Author Archives: Becky Goldsmith

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About Becky Goldsmith

I am a quilt designer/teacher/author, a wife/mother/grandmother, and certified yoga instructor who is searching for balance, strength, and happiness in all things.

Put your light in the right spot…

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crbal150307

This is what happens if your light is way over there on the table and you are sitting too far from it. ‘Growing toward the light’ happens especially to hand sewers/appliquers. It is very hard on your back and shoulders.

Place your light in position so that you can sit up straight and see what you are doing, both at the same time. This probably means that you need an adjustable floor lamp. I use my Stella floor light, but there are other lamps that also work.

As always, pay attention to your posture.

If you are right-handed, the light should come from the left. Left-handers, the light should come from the right. In both cases this keeps the shadow from your dominant hand from falling on your work, where you are trying to see what you are doing.

My own personal shopper…

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My friend, Amanda, had on the cutest top the last time I saw her. She then told me about Stitch Fix (I’ve added a link in the column at right, under Fashion). This is an online personal shopping site. You fill out your info, indicate what sorts of things you like, etc., and eventually you get a box!

StitchFix-01

The box opens to reveal a box that is thoughtfully printed on the inside, with instructions about what to do next, and your items enclosed in tissue paper. There is also a return envelope, ready to use.

StitchFix-02

I took a quick peek, and a photo, from the side before tearing the tissue paper…

StitchFix-03

I told them I like greens and blues. I got greens and blues, but not exactly the shades of green and blue that I normally buy. They couldn’t read my mind-amazing!

I did as instructed and tried on everything. Three of the five items fit well and are very much worth keeping. Lorna was here and chimed in so I feel pretty good about what is staying in my closet…

StitchFix-04

These are not garments that go together, but I have other garments in my closet that go with all of them. I would never have found these on my own, nor would I have chosen them for myself. How about that! You are never too old to learn more about how to dress yourself :-).

So, if you are shopping challenged, check out Stitch Fix.

Show and Tell…

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Ilsabe emailed this photo of her quilt. She says:

I had one of your books for years and finally just finished a quilt based off of one of the quilts.  I hand quilted it.  So I thought I would send a picture of how it turned out.  I love your color choices in the original but wound up in a different direction.

IlsabeUrban

I am always happy to see how other quilters use our patterns. Ilsabe, you did a great jpb!

FYI: In case you are wondering, this pattern is from our book, Applique Outside the Lines. The quilt in question is Peppermint Sparkle.

Empty Spools, 2015…

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You might have noticed that I was too busy to write on the blog, but I did post to instagram and facebook. I hope you enjoyed the scenery and the waves.

Today, before class was totally over, I did take photos of my students. To be honest, I am always busy being the teacher and forget to stop and be a photographer. But I noticed that most everyone was taking pictures and realized that I should be too!

Penny had already gone and I am sorry I missed getting her photo. She worked, and conquered, the Everyday Best block before leaving to take in some sites on her way north. Penny, we missed you :-).

And I don’t know how I managed to miss Jane, but I did. She worked on a lovely applque quilt-in-progress in class. It ought to come together pretty quickly once she gets home.

Here’s a slideshow of my students and at least some of the work they did in this independent study class. I have to say that every person in the room was a delight and we all had a fabulous time!

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The photo challenge continues…

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On January 8 I wrote about Ricky Tims’ 52 week photo challenge. I am loving it! We just finished Week 7 which was a black and white challenge. This is my photo:

beckygoldsmith-blackwhite-4

I knew I was going to learn a lot, but am happy to report that I’m learning stuff that I didn’t know that I didn’t know. That’s not a typo. It is both exciting and humbling to learn new things, especially when it makes your brain stretch. I can feel mine stretching!

Ricky uses smugmug, a photo sharing/storage site. I followed suit and have a smugmug page of my own where I’ve been uploading my weekly challenge photos. There’s a link to my smugmug page over there in the right-hand column if you’d like to see my photos. I hope Ricky offers this class again next year—I heartily recommend it to any of you interested in photography.

And, as long as I’m talking about links over there to the right, you might want to scan through them. I’ve added some new ones. For example, if you are interested in Japanese fabric, and other fabrics not usually found in quilt shops, check out the link for Marcy Tilton.

And, as you click through my links, if you find any that aren’t working, please do let me know. I try to keep them current but… well, you know. Life gets in the way of doing everything.

Yet another new iron…

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I recently taught at Quilt Fiesta in Tucson. (It is fun show if any of you can make it next year!) There were lots of quilts, and there were vendors. I walked the vendors at a slow time and darned if Jamie didn’t rope me in…

Jamie-EurosteamIron

How have I missed the EuroSteam booth at every quilt show I have ever attended? Who knows. But this time Jamie had my undivided attention and darned if she didn’t sell me a EuroSteam iron. (Let me just say, she’s good at her job.)

You can buy the iron online, but it’s cheaper at a show. Plus you get to talk to a person who is very familiar with it.

EuroSteamIron-1 copy

This is a heavy iron, which is fine with me. It has a ceramic sole plate that is supposed to never scorch. Dandy! It has an aluminum water reservoir, not plastic, so should last longer.

You see that plastic/silicon thing it’s sitting on? The iron lives there. It should never, ever, be stood up on it’s end. Jamie was very clear on this point. Enough so that I have not forgotten.

Jamie showed me how to use the measuring cup that comes with and was very clear that I should never, ever, (ever!) use distilled water. Irons need the minerals in the water. Without them, they spit (I forget why). There is a very good chance that I have ruined previous irons all on my own by disregarding the instructions to use tap water. The end of the long spout is flexible so that you can fill the iron while it is flat.

EuroSteamIron-2

This iron puts out lots of steam. And it does the job. Here is cotton/linen before:

EuroSteamIron-3 copy

And then after a quick-ish press:

EuroSteamIron-4 copy

The EuroSteam works better than my most recent irons. It cost $200 and, if it continues to work well, I will consider to be money well-spent. If you are interested, look for EuroSteam at your next quilt show and try one before buying.

FYI: If you read the instructions that come with the iron, you will find lots of warnings that lead you to think that if you don’t relieve the pressure in the iron (release steam) every 10 minutes it might blow up. Jamie assured me that I could pretty much ignore that. I didn’t mean to, but I did walk off and leave the iron hot and plugged in, with water/steam inside, for over an hour. It did not blow up. I am not saying that you should ignore the safety warnings, but I personally didn’t let them frighten me off.

And, back to the water: Sherman water is full of appliance-killing calcium and salt. Jamie said to use bottled water if I wanted to, just not distilled. I was about to use what I thought was bottled spring water until I looked at the label and noticed that it said ‘purified’. I googled it and it sounds like purified water has a lot of the particles removed from it, making it similar to distilled water which is not good for the iron. I chose to use tap water instead and will look for bottled spring water for my iron.

And I have promised myself that I will follow Jamie’s instructions and drain my iron when I’m done for the day, every day. Cross my heart :-).