Inspiration

You can find inspiration anywhere, and sometimes a solution to a problem can be right in front of your face. Do you recognize this?

It's the logo for the American TV show "CBS Sunday Morning." It's on screen for the whole show, down there in the lower right hand corner. I'd been watching the show for over an hour this morning before I really "saw" it for what it could be -- a solution to how to arrange the "dresden plate" style "rays" that will surround the box on my Black Box Quilt.

I am so going to steal this idea.

Why is Mona Here?

Yes, this is the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world.  Why is she here?  She may be making an appearance in the STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST quilt I am making for Julie.

It was 98F (36.6C) here yesterday, supposed to be as hot today and tomorrow, and I am not doing a whole heck of a lot.



In other news, yes, Millie hijacked this blog earlier today.  She's having quite a laugh about it, I assure you.  She's too clever by half, that little tuxie girl!




PS, I just noticed this is my 1,000th post!  Wow!  

T on Thursday

In keeping with the theme of larceny and theft for the STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST quilt, I present for your enjoyment a letter T.

This letter is about 6 inches tall and 5 inches wide, and completely free pieced. 

 Those yellow slits are 1/4 inch tall and just over one inch in length.  It was a total PITA to sew together, I can tell you!

The Letter "I"

This is a letter "I." 

"Oh," you say, "that's not an 'I', it's a stick of dynamite."

Well, you are right. It IS a stick of dynamite. It is -also- a letter I.

(Those letters T-N-T are one inch tall. Very tiny. That black wick is just there to complete the effect.)


In the  "STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST" quilt I am making, I am including some shall we say, larcenous elements.  So dynamite is right at home.

A is for...

A is for artist.  ...as in "Steal like an ..."

Flipped

Sometimes you get a great idea, and when you execute it, it doesn't look the way you envisioned it.  Such it is with this green butterfly. I really did want it to look like eyes, but this shape is all wrong.

So I tried again.  The upper part of the butterfly fabric is now a slightly different fabric, and the eyes are at the bottom.  Actually, I'm not quite happy with this one either. It looks really stiff.

This one looks better in an odd sort of way.  Look familiar? This is the first butterfly, turned upside down.

Stuff like this happens sometimes, and you have to be willing to go with it. Or at least be willing to set it aside for a while and move to something different.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

This butterfly is part of the Steal Like an Artist quilt. 

Steal Like an Artist

Hi Julie! How do you like these fabrics? 

Your quilt is in here somewhere. 

 I won't use ALL of these.

 But I might!

I'll definitely use a lot of them.

 I hope bugs don't freak you out.

 And did you see the little fox?  You might see him in there...

Of course, there will always be the usual hidden surprises....

Steal (part two)

 I sewed up the letters for STEAL.  I'm rather pleased with them. 

Steal

My pal Julie has a bit of empty wall space in her sewing studio and asked me if I'd like to fill it.

Hell yeah!

I wanted something that would be positive, but would also encourage creativity.  Since we both love Austin Kleon's phrase (and book) Steal Like an Artist, I knew that phrase would be perfect.

The wall space is about 31" x 43" and that's the size of the rectangle formed by the blue tape above.  I'll place the word STEAL pretty much as shown, and as for the rest...

Well you'll just have to wait and see.

Steal Like an Artist

For those of you who feel you can't come up with a single original idea, relax. It's probably been done. But don't worry. Inspiration is nothing more than stealing like an artist. Go check out Austin Kleon's post: Steal Like an Artist. Really.

To the lovely ready who commented she liked the i in the Make it Work quilt, I have to confess, I was inspired by this piece that hangs in my studio:

Lucinda made it for me. I was one of the Swap Mamas for Doll Quilt Swap 9, and Lucinda made each of the Mamas a lovely chair quilt, personalized just for them. Mine had to have letters. What to fit in this tiny space? A small word, but she did it magnificently. This little quilt is 7-1/2" wide by 15" tall, and the letters are small - the S is barely 2" high.

I look at this little beauty every day. I like the way Lucinda made her letters - totally unlike anything I would do.

You should check Lucinda's blog as well as her Flickr photostream - she is an artist at free piecing - very adventurous and creative. She is truly inspiring.