I have known Jean Wells for close to 20 years, since I first joined C&T Publishing. I was impressed, then, by her best-selling book, A Celebration of Hearts. Over the years, as I worked on her books, and tracked her progress through the quilting world as an artist and businessperson, she has always been ahead of the curve in style and technique.
Her latest book, Intuitive Color and Design, is no exception. It is the next step for many quilters who have reached a plateau in their technical quilting and want both inspiration and guidance on how to take the next step into art quilting. This book is so appropriately Jean’s: It resonates with her personality, her style. The curves, shapes, colors, and textures in the quilts come naturally to her as an expression of her artistic talent. The energy inherent in this latest work shows how naturally she draws with a pencil, slices with a rotary cutter, or motions in air as she talks to a class. There is freedom in her movement and commitment in her stroke. Having progressed through the technical aspects of quilting, she moves with her intuition: creates from her mind’s ponderings and observations. The result is pure, and purely Jean.
As one of the photographers of her quilts, I was in awe last November when they arrived in the studio. Now I can’t wait to see the finished book in July, to see what the talented C&T team has put together as the final package. This is a book not to be missed. If your budget is thin, save up for this one. It will keep you inspired and sewing through those hot summer months. If you can take a trip to Sisters, Oregon to meet Jean and see her annual quilt show, DO IT! In the meantime, get her new book as a gift to yourself. It’s the next best thing to being there.
We quilters have too much stuff!! We love it all and can’t resist when we see wonderful fabric or great embellishments or a handy gadget, but it SO adds up, and the problem becomes where to put it?
I am lucky because when my children grew up and left home, I inherited the family room as my sewing studio. However, the room does not have a lot of storage, so I had to create some by using inexpensive bookshelves I already had. Making the open shelves look neat was a challenge. These 12″ x 13″ baskets from IKEA turned out to fit perfectly on the shelves. The smaller ones stack together 2 high and the larger ones fit just right.
I tied on tags to easily identify what is in each basket.
The baskets hold everything from yarn, to fabric, to stabilizer, to small embellishments and ribbon, to templates, etc. All that stuff is now neatly stored in baskets, making the shelves look neat and serene, rather than jumbled and junky. It works well and didn’t cost a fortune!
Congratulations to SewCalGal who won Gift Box Studio Lolli! If you had a chance to peruse the comments posted I’m sure you’d agree that Carol R’s giftbox adorned with a 4’ Christmas tree must have stirred quite the excitement, bafflement, and awe of the recipient and all those present (no pun intended). Also laughed at Jennifer’s 40th birthday present. Leave it to an Aunt to “getcha”! Must keep that idea tucked up my sleeve for later use (can’t be an Aunt remembered only for “having gum”). Thanks everyone for all your great responses!
As a special thanks to our blog readers, for the next two weeks you can get 20% off your purchase of Gift Box Studio Lolli. Simply mention discount code WG25018 when you place your order with C&T via phone (800.284.1114) or at our web site (enter discount code where noted during checkout) on or before July 13, 2009.
So, I have been doing a bit of embroidery lately. I have to say, that I feel like I am cheating on my sewing machine. I began my love of all things fabric and thread by taking a summer class when I was 8 and then progressing into cross stitch. When I got into quilting, I left all of that behind, so it has been nice to enjoy these projects:
I made this from a fantastic Orange Flower Tutorial and gave it to my son’s pre-school teacher as a year end thank you.
I backed it with the fabric my husband printed for me through Spoonflower. My son, Archie, designed the fabric which is the rare combination of flowers and smiling storm troopers.
The next is this inspirational note from Katie Cupcake:
I had Archie write the note in washable ink, and then I stitched over the top. I have dreams of creating a bunch of these little pieces of ‘paper’ and using them to write notes more frequently and hang them with a clothespeg somewhere. But all that stitching for the lines of the note takes awhile. I did this one by hand—maybe machine stitch the lines and hand embroider the text??
I love finding a quilter hosting a garage sale. This week, I found some of my favourite batting: Warm and Natural, as well as a couple of bags of poly fill ($3 for the lot). I also picked up three books from Debbie Mumm and one old one called Country Quilts in a Weekend ($.25 each) which is so funny to look at as it is amazing how far we have come in so little time with regard to fantastic photography and design in books. The copyright on this book is only 1991 but I am amazed to look at the quality of production from then until now. It is seeing books like these that makes me proud that I am a part of such a wonderful company that is dedicated to excellence in the quality of the books we produce.
See more garage sale finds
A number of years ago C&T Author Wendy Hill wrote a book called On the Surface. In addition to quilts, garments, and the types of things you’d expect to see in a quilting book was a wonderful creation that Wendy created called Button Babies.
Wendy’s button babies had rat tail cord arms and legs, with beads for hands and feet. I updated the Button Baby with a crown, arms, legs, and a heart made from Artgirlz charms. When I send Wendy a photo, her first response was “I want one!”
So my Button Baby has a twin sister who lives with Wendy in Oregon.
Toward the end of last year, I had some vacation time and didn’t want to go anywhere, so I decided to make as many quilt tops for charity as I could during my week at home. I had lots of fabric, some of it already in squares because they were samples from the fabric manufacturers. I kept the designs simple, and started sewing. Even after my vacation was over, I kept sewing until I had finished 10 quilt tops. I put together backing for all of them and cut binding strips. We received a generous donation of batting from Mountain Mist, and then I called on my fellow C&Ters for help quilting and binding. Most were machine quilted, one was quilted on a longarm, and one was tied.
The kid-oriented quilts are going to the EBHQ Children’s Quilt project and the others are going to a local nursing home.
I still have lots of fabric, now all I need is some free time…
Do you quilt for a cause? Share your story.
Related Posts:
Quilting for a Cause (Part 1)
Quilting for a Cause (Part 2)
Quilting for a Cause (Part 3)
A creative life is filled with challenges and rewards, puzzles and curiosities. This ongoing series of poems attempts to express the “Aha”s and “What if”s, the deep ponderings and casual observations of an inquiring mind trying to make sense of reality. May it serve, for you, as a bit of “Everyday Inspiration” along your own creative path.
It’s a madhouse up there…
Brain!
Knock it off!
Imagine a week of sewing each day for as long as you like. A week with all your meals prepared for you. A week among like-minded people who quickly become your friends. A week of sea breezes, ocean views, beach walks, and spectacular sunsets. That’s a week at an Empty Spools Seminar at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California.
I went in April this year and had a better time than I can say. There was a little trepidation on my part; I’m a bit shy and not the most accomplished quilter. I wondered if I could keep up with the class and the teacher. Then my roommate canceled which didn’t help things at all! But as soon as I checked in, I felt at home. Everyone was so friendly, I saw an old friend, and the teacher put us all at ease with her down-to-earth, you-can-do-it, supportive style.
The class I took was Janet Fogg‘s Innovative Traditionals. I signed up for this one because I make traditional quilts and would like to become more innovative, so it sounded perfect. It was. We brainstormed and generated quilt ideas for each other for 2 days and then really got into the nitty gritty of drafting the design for our own quilt. I based mine on the Log Cabin block (a traditional favorite of mine) and added a feather to it for the innovation. I was using a poem by Emily Dickinson as inspiration.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune—without the words
And never stops at all
Here’s the pattern I drafted with two blocks completed. I imagine it’ll take me a year to finish—just in time to take another seminar at Asilomar!
In a recent article, Mark Lipinski, reviews his favorite 75 web sites for quilters in Quilter’s Home Magazine. Of those 75, one was our very own C&T Publishing, along with four of our authors’ sites. Lipinski generously reviews our site with praise,
C&T’s site offers links to authors (great for guilds trying to track down a speaker), free patterns and projects and a free comprehensive list of lesson plans to teach classes from most of its books (it’s why C&T is listed and its competitors are not).
Along with our own site’s recognition, Lipinski graciously mentions some of our authors. Making #36 on the list is Carol Doak, whom Lipinski claims is the “queen of paper piecing,” and she offers free patterns on her site – a huge bonus! (View Carol’s profile.)
#38 on Lipinski’s list is our own Sara Trail, noting that Sara is a “junior quilting phenom…her Web site is a dream of stuff all geared to the young sewer in your life.” She’s making a huge impact on the growing teen-quilter market. (View Sara’s profile.)
Alex Anderson is our next sensational author making the list at #41. Alex’s web site has struck a significant cord with Lipinski, who explains that her site is filled with “free podcasts and block patterns…Alex Anderson, America’s favorite quilting sweetheart (and my friend), has lots to pass on from her Web site.” (View Alex’s profile.)
And at #45 is Artfabrik, offering hand dyed fabric and threads. Lipinski reviews this site as “Based on the cute factor, this site by fusible goddesses Melody Johnson and Laura Wasilowski takes the prize….great tips on working with fusibles in your quilts.” (View Laura’s profile.)
