Favorite Sewing Books - post 5- Modern Log Cabin Quilting

I haven't made any of the quilts in this book yet -it just came out.
But I have lots of pages marked.
Log Cabin quilts are fun to make and these are so fresh and revitalized.
Nuf said.

Favorite Sewing Books - post 4- Sew What Skirts

I'll confess I first picked up this book to see if it was giving away my Libby Dibby pattern. (it doesn't) But I ended up buying it because it's awesome.

I haven't made one of the skirts as they're presented. But the directions and know-how that are shared in this book are amazing and clear and valuable and I have at least 4 or 5 skirts I have made using the techniques I learned by reading this book - yes - ACTUALLY READING the book and not just looking at the photos.

Seams Perfect stars for Theresa

I'm less than thrilled about these paper pieced stars that I made for Theresa this month in our Seams Perfect bee.

I just figured that since she had asked for scrappy stars that she would be getting a ton of wonky stars... So here would be something different... I shrank down a pattern from quilters' cache (starry web) and made my squares from that.

After 2 hours of practice and a lot of mistakes, I had a red and white block i liked for my sampler- but the next night, when usingTheresa's fabric, I got all the pieces in the right place, but in the end, they didn't match up.
:(
Wah. I am not proud of these.
Still, like every month in my bees.. I learned, which is the reason I joined the bees in the first place.

(I am proud of the little pouch I made to go with it as a gift though... how lame is it that I was so much freer with this?)

Charity quilt progress - longarm day

There are 6 quilts in this little sharefest quilt project... And I am not doing them all alone. There are a lot of women who are helping me!
Today's fun journey was to take a little "me" time - all the kids were farmed out - so that I could visit my friend, Tanya, and we could quilt one of the quilts on her longarm machine. For those who have no idea what a longarm machine is: this is a 10-12 foot wide sewing machine that you use to complete those beautiful intricate quilting patterns you see on high end quilts. The machine is enormous. Before a few months ago, I think I imagined it was a machine that kind of ran itself on an autopilot kind of deal. It's not. While using Tanya's machine with her today, I literally felt like I did the first time I used a sewing machine. My stitches were so messy! So primitive! I couldn't even do the below raindrop design without really having to work at it! I think about two inches of 150 that I did were "good".
But I've said it before and I am not afraid of being a beginner at stuff. There's a Bible verse I love that says, "do not despise the day of small beginnings". I firmly believe in embracing my journey.
I'd taken a class a few weeks ago about "quilting" with Angela Walters... (been meaning to write about that) And I've taken the "free motion sewing" class with Lisa at Sew Modern- but can I just take my hat off to people who can do this well???? Geez, it's hard! Free motion AND longarm quilting...
It's fun, though.
Imagine learning that not only is driving a possibility, but flying is, too. (I still need to master driving... And sewing, for that matter.)
Tanya is REALLY GOOD at this. She showed me some recently finished quilts for customers and i was blown away. Even moreso after playing with her machine.
I'm trying to think of something I can have her quilt for me.... May have to make something....
These Sharefest quilts are going to be so great. Each one, so different. Each one having at least 32 pairs of hands having worked on it. That is awesome.
(oh, and thanks to Lauren at Sew Modern for donating this blue!)
I'll post pics when they are all finished. Can't wait to share.

favorite Sewing Books - post 3 - Anna Maria Horner

It SEAMS TO ME] that everyone loves this book.
Ever since I first read about her in Home Companion magazine (Tori had passed the article onto me), I was in love with all things AnnaMaria Horner. I listened to the Craftsanity podcasts with her and I decided I had a hobby crush on AMH.

This book is sheer eye candy. Absolutely fabulous.

Charity quilts

Pardon my dark picture... Blogging from my phone...

This week's project (along with 8 other women from my guild... Thanks to Lori, Patsy, Pam, Angela, Lauren at Sew Modern, Lisa, Latifah and Tanya!) is to help the folks at Sharefest (a non-profit where my sister, Victory, works) assemble 6 quilts.

You can read about the kids who drew the artwork for these squares and their amazing camp experiences this month here: http://www.sharefestinc.org/blog/art-for-others.html

Favorite Sewing Books - post 2 - Bend the Rules Sewing

This sewing book is literally so dogeared and worn from being taken to the beach and played with that it has to be #2 to be shared.
I actually have made a number of projects in this book. They're fun, fast, and really inspiring.

Highly recommend.
Amy Karol is candid and whimsical and I love this book. Even if it has sand in the creases.

historical serenity

My friend Alison took this photo as she toured a historical home this summer.
There are about 10 things in this photo that make me happy.

Long Beach Quilt Show

I was able 2 weeks ago to attend the Long Beach Quilt Show. It was my first time ever attending anything of the like.  I really enjoyed running into a couple of my guild members - and I especially liked seeing the demonstration of new tools - that's always what I like!
I have to say that there wasn't much represented in the way of the modern quilter a la "Modern Quilt Guild" - just a few little snippets. For the most part there seemed to be a huge divide between two well represented groups - the traditional quilters and the art quilters.
(I'll post some fun things I saw, I tried not to take any pics of ones I wasn't supposed to, so if you see any ones that I shouldn't have, please let me know and I will remove them)

Now of course, you know I loved loved loved touring the art quilts. The way that those artists manipulate fabric was mind boggling to me. And I for sure could see how I could fit into their camp with what I love to do on my art/collage side.  The traditional quilts didn't do much to inspire me, though there was CERTAINLY talent on the side of the quilters themselves. I just am an artist at heart and only snatched a few pics...

But I also really love the idea of a usable, washable, stainable, lovable quilt that doesn't just hang on the wall. I love the humility of a work of art that you end up sleeping with or using to cover your kids or have a picnic on.  There's just something about that to me.

(Look at how tiny these yoyos are! 

The owner of it said that his mother made it - It covered his entire 6 foot table, top and sides... it's amazing)

So I left, a little confused for sure - confused about where I belong. But I think that was good. Because I love the idea that there is a place somewhere in the middle for me. I haven't quite exactly found my voice and I don't think I fit particularly into any one box - but I love the dialogue I had with myself (you already knew I was crazy) on my way home in the car.

It's continued for a couple of weeks. And I know that I still have years and years to figure out my style. I loved my art professor in college who told me that my 20s and 30s were just about figuring out my artistic language and that my 40s were when I should expect to really be flying. That gives me 5 more years of experimenting!

Oh, and I'll leave you with this image that I saw outside on the pavement - which I found nearly as inspiring as what I saw inside the convention.

Inspiration is free - take some ideas!

Isn't it great that we can get inspiration anywhere? Here are a few places I recently found some inspiration:

1 - A child's palette. I was making hair wraps with embroidery floss on the 7 little girls on our camping trip recently and one of the 7 year olds picked this color combo. And it was great on it's own, but when I put it down to photograph and think about later, I only had my pants to use to set it down on, and then this green was there with them. Even as I am typing this now, don't you think this entire photo would make a great quilt?

2 - A child's painting. I feel like Z has such a beautifully abstract sense of creativity.
He wanted me to leave this painting at the museum where he made it, but I couldn't. I needed to chew on the layout and amazing color choices he made. I so could see this being a quilt, too.

3 - Just messing around. While Z was painting the above masterpiece, Mimi was painting mermaids and I was just messing with the paints. I hate this page that I did below, but I love the idea of using it as a study in color, or isolating little sections to find as my Collage professor, Franklyn, says "little moments" that work for further study.