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It’s been crazy around here! We are considering a move instead of a remodel and that makes for a chaotic week of looking at houses, endless spreadsheets comparing options, getting bids on needed work on a house we might buy, etc. But my artistic and teaching life must go on-Houston is only 67 days away plus there are looming deadlines in the meantime. You may be surprised to know how much prep work any teacher goes through in order to be prepared to teach a great class. If you teach at a big venue like Houston, Paducah, etc. there is…
This is my fourth and hopefully my final post on Frixion pens. A recent discussion on FaceBook prompted me to explore this one last time. Some prominent quilters and artists have said things about the Frixion pens that I have not found to be true in my own experience, so I needed to get the facts. I ended up talking directly with a rep at Pilot to get the facts. If you’re not familiar with Frixion pens, they are a line of pens and highlighters made by Pilot that are heat erasable. Frixion pens make a crisp, clear mark which…
Don’t forget to check out last week’s post here-it was supposed to auto-post and did not. My DH and I just returned from our third cruise to Alaska. I know that sounds odd-three times? If you choose to cruise Alaska, there are pretty much two ways to go-the inside passage to Skagway and back, or one-way up to Seward. We have cruised the inside passage twice and to Seward once. Each trip was at different stages in our lives: In 2004, our boys were rising Sophomore/Jr’s in high school. In 2007, they were rising Freshman/Sophomore’s in college! And in 2015, we are now Confirmed…
It’s been a busy week with not much exciting stuff to post about. I am working on a small sample of what I hope will be a large piece. I’m playing around with shadow and light in a whole cloth format a little differently than I have in previous pieces. Usually I have a lot of curve going on, but in this piece I’ll be using straight-ish lines. My inspiration for this piece comes from this book-oh this is a fabulous book! The photography is excellent as is the writing. The work of Ms Jinzenji is exquisite. It’s very minimalist…
Warning: Post contains graphic images of water! Residents of the western US and other drought-stricken areas may want to avoid these graphic images. Californians especially are forewarned that viewing such images may cause a strong urge to water the lawn and flush toilets. I’m from Ottawa, Illinois, a small-ish town 90 miles southwest of Chicago. Of course you are aware that it sits at the convergence of the Fox and Illinois rivers, it is home to one of the richest deposits of silica sand which is/was used in glass production and Bakelite products, it was home to the founder of the Boy Scouts,…
I mentioned in my previous post that I entered the Houston show and that I would write about the story behind that entry. I was shocked to find out that I juried into the World of Beauty show! The reason that is so surprising is that this is the third time I have entered that quilt! I wrote about making Morning Breeze here, here, here and here. I tried to capture the beauty and texture that I enjoy on my daily morning stroll through my garden. It is a true two-sided quilt with one side white with black cotton thread…
I think I’m in a quilting slump, kinda like a batting slump in baseball. crawfishboxes.com I am working hard, but moving forward at glacial speed. I’m frustrated but not discouraged, and I still have my joy. This summer has allowed me the luxury of being at home, creating and sewing. I don’t think I’ve had this big of a chunk of time in years. So I’m happy just to be home, sewing and creating. It’s been a Red Letter week, despite the challenges. I finished two pieces on Monday, both part of my black and white series. One has been…
Given all the problems I’d had lately with my work, I thought it would be a good idea to back off and do a little romp of a project. I spied this pattern in my local quilt shop and thought it was the perfect project. I can always use another tote bag for teaching, traveling, etc. Ah, but this was no romp! The pattern was indeed simple, but it was not easy! Isn’t this adorable? It’s huge, stands up on its own and had a simple but interesting design. Before I tell my tale of woe, I must make this…
I continue to have problems with the two pieces I’m working on but I’m not surprised. I decided to work out some of my problems “off-line” by preparing a sample piece that is exactly like my quilts. This was no small task. But I did not want to work out any more problems on the actual quilt, so the sample was worth my time. I still had problems with the bobbin thread coming to the top and showing. Even with perfect tension, if you quilt atop a previous layer of stitches, your tension will go bonkers. This problem is inevitable with this…
Well I’m rocking along and I’ve gotten to the quilting stage on these two pieces I’m working on. Both are of the same series so I can work on them simultaneously, something I have never done before. I love it when I have A Real Plan and I get to the quilting stage-it’s that “yippeeeee” moment! But, of course, problems will come. Problems are absolutely predictable. You may remember this description of The Creative Process from a previous post: 1. This is cool! 2. This is gonna be hard. 3. This sucks. 4. I suck. 5. There is hope. 6. This…