Phew! Jay's right. Step outside in sunny Portland right now and you'll be cooked alive in minutes. Better to stay inside and absorb all that's on offer at Spring Market. Here are a few pictures to give you a flavour of what's gone on in the past few days:
This is the Krause Publications booth, all set and ready before the show began. Authors are demonstrating here every hour on Friday and Saturday. A great chance to meet the experts and browse all the new books that are available. If you're not at the show, you can find information about new books at the MyCraftivity shops (UK and US).
Pam and Nicky Lintott were launching their new book Jelly Roll Quilts, and talked many quilt shop owners through the lovely projects in the book.
It has been very hot here in Portland, Oregon, but the Market is keeping it cool -- I mean the air conditioning has been blasting. The show open yesterday, it is chaulk full of new fabrics and great quilts. I'm going to be on the floor today, bringing you some photos. Stay Tuned -- Jay
Our intrepid roving reporters, Jay and Jane, are at Quilt Market this week, getting all the good quilting scoop for us. They'll be seeing all the new tools, fabrics, books and more that will be stocking the shelves of our local fabric stores in the upcoming seasons, and giving us all the sneak previews they're allowed to share.
What kinds of things are on your quilting wishlist? What colors do you hope to see in the upcoming collections? What designer's work are you most excited about? What magical machine, what time-saving tool do you wish would appear this year? Once upon a time rotary cutters, long-arm quilting machines, and all those other things we can't do without were once just a twinkle in some inventor's eye! What quilting tools has your imagination cooked up that aren't on the shelves yet? Who knows--maybe if you let us know here you'll be seeing the next year!
In my last blog, I gave you a little trivia about traditional Hawaiian bedding. The more I thought about this layered approach, the more excited I've become about doing a completely non-traditional approach. I want to create a three-in-one quilt, all attached along one side, so that the user can decide how much coverage they want. It is for my brother's Colorado cabin.
Also, I love the idea of making each layer work with a different seasonal theme. But I also want all the layers to be traditional. So, I headed to the computer to do a little design work. Drats! My EQ6 is on my desktop computer, which I left in Kentucky. All I have here in Cincy is my laptop. So, I grabbed Designing Patchwork on Your Computer. It comes with this really cool CD that has basic patchwork software that works on both PC and MAC. It is a great little program for beginners and for designing basic patchwork. Plus it comes with the book.
So here is what I've come up with so far:
1st layer -- The Summer Layer:is just top and back (no batting) doing a simple Rainbow Squares with fabric from Robert Kaufman Fabric's Imperial Fusion collection. The range of colors will make the simple Rainbow block approach easy.
2nd layer -- The Spring & Fall Layer (Colorado mountains can be really cold at night): is traditional, cotton top, cotton batting, and cotton backing. I'm going for a simple Scrappy Herringbone design in solids, stripes, and geometrics. I'm trying to work in a color palette that evokes both fall and spring -- I think there is going to be a lot of orange and green going on here. I'm going to have do some serious searching for the right fabrics here.
3rd layer -- The Winter Layer (or the "why did I think it would be cool to come stay at 9,000 feet in January" layer) is going to be simple squares on point, all in SewBatiks flannel, with wool batting and cotton backing. I picked some up at Nancy Zieman and Wisconsin Public Television's Quilt Expo last fall, and I've been dying to use it.
The traditional Hawaiian Kapa Moe attached the layers permanently. Yet, again, I'm taking great liberties with the traditon. I'm going to attach the layers with buttons, for easy care.
I guess this really doesn't qualify for a Kapa Moe anymore. Any suggestions on what do call this quilt thing?
This spring has been a very busy one for me and hasn't left much time for "fun" crafting. In addition to a career move to a new position that keeps me hopping, I am also working on projects for a book I am writing that is due out next summer. So, my day times are filled with work and my night times with purposeful crafting. While these are exciting opportunities, this busy-ness is leading to a bit of crafty restlessness that has me chomping at the bit to start a project that doesn't have a deadline or a "purpose" (other than to be enjoyable).
Unfortunately, it will be awhile before I start that much-desired "fun only" project, but that doesn't keep me from daydreaming! When I need an infusion of inspiration and daydreaming, there are many sources I turn to. I recently received a link to a slideshow of pictures from the Denver Quilt show that has me fully stocked with daydream material once again.
This quilt in particular, Wild Roses by Bea Mansanarez, is tickling my fancy.
The gorgeous colors and fine workmanship amaze and inspire me. I'm glad I didn't see it in person, though, because I'm sure the artist wouldn't appreciate the drool I'd have left behind!
What inspires you? Where do you turn for a boost to get you through "lean" crafty times? What do you do to keep a project from feeling like an obligation?
