Free Motion Quilting

I had a few questions, yesterday, about free motion quilting.  As I said yesterday, not all my readers are quilters, so I thought I might give a little illustration about the process.

Have your friend stand next to a table and hold your  pen straight up and down in one position so the tip is on the table.  Tell her not to move her hand nor the pen -- Except for a second so you can place paper under the tip. :) Now, you move the paper to make a drawing of something simple.  It's harder than you think!  Next, imagine moving a 45 by 74 inch quilt sandwich around under that pen until you have drawn on every inch of your "large 45 by 74 inch paper".  Oh . . . and you have to manipulate your large paper, all crumpled up, under your friends arm, between  her body and the pen!!

Sewing this way takes practice!  It is not like sewing a straight line.  You can "doodle"  all you want with free motion quilting.  Here are a couple of blog sites and books that have examples and other explanations if you are interested.

Book by  Don Linn

I have this book and use it, but there are a few others that I would like to have:

Dancing with Thread by Ann Fahl

Freemotion Quilting by Judy Woodworth 

and sites that I like: 

SewKindofWonderful.blogspot.com
Freemotionquilting.blogspot.com

Have a great day!

My 500th Post!

I can't believe it!  This is my 500th Post!

When I started blogging back in December of 2008, I really didn't know where it would take me!  I started because I wanted to support my new fledgling online business and I was told that blogging was one way to do it! 

So, where has it taken me?  What have I accomplished?  Do I want to continue? 

It truly has been an adventure!  I have learned A LOT!!!!  Tags, and SEO; advertising, and content; link parties, and blog rolls--to name a few!  HTML is still a mystery! Wow!  Tons of education about Internet blogging.  And because of the need for blog content, blogging has forced me to do more online research, not a skill that I used much before I became a blogger!

I have made new friends everywhere--Other bloggers, Etsy team members, customers.  I read other blogs now, never did before.  Enjoy interaction with friends online. Thanks to all my wonderful readers!

Do I want to continue!  Yes!  Even though my regular readers are not so many as I would like, I find that I enjoy writing!  I will do it for me! (and you, of course!)  I am also thinking about having my blog posts made into a book for posterity's sake.  There are many online sites that can help with this task. I will list a few:

blog2print.com
blurb.com
bookemon.com
familyheritagepublishers.com

I'm not recommending any of these, just did my research and want to pass along the possibilities.  Isn't that want blogging is all about?  Sharing!!!

See you tomorrow!

Juvenile Illustrations

I have always liked art! I took every art class I could in junior high and high school that was available. I love to create! But I have been known to say that my own illustrations, sculptures, and paintings seemed a little "juvenile" in style. Not really realistic, with correct detail; not really abstract; just juvenile. That's O.K. Style is just that----style!!! Not a measure of good or bad, but a matter of taste! And because I like this kind of art, I love children's books! I purchase them just for the art (well, the story needs to grab me too!) I always have a few books around to share with my grandchildren when they come to visit. (I've added a couple of children's titles to my recommended book list in the right column of this blog.)

So, today I am featuring one of my favorite Etsy sellers of "juvenile style" art! I picked these two especially for mother's day (coming up very soon.) I hope you enjoy her creations as much as I do. She calls them: "Little art for little people (and big people too!)" I hope you will visit her Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5262259

Enjoy!

P.S. We are looking for an illustrtor and a publisher for two stories that my husband and I have written for children! Any leads?