This is part of my WONDERFUL fabric stash

Youl'll notice some completed crazy blocks amongst the stash. Somehow a few balls of yarn found their way into the photo below. My name is Edna. I'm President of the wonderful Quilts and Heirlooms team. Thought I'd just show some of the wonderful fabrics that I've been accused of hoarding. Now who really hoardes fabric! We quilters, sewers, know that these wonderful assortments of florals, prints, plaids, retros, cottons, blends, etc. will go into some gorgeous project at some point in this lifetime or in the next. But you just can't accuse us of hoarding. We are fabric genuises. Just wait until you see the next quilt, purse, bag, tote, coat of many colors, diaper that we come up with.

Trial and Error

Sometimes when we see something gorgeous we forget we are seeing the end result of a long process. Beautiful heirloom art is not sprung from a moment of finesse but from many moments of both success, error and skill building. It is trial and error that sparks our creativity, gives us free rein and takes us in directions we might not have immediately chosen.

One of the nicest ways I've seen to encourage this type of anything goes, just create attitude is a Journal Quilt. These are small, usually
8 x 10 quilts which can be done in a variety of mediums. I first heard about these from the Quilting Arts television show run on PBS. Patricia Bolton (Pokey) is the host of this show; a great one for sparking your imagination.

The idea of journal quilts is to encourage you to continually create and try new techniques. Because of its small size, you don't have to feel like you're committing to a large project. It's similar to a sketchbook for your various attempts and reminds me of knitting and crochet samplers. As with journal quilts, there is no reason why this same concept could not translate to other fiber arts as well.

This past Saturday, I caught another of my favorite shows: America Quilts Creativity, episode 913. This episode had Pokey on as a quest and to my great delight, she actually walked us through her method for creating one of her journal quilts. Click here for the pdf file that gives you the steps from that show.

Mistakes often take us into new areas of creativity, opening our eyes to new possibilities. Use that freedom and try some journal quilting!

Creating a Design Wall

The things I ponder over

As I'm browsing the web I sometimes come across terms I'm not really familiar with. One of them was a Quilting Design Wall. I had seen it often but as quilting is newer in my skill set and being a starving artist, I had not come across it in my earlier years.

Fortunately, I've discovered the wondrous power of Google. Where there is a need, there is a google search string that will find it for you. So, for all of you other fiber artists who would like to fix up their studio (my lovely little term for all the crap I have piled up in my livingroom), here's a very nice article to help us out.

"How to Make a Quilt Design Wall: Best Way to See Whether Fabrics Work Together Before Quilt Assembly by © Christine Mann"
-->To Read more, click here

~
Have fun!

Never a dull moment

Sports Wall Pocket
Originally uploaded by starryhomecrafts

The picture I've included with today's post, is a wall pocket by StarryHomeCrafts. I chose this because it shows the variations handmade can bring to our lives. Whether you sew, quilt, crochet, knit, tatt or embroider, the possibilities are endless.

Items we create can be both functional and beautiful. There is creating simply for the artistic side and there is art meets function, where our skill can be used to create items we use daily.

Particularly today, many individuals don't have the money for books or a lot of equipment. Don't let that stop you from trying out various crafts. Your local library is still free and is a resource we can all use. The web is also a great resource for crafts. Below you'll find a few I came across on a quick browse this morning.

Crochet:
http://www.crochetcabana.com/crochet_dictionary.htm
Collecting and Caring for Vintage Heirlooms:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2148140_clean-heirloom-vintage-linens.html
Quilting:
http://quilting.about.com/od/stepbystepquilting/How_to_Make_a_Quilt.htm
Embroidery:
http://www.sublimestitching.com/howto.html
Knitting:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_dkng/0,2044,DIY_18180,00.html
Sewing:
http://www.whatthecraft.com/index.php
Tatting
http://www.wikihow.com/Begin-Tatting

Let your creative side flourish and like us, you'll never have a dull moment again.

Spotlight on Fiber Artist Twentypoundtabby!

Tiny Doll Demo
Originally uploaded by twentypoundtabby

This tiny, almost 3 and 1/2 inch doll is just one of the marvelous creative endeavors being produced by the talented Denver, Colorado artist, Twentypoundtabby.

This very diverse lady is also a photographer and was kind enough to answer a few questions for me to share with you here.

1.In the range of over 50/under 50, where would you place yourself?

I'm exactly at 50.

2.How long have you been a member of the Quilts and Heirloom team and what made you decide to join this group? Are you in any other groups?

I believe I joined it right at the beginning which was the summer of 2008. I belong to EGADS - Etsy Guild of Doll Artisans, FAE - Fantasty Artists of Etsy, EtsyFAST and the Mile High Club (Denver Etsians). Right from the start this group was friendly and social so I wanted to join.

3.What do you consider your fiber art passion?

That's going to be hard to pin down. I sew, quilt, dye, embroider, felt, lucet chord, and do a little bit of weaving. Sewing Art Dolls is my biggest passion. I don't knit, which some people find strange because I have so much fiber.

4. Where or when did you learn this art?

I learned to sew from my mother at a very early age. My first sewing machine looked like -->this.

5. Do you have any encouraging suggestions or tips for someone new to your skill?

I've met folks who say they can't sew. To those I say anyone can sew if they take the time to take classes and practice. Very few people are going to be great at it right away - anything worth doing well takes study, practice and time.

6. Do you enjoy any other creative endeavors? And if so, could you tell us a little about them?

I paint, draw, sculpt, do calligraphy (SCA scrolls), bead, garden, and play a variety of instruments. I used to dance.

7. What is your shop and do you have other shops at Etsy?

I'm at twentypoundtabby.etsy.com and tabbytoo.etsy.com


8. As you look in your shop(s), what would be your favorite item in the bunch? The one you almost hate to part with?

Probably my dragon. I really like dragons.


9. Do you have any suggestions or advice for someone just starting out on etsy?

Not really. I could use more advice myself.

To see more of her work, in addition to her etsy shops, you can also find Twentypoundtabby on Myspace, Flickr and blogspot:
MySpace:
www.myspace.com/twentypoundtabby
Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/twentypoundtabby/
Blog:
twentypoundtabby.blogspot.com/

Quilting for the Embroidery Enthusiast

Crazy Quilt 1
Originally uploaded by Pixie Dust

Recently, I picked up the DVD, "Judith Baker Montano Teaches You Crazy Quilting". This lovely dvd has hooked me into a new hobby. If you love to embroider and are drawn to quilting, crazy quilts can bring you the best of all worlds.

Your favorite fabric scraps, both solid and patterned, silks and satins, velvets and linens, plus scraps of your favorites trims and notions can be assembled with your own embroidery into a phenomenal piece of art.

After watching the dvd I immediately started gathering fabrics, trims and a bit of heavy muslin to try my hand at this art form. It is not quite finished yet, lacking the embroidery stitches but I can't wait to post a picture of it for you to see. In order for you to see just how beautiful a crazy quilt can be, I found this photo on Flicker to show you.

If you are interested in hearing more about crazy quilting, it's history and the look, try the following links:

Crazy Quilt History: A Victorian Craze
Vigo County Historical Society On-Line Exhibit (quilts 3 and 4)
The History of Crazy Quilts, Part I
Crazy Quilt Central

Now, back to my own crazy quilt project....

Improvising Quilters

Youtube has some fantastic tutorials for crafty people. I was browsing through some videos today and came across two fantastic videos for creating your own custom sewing table. The author of these videos is a quilter and the table she created for her quilting is cheap to make and innovative.

Since I am currently working on a table not meant for sewing and have very little room to work with, I fell in love with this idea. A weekend project is in order! Here's the two videos and I hope you find them helpful.





See you on Monday! Have a great weekend!

Quilts on the Wall

A Southwest quilt
Originally uploaded by starryhomecrafts

I selected this photo today because Starryhomecrafts discusses framing small quilts and provided a link to a wonderful article by Margery O. Hedges on how to frame a quilt. ( Read more...

The method in the above article is very easy to follow and would actually work with a variety of needlearts including hooked or embroidered pieces.

So, if you have a piece of needlework stashed in a drawer because you don't know what to do with it, try framing it? Heirlooms need to be seen or they become simply dust collectors.