A Field Guide To Fabric Design

I had at one point saw that this was a title due to release soon and thought to myself: I need to check that one out.  Then the holidays happened and I forgot about it.  I figured I run across it in the bookstore and take a peek to see if it was something I needed to own.  I may have even flipped through a preview online and thought: maybe.  I like knowing what I can about design and how certain elements of a design are achieved (like repeats or coloring in items on the computer), but not sure if I actually want to design fabric.  Perhaps as a hobby with screen printing (I’m still bummed about last years YuDu fail and their inability to get back to me about damaged product I contacted them about via their website’s contact form). 

We were at the beach a few weekends ago and I went into one of my favorite quilt shops, Center Diamond in Cannon Beach, when I spotted A Field Guide to Fabric Design on a shelf.  I pulled it down, did a quick flip of the pages (you know the one, where you just do a quick flip with your thumb, fanning the pages), and quickly tucked it under my arm.  Seriously, just with that quick flip of pages I knew I had to have this book.  Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to want to own this book.  Not that it wouldn’t be fabulous, but I was thinking it probably covered most of what I already knew.  I was wrong.  I learned SO much from this book.

Questions I had about doing repeats and half-drop repeats on linoleum blocks for block printing…answered!  I think that alone was enough to sell me on the book.  Not only are the instructions easy to understand, but there are fantastic photographed images to get you through each step.  The layout of the book is very pleasing, and I think one of the better Stash book layouts to date.  Kimberly also walks you through the steps of creating patterns in Photoshop and Illustrator.  There were lots of techniques that were new to me.  The instructions was quick and to the point, and most likely for those that have at least a basic understanding of the programs. 

There were lots of question and answer sections, with quotes from various fabric designers.  It was nice to have honest insight and opinions from so many different designers.  I truly enjoyed reading what everyone had to say.

There are sections dedicated to block printing and screen printing.  There are very thorough instructions on screen printing and creating repeats on large pieces of fabric.  It was amazing what she explained in one chapter that whole books on the subject haven’t taught me.  There are even instructions for building a table for screen printing large runs of fabric.

There is a rather large section discussing color and the color wheel.  And lots of information throughout on color selection.  Personally, this was of less interest to me, but someone that is very interested in color and how to go about selecting it will find this very useful and informative.  There was one bit that I liked very much in this section, her idea of creating color jars and pulling from that when creating color palettes.  I could actually see using this for just quilting in general, and having it be very helpful to me when selecting fabrics for a quilt.  So even though it wasn’t my favorite section, it was still of great use.  I just kind of skimmed most of it and figure I will pull from it what I need when I need it. 

These pages give you an idea of how she explains the steps in Illustrator.  Photoshop explanations are the same.  The instruction is, as I said, quick and to the point and the images are relevant and really explain what you need to know. 

In short, awesome book!  If you have any interest in fabric design, or just design in general, I would definitely recommend this.  I’m glad I found a copy to flip through and bought it.  Well worth the investment.   

A Field Guide to Fabric Design by Kimberly Knight of True Up

Kimberly’s post on her book found here.  And a post by Stash Books here.

Where I Talk About A Book On The iPad

With the holidays, I had a lot of things get put to the side.  Unfortunately one of those things was blogging about this fantastic book I contributed to.  I kept saying to myself “You need to blog about this!” and I’d sit down, edit the photos a little and then get distracted with something else.  (Not to mention I’ve been battling all kinds of infections these last three months.)  As of now it’s just an eBook, thus the photos of the iPad.  The paper version of the book will be released in August, but I wanted to be sure to talk about the eBook as a lot of the projects can be adapted for all year long.  It’s hard to convey my honest opinion when I’m actually part of the book, but I’m going to do my best.  I REALLY love Pretty in Patchwork Holidays!  Even if I didn’t have projects in it, I would still be buying it and telling you how much I love it.  It is honestly one of the best holiday craft books I’ve come across in a very, very long time.  John Adams (the books author, and Quilt Dad as many of you might know him) did such a great job of assembling crafters and all of the projects are unique and beautiful.  John himself contributed lots of patterns and the quilts are amazing.  There were quite a few that I thought “I’d make that!” 

I’ve had the iPad going on almost two years now (have they really only been out two years?!?!) and one of the main reasons I wanted it was to have an eReader.  I love reading books on the iPad (well, now I read them all on my iPhone it seems) but was resistant to the thought of magazines and craft books on it.  I still like the feel of an actual book.  Well, that point of view has changed recently with respect to magazines.  Now I want to skip the paper version and just have it delivered to the iPad.  This was my first experience with a craft book on the iPad, and I have to say that I’m really liking it!  When I buy patterns from online independent sellers I love to email myself a copy of the PDF and open it in the iBooks app and just have my iPad on a stand on my cutting table.  Turning between the pages is so easy and I’ve found it’s a great way to use the eBooks as well.  I think the other positive thing about having the books on the iPad is that I’m saving precious shelf space.  Now, the only problem with the eBooks is the printing of the patterns, but as long as you have a computer with printer that is pretty easy.  And I imagine if you are using a service like Kinko’s, it would be pretty easy to have them help you print what you need.  I haven’t explored it, but I know there are lots of apps that allow you to print from your iPad now (I think iPad2 had this built in…?).  Within the Zinio app for this book on your desktop computer, you just tell it to “Print Current Page” while on the template pages and it prints perfectly.

Okay, so on to the book.  I’ll just talk a like about it now so that when I have the physical book I can gush all about it again, especially since it will be right before the holiday season at that point.  So this is the first project I contributed – wine bags.  Or whatever kind of bottle you might be gifting (maybe sparkling cider).  There are two versions of this bag, the main version is a drawstring top and the other is with an open top and handle.  The front is customizable for the holidays or for gifting at any time of year (birthdays, weddings, showers).  There are templates for a pumpkin for the fall, a tree for the winter, a cake for celebrations like weddings or birthdays and an option to do just a W (for wine) for any occasion. The bag itself fits around a wide bottom bottle nice and snug (I used Sokol Blosser bottles as my test-bottle…one of my favorite wineries for Pinot Noir and of course their Evolution!). 

The other project I contributed was some tiny patchwork ornaments.  There are two in the winter theme (snowman and tree) and two in the Hanukah theme (Star of David and Dreidel).  Now I know that hanging of ornaments is not a Hanukah kind of thing, but maybe there is a gift that needs some adorning or there may be other ways to incorporate the tiny patchwork into other items for the holiday.  Or maybe there are some that celebrate both Christmas and Hanukah and what a great way to blend the two.  Really, who can resist tiny patchwork?!  Aside from that, the book is beautifully designed and the basic instruction chapter at the front is well presented and relevant.  To see a preview of the book (you can scroll through it all at a very small size and zoom in on 3 pages) and download a copy for yourself you can go to the Zinio website.  If you don’t have an iPad or Android, you can still view this on your computer (this isn’t viewable on the iPhones yet, not sure about the Droid phones).  Zinio has a free viewer that you will download and then sign in to your account.  Once in your account you can download what you’ve purchased (books and magazines).  And of course, because you are signing into your account, you can view on all of your devices with purchase. 

Pretty in Patchwork Holidays:  Zinio  |  Amazon – Not available yet

Zinio eReader:  iPad  | iPhone  |  Android  |  Desktop

Pretty in Patchwork Holidays:  Flickr Group  | John’s Blog Post

In short, this is absolutely a book I would buy and love to own.  I receive nothing from you following any of these links.  Yes I contributed to the book and received a free digital copy for doing so, but even if I hadn’t, I still would have bought this.  Go take a look for yourself!  (And I’ll talk more about this again in August when I have a paper copy in my hands!)  Tomorrow I’m going to have a post up about a book I bought at the beach a few weekends ago.  I casually flipped through a few pages and was like “I’m buying this!” so of course I have to share it with you.

Sigh of Relief

The day after Christmas is probably the hardest day of the year for me.  It’ so hard to adjust after all the rushing around to get everything done.  For weeks I’m swamped with shopping, decorating, planning, and making and then all the sudden it’s done.  I feel kind of lost without all of the work to be done and procrastination ahead of me.  I’m finally free to do what I want.  Of course all I want to do is pull down the decorations and then sit on my butt doing nothing.  Now of course I have the time to work on all of those sewing projects for myself, yet I just can’t seem to motivate myself to actually do them.  I deserve a break after this hectic time (hosting two dinners and a breakfast for three different sets of family members in two days time), yet for some reason can’t justify just sitting when it’s been go, go, go for so many weeks. 

We had a final holiday get together this morning.  Now it’s time to relax.  But I know I will probably just head out to the garage for the holiday bins when I’ve posted this.  Once Christmas is over I just want the house back to being bare and clean for the new year.  Now it’s time to think about organizing!  (I’m a Capricorn through and through – I love organizing!!)  This year will be some big reorganization in the house.  Rooms are being moved around again, but first new carpet has to go in one of the rooms.  I’m hoping we can handle that next week, as the craft room will be moving and I can’t seem to sew until it’s in it’s new space.  Brice received a boat-load of Lego’s, but I don’t really want him to put them together until we are in his new, bigger room.  Of course I know trying to make a 3 year old wait will be near impossible.  When I have a big project ahead of me, I just want it done…like, as of yesterday.  So it’s going to be trying my patients to wait until next week to get going on everything.  Patients is a virtue, and unfortunately, a virtue I don’t posses. 

I did order some calendars this year to sell (photo above).  But silly me unchecked the di-cut box and therefore I’ve been having to cut them myself.  I have a few to gives to friends, and will likely sell the rest.  I’ll be sure to keep you posted.  I still have to cut out May-December.

Tutorial: Creating a Photo Pillow

I have another post up at the Focal Press blog Mastering Photo.  This time I talk about making a photo pillow to give to loved ones.  I’ve made several of these for gifts over the years, and this particular pillow I made was a request from my soon-to-be sister-in-law for my brother, who will be headed overseas after the holidays.  It will be a lovely reminder of the love waiting for him at home in such an harsh environment. 

In other news, we headed to the beach this weekend with family.  It was lovely, just the thing we needed for this hectic time of year.  Of course now I have to get decorating and Christmas shopping…

Simple Photo Tote Tutorial

As you may know, I really love so many of the Focal Press photography books (especially this one) and have had the honor of guest posting on their blog before about craft photography.  Today a post went up for constructing a simple tote with a photo printed on inkjet fabric sheets.  Seriously the simplest bag you could ever make, and so cute!  …if I do say so myself!  A perfect bag for gifting special gifts this holiday season, or as a gift in itself.  There is no lining, but your raw edges are all encased and safe from fraying.  Head on over to the Mastering Photo blog for the tutorial and more information on using inkjet fabric. 

Doodling On Quilts

I seem to be my most creative when I’m procrastinating.  I was working on quilting a clients quilt and the thread kept breaking and it was frustrating me trying to figure out what was the problem, so I stepped away and started to clean up my fabric piles on the cutting table.  At the bottom of the pile were a few "mini quilts” destined for nothing.  I had made them up and wasn’t happy with them and ultimately would have probably just tossed them (terrible, I know!).  Instead, I went to my desk and grabbed a fine tipped pen and got to doodling quilting designs. 

I didn’t take a before picture, but seeing this blank half you get the general idea of the ‘before’.  The white just wasn’t working for me as the background here.  It was too stark. 

Now this I like.  The doodles fill in the white space nicely and give it lots of interest.  It doesn’t necessarily look fantastic with this, but it’s much more interesting and I’m looking forward to finishing the other half and having it hang on my walls with my other mini’s. 

It’s mostly just doodles of the designs I quilt on my quilts.  I love doodle quilting.  I am hoping to do a whole cloth quilt this coming year, just doodling without a plan. 

So this is another one I had sitting around.  I was trying out an idea to see if it would work and this had no plans.  It was just a tester.  Again, the white was just too much on this, but I took a permanent marker and filled it in and I am very happy with this.  I think the doodles fit the fabric nicely.  This one is now on the walls and being enjoyed.

Originally I had just done some stitching with red thread around the open circle and then the outside edges of the piece.  I was testing out another way of doing reverse applique I like.  My attempt worked.  This would have made the perfect pot holder/trivet if I had only used some insul-brite. 

And here’s my little Norman (6 months now) in his USPS box next to my sewing table.  Sometimes I have to load sample fabric and do some test quilting to get my tension right on the longarm, or to test a design and I shoved a few of those in the box for him.  Quite often I find him all curled up in here when he goes missing in the house.  I’m so glad he likes his little bed.  I suppose I’ll have to make him a real bed at some point.

Update: Regarding the quilt block name...I don't know.  I will have to research it and get back to you.  I don't remember where I saw this, but I know it was a picture and I just drafted the measurements myself.  It's a traditional block so it's out there somewhere.