A bit ago, I blogged about having a few UFOs. Most of them are waiting for borders. Well, I’ve decided to forgo additional borders on this one and have it quilted as is. Ruthmary in Sales and Marketing is going to long-arm quilt it for me. Hooray – one UFO down!
My inspiration for this Ohio Star came from Piecing the Piece O’ Cake Way by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins.
Hurrah-I finished a quilt top! I have been hanging onto this Andover fabric of the Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar for a few months now waiting for a pattern to come to me that would showcase the fabrics. Then I saw this project from Elizabeth at Oh Fransson! and, although mine looks nothing like it, she inspired the stacked coin type of look for this. I combined some gingham from the American Jane collection a few years back that I had in my stash and…result! I am going to put in some rock pockets when I bind it and have this as our picnic blanket for the car this summer. I’m pretty pleased.
And so is Darth Vader:
In the May 5th publication of the Bend Bulletin by Kimberly Bowker, the mother-daughter team, Jean and Valori Wells, were recognized for their inspirational quilt store in Sisters, Oregon. Jean and Valori were interviewed to discuss their quilt shop – The Sisters Stitchin’ Post.
Jean Wells Keenan, left, started The Stitchin’ Post more than 30 years ago, and her daughter, Valori Wells Kennedy, became co-owner in 2005. The mother-daughter team consider business operations, like the projects and patterns the store sells, a creative process.
(Left Jean Wells Keenan, Right Valori Wells Kennedy, thanks to Melissa Jansson of The Bulletin)
Bowker describes Wells’ store as having “Bright colors, fabrics and quilts hang[ing] from the walls and fill the interior of The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters. The store has motivated customers for 34 years to get out that sewing machine or find those knitting needles and start a project.” For the Wells ladies, this venture was an obvious addition for the Sisters, Oregon area. Bowker explains that Jean “started the store because no other shops in Central Oregon offered sewing supplies at the time.” And as mentioned in the article, the popularity for crafting and quilting has risen in the Central Oregon area, partly because of the Stitchin’ Post.
Valori summarizes the key to the Stitchin’ Post’s popularity,
Part of the reason the store is successful is because we are constantly re-evaluating the shop and how we can make it better—because if you don’t do that, it becomes stagnant
The owners continuously search for trends, keep the shop fresh with new inventory and rearrange merchandise to keep customers interested. Keenan and Kennedy also pursue their own passions outside of the business, which keeps the store fueled with creativity and movement.
This dynamic mother-daughter duo successfully launched The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Beginning in 1975, Jean put up 12 quilts outside the store and since then, the rest is history. Reaching its 34th year, the outdoor quilt show expects to showcase 1300 quilts to line the streets and buildings of Sisters.
Jean and Valori Wells continue to contribute to our growing knowledge of quilts and crafts, defining The Sisters Stitchin’ Post off of creativity, inspiration, and passion.
To learn more about Jean and Valori Wells, join their eClub at Jean Wells’ Secrets to Retail Success, and do not hesitate to check out Jean’s new book Intuitive Color & Design.
Looking for a quick project to make for yourself or give as a gift? Here’s a little cell phone pouch I designed that you can make with scraps, and embellish as you choose.
If you’d like to print out written instructions and photos for this project, you can download a pdf here.
Late last year C&T’s Green Team partnered with three outstanding organizations to help offset the ecological cost of creating and shipping books. We created a new product titled C&T Plant-A-Tree Fund and let our customers know that by donating $1.00 to the C&T Plant-A-Tree Fund, we will forward 100% of all donations collected, split into equal payments, to these three non-profit organizations:
American Forests
Trees, Water & People
The Nature Conservancy – Plant A Billion Trees
So far we’ve raised about $250 and while it’s not a huge amount of money, it’s planted about 250 trees. The next time you visit our website, please add the Plant-A-Tree Product to your order and know you are making a difference.
Please join us in saving our planet, one dollar at a time.
I love playing with Photoshop Elements. I’ve been using it quite a lot and learned even more from working on Charlotte Ziebarth’s new book Artistic Photo Quilts.
To create this image I took used two photos of an old wooden spool of thread. I took one looking down on the top of the spool and one from the front. Using layers I superimposed the top view on the front view, added a background color, then used blending modes (which I learned about from Charlotte’s book).
What fun!
As part of an ongoing series on the acquisitions process, I am including the two biggest issues regarding what you can expect from the publishing process so that you can choose the right time in your career to begin the submission process.
Writing a book takes about a year of your life. And it is a lot of work. C&T is very collaborative in their approach with first time authors with lots of little milestones in between so that it’s not like you are being sent to a cabin in the woods and have to be locked in there until you complete your 300 page life story. We can help as much or as little as possible with everything from a product suggestion to a technique to try to resolve a construction issue to advice on colors. Be sure to ask an editor before you submit to them, how involved they are in the process and just be sure that their level of involvement really suits you.
You won’t be able to talk about or sell similar things on your etsy site so be sure you are comfortable with weighing how that will impact your bottom line as well as your time. A few authors have suggested that they stop their blog for the time that it takes them to write, but this is a bit of a slippery slope because keeping that audience they have built up over the years is really key seeing that they are the people who are probably going to buy your book. Staying connected with your customer/fan base is important which involves a lot of time. I call it “riding the wave.” When you are the busiest, it is going to be a bit of a juggling act with everyone wanting a piece of you. Don’t underestimate that commitment.
Next week…”What you can expect to make”!
Based in the United Kingdom, Christine Porter’s quilting has been inspired by architecture, in particular historic buildings and colors of floor tiles. This is evident in her new book Viva Venezia! Timeless Quilts Inspired by Italian Mosaic Floors. In a recent interview with Porter, I learned she is a woman whose work is always geometric, precise, and exact but she is yearning to break out of that comfort zone.
What and when was your first experience as an artist?
I discovered the collection of antique quilts at the American Museum in Bath, England while I was studying for a Masters Degree in Education. Seeing those quilts absolutely changed my life and I knew I had to become a quilter. My grandmother taught me to sew and my father’s ancestors were tailors in the east end of London. Sewing is in my fingers.
Continue Reading…
These aren’t your average paperdolls! This weeks giveaway is Fantastiques Whimsies by Trice Boerens. Consider them the upgraded, artful, sophisticated, hip and humorous, 21st century version. You can mix and match 27 posable characters with coordinating torsos or get creative and use found objects. I’ve seen them used on matchbooks, envelopes, photos, blank board books, etc. Check out this chessboard created by Lauren Nwachukwu.
Adults and kids alike will get a kick out of them. Included are angels, animals, geishas and a sumo wrestler, suns and flowers, jesters and a knave, pirates, robots and a robot dog, skeletons and a scarecrow, a Vicotrian gentleman and a scholar. As you can see a huge assortment with plenty of character. They pop out of their pages and bring a splash of life to any object or project.
Fantastiques + Mini Shadowboxes (Designer: Danielle Dews)
For a chance to win a copy of Fantastiques, post a comment here or on Facebook by Monday July 13, 2009 telling us what found object you would turn into a Fantastique whimsie. We’ll randomly pick one winner to be announced on Monday. Good Luck!
So I’ve been a designer at C&T for almost 8 years, and I still consider myself a “newbie sewer”. I know! How is THAT possible? I work in an office full of sewing/quilt-making experts eager to give new sewers like me some guidance and I haven’t taken advantage of it! But you know, it can be quite intimidating. I watch these talented women share their amaaaazing projects that they literally whip out in one weekend…hand-dyed fabrics perfectly pieced together, harmonious color/pattern combinations, flawless bindings, imaginative block settings, lovely quilting…and I think to myself, “who cares about my silly little project that I fumbled over for weeks?”
I might feel like my project is alright at home, you know, “not bad” for a newbie, but as soon as I muster up the courage to bring it to show the C&T Quilt-making Goddesses, every single little flaw jumps out at me and I stand there, my face red with embarrassment. After all, I’ve laid out well over 50 books on quilt-making, you would think that I would have gained SOME knowledge from all of that imagery and instructional text! But I don’t learn by reading, I learn by doing and I’ve been frozen by intimidation.
What am I so afraid of? These are some of the C&T Quilt-making Goddesses just waiting to help me with my latest project.
I remember back to my figure drawing days when our instructors preached the importance of drawing every day, no matter what it was. As difficult as it was sometimes to sit down with my journal and my marking tool of choice, I was always glad I did it. I became more confident and was able to stop focusing so much on the technique but rather on the content that was inspiring me. I miss that ritual and that connection with myself and I’m realizing that I am missing out on an opportunity to become acquainted with a new art form. I’m surrounded by creative, enthusiastic, and amazingly supportive sewers that are always happy to look at anything I’m making, no matter how imperfect it is. It’s time to thaw out and get sewing!
So…
I am going to commit to completing one sewing project each week—I have a 22 month old, so I am giving myself a week instead of one day. I will post my meager little projects because while critiques can be intimidating, I always learn from them and they give me motivation to keep going. As much as I’d like to jump right in to making a quilt, I think the best thing for me to do is start small. Baby steps, Kristy, baby steps.
