Portland

I went to Quilt Market last weekend and took precisely 7 pictures inside the trade show. But I did take a lot during my wanderings around Portland and teaching at Modern Domestic. Two reasons, I was feeling very reflective while there (oh, that work/life balance thing) and I met with Susan the first night and she clearly rubbed off on me.

Good-bye Kathreen

Sad news in the crafting world today. Author, designer, quilter, blogger and force for all, Kathreen Ricketson died tragically. The woman behind Whip Up and author of some pretty cool books was on a year long adventure with her family, backpacking around Australia.

I had the pleasure of working with Kathreen on occasion. I greatly admired her career trajectory and found inspiration in her quilting and writing. She will be missed by many.

Please take a moment to learn more about her and her family. If you are so moved, there is an education fund already started for her children, details here.

Even though the chances are slim that we will ever meet all the people we know on-line, it is not our place to dismiss the connections anyone makes this way. Even if you never exchange an email, a blog comment or anything more than an Instagram like, this is not to say that you don't feel some inspiration, ire, delight, or joy when the other person shares details of their lives. And if you are the one sharing, remember that there are other people on the outside looking in, intrigued by your life. We can respect that relationship, but we also embrace it. So when losses happen, even from people we've never met, they can have profound impacts beyond those who are ready to give out literal hugs.  Kathreen will be missed by many.

Circles Inside a Pieced Background

More circles going on here. Shocker!

Someone in my Craftsy class asked about doing inset circles inside pieced backgrounds. I promised to try and let them know how it worked. What a fun experiment! I took leftover blocks from the Denyse Schmidt class at QuiltCon. No one claimed these early improv efforts and I couldn't let them go to waste. I took them with no plan and here they are.

As you can see, the blocks were not the same size. I created a random circle template and used it on both blocks. So the circle is the same size, but that's it. I'll likely trim things down and sew the blocks together. After I make more, of course.

And, for the record, it totally works to use a pieced block as the background. 

Graphic Circle Pillow - Or How I'm Using my Craftsy Step-outs

A simple pillow with great impact. Fun for my living room and I used up blocks, unfinished blocks, laying around the sewing room. Win-win!

I had these blocks from filming my Craftsy class. They were the step-outs from the Reverse Circles lesson. So I took a few minutes to finish all the blocks and turned them into this pillow. I can't lie, I chose the fabrics for the filming so that I could do this afterwards. These fabrics are a perfect match for my living room!

This Reverse Circles technique is one of my favourites. It achieves the look of an inset circle without the stress of doing a full inset circle. The finished block is clean, crisp, and flat. This is perfect for showcasing some really awesome fabric. (Mod Century by Jenn Ski, for example, with some Aneela Hoey.)

And the whole pillow is perfect for snuggles on the couch reading and for climbing adventures by the baby boy.

Details: 24'' by 24'' finished pillow cover size with a 26'' pillow form from Ikea stuffed inside. It's perfect this way. Just an envelope closure on the back with more Mod Century. Straight line quilting with Wonderfil Konfetti.