Discovering Podcasts

Have you discovered podcasts?  If you enjoy having company while quilting but get distracted by TV, then exploring the world of podcasts can be like opening up a treasure chest.

A podcast is a recording/interview someone produced  for your listening enjoyment or for educational purposes. One of the most common ways to listen is on iTunes but there are many other sources.  After you sync to your favorite device, you are ready to enjoy hearing from well known media or just folks from home.  Anyone can make a podcast.

 

Let Ira and Mary from www.serial.com give you clear instructions.

HOW TO LISTEN TO A PODCAST with Ira and Mary  

 Here are three sites to get you started:

Director, Dr. Elizabeth Townsend-Gard, Copyright Research Lab @ Tulane Law School

Dr. Elizabeth Townsend-Gard interviews guests from 

her home.

has created a growing number of Quilting Army troops who follow and contribute to this research project that began as a study of copyright in the quilting world.  Follow this link to see what it has become and how you can become one of the troops.

Leah Day, left, interviews Stephanie Socha for Podcast 108

Leah Day produces these fun podcasts every Wednesday. Tune in for names you will recognize and topics that are relatable to your quilting world.

Stephanie Kendron chats from her studio with another artist for a new podcast.

Stephanie Kendron hosts the Modern Sewciety podcast where you can gain inspiration from interviews with creative sewing artists.









Podcasts are easy and fun to enjoy when your hands are busy sewing. 

                                                                                                          What's your favorite podcast?

In A Festival State of Mind?

If in Louisiana, you've not far to wander to be near a festival - all about food and music.  Premier is Mardi Gras and the well-known New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.....but we can't forget the Crawfish Festival, Strawberry Festival, Peach Festival, Catfish Festival, Little Italy Festival and the well loved Shrimp Festival.   The list goes on and on.  From North to South, Louisiana is an on-going event with magnitude.

But wait!  You say there's another festival just born?  Yes, one celebrating a quilters' world with scraps.  Love, love, love that Ann Wood Handmade has started the first annual Scrap Festival - 2019.

Ann shares that she loves to iron her fabric scraps before deciding which ones to discard.  The close-up and personal relationship with each fragment allows her an opportunity to envision its new life in a quilt top or jacket for a stuffed animal or perhaps a doll's bonnet.   Focusing on each little fragment gives it the importance it deserves.

What a delightful way to piece leftovers from each project as remembrances once the large quilt is out of the house:  fabric works and mobiles as found on Specks and Keepings.

For many, January is the month to focus on resolutions and expectations and well-being in general.  It's a month to reorganize a kitchen drawer, hall closet and YIKES, the fabric scrap bin!   But just as we clean the kitchen cupboard, giving each item its fair chance, so should we organize our scraps.

We check for expiration dates on the soup cans before discarding....don't we?  We re-shelf the soup with the soup and the vegetables with the vegetables....the bag of meal next to the bag of flour.  So should we organize our scraps.

Many scrap-a-holics such as Kristen @ A Little Crispy organizes by color:  greens and blues, reds and purples, whites and yellows.  She also keeps the bins conveniently located under her cutting table.

Many organize by size or shape, each scrap gently placed in its proper bin.    Some just save them willy nilly  to puzzle over later.  Then there are always those who resist the temptation to save and generously pass each scrap on to a best friend who is addicted to scraps....you know, the one who definitely needs to celebrate with a Scrap Festival.   Laughing out loud as I  ponder 'do we need scrap management workshops'?

Laissez les bons temps rouler

alisaburke: the art of failure

Spotlight Alisa Burke......with  dialog worthy of repeating to self as many times as it takes.   Enjoy and relish in The Art of Failure.   We all do it, fail, that is, but how does it affect our momentum.  Do we  "Just get over it!!!"  and quickly move on or do we dwell and simmer and digress? 

 

Did You Know?

 

Quote On A Tote ~

It was a Craftsy promo centered around "Resolutions you can keep (and love)" .    All good resolutions.   Tune in. 

But it was the quote on the tote pictured in resolution #2 - Get Organized -  that tickled my funny bone.  

Laughing out loud.....now, that's a good thing.

 

 

 

 

What do you think of in your spare time?

Perhaps it's a waste of good sewing time,  but you are at the movie theater anyway, so may as well enjoy the moment(s).........searching for quilts on the big screen! 

Photo Credit - Houzz
Thanks for sharing your beach houzz  

 

I wasn't doing any kind of homework for a blog post, but out of curiosity, searched for 'quilts in movies' and lol, found this blog post by Petal Patsy back in 2009, in the garden web forum of all places.  Patsy remembers two movies....The Birdcage and She's Got Mail where quilts were in focus..... but the readers who shared their finds in the comments...oh, my.    Go ahead, go there and read all the comments.  Very enlightening as to how many other folks out there think of the darndest things - like wondering if there really are quilts in movies! 

Have a wonderful weekend, one filled with good movies and quilts. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ~

Wishing you all the happiest of days, this Thanksgiving Day.  

Remembering that:

Life is beautiful.
Be thankful and

live with what you have,

not what you don't have.

   





Old paper continues to be beautiful when stamped in gold ~


 

 

 

 

 

Souls Grown Deep ~

Was it less than two years ago that we, Quilters' Guild Acadienne, took to the bus to experience the women of Gee's' Bend?   Thinking the Souls Grown Deep site summarized our experience in pictures and stories:

Gee's Bend quiltmakers - photo from Souls Grown Deep

 

 

My picture memories of the road trip.....the quilting shed doesn't look too impressive, does it?  Oh, but the happiest of surprises when we walked through the door and was greeted by

 The Women of Gee's Bend

These ladies have hearts the size of the moon and even on this cold, rain-filled day, they shared their spirituals and a most delicious pound cake.

The rooms were filled with quilts....on every wall, table, chair and shelf.  If these quilts and pillows couldn't make one happy, then nothing ever will. 

 

 

Souls Grown Deep tells the beautiful story of the Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend and has pictures of each quilt maker.  My stumbling around this morning on the web was rewarding and not the least bit a waste of time. 

 

From the biography of Geraldine Westbrook (1919-2016)

 

Geraldine Westbrook (1919-2016) photo from Souls Grown Deep

 

 

 

"I been making quilts for a long time, and I got more mess I done pieced up. When you get old, you get to the place where you get out of one situation and just be sitting around to keep your mind together, you do things."

 

Your Piece was NOT Selected ~

Wise words from quilter extraordinaire, author and teacher,  Sue Bleiweiss on the subject of rejection. 

Christa Watson  of Christa Quilts also has a very informative post on her latest experience judging the Vermont Quilt Festival and has advice on how and where we can get started.  She's given us a jumpstart with a list of quilt shows that we should consider entering quilts.   Both Sue and Christa have lots of good information and hints on how to be the winner. 

Getting organized for the weekend ~

Getting organized is probably the hardest part..   The what-do-I-do-this-weekend question must first be answered.   Here's how I do it ~

1. I know I'll be doing a thread-sketching demonstration for the modern group here in the Monroe/West Monroe area and have put off until the last minute getting the final prep work done.  That in itself is so unlike me....I've always told folks that if I'm not early, then you can bet that I've forgotten!!!
2. I know I want to start my gift-making for the kids in my life for their little bit of Christmas cheer from their Auntie Mart.  Isn't starting Christmas in July a good thing? 
3. And, finally, I  know I have just a wee bit of quilting to do to finalize my part in a July demonstration. 

There you have it - my to do list.  Now to get organized so the fun can begin.   First things first.


Thinking about what I want to accomplish in the thread-sketching demo:

• Get the participants inspired will be my number one goal.   That means we'll keep it easy and very doable for even the non-artist novice at the sewing machine.  My thread-sketching style is very free-flowing, abstract and a little bohemian. 

• This demo is not about being an artist....it's about being whimsical and fun.  Just to relax the group, we'll be doing a bit of sketching then we'll  take it to the sewing machine. 

• Finally, I'll show the group how to  put the finishing touches on their thread-sketching once they get their work of art home.

Here is "Collette" finished and framed ready to display on a bookshelf.














I've found the pattern so now can get the fabric organized to make those pillowcase gifts. 

• I have 3 boys and 7 girls in  my family to make for this year....ages 3 to 17  and each child gets a style of his own.  And my housekeeper has the most precious 5 year old that I enjoy adding to my gift list.  Do you see why I like to start my Christmas to-do list in July! 
• Each pillowcase requires 3 fabrics so that will require a lot of fabric pulling, sorting and auditioning from my stash.....no running to the quilt shop today. 

• I'm hoping to have time to get all 11 pillowcase fabrics cut to get even more organized.  This will probably be my next quilting retreat project and I don't want to haul all that fabric with me.  Come July, I'll be ready to sew. 

That's a lot to do in one weekend, so I'll just save the quilting on the July demo for another day.  Whatcha think? 

Marty Mason