Flora Botanica
Barbara Brackman
Kansas City Star Books; $24.95

The Spencer Museum of Art at The University of Kansas maintains an extensive collection of art, including about 180 quilts. In 2008 Barbara Brackman curated the exhibit Quilts: Flora Botanica. This book showcases the 27 quilts in that exhibit and examines the source and symbolism of each. The exhibit also included reproductions of quilts made by the Kaw Valley Quilters’ Guild. The book includes directions for making five of those quilts.

Here’s a link if you’d like to add it to your library:  http://tinyurl.com/FloraBotanicaBook

For 23 years The Professional Quilter has recognized outstanding quilt teachers with our Teacher of the Year award. This year’s recipient is Margie Engel from Satellite Beach, Fla. One of our goals as quilters is to see that young people are introduced to quilting, and Margie created a program just to do that. Here’s a portion of our interview with Margie:

What standards of workmanship do you require of your students and what do you do if they don’t attain them?
I believe standards of workmanship are to be encouraged rather than required; each individual needs to establish her own personal level of quality acceptance and expectations. Along this line, not all students see workmanship quality in the beginning so they also need to be taught to see the differences. To do this, at the outset of a class, I show them variations of quality and explain that I will show them how to accomplish their best, but they have to decide just how precise they want to be. Since we quilt for enjoyment, some students prefer not to worry about exactness; others definitely enjoy seeing just how fine their best is. When working one-on-one in the class, I point out places that need better work, but I “sandwich” this between compliments on what they are doing well. I also make suggestions with a “have you considered…?” comment to help the student look at her work and the possibilities for improvement. Improving one’s quality is part of the learning process.

How do you encourage creativity in your students?
Creativity is encouraged first by an atmosphere of freedom and relaxation; then it increases as students observe a variety of samples. I offer project options at the outset and encourage students to rely on their intuition and ideas. To get them thinking, I always show various ideas and uses of color, then suggest that they continually ask the “what if” question: What if I change this? Move that? Alter this shape, line or color, etc.? I take flannel-backed tablecloths with me and a small design board that I use on a tripod to encourage visual answers to our “what ifs.” I also use a projector to show variations of projects, especially color changes, as a springboard into classes. My class topics vary from appliqué to design to mixed technique quilts to quilting. All of those topics are conducive to having students add their own touches and experiment in any way they choose.

Creativity is the underlying topic in one semi-regular class titled “Quilters’ Workshop.” (The title grew out of the desire to foster experimentation.) Recently, I tossed in a “secret” workshop, telling the students only to bring scissors and pins as tools. They learned to create landscapes, realistic or abstract, looking first at pictures, then turning to pencil and blank sheet of paper. The creativity sprang from seeing the samples and waking up the images in our brains – had I handed them a blank sheet of paper at the outset, the response would have been less positive.

What do you feel is your greatest contribution to the field of quilting?
Oh my goodness, my greatest contribution to the field of quilting? A sharing attitude. Enthusiasm and passion are meant be shared, both in professional, paid teaching venues and in volunteer efforts. I think that EduQuilters and the kids’ program is the best example. In 2000, I began The Kids Quilt Project in the local schools and enlisted and taught volunteers to teach kids. We provide everything needed from fabrics to sewing machines, so I secure grant funding and sponsor support for this. The school quilts are group projects, and the quilts are given to local children’s charities, thereby teaching the children to look beyond themselves. Hundreds of students are involved in KQP. We also hold summer camps in which each camper makes a personal quilt. Because many campers return each year, I have to keep increasing the numbers of groups (set by level of a student’s experience) and the number of options. Student interaction is greater now that we have the new student guild.

Teaching the next generation of quilters not only gives the students new interests and increased self-esteem; it also highlights quilting in the community and supports and contributes to the continuity of our quilting world.

The Professional Quilter includes articles to help you grow your quilt business. If your subscription is not current and you need to renew, or you want to start a new subscription, here’s a link to our order page.     

Ann Hazelwood
American Quilters Society; $12.95

This terrific little collection of tips is broken into sections for the quilter as a student, tools, designing and working styles, stash savvy, techniques, quilting, finishing touches and show etiquette. You’ll find something to use or pass along. But the best advice, as Zena Thorp says, is “remember that it is YOUR quilt.”  Here’s a link if you’d like to add it to your library.

StrataVarious Quilts

 Barbara Persing and Mary Hoover
C&T Publishing; 21.95

Longarm quilter Barbara Persing and her sister Mary Hoover, a shop owner, found that making strata (panels of various width fabric strips sewn together in a random manner) was the solution to designing with the large collection of fabric they wanted to use. The unique blended strata they create are then cut into squares and half-square triangles and reassembled into a dynamic quilt. The book includes directions for nine quilts, three of which incorporate appliqué. It’s a fun addition to your tecnhnique toolbox.

I heard from a number of readers after they viewed Elizabeth Gilbert’s lecture from the 2009 TED Conference entitled “A diferent way to think about creative genius.” I like the concept that we all “have” genius in us. I loved that when she was having a difficult time writing, she took time and just spoke out to the corner, to let genius come to her; and if it didn’t, well, she showed up for her part of the job.

I’m sure you’ve had times where you’ve showed up for the job but been blocked creatively, whether it’s from pressures, fears, uncertainties or something else. Here are six ideas to jump start your creative juices:

1. Fill the well. Look at other art, either surfing the Internet or visiting galleries. Go on an artist’s date, a la Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. And, be sure to step outside the quilt realm. Sometimes looking at other art is allit takes to get a new idea.
2. Set a challenge or goal for yourself. I think the journal quilt idea is a great one here. Challenge yourself to create something small each day or week. Pick a theme. When I did the monthly journals, mine were all pears. Or focus on a particular bit of nature in your yard and follow it through the year. And, move outside your comfort zone. If traditional piecework is your thing, grab some paint sticks and let lose. If you are an art quilter, try a pieced block for a change.
3. Create a daily ritual. Twyla Tharp writes about this idea in The Creative Habit. The daily ritual becomes so ingrained that it sets the pace for your day. She says, “It’s Pavlovian: follow the routine, get a creative payoff.” I liked her example of the chef who starts each day by tending the garden on the terrace of his Brooklyn home. This creative environment lets him putter, pick veggies or herbs, think about flavors. At this point, he heads off to the restaurant to begin creating. For me, I have a ritual of walking each weekday. The fresh air gets me going. What is your ritual?
4. Take a class to learn a new skill. This could be a photography class, a water color painting class, a cooking class, acomputer class. Just being creative in some other area will translate into your quilt work.
5. Keep an idea journal, if you don’t already. Fill it with things that inspire you from in and outside the quilt world. When you’re blocked, leave your studio and pull out your idea journal. Ideas will surface.
6. Act as if you don’t have any blocks and then just jump in. One idea will lead to another. Remember that every piece of art you create doesn’t have to be perfect. One of the quotes I have tacked on my wall is “progress, not perfection.” If I waited for everything to be perfect, I’d still be waiting.

Here are two favorite quotes on creativity:

“In creating, the only hard thing’s to begin; A grass blade’s no easier to make than an oak.” James Russell Lowell

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Rather ask, What makes you come alive? Then go and do it! Because what the world needs is people who have come alive” Howard Thurman

So, get creating. Allah, Olé, Bravo!

The Winter issue of The Professional Quilter includes articles to help you grow your quilt business. If your subscription is not current and you need to renew, or you want to start a new subscription, here’s a link to our order page.