Fat Quarterly Magazine Interview

I was so honored to be asked by Katy to answer a few questions about my longarm quilting for their most recent issue of Fat Quarterly.  I had sadly not had the chance to order a copy of their initial release, but had heard so many great things about it and loved what I saw on their blog that I knew it must be a great publication.  Well, having seen this issue, it does not disappoint!  It is a fabulous array of all sorts of crafters and projects and interviews, and…  lots and lots of good stuff.  Definitely worth the purchase.  I love being able to read it digitally, too!  But I could see a publication like this being snapped up by a printed publisher – I would DEFINITELY pay for a newsstand copy should one ever exist.  But of course, digital viewing is so easy and so “Green”!  I know there are some that send their issues off to the printer and have it bound for safe storing on their bookshelves!

Anyways, back to the interview.  I was asked all sorts of questions about my quilting that really got me thinking about it in ways I never had.  I had never really thought of myself as a “modern” quilter because of my free-motion quilting ways, but I guess to some that does seem like a more “modern” way of doing things – especially since you hear of so many longarm quilters using pantographs.  But there are still many more quilters that are just like me, free-motion quilting.   I like the ability to fill in a space as I need to, or change up a design a little bit as I go, and free-motion gives me that ability.  And I feel it’s the quicker way to do things. 

In the interview I talk all about the process of quilting, from loading the quilt to taking it off.  Something many of you may not know about, and would be interested in knowing the mechanics.  Besides myself, two other quilters who use domestic machines (one with a ‘freestyle’ frame) talk about their experience with quilting as well.  Very informative! 

So, while it is a little late (Issue #2 was out the end of July) I have a good excuse – vacation and faulty computer.  If you haven’t already checked out the Fat Quarterly publication, and have thought about doing so, then use this as your excuse!  It is well worth the price.  Oh, and least I forget, I also had the opportunity to quilt one of Katy’s quilts for her.  It was a lovely quilt before quilting, but it was one of those quilts that was just beautiful after a little quilting.  Sometimes it just works like that. 

Finding Me

Wow!  Am I really writing a blog post again?  From my desktop computer, no less?  Why yes I am!  Oh how I missed having my desktop to work on and I have my husband to give big kisses to for getting it all up to snuff again.  New hard drive, new platform, new (and more!) ram…I’m in computer heaven.  So, having my computer back, means having editing capabilities back and now I have some news to share with you – the book, ‘Lunch Bags!’ that I contributed to was released the end of last month and can now be found on most bookstore shelves.  I didn’t get to really sit and look at the book until I got home to my copies, but I was pleasantly surprised by how different the book was from how I envisioned it.  It was not just full of wonderful lunch bags, but all sorts of lunch related goodies (felt food, crochet cozies for your apple, sandwich wraps, fun bags for all sorts of stuff besides just lunch!).  It really is an amazing book and even if I wasn’t in it, I can confidently say it is a book I would have to own for my bookshelf.  And that’s saying a lot - I don’t really buy a lot of craft books these days.

So this is my bag – it is slightly altered from my original vision from so long ago, but that just means you can look forward to seeing that vision sometime in the near future.  I made it using this slightly stretch (slightly rough, but very durable) denim.  Seriously perfect for a lunch bag that will be sat on the floor, into spills, etc… 

What I love about this bag is all the pockets!  When I originally designed that big pocket I was thinking it’s a great spot to stow a magazine for lunch time reading, but the photographers decided it was perfect for a cutting board and the such.  What a great idea! 

Inside are little pockets for your silverware and napkin. 

And then of course there is the tie closure which makes it so easy to close up, and of course it’s cute.  I have used many different kinds of ribbons for this, they all look great.  I especially love using 2” ribbon, cut a little shorter where you will just double knot it instead of tying in a bow.

And not that that wasn’t exciting enough, but they also asked my best friend to contribute to the same book, so you can also find Liz’s bag in here as well.  Perfect for all sorts of things – not just lunch!  Alright, that’s enough self promotion for one day – but I have more to share next post.  I was lucky enough to be interviewed and want to share that with you and tell you where you can find that then.

Around Here Somewhere

I have not been avoiding this space, I've simply been waiting for my computer to be fixed. We did clean it of the virus, or so we thought. It worked for one day and then crapped out the next day. Funny enough, as soon as Windows 7 was installed on another drive, the computer worked fine. Hmmm... It has long been my opinion that Microsoft is intentionally sabotaging XP users so they will switch to Vista/7. It definitely seems to be the case on both of our computers since they miraculously work when 7 is installed on them. We have to buy a new hard drive, install 7 and move everything from the old hard drive over (so as not to loose anything). So it will be a few more days before I return. I wish I had some fabric craftiness to share, but for now, you'll have to settle from an odd photo I took in Oatman, AZ.

Return

I’ve been gone for three weeks…on vacation.  It was a little unexpected, but we thought we’d better take the chance while we had it.  Lots went on and I have returned to “lots to do”.  Quilts to quilt, office work to get serious about, LOTS of photos to edit.  Lots.  Tons.  It’s going to take awhile.  I am very excited about the HDR technique of photography and have been playing around with that a little from my laptop.  I uploaded a few images to my Flickr while I was gone.  I would have had more, but I came down with (what I think was) salmonella poisoning.  There is nothing like going to the ER on vacation.  I met some blog/Flickr friends and will share that and more in the next few days.  After we disinfect my computer.  A nasty virus has taken hold and I have my husband working diligently to fix it for me.  Gotta love it.