What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 

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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Walking Through Time, Sue Benner

Flora 6, Anna Brown

Okay, am I the only one that just looked up today and realized it was July 1st?  How did that happen?  I mean it's half the year!  I was cleaning my studio and noticed the little pile of Christmas gifts I got that I never really dug into.  One of them is this amazing book, Exploring the Abstract: an Instructional journey by Joan Blackburn. Although it's explorations using paint, it could easily translate to surface
design on fabric.  It landed on my wish list because this book is loaded ...

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Using start for turn under applique

Well today I said enough is enough, I'm taking some time to just quietly sew.  My studio misses me. Hmmm well if I am being truthful, I'm quite sure, it's forgotten my name.  Luckily, my boss agreeded with me and gave me some VTO (Voluntary Time Off!)  It felt genuinely decadent to go sew when I should be working.

Once I got everything plugged in, I sat down and my body just went ahhhhhhhhh.  After a week of sewing at Marc Adams at a work station that was not efficient or ...

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This is why we asked Will for more tables!

 Is anybody surprised that a week after getting home, not only am I just feeling normal again but my
studio is not unpacked?  Gosh!!  There it all sits in the middle of the room just waiting to get back to its proper place.  It really was a great class....exhausting...but great.  After spending 2 years isolating it was so odd to be around people for most of the day!

Back in the early 90s, Marc Adams had the vision to start a woodworking school in the middle of a cornfield ...

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One of my favorite blogs to read on a daily basis is called  Ask a Manager.  It's not so much that  I need advice in the workplace but it's a great study of how different humans are in general.  Like Allison says, "Humans are weird" and THAT is interesting! (more on this at the end)

I bring this up because that is where I got the idea for today's post.  After over 11 years of blogging, I thought it would be fun to list MY favorite posts.  

1. What is a Focal Point...I love this one because ...

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Finally ready to Quilt!

How in the world are we looking at March already?  I mean you wouldn't know it since we are
expecting 6" of snow tonight...but still!  I look at my "Things to Do" list on my studio wall and thought I better start getting back after it!   One project I left on the back burner is the Cherrywood Challenge.  When I say on the back burner, I really mean, it's been ruminating around in my snow-covered mind, but I haven't actually done anything yet.   Back in October, it seemed like I had so ...

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 Sorry hectic crazy week....but I did want to add quickly under Things I like...if you love fried rice (and I mean who doesn't like fried rice!!)  I highly suggest watching youtube videos by "Uncle Roger".  Not only did he lift the winter blues away for a bit, but he has me working on perfecting my own fried rice.  Nygel is an interesting creative guy too who has shared his creative journey in interviews!

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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 Last week I explained how I create an idea from the very beginning.  This week I actually put it into practice.  With the Sacred Threads Art Show deadline 7 weeks away, I really need to get my act together.  Of course, after the year I've had, sometimes I forget where my act actually is so I can get it together.  Luckily I found some creativity I had squirred away for a rainy day and the design is well on its way.  

Red and Orange Streak, OKeefe

#1 Theme - For Sacred Threads, it needs to be themes that explore joy ...

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Okay, I know fusing  quilt tops is popular with the time-crunched quilters of today....very popular.  But there are still those of us that are doing a lot of piecing.  I love to piece.  I love the texture that extra layer of fabric adds with the seams.  You can feel it every time you run your fingers over your work.  

All of this came to me this week, as I spent time hand piecing my pinwheels.  It's amazing what you think of when you quietly make stitch after stitch after stitch after stitch.  From there I got to thinking ...

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 So it's gettin' to be that time of year when my family asks me to fill in my Giftster list on what I want for Christmas.  This year it's harder than most since I really don't need anything.  I started looking through my studio and noticed how much digital fabric I bought this year.  Something about the vibrant colors and the funky abstract designs really appealed to me.  In the last 5 years, I haven't bought  much commercial fabric since #1 It's so Godawful expensive and #2 that midcentury "modern" design is not my ...

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 My family is a family of creative makers.  When Paul and I were just dating, we both started new
hobbies.  He bought a woodworking Shopsmith on a whim at a mall demonstration and I got a quilting book by mistake in the mail.  28 years later, we are both consumed by our passion for wood and fabric and our marriage is as strong as ever.  

Five years in, along came Tessa.  Now I diligently exposed her to all sorts of media as she grew up, hoping

to spark her "passion".   She played with them  - explored them - enjoyed them, but nothing ...

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 So this week I got my feelings hurt.  My husband and I heard of a local art show for artists over 55.  Since this year I have officially aged gracefully into that criteria, Paul brought in two of his woodworking pieces and two of my art quilts.  He chose a chest with a marquetry tiger on it as well as this nice concrete/wood table.  (Both of which were just taking up space here!) .  I sent the Lilies and Clapboards and Birdhouses quilts.  He came home with my two wall hangings.  Apparently, my work is not considered art.  It's ...

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 Back!  Finally!!  Thank you all for the prayers and kind thoughts!  This week I entered back into my real life after spending three weeks helping my parents out.  When you're gone that long, you're normal routine starts feeling a little surreal.  Four days back and I'm still not quite into the swing of things.  My good friend Rhonda said that all I needed was a little focus and routine.  She's so smart!

Just to show you how little focus I have, I was cleaning out my room and found the latest book by Jennifer Sampou called ...

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Me in Sewing Studio on my island

They say the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem.  Now, I wouldn't say I have a problem so much as  a guilty pleasure...it's Nintendo's Animal Crossing New Horizons game.  Early this year, I decided that TV and social media had become toxic to my life so I made a change.  We cut our ties with Direct TV, bought a new smart TV that streamed easily and I got myself a Nintendo Switch game console. So now if we do watch TV it's usually something ...

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