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 NOT
That you eliminate
Mistakes
As you get older.
It’s just
That you get better
At dealing
With them…
C&T is proud to be a sponsor of The Alliance for American Quilt’s “New from Old Contest.”
Here’s your chance to make a small quilt with a big payoff. In fact, the payoff might be really big. Say, the size of a mid-arm quilting machine, which is the grand prize for this year’s quilt contest to benefit the nonprofit Alliance for American Quilts. The “New From Old” theme was chosen as a reminder that quilting constantly re-invents itself, and because recycling seems smarter now than ever.
Contest quilts must be 16″ square and the deadline is May 31, so if you haven’t already entered, the time is now! Spectacular quilts are already arriving at the AAQ’s office in Asheville, NC. Don’t miss this excellent chance to enter your creation.
All contest quilts will tour to several major national quilt shows this summer, including the AQS show in Knoxville, TN, and the NQA show in Columbus, OH. The quilts also will be archived permanently at the Alliance website, so you’ll get lots of exposure even after the quilts are auctioned on eBay next fall to raise funds for the Alliance’s mission to document, preserve, and share the story of quilts and their makers.
For the rules and entry forms, click here.
Most of my unfinished projects are in stages of design and piecing or are completed tops. However, looking though my “stash” of work the other day, I found a top that was even basted and partially hand-quilted. I’d put it away and forgotten all about it. So I’ve pulled it out and begun working to finish it again. Have you ever hand quilted?* Once you get in the groove, it is a very calming and zen-like activity. The repetition can become mindless and be very soothing. I highly recommend it.
July house
This quilt is particularly near and dear to my heart because I adapted it to be a keepsake for my family.
It is a 4 seasons quilt, machine pieced and hand appliquéd, that has trees, motifs, and houses for every season.There are 12 houses so each represents a month. For each family member’s birthday month, I used fabric from a quilt I had previously made for that family member.
October house
For instance, the July house has a blue-and-purple print that is from the first bed quilt I made for my daughter, Melissa. Her birthday is in July. The October house, representing my other daughter, Sarah, has a green print from her first bed quilt (from me) and a “raining cats and dogs” print from the first quilt she ever made. I did the same thing for my husband’s birthday month and my own.
February has red for Valentine’s day, March has green for St. Pat’s, December has little embroidered candles in the window for Christmas. Each month has something special to commemorate it.
December house
Autumn tree
Summer picnic
Sewing and matching points is a quilter’s dream. Sometimes it can seem more of a nightmare! But this technique makes it quite manageable. Here’s an idea from many of our best-selling authors: use an alignment or positioning pin. The alignment pin does not secure an area for sewing. It correctly aligns (positions) the points that need to match. Pins inserted after the alignment pins secure together the fabric pieces.
Begin by placing the two pieces to be sewn right sides together. Push a pin through the wrong side of the top piece at the exact point that is to be matched. Double check from the right side of the piece that the pin is inserted correctly. Next push the pin through the right side of the bottom piece; again at the exact point that is to be matched. The following photo shows an alignment pin properly positioned.
Push the alignment pin through both points. (Photo from Piecing the Piece O' Cake Way by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins.)
Hold the alignment pin perpendicular to the fabric and bring the two points together on the shaft of the pin. Hold the two pieces to be matched and the alignment pin straight with one hand and insert another pin slightly to the right of the alignment pin. If desired, insert another pin slightly to the left of the alignment pin.
While holding alignment pin straight, insert pin to its right. (Photo from Piecing the Piece O' Cake Way by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins.)
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.
There’s magic
In everyday life—
You just have to
Notice it!
I recently got an email from Tammy Casstevens, a quilter who just finished making a quilt for her grandson using a pattern from the book Cozy Modern Quilts by Kim Schaefer.
She sent me pictures of her quilt, and it was so adorable, I asked her if she would mind me posting it to the C&T blog. Lucky for us, Tammy said we could share the pictures of her sweet grandson and his new quilt as well as the message in the email she sent us.
I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was with the Cozy Modern Quilts Book. I had been looking for a perfect pattern for some random prints of older Moda Sock Monkeys. The fabric was purchased to make my grandson a quilt for his first birthday. The pattern ”Carousel Lap Quilt” was a perfect match for the sock monkey fabrics and sashing. The book is a fabulous find for busting your stash. More than anything, thanks for providing a cute and quick pattern for my grandson’s quilt. I attached pictures so you could see the finished quilt and the smiles it brought!
Artterro means “Art of the Earth” and this eco-friendly company offers a line of eight award-winning art kits for kids. Their kits are open-ended art projects, so the possibilities are limitless. Each kit includes an “ideas sheet” to start the creative juices flowing, but the end result is a one-of-a-kind piece of art. You can personalize the projects by using some of your own materials and your kids’ very own imaginative ideas.
We hooked up with Forrest Espinoza, one of the moms behind the company, at the NAMTA trade show last month and she expressed interest in participating in one of our blog giveaways. So here it is! Artterro is giving away FIVE of their fabulous kits to one lucky C&T blog reader! The kits included in the prize pack are:
You can download the kit descriptions here. All projects include enough materials for at least two people to share. Continue Reading…
Step up to the front of the classroom Andrea Gerstendorfer Harris and receive your prize! Andrea has just won herself the Quilter’s Academy bundle which includes:
We look forward to hearing all about Andrea’s studies. The assignment for all other students is to have fun checking into Harriet and Carrie Hargrave’s blog to learn more about the Quilters Academy concept.
Thank you to everyone who left a comment, posted our blog badges, subscribed to our YouTube channel and newsletter, and tweeted up the giveaway on Twitter. We love hearing from you and appreciate your involvement in our online community.
Remember, check in tomorrow for the next giveaway!
Okay, here’s today’s question–What is the item pictured at left? Give up? It’s a notebook cover made from leftover strips of fabric and rug weaving canvas.
A few years ago we published a book called Fabric Leftovers by D’Arcy-Jean Milne. It’s all about creative ways to use up scraps and this is one of my favorite techniques.
My cover is woven using fabric and leftover bits of decorative yarn. I cut the rug canvas about 1″ bigger that the height of the notebook, and long enough for the cover to wrap around the notebook and fold in about 3″.
After I wove the cover, I folded the top and bottom edges in, and folded in the flaps. I topstitched along the top and bottom edges. Then all you have to do is slip the notebook front and back covers into the flaps, and voila, you’ve got a great notebook cover.
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.
These are
Perfect
Golden Days…
As the sun
Goes down
The sky hushes
To mauve
And the ridges
Silhouette
Their oaks.
