I am so excited to be collaborating with my friend, artist Carole Lyles Shaw, in a LIVE Webinar. Join us on Thursday, June 8th from 7-8:30 p.m. ET for “Stitching Sustainably: Mindful Quilting Practices for a Better Future.” Carole and I will discuss maintaining a sustainable stash through mindful consumption and organizing, as well as eco-friendly ways to let go of fabrics.
During the webinar, you will discover how to lessen our impact on the environment while still enjoying the art of stash building and quilting. Our goal is to offer an optimistic and realistic take on living a sustainable quilting life filled with joy!
We will share what we learned from our own journey towards sustainability. The conversation will be moderated by FeelGood Fibers co-founder, Tom Soper, and is a must-attend event for all quilters passionate about sustainability. We really hope that you will join us!
Hello, friends! Happy 2020! It’s been a minute since I posted here. Mostly because of the holidays. And life. And also because I haven’t been in my sewing space much these past few months. But instead, I have been allocating my creative time to working hard behind-the-scenes to build FeelGood Fibers into the kind of creative community you’d want to be a part of when it launches on February 2nd.
Friends, the day is finally here! I have been working tirelessly behind the scenes like an elf preparing for Christmas Day! I am so thrilled to share that FeelGood Fibers will be launching in 2020!
This short and sweet post is to share a recent finish! Last month, I decided to make a quilt for a dear friend, and together we decided that a Stars Hollow Quilt would be the perfect design.
With so much gorgeous fabric in the world, and new lines of tempting palettes coming out all the time, it’s hard to think about how our fabric choices can have an impact on the world. It seems so complicated to sift through all of the information out there, and to imagine that tiny little me can really make a difference one way or the other. . . right? But when we all come together to change our habits, we really can have an impact. And one easy way to make a difference is by incorporating some eco-friendly habits into our quilting practice.
If we each consciously choose to use fabrics that we already have in our homes, that we can repurpose, or that we can purchase second-hand (even part of the time), we can limit the amount of resources needed to create new fabrics. We don’t have to change everything all at once. We can take small steps with each project, and over time, our eco-friendly actions will create the change we want to see.
Here are 7 ways that you can easily start making a difference today!
If you love to listen to podcasts while you sew, then have I got a treat for you! This list of 50 popular podcasts was compiled from the recommendations that you guys shared with me through the Fiber Artists: What Matters Most to You survey and via Instagram.
You guys have an awesome range of interests, from science to business, pop culture to social change, personal growth, comedy — and of course, crafts and quilting!
I hope that this list will help you the next time you are in your sewing room and think to yourself, what should I listen to next??
As you guys probably know, I spent 2018 curating The Creativity Project: Getting to the Heart of “Why” We Quilt. It was an essential step in my own creative process. It helped me to understand the connection our creativity has to our mind, body, and spirt. But the more attention that I gave to my creative process, the more I felt that it is not enough to just consider “why” we quilt. It is also essential to consider the manner in which we do it. I’ll call this “how” we quilt.
For starters, I should know how fabric is made, in order to have a more meaningful and connected quilting practice. In addition, I’d like to know: how does my hobby as a quilter impact the earth? How does it impact the people that make fabric? Where does fabric waste go (cuttings, excess batting, large unwanted scraps)? Is there is a way for me to be a “better” Maker?
Hello, hello! Welcome to my stop on the Typecast of Characters tour!
So, funny story. . . when Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio asked me to help celebrate the release of her new Typecast EPP pattern, I was a little bit nervous, but mostly psyched. I had never made anything with EPP before, so I looked at this as an opportunity to learn a new skill — or fail hard. But I’d seen so many pictures of pretty hexie EPP projects on line, I figured, why not give it a shot?
Which is why, when I opened the envelope with the pattern pieces, I was in a panic that I had misplaced something. I was so confused. . . this was EPP, right?!?. . . so, where were the hexies??? I decided I would track Sheri down at QuiltCon to apologize for losing the hexies she *must* have sent, and see if I could get a replacement package. Well, joke was on me! We all got a good laugh when it was explained to me that: You can EPP with ANY SHAPE! And the shapes in Sheri’s pattern make it super-easy to learn this new (and addicting) skill!
Let’s get started: I began with some gorgeous Liberty fabric, my new scissors that I bought from Brooklyn Haberdashery, my Typecast EPP template, and a glue stick. (Note: do as I say, not as I do. Apparently this type of glue could have distorted my fabric and not easily come off of the template. Beginners luck, I had no problems, but I don’t know if I, or you, would be so lucky the next time around).
I started by marking the pattern pieces for my “I”, as suggested by Sheri in the pattern instructions. Now, if you’re wondering why I was selected for the letter “I” when my initials are I-lacking, it’s because I-is-for-EASY. No curves. No challenges for my EPP-naive self.
Sheri recommends labeling each piece of the Typecast template with the letter name, as well as identifying each piece as either positive (a part of the letter) or negative (a part of the background), to help keep things organized once the template is pulled apart. I added additional numbering so I could keep track of the order in which I wanted to re-assemble the papers once the fabric was attached.
Next, I used a whip stitch to sew the pieces together. At first I was using a ladder stitch, which made the stitches invisible, but was taking way too long. Then Jenny from PapperSaxSten mentioned a tutorial from Karen the DIY Addict that shows you how to whipstitch in a way that the stitches will not be visible from the front. It was really helpful, so if you are interested in EPP-ing like an award-winner, I’d recommend you check it out!
Once my block was complete, I knew that I wanted to incorporate it into a Liberty-inspired embroidery project. I drew out the letters for “love you” while listening to the Don’t Keep Your Day Job podcast, and the time just flew by. Before I knew it, it was time to pick my kids up from the bus stop.
In case you are interested in doing something similar, I outlined the letters using black pearl cotton in a chain stitch. To embellish the words, if you squint, you can see I faintly drew some motifs in pencil that mirrored the flowers in the Liberty fabric. I used Anchor floss in a variety of colors to fill them in — and had so much fun doing it!
The finished pillow!
Finally, I stitched the words together and turned it into a bolster pillow, which is now sitting (much to my husband’s chagrin) as the 7th pillow on our bed.
Sorry, babe. I love you?
Thanks so much to Sheri for including me on this blog hop. I was really fortunate to have this deadline to force me to learn a skill I’d been intimidated by for a long time. Now I know, not only is it easy, but it’s SO MUCH FUN!
My stop was only the 9th letter on the Typecast tour, so make sure to keep up with all of the letter project that Sheri is sharing on her IG feed and at the blogs below. There are so many chances to WIN! And a very special thanks to you, Sheri, for including me in this project! I’m forever changed for the better thanks to this experience!
Welcome to the final week of 2018, and the last week of The Creativity Project! Over the past 52 weeks, we’ve come together every Friday with so many amazing artists and makers to try to get to the heart of “why” we create. For 52 weeks, we’ve come to this space with an open heart and curious mind, to hear each participant give voice to their personal creative process.
Throughout the year, many of you have asked if I would provide my own reflections on the interview questions. While I didn’t want my opinions to influence any of the respondent’s interpretation of the questions, I thought it only fair for me to experience what it is like to be the one sharing their personal process. And so, for this final installment of The Creativity Project, I give you — me.
Before we begin the final interview, I’d like to express how much I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time out of your busy lives to read this project and reflect on its meaning. It has been a privilege to bring you this series, and I only hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have. Thank you for coming along on this journey with me.
This week, I’d like to start with a thank you. To everyone in this community who has read an interview of The Creativity Project, found a new artist to follow, commented on my blog, sent me messages, or recommended this series to a friend – Thank You. When I embarked upon this journey at the beginning of the year, I knew it would be a lot of work. However, the support you’ve given me, and the people that shared their words in this space, have made it all truly worth it. From the bottom of my heart, I cannot thank you enough.
Week #51 is a very special week as this week is all about you — the community of makers. A total of 444 of you participated in The Creativity Project survey over the past year. You provided feedback and thoughtful comments from every corner of the United States and around the globe. You were different ages and quilt at different skill levels. You work in different mediums and have different levels of engagement with various quilting communities. But no matter where you’ve come from, or how long you’ve been doing it, you were willing to be part of this project and share your thoughts on what drives you to create.
Thus, in spite of our differences (and our differences of opinion in how we answered the survey questions), what I’ve found is that overall, there is way more that make us similar than sets us apart.
For this week’s project, I will share how you answered these questions about creativity as well as some comments that reflected the general thoughts from the community. Thank you one last time again for taking the time to participate! Welcome, and I hope you enjoy!
