Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Fanciful Stitches: Colorful Quilts review and giveaway
Welcome to the Fanciful Stitches Blog Tour Book Review
and
GIVEAWAY!
1- You want this book because it's a fun read.Laura Wasilowski's wit and personality shine through in her writing as well as her whimsical artwork. Instead of a dry academic tome from CSOF's dean, I found myself chuckling at titles such as "Couching Thread/ Hidden Needle." It's not all fluff though. When Laura talks about creating a stitch plan she mentions design elements and principles in a lighthearted and easily understood way. She explains what a focal point is and helps you see where you might want to add pattern, texture with your stitches.
2- The instructions are clear and well illustrated.
If you are a newcomer to fused quilts or to embroidery, have no fear. Laura walks you through each step with photos and explanations. In fact - when it comes to showing you how to make the actual embroidery stitches, the pictures do ALL the talking. Illustrations of each step of the stitch are paired with Laura's wonderful artwork so that you can see the stitches in action.
3- Patterns, Patterns, Patterns!
Each of the wonderful and whimsical quiltlets that illustrate Laura's stitches is fully laid out in with pattern and instructions so you can make your own little neighborhood of stitched wonderfun!
Now for the fun part
Leave a comment here telling me what you love about hand work. Personally, I love it's portability, it's improvisational nature (I don't plan ahead much) and spending so much time touching pretty things. On Friday I'll pick a winner from all the comments left on THIS POST. Make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch with you. Oh - and (I'm really sorry about this) this is sadly only for North American residents at the publisher's request.
Make sure to visit each of the other blogs on the tour and leave a comment on their specific tour date. That's a lot of chances to win!
April 19 - Annie Smith http://simplearts.com/blogs/
April 24 - Jane Moxey http://moxeymusings.blogspot.com/
April 26 - Judy Coates Perez http://judyperez.blogspot.com/
April 29 - Jane LaFazio http://janeville.blogspot.com/
May 3 - Frieda Anderson http://friestyle.blogspot.com/
May 4 - Connecting Threads http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads.com/
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Chicago School of Fusing
Ah. The illustrious
It's been a lifelong dream of mine to earn a degree!
I spent two lovely years in the frozen north country
where long snowbound winters drive textile artists to
unheard of lengths of creatively insanity.
Dear Lyric, Congratulations upon your completion of an under graduate degree in The Fine Art of Fusing from from the Chicago School of Fusing! Your abilities as Press Squad Leader for the Iron Maidens Sports Team makes a fuser proud. May your exceptional expertise in Fusology and Iron Maintenance and Repair serve you well in the future. And now, by the power invested in me as Dean of Corrections, I declare you a graduate of the Chicago School of Fusing. Press On! Laura Wasilowski P.S. As a graduate of the school, I invite you to join our alumnae association and send me 50 bucks a year.
In honor of this grand occasion please join me in a rousing rendition of my dear Alma Matters fight song.Tune in tomorrow for a review and the opportunity to win the dean's latest tome full of stitch wisdom.
And to clarify - you need to leave a comment on tomorrows blog post for a chance to win Laura's book.
You can leave a post on each blog in the tour on the specific day the book is reviewed for more chances.
And to clarify - you need to leave a comment on tomorrows blog post for a chance to win Laura's book.
You can leave a post on each blog in the tour on the specific day the book is reviewed for more chances.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Faces on Friday and making lemonade
 |
| Beautiful fossils from the Natural History Museum |
Yesterday was a making lemonade out of lemons day.
I had a 7yr old trooper who carried a zip-loc all around a very crowded Natural History Museum in case she threw up. I carried her all afternoon once her fever picked back up. It kept me warm on a day when we weren't quite prepared for the cold.
 |
| Audio books a driving mother's life saving device. |
 |
| Weekly progress - a face every day for a year. |
So here are the faces this week. Feels a little like regression when I look at these results. Or is it just that I wasn't trying as hard most of the time - keeping it quick and light unless drawing from a photo. It was a good sketching week - enjoying it and not feeling like it was a chore. It's all about the journey.
Have you had lemons this week?
Did you do a little mental squeezing and sugaring?
Tell me about it.
Friday, April 22, 2011
The Journey to HOME
"Everyday is a journey and the journey itself is home." -Matsuo Basho
The following post is from Lesley Riley, a creativity coach and all around lovely person. I thought her words followed on perfectly with the recent musings about finding balance between art and life and keeping the passion to create alive. I think Lesley hits it spot on when she talks about being at home with yourself: who you are and what you do.
If you are not happy at home (and I mean being at home with yourself), you will not be happy anywhere, not in the next class, on the cover of a magazine, buying your next art supply or in your studio. Being at home with yourself is the result of taking control of your dreams and pursuing your passions once and for all. It means taking a no excuses approach to creating the life you want. Anyone can be an artist success. It's not about what you know or even how talented you are - its about what you DO. And here's what you need to do - create your best possible life and become your best possible self. Yes, I know, that's much, much, easier said than done, so I'm going to give you three tips that will help you get started right now.
And let me ask you....."if not now, when?
1) Write down all the things you don't like about your present situation. Now go back over the list and see which ones are a result of your inaction. The number one reason we get down on ourselves is because we don't DO the things we say we want to do. The cold hard truth is that only YOU can make change happen. If you don't see how, then apply your creativity to yourself and figure out how to craft the life you want.
2) To be at home with yourself, create your own recipe for happiness. Check the pantry of your heart for the ingredients you have on hand and then see what you can cook up. If you find you are missing any essential ingredients, create a shopping list and set about acquiring what you need in order to lead a fulfilling life. A tablespoon of gratitude? A cup of compassion? Spreading your gifts? Mixing in a lb of self-care?
3) Start where you are. Is your physical home in conflict with your inner home? Are you just passing through? Are you using it to complement and enhance your life or is it set up for "company," to please others, or just because that's how everybody else's home looks? Your home should be a reflection of your true self. In order to be at home with yourself, your house, your home, has to be a place of your making that gives you joy. So rearrange that furniture, toss the clutter, paint a wall with chalkboard paint and color your world.
Lesley Riley, The Artist Success Expert, is the creative founder of Artist Success, Solutions for the Struggling Artist. To receive her bi-weekly articles on creating your own success as an artist, visit www.ArtistSuccess.com.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Raleigh Sketch-In April 30th
Saturday April 30th
10:00 am -12:00pm
Meet near the front door to the new wing - at those tables under the trees.
We'll do a couple of drawing exercises at 10:15 while everyone fills out their sketch pass.
(no tripods or easels inside, dry media and sketchbook only)
You can sketch in the permanent collections.
Or in the Museum Park.
for directions to the museum
2110 Blue Ridge Road | Raleigh, NC | (919) 839-NCMA
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)