andie johnson sews

Busy, but not

2013-05-15T13:05:00.000-04:00

I'm still here, my lovlies. I've been busy/hiding for a little bit. I do that - I hide. Kind of ironic for a blogger, eh?

I have so much show and tell for you, kids.

First and foremost, my husband and I celebrated 20 years of marriage yesterday. TWENTY! I can honestly say that very few people thought we'd last a year, but we're here, 20 years later and looking forward to growing old and incontinent together.

So you know I had a big birfday at the end of April and I got some delicious goodies from my friends and family:

From the husband. New iron to replace my hated piece o'dung Rowenta. I like this Black and Decker - heats up fast, holds lots of water, good steam and nice weight. My hubby did his research.

FQ bundle of Glimma from my friend Julie, who picked this out all by herself, even though she had no idea what a fat quarter was.

A FQ bundle from my sweet friend fiberchick of Rashida Coleman-Hale's exotic and lovely line. Love this.

And I've not been super-busy sewing lately as I've had a little trouble with my lady parts that resulted in a little minor surgery last week. But I'm feeling back up to speed today and almost pain free. The most I've been doing is pulling fabric for projects. I do that a lot.

I have no business starting another project right now, but I can't help but want to make the St. Louis 16 Patch I keep seeing on Instagram. I pulled a bunch of pinks, blues and purples to see if I can come up with 20 FQs to pull this off. This isn't going to get done immediately, but I might just cut the strips and put them aside for later.

My sister-in-law lives in the Southwest and she just moved into a new house. I want to make her a housewarming gift and her colors are very....southwest. Greens, browns, turquoise and terra cotta. I think I'm going to make a cute little pillow with a simple design.

This is a work in progress. I'm writing a few patterns right now and this happens to be made from the "scraps" of one of the projects. 4" half-square triangles set on point make me happy. And the colors against the black essex linen (which is really pewter colored) make me a wanna smack my momma.

And this was really exciting. I've been emailing quilting legend and sweet potatuh Darlene Zimmerman and we talked about Kelly and me using some of her templates for some of our upcoming projects. So she sent us some! Kelly and I both want to make a Joseph's Coat and the Pickle Dish and Darlene generously sent them along for us to try. I'm pretty excited to try these out, but I have to say they have A LOT of pieces. A LOT. The great thing about these templates is everything is figured out for you - the fabric requirements for baby thru king size quilts are on the back and complete instructions for cutting and piecing are included. Not sure how I want to tackle this one, but I've been looking at Pickle Dish and Joseph's Coat quilts on the interwebz for a few days.

Pickle Dish:

Tenneseequilts.com pinterest.com

Joseph's Coat:

quiltindex

Hyacinthquiltdesigns.blogspot.com

And it's prom season, so I'm making bow ties for my son and a few friends. I still have a few more to go, but these are done. Not sure why someone wanted a pink and white elephant bow tie, but I ordered this fabric from Hawthorne Threads. So cute.

Quilt Block for CCHMC

2013-05-04T09:48:00.001-04:00

I work in the Bone and Marrow Transplant unit in the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. It's a special place, y'all, and I feel very privileged to be providing care for patients and their families at a scary, stressful and sometimes very grim part of their lives. I don't always like my job, but I do feel like I'm supposed to be there.

So when the hospital announced that they were asking for quilt blocks from each unit for a quilt to be displayed in the main concourse, of course I had to volunteer to make the one from our unit.

My manager suggested that I include cells or blood elements in the design.

Um, no.

I wanted something cute and simple and to the point.

Transplant Awareness ribbons are green/bright green, so I wanted to use that element as the focal point.

I have Jenny Doak's paper piecing book, which is a great resource if you want basic designs.

This 6" block is in the book and I used the ribbon part of it and skipped the heart. I enlarged the ribbon to 8" and used a TOT green that had both green and bright green to cover my bases.

You can find this block on Carol Doak's website for download. You could use it for breast cancer, supporting the troops or any other awareness ribbon.

I. love. paper piecing!

Love it.

Sampler Pattern Winner!

2013-05-01T12:24:00.002-04:00

Nikki M.April 29, 2013 at 11:05 AM Happy Birthday! I'd use Navy, Emerald, Aqua, and mint!

Nikki M - Congrats!

Email me at andiejohnsonsews @ gmail.com!

It'sMyBirthday Pattern Giveaway!

2013-04-27T13:11:00.000-04:00

I'm forty years old today.

40.

It seems like just yesterday I was 17 and a size 4.

Sigh.

But I actually feel pretty good about this milestone. So let's have some fun, ok?

I'm giving away a copy of my new pattern!

Leave a comment telling me the color palette you'd use for this baby.

Winner chosen on Tuesday April 30.

New Pattern Available on Amazon

2013-04-24T22:12:00.000-04:00

In November, I had the good fortune of this project kinda falling in my lap. This is a pattern released by David & Charles Publishers and is available on Amazon.

The 25 blocks are from three of Rosemary Youngs Civil War books (The Civil War Anniversary Quilts, The Civil War Love Letter Quilt, and The Civil War Diary Quilt). I made the cover quilt and wrote the quilt pattern instructions using the blocks from Rosemary's books.

Images for all of the blocks, plus complete instructions, are included. This pattern is for experienced quilters - probably not for beginners. I paper-pieced the blocks, but you could also trace each piece and cut each out individually and piece them.

I had so much fun putting the paper-pieced blocks together that I'm ready to make this quilt again! Love love love paper piecing. And the yummy DS Fabric that I used from Joann Fabrics make me seriously happy.

This is the finished quilt. I thought about selling it, but my daughter grabbed it and wrapped herself up in it the day I brought it home from the photo shoot and it's been wrapped around someone everyday since.

But I will make this quilt again. Oh yes. Maybe this time in some yummy Tilda or Liberty fabrics.

Yes.

Field Trip - Silk Road Textiles in Cincinnati

2013-04-17T09:14:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of popping into Silk Road Textiles in the College Hill neighborhood a few weeks ago. I'm very familiar with this neighborhood as my childhood church where I was confirmed and where my babies were baptized, College Hill Presbyterian, is just down the street. Fond memories of this area for me. It was like coming home.

Let me tell you - you can't help but be inspired to sew/quilt/knit/eat chocolate and travel the world after visiting this shop!

Teresa, the owner, is a petite, well-spoken, passionate lady who has a very clear vision of the kind of business she wants to be running. She was in the Peace Corp and has traveled extensively. Teresa wants to support women-owned businesses, especially ones that are operated by women in impoverished countries, and you can't help but admire her enthusiasm and vision. Come along with me on this field trip and you'll see what I mean.

Ok, you all know how I feel about rainbow order, so of course this picture had to be first! This is Yara African Cotton Brocade and it comes with a waxy coating. Teresa says that after washing it it becomes very soft.

The store has a lot of light, which is so nice.

This is the lounge area in the front. So cozy.

I really love how the store is arranged - it's like a treasure hunt. Yarns are displayed with fabrics which are displayed with notions. To the far left are patterns and books moving down into hand-dyed yarns and Kona solid fabrics. There's also an amazing selection of handmade jewelry and bags - which of course are all women-made.

There are some pre-cut fabric bundles available as well as a few kits.

This is linen. And it's so delicious, you guys. It's so light it's almost sheer, but the colors are rich and it's incredibly soft. And it comes in metallics. Yes - metallic. Want that pink in the middle. Going back to get some.

This is a display at the back of the store, which is really the main entrance from the parking lot. The richness of this display made my tummy tickle. The saturated colors and the hand quilting of the pieces are beautiful.

Mmm hmm. That's some Liberty fabric on the left and some Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton on the top right. And of course I had to get some of both. The fabric on the middle shelves under the shot cotton is fabric from Japanese quilter and designer Yoko Saito.

Some more Indian cotton. It's handprinted and dyed - and it's sooo rich and beautiful.

This is one of my favorite shelves in the store - it's Australian fabric from M&S Textiles. This fabric is amazing. Uh - may - zing. The colors, the prints - sigh.

Madeline Tosh yarn, which apparently in the knitting world is kind of a big deal. I don't knit, but I aspire to knit, mostly because I love to look at yarn.

This is an interesting little nugget of info. Teresa did a test with several of her quilting and sewing friends in order to help her decide which thread to stock. She gave each person 5 different threads to use and then report back which one they preferred. Hands down, they all preferred this Presencia Thread . Every tester said they liked the weight, the silkiness and the fact that there was virtually no lint left in their machines after they used it. I bought a spool and haven't used it yet, but I'll give a full report when I do.

Another little display of floss, patterns, jewelry, and notions.

Uh, and how smart is this shop owner? She has these beautifully packaged fair-trade chocolate bars at the counter. She knows her demographic.

This was, by far, my favorite find in the store. It's a wide cotton printed with these wonderful little color blocks on both front and back. It's really beautiful and could truly, on it's own, be a piece of artwork stretched over a frame. I'm going back to get a few yards. I need it. And it also comes in a black background, too. I forgot to write down the maker, but I'll report back about this beauty.

More yarn deliciousness.

Look at these, people. They're hand-fired glass knitting needles. I die.

This is hand-dyed fabric from Cincinnati-based fiber artist and quilter Barbara Grothaus. She runs fabric dyeing workshops out of her home just down the street from this shop, which my Kelly has taken and really loved.

There's also a good selection of Marcia Derse, Kaffe Fassett, Dan Bennett and Brandon Mably fabrics as well as some Riley Blake, Amy Butler and Valori Wells prints.

This shop is a great resource for modern and art quilters as well as knitters/crocheters. Friendly, bright and happy and a very interesting little gem to explore worldy textiles and handmade goods.

Even if you can't make it in to Silk Road, it's fun to learn about products and textiles you didn't even know about. Maybe they're available in your neck of the woods!

Loot

2013-04-15T17:42:00.000-04:00

I visited Sewn Studios on Friday for their big sale and walked away with some pretty delicious loot.

What I got:

Amy AND David Bulter FQ bundles.

Liberty FQs and yardage

Art Gallery yardage (Carnaby and Indie)

2 charm packs of Kona solids

Some random FQs (AGF and Lecien mushrooms)

Those Liberty fabrics (plus a few more) will be used in a new pattern that I'll be releasing this summer - I can't wait to start sewing this project!

The charm squares are already cut up and sewn into a quilt that's almost done and then will be sent to the longarmer. This is the "before" of that project - Essex linen and Kona solids. Mmmm.

By the way - when you use Essex linen you must wash it first!!

It shrinks like crazy.

So any of you lovlies make any yummy fabric or notion purchases lately?

SCC Magazine and Bow Tie Kit Giveaway Winner

2013-04-13T19:41:00.003-04:00

The winner of the Stitch+Craft+Create Magazine and the bow tie kit is.....

Gill wrote:

Gill April 8, 2013 at 9:00 AM

I hope I can join in from England! In my day there was no such thing as a prom so no dress for me!

Gill - email me at andiejohnsonsews @ gmail. com!

Learning From One of the Best

2013-04-10T17:29:00.002-04:00

I'm a big fan of Aussie quilters. I love their use of color and I'm kind of obsessed with their use of applique and folk themed designs. And I don't know of a quilting demographic that's more proficient in using Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably's fabrics.

I think I've mentioned here before that I want to push myself to overcome some....what's the word?....fear...of incorporating Kaffe's fabrics into my pieces. I gravitate toward geometrics and bright, clean colors. I rarely - and I mean rarely - buy anything with brown in it and I avoid complicated color pairings because even though I like them in other people's quilts, for some reason my eye doesn't ever seem as pleased with what I do.

I own Material Obsession II by Sarah Fielke and Kathy Doughty which is one of my favorite quilting books ever. I absolutely love the designs and the use of color in this book. And the photography is beautiful - not over styled or fluffy.

Forgive me for the picture quality here.

This is my favorite quilt in the book. I love Sarah's use of color and the clever way she set the blocks. And the hand quilting - good Lord in heaven.

This block in particular intrigues me. I love the prints that she uses - all small-scale prints but not really in the same family in terms of style. And the mixture of the oranges with the browns and blues - the stripes and the teeny tiny squirrels - the art-deco curves and the reproduction-style floral.....

Blows. My. Mind.

But here's where I get tripped up.

Why does this work?

What about this combination of color works?

I've seriously been thinking about this since I bought this book over 2 years ago.

And this middle one.

I would never have thought to pair that millefore Fassett print with pink!!

But it works.

And lastly, this sucker puts me over the edge.

Turquoise, pink, rusty brown and yellow.

Huh?

Who does this?

Who thinks - yes, this will look lovely?

I know who.

Sarah Freaking Fielke, that's who.

Sigh.

I'm planning on taking her Craftsy class because a good friend recommended it. And I'm going to continue to try and wrap my brain around the whys, hows and whats of what makes this quilt - and everything else that Fielke woman makes - so dang lovely.

Click picture to get to Craftsy's site.

This will be an ongoing story here, kids. I'm goin to pull some fabrics for the first block this weekend and see what I come up with.

Stitch+Craft+Create Magazine & Bow Tie Kit Giveaway

2013-04-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

I'm giving away a copy of the Spring issue of Stitch+Craft+Create Magazine and a kit to make my bow tie and pocket square pattern that's in the magazine!

Great for Prom season - how stinkin' cute would it be to coordinate the dress and the bow tie?

Stupid cute.

This magazine is beautifully designed and the projects are fun and very doable.

Make this bowtie for your little man or your grown up man.

Bow tie kit includes:

Fabric in your choice of color and style to make a tie and a pocket square

Hardware for the closure and adjuster

And you get the magazine! There are terrific projects from party plans to decorations to a wedding dress made from lace.

And there are a few articles about modern quilters like Jacquie Gering and Katie Pederson.

And Kelly and Andie.

Hee hee.

Leave a comment telling me what color your prom dress was. (if you went!)

Winner will be chosen on Friday, April 12.

My Tank is Full

2013-04-06T13:37:00.002-04:00

Back from vacation today. We (by we I mean I) drove all night and pulled in at 7am to the cold, brown southwest Ohio landscape.

Sigh.

I've had 7 days of beach, sun and good southern food to rejuvenate my winter-blue soul. I've never been more ready to get home and sew and create and write and just plain be creative!

Which is good, because I was beginning to worry about my creative mojo. It kinda went on hiatus this winter, only to leave me feeling lost and confused and....a little inadequate.

So is the nature of my self-esteem, a delicate matter and a thing of high maintenance. It is what it is, and I've become accustom to the ebb and flow of its requirements. But every once in awhile, it does throw me for a loop and I wonder if I've fallen off some imaginary cliff.

I'm not one to take pictures of my food to publicly share, but I cannot - I repeat cannot - convey the absolute amazingness I experienced on Wednesday night. We went to Fisherman's Corner in Perdito Key, about 45 minutes from where we were staying. The whole way there we all kept saying we hoped it was worth the drive.

Holy shrimp and grits, y'all.

This place is perfect.
It's a total dive - it's a little shack, on a dirt road, under a bridge, next to a fish processing dock. It looks like it's been beat to hell by the heat of a thousand suns. If you drove by it, you prolly wouldn't stop. But you won't drive by it....because it's under a bridge. The best meal all of have had in years. Really - it's that good.

So, back to work.
With a full tank of mojo.

I have some fun stuff to giveaway this week. The fun starts on Monday!

Easter Blessings

2013-03-31T12:39:00.000-04:00

May the Lord's love shine down on you today and everyday.

Happy Easter!

Yes, my skin is so pale it's blending in to the white sand. Pitiful.

The Johnson Clan is on vaca this week.

It is needed.

For I have become borderline homicidal.

Will be spending time with my favorite storyteller, Barbara Kingsolver, this week, too.

I'll be back next week, my lovelies.

Blessings to you.

Stitch+Craft+Create Spring Issue

2013-03-24T14:07:00.000-04:00

I have 2 articles in this spring issue of Stitch+Craft+Create Magazine.

And I'm kinda thrilled about it.

I love this publication - it's stuffed full of delicious crafty goodness.

And I really love the editor Shannon.

I have a tiny girl crush on her.

Don't tell her.

I'm feeling a little awkward about it.

Anyhoo....

This issue is all about celebrations - weddings, birthday parties, ladies' luncheon.

I need more celebrating in my life.

I have a few major milestones coming up in the next few months - a big birthday and a big anniversary.

Both are making me feel ancient.

Sigh.

I digress...

For this issue, I did a bowtie pattern that can be used for casual or formal occasions and for either little men or grown-up men.

And there's also a pattern for pocket squares, which, in my humble opinion, elevates a men's suit to another level of polish and style.

Love me a man in a suit.

I think I'm gonna start a bowtie company, because I had the best time making these little suckers. They come together very quickly and can be made in any number of fabrics, from silk blends to linen to velveteen.

And there's also an article about our book, too!

This issue hits stands March 26. You can find it at large-chain craft and fabric stores and booksellers.

Fat Quarter Shop Blogger's Choice FQ Bundle!

2013-03-20T08:25:00.003-04:00

I die.

This is happening, kids.

Kelly and I have our own bundle.

At Fat Quarter Shop.

And this is it!

We picked stash builders, in ROY G BIV colors, to satisfy our inner child.

This is how the bundle comes - ain't it purty?

We've named it "Rainbows and Unicorns".

I've been wanting to make another version of my New York Beauty from the book and I thought about making it in fun and funky colors. So I experimented with the fabrics in the bundle.

The other thing I tried was playing with the scale of the template. I wanted to see if I could make it smaller. This is kinda tricky as I had to account for the seam allowances on the curves, but it was fine in the end.

This is some Madrona Road and it's really pretty. I wanted that yummy yellow for the points, so I fussy cut in areas that didn't have much of the white flower in it it.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my love of paper piecing.

I. LOVE. me some paper piecing.

The purple is Oval Elements for Art Gallery. One of my faves.

I used a little scrap of a juicy stripe for the center.

I need to trim this little baby, but me likey.

This is another that I'm working on. The floral is from my stash and the navy is Dear Stella.

Mmmm.

And that green and orange together?

Makes my tummy tickle.

Go get this bundle. Right now. It's really yummy and has colors, prints and solids that you'll use.

Make sure you check out Kelly's quilt that she made from her bundle.

FQS is doing a GIVEAWAY of one of these bundles, people.
Go throw your name in the hat!

About That Plagiarism Thing....

2013-03-19T09:08:00.001-04:00

Ok. Soooo....
I'm guessing this is a pretty touchy subject for some.

First, I'd like to clarify why I posted this issue in the first place and, in response to a couple of comments, make sure I prove that I'm not a total moron:

1. I don't claim to own the Road to Tennessee block. I don't think that. At all. I've been a quilter for more than 15 years. I know how this block thing works. And furthermore if I did own that block, I'd sure as heck give it a sexier name like "Andie's Road To Southwest Ohio".

2. When I saw that quilt on Pinterest, my gut reaction was - hey, someone made a quilt from my pattern. And when I looked it up, the quilt was an almost identical replication of block size, layout and aesthetic.

3. The quilt that this person made was inspired by my quilt, for which I'm glad she credited me, but she did (in my opinion) kinda incriminate herself by doing so. Double edged sword for her, I guess.

So this leads me to my decision. While I don't really have the desire to pursue this with an attorney, I also don't have a lot of time to handle this myself either. Etsy doesn't make it very easy to report these kinds of things - it's not as simple as clicking a button. But the process they lay out for these kinds of things is clear and doable.

I've decided to report it to Etsy and leave it at that. If they decide it ain't cool, then I'll let them handle it. If they decide that it's appropriate for her to be selling the pattern, I guess I'll live with it.

Thanks for being honest, everybody. I appreciate you all weighing in!

Giveaway Winner and One Of My Dreams Comes True

2013-03-16T12:29:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much Quilting Gallery for hosting the Blog Hop!
Let's start with the winner of my book and scraps:

I did have to remove 2 comments, so that brought our total number of comments to 403!

Um Wow.

And the winner is.....

Congrats!!

I'll be emailing you shortly to get your address so I can get these goodies in the mail.

~~~~~~~~~

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my 15 year old daughter, even though I've begged her repeatedly, doesn't want me to make clothes for her.

This makes me crazy.

And kinda sad.

Sigh.

But today, she asked me to make her a dress for our upcoming vacation to the beach.

I'm sorry - come again?

You want me to sew?

For you?

And she says it all casual-like, kind of a "hey, do it if you like. Whatevs".

I tried to contain my excitement as not to scare her off (I've learned that parental enthusiasm scares teenagers away) and directed her to ModCloth, one of her favorite online clothing shops, to pick out the shape/style of what she'd like.

Mind you, I'm trying to keep calm, play it super-cool and I nonchalantly say, "I can sew pretty much anything, so ...."

My daughter likes edgy stuff, a lot of black and is drawn to things like tattoos, piercings and vividly-colored hairdos.

Not sure where this kid came from, since my husband's idea of high style is Brooks Brothers and mine is Calvin Klein.

Clean. Polished.Sophisticated.

As you can imagine, there's some friction surrounding this subject.

So, to my absolute delight, she picked this dress:

photo from modcloth.com

I'm screaming with joy inside!!! She picked this pretty, fresh, feminine frock and wants me to make something like it!

For her!

(Do the Cabbage Patch, do the Cabbage Patch)

So we're on our way to Joann Fabric store to pick out a pattern that we can use to replicate this dress.

And I have a coupon.

I might just have a stroke.

Can We Talk About Plagiarism?

2013-03-13T10:05:00.001-04:00

Back in November of 2011, I made this quilt and shared the pattern for it here on my blog.

I did this tutorial as part of an Accuquilt GoBaby giveaway. It was also a spin on a variation of another tutorial I had done for the R2T block , one of my favorite blocks due to its versatility.

This quilt was fun to make and fun to share. It also got picked up by Jacquie from the MQG as an example of color for the MQG's 100 days of Modern Quilting and pinned quite a bit, so this little sucker has gotten some press time.

Fast forward to last week and my daily browsing of Pinterest. And I stumble on this:

This isn't the actual pin. The one I saw had the thief's blog address on it.

And I think "Aw! How exciting! Someone made this quilt from my pattern! So I looked up her blog (which I will NOT mention here)

And yes!! She used my pattern! And she gave me credit! Oh man, this is killer." (insert big, goofy grin here)

This is a screen shot of her blog.

And she shows more pictures of it. It's really pretty. Love, love the colors she used.

And then at the bottom of her post, she directs readers to her Etsy shop, where the pattern for "her" version of my quilt is for sale.

Wha?

(insert WTF?! face here)

Is this real life?

So, I hop on over to her Etsy shop and sure as sh*t, she's selling this pattern for $6.50 a pop.

For real.

Like, 80 times.

That's about $500 she's made off of "her" pattern.

And people seem to be viewing this pattern quite a bit.

See?

So, I sent this woman an email and told her with as much grace as I could manufacture that she needed to remove the pattern because even though it was a free tutorial, it's still my property.

And I even went so far as to say - hey, you like his pattern, redo it! Make it your own. Make it bigger, more blocks, different measurements. Have at it.

Well, she didn't agree with me. She instead proceeded to tell me that even though the quilt was inspired by mine, other factors influenced her design, such as her world travels and university studies. (Annoying ASB) She also argued that she did, in fact, redo the pattern by using different fabric and having her points match instead of the way mine overlapped significantly.

Hmmmmm. Had to marinate on that one a bit.

No - mama don't think so.

Let me use a hypothetical to argue why this gal is infringing on my copyrighted pattern.

Let's say I send this tart a copy of my book on the house. And she makes every single project in it, only changing fabrics and maybe only tweaking a small element to each one - maybe adding a quarter inch here and there or adding a border.

And let's say this tart then decides to release a new line of patterns, patterns that she "designed" using my patterns as "inspiration".

Is this legal?

Nah.

What would happen if I took Denyse Schmidt's Single Girl quilt pattern, made it in my choice of colors and added a border and then turned around and sold that "reworked" pattern under my own brand? (or Etsy shop)

You think Denyse might get a little hacked off if I did that?

Uh, hellz yeah she would.

But here's what I'm struggling with....I wrote a book, I'm probably gonna write another one and I'm currently writing patterns. This is gonna happen - people are gonna pick up elements of my stuff. It's part of the business. We all do it.

Do I go after every person who I think is stealing from me? Or worse yet, someone charging people for a pattern that they can get for free? Do I spend the time and energy in takes to make sure nobody gets away with this kind of crap? Even if it's on a small scale like this? And in this case, am I even right? Is she stealing?

I'm stuck here in gridlock as to how to deal with this situation.

Do I go after this nitwit-skank-blowhole? (Dear Baby Jesus, forgive me for that outburst)

Do I let it go and just chalk it up to feeling sorry for someone who has to plagiarize free patterns from blogs for income?

Do I get Etsy involved?

I'd like to know what you guys think. And be honest. I like honest.

Lessons Learned from QuiltCon - Lesson #2

2013-03-11T18:12:00.000-04:00

Let me start this post by giving you one of my favorite sayings:

Attention Seeking Behavior or ASB.

Examples of ASB:

Bragging about achievements and personal skills.

Creating drama. This means that the individual turns everything into a big deal where they're at the center of things.

Falsely claiming to be a victim of bullying in order to gain attention.

Name dropping

Manipulating facts in order to gain respect or status.

*Courtesy of alcoholrehab.com

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was forced to watch QuiltCon from the sidelines through Twitter and Instagram.

The fun part was watching the delight and joy of those who took classes with people like Lotta and Valori and Jay and were wide-eyed at the quilts that were hung and the craftsmanship on display. So happy that some of my favorite bloggers and a handful of my guild friends got to go and be a part of things. That was fun to follow - like watching little kids at quilting Disney World.

On the flip side, it was hard to stomach the ASB during and after the event.

There was a smattering of quilt bloggers and designers out there who were a bit uncensored in their work and what they said on their blogs and on Twitter. Hey - you wanna show your ta-tas and drop the f-bomb and talk about how badass you are? Knock yourself out. Personally, I think I have a great rack and sometimes I have pottymouth and occasionally I get pretty full of myself. But I guess I'm a little shy about posting my girls on Instagram. That's just me.

But I think what's triggering my gag reflex is less obvious than nudity or profanity. I'm not that bothered by that stuff. I think what I'm feeling is a mild allergic reaction to the self-consumed, the pontifical and the pseudo-intellectual ASB.

Let's be honest - those of us who blog and write books and Tweet/IG regularly have some part of us that needs the attention it brings. I own that I like to be the center of attention every once in awhile. I understand the need to feel special and unique. I understand the need to assert your own brand of personality to draw readers and customers of your product.

But I don't really understand the need to bloviate about the why's and how's of your personal quilting and the self-inflated value of your talents and why your artsy-fartsy tendencies or post-graduate degree makes you more qualified to quilt than everyone else. That seems to me to be...well.... annoying ASB. Spare me.

So it leads me to Lesson #2:

I value humility. True humility. I value sharing my gifts, being part of a community and being an active participant in a movement. I value being confident enough in myself and my skills to share with others. I'm learning to embrace self-promotion as a form of ministry to others so I can share my story and my gifts and to teach others about something that has brought me joy and purpose and community. And honesty is paramount. I don't bill myself as something I'm not. I don't pad my resume or assign myself titles that I haven't truly earned. I don't claim to have a superpower that enables me to quilt in my own special way.

Bottom line, watching the ASB has taught me about myself. Really examining my agenda and motives to be active in my guild or the online quilting community or why I want to teach and lecture has led me to understand that I just wanna sew with my peoples. And I wanna teach people to sew. And I really want people to value themselves and others enough to actively practice humility and promote community over seeking "fame" in a niche market.

I realize opining here about ASB puts me dangerously close to the over thinking of our craft that has chapped my hiney in the last few weeks- this fact is not lost on me. But there's no call to action here. There's no "look at me I'm so fabulous and badass".

And I realize this might come off as superior or uppity. It's not my intention at all. And it's certainly not my intention to throw anybody under the bus. That's not really my style (unless you plagiarize my crap - then I'll throw you under the bus after I kick you in the jimmies. More on this story later this week.)

Just wanna talk about what's going on in the quilting scene with some humor and candor and tell you what I've learned about my little ol' self.

Humility and honesty. I dig 'em.

*Okay - so I closed comments on this post because I think we need to move on. My intention isn't to bash anyone, rather my intention is to be introspective and find a little humor in something that I think is pissing a lot of people off.

Thanks for your support. Let's just buy fabric and cut it up and sew it back together however we like, mkay?

Quilting Gallery Blog Hop!

2013-03-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't like free stuff?

I'm participating in the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop!

There's so much good loot being given away - make sure you visit the party page on the

Quilting Gallery website.

But first, check out the loot here:

Uh, hello? Of course I have to give away my book!

A signed copy of my book!

And I'm also including a scrap pack of fabrics that come from both my scrap bin and fabrics that were used for some of the quilts in the book.

Can you tell I like rainbow color order?

This is about half of what you'll get. And all of the pieces are at least 5"x5".

So, if you win you get an amazing (hee hee ) quilting book with 20 project patterns and a gallon bag stuff with the best of my most coveted scraps.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment.

For a second* chance to enter, subscribe to or follow this blog me and leave a comment that you follow.

And for a third* chance to enter, follow me on Instagram or Twitter and leave a comment that you follow.

@AndieJohnsonSew

Reminder: If you're a no-reply blogger, make sure to leave your email addy in your comment.

*I check these things. Seriously. Don't leave a comment saying you follow me if you don't - that ain't cool. And don't leave a comment saying you don't use Twitter or Instagram, but if you did you'd follow me. That's cheating. Play by the rules and nobody gets hurt.
You dig?

This giveaway is open until March 14!

**Comments are now closed.**
Thanks for playing, kids!
Winner announced on Saturday March 16 at noon!

Lessons Learned from QuiltCon - Lesson #1

2013-03-06T16:43:00.002-05:00

I'm so glad I didn't go to QuiltCon.

JK.

I couldn't go - I had other stuff going on that prevented me from going. I'm pretty bitter I didn't get to go, but I think I'll get over it. Eventually.

I learned a few lessons about myself, my quilting and the modern quilting community by watching QuiltCon from the sidelines through blogs and Instagram.

I had a quilt in the show....

It's my In The Clouds from Modern Designs For Classic Quilts book. This quilt was made to go on my queen size bed and was inspired by a quilt by Gwen Marston. This piece wasn't made to be a show piece but rather to be used in my bedroom. When Kelly and I got serious about writing a book, this quilt was one of the pieces I thought would be a good example of a modern design that would be a beginner level pattern.

When I asked Jill to quilt it, I asked for a very specific pattern that was inspired by Sashiko stitching that I saw in a book. And she did exactly what I asked for.

This quilt has surprised me by how much attention it's gotten from people who've bought the book. It seems to be an accessible design for those wanting to venture into modern quilting or someone who wants to make a large modern quilt without a lot of fuss.

And I really love this quilt - I love the colors, I love the use of juicy, graphic prints for the geese, the use of navy as a neutral, I love the minimalism. I just love this thing.

But, as I expected, it didn't win anything at QuiltCon. I didn't make this as a show piece - it was made for personal use that got a second life as a pattern for my book. When it got accepted to be in the show, I was super happy that it would hang as an example of "Use of Negative Space".

But up close, the judge said she saw tension issues, but I'm not sure what she's talking about. I've never noticed them. And I got some feedback about the use of colors and prints for the geese and the background - the judge said they seemed unrelated.

There were good things said, too. The quilting design was well executed, which Jill should be proud of. My workmanship, piecing and binding were judged as excellent, which makes me feel really good.

So where's the lesson in this?

Lesson #1:
If you want to win prizes at a quilt show, make a piece that's ~~perfect~~ show worthy. Everything should be up to snuff - fabric choices, binding, backing fabric, quilting design and execution and overall craftsmanship. If you enter a casually-designed-and-made-for-personal-use quilt in a show at the very last minute, kind of on a whim and just to see if it gets chosen, don't expect to win best of show.

I'm so happy I entered it, win or no win. And I'll use the feedback from the judge to get better, to push myself to make pieces that I could show in a major quilt show. That's just me - I'm kind of competitive like that.

Which leads me to Lesson #2, which may take a day or two to think about how to word so as not to piss too many people off. Standby....

Shopping for Red

2013-02-24T09:02:00.000-05:00

While planning a big upcoming project, I was was going through my stash pulling red fabrics. Only, I have very few red fabrics in my stash. I have a handful of FQs and only a small amount of yardage with red in it, and what I have is really not blowin' my hair back.

I should have stayed on top of this situation. I know what I like, but sometimes I forget what I don't like. I'm not a fan of red. It's almost never my go-to color. If I look back over what I've made in the last few years, there's not much red in any of it. Even the projects I did for my book are fairly void of red.

So I went window shopping last night. I think I need all of these.

Anastasia by Alexander Henry

Free Spirit Designer Solids in Cranberry

Crosssquare by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit

Dot in Red by Riley Blake

Diamonds by Patty Young for Michael Miller

Zig Zag by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman

Crosshatch by Timeless Treasures

Peony by Valori Wells

(Rayon)

Honeycomb Hexagon by Suzuko Koseki for Yuwa

Wallflower Chintz by Michael Miller

What color fabrics are you in need of these days?

Magazine Love

2013-02-21T11:16:00.000-05:00

My hexie quilt, Ali's Lullaby, is being featured in
Love Quilting and Patchwork Magazine
It's a British publication and it so lovely and bright and cheery - just the kind od publication I like.

Kelly's cover quilt, Urban Cabin, is being featured, too.

And the hexie pillow project that goes along with the hexie quilt, is in there also. Lots of good info, patterns and eye candy.

Find Love Quilting and Patchwork Magazine in shops and on Apple Newsstand.

I'll be doing a giveaway of a copy of this baby very soon, so stay tuned!

Beachy Baby Boy Quilt - Done

2013-02-19T17:27:00.000-05:00

I. Love. This. Quilt.

I used 1 charm pack of Lucy's Crab Shack from Moda, some premium white muslin, a bit of premium khaki muslin for the borders and some seersucker, orange gingham and citrus green fabric for the back. The binding is DS fabric from Joann in blues that exactly match the blues in the quilt.

These are just half-square triangles set on point. So simple, but so effective.

This quilt is for my friend Wendy's new nephew Luke. It was hard to give this quilt up, but you know I love the idea of a sweet little rugrat cuddling his own quilt. Love it.

Design Wall Monday and Something Amaze-sauce

2013-02-17T21:23:00.000-05:00

I'm working on a few projects today....

Actually, I've been working on this wormy project for a long time. A long, loooong time. It's for Moda Bakeshop and I've put it off for months. The issue is, and if you've read this blog for awhile you know this:
I. Don't. Like. Handwork.

Sigh.

Why did I plan this project? What was I thinking?! I feel like if I put it out there and share my secret shame of Moda-crastination, you all will hold me accountable to get it finished. I WILL finish it!!

And I'm working on a little tutorial for you all that I'll post this week. I'm kind of obsessed with paper piecing these days and I want to get you guys obsessed, too. I'll be teaching you how to make a paper pieced heart!

Can you stand it??!!

Fat Quarter Shop has this for pre-order right now for March shipment.

As soon as we get our bundles from FQS, Kelly and I will be doing a fun sew along with a few of the patterns from our book using these rainbow-licious bundles. So, order this bundle, order our book if you haven't already and get yourself ready to sew something amaze-sauce.

Scenes from the Cincy MQG Meeting

2013-02-15T11:58:00.001-05:00

I'm posting just a few of the pics I took on Wednesday night at the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild meeting. We're doing a swap with the Oklahoma City MQG for QuiltCon! Here are just a few of the absolutely adorable and well-crafted items our members brought!

And during show and tell, the theme was WIPs.

Two of the projects shared were made from patterns by people I know - the houndstooth one if from Mary Lane Brown of Tulip Patch Quilts and the pink D4P is from my book Modern Designs for Classic Quilts!

I love my guild ladies. And Wednesday night was my last meeting as president - which I have mixed emotions about. I really wanted to remain on the board, but my life is so stinkin busy these days that I just didn't have the energy and time to do the job I wanted to do for the guild. But leadership was handed off to some amazing women and I'm excited to just be a regular member for awhile. I'll be staying on as the charity and outreach chairperson, which I'm so excited to do.

Hope your weekend is fantastic! I have some very cool news to share wtih you on Monday!