people to the nursery, which actually sells plants and garden stuff (yes, my technical term).
Although, not all of you celebrate Christmas, I hope that you will project peace and love out into the world in your own way so that we can have a better world this month and next year.
Peace!
Pax!
vrede!
Pau!
Spokoj!
mir!
Rauha!
Paix!
fred!
Hetep!
Solh!
Emirembe!
etc.*
*See more terms for peace at Columbia
Yes, today is my 8th blogiversary!
We are celebrating here at ArtQuiltmaker by…
eating cake…
drinking wine
and, of course, sewing. Of course, this is all virtual, since I am probably headed to work as you read this.
Have you been blogging that long?
Are you inspired when you read my blog?
Enjoy the party and let me know if you want me to write about something special during the next year. I can’t promise I will do it, but I will try to be inspired by your request!
KQED, my local public radio station, has a feature called Perspectives. Perspectives are small audio essays by regular people on a subject. On Friday, in the half awake state before I have to jump out of bed and start my day, I heard a Perspective by PeiPei Zhou. Ms. Zhou talked about all the sacrifices her mother made for her so she could have a better life. Immediately my mom popped into my mind.
I knew we weren’t rich. I never had the trendy clothes and shoes that my classmates sported, but I never felt deprived either. I traveled, I went to college all because my mom made sacrifices. I didn’t even realize the magnitude of her sacrifices for me until I was an adult. I am not sure I can fathom them now. I only know I have what I have and have accomplished is due to my hard work, but the unfailing, unquestioning support of my mother.
I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog without my mother. She sewed a lot when I was a kid — at least I remember her sewing a lot. You know how kids and time are: they think you did something all the time when you only did it once? I remember her sewing costumes for Halloween, school play costumes and doll clothes.
Cara of TalknT said it very well this morning on Twitter. She said “Happy Mother’s day to all the moms, mommys, Grandmas, mom in waitings, Stepmoms and caregivers. Blood doesn’t make a family. Love and you do.”
If you like this blog, or tolerate it 😉 head over to Mary’s Art Musings and say hi to my mom, Mary, and thank her for everything she has done.
And Passover and Bunny Day! This photo is too funny not to share. Have a great day. Hope you are sewing or spending it with family and friends that you like.
I hope that your day is filled with good, peace and joy, whatever you are doing or celebrating or not celebrating and that all of that follows you through 2012.
My dad is a master at popcorn balls – at least he was when I was a kid. He was also all about decorating at Christmas. Above is a snowman made from the popcorn ball recipe/technique. I don’t know if it was eaten at the end of hte holidays or was thrown out. Dad made our holidays magical.
This is the card and wrapping I received from my mother for Mother’s Day. I love the wrapping paper. I think it is the colors.
I missed my Blogiversary last year and was only reminded after listening to Amy of the Creative Mom Podcast talking about her Podcastiversary (is that a word??).
I guess it isn’t that important to me. Or, perhaps the beginning of the year is so full of celebrations – birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s Day, etc, that I couldn’t take another celebration. Too much of a good thing and all that….
Still, today is kind of a special day, because it is the 5th anniversary of starting this blog. I have to celebrate. I am really proud that I have kept it up; that people read and that I have made progress on my creativity.
Here are some interesting facts about Artquiltmaker Blog
May 2005 – 7 posts
May 2006 – 6 posts
May 2007 – 20 posts
May 2008 – 24 posts
May 2009 – 39 posts
May 2010 – 16 posts, as of May 9, 2010
Total AQ blog posts: 1274
Comments: over 2400
Pages: 11
Categories: 51
Tags: 90
Have a great day and thanks for reading!
I am REALLY fortunate to have wonderful friends and family who are willing to give me books and quilt related items that I love. I really received a lot of gifts; so many I will have plenty to write about and read and think about during the gift giving drought that is the rest of the year.**
My birthday was a week and a half ago and the gifts just keep coming. Julie gave me some fabric, a book, some note cards and some little things while at the retreat over the weekend.
The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer came from a gift certificate I actually got from TFQ for Christmas. I think of it as a birthday gift to myself! Thanks, TFQ!
Art + Quilt came from DH. I have been borrowing TFQ’s copy and now I have my own. I am pretty excited about some of the exercises in the book.
Sew, So Cute by Mary Engelbreit came from Julie. I have wanted this book because of the apron on the front. I love it. It has some much style. I can’t wait to make that apron. Perhaps I will add it to my gift arsenal?
The bottom three reading material came from my sister. The Crafty Chica book has a very cheerful layout. I also like the pocket bag, which is made out of tablecloth vinyl. I love the tote on the front of the Sew News magazine and Artful Blogging often has links to great new blogs.
I really like they style of that tote bag on the front of the Sew News magazine. I looked at the directions last night and they are a little cryptic. I am going to look up the designer at some point and see if there is some additional explanation before I dive in. We’ll see.
I am so fortunate to have so much new reading material and project ideas. it is nice not to have to get these books out of the library and read them quickly. I really enjoy dipping in and out of books, especially quilt books. Thanks!
That wasn’t all, though. I also have some fabric to go along with the project ideas. Above are some pieces that my sister bought for me. they are colors that she loves, so I wonder if she is angling for another bag or a quilt or something? Hhhmmm.
Here is the wonderfulness that came from TFQ. Her gift was right on time, actually early, and I opened it as soon as I could get it in the door. The journals (Miquelrius) will not go to waste. I think I have to write more so I can get through them faster. 😉
The pink and red fabric (on the right in the middle) is a Malka Dubrowsky screen print (batik, maybe?). The funny part of about that fabric is that I bought TFQ some of Malka’s fabric as well. We roared with laughter about that! Great minds, you know. 😉
I have only glanced through Creative Time and Space, but I love the Voodoo lounge podcast, which is also by Rice Zachery-Freeman. I am reading Life is a Verb and really like it. I will write a full on review when I finish it. One thing I already like about it is that the author says that she created large margins so people could create ‘marginalia’. I have done one of the exercises she suggests and enjoyed it. Unlike Maisel’s book, I can do them in the 20+ minutes I carve out for creativity every day with minimal technology requirements.
I loved all the gifts and cards and phone calls and emails I received, but this card is really special. One thing I really appreciate is when people give me some of their precious time. When someone takes the time to make me something, like a card, or when they take the time to write me a letter, it is most appreciated. I love it when someone sits down and writes me a real letter about things they are doing and observing. Even if those things seem mundane, I love hearing about the day to day things in others lives. Mailing the letter to me with a real stamp in a real envelope is one of the best presents I can receive. I love it that Julie took the time to make and write the card.
I had to cut off the writing because is personal. Isn’t Julie creative? She put flags on the inside, too. I really like this card.
I am so fortunate to have such generous, thoughtful, wonderful and creative friends.
**Do Valentine’s Day, my anniversary, and Mother’s Day count? 😉
Nota bene: TFQ: if you have not opened all of your gifts, stop reading now!!! Go open them and come back.
Yes, my good friend TFQ is 39 again today…with some years experience. 😉
In addition to the gifts I have been collecting for her, I also made her a couple of things. Did you guess journal cover and pencil roll? I am so predictable, I know.
The black and white fabrics, from Lonni Rossi‘s Paint Box collection, are the fabrics I used to make Marilyn’s Multi-tasker while I was visiting TFQ in November. She admired those fabrics and that stuck in my mind.
TFQ is an excellent colorist. She can put fabrics together in the most amazing ways. I strive to be like her, which requires cultivating more patience and determination in my quiltmaking process. If I want to make something for her, I feel like I need to really do an excellent job of picking colors, thus the clue that she liked these fabrics gave me confidence.
Using only those black and white fabrics together was too depressing, especially in winter. I had to add the dots. They cheered it up quite a bit.
One of the things I like about some of the prints in the this [relatively] new Lonni Rossi line is the screen printed look. Note the black circle on the white fabric. It really looks like a screen print when you see it up close. It doesn’t have that icky, plasticy sticker feel, though, you find with some screen printed-like fabric.
The small rows of lines under the circle also have that screen printed look. It is much more subtle in the white/grey on black colorway.
I didn’t want a repeat of the size problem I had with my mom’s journal cover, so I ripped out the bottom stitching three times until I was satisfied with the fit. I don’t know if I got it to fit perfectly, but I didn’t have to cut the journal’s plastic cover to get the journal cover on it, so I was satisfied.
Lately, when I have started a journal cover I just start piecing until I get a piece big enough for the outside. I use this type of piecing for a warm-up or when I only have a few minutes to sew or when I need a little bit of thinking time. Usually I want to achieve a certain look. With my blue journal cover, I wanted to use a variety of blue fabrics because I liked them and wanted to see them all the time. I also wanted a calming effect.
In this case, I only had scraps of the Lonni Rossi fabrics left and needed to make the best use of them. I wanted it to have a somewhat cohesive design and, finally, but most importantly I wanted it to appeal to TFQ.
I have started to think of pencil rolls and journal covers as sets. I also love this pencil roll pattern so much that I am looking for excuses to make it. Of course, time is the issue on that front.
This is a rather large pencil roll – 18 slots, I think. When I use my pencil roll, I prefer to put pens in every other slot rather than each slot. I find it easier to get the pens out.
For the moment, this is the last gift to which I have committed to make. When I say committed I mean to myself. There is one I am thinking about making, but I need to finish the FOTY 2009 blocks first. Look for a post on that project later this week.