Monday, May 31, 2010

Goddess of the Last Minute: Laughter and Lessons from an Uncommon Quilter
Robbi Joy Eklow sure has a great sense of humor, I'm really enjoying this book. 
One of my favorite quotes so far:
" I bet most quilters, even if they are more careful about what they buy, have many more books than finished quilts.  I no longer feel guilty about that.  If I collected murder mysteries, would I feel bad about not going out and killing  a few people every time I got a new book?  Of course not."

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Quilters Hands

Quilters Hands:
 Stitching,
     Sewing,
         Pinning,
               Ironing,
                    Folding,
                         Quilting,
                               Beading,
                                  Drawing,
                                       Painting,
                                           Folding,
                                            Embroidering.





Tuesday, May 18, 2010

List 50 ways you are creative...

Creativity isn't just "art", creativity is in everything you do every day.  The way you do your hair, arrange your furniture, prepare a meal are all your own creativity.  I started out listing 25, but that was too easy; so I upped it to 50 to make it harder...but it wasn't.

50 ways I am creative:
1. Sewing
2. Quilting
3. Drawing
4. Painting
5. Laughing
6. Playing games - like my new addiction to Scrabble on my iPod
7. Organizing my shelves
8. Baking goodies - I haven't done this in a while, but I want to bake something for the Retreat this weekend.
9. Embellishing a quilt
10. Deciding what to wear
11. Putting up my hair
12. Putting on make-up, when I actually do that.
13. Putting on jewelry...when I actually do that too.
14. Appreciating the view out of the window
15. Planning things to do with my Niece and Nephew
16. Reading a book
17. Journaling
18. BLOGGING (of course!)
19. Photography
20. Weaving
21. Organizing on my iPod
22. Sorting coupons
23. Painting my fingernails
24. Day dreaming!
25. Planning a quilt, whether it comes to life or not.
26. Listening to an audio book
27. Sewing the binding on someones quilt
28. Watching the snow fall.
29. Listening to the rain.
30. Meeting up with friends
31. Singing
32. Playing with the cat
33. Organizing my sewing room
34. Even the way I make my bed!
35. And House Cleaning!
36. Laundry
37. Meditating
38. Creating solitude
39. Any time I ask a question
40. Walking through a museum
41. Doing a jigsaw puzzle
42. Treasure Hunting at Thrift Stores
43. Felting wool in the washer
44. Eating chocolate (a creative way to keep me from killing people for sure!)
45. Attending lectures
46. Seeing a play
47. Witnessing the lives of others
48. Instant messaging with family/friends all over the world.
49. Genealogy
50. Family Reunions
51. Retreats and Outings with my Quilt buddies
52. Telling friends a funny story...
53. Learning a language


That was way too easy.  What's on your list?

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun."
~ Mary Lou Cook

"Creativity can solve almost any problem.  The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything."
~ George Lewis

Monday, May 17, 2010

Amazon link

Apparently some are having a hard time seeing my Amazon.com link at the top of the right column. 
So I'm adding this link to Joyces book, but once you go there, you can search for whatever you want.
Let me know if it works.
Thanks

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Spiral Eye Needles

In my links list in the right column I've added a link to Spiral Eye Needles website.
Pam Turner, the Spiral Eye Needle inventor is a Minnesotan.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

My Fabric "Bank"

Anyone remember "Banks"?

For those that don't know, years ago "Banks" was a warehouse store, that sold items that they bought from insurance claims from retail stores.  Sometimes it was because of fire, and everything they had was smokey.  But most the time it was 3 floors of fantastic treasure hunting at a small fraction of the retail price.

Everything was brand new; high-falutin' Italian shoes, Calvin Klein jeans, clothes up the wazoo, everything for the kitchen and bedding...you name it, at some point in time they had it.  It was always worth it to read their electric sign outside, declaring the next sale they would have, such as "$2,000,000 Ski Equipment, TUESDAY 9 AM".  And when shopping the days before a sale, that section would be closed off but many people would come to peek and see if it's worth standing in line to get in.

One day it was a fabric shop that went out of business!  

Even as a teenager I was bit by the fabric bug...   Bolts and bolts of beautiful cotton calico's in dark cerulean, dark scarlet, burgundy, midnight blue, olive and fern!  These were not kelly green with white mini polka dots!  They all coordinated beautifully.  I only had so much money with me so I couldn't buy it all.  OMG, I had to whittle down from at least 20 bolts that I absolutely loved.  Which to choose?  I wanted all of them. 

So...you can imagine the clerks eye-rolling when I told her I wanted 1/4 yard of each one!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Blive færdig, Finito, Acabar, Sluta, Finish!

The rest of the Elephant Pantyliners (baby burp clothes).
Finished!
The protective travelling case for the Melange a trois.
Finished!
The rest of the Bird Seed Bags.
Finished!
Make Mothers Day card.
Finished!
I don't have the camera, so I'll take pictures tomorrow.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

More messin' around.

"Double Vision", curved piecing, 19"
Any Artist who thinks Quilters are not "Artists" has disconnected themselves from creativity.