In yesterday’s post I discussed designing greeting cards, notepaper and postcards…art forms I enjoy exploring, sometimes purely for my own enjoyment and use while on other occasions I’ve made them for sale.
“Where do you get your design ideas?” I’ve been asked 
My designs include:

 Reproductions of my paintings  (Artists often reproduce their paintings as posters and postcards nowadays to get further mileage and income from their art work.  They may keep or eventually sell the original.)
 Reproductions of photos (My family members are avid photographers, so I often use my husband’s and mine for cards.)
 Sketches I make for particular cards, then scan them (This is so easy to …read more

Collecting and using vintage fabrics for various projects fascinate many quilters and fabric artists, as well as multi-media artists.  By “vintage” fabrics, we mean those of more than 50 years ago.
Sometimes you find them simply as pieces of fabric.  More commonly, vintage fabric comes from clothing, coverlets, and even quilts.
According to Mary Engelbreit’s book, Winter, you’re most likely to find these vintage treasures in small pieces.  So…what kind of small projects would you use them for?
Mary Engelbreit suggests “Fancy Pockets” made into cases for eyeglasses, limpstick tubes or combs.  In the book, there are directions for these.
What about other vintage …read more

“Mary, I wish I could do the crafty things you do,” a friend remarked when my daughter was young.  “I’m not talented. I just watch TV when I’m not taking care of the boys.”

How sad, I thought, that this young mother of four boys didn’t feel she could pursue arts and crafts or anything creative.  How sad that she couldn’t find activities to interest her…and teach them to her children.
Creativity was instinctive when I was growing up in a household without much money and before television.  My siblings and I, with our mother’s encouragement, made our toys and dolls and games.
It seemed natural …read more

Fabric Postcards
My daughter just learned that the Fabric Postcards and ATC’s (Artists Trading Cards) have been posted at Cyber Fyber Online and the postcard she submitted is included.  Check out her Meandering Threads blog for more details.
Incidentally Beth’s postcard is Number 96. 
Do any of you have a postcard or ATC at Cyber Fyber?  If so, which one?

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com 
 
Quilters and fabric artists, with their ingenuity, have come up with numerous types of projects in addition to the traditional bed quilt. I’m wondering how long the list could be.
I’ll start with ten.  Why don’t you add some more in the comments and I’ll include them in a future post?

 Fabric bowls
 Placemats
Table cloths
Inchies
Collages
Wall hangings
Fabric books
Clothing of many types
Potholders
Fabric postcards

How do you use your fabric?  What do you create?  Let us know and point us to your blogs or web sites where you have some of your projects displayed.
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com 
  When you’re at a standstill on a project (”writer’s block” in the literary field), turn to something different for awhile.  Here are some ideas to pursue until you get your inspiration back.

Look through magazines for something new.
Take photos of interesting scenes and objects for different ideas.
Make a fabric postcard for a change of pace.
Try working on an “inchie.”
Sort your fabrics and try different color schemes.
Take a turorial on TV or the Internet.
Visit a fabric shop and chat with quilters.  (You don’t need to buy anything!!)
Read a quilting novel.
Make a mixed media collage
Take a walk and your sketch book.  Find inspiration in the …read more

 QuiltingAndPatchwork.com

  Valentine’s Day brings many thoughts to mind and can revolve around numerous activities.  Caring and sharing, giving thoughtful gifts and cards, special foods and favors, creating memories that last throughout the years.
What can quilters and fabric artists do for Valentine’s Day?

1. Make fabric Valentine postcards with lace and flowers and old-fashioned themes.
Hold a Valentine’s Day quilting bee or gathering with each working on hearts and flowers themed pieces.
Exchange Valentine colored fabrics and those with heart designs.
Arrange a grab bag of accessories for quilting friends to select from.  
Or make small bags of accessories you give as favors…containing lace, buttons, charms and threads and yarns.
Organize …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com 
Cyndi at Layers Upon Layers and Noreen at Hankering for Yarn tagged me for the 7 Random Facts Meme that has been going around.  I participated in it previously, but there are always facts and ideas I can relate that you’ve not heard before.

I like old quilts and finding the stories connected to them.
My granddaughter is making a quilt for a school project using a Civil War theme with reproduction fabrics from that era.
My daughter had one of her fabric art pieces displayed at a gallery in Costa Rica.
I like to work on the smaller pieces since they’re easier to take with me …read more

 My daughter was involved with my sewing and quilting projects from a young age.  She would stand at my sewing machine when she was three years old and pin fabrics together while I sewed. 
“Sew mine, Mommy,” she’d say.  So I’d sew where she pinned and she was happy with something for her imaginary world.
I also worked with my 4-H girls on sewing and quilting projects when Beth and her cousins were young.  We got involved with many projects that resulted in gifts for grandmothers and moms.
So I related when I read Sarah Ann Smith’s blog entry, A little bit of …read more