ideas and resources for creative quilters

Sketchbooks & Journals

Sketchbooks and journals are a dynamic part of the creative process. And judging by the new crop of books and web sites on journaling and creative sketchbooks, it’s obviously something that appeals to almost all of us in the creative arts.

Without a doubt the most valuable thing in my studio is not my fabric, or even my sewing machine - it’s my 30 years of notebooks. Here is my “studio journal”. I use it when working on a project to jot down technical notes and thoughts about the work in progress. I find when I’m working on a piece, more ideas are generated than at any other time – and those precious, fleeting images need to be captured. The small lined pages, 3 hole punch format works well for me. This is my most valuable source of inspiration.

I don’t have one sacred book that holds everything. I’ve use a series of sketchbooks that fill different needs. I use a big sketchbook to doodle ideas and draw out how a piece may look.

Perhaps, like me, you can’t resist buying yet another pristine, blank book for sketches and notes - you know, for all those profound thoughts and inspired design ideas. I‘ve at least 6 untouched books knocking around.

But starting a blank journal can be akin to the “blank canvass” terror - where to begin? It can seem so weighty, like one must say something deeply meaningful in order to start marking in a new journal. “I can’t draw” is the biggest inhibitor to making art journals. It’s as if we’re eight again, standing in front of the class about to be judged for eternity on our ability to draw. Oh, who cares? Just do it! Who’s going to check? I don’t want to die leaving all those journals blank. I’ve been gathering tips from various sources on how to get in the flow of using journals and I hope some of these inspire you.

1. Find edgy journal exercises at Wreck This Journal and check out what people are making on this site.

2. Open the new journal in random places and mark up the pages with coloured spirals, cutouts from magazines, quotes, photos, provocative questions, whatever takes your fancy, just mark the pages. Once these are scattered through out the blank pages the journal journey has begun and it’s easy to start doodling in it.

3. Who says you have to draw? What about descriptive lists? Cut and paste inspiring clippings, make notes, just jot down ideas for your next project. I often like to write out my ideas rather than draw them.

4. Use the book as a place to test out new art supplies. Since it's not your "real" journal, it won't matter if it's full of nothing but scribbles. You might want to make a few notes about brand name, color, nib size, etc. beside each scribble. See: Daydreaming on Paper

Journal Resources:
A Trail Through Leaves: the Journal as a Path to Place by Hannah Hinchman is an exquisite journal guide

Here’s a List of 20 really interesting books on journaling. I want them all.

“Most of us go to our graves with our music still in us” – Thomas Jefferson

Visit Lani Garrity: Puppet maker’s site and take her happiness challenge or read her “things to try in case of artistic emergency” Lani also has lots of free downloads on her site, a blog and an e-newsletter, that are worth singing up for. Lani lives in Nova Scotia. 

Landscape book
My book now has a title: Points of View: Landscape Quilts to Stitch and Embellish, Martingale & Company. We’re working on 2nd page proofs and it’ll be out in September. I’m thrilled with how lush and elegant the book looks. By next newsletter I should have a cover to show you.

Workshops
I’m teaching a couple of landscape classes in Nova Scotia in May and June – check for details at the top left column. You can take my "Skyscpae" workshop at the new Quilt Fest happening in Halifax on June 16/17 with lectures and workshops and displays. www.quiltfest.ca

Quilt The Atlantic
Nova Scotian quilter Karen Henry has started a web resource for everything quilterly going on in Atlantic Canada www.quilttheatlantic.ca Workshops, quit shops, teachers, sewing related items to sell, etc. A great resource if you’re planning a trip to Atlantic Canada!

Well, that’s it for now. I hope spring is in full swing where you are - it’s been pretty cold here in Nova Scotia, but the tulips are up… now, how to save them from becoming a salad bar for the deer!!
Valerie

Creative Stretching: Creative Routine

So, we’re in the groove of 2007 and like many, I’ve started some new routines… well, not really “new”. I’ve re-awoken old routines that slipped by the way. I started yoga again and found a lovely teacher close by. It feels good; my body is waking up and muscle-memory is kicking in.

When lived in St. John's I took a weekly life drawing class and my confidence in drawing developed rapidly. I haven’t drawn for more than 5 years, but last week I joined a new life drawing class and boy, am I rusty! I was struck with how drawing is like yoga…. no mater how stiff and out of practice one is, the muscle-memory never fails to return and support one. The drawings from the first session were filed in the recycling bin, but there was one sketch, made right at the end, that had some merit. It feels good to stretch my eye-hand connections and wake up the memory of drawing. I’m not looking for perfect drawings; I am drawing for practice and the routine of drawing.

I have been reading The Creative Habit by Twila Tharp who emphasizes the need for a daily routine… once it’s established you go on autopilot and the habit supports you through the thin times. I like the concept, now how to put it in practice?

One of my creative routines is to visit Judy Martin’s online Journal/blog - I’m always inspired by how others work. Judy's involved in distance textile studies, preparing for exhibitions, teaching quilting and piano. How does she do it?  A recent entry reminded me of an old habit I’d lost and plan to re-instate. With permission, here is Judy’s 27th January post:

One word question: How? Two word answer: Kitchen timer.
Set kitchen timer for one hour. Chain sew 2" squares of hand dyed silk velvet into grids.
Buzzer! Reset timer for another hour. Type research on Picasso into the computer.
Buzzer! Make lunch. Begin new recipe for oatmeal bread.
Set kitchen timer for one hour: Continue chain sewing of blue velvet.
Buzzer! Reset timer for another hour. Put shelves and piles of overflowing books into new bookcase. Also do laundry.
Buzzer! Reset timer for another hour. Cut more fabric. Continue sewing blue velvet.
Buzzer! Take dog for walk in the fresh snow. Start dinner, bake bread.

So, what’s your trick for creative routine? Please add a comment below and share your ideas- I’d love to hear about it.

How do you plan to stretch your creativity and design skills this year? All workshops you take are about colour and design - it can’t be otherwise - for it’s integral to everything we make and do. Here’s some suggestions:

*    Take lots of workshops on colour and design – each teacher presents differently, and your understanding evolves as well.
*    Take drawing classes, and vow not to be intimidated or discouraged.
*    Stretch: take classes from non-quilters: pottery, poetry.
*    Join mailing lists for gallery openings, and don’t miss an opportunity to hear artists talk about their work.
*    Form an art and design study group.
*    Buy sketchbooks and journals and start making notes.
*    Subscribe to creative blogs and e-newsletters. See links in the sidebar.
*     Print out my list of Creative Block Busters

If you wanted just one great book on design I recommend: David Lauer's Design Basics. I love this book. Terrie Hancock Mangat recommended it in a workshop 20 years ago and it's been an invaluable resource. A new addition to my library is Steve Aimone's
DESIGN! A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists & Craftspeople.
For more book suggestions, here is my book list for Design books.

I hear the kitchen timer beeping, so I’m off to re-set it for a stint of piecing a quilt started in a Heather Stewart workshop last fall.

My best to you in creative quilting!

People I meet:
My nose has been glued to the laptop for most of the past 9 months while completing my new book, yet I’ve connected to some fascinating people and resources.
In September had the great pleasure to spend the day with Virginia Avery and her friend Rhonda when their cruise ship docked in Halifax. They were on a jazz cruise out of New York. Besides quilting, jazz is Jinny’s other passion and has had her own jazz band for 55 years. Here we are in the Halifax Public Gardens.

I’m pleased to have a couple of Jo Diggs’ pieces included in my upcoming book.
While chatting, Jo mentioned a special piece of fabric she’s in search of made by Hi Fashion and I offered to help track some down.
If you’d part with this fabric, in any colour or amount, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Jo. While searching for this fabric I met Sandy Gunning who has an online store in New Brunswick http://www.rivergallery.ca/fabric.htm Sande specializes in landscape fabrics: leaves, sky, water, grass and architectural fabrics.

On yet another search for appliqué landscapes I came across this fascinating web site by Anna Grossnickle Hines http://www.aghines.com/whistling/whistlingprocess.htm
Her web site explains her process of illustrating a book in fabric and her inspiration from Jo Diggs landscapes. Anna explains her design process for making landscapes in this charming site.

My web travels led me to another extraordinary children’s book.
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/dokabiquilt/index.htm There is an interactive mode so you can travel around this quilt and see the 3D details of the characters.

I have re-jigged my on-line store with a new layout and some new products like Ranger Heat Set Inks used to paint iron-on transfers. My store is also the exclusive on-line source for the hot-off-the-sewing-machine line of patterns from well-known designer, Janet Rice Bredin. Take a look at Janet’s delightful line of Botanical Art Quilts on my supplies page. I'm also pleased to be a supplier of Misty-Fuse, fine fusible web produced by Esterita Austin.

Recently I came across a post from Libby Lehman talking about her passion for good, sharp needles: “This is a subject near and dear to me. Don't you love the feel of using a pair of sharp new scissors? A new needle is the same. I change mine every 6-8
hours religiously. I piece with a #75 Quilting, or #70 or #80 Microtex or Jeans/denim. These all have sharp points-you'll get a very straight stitch. I use #90 topstitch for decorative threads, including metallics. I keep old Schmetz needle packages, mark them with a big red "X" and fill them with used needles. When they are full (5 needles), I pitch them. If you use a pill case or film canister, it will be a long time before you have the sense of accomplishment that tossing them gives you. Letting used needles hang around is too tempting. I know some of you have dug in there and reused them in a moment of desperation!”

Have you tried using those titanium needles? They last longer and go through many layers of fusible better. Organ makes a nice titanium needle for a regular machine. Here are 2 great sources for specialty and bulk machine needles.

http://www.kapres.com
http://www.discountembroiderysupp.com/

This weekend we canoed in Kejimikujik National park. Exqusite serenity.
The woodshed is full and we have started lighting the woodstoves. The fall leaves are full-blown gold and red and past their peak. Now, we await the November rains to fill the wells and the pond.
Best,
Valerie

Pencil Crayons on Fabric.

Have you thought about using pencil crayons in your landscapes and quilts? I first used watercolour pencils in this quilt called East/West http://www.valeriehearder.com/variousquilts.htm. Click on the detail of East/West. After all, it’s a wall hanging so I wasn’t worried about them washing out. You can use clear textile paint base extender instead of fabric mediums to make the watercolor pencils and crayons permanent. Jacquard has a colorless extender, but I haven't used it. The extenders are the binder that adheres the pigments in textile paints to the fabric. In recent years, there have been industry changes to make pencil crayons colour lightfast. Better quality pencils crayons comply with these new light-fastness standards. I decided to ask some of my good friends how they use pencil crayons in their quilts.

Judy Martin (Manitoulin Island, Ontario) has incorporated painting and pencil crayon and a variety of drawing media directly on the fabric in her quilts for many years.http://judys-journal.blogspot.com/ Judy colours on paper, cuts then stitches the paper into the quilt as shown in this detail. Embroidery is a trademark of Judy’s quilts. See the full quilt on Judy’s web site. http://www.judithmartin.info/

“This is a piece with old photos of my brother and myself as youngsters framed with gold and blue piecework. The photos were transferred by heat using Xerox transfer paper. I coloured directly on that transfer paper over the photos using Prismacolor and they seem permanent. I use Prismacolor Pencils for everything. I write text with white Prismacolor before embroidering it with chain stitch.”

Here is Judy’s method:
1. Black and white photos,
2. Colour Xerox from a place that does t-shirt transfers
3. Image will be reversed for heat transfer
4. Before heat transferring (with iron), colour selected parts with Prismacolor pencils
5. Place transfer paper face down on ironed, white cotton fabric and transfer with med-hot iron for about a minute, moving the iron gently and constantly. Peel the paper off gently.
6. Remove extra colour and "glue" by ironing several times under plain typing paper. This also heat sets the image
Martha Cole is a landscape based artist with roots burried in Saskatchewan, “I use the Prismacolor pencils extensively as an "integrator" to create highlights, more intensive shadows, and to add contrast between different areas of the work - rather than draw with them. Because of this, it's hard to actually "see" them on the works - my objective is to just intensify what is already there.” http://www.mcintyregallery.com/images/cole/cole.htm http://www.exploringcreativity.com/featured_artist10_archive.html (Martha is a book maker – see some wonderful books here)
http://www.cbbag.ca/OL_Gallery/PV_Book_Artists/main.html Martha is a featured artist in Jane Donnewolds new HeArt Cloth Quarterly (see link on the right)

Doll maker extraordinaire Margi Hennen (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) uses pencil crayons as well, http://www.exploringcreativity.com/featured_artist6_archive.html Margi says “My VERY FAVOURITE pencil crayon is a fat luscious one labeled Koh-I Noor Hardtmuth OMEGA-set of 24 made in the Czech Republic that I got at Gwartzman's in Toronto some time ago. Neither they nor anybody else can find any more of these, but if anyone could find a source I would be overjoyed. They work beautifully on fabric; are not water-soluble.” (If you know a source, I’ll pass it on to Margi.)
Janet Rice-Bredin (Thunder Bay, Ontario) opened her fabric cupboard doors and drew her stash with pencil crayons on tightly woven cotton ironed to freezer paper with the Berol Prismacolor pencils. http://www.janetricebredin.com/quilting/gallery.html. Janet says:
“I took Pencil Crayon Techniques at Lakehead University (spring session I was supposed to be landscaping, and all I wanted to do was colour!) Quality pencil crayons are made up of a mixture of clay, wax and pigments.” Janet says one of the best books on the subject is "The Colored Pencil: Key Concepts for Handling the Medium" by Bet Borgeson ( on the Bookshelf on the left).

http://www.cpsa.org/ Colored Pencil Society of America. Check out research in light-fastness information that has been recently done for coloured pencils that was spearheaded by this organization - an interesting site.
Creative resources links
http://www.teras-wish.com/sample.htm#trythis Tera’s site is a joy – so much inspiration and creative kick-starts here! Read her fantastic article on pencil crayons, but also, do yourself a favour and signup for her creative newsletter.

The latest edition of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine is on the stands and it has an article that I wrote about the evocative landscapes of Karen Colbourne Martin of St John’s Newfoundland. I became friends with Karen when I lived in St. John's for 7 years. Karen's work inspires me. It resonates with a sense of place that is truly special. See more of her work at this online gallery: http://www.craftcouncil.nf.ca/gallery/current_show.asp?show_id=57

I spent the last week of May in Ottawa attending Quilt Canada - what a great quilt conference! So well organized. I helped judge the National Juried Show and presented 4 workshops. My one-day workshop on collage design is called “Small fabric Constructions”. Here are some of the pieces produced in the workshop.

Come and spend 3 days with me in Mahone Bay.Nova Scotia October, 9-12 2006, working with fabrics making landscape design and visit my studio. Beautiful October weather and fall leaves will welcome you to one of the prettiest parts of Nova Scotia. Pure Inspiration! Mahonne Arts offers a variety of art retreats in the Mahone Bay/Lunenburg Area: felting, Stitchery, silversmithing, painting and more. www.mahonnearts.com_

Next newsletter I have lined up will be about using pencil crayons on fabric…. a juicy edition with lots of interesting quilts. 'Till then,
A peaceful summer to you all.
Valerie

New book in the works!!

I’m delighted to let you know that I’m working on a new book on embellished landscapes for Martingale, due out next summer 2007. I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going, but I’m so enjoying having a book project in the works again – although the September deadline seems a touch pressing!

My little online store has been humming with activity… A new Teflon sheet source has enabled me to drop my Teflon prices quite substantially - $10 for 18” and $30 for 36” wide Teflon. http://www.valeriehearder.com/supplies.htm
My husband has decided to use the teflon to wrap around the birdfeeder poles in another desperate attempt to outwit the squirrels! I'll let you know how it works out.

I adore finding great links to share - be sure to check out the new ones on the right. Do you know a great landscape link to share with me? I'd love to know about it.

I recently downloaded a wonderful online quit exhibition catalog. It’s so wonderful to be able to view a quilt exhibition online! Keisha Roberts is the curator of The Nearness of You The on-line catalogue is superb quality really worth checking out. Scroll down the page and click on the image of the catalog. http://www.keisharoberts.com/exhibitions/curatorial.php

I’ve every intention of donating a small quilt to Ami Simms’ Alzheimer Initiative. I think I’ll send in a small landscape. Hannah Hodder a quilting friend from Ontario wrote to tell me about a small landscape she’d donated to this cause. Check out the link and bid on a small quilt. http://www.mallerypress.com/alartquin.html

I’m so looking forward to Quilt Canada in Ottawa at the end of May and meeting up with some of you again. Until then…. Enjoy spring in your part of the world.
Best, Valerie

Winter 2006

Greetings from Nova Scotia.
How to settle down to work after an exciting 6 week trip to Japan and Bali!? Well, as I write, Nova Scotia’s softly falling snow certainly brings me back to reality! No more warm Indian ocean to wallow in!

I had a truly wonderful time teaching and lecturing at Yokohama Quilt Week in November. Kaffe Fassett and I were invited to help in the ribbon cutting opening ceremony.

Our exhibition of 36 Canadian art quilts was beautifully presented in gallery style on hard walls, and very well received. In fact, our Canadian quilt show was chosen by Sendai T.V. as the premier of their brand new digital T.V. station! It was very clear that the Japanese have great affection for our quilts and our country. I feel our show made a strong statement about Canada and contributes to the keen interest in our country and our quilts. See my photos from Japan and Bali, in the album on the right. There are also photos from the Canadain exhibit.

The Japanese quilts were so wonderful. There is a strong ethos of fine hand sewing. The most intricate, tiny patches are hand pieced to create a special sensibility that is the hallmark of Japanese quilts. Machine sewing is still very much in the minority. It was interesting to see that most of workshops being offered at the Quilt Week were for fabric bags and purses. Japanese quilters love to make something practical and they adore making very cute bags. This one in particular caught my eye in the exhibition hall. Charming!

I didn’t buy tons of fabric.... I’m very selective about how much more I can cram into my studio shelves. But of course, how can one resist the nectar of life for a quilter? Here is a photo of me with the charming Junko in her traditional Kyoto home where she sells exquisite traditional Japanese fabric fragments and antique kimono. Junko made a pot of green tea and we had a delightful visit. I did splurge a bit here!

I am working on a fabric shopping directory to be available as a resource for those visiting Japan. If you have good fabric shopping tips in Japan to share, please email me: val@valeriehearder.com.

At home, in mid Janaury, I rceived a gift from Bali. Suddenly, there were 2 delicate white and green butterflies in my kitchen. They were the same type as we'd seen in Bali, which was teeming with butterflies. I think they came in the mask my son Roan brought home. A startling ritual mask, it's dragon face meant to scare away demons in the temple. It has long hair made out of coconut fibre. I think they must have travelled back to Canada as chrysalis in the hair. One flitted in the house, settling by my computer for 3 days. I hoped it would be satisfied with the the bunches of flaming, orangy-yellow roses I have on my dining room table. (I can't bear to be without flowers after being in Bali). The other butterfly flew out into the softly falling snow. I caught my breath, watching it slowly fly up as the snow swirled around it, wanting to scoop it back into my warm house.

Do drop me a line, send me an interesting link or tip to share, let me know what you think of this new e-newsletter. A very speical thanks to Barb Robson's daughter, Kate Inglis for helping me set this up. Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to others - I’d love to sign up more readers!

From my studio to yours, I wish you a peaceful winter and lots of productive quilting!
Valerie