A Scrap Bag Full of Varied Info & Offerings - Keeping You in the Know :)

Hi Everyone! Grab a cup of java or glass of whatever and settle in with me.

1.) Have you heard the sad news that Cranston (VIP) closed its printing division in their Webster, Mass company? This means that there are no companies in America printing cotton fabric for apparel and quilters. Their textile mill began around 1812, almost 200 years ago. "The plant, which still rolls out 20 million yards of printed cloth a year for people who sew at home, once employed more than 700 people."

I have had the pleasure of taking a tour through their plant three times beginning in 1997 and I was always Wowed. They grew with the times, changing and improving their machinery and adding computerized dye coloring of the roller screen printing machines and all other aspects they could computerize, they did. I saw fewer employees on each visit and no smoking went into affect.

Cranston was not weaving cotton cloth, they imported it from overseas, but all the printing was done there with the design division in NYC. Now foreign companies will also do their printing, just as all the other former quilt fabric manufacturers have done. They will only package and distribute the textiles they design from their US facilities. You can see a short video of their machinery in process and read more about their history and closing here.

2.) AQSG is offering all of the UNCOVERINGS they have in stock at 50% off through June. The order form is in a PDF, to print it out and mail in. Contact AQSG's website to find the link UC JUNE SALE.PDF This is a great deal.

3.) Beth Davis sent me this article in response to my increasing interest in the publishing world, thank you Beth! It was written today by the managing director of one the finest art and textile book publishers, Thames and Hudson. Jamie Camplin writes [bolding is my emphasis]

"If we moan about “dumbing down” in the face of the visual noise that comes our way daily, it only means that we are living in the age of “more”—more that is mediocre, but also more that is astonishingly creative.

Art has a very strong hand to play in the 21st century. In an era in which technology makes most products more uniform but in which printing technology can show art’s strengths as never before, in which fragmenting marketplaces and marketing platforms need all the help they can get, and in which the power of the visual to sway emotions has never been stronger, art’s distinctiveness, creativity and originality give any art-book programme a strong start." (the complete article is here)

4.) Camplin's statement gives me hope that beautiful textile and quilt books will continue to be published and that novice authors, quilters, and other creative people can publish too, online as eBooks, self-published or through traditional publishers. All three have their place. All three have pros and cons for an author to consider in determining which is a better fit for her.

If you have the desire to be an author, are writing your book now,or want to sell the one you have now, get this free report about building your author platform online, written by Joanna Penn, a favorite writer and blogger of mine.

Click on the icon above to read her description of the free report. If it sounds good, then you'll know if you want to buy the tutorial, Author 2.0. It is video, audio, and written text. All learning styles can use it. I highly recommend you get the free report!

Joanna just published "Author 2.0" which both shows and tells anyone how to market their book, beginning before it's written. Publishing houses expect you to put your marketing plan and current platform into any book proposal you submit. If you self publish this is also a must do for you. It can be fun!!

She will be my guest in a free open lines Tele-class, with a slide show, this Thursday, June 4th at 4 PM Pacific time, 7 PM Eastern. It's fr.ee. Ask her questions or email me with them in advance. The call-in info, conference code and link to slide show is here now. The class will be recorded and available on WOQ in the Audio Interview Library.

Joanna is internet savvy. She learned by authoring 3 books and speaks clearly, simply, and to the point. She gives you lots of info about using the internet to your benefit to increase sales and get your words in the hands of people who will enjoy and benefit from your hard work of writing a book!

Get her free report (click the icon above) about the state of the publishing world and what you can do with WEB 2.0, crucial info for marketing through social media and the newest internet forms of media and learn more about the business model for today's market.

6.) When you are feeling down quilting can lift you up again for reasons you might not expect is the title of an article I wrote over the weekend. Read it on Womenfolk's web site. Here is a snippet of my favorite tip for relieving stress from a recent UCLA study, but applicable to quilters during these economic times:

"The friendship effect on females natural response to stress was recently demonstrated in a university's landmark study which showed that different chemicals than in male brains are released during these times of bonding. Oxytocin is the natural occurring chemical released in a woman's brain when she gives birth, breastfeeds and cares for children. The chemical dulls pain and buffers the automatic "flight or flight" chemical response. The numerous opportunities for meaningful conversations and sharing of feelings happen during a girl's night out,...."

Read the rest of my article here. From that page click on Frugal Quilts for patterns and more articles about the past and present.

In closing, I hope you are enjoying reading CHANGING TIMES:Women's Stories 1902-1942. Click the title or the icon on the upper left of this page will download it for you to read online or print out to read in a cozy chair. Lot's of wonderful comments are coming in about it. Please comment here on Quilter's Spirit.**

Wishing you each a fulfilling and creative week!

Kim

**It's easy to make a comment: See the word Comment below? If there is a number other than 0 next to it, click it to read the comments already posted, and a box for you to put in your comment in also comes up. You can write it anonymously or with your name. Please don't solicit your products there, instead hyperlink your blog or web site URL to your name. The comment box makes it very easy for you to do that if you don't already know how. Readers who are interested in knowing more about you because your comment is interesting and relevant will click on your name to "meet" in your territory. (hint-comments done this way are good for marketing)

Harvard Student Reviews Gee's Exhibition

Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt' displays quilts from the 1930s through the 1970s and some quite recently, post the first exhibition in 2002. In A Cultural Patchwork,The architecture of the quilt, student PIPPA ECCLES today wrote an article and review for The Harvard Independent.

Pippa is fond of quilts and they are her thesis topic. She gives a condensed and precise overview of the history of the origins of quilting in Gee's Bend, from the 60s into the present. She hits on the controversy or controversies, including the ongoing, (pre-Gee's) debate about whether or not quilts are art at all. She gives her view of the exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is inspired by her personal take and the quilters history.

I digress for a moment- it is the quilter's history that has always grabbed me and my attention on the quilts too, admittedly, more than seeing the quilts in person. I like them better in books than in person myself. I made a reproduction of one I particularly liked in the big blue book. The top is made of three high contrast fabrics in all long narrow rectangles. I used older fabrics, used from clothes made in the mid last century and a sheet. I cut the pieces by scissors and made the pattern look the same, but it just didn't have the zing. It was harder than I had imagined to achieve the "awe" factor and in fact I did not achieve it all all. My respect for their artistic eye and creative thinking remains high, along with being inspired by their historical underpinnings beginning last century.

Pippa's article is worth your time to read. Here are a couple of out takes

"Their display is evidence of how far we have already come. However, it is hard not to feel like a true triumph of the quilting medium would allow the quilts to exist as artistic masterpieces without the justification of museum walls. "

"Despite the tendency toward improvisation and originality, many of these quilts are also based on patterns and display both a remarkable ability to innovative within boundaries as well as the inherently communal aspect of quilting. The “Housetop” pattern (a variation of the traditional Log Cabin) is a favorite amongst the women of Gee’s Bend. Other quilts are based on traditional Euro-American quilting patterns, such as Wild Goose Chase and Bethlehem Star, but still maintain the Gee’s Bend’s penchant for creativity and innovation."

This last one may have our dear late Cuesta Benberry rolling over in her grave- she was not a believer that African-America quilts were all asymetrical, not at all. Her books show us many quilts made in traditional block styles, including appliqué. Pippa writes "Even if seen in the light of the African American quilting tradition, one that has always favored asymmetry and improvisation, these quilts demonstrate a truly remarkable degree of originality." Pippa's statement indicates how embedded this belief is in American culture.

Have any of you tried to reproduce a Gee's Bend style quilt? Tell us about it, send photos.

I will soon post photos from PIQF. It was an amazing show and I took lots of pictures with you in mind. I have to catch up on biz first and then your show will begin, with all credits given!

Piece,
Kim

Pun Intended

"If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you're right." Mary Kay Ash

I was born left-handed which should come as no surprise since my father is a lefty. However, my parents determined it was best to train me to be right handed; it would make my life so much easier they said, and so, put spoons, crayons and toys in my right hand from toddler-hood.

In elementary school I had the WORST handwriting by all accounts, turning the paper far to the left so my printing would look like the teacher wanted, or so I was trying. I failed my first driver's license test, a big event in any kid's life. The testing man told me "Sorry. but I have to fail you.... Oh you can drive just fine, but you can't take directions!" This too was because of my left/right cross-over problem, I turned left when he said right and vice versa until this veteran tester was lost! I still do this some times, and even to myself!

It was exhausting, and obsessive-compulsive, but I re-wrote papers over and over again until eventually in highschool my handwriting/printing combo was actually pretty. It was an effort but gave me great pleasure. (This was before computers- I'm not a masochist!)

But today I discovered a skill on the plus side of my cross-over issue - I can sew with control using my left foot on the pedal while standing, which is now my preferred way to piece or machine quilt. I was only using my right foot on the pedal, and it was tiring after awhile of standing. Problem solved with a shift to the left.

Piece,

Kim

The Arts finally Win!

This month , April, Americans for the Arts organization released the findings of their study into six creative industries: museums and collections; performing arts; visual arts and photography; film, radio, and TV; design and publishing; and arts schools and services. These creative industries range from nonprofit museums, symphonies, and theaters to for-profit film, architecture, and advertising companies.

The 50 most populated cities were studied combining Dun & Bradstreet data and geo-economic analysis to ascertain that arts-centric businesses represent 4.3 percent of all businesses and 2.2 percent of all jobs in the United States and that the arts are a robust and formidable economic growth sector:

There are more than 612,000 arts-related businesses employ 2.98 million people in the U.S.

Arts-centric businesses grew 12 percent from 2007 compared to the growth of 10.7 percent for all U.S. businesses.

Employment growth by arts-centric businesses since 2007 was 11.6 percent, more than four times the rise in the total number of U.S. employees of 2.4 percent.

“This study supports our mantra that the arts play a significant role in building and sustaining economically vibrant communities,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “It further supports the need for arts education to fuel the creative industries with arts-trained workers and arts consumers.”

The ten states with the most creative industries, in descending order are no surprise really, NYC is first, then Los Angeles, followed by Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Seattle, Austin, Phoenix. On a per capita basis, it changes it up since NYC and LA have such large populations. (Thank you to the Americans for the arts for this information.)


I think this is very good news for everyone! The arts have been pushed off the plates, along with music, in schools and on parents minds as a worthwhile college degree to pursue or business to work in. Perhaps the increase in employment opportunities will change some thinking. We can dream.

Nancy Crow

I think quilt artist Nancy Crow would wholeheartedly agree with Julia Cameron's words "For many of us, our artists [within our self] have been waiting to speak with us for years....We are spiritual beings and when our spirit grows larger, so must we. There will be no comfortable resting in yesterday's definition of ourselves." WALKING IN THIS WORLD.

Nancy's new book is; CROSSROADS Constructions, Markings and Structures. It is a beautiful book showcasing her latest work showing 25 new quilts, never before seen outside Nancy's studio. This is actually a catalog for a 2008 exhibit which will continue to move about the country. Nancy works in series, and this book covers three series. All of the quilts were created over a two-year span and mark a new direction in Nancy's work, including her experimentation with screen- printing and direct-to-fabric blocking. The quilts are shown in incredible detail. Work-in-progress shots taken inside Nancy's studio, along with excerpts from her private sketchbooks provide unique insight into the life and work of this incredible artist. It was this that I most liked about her 2007 book, NANCY CROW. CROSSROADS cost less than half as much at $22.95, as that one but the photography is just as beautiful and the impact is too. This book shows quilts that are completely different from her earlier quilts, and the other book is a retrospective.

Piece,
Kim

Creative lives

"For many of us, our artists [within our self] have been waiting to speak with us for years...We are spiritual beings and when our spirit grows larger; so must we. There will be no comfortable resting in yesterday's definition of ourselves."
Julia Cameron
Walking in this World: The Practical Art of Creativity

How often do you push the limits of your quilt making? When was the last time you read a quilt history book? Do you prefer to use a pattern or make up your own design? Do you prefer to buy a collection of fabric, or pick and chose each piece individually? Are you a traditional quilter who has never taken an art quilt class? Have you ever read a pioneer quilter's biography about her years on the plains and tried, really spent time, imagining living that life yourself? When was the last time you went to an antique quilt exhibit that wasn't part of a quilt show?

When your world seems small, stretch yourself; call out your inner artist or curious historian. Who knows where that will take you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnUOJonRcCw
Here you will meet a fearless artist, who will go far in her art, and might even win this competition. Her voice isn't perfect, but her heart and soul are in her art. The quilts we make, just like those made by pioneers, will not be perfect, but they can be a voice for our heart and soul.

Piece,
Kim