Ideas

She kept coming by the dining room table to finger the project. She would pick it up, feel the laminated fabric, flip it over, and then look at me.

"Seriously, who gave you this idea?"

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom.

My Mom is awesome. She is always happy to come and help us when I am overwhelmed with too much stuff (she is an expert purger), when I travel to teach she arrives here to watch the kids and clean my fridge, and when producing A Month of Sundays she came and kept us together during the photoshoot. She cleaned my house and watched the kids and fed us in the most Mommiest of ways, as Kate described it.

My Mom, however, has not had the chance to live a creative life. She delivers babies and helps new moms. She is the woman who taught me to sew and I do vividly remember her sewing us clothes and herself a gorgeous winter coat. There may have also been some macrame lessons in there. But that was all a long time ago. So when she looked at this particular project she couldn't imagine how I could have imagined it.

She's not alone. I get that question quite frequently. Just where do you get your ideas?

There is no easy answer, no one spot to look when I need a project. It just isn't that simple.

The project my mom was talking about was the Floral Wrap from A Month of Sundays. Made from laminated cotton (or oilcloth, if you prefer) it is for all your floral needs when out shopping. The idea for it came to me as I loaded groceries one day. There I had all my reusable shopping bags filled with Market goods. Then I placed my paper and plastic wrapped flowers on top. One of these things is not like the other...

I immediately went home, sketched a bit, then drafted a pattern.

There in lies the first spot I get my ideas: NEED.

Identifying a need or a gap in the creative register is sometimes the spark. When looking for an answer to a frustration or struggle the solution may be found in your sewing room instead of a product that may or may not exist.

On the day of the photoshoot for the Floral Wrap I took my wrap into the florist and picked out the flowers. When I handed the Floral Wrap the florist she had the same reaction as my Mom. This may be my one moment of genius in life, I better run with it!

Other moments of inspiration come from shop windows, like the colours in Hugs and Kisses or the design of Sherbet. Sometimes it is from a need to just take something traditional and do something different, like in Pinwheel. It isn't always a visual that inspires either. I've been inspired by words, stories, or even concepts.

You won't always know the moment the idea hits. But if you leave yourself open to it and have a means to capture it - with a sketchbook, a camera, a scrap of paper, a cell phone - then you can hold on to it. In fact, there is even a section of A Month of Sundays that talks about capturing your inspiration.

So when it comes to getting ideas, I think the best advice I've got, and my answer when people ask me just where I got that idea, is that I was simply open to the inspiration. And you do this by embracing creativity and opportunity. It is so easy to get caught up in the minutia of daily life, of motherhood, and even of quilting. Take the time to play, to try something new, to slow down, and the ideas will flow.

What will you do today to open up for inspiration?

Just Playing

Sometimes you just need to play. Start with something, anything, and see what happens.

In this case. I started with a jelly roll and some charms, serious temptation from two lovely designers.  When I was head down on that king sized quilt and buried under slabs I caved at some point in August to play. I sliced the charms in half and cut pieces of the jelly roll down to match. Then it was a matter of sewing pairs together. A lot of chain piecing and pressing. Then rows, then chunks like this. There are more chunks to go as there is more fabric to be used, but I am liking this so far. I have yardage of a subtle text print that will serve as background. You can just see bits of it used on the edges of this chunk.

No, if only I could find more time to play again.

Some Modern Opportunities

Putting aside the use of Modern Quilting as a term to define a trend, or make something seem trendy even when it isn't really a modern quilt, there are some changes afoot in the traditional quilting world that I wanted to share with you.

Quilt Canada 2014, the big show, conference, and workshops put on by the Canadian Quilters Association added Modern to its categories for the National Juried Show. For my American friends, this is the equivalent of the show in Houston for Canadians. The CQA worked with The Modern Quilt Guild to define the category and judging criteria. Entries are open to Canadians - including Canadian citizens living elsewhere. (Oh, and I'll be teaching there for four days...)

Enter here.

Did you notice there are some pretty hefty cash prizes?

Closer to home, the Calgary Stampede's Western Showcase also added a modern category to its quilt show. The Western Showcase is quite a wonderful part of The Stampede. A little oasis of calm and creativity in the midst of the midway, rodeo, and wallet draining. And it isn't all just horses and cowboys there either.

Entries aren't open yet, but stayed tuned to the Western Showcase site, entries will open at some point in the new year.

Putting yourself out there by entering a show is a scary thing, I know that. And show quilts are not necessarily the quilts you snuggle up with on the couch. Sure, your entry may not be accepted and it is quite easy to wholeheartedly disagree with any comments from the judges. That being said, entering a show is a new experience, a challenge, and rather exciting. I urge you to consider it, put any fears aside, and jump in feet first. Don't worry, I checked the water, there are no sharks. Just a lot of black drapes and white gloves.

Celebrating A Month of Sundays

It's high time I did a little celebrating around here. A Month of Sundays came out this summer and I've barely had a moment to register that it is in the world. Something about those real babies taking up all my time, and a certain charity project. But this monh I'm going to celebrate. You'll get some behind the scenes goods, quilts in progress, good food, and even some giveaways along the way. I hope you'll join me and share in the party.

I'm going to kick things off with a little background on the book.

A Month of Sundays started even before Sunday Morning Quilts came out! My publisher, Stash Books, called us after the photoshoot for Sunday Morning Quilts with nothing but nice things to say. Then we started talking about the quilt Sunday Morning itself. The low volume scraps were really admired and I blurted out, "I bet I could write a whole book about low-volume quilts and we could call it A Month of Sundays." Their response was to request the proposal. So, before my first book was even in print I was working on the second.

Oh, and right when we were negotiating the contract I found out I was pregnant. After three miscarriages I was slow in accepting and appreciating that pregnancy, but everything aligned and I was set to deliver a baby and a book around the same time. Needless to say, I negotiated some later dates for the book because the baby sure wasn't going to wait. Now, for me, it feels like I gave birth to twins, the book and my son are so intertwined.

So as my tummy grew I wrote away. Thankfully, I am not the type of writer that needs her space to be just so and free from noise and distractions before a single word escapes my brain. I wouldn't even get this blog written if that is the case! No, my brain is constantly churning through sentences and hopefully there is an opportunity to get them down near by.

To write this book I sat in the dark in my dining room a lot of the time. Wrapped in a quilt, a pot of tea by my side. I was in the dark because if I turned on a light it usually woke the girls and then I got no work done. So, if I need glasses in a few years, I will blame this book for it and not encroaching middle age at all. I also wrote a fair amount of the book in the IKEA cafeteria. While The Monster was in school (she was in KG that year) and if The Evil Genius didn't have preschool we would hit IKEA to take advantage of the free babysitting/Smaland. I would get an hour to bang out some text. I can write a lot in a hour when that's all I get. Then there were the times I edited during swimming lessons or got up extra early to hide in a local coffee shop as the final draft was due so that I wasn't interrupted by more requests for cinnamon toast.

The writing in this book is intensely personal for me. Each essay for each section - Eat, Relax, Shop, Explore - is a true story, a reflection of my life and outlook. Funny thing, it wasn't until I was out with my red pen on the very last version of the book before it went to print (they call that version Pages) that I realized I'd written one big love letter to my husband. So, if you like romance, even the unconventional ones, this might be the book for you. The little tidbits are also part of our life. Lessons learned, activities that are a part of us, or treasured moments - they can all add to your life too. And they are all about taking the time to enjoy the time, to slow down.

I am really thankful for Stash giving me the opportunity to write a lot more in this book. It isn't the typical quilt book. Some people may not like that, but I hope most of you will appreciate it. I wanted to create a book that you curled up with and read first, then flipped through to look at the projects. And then when you had another quiet afternoon you did it again. And when you walked by the stack of books on your shelf you pulled it out again because you remembered that one project...

Then there are the quilts and sewing projects. I will talk more about them over the next few Sundays, but I did want to say now how excited they still make me. I look at them now, or wrap myself in them, or use them for my shopping and smile. You can't get tired of these low volume fabrics. Well, at least I can't.

(Photo by Kate Inglis)

The other thing that makes this book truly great - in my eyes - is the photography. Initially I was asked to do my own photography. I'm okay, but not great at making pictures. And I knew what I wanted. I could envision the styling on nearly every project as I made it. I knew the locations and props for nearly every shot before the quilts were done. But I needed a photographer to get into my brain and take the photos for me. Enter Kate Inglis. We worked together over a very intense 5 days to take all the styled, atmosphere, and lifestyle shots in the book. I carted around my son so that he could be nursed because he was only two months old at the time. My vanity reigned as we built shots around not showing much of my two months post partum body. And everywhere we went Kate found the light. I hope Kate will shoot every one of any of my next books.

So, this Sunday, I am raising my cup of tea and reminiscing about the process of creating A Month of Sundays. It's a snowy, blustery day here. Perfect for hiding inside and appreciating the moments I have with both my family and my stash. And yes, I am curled up in a quilt.

Join me for the next month of Sundays. Here is the schedule for what I'll be sharing here.
November 10 - Just Where Do I Get My Ideas?
November 17 - From the First Idea to the Finished Quilt - following the process for a few quilts
November 24 - Join Me in the Kitchen
December 1 (I know...) - Tips on Using the Book and Giveaway Day

Yes, there will be some giveaways. Books, fabric, and maybe a few extra treats. To be entered in the giveaway you simply have to leave a comment on any post for this A Month of Sunday series. Ask me a question, tell me how you are enjoying the book, or respond to the weekly query I post. One comment per posting, please. At the end of the series all name will get submitted and I will draw for the giveaways. International entries welcome.

So, what are you doing this Sunday?