Tag: Inspiration

Not Gloating

Dec-Feb Books
Dec-Feb Books

I love books, am coming to love eBooks and Kindle books, but I just generally love books. I try not to buy too many regular fiction books as the Library has a perfectly good collection and I, mostly, don’t read fiction books more than once.

My downfall is quilt books. I love quilt books. I used to buy every quilt book that came out. That was in the dark ages before a new quilt book came out every week. Now I have to pick and choose and still they overflow my shelves. Still I keep acquiring them. I love quilt books.

I promise I am not gloating, but I wanted to share with you the books I received as gifts or bought with gift cards I received over the holidays and for my birthday. Most were off of my wish list, which I am thrilled about.

I am part way through Adventures in Leaders and Enders and have marked blocks I want to make in Modern Blocks. Of course, I’ll do full reviews eventually, but I have to say that Bonnie K. Hunter does a nice job slipping tricks and tips into her book. I am using the Color and Design book in my preparation for the podcast series with Sandy. I will use Transparency Quilts for the color segment when we get there.

Setting Solutions has been mentioned to me several times, so I finally bought it. I thought I saw today that Sharyn Craig had another book on the same subject, but I don’t remember where I saw it and can’t find it again. I am sure that Setting Solutions will provide adequate insight on the subject.

I still have some hope that I will, someday, renew my acquaintance with machine quilting. Foolproof Machine Quilting is bound to be a good choice for that. Mary Mashuta is an knowledgeable teacher and clear writer.

I heard about How to Keep A Sketchbook Journal on Mark Lipinski’s Creative Mojo and it is a beautiful book. It feels beautiful and the drawings are inspiring.

I think drafting is a really important skill. Sally Collins is a meticulous quiltmaker who works in miniatures. Her Drafting for the Creative Quilter will be a great addition to my teaching materials.

I have a lot of good books to which to look forward this year!

Inspiration Saturday

Church St Flowers
Church St Flowers

I was walking the wrong way down Church Street trying to find a shop I had never visited. I happened upon this little flower shop and was charmed. The display is wonderful!

Church Street Cabbages
Church Street Cabbages

I am pretty sure (not being a plant person and all) that these are cabbages. They look like roses and I love them.

Inspiration Tuesday

Boulette's Larder Wall
Boulette's Larder Wall

Boulette’s Larder is a restaurant in the building where I work. One vendor in particular really likes it, so we frequently meet there for meetings. I love this wall of jars and surreptitiously took a photo the other day.

Boulette is the restaurant’s Hungarian sheepdog, whom I saw sleeping under the table when I was there. She has Rastafarian type ringlets and you cannot tell which end is her head. Very cute!

Ninth Circuit HQ Tile

Here is some eye candy for you.

I had so many photos (60 or 70??) that I couldn’t process them all for posting. I may use them for other posts in the future. If you want to go on a tour and see this beauty for yourself, check out the public tour information and sign up. Go and visit. Totally worth your time.

I know you are thinking “WTF? Has she lost her mind posting all these photos of things that aren’t quilts?”

No, I am not, at least for this reason.

You need inspiration to make quilts and the floors at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Building in San Francisco provide enough inspiration to last a lifetime. The thing I like about mosaic and tilework is that both translate well into quilts. The place was a museum of tile and mosaics, and a hidden gem. The intricacy of the designs rival Christine Porter and Judy Mathieson’s designs. I didn’t think there would be anything to photograph. (I don’t know why I ever think that, except that, perhaps, tiredness and laziness drive me to it.)  Fortunately, I had my new phone with me, which actually took some ok photos. I ran the battery down to the bone (lousy battery), but I got enough photos to keep most people happy.

Enjoy.

 

Inspiration Tuesday

Castro Street Mosaic
Castro Street Mosaic

There was an electrical fire in the building where my hairdresser has his chair. The shop is completely destroyed, but the fire alarm was called shortly after the fire started so it was contained. Nobody was injured. He was able get his appointment book and his scissors out, but lost his clippers, blow dryer, color, shampoo, etc.

As a result of this excitement, he is working from a temporary location. As I walked up the street I saw this mosaic tile art in the doorway of a Victorian. Hopefully, it will inspire you and your hexagons.

 

Basketweave Baby Again

Petaluma Tile
Petaluma Tile

I was looking through some old photos the other day and came across this photo of tile that I saw in Petaluma 6 years ago when I visited the last Great Petaluma Outdoor Quilt Show.

I posted this picture before (thus the link), but it wasn’t until I looked at it again the other day that I realized how much it looked like the Basketweave Baby quilt that I am still obsessing over. You can read about my obsession here or here.

Fons & Porter Basketweave Baby
Fons & Porter Basketweave Baby

CPP Nearing End of Vacation

Remember I said that the CPP will continue? And that I am going to offer some creativity prizes? Anyone who posts a response to any of the prompts between now and the post for prompt #111 will be entered for a prize. Yes, I know it is end of school and vacation time. If you do a response to any prompt (there are 110), you will get into the drawing. Anyone who gets a friend to do a response will get two entries.

These will not be quilt related prizes, but creativity related prizes.

Don’t wait until the last minute. Do your response NOW and post the link in the appropriate comments section.

Maker Faire Inspiration

 

FabMo.org booth
FabMo.org booth

A very kind person gave us tickets to the Maker Faire. It is something that I have heard lots of good things about, but never visited. Friend Julie loves it. Maureen and Amy from the Creative Mom podcast also rave about it. We finally got a chance to go and I have to say that the best thing about it was being inspired. I saw lots of this and that which had a nice line or good texture or something else that struck my imagination. It made it worth it to give up a day of sewing for that inspiration.

One of the things I really liked and did not photograph was the Steampunk costumes and fantastical vehicles. The ingenuity and creativity was amazing and oozing all over the place.

Back of Coat
Back of Coat

I don’t know this woman. I have no idea if she knew I was photographing the back of her coat. I really liked the back of her coat. It looked very tailored, yet easy to wear.

Embroidered Buttons
Embroidered Buttons

I have an embroidery module on my sewing machine. Lately I keep hearing about or needing to deal with buttons. This display gave me the idea of making my own buttons from embroidered designs I can do using my embroidery module. Cool, eh?

Bathroom Quilt Idea
Bathroom Quilt Idea

Every year for the past few years, I have talked about the quilt I want to make and put in one or both of my bathrooms. I saw this display and it is the same idea. I probably would make mine 4×5 rather than 3 x 12 or whatever it was. I like the idea of slipping things in and taking them out.

FabMo.org Dresden Plate
FabMo.org Dresden Plate

I don’t know anything about the above Dresden Plate,but the fact that it is in the FabMo booth makes me think the maker used FabMo fabrics. Isn’t it GREAT?

Inspiration Foot
Inspiration Foot

In a sea of black, denim and asphalt was this kid wearing red Chuck Taylors. I couldn’t stop looking at this foot dangling off of the dad who held him for the entire 20 minutes of the Mentos/Coke Zero show. He didn’t wiggle or talk really, his dad didn’t complain about holding him and the whole time his foot dangled down waiting for me to photograph it. The socks are an added bonus. This is definitely a photo I want to draw.

 

Inspiration Sunday

Purse Flower
Purse Flower
Purse Flower Detail
Purse Flower Detail

Yes, more from my sad shoe shopping experience. At least I found something for you. 😉

I think that the flower could easily be reproduced in fabric – ‘easily’ meaning not quick, but the picture makes it look relatively painless and straightforward, if a bit fiddly.

I do feel like I haven’t had much time to sew, which, further, means I have nothing to show. Perhaps tomorrow.

Have a Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Various & Sundry 2011 #7

Inspiration

I saw this photo on Camille Roskelly’s blog and couldn’t get the sentiment out of my mind. I like her blog. I like the colors and the feel. I like the look of it and the hopeful tone of the way she writes. As an added bonus, Bonnie and Camille (of the Camille referenced above) are coming out with a new fabric line called Ruby. It looks very similar to Bliss in the coloration and in a few of the motifs. I can’t see the motifs very well, but what I can see I love. I want a full half yard set of all of the prints. I have to resist.

If you haven’t looked at Nina Johansson’s blog recently, it is worth a look. Her drawings are lovely, especially some food drawings she did in Barcelona.

Exhibits

From the American Museum of Folk Art newsletter: See http://www.folkartmuseum.org/infinitevariety for more information. Thanks to TFQ for passing this along.
More than 24,000 people came to see “Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts,” presented by the museum at the Park Avenue Armory last month. It was the largest exhibition of quilts ever held in New York City. Visitors from around the world filled guest books with thank-you notes expressing their gratitude to Joanna S. Rose for sharing her singular collection, and many have posted images to the museum’s Flickr group. We will upload footage of lectures and interviews to our YouTube channel soon. 

This magical but ephemeral moment will ultimately be captured in the pages of a fully illustrated catalog copublished by the American Folk Art Museum and written by Elizabeth V. Warren, guest curator of this spectacular presentation. Stay tuned for information about the publication date.

A digital guide to the exhibition, including images of all 650 quilts that were on display, is available as a free app for your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Android smart phone. Go to the Apple iTunes App Store or Android Market for the free download.

I downloaded the iPad app and found it to be quite inspirational. It took awhile to download, but it is great to have a quilt exhibit at my fingertips.

Fabric

Do you need an explanation of what exactly those dessert bundles Moda is selling contain? As your info resource, I found one for you at the Moda Bakeshop. Take a look.

Other Artists

Freshly Pieced is having a SuperNova challenge/exchange. The blog author posted some examples of participants’ work. The post is a great example of how, using one block, everyone’s work will be different.

The Molly Flanders blog author has started a Flowering Snowball quilt. It is flattering to think that I started something, but I doubt it. Remember mine? I haven’t done anything lately on it and need to make the border.

Workspace

Ever since I did some spring cleaning last week, I have been thinking about upgrading my space: paint, shelves, clearing out more junk, eh-hem unneeded, perfectly good items. Of course, in my travels around the web and other media I keep seeing different workspaces. I saw this one and this one and this one (another view here here). How these artists work in their lovely chairs? Don’t get me wrong, they look gorgeous! I need an office chair with lumbar support and adjustable height otherwise my body hurts and I feel like an 85 year old. And all of those sensible shoes kind of chairs don’t fit with any decor. Yes, I drape fabric all over them, so what does it matter?