What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

You wouldn't think that living outside of Erie, Pennsylvania would be a center of culture. And it kinda isn't.  But it kinda is.  Really, we're within an hour or two of Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.  Plus 3 hrs out of Toronto. As well as 2.5 hrs out of central Ohio.  Yes, you read that right ....central Ohio.   Central Ohio, for you not in the know, is a hot bed of quilting.  Not only is there a plethora of quilt stores, quilt groups, retreat spots but also there is The Dairy Barn Art Center (home to Quilt ...

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 Okay, so I don't like change.  I know most people say that, but I really don't like change.  Of course, this

translates into my quilting life as well.  When I find a tool I like, I like it for life.  That would be why I am using the same rulers (Quickline designed by Nancy Crow) as I did 30 years ago.  Not to mention, I have my square rulers (Bias Square from the Patchwork Place) and rotary cutter by Kai.  When they wear out, I just check on ebay for replacements.  

That all said, I still keep my ...

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Dorothy's Lange

This week finds me traveling to Washington DC to visit the National Gallery.  We love the National

Dorothea Lange, Formerly enslaved woman, Alabama, 1938

Mall since we are kinda museum junkies.  But we haven't been back since 2019 due to the dreaded plague.  I keep an eye on the National Gallery's webpage and discovered that they are running a Dorothea Lange exhibit through March.  So Paul is indulging me with a quick trip down to see it as well as the Mark Rothko exhibit and Masters of American Furniture, the Kaufman Collection (see a little ...

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 So this week, it was brought to my attention, how much social media has changed over the short life of the internet.   In the late 90's, it wasn't unusual to connect with other quilters on different sites including www.quilt.com.  There were also forums (Reddit type)  where you could ask questions and form groups.  I joined a quilt guild that was active but just virtually.  At the time,  it was all very new and

interesting.  I also belonged to two email groups (one traditional - one art quilt-based) where you would start a topic and people would chime ...

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 Okay, it's guilty pleasure confession time....One of my favorite things to do when I'm avoiding working in my studio is to look at videos and TikTok of other artists' sketchbooks.  It all started with me looking at my daughter's best friend's TikTok page.  Brittany is a trained artist and it's been fun to watch her develop into this amazing professional.  Here is the one that started it all.  She spent the year doing a lot of figure studies.  That led to one of my favorite hashtags #sketchbooktour | TikTok where there are a ton of ...

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Women Ironing, 1884–86. Edgar Degas

First I want to say a big thank you for all the kind words I received over the last couple of months.  This has been the first significant break I took from blogging and it was really needed.  I've learned that my creative journey has had its ups and downs over the years, and it's okay.  To quote my friend, Rhonda, just "Don't give up",  So I'm not.  

I'm officially back in my studio!  It's funny to get back into your studio and think, "Okay, where was I ...

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Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center

We interrupt your regularly schedule programming to bring you something a bit different today.  Anybody who is a regular reader will know that I am a firm believer in exposing oneself to all sorts of art and culture.  My reasoning is that not only is it good for your own personal education and mental health, but also you never quite know where the inspiration for your next piece will come from.  When the plague struck, it reinforced this belief that culture is essential to one's life.  I told myself that I would never ...

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 This week I got the book, The Quilter's Catalog, a Comprehensive Source Guide, written by Meg Cox in 2008.  I bought it for a full $5.25 so it was quite the bargain.  

"The  complete quilter's companion and essential resource, jam packed with information, supplies, explert interviews, techniques, community and inspiration."

And truly it is ... for 2008. Browsing through it, got me feeling nostalgic.  Maybe it's hitting middle age but it's just odd how many things in this book from only 15 years ago are now obsolete.

I remember back in 1995, and all you would ...

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One down - 3 more to go

 It's always hard to get back into the swing of things after a vacation, isn't it?  At least that is what I found this week.  I did manage to get my studio unpacked and finally looked at my Block of the Month, Homeward Bound.

Sighhhhhhh

I had a few rules  parameters when I started this journey last January.

• Stick to the pattern
• Stick to the technique the designer was teaching
• Finish each month on time

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 After much angst,  I did manage to come up with a photo for my upcoming Timna Tarr's Stitched Mosiac class.  Good thing too since it starts on Monday morning!  I did do a lot of research, but ultimately I took the easy way out and bought a picture from IStock.  

Points that lead to this choice

1. It has the same joyful theme that Tessa's Mosaic does so it will form a series
2. The color palettes will be similar
3. No faces to obsess about
4. Hands that I know how to do
5. Landscape orientation

You see, somewhere in my research ...

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 My day job is selling clothing.  Today, as I sold my 13th coral almond shirt, it had me asking - Why coral almond?  I'm not overly fond of the color, but my customers are eating it up (well not literally).  I long for the days of lime green which I love...but nope it's all about coral this year.  WHY?

Welllll....apparently..... there is a handful of companies whose job it is to decide what are the "In" colors are this year.  How?  Through a lot of research in cultural and psychological trends.  The crazy thing is that it ...

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Four Flying Geese for the price of

Yeah know, I don't know where the idiom, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" comes from.  I know we're all set in our ways, but really, doesn't everyone like to learn something new that will make their life easier?  That's what I did this week.  I continued on with The Quilt Show's Block of the Month quilt, Homeward Bound.  With June, came the piecing of the stars that radiate all the way to the edge corners.  When I first read the directions, they were made ...

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So does everyone have that one big project that just seems to go on and on with no real end in sight?  My English paper pieced pinwheels is that project.  It's been going on for ...oh I don't know... 13 years now??  I know I started it in a weak moment.  I had finished the 4,200-piece tumbling blocks quilt and thought "Gee I haven't EPP in a while".  What happened if I did an improv EPP using just one shape but played with value.  At that point I never saw an art quilt improvisationally English paper ...

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Me stitching in my studio watching the Mentalist...again

Okay, let's face it.  I'm not one for following trends.  I'm the type that decides what is good for me and mine and then goes in that direction.  I do, however, keep track of trends, just because it's good to stay informed.  I recently got Timna Tarr's latest newsletter and it mentioned that handwork is becoming more of a trend on the national scene.  That I can see.  You hear of handwork everywhere these days.  First English paper piecing made a resurgence with the Millefiori Quilts ...

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 Yes!  I finally did it!  Got into my studio to finish up the piecing of Rain, Rain.  It's funny, once I was motivated it just took a good afternoon to put the finishing touches on the composition.  I swear, this quick little project has gotten so out of hand! The more I worked on it, the more I wanted to work on it.  Next thing you know it looked like this....

I'm not doing any borders because I personally hate borders (grin).

The only thing left to do is sew up the columns and layer the top for ...

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Before

Backing layered with Warm & Natural

Spray Basted

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 This week I read an emotional social media post made by a friend of mine from high school.  They are and always have been a truly unique, special individual.  I knew that from the moment I met them when we both were 14 and I said, "Hey, you want a Pez?" The post spoke finally of their acceptance of the fact that they did their art for the love of it.  Not for the money...not for the accolades...not for the "likes".  

I read it and I thought FINALLY!

I knew from the start that their art wasn't ...

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After writing last week's post, I was really excited to try out some of the WonderFil threads I've been collecting.  They have been sending me nice samples for the whole pandemic and I've never gotten around to seeing if they actually worked in my Janome Horizon.  "Work" is defined as easily free motion quilted with little to no fussing or breakage.  I don't know about you but the one thing I HATE is having my thread continually break.  Not only does it annoy me but it ruins the creative flow I have when I quilt.  That ...

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Spotlight, Aqua

Okay, I'll admit it.  I'm turning into a thread geek.  I wouldn't say a thread snob but definitely a thread geek! It came on gradually.  I mean in the beginning, we were all taught that you MUST use cotton thread on your quilts because your quilts were made of all cotton.  Through experimentation, I found you could use all sorts of threads while making quilts (the biggest surprise was hand quilting with rayon on my drag around quilt.  It washed and wore fine!)  The more I explored, the more I found exciting new threads to ...

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