Creativity

Are you creative? Do you have creative blocks?  I have been going through a stultifying time that has been on-going for several months now. That is, until my niece loaned me a book.


What book, you ask?

"Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" by Anne Lamott.

I am, in fact, still reading this book as the information in it needs to percolate in my brain. She is a very funny lady and this is really a good read. Yes, it is geared to writing, but it can also apply to any sort of creative endeavor, including quilts.

"Out of the Box: Unleash Your Creativity Through Quilts"
by Mary Lou Weidman.

Then I started reading a totally different book. What can I say about this book? Before I was even half way though, I was sketching ideas into my sketch book! I don't know what it was about this book, but it opened up the floodgates and I have two good ideas for story quilts. Yesss!


So if, like me, you have been blocked in your quilt making, turn to something else for awhile. You never know what will unleash the creativity.

Whiter Than Snow

No one knew what triggered the Swandyke avalanche that began at exactly 4:10 p.m. on April 20, 1920. It might have been the dynamite charge that was set off at the end of shift on the upper level of the Fourth of July Mine. The miners claimed the blast was too far inside the mountain to be felt on the surface, and besides, they had set off dynamite hundreds, maybe thousands of times before, and nothing bad had happened. Except for that one time when a charge failed to go off and Howard Dolan hit it with his pick when he was mucking out the stope and blew himself and his partner to kingdom come.


Still, who knew how the old mountain took retribution for having its insides clawed out.


Certainly, there was nothing to suggest that the day was different from any other. It started chill and clear

The above is an excerpt from Sandra Dallas' latest book "Whiter Than Snow". If you follow the link you can read a little more of the excerpt. I have been offered a copy of the book to review on my blog and I'll give you a full report after I've read it.

Quilting Makes the Quilt

Imagine, if you will, five exact copies of the same quilt. Now, quilt each copy differently. This is what Lee Celland, an Australian machine quilter did for her book, Quilting Makes the Quilt. She made 5 copies of 12 different quilts (that is 60 quilts in case you are counting) and then quilted each one differently. It is fascinating to see the same quilt, quilted 5 different ways. You can see how a quilt looks with an all-over pattern, or a curvilinear pattern or straight line quilting.

Not only are there color photographs of all these quilts, but there are priceless instructions on how to make a design fit an area, whether is is a grid pattern, curves or an all over design. This alone is worth the price of the book.

But wait, there's more! She has included patterns for making the 12 quilts plus a pull out section of some of the original quilting designs. What a gem of a book.

In the 1970s during the resurgence of quilt making, quilting vaguely resembled the photo on the left: scattered quilted motifs on a high loft bat that resulted in a poofy look in un-quilted areas. After seeing a couple of Lee's quilts with some areas like that, I wanted to grab the quilt and add more stitches. But Lee anticipated this and shows the different look on several quilts.

Quilting density is all a matter of likes and dislikes. I like an equal amount of quilting overall, it doesn't have to be dense just equal. After showing this photo to CarGuy and asking which one he liked, he said he liked the puffy areas. Go figure.

A Single Thread

Want a good read? I highly recommend A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick. It's like attending a quilting bee with all of your best friends. This is a novel populated with people you know: the quilt shop owner, the older friend with the crusty exterior, the young novice quilter, the unemployed marketing manager. As they gather together, you will feel like you are right there with them sharing theirs fears, anger, sorrow and triumphs. Be sure to read this one.

Once Upon A Quilt

Books like this are to be savored. Taken in small bites. Once Upon A Quilt - A Scrapbook of Quilting Past and Present by Margret Aldrich is a delightful mix of stories by such authors as Helen Kelley, Ami Simms, Sandra Dallas and others plus wonderful illustrations from past and present. It is not a pattern book.

A little nibble this morning resulted in getting stuck on the stacked flower quilts illustration from Rebecca Barker. Mmm... luscious. You should note that this illustration is opposite the contents page so I did not get very far into the book before getting mesmerized. Go to her website (linked above) and look through the note cards. You will not be sorry.

It's a Sickness, I Tell Ya

I bought a lifetime membership to Library Thing. It's cheap: $25.00 and you can put all your books in the database. So I got started. See the new item in my sidebar about Library Thing? I have 301 books in the database and out of those, 300 are fiber related (mainly quilting).

I haven't even gotten to the 3 bookcases of fiction. Sigh.

I seem to have found another stash that I didn't even realize that I had.

Collecting: it's a sickness. I need an intervention.

Coffee Klatch

Pull up a chair and set down. I'll pour the coffee and set out the sweet rolls. How've you been? Me? I have been very, very busy.

I went to Denver City on Saturday. And guess what? I saw vultures. Circling over the courthouse in my little town. I wonder what that means? And the corn in the fields was higher than the top of your head. Over in that field I saw cows standing belly deep in a pond. And beyond that there were 4 deputy sheriffs on horseback! Not in a parade or at the fair, but over by Platteville where the veggie farms are located. I wonder what they were looking for? The hay has been harvested and all the hay fields are sporting flattops.

O my it was hot! 103 degrees F (39 degrees C). But the trip was a necessity. You see, I met with a real estate agent to list Auntie's condo. Yay! It is officially on the market. I hope it sells quickly. I told the agent I was willing to negotiate, within reason. I am so glad not to have to go into that place again to work.

Then I went on to the new apartment in the assisted living and was able to have a nice visit with Auntie. She had complained about the heat and I said to turn the AC on. She told me that it blows on her shoulder and chills her so I took a portable oscillating fan and set it up in a corner so it blows throughout the room. I also took about a half dozen books for her and swapped them out for the ones I left last time. She is such a voracious reader that I am spending a small fortune in books. Thank goodness for used book stores. I have started to buy an occasional used hardback because the type is bigger.

I spent a bit of time last week making a blouse sloper for her out of some 50cent a yard pink and white check fabric. She thought it was a real blouse until I had her put it on and she realized there was one long sleeve and one short sleeve. I will only have to make minor adjustments to the pattern thank goodness. She was thrilled to realize that I was going to make some blouses for her. I took five different fashion fabrics down with me, you know the kind -- the slinky, slippery stuff. I wanted her to pick out the ones she wanted. You guessed it, she wanted them all: two long sleeved and 3 short sleeved. Then she said how 'bout some slacks? Well, erm, one thing at a time, ok?

We have been getting some estimates to replace the clerestory windows in the house. One of the thermal windows is actually cracked on both sides. We are in the queue for 3-5 weeks out. That will give me a chance to make some more of the Warm Window blinds like in this post. These are not hard to make and are great if one is trying to either reduce heat gain in the summer or forestall heat loss in the winter and as a quilter I am set up with the space needed to sew on something like this. I actually saved $$$ on all the fabrics and hardware by using those Joann Fabric 40% and 50% off coupons to buy everything I needed. It has taken about a year but now I'm all set. Just need to get started.

The sculpture shows are this weekend. Can you believe that I actually get paid to hang out in an artful place and talk to people and sell some art? Tough job but somebody's got to do it.

I currently have two quilts at the long arm quilter. One of them is the Homespun BOM. When I get it back and bound I am planning on a bit of a giveaway. Stay tuned for more information on that.

Bike To Work Day

Today is the day that all the people who DON'T ride their bikes to ride their bike to work. Can you say heart attack or heat stroke? The premise is good: to get people to ride a bicycle to work for one day. But really. How many people will ride it one way and then wimp out?

Ok, enuff ranting.

I ride my bicycle to work every day I can. In fact, it is working out to be 4 out of 5 days. I ride 10 miles (16 km) round trip. My time is better from when I first started riding. It now takes me 25 minutes rather than 45 minutes. I need to figure out how much money I am saving by not consuming so much gasoline. I also spend less money shopping because, frankly, it is hard to carry items on a bicycle. I will have to do a photo journey for you one of these days on my bike route.

The picture was taken in front of my favorite book store/coffee shop, both of them independents (Anthology Book Company and The Coffee Tree) not chains. Notice the bronze cougar bench? Sculpture by Rosetta. This is the type of thing we have all over town.

Update: thanks to Iron Needles I how much I am saving.
Your Result Per Day Per Week Per Year**
Possible savings: $7.30 $29.20 $1,460.00
Calories burned: 360 calories 1,440 72,000
calories calories
Reduction in carbon 0.51 lbs 2.05 lbs 102.40 lbs
monoxide emissions:

** Based on a 50-week work year.

The Duel: The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat

Michele, over at With Heart and Hands, A Quilting Journey had a post on Friday honoring her mother. The poem that she posted reminded me of this little quilt.

I did not make this quilt. This was published in McCall's Needlework & Crafts Bicentennial Quilt Book (1976). Here is the blurb:

"Two favorite nursery pals are multiplied by three for six go-to-sleep friends. Applique each dog or cat with bright scraps of calico or gingham , add winsome faces with simple embroidery, and frame in cheerful yellow calico. An interesting square-in-square quilting design sculpts the border. Quilt measures about 34" x 44". Designer is Gertrude M. Rice."

It's a cute little quilt, don't you think? The fabric choices are O-so-70's, but that is what was available.

I also went on a search through my book shelves. I found my little book: One Hundred Best Poems for Boys and Girls compiled by Marjorie Barrows, published in 1930. This was my mother's book and now mine. The poems in this book are illustrated with silhouettes and have such titles as Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee and The Night Will Never Stay and The Owl and the Pussycat. The Duel by Eugene Field is in here along with my all time favorite:

The Purple Cow
by Gelett Burgess

I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one.
But this I will say anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.

Yes, I have been quilting for this long.
Happy Mother's Day!

ALQS and a great mail day

Such a lovely day on Wednesday! The weather was great -- almost 80°F and when I got home from work there was not one but two packages waiting for me.

One of the packages contained an assortment of fabrics from eQuilter. They all have spots and/or dots and some of them may end up in the little quilt I am making for Another Little Quilt Swap. For now, they have been added to the black and white fabric stew to see who plays well with the others. I'm in the design phase of the quilt.

The other package contained the Four Seasons Quilt Swap - Spring from Karrin at Karrin's Crazy World.

O, I had forgotten that I had ordered this book and had it delivered to work.

What a really great mail day!

The Thirteenth Tale

Want to read a really good book? You can read an excerpt at this website: The Thirteenth Tale. Just click on the doors and enter. Be forewarned: there is music.

I couldn't put it down.

I'm busy

reading. I'll be back when I'm done.

I finished reading about 5:30pm. We had a four hour power outage. I had to read -- there just wasn't anything else to do.

Good read. I won't spoil it for others.

He's almost here!

I mean Harry of course.

And for you knitter's out there, read this short fun article about Needles and Broomsticks.

Book Reports

I've been catching up on some reading. Recent ones have been non-fiction quilting and sewing books. I'm making room for the pile of used paperbacks consisting of mainly Nevada Barr and Sue Grafton that I recently purchased at the used book store. The paperbacks are for Auntie. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I just finished reading Optical Illusions for Quilters by Karen Combs. I liked this book because it was a nice refresher course for me on perspective and using color values to show transparencies. I would think, though, that it might be a little bit technical for a novice but if the book were used in a workshop or classroom environment that same novice could make some spectacular quilts.

I purchased some fun pre-quilted fabric with the express notion to make a bag and used Hold It! How to Sew Bags, Totes, Duffels, Pouches, & More by Nancy Restuccia today as a jumping off point. The bags in this book range from ditty bags and wine bags to a quilters carryall, book bags, and duffel bags. There is a bag of every conceivable type in this book. I am going to make a combination of the Classic Open Tote & the Quilter's Carryall. The way the book is written and the cutting diagrams make it easy to mix and match. I love this book.

For the past week I've been reading Fabric Journey An Inside Look at the Quilts of Ruth B. McDowell. What a fascinating peek into her mind. If you want a pattern or technique book then look to her other books. This book shows how and where she finds inspiration, how she develops the piece through sketches and photographs and how and why she auditions, discards or picks and ultimately uses certain fabric. I took my time reading this book because I wanted to KNOW!

Here's a quick read: Lesley Riley's Fabric Memory Books. This is a nice companion book to her first book Quilted Memories. Using quilting and sewing combined with altered art techniques she has created fabric books. These books are a different take on quilting and a lot faster to create than a full sized quilt.

And still in the stack on the coffee table:
Luminous Landscapes by Gloria Loughman
The Art of Landscape Quilting by Nancy Ziemand & Natalie Sewell
Design! A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists & Craftspeople by Steven Aimone
The Creative License by Danny Gregory

Hmmm... see a theme running through all these books?