Go with Quilting Hub Trip Planner

It is our first quilty tech report of the new year. Wait, I mean of the new decade:) Remember I promised to share my favorite Quilting Hub feature with you? Here we go - TRIP PLANNER

To begin, chose the MAPS AND TRIPS button on the QuiltingHub.com home page.
Now, there are several ways to find all the quilty things happening around you.

Tell QH Trip Planner your location. Then set the mileage bar above the map to the distance you are willing to travel. Voila! You have pins marking everything quilting in the given radius. Too much? Un-check the options above the mileage bar to limit your search to just sales or just hops, etc.

Traveling? Set both the TO and FROM locations. Now, limit your search with the calendar bar to see all the quilt events along the road for the time you are traveling.

Need to search for a specific hop or exhibit? Use the OTHER TOOLS menu on the right. Drill down to the geographic region you are interested in. Instead of MAP, choose the MONTH view to see event dates.

And anytime you want specifics for a pin that interests you, use the LIST view. There be all the specifics; address, dates, registration, other notes or requirements. VIEW DETAILS button takes you to the Quilting Hub page for that entry.

Lastly, remember Quilting Hub Trip Planner is Interactive- if you know of an event or shop not listed, you can add it at the bottom of the page.

-off you go-

Superior Quilts

historic Magma Hotel vintage bar

We made a field trip to Superior for an annual end of summer festival - Prickly Pear Days. 

We found some unique quilt art. But not all of them are actual quilts. See what I mean?

Apologies for the blur - I'm learning new phone/camera settings.
The black and white border is bugle beads in-the-ditch. And the binding is variegated crewel yarn whip-stitch. I like how the quote stitching crosses the background and first border.

There was a series of these mug-rugsized  arts, each with the hound's-tooth check background path. 

Did I mention my new camera issues? Sorry I can't show you the complete series.

These heart triptych fabric boxes are the same mug-rug artist, now with broderie-perse and stuffed hearts. I couldn't tell how they constructed the fabric boxes - sew clever!

This Town Hall quilt is painted blocks of local historic places.

I have to make special mention of the smokestack - it came down (video) 9 months ago. A landmark for 100-ish years, all gone. But commemorated in quilting and plenty more local arts :)

I just really liked this local artist painting of cow-girl with coyotes, so I wanted you to see it tool:0.

Thanks for sharing our trip!

More PreQuilt

Last week when I wrote about all the WOW PreQuilt Features, I became extra interested in how this  creative "randomizer" evolved. So I've asked PreQuilt inventor Gar Liu to share more news here about how PreQuilt started and where it is going.

To begin with, a brief history. [Literally short-- PreQuilt is just one year old!]
PreQuilt began last July with Laura Henneberry's (Commonwealth Quilts) Circus Tent Quilt.

And it has evolved quickly from a color picking app, to an HST design tool, to a full application design platform. More designers joined, wishing coloring pages for their quilts too. Quilter/programmer Steph Skardal supplied the fabric catalogue. The latest feature is the custom block design tool. 

Have you tried PreQuilt? Check out the color randomizer in this video.

According to Gar, PreQuilt's best features are the one's that short-cut repetitive tasks, such as selecting quilt quadrants or checkerboard blocks for quilt design editing. This way, designers can stay focused on their planning, without getting discouraged by minutia. 
Gar says, "We hope that PreQuilt can leave people in an art director's position where they make decisions and then come in to tweak. Something like a self driving car where you can put your hands on the wheel at anytime to take back control."

Coming next for PreQuilt.....fabric calculations AND ombre mapping!

Happy Anniversary to Gar, Laura, and PreQuilt! And best wishes for many more creative years. Thanks for inviting us all to share in your amazing design tool :)

Visible Medning Review

Much has been said about Visible Mending:  Artful Stitchery to Repair and Refresh Your Favorite Things, by Jenny Wilding Cardon. It's started a mending movement!

As I am forever mending jeans, I thought this book would add some excitement to the chore. But it is much more than that. I found this a handbook for challenging your creativity in a new functional turn.

To begin with....yes, the beginning is the best part of this book! Only a page, but artfully challenging you to "see the beauty in the broken."

From the start Visible Mending is more than a how-to book. Each chapter: 

• Boro
• Hand Embroidery
• PATCHES (my favorite)
• Darning (new to me)
• Mending by Machine (free motion)

carries a new philosophy for celebrating scars "as an opportunity for one-of-a-kind creativity."

Of course, each chapter also shares insights on the unique tools and skills needed for it's particular technique. But more importantly, Visible Mending shows you how to look beyond the skill lessons to the catalog of

1. what type of blemish is best repaired with that technique
2. what fabrics can each technique be applied to.

Visible Mending could have as easily been organized by tear, hole, stain.....

or sweater, denim, t-shirt, linen, see! 

Here is my first project inspired by Visible Mending:

Yes, it is a jeans patch, ringed with Boro stitching :) Now instead of a tear, it's a statement! Instead of working to hide my work, I spent just as much time making something to show! See how it works?

By the time you get to the end of the book, I guarantee you'll be searching your wardrobe for old clothes to turn into statement pieces. And the next time you spill on your new outfit, you'll be thinking, "oooh, now I get to mend this:)"