5 quick exercises to get your patchwork mojo back. (Copy)

I’ve lost my patchwork mojo; how do I get it back?

It has happened to all of us at some point, I think.

So what do you do when you have lost interest in patchwork and still have a room full of fabrics? Well one thing is for sure you need to find your mojo and get sewing again.

Here are 4 exercises to re-ignite your creativity or just get you feeling a little differently.

1.      Look at colour. Walk outside, stop and close your eyes. Take a deep breathe, open your    eyes, what is the first colour you see? Now look at the colours around that first colour. Do the surrounding colours contrast or compliment that first colour? Does the colour combination work or not? Does the colour combination make you feel happy, sad, energised, warm or cool?  Grab some colouring pencils and with the help of this printable sheet document the colour combo. http://www.nestofquilts.com/cheatsheets/qtzbyqkr45rftxtevyo4anz8xosnbx

Each season has it’s colour pallet, do you have a preference?

 2.      Either pick up some interior design magazines from the shop, library or op shop and look at how interior designers use colour combinations. Take note of the colour that “pops” in the images and how much of it they use. Great colours to use for “pop” are black, hot pink, orange, purple, lime green and white. 

 3.      Now that we have looked at colour and have hopefully re-ignited some creative interest let’s look at patterns.  Again let’s go back to nature, in the garden. Does the garden path, the highs and lows of the planting, the clouds create patterns? Do the windows of the buildings create patterns? Now start filling in the boxes, on the sheet you printed out in exercise 1,  with patterns, random lines, just doddles, don’t over think it, do it quickly maybe 2 or 3 minutes. Is there one you like, if so colour it in using one of the colour combinations from the above exercises.

 4.      Go to your fabric stash and put together some of those colour combinations you played with in exercise 2 and 3. Throw in a “pop” colour and see how it changes things? Hopefully you are starting to feel a little energised and are wanting to go beyond the theory and into the practical.

 5.      I have left this exercise till last because it is almost too obvious, look at Pinterest. But I am going to put some restriction of your search because we all know Pinterest can be overwhelming and the last thing we want is for you to find it all too much and lose interest. So only search for one type of quilt design eg black and white quilts, four patch quilts etc, you get the idea. Maybe step out of your comfort zone and search for art quilts or miniatures.  Only spend half an hour on this exercise, has anything caught your attention?  

 I hope this has been helpful and you are now wanting to grab the rotary cutter and launch into a new patchwork project or even maybe revisit a UFO with new enthusiasm.

 I find I revisit these exercises whenever I find myself in a creative rut, they help free up my mind to other possibilities.

 Good luck and happy sewing

Margaret

5 quick exercises to get your patchwork mojo back.

I’ve lost my patchwork mojo; how do I get it back?

It has happened to all of us at some point, I think.

So what do you do when you have lost interest in patchwork and still have a room full of fabrics? Well one thing is for sure you need to find your mojo and get sewing again.

Here are 4 exercises to re-ignite your creativity or just get you feeling a little differently.

1.      Look at colour. Walk outside, stop and close your eyes. Take a deep breathe, open your    eyes, what is the first colour you see? Now look at the colours around that first colour. Do the surrounding colours contrast or compliment that first colour? Does the colour combination work or not? Does the colour combination make you feel happy, sad, energised, warm or cool?  Grab some colouring pencils and with the help of this printable sheet document the colour combo. http://www.nestofquilts.com/cheatsheets/qtzbyqkr45rftxtevyo4anz8xosnbx

Each season has it’s colour pallet, do you have a preference?

 2.      Either pick up some interior design magazines from the shop, library or op shop and look at how interior designers use colour combinations. Take note of the colour that “pops” in the images and how much of it they use. Great colours to use for “pop” are black, hot pink, orange, purple, lime green and white. 

 3.      Now that we have looked at colour and have hopefully re-ignited some creative interest let’s look at patterns.  Again let’s go back to nature, in the garden. Does the garden path, the highs and lows of the planting, the clouds create patterns? Do the windows of the buildings create patterns? Now start filling in the boxes, on the sheet you printed out in exercise 1,  with patterns, random lines, just doddles, don’t over think it, do it quickly maybe 2 or 3 minutes. Is there one you like, if so colour it in using one of the colour combinations from the above exercises.

 4.      Go to your fabric stash and put together some of those colour combinations you played with in exercise 2 and 3. Throw in a “pop” colour and see how it changes things? Hopefully you are starting to feel a little energised and are wanting to go beyond the theory and into the practical.

 5.      I have left this exercise till last because it is almost too obvious, look at Pinterest. But I am going to put some restriction of your search because we all know Pinterest can be overwhelming and the last thing we want is for you to find it all too much and lose interest. So only search for one type of quilt design eg black and white quilts, four patch quilts etc, you get the idea. Maybe step out of your comfort zone and search for art quilts or miniatures.  Only spend half an hour on this exercise, has anything caught your attention?  

 I hope this has been helpful and you are now wanting to grab the rotary cutter and launch into a new patchwork project or even maybe revisit a UFO with new enthusiasm.

 I find I revisit these exercises whenever I find myself in a creative rut, they help free up my mind to other possibilities.

 Good luck and happy sewing

Margaret

Help the rabbit has got my quilt

Help the rabbit’s got my quilt.

As each of our 3 children approached their 21st birthday I started making them a quilt. I don’t think any of them actually received their quilt on their 21st but that is my MO, start late, finish late.

Our daughter is a Marine Biologist, so her quilt was an under the sea scene. Our youngest son was in the Army loading and unloading aircraft and doing a bit of jumping out of aircraft too so his quilt was called “Props” as it depicted propellors. Our middle child, another boy, was heavily into downhill mountain bike and dirt bike riding so his depicted hills, sky and sandy soil.

I am getting to the rabbit don’t worry. So as they each went their separate ways in life they took their quilts with them, all good they were made to be used. Our middle child partnered, bought a house and yes a rabbit, Storm, and then had a child of his own. So what did the rabbit do you ask. Well the rabbit died when their son was about 18 months old, very sad. Months later I noticed my son’s 21st birthday quilt in his son’s room, I was so happy to see it being used. When I commented on this fact my son and daughter-in-law both went very quiet and looked at the floor. Alarm bells started going off in my head, what have I said to evoke this response, what is wrong with the quilt?

Son finally made eye contact and told me that Storm, the rabbit, had eaten a hole in the quilt. Ok breathe Margaret breathe, it will be fixable, difficult to do considering the design but doable. “How big is the hole” I asked. Again son’s eyes went to the floor “pretty big, it goes all the way through”. I took a deep breath and decided now was not the time to take a look, I needed to get my head around the fact that I may not be able to repair it or if I can it might be very intricate and very time consuming.

So here I am 6 months down the track from that awkward conversation and confession. I have asked for a photo of the quilt damage as we are still in a COVID lockdown and I cannot go and see it in person.

Well the photo arrived. Is it as bad as I had imagined, yes and no. Is it fixable, yes it is but how it will look I don’t really know. I will have to introduce new fabrics as I don’t have any of the fabrics anymore I don’t think.  How am I to attack this repair job. How did one cute, fluffy bunny do so much damage.

With son number two getting married April next year I am busy making a Wedding Ring quilt and I am determined to have it finished for the wedding, I will not be following my usual MO. The repair job might just have to wait until after April, it could be my Winter project.

The lesson to be learnt is; quilts are made to be used and when you use something there is always the potential for damage.  So I will take that deep breath and come to terms with the fact that this might be the first but it will not be the last quilt that I will need to repair.

I will always look at this quilt and think of my son aged 21 on his mountain bike with his mates having the time of their lives but I will also think of Storm, the rabbit, and the love she gave my family and the headache, of a repair job, she has given me.

Wish me luck and patience.

Happy sewing and stay healthy

Margaret

6 Inspirational Patchwork Shops

It is so important to support our local patchwork shops. There was a time a few years ago when shops were closing because patchworkers were turning to the internet for fabric because the Aus $ was almost equal to the US$. I was guilty but I soon found that the colour was not quite what I thought or the quality was not as good as I would like. There is nothing like touching fabric and auditioning fabric in person.

We are in a COVID lockdown in Melbourne at present and there is nothing like a lockdown to make you appreciate how lucky we are to have great patchwork and quilting shops. I am really missing being able to pop into my local shop, have a chat to the ladies and pick up some new fabrics to play with. I thought I would share with you some shops I like to visit whenever possible.

 Amitie Textiles: 2 hours from home but worth the drive. They have a fantastic range of fabrics, quilt block patterns, sewing projects, yarn and patterns and homewares. And after the long drive their coffee shop is oh so inviting, their cakes, yum.

Bella Fabrics: this one is truly local, I can walk to the shop from home. They have lovely bright fabrics, interesting patchwork patterns, both large and small, books and gifts. They run classes  covering quilting, dressmaking, appliqué, embroidery, EPP, crochet, to name a few.  They also have “sit and sew” two mornings a week, a great way to ensure “me” time in our busy lives.

Nuno Nuno: I am so luck I can walk to this shop too. They have textiles for quilting, clothing, crafting, patterns, haberdashery and handcrafted giftware & accessories. A small shop but very inviting. I love their homewares, they are fresh and a little bit patchworky.

Cutting Cloth: Another bright, fresh Melbourne patchwork shop. They have an extensive range of fabrics, wool, patterns and haberdashery. They also have a large classroom at the back of the shop where they conduct their many classes. Don’t forget to check out their bag pattern range too.

Now I head out of Victoria and spread my wings a bit, something we are not able to do at present but hopefully very soon.

The Patch Works: Hobart, Tasmania. What I love about this shop is that they offer FREE classes to beginners to get them on their patchwork journey. What a great idea, more shops could do this, great PR and you just might have a customer for life.

Den Haan & Wagenmakers: I have really spread my wings for this one, it’s in Amsterdam. My husband found this shop for me when we holidayed there in 2015. The steps up to the front door add to the anticipation. Once inside you are greeted by beautiful fabrics, books and patterns. But there is more, stairs lead to the second floor where you will find quilts lovingly displayed and more fabric.

That is just a small selection of great and inspiring patchwork and quilting shops the world has to offer. I would love to hear about your local shop so when I am able to travel, I might drop in and pick up some fabric to remind me of my adventures.

Two places I am longing to visit are Canada and the USA so please Canadian and American patchworkers help me put together a list of must visit shops for my travels by adding your favourite local shops in the comments.

Happy sewing

Margaret

Rules, rules everywhere there's rules.

When I learnt to make patchwork quilts back in the 80’s I was told there where rules that I should never break. OOOPs I have broken them all and continue to break them on an almost daily basis. Here are the top 5.

Rule 1: Never use white fabric in a quilt. I have no idea how this rule came about, maybe it dates back to times when washing was difficult and white showed the dirt to much, who knows. I stuck to this rule for quite some time until I realised that white actually added a bit of zing to a quilt so now I use it in almost every quilt I make.

Rule 2: Always press seams to the dark side. Yes a good rule and I try and stick to it where possible BUT sometimes my points look better if I press the other way or I press the seam open.

Rule 3: Always wash your fabric before using it. Nee, non, nai, no it does not happen in this house. When I buy new fabric I am always in a hurry to get home to start playing with it. I have bought fabrics that have had a little too much sizing and therefore are a little stiff when hand piecing and I bitch and moan about it but still I don’t pre wash. The rule is also about fabric shrinking, I have never found it to be an issue.

Rule 4: Blue and green should not be seen without something in between. Tell that rule to the horizon where green forests meet the blue sky. No more to be said on that topic, Nature has it sorted.

Rule 5: (The most ridiculous rule of all.) Only ever have one quilt on the go at a time ie do not start a new quilt until you have finished the one you are currently working on. How to stifle creativity, spontaneity, passion, enthusiasm and put patchwork shops out of business. I will happily confess to having more UFO’s than I dare to count. Will they all get finished, probably not , my kids can deal with that issue when I am gone. Did I enjoy starting them, yes. Was I enthusiastic about them at the start, yes. Did I learn something along the way, yes. Did starting a new quilt spark my creativity, yes. So what does all that tell you? That starting something and not finishing it straight away, or ever, is not a totally bad thing, there are positives in there.

So the over-riding message today is : yes there will always be rules no matter what aspect of life you look at and some should never, never, ever be broken BUT some are just crying out to be broken.

Happy sewing

South African Artist to inspire

Today I have been looking at the look of Sarojani Naidoo a South African textile artist.I have only found a couple of examples of her work but what I see I like.She paints her canvases with acrylic paints then free motion stitches in the detail. She then embellishes with beads, wool, fabric and heated and manipulated tyvek.  Sarojani gets her inspiration from nature with her pieces Dawn, Dusk and Moonglow conveying the time of day beautifully. I found her work on the Fibre Works Art website but unfortunately I could not find any images that I felt comfortable sharing without Sarojani's permission.

A true love of animals

Today I am looking at English born, but now living in Africa, textile artist Sophie Standing. Her work shows sensitivity, love and respect for the animals she draws then stitches.  The details of the animals are created by sewing with different coloured threads, often using over 3000 metres of thread to get the perfect line and form of the animal. Her animals look straight at you, they engage you, they ask for your help. All of this is achieved because of Sophie's loving attention to their eyes. Sophie is a Wildlife Warrior spreading the word through the textile world.  www.sophiestandingart.com

Denmark calling.

Denmark is today's stop on my round the world search for textile artists. Today I have found Charlotte Yde. She is a a textile artist and graphic designer. She prints and paints most of the fabric she uses for her quilts. Her techniques range from screen printing and deconstructed screen printing, oil paintsticks, block printing to digitally programmed stitching to create motifs and structure on the surface. Her stitched drawings of  children show a warmth and tenderness beyond the dark thread. www.yde.dk

New Zealand Textile Artist

Today I head to the Bay of Islands on New Zealand's North Island.This is a beautiful part of the world and home to a very talented textile artist, Charlotte Scott. She takes inspiration from her beautiful surroundings resulting colourful, strong quilts. Visit her blog or Pinterest to check out her work . "The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady"

Canadian Textile Artist

Today I continue my search for textile artists that inspire. Today's artist comes from Canada, Elaine Quehl. She makes dramatic and colourful nature-themed art quilts featuring luscious foliage (particularly hosta leaves), flowers and trees. She dyes her own fabric, the result is vibrant quilts that transport you into a Garden of Eden. Check out her website to be inspired. 

www.elainequehl.com