Monthly Archives: March 2014

Colorful California…

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Digital photography is so very wonderful. Remember film? And the wait for pictures, most of which were awful? Digital photography makes it possible for each of to take amazing photos. That said, these are not ‘amazing’ but they are pretty.

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I love the aqua boxes. They are like sashing between the colorful fruit. The man behind the stand was looking at me funny as I took pictures of his tables.

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The field of yellow flowers (next) was eye-popping set into the drabber grasses…

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Farther down the road there was a bigger field of yellow with people scattered around in it, taking photos. Lots of kids sitting, surrounded by yellow. I’ll bet the pictures are terrific. We do the same thing in Texas when the bluebonnets are blooming.

The next photo is not so much about color as it is the pulled grid of the fence that lays over the scenery behind.

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It suggests an interesting quilting pattern that could be sewn over a variety of quilt tops. Done well, it would be both interesting and sort of invisible… like a wire fence.

I love a (working) vacation…

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Steve and I are in Santa Cruz, which is a vacations stop on the way to King City where I will teach and lecture on Monday. Today we hiked at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. This is a huge park and we only saw some of it. For me, the most exciting part of the hike  involved a dangerous water crossing :-). Steve carried the camera and my phone in case I slipped off the log. He also found a long stick which helped me to stay balanced. (I left the stick by the water and I hope others have made use of it.)

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There were lots of other hikers on the trail, and bicyclists were out in force. And motorcyclists. Actually, everyone in the Santa Cruz area was outside today.

One thing I noticed on the drive were the fun, hand-painted signs. If you’ve driven Highway 1, you’ve probably seen this:

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Yes, the truck is eye-catching, but it’s that big strawberry that is the best! And the other signs around it are each wonderful in their own way. If we are jam, we would definitely have stopped for a taste.

Looking at the signs made me think about how self-conscious I sometimes am about my own handwriting. And, if I were to ever paint a roadside sign, I’m pretty sure that I would try to make it too perfect.

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These signs are more eye-catching because they are so obviously made by hand.

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The imbalance, the quirkiness, the imperfections, all show the hand of the maker in the design. This is exactly why I find myself drawn to improvisational quilt designs, both pieced and appliqued.

Little quilt, big impact…

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I want to share Maria Finegan’s quilt with you. Isn’t it lovely! I love the color and the way she quilted it…

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Here is what Maria wrote: “I have long admired your beautiful quilts and gorgeous applique. I have most of your books, but felt a little overwhelmed to attempt a whole quilt of applique. I was once again looking through Amish Inspired Quilts and  fell in love with your version of this quilt. I thought the single area of applique would be a reasonable starting point and if it didn’t work out I would not have invested a large amount of time and money. As it turned out, I loved the applique process. It was more relaxing than I would have guessed. And because of my small success, I am now going back through your books to select my next project. My thanks to you and Linda for sharing your great designs and techniques.”

First I must say thank you to Maria for her kind words and for sharing the photo of her quilt. She is right… a little project is a great introduction to applique!

Tidbits from the internet…

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It’s amazing what you can learn by clicking around the internet! I didn’t even click much to learn this stuff. Today’s tidbits came to my email inbox via NextDraft and a TED newsletter.

Here is a link to a short article that explains why one nostril can get stuffed up while the other one does not. If nothing else, I now know that it’s not exactly my fault.

Next is a TED talk titled “How I beat stage fright.” by Joe Kowan. I remember when I first had to speak in front of a guild. I was president and I was scared stiff. No, I was scared ‘nauseous’, which was worse than being stiff. I wish I had been able to watch this then. As it is, even though I am not usually nervous in front of a crowd now, I did pick up some useful tips.

 

A winner, and another chance to win!

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Lisa Boyer is the lucky winner of the box of crumbs. She was chosen by my very favorite random number generator—my mom. Once I explained to mom why she had just picked a number, she was very excited. Mom loves this sort of thing :-). Lisa, if you didn’t get my email, contact me at becky@pieceocake.com. I need your shipping address.

I have one more item on my desk that needs a home. This is an almost-finished small quilt. I made this quilt to illustrate a point, but it didn’t really do what I needed. I was in a rush and thought that maybe I could make it work but when I got around to quilting it, I had to admit that it just wasn’t going to work in the book. Luckily I had time to make a different quilt. But what to do with this quilt?

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I call it Hopscotch. It’s simple and graphic, and about 32″ square. I started quilting it in a variegated rose/red King Tut cotton thread. My intention was to unify the dark and white areas of the quilt. I think with more quilting, it would do that. Or, it could be quilted differently. The lucky winner is free to rip out the quilting I have done in favor of something else.

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Unfortunately, I don’t have time to finish this quilt. I do not want to add it to my (small) pile of UFOs. I’m hoping that one of you would love to have it.

Included with the layered, partially quilted quilt is most of a cone of the King Tut quilting thread that I started with, fabric cut for the sleeve, and black and white bias binding, ready to attach. Here’s Belle, keeping watch over the folded quilt (with the back showing), the sleeve, thread, and binding.

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As before, leave a comment and mom will choose a number, this time on Wednesday.