Book Review-Block Party

On January 25, I made a pledge not to BUY any books for a year.  It started as a challenge from my friend GailZ as she was giving up buying clothing for a year.  She did it once before and I have total respect for her goal of decreasing her footprint on the earth.  The challenge of not buying clothing would have been a snap for me – or nearly a snap – because I simply don’t buy much for clothes and when I do – it’s because I pretty much need something (I’ve been wearing the same pair of jeans for over 3 years now).

I considered giving up fabric purchasing – as I did that last year (only caveat was that I could buy to finish a project) – but it seemed a bit easy since I’m working to decrease my stash.

Books on the other hand….I LOVE the feel of a new book in my hand.  Why buy two books when you can buy more?  So, one day in a fit of bravado, I emailed GailZ and said I would give up buying books for a year.

It’s what…..March 11 and I’m suffering already (that’s less than 20 days if you are counting).  I’ve already added at least 3 books to my Amazon wish list since making the pledge.

Technically, I don’t think I’ve failed the challenge YET – but I’ve really skirted the edge and this is my full disclosure.  I didn’t use CASH to obtain this book – so TECHNICALLY perhaps it doesn’t count?  I had credit for services rendered at the local quilt shop and used that to OBTAIN this book.  Work with me here, people……..

Anyway, it’s a lovely book.  It’s about 12 women who got together online and did a modern internet-based quilting bee.  Each month, one of the gals selected a block and sent her fabric selections to the other 11 gals for them to interpret the block in a modern way.  The quilts are both simple and stunning!  It’s a great idea for a small quilt group.  Or even if a person could gather 11 other online people and do something quite similar.

If I never make a quilt from this book – it has been fun reading about these 12 women and seeing the modern twists and turns that came about in their creative process.

Quilt shops in NSW & Victoria

I just returned from a wonderful get-away.  We headed to Melbourne, via the Snowy Mountains, in order for me to attend the Evolve Yoga Festival.  We never did see the mountain because of heavy fog.  The drive from Thredbo to Wodonga was tortuous with torrential rain and flooding.  However, in Wodonga, there was one of the best quilt shops I’ve ever been to.

Carolyns Quilting Room is amazing.  The work of her and her staff is absolutely inspirational.  She has a love for reproduction quilts and I can’t say enough about how lovely they are.  Also, her eye for fabric purchasing is right up my alley (think traditional/reproduction/romantic).  I seriously could have spent  a whole wad of dough in this shop – she even had the European Taupe line – which is gorgeous (although I still prefer the Japanese Taupes).  Instead, I settled for a couple back issues of Quilt Mania (a French quilting magazine).  I’m sure everyone in the quilting world already knows about this magazine but I’ve only recently discovered it.  This is a shop I’ll come back to next time we drive to Melbourne as it’s not too far off the Hume Highway.

After the yoga festival (which was 2 days of bliss), we headed up the coast and our first stop was Gipp Stitch in Warragul.  This was a bustling little town and the shop seemed to have everything you could possible need in the line of crafts.  They had a nice selection of fabrics and books to keep the quilter happy.  I was able to pick up the bargain of the trip here – fat quarters at 5 for $10.  That’s a STEAL in Australia where fat quarters typically run $5-6.

Next stop was Miss Milly’s Crafts in Traralgon.  An old-fashioned shop run by a lovely couple.  The find at this shop was the pattern booklet by Panda called Crochet Modern Vintage.  I have been on the look-out for this leaflet since I spotted it in a Frankie magazine on the way to the USA last year.

Next it was Lily Lane Quilting in Rosedale.  Another shop that is worth the stop if you’re in the area.  A vast selection of pretty much anything and everything that a quilter would need.  I splurged out on a new cutting mat, a couple of fat quarters and some Gutermann Sulky thread to use on my Japanese non-taupe quilt.

From there – we went to the Riviera Patchwork shop in Bairnsdale.  My second favorite shop of this trip.  A delightful shop with something for everyone – contemporary fabrics – romantic fabrics – whimsical fabrics – flannels – you name it – you’ll be able to find it here.  She also has a wonderful selection of books and patterns – not to mention gift items.  I found a couple of blacks and greys to add to my Klimt fabric collection, plus a couple new patterns.

This one from Marg Low called Bird of Happiness.

And this one from Leanne’s House called “A few of my favourite things Sewing Roll”

Our last stop was the Pepper Lane Designs quilt shop in Narooma.  I love this little shop but rarely get there.  Not only does she have a nice selection – but she’s American (although, she’s been in Australia for 30+ years).  The shop didn’t disappoint and I left my last few quilt dollars here buying King Tut quilting thread for my Klimt quilt.

I had planned to stop at Steph’s in Moruya but ran out of puff and just wanted to be home.  We did discover a (new to us) restaurant Cafe Vulcan, so think we’ll probably go back and do a date day there in the next month or so.  If you’d like to read more about our trip, be sure to pop on over to Mr. W’s blog, On The Grapevine, as he has a 4 part post on our trip.

new artsy fartsy books!

They’re mine…..all mine!  I don’t need to take them back to the library EVER!

Thanks to a couple of my peeps, I received a generous Amazon gift certificate for Christmas and I went CRAZY, man.  Somehow (oh my!) I ended up ordering DOUBLE what the original gift card was and look at my order……wowser.  Can’t wait to dig into them all.  I don’t know which one to look at first.

First off……I ordered a book of Gustav Klimt’s work by di Stefano.  As you know….he’s my new favorite artist.  (Thanks to Elizabeth, Sandi, Annette & Robyn for raiding their stash and contributing to my yellow/maze fabrics in anticipation of tackling an interpretation of his work!)

Quilting Books:

Masters Art Quilts – Volume 2.  I checked out the first volume of this compendium from the library and was so inspired – I’m sure this will be no less inspirational.

Fresh Quilting – Dubrawsky

Create your own free-form quilts – Rayna Gillman.  This one is sorta like my fractured reality series…..I guess what they say is true – nothing is new.  It is certainly new to me though and I can’t wait to try some curved strip piecing.  This gal has a similar philosophy to me….piecing is therapeutic.  Who needs a psychologist or prozac if you’ve a sewing machine and a bag of scraps?

The best of Quilting Arts – Bolton

Intuitive color & design – Jean Wells

Health & Wellness Books:

Relax & Renew – Judith Hanson Lasater.  My favorite yoga writer/speaker/teacher.  I could listen to her all day.  I could read her all day.  I would love to go to her workshop in Sydney later this year on this subject.

Beautiful You – Rosie Rolinary  I’ve been following this gal’s blog for awhile and am looking forward to reading her book. This is what her ‘about’ page says [she] “empowers women to embrace their authentic selves so they can live their passion and purpose and give their gifts to the world.”

The Relaxation Response – Herbert Benson.

Fiction:  

The things we do for love – Kristin Hannah.  She writes such sweet books – usually with relationship conflict happening.  Somewhat fluff no doubt but sometimes that’s just exactly what you need.  I think it was Mystic Lake that I loved so much that I wrote her a fan letter.  My first fan letter!  And, she responded.  How cool is that?

Once Upon a time, there was you – Elizabeth Berg.  I have loved her writing for years.  My absolute favorite of hers is Talk Before Sleep.  I remember when I first read it I think I bought 6 copies to share with people.  It is a story of friendship between women and how they all rallied together to support one who was dying.  I’ve always thought having a group of women like that in your life would be amazing and it probably would be.  Lately and more importantly though, I think if you have even just one tribeswoman in your life – you are indeed fortunate.

Masters Art Quilts – Book Review

Now…..this is a mother of all art quilt books.  I will definitely be checking this one out for another month.  I can’t tell you how may hours I’ve spent looking at this book while sitting in front of the TV in the evenings.  I started to make a list of the artists in order to  later ‘stalk’ them online.  The list includes: Ha Ziv, Cher Cartwright, Deidre Scherer, Linda Colsh, Charlotte Yde, Joan Schulze, Jette Clover, Pauline Burbidge and Katie Pasquini Masopust

And that was when I stopped – because I’d only gotten through half of the book.  Suffice to say – there is plenty to drool over in this book.  Plus, I think every possible style of quilting imaginable is included.  Even though I’m not personally drawn to several of the styles of quilting in this  book – it was interesting to read about their processes, their inspiration, their history.  Also, the caption of each piece lists the techniques or items used which is really helpful when trying to develop skills.

As I look at the work in this book I keep coming back to the question of “how do they find their inspiration?”  Do they wake up with an idea or do they just start and see what develops?  I’m not sure if I have inspirations or ideas – and I wonder if that is what holds me back…..I keep coming back to the fact that I’m good at following directions (or patterns) but do I really have what it takes to come up with my own ideas/inspiration?  Do I have the artistic push necessary to come up with my own designs or am I destined to simply be a ‘piecer’….someone who colors inside the lines rather than ventures out into the unknown?

A few quilts from this book:

Cher Cartwright – Rock, Paper Scissors

Jette Clover - this one is interesting because she used a rusting technique – which is something I want to try.  I also want to try burying a quilt top for 6 months with organic materials and see what happens.  While stalking Jette Clover, I ran across the blog Art Propelled – another amazing place to spend time.

Joan Schulze – another artist that ticks my boxes….she combines photo transfer, glue resist and collage with her art which makes for some simply breathtaking works of art in my opinion.   It seems like she is a most prolific artist – someone I’ll be following.

And now….it’s time to stop stalking other artists and go out into my little house and create……not sure what it will be today – but it will be something!

‘Art Quilt’ Book Review

Time to return another batch of books to the library – here’s what I’ve been reading:

Simply Amazing Spiral Quilts by RaNae Merrill

Interesting book but not something I want to pursue at this time.  This would be perfect for the person who wants to really get into geometric work.  There is good information in here about choosing your fabrics – scale and color – in order to make the spirals really swirl.

Again, some great machine quilting work on her examples.  And, I love the concentric circle appliqued on the cover.

Personal Imagery in Art Quilts by Erika Carter

This is another one of those books that details the transition the quilter made from traditional quilting to art quilting.  Her later work is quite abstract and that is the work that most appeals to me.  I’m sure it represents specific ‘stuff’ to her – but I like that I can interpret it to mean anything I want it to mean.  Truly, isn’t that art in general?  I struggle with art critics and art instructors and all telling me WHAT or HOW I should interpret something (whether it’s a painting, a photo or a story or whatever).

She says….”Personal, internal landscapes are organic.”  (I LOVE the word ‘organic’……it’s my new favorite word after ‘fractured reality’).  Back to Erika…..”Personal, internal landscapes are organic.  They live, change, and grow.  Some aspects wither and die.”  She goes on to talk about how she came up with an entire new language – the language of landscape which became metaphors for personal issues.  Sounds a little deep and I may not be getting the entire gist of her thoughts across – but suffice it to say that the words in this book are just as inspiring as her quilts.  I think it’s her story that is most compelling because it’s not that it is a story of great strife and chaos or hardship (or it could be, I’m not sure) but more that she had the internal angst……she knew at times that she wanted to do something different but she didn’t have a path to follow or know the path to follow and yet she just kept plugging along until she found HER way.

I am drawn to her work.  I like the hand-dyed fabrics and I like the squares and rectangles.  They are visually appealing to me.

Art Cloth by Jane Dunnewold

There is a ton of information in this book for dying and painting fabric.  Not only does it cover the different techniques for adding or removing color but it gives you ideas for developing your workspace, the tools you need and how to build layers of color onto your fabric.

One of the techniques I’m going to try is fabric resist using flour.  I’ve dyed 3 pieces of fabric to use in my 2012 leader/ender project but I’m not quite happy with them yet.  I’m thinking by doing the flour resist, I can add some depth to the fabric.  As soon as we have a couple days of dry weather – I’ll be tackling her method.  Should be interesting!

This is another one of those books that I would definitely check out again or perhaps even purchase.

Eye candy

I like this gal’s blog – and her stuff.  I especially love the circular quilting – oh, and the wonky drunkards path blocks.  A drunkards path quilt is on my (quilt) bucket list.  I just haven’t found the one I want to make yet but oh…..wouldn’t a WONKY drunkards path be the cat’s meow?

Malka Dubrawsky – A stitch in Dye

She sells her things on Etsy too if you would rather buy than make.  Check out her camera straps!

Did I mention she dyes her fabrics also?  I’ll be adding her to my ‘inspiration’ page.  REALLY REALLY (standing on one leg REALLY) love her work.

Quilt Group Kris Kringle gifts

 

Our small quilt group had a Christmas gathering this week.  It was such a fun little party!  And, these gals are just the best.  I am so thankful that they invited me into their group earlier this year.  They make me smile.

We exchanged Kris Kringle gifts.  I made a travel needle case and a covered journal by Valori Wells.  Very quick and easy patterns.  I like her designs – probably because she incorporates a lot of photography in her quilt works.  As far as the patterns go, there were a few incomplete bits but nothing that a some-what experienced sewer wouldn’t be able to figure out.

We also made a Christmas decoration during the day – this owl.  He went together quite easily.  I think his eyes look like whirly-gigs or like he’s on speed or Laugh-In or something.  I’ve since added some black slash marks to the buttons so he doesn’t look as ‘possessed’.  So far, that’s my only Christmas decoration.  I’m just not ‘into’ Christmas.

Art Quilt books

I picked up a few art quilt books the last time I went to the library.  None of them are recent books – published dates of 2004, 2003 & 2009.

The first one, Journey of an Art Quilter by Barbara Olson

It is interesting but totally outside of what I want to do.  Amazing work and an inspiring story of how she found her life’s purpose and developed the confidence to develop her quilting career.  Examining the quilting work – the free motion quilting was what I enjoyed the most about this book although that wasn’t the focus of the book.    It was also inspiring to watch her progression from doing a sampler quilt to making award-winning quilts.

A couple key quotes from Barbara Olson’s book:

“If I do have talent, how do I develop it?”  ”Practice, practice, practice”

“using your brain is the slowest way to create.  Using your intuition and feelings is the quickest way to create unique images.”

Ask the questions “what if?”  ”what now?”

Next on my library reading list was Contemporary Quilts – Design, Surface and Stitch by Sandra Meech.

I know the phrase O-M-G is overused and all but O-M-G!  This book is right up my alley.  I actually need to check it out again because there is so much in it that I want to explore and learn.  The cover alone is amazing.  It covers inspiration, different surfaces, the design process, color and then stitching.  Nearly every page has something that grabs my eye and makes me want to look at it closer.

One thing I really like about her work is that she incorporates photographs into her quilts.  Another potential use for the Matilda’s inkjet fabric perhaps?

Probably one of the key things I picked up from her book is that I need to keep a sketchbook or journal handy to capture my ideas.  That is the first thing on my list to organize this week.  Nothing fancy (I can fancy it up later) just something convenient that I can keep near me to capture my quilting thoughts and ideas.

The machine quilting on this gals quilts is fabulous also.  She includes lots of wave-like motion and rocks/pebbles and just free form lines that accentuate her vision.  I’ll definitely be checking this book out again to study it in more depth.

The 3rd book I checked out is by Lyric Kinard called art + quilt

I seriously WANT this book.  I think it has to be on my bookshelf.  It’s on my Amazon wish list.  For sure, I’m going to try to keep it for another month – hopefully it’s not on someone else’s list of books that they are waiting for.  Here are a couple quotes from the first couple pages…..

“I firmly believe that everyone is creative in some way, and that if you have the desire and the willingness to learn, you can become an artist.”

“Learning the fundamental elements of art and principles of design is just like learning to read and write.”

“Surround yourself with people who support you.  Find others who wish to take the journey and walk together on the path to creativity.”

“Give yourself permission to learn one step at a time and to make mistakes along the way.”

There are exercises to do, quotes to read, things to make you think and feel.  Where to gather inspiration, playing with color, values and contrast……so much stuff in this book.  I has me totally inspired.