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.
Never underestimate
The power
Of sleep—
Being well-rested
Can turn
A challenging day
Into a triumphant
One
I am one of the photographers here at C&T and have studied photography for the last 10 years. I am not necessarily a crafty person, but I recently started a crafting group with my friends so I could finish some projects that have been put on the wayside for my photography endeavors and to just hang with the girls.
I have been knitting this scarf for the last four years, and what is even worse is that I bought the scarf already half-knitted at an estate sale. You may wonder why a half-knitted scarf was even for sale or why someone would buy a half-knitted scarf. At the time, I was working on a photo project called “Estate Sale” in which I would purchase interesting and soulful items of the recently departed and then photograph them so their possessions could live on in an image. At one estate sale, I came upon the most soft, richly colored yarn that happened to stem from a half-completed scarf. And since most of my time is devoted to my true passion photography-well a half-knitted scarf was right up my alley.
I have done a little here and there and every fall, I will pull it out of my drawer and proclaim that this next winter I will be wearing this scarf! But life gets in the way, and then I end up forgetting how to knit. Well I am determined learn again and finish the scarf this summer with the support of my crafting group, a summer break from school (two more semesters left till I get my MFA in Photo-YES!), and the desire to finish a scarf I saw laying on a chest half-knitted at a estate sale because the woman had passed away-I want to finish it for her most of all.
San Diego quilt instructor and designer, Lisa Coulombe, recently blogged about her quilting groups’ latest creations. Her quilts were inspired by the book Simply Stunning Woven Quilts by Anna Faustino.
The quilts are absolutely gorgeous! Using the techniques from Anna Faustino’s book, Coulombe’s quilting group, Rhap, created some pretty incredible quilts.
This one is done by Jan with broderie perse flowers.
This is done by Jerre with broderie perse flowers, couched stems, and raw edge double sided fused leaves.
These quilts are impressive, to say the least. Check them out at Confessions of a Completionist. (Photos courtesy of Lisa’s blog.)
Here is a note directly from Anita titled “Digital Photography”
Last year I sent my Two-Color Pineapple Quilt, which I created with a new rotary technique, to C&T Media Services to be digitally photographed by the pros. I emailed the image with my entry to “Country Living Classics” an exhibit co-sponsored by Country Living Magazine and The International Quilt Festival.
This week, Quilt Festival opens in Long Beach, CA but I’ll miss the show. A quilter’s gotta be up to something to miss all four venues of the International Quilt Festival. Thank goodness for Melisa and Mike Morrison. I came across their Sweet Home Quilt Co. Shop Blog and saw some of the installation, digitally. I’ll be California Dreaming but wishing those of you in attendance a great time. Don’t forget your cameras!
Visit Anita Grossman Solomon’s website at www.makeitsimpler.com
Hudson Brayden Graham
My son just turned 3. These are the invites I made for his party. They were the easiest I’ve made yet, and I think they are my favorites. I just laid out the invitation cover, saved it as a HiRes JPG photo size 4 x 6 and had them printed at Walgreens as photos for $0.19 a print. I then glued a black and white print of the invitation details on the back. How simple and inexpensive is that?
The more involved part comes with my next blog post. Planning a super fun party for a super hero. dunt dunt duuuuuuun.
The sewcalgal blog recently featured a write up on French Braid Quilts and why we all love them. She included reviews of Jane Hardy Miller’s books French Braid Quilts and French Braid Obsession. Click here to read the blog post. We would love to hear why you love French Braid Quilts and see your works of art!
If you’re on flickr, we just started a group specifically for French Braid Quilts so you can add photos and keep the conversation going.
It was a late night/early morning for some of us at the office. No reason, just the stars aligning incorrectly. We’re a little bit tired and perhaps a little slap happy.
Here’s our plan:
The next time we all pull out the sewing machines in the office (and yes, we do get to sew in the office… I’m always pinching myself to make sure this is real), we will make nap mats like they have in preschool. We will stow our personal pads and pillows in a an old office mail sorter that we will miraculously find at a garage sale (get on this, Susanne—you can check out Susanne’s garage sale finds in regular blog posts—I’m picture something antique-y and wood) .
The pad-and-pillow-stuffed mail sorter will be stored in the small conference room between my office and that of the publisher. We will shift the conference room desk out another foot or so to make room for multiple, synchronized nappers.
People can reserve the conference room for naps as needed, working in between the standard meetings. That way we’re always fresh and perky and ready to edit, design, market, sell, illustrate, create…
Now that’s a plan I can get behind!
I don't think Lucy will share her banana pillow.
After sampling some of our scrumptious Quilter’s Chocolates, I was left with a little round tin to recycle. I thought, why not reuse it instead? It’s a perfect size for holding pins or rotary blades. Or small buttons, or needles—the list could be nearly endless.
Then I thought, wouldn’t it be fun if the tin was decorative as well as useful? And what could be more decorative then a mini-quilt? I tried two different versions.
First, I traced around the lid rim to make a paper pattern. I used it to cut out a piece of fabric that would be about 1/4 inch larger all around than the tin top. I cut out teensy pieces of fabric to make my mini-quilts. For the 1930s style quilt, I cut 4 wedges with a decorative rotary blade. For the Amish style quilt, I used a regular blade to cut out squares in 3 sizes of contrasting fabrics.
I used Wonder Under to fuse the pieces to the fabric circle bases, and then I “quilted” them by hand. The ’30s version has big stitches done in perle cotton; for the Amish version I used regular black thread. Finally, I sewed a button in the center of each one.
Next, I cut out a circle of thin batting the size of the tin top and glued it on the tin. Then I laid a bead of glue around the rim of the top, centered the “quilt” on top, and carefully secured the edges around the rim, trimming any areas that stuck out beyond the edge.
To finish, I glued on an edging—baby rick rack for the 30s version, and blue seam binding for the Amish one.
I haven’t figured out a graceful way to cover the bottom of the tin yet, although I think it could be sanded and painted. For storing rotary blades, I plan to line the bottom of the inside with a circle of felt.
As part of an ongoing series on the acquisitions process, I am going to talk a little bit about how to use a book as part of a business plan to start making a career from your craft.
One of the questions I received from the Etsy Virtual Lab was whether it was possible to make a living from writing craft books. While I comically responded that it totally depended on where you live, the reality is that the answer is “not really”. I suspect that her real question, was: Is it possible to make a career from my craft and the answer to that is “definitely”. How can a book help with that:
What publishing a book does is really give you more credibility to expand your platform. It will be much easier to secure magazine articles, become contributors to collaborative projects, spin out products related to your specific craft, gather teaching and lecture appointments with shops and guilds, secure a fabric deals, produce DVDs and on it goes. It’s all about building a groundswell of publicity as none of those things I mentioned are going to make you a living wage on their own, but if you are savvy with your focus, realistic with the time involved, dedicated to the industry you are crafting within, and have a reasonable head for finances, then there is real money to be made by coordinating all of these opportunities and each is contributing a few thousand a year.
Next week, I’ll share some thoughts on self-publishing…
Related Posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Is the July heat getting you? This weeks giveaway A Patrick Lose Christmas might not actually cause the mercury to go south but it’s sure to bring cool thoughts of the North Pole. Artist and illustrator Patrick Lose has used his talents and fond memories of Christmas to create this whimsical collection of holiday projects.
This book includes 12 colorful projects ranging from table runners, door toppers, pillows, bed quilts and more. He uses an easy fusible appliqué technique so it’s quick. Gotta like that! Full size patterns included.
The best part about this book is it starts off sharing Patrick’s favorite Caramel Christmas Mix recipe. Although you almost don’t want to know the ingredients you will forever be hooked into making this traditional fare once a year. I’ve tasted it and it’s so darn good.
For a chance to win a copy of A Patrick Lose Christmas leave a comment here or on Facebook by July 27, 2009 telling us about a memorable Christmas project or when you discovered a certain bearded fellow in red wasn’t real.
Hey did you notice? Today is Tuesday not Thursday! Starting today The Weekly Giveaway will now be on Tuesday allowing you more time to comment and try for a win.
Good Luck!
