Fine art to funky traditional: life and quilting
I changed subscription options on my blog. I was offering subscriptions through Feedburner, but it wasn’t displaying my entire posts or photos in blog readers. So I replaced it with a Bloglines button so you can subscribe directly through Bloglines. I’ll be adding Yahoo buttons as well as others, so let me know what newsreaders you use and I’ll be happy to add those.
Soon I’ll be adding the option to subscribe via e-mail, so you can receive my blog postings in your e-mail inbox. Coming soon!
They’ve dropped “magazine” from their title, revamped the cover look, and added new columnists, including John Flynn. This month they’re featuring an excerpt from Jennifer Chiaverini’s new book The Fabric Diary.
I received my QN in the mail yesterday, and the first change I noticed was the subtitle at the top of the magazine: Art -Craft-Community. They seem to be focusing more on art quilts also. The traditional patterns are still there, but not as many patterns as in previous issues. The magazine has a more contemporary look overall. It will be interesting to follow to see what direction the magazine follows.
DSC01531.jpg, originally uploaded by Colorful Quilter.
Each week I have an Artist Date with myself, a practice recommended in the Artist’s Way. Sometimes I go on a field trip outdoors, to an art gallery or a museum, or I’ll work in my studio doing something completely different.
This week I worked on a quilt top from a pattern - 4-Patch Stacked Posies. Since I design my own work, working from a pattern is one of the ways I keep up with what others are doing in the world of quilting. Are my methods current or can I learn something new from another designer? This is especially useful for me since I live in a rural area and it’s tough to get to a city without a half day’s drive.
This pattern’s premise is that it’s supposed to be a simple way to get a completely different look for each block from only one fabric. Although I like the overall look, I thought the instructions were confusing. I ended up with 21 unusable blocks out of 33 because I followed the instructions (all five pages of them) but they were misleading. To Mary Lou Hallenback’s credit, she did email me a way of correcting the blocks so I can use them, but it involves fussy cutting 21 more pieces. Not the simple method I was looking for.
The quilt in the pattern is shown with sashing and borders, but I won’t be adding those. I like the blocks themselves to tell the story in the quilt, and I add borders only if they add value to the quilt itself, not just to make it bigger.
I’m writing this from Flickr, my first blogging post from their site. We’ll see how it goes!
“Can you really shop for fabric for four hours?” my husband asked me incredulously.
Obviously he thought he was dealing with an amateur. And we weren’t talking about just any fabric shop; this was Mary Jo’s Cloth store in Gastonia, NC. I hope you’ve been there. If you haven’t, make a date to do it.
Mary Jo’s is a huge fabric superstore that offers quilting, garment, upholstry, wedding, and any other kind of fabric you can think of at super low prices. The average price I paid for a yard of quilting fabric was $5.39 a yard. So that’s exactly what I did. I bought long (thanks to Mary Ellen) and bought a yard of everything. You never know when you’ll need it.
We had traveled to the N.C./S.C. border for a wedding of some friends. And I just had to make a stop at Mary Jo’s, while my older son stopped by Barnes and Nobles for the latest Harry Potter. Twenty-four hours later, he finished the book. I won’t spoil the end for you, but he loved it.
The giggles and squeals are gone, but the memories linger. The sister duo finished their doll quilts and were absolutely delighted with them, and I was proud of their accomplishment. A doll quilt is not an easy first sewing project, but they had a great time and are excited about sewing. That was my goal, and I’ll definitely be doing this again.
Didn’t they do a fabulous job on their quilts?
Thank you for all of your thoughtful and insightful suggestions for my studio. I will definitely be putting in a mini-fridge, excellent lighting, and a huge design wall. I ran by my husband the suggestion to put the electrical outlet for the iron in the ceiling, and he balked, saying I’m too forgetful about unplugging as it is. Oh well, I can’t have everything I guess.
The lucky winner for the Amazon gift certificate is Jen L.! My youngest son drew for the winner and he picked Jen’s name. I haven’t posted any photos of the studio lately because it looks the same. All other parts of the house have hardwood floors in and cabinets up. My studio will be done later: cabinets go in this weekend, and the floor will be one of the last things to be installed.
I hope you’ll take a look around my new blog home. Consider subscribing and having my posts delivered to you! I’ve always got something new going on, and I love to share and see what others are doing.
I’ve made many purse patterns and I’m usually disappointed in the results: the pattern looks great, but once I make it I find it’s not really as functional as a purse I could buy. No more.
Meet Annabelle. I spied her at the Quilt Beginnings shop in Columbus, OH, and I fell in love. I had to have her. She’s the creation of Renay Martin of Purse Strings Patterns. She’s easy to get to know, beautiful, and really functional. What a cutie.
Here are a few photos to show you the process and how gorgeous she turns out:
You start by adding strips to fusible fleece (I didn’t have any so I just used batting). I used Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabrics:
Renay suggests using decorative stitches to add interest, so I did a couple of samplers on scraps to see what I liked.
I ended up doing machine quilting instead. I thought the decorative stitches overpowered the fabric, while the machine quilting gave the bag texture without detracting from the fabrics.
Here’s what it looks like on the inside, before the lining:
The lining is Merrimeko fabric from Pottery Barn, and is more like canvas than most 100% cotton fabrics:
Here she is all finished, with a vintage button and some beads:
I’ll definitely be making a fall and winter version of Annabelle. I’ve been using the purse for a month and it’s held up well. I love it!
Sew! Mama Sew! is featuring lots of great bags, both originals and from patterns, on her blog. Check them out by visiting her blog.
Giggles and squeals of glee have filled my studio this week, as I’ve been teaching sisters, ages 8 and 10, how to make a doll quilt. I’ve included my little guy as well, and they’ve been having a delightful time. I’ve told them all they’re getting speeding tickets for sewing so quickly with the machine, and they think that’s a hoot, needling each other with, “Don’t get a speeding ticket!” when it’s someone else’s turn at the machine.
I’ve taught my own boys how to sew, but this is the first time I’ve taught other people’s children. I also homeschooled my boys for three years, so I have a lot of experience teaching kids as well as adults. Here are my tips for teaching young children how to piece at the machine:
I knew the day had been a success when I heard groans from the munchkins when I said it was time to stop for today; tonight my son confided,
“Mom, all I want to do is quilt!”
Watch out world for the next generation of quilters. They’re armed with fabric, sewing machines, and lots of giggles.
NPR has a delightful interview with Eric Carle here, including this excerpt:
Yellow poses the biggest challenge to Carle. He can create 10 shades of green — from bright lime green to muted brown-greens and gray-greens – colors he remembers draping Germany’s camouflaged buildings in World War II. But he has only discovered how to make about four shades of yellow.
It’s the difficult nature of yellow that makes it his favorite color. Readers can find variations of it in nearly all of his books — often, in the shape of a smiling sun.
Yellow proves challenging even for professionals. But notice how Eric doesn’t begrudge yellow, instead he made it his favorite color! What a fresh approach to an obstacle: turn it into an opportunity.
I’ve always wanted to do an Eric Carle-inspired quilt. Now it will definitely include yellow.
Sometimes it’s good to break out of a rut, taking a new approach. That’s exactly what I did with this sweet doll quilt. I’m an art quilter who does everything by machine, but I wanted to do something completely different, just for me. So I pieced a lot of points, used pastels, and hand-quilted this quilt. And the fabrics are all from my stash.
I learn from my experiments, and this quilt was a real eye-opener for me. You wouldn’t think such a small piece could teach you so much, but I learned a lot, especially about hand quilting. I came up with my own technique to baste instead of thread basting the way you normally do with hand quilting.
I also pressed my seams open on this quilt, and I was amazed at what a difference in made in my accuracy and how flat the quilt lied. I rarely ever press seams until the entire top is complete because I get too much distortion. These blocks had to be pieced as I went, so I tried the seams open technique, and they were dead-on accurate. The top also lied flatter than any top I ever worked on.
They key to having fun, even in quilting, lies in doing something new.
Wouldn’t you just love to watch someone’s quilt studio being built and outfitted from the beginning? And to be a part of it by offering your best studio suggestions? I’m giving you that opportunity: a glimpse into the building of our new home, and the room I’m most excited about: my new studio. And I’m drawing an Amazon gift certificate from those who offer studio suggestions on this blog!
I’m excited about the opportunity to share with everyone the progress of this new studio. It’s a bonus room above our garage: similar to what I have now, but I currently share that space with my husband. I enjoy our arrangement, because he can work in the evenings on paperwork and we can chat while I quilt.But his business is growing and he needs a bigger office all to himself, so I get a studio to myself. What will I do with all that space? Fill every blessed square inch of it with my quilting stuff!
Here are the photos of the studio as of last weekend:
The right side of the studio, with a window overlooking the yard. The left side of the studio looks the same, as shown in the first photo on this posting. That blank wall will be my design wall.
Here’s the view looking back to the doorway:
Big, huh? My plan to is to put bookshelves all along these walls and store my fabric and books there.
I’d love to hear any suggestions you may have on what you love in your studios. Let’s make it fun and do a contest: submit your great idea for my studio (by commenting on this post), and I’ll draw for a $25.00 Amazon gift certificate from the entries. Submit before the deadline of Friday, July 20th, and I’ll announce the winner on Monday, July 23rd.
Keep checking back for progress reports. This week I’m choosing paint colors and tile!
Welcome to award-winning author and quilt artist Maria Peagler's online studio and classroom. Relax, have some fun, and take a look around. You'll find quilts, free lessons and ebooks. Keep checking back, I've always got something new. Better yet, subscribe to my blog!
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