Lessons Learned at the Quilt Show

Last week was our Guild’s quilt show.  It has been a long time since I helped with the set up of the quilt show and the take down but I did this year and as a result learned a lot of lessons.  And I realize that the lessons learned at the quilt show could apply to life.

Lesson #1 – Follow the Rules.

For a Quilt show to be able to show quilts, we have to hang them on a frame or display rack.  The best way to do that is to have a “sleeve” attached to the back of the quilt.   A ‘sleeve” for a quilt is like the sleeve on a shirt.  It is a tube of fabric sewn to the quilt which allows a rod to go through the sleeve (much like an arm would) and then the quilt can be hung without damaging the quilt with pins or staples.

Our rule is that the sleeve be sewn to the quilt (you flatten the sleeve and sew the top edge and bottom edge to the quilt).  Well, one quilter sewed the top of the sleeve to the quilt but didn’t sew the bottom.  No she used glue.  It held tight to the quilt but the glue spread and closed up the sleeve.  We couldn’t get the rod through the sleeve.  We had to work at it a while to detached the glue inside the sleeve but we did it and were able to hang the quilt.

It took us longer to hang that quilt and with the glue we might have damaged the quilt trying to get the rod in the sleeve. It might have been easier for the quilter to glue it and it may even have held the sleeve to the quilt tighter but the rule was to ‘sew’ the sleeve to the quilt. 

Rules are not there to make things more difficult for everyone but are actually are there to protect people and property.  What if we couldn’t detached the glue inside the sleeve and had force the rod in and torn the back of her quilt. She wouldn’t have been happy with a torn quilt.   Or what if the glue had detached from the bottom of the sleeve and the quilt fell to the floor and was stepped on by a quilt show visitor.  Lesson #1 is follow the rules.

Lesson #2 – Expect and Accept the Unexpected.

Once the quilt show is over, the quilts need to be taken down and returned to their owners.  There was a method to this crazy madness at the end of a show.  But one part of the plan this year took a detour.  The person in charge of the quilt distribution got upset because of the detour and assumed it was all being done wrong.   But like most detours, you get where you need to be.  And with this detour, the quilts all got to the rightful owners. 

Expect things to take a detour and before getting upset with that detour, check to see if the plan is actually ending where it was suppose to end.  And just accept that everything will turn out alright despite any detours.

 Lesson #3 -- Take a Break.

Everyone has different energy levels.  Some people are like energizer bunnies and keep going and going.  Others can go great for an hour and two and then they are done.  Don’t push others or yourself to do more than what each person can do (even if that person is you).  I used to be an energizer bunny but now do to health (and age but I don’t like to admit that part), I need to take more breaks.  I pushed myself too hard and my legs and back let me know about it the rest of the week.  And also make sure you eat during a busy period of activity.  That along with breaks helps with the energy level.

Lesson #4 – Be prepared. 

Sometimes things aren’t exactly as you hope they will be so be prepared.  There were two rooms in the building we used where the temperature couldn’t be adjusted to make it comfortable so those rooms were very cold.   When that kind of thing happens, you need to make preparations.  That may mean bringing a sweater even though the outside temperature is 80 degrees.  If you are prepared, then you feel comfortable and the people around you (who might like the cooler room temperatures) don’t have to listen to you complain or your teeth chatter.

 Lesson # 5 – Do a Challenge.

 An earlier blog talked about the challenge block I did for this Quilt show.  Well, I learned that once in a while if you take a challenge…

Blue Ribbon Winner

You Win!!!!

While I thought of these lessons during the quilt show about the quilt show, they actually apply in life.   To get along with everyone and so everything works properly you have to follow the rules.  Know that detours will occur so expect and accept the unexpected.  Take breaks, in other words take care of yourself.  You can’t do what you want for family, friends or your creativity if you push yourself too hard and don’t have any energy.  Be prepared.  Try to think of everything you might need before you do something so you can be comfortable and enjoy what you are doing. And finally, sometimes you win.

© 2017  Cheryl Fillion

Take In A Show

I am writing this about a week before it will be posted.  On that posting day will be the Azalea Quilt Show in Tyler Texas, sponsored by our local quilt guild of which I am a member.

As I am writing this, I am frantically finishing up my entries, getting the items ready for the hand work demonstration I have organized (to go on during the show) and trying to figure out what to make for the potluck our guild provides for our vendors and volunteers.   

I just posted on my Facebook page about the show, inviting all my local friends to attend.  Have any of you been to a quilt show?  It is a fun place to go if you like quilts or if you like color, patterns and texture.  But it is also a good place to go to increase your creativity.

In fact, attending any craft or art show is a good idea for the same reason.  You can see what is trending, as they say now, in patterns, designs or colors. You can get inspired by a different way to do a design.  One quilt show I went to many years ago, displayed a quilt with a skeleton of a dinosaur which had its head and tail extended off the main body of the quilt. I never thought of having part of the design expanded like that.  

Something you see at a quilt or art show might just click a memory of yours that you would like to capture in paint, or ink, or fabric.  It might give you an idea of something to make for a loved one. With quilts, it might show you just the arrangement of quilt blocks that you were looking for or just the pattern you wanted to make.

Even if you are not a quilter or a painter or photographer, going to an exhibit or show can still give you ideas.  The artist or the quilter’s perspective may show you a different way of looking at or thinking about a subject matter or just the world in general.  

When you go to a quilt or art show, you are supporting the arts in your community and that in itself is a good thing to do.  If you are reading this, you are probably interested in creativity in one form or another.  Think about how your life would be without what you create.  Don’t you want to make sure creativity in all its forms is available for everyone?

So do yourself and your community a favor: go to a show.

©2017  Cheryl E. Fillion

Gathering Seeds

Before you can start a garden, you have to gather seeds.  Those tiny little things that when planted in moist dirt will germinate and grow into a rainbow of flowers.  Before you can start your creativity project, you have to gather seeds.

In creativity, a seed is an idea of what you want to do.  No matter what it is -paint a picture, sing a song, write a poem, decorate a table - you have to start with an idea.  Sometimes, if you are lucky, you are overwhelmed with ideas.  I will have to take fabric with me to eternity to complete all the quilt ideas I have.  That is the only way I will have enough time.  But there will be those of you who won't have a clue as to what you want to grow.  You need the seed.

Now with plant seeds, you can gather them from plants that after blooming produced seeds for the next season.  Or you can buy seeds nicely packaged in colorful envelopes in a store.  To gather seeds for creativity, you have to search.  You have to go out and gather the seeds.

It's not hard but it does take a little time. I recommend at least an hour a week.  Try to find an hour -preferably by yourself - and go on a gathering. You don't have to go anywhere special, these seeds can be gathered anywhere:  a museum, a concert, a park, a dollar store.  

What you are looking for are things that make your heart sing. Let's say you see a plastic flower arrangement that looks cute far away but up close looks tacky.  Take the idea - the seed - and arrange your own.  Use live flowers, use flowers from arrangements you have at home that you are tired of, use the idea and put it on canvas or as an appliqué for a quilt.   The image of that cute but tacky arrangement is the seed.

Go some place that makes you feel good. Go some place you have never been.  Try somewhere with a slightly different cultural fragrance, maybe a restaurant or an import store.  If you can't get out of the house, read magazines you don't normally subscribe.  I read lots of environmental, psychological, and quilt magazines.  So for me, a Better Homes and Gardens or Martha Stewart Living is a whole new world.  For you, it may be the National Geographic, Psychology Today, or Newsweek type.  Do anything you can to gather those seeds. 

Now this doesn't mean you have to act on them right now. That you have to come home immediately and start a new project. You may want to but it is not necessary. You are just gathering seeds.  They may need to stay buried in the moist dirt of your mind a while before they can germinate. You may find that you need to gather several seeds and are able then to put them all together to create a whole new flower.

You can't have a garden without seeds.  You can't have creativity without ideas.  So to allow your creativity to germinate and grow, go out and gather seeds.   And you might along the way want to pick up a couple of packet of seeds for a real garden.  Your own flower garden could help to inspire your creativity as well.

© 2017 – Cheryl Fillion

Colored Pencils on Fabric

There is a lot of information out about using crayons on fabric. You color a picture on fabric with crayons.  Then you take that picture place it face down on paper and iron away the wax.  And you keep ironing until there is no more transfer of color to the paper (always use clean paper each time you iron).

But did you know you can also color on fabric with colored pencils and there is no ironing involved?  I do it often.  To me it is fun and relaxing and you can do all the things you did with crayon fabric pictures.  I will admit here that you do have to use a textile medium to make the color permanent on the fabric.  I’ll talk about that later in this blog.

You might be thinking what kind of colored pencils.  Any type you would find in the art area of a craft store or paper supply section of a discount store.  I have some I use that I got at a Dollar store.  Any brand will do.  The more expensive brands might have a darker pigment.  Watercolor pencils can also be used.  You use these the same way you use watercolor paints.

What fabric can you use? Cotton fabric works the best but a polyester cotton blend might work as well.  This is where you can play and see what fabrics are the best for what you want to do.  I do recommend using white or a light cream color.  If you use any other colored fabric, the color of the fabric will show through the pencil marks. 

Now what about this textile medium?  A textile medium is a liquid put on a painting that makes the painting permanent so if you wash it, the pigment will not come off or fade.  Often times it was put on oil or acrylic paintings so they would not fade if exposed to sunlight.  It is a little thicker than water and you brush it on the coloring and let it dry. This is more likely found in an art supply store or a craft store near the art supplies or glues.

The textile medium does make the fabric a little stiff but I found that once it is washed or the more you handle the picture (I did embroidery over one colored pencil picture), the fabric softens up.  If you don’t add the medium and the picture becomes wet or it needs to be washed, the picture will fade or disappear altogether.

Here is a sample I did for a class I taught.  The top heart is how it looks colored with just the pencil.  The bottom heart is how it looks after I submerged it in water but with no detergent.  My guess is with the detergent; all the color would be gone. 

Just Pencil

This picture is with the textile medium added.  Same colored pencil and the same fabric was used.  Again the top heart is just with the textile medium; the bottom after submerged in water.  There was just a slight change in color.

Pencil with textile Medium

Some textile mediums say to heat set the picture after medium is put on.  That can be done with an iron. Ironing when using crayons removes the wax but also heat sets the pigment from the crayon. I was curious if that would have the same affect with colored pencil.  So I did another heart, ironed it and then submerged it in water.  Just ironing without the textile medium did not set the color. 

Pencil and iron

When I added the textile medium and also ironed I didn’t find that it changed the color at all after being in water.  So I wonder if the ironing is really necessary.  But then again as the old saying goes, “Better to be safe than sorry.”  Remember I haven’t used any detergent with these so maybe that might make a difference.

Pencil with Textile Medium and Ironed

This is a technique you can use with children.  I would stabilize the fabric a bit with either iron on interfacing or stabilizer that you can remove (if you want) or iron freezer paper to the back of the fabric.  Freezer paper can be found in some groceries in the wax paper/aluminum foil aisle. Freezer paper has a shiny/waxy coating to one side so when wrapped around meat would protect the food from freezer burn while in the freezer.  

For this purpose you want the shiny side of the paper down on the fabric, move a hot iron over the paper side and it will temporarily bond to the fabric.  It helps the fabric from moving around when you color on it.

Once you have colored your picture, added the medium and let it dry, you can use that picture in anything.  I have seen entire quilts done with this technique.  From a few feet away, the quilt looked appliquéd; it wasn’t until you got up close to see if was actually colored.

If you have some colored pencils and fabric, give it a try.  Who knows what you will create.

©2017 Cheryl Fillion

Challenges

Ever done an art challenge?   You should at least once.  It is one way to get the creative juices flowing.  

Our quilt guild has done a challenge for as long as I can remember (our guild is over 30 years old).  It used to be wall hangings using fabric chosen by the guild but now it is just a block again using fabric chosen by the guild and usually the theme is based on our Quilt Show theme.  The blocks are displayed at the quilt show and afterward a name (or two depending on the number of blocks) is chosen to receive a set of the blocks.  And that person tries to finish a quilt using these blocks for the next year’s quilt show.

This year’s theme is “Home is Where the Heart is”.  The guild provided a 13” tan colored background fabric (so there is some consistency with all the blocks) and a 7” square of striped accent fabric which says “Home is Where the Heart is” and “Home Sweet Home”.  You have to use both fabrics.

Challenge fabrics

So with a theme such as “home is where the heart is” you would think the block would contain a house.  A traditional quilt block of a house might be what one would do or a cute bird house.  Yeah that sounds nice.  Is that what Cheryl is doing?  No.  I decided to make an RV (recreational vehicle).  For some retirees, it is their home.  They close up their house and travel around in an RV for months or even years. 

So my house for the block is a RV and because my mind does not think in a traditional straight line, my RV is actually in the shape of an upside down heart.  Hey, this blog and my business is called Heartfully Cheryl, do you really think it would look like anything else plus the theme is Home is Where the Heart is.  Ya gotta have a heart shaped house.

Upside down heart  

Design drawing

 Now I wasn’t sure that the accent fabric would work for the body of my heart RV and I couldn’t get any more fabric if it didn’t turn out so I scanned the fabric and printed it out and made a practice block paper.  I even colored paper for my door and windows to try out possible colors. I thought the whole RV in the accent fabric looked festive and fun so I went with it.     

Paper sample block

Now my little RV did look lost in the background fabric so again with paper patterns I added some trees and a grass area to see how it would look.  I liked it and cut the patterns out in the fabric to appliqué each piece.

 

Grass and trees added

Fabric added

Once the appliqué was finished, I added some little details like the trailer hitch and a  stove pipe and smoke to make the whole piece more fun. 

Finished Challenge

Now to keep my fingers crossed that I win a set of blocks.   And the next time you get a chance, do a challenge.

©2017 Cheryl Fillion