What I'm Working on Wednesday

What am I working on this Wednesday?
Pretty much the same thing I was working on on Monday.
I did finish binding The Boyfriend Quilt and might have a chance to take some shots of it today, but I'm very much in the thick of things with these:

I'm constantly making and re-making lists of which patterns make the final cut and what color ways I still want to try. It's a good thing I have a deadline because my tendency is to wonder, " what if..." and I need to wrap up the group. I have told myself several times that not every pattern has to make it into this collection. I can always hold on to it and include it in another group down the road. That's the reasonable side of me. The other side? She's not so easily swayed by sensible arguments, but we're coming to the end here, so....
All this patterning and dyeing has yielded a few more bundles and a scrap pack for my store, so check that out if you have a minute.

Be back on Friday!

I seem really enthusiastic

I've watched this video a couple of times and if there's one thing I notice it's that I am super enthused about the projects in my new book. So enthused in fact that I don't seem to let Pokey Bolton get a word in. Well, my apologies, but, honestly, that's how excited I am. I am so proud of the projects in this book and I'm totally sincere when I say I can't wait for you all to see them.
In the meantime, watch the video and you'll get to preview quite a few of the quilts, pillows, scarves, and other goodies featured in Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration.

Only the Pool Man Knows for Sure

The other day I sent my husband to the pool supply place near our house. We don't have a pool, but the guys at Leslie's Pool Supply didn't know that.
I've been patronizing Leslie's for several years because I need soda ash, essential for dyeing fabric. Soda ash is available from online dye suppliers, but it's more expensive and you have to pay shipping. Considering that I buy the stuff in 25 pound buckets, it's worth my while to buy from Leslie's. So, I've been going in there every couple months. I never told the folks who work there why I was buying soda ash. A part of me wanted them to think that I had an amazing pool that I was devoted to maintaining.
I sent my husband the last time because I finally came to the conclusion that I should invest in the 50 pound bucket and cut down on how many trips I was making to Leslie's and I figured he could haul that home easier than me. As my husband tells it, the guy behind the counter asked if he was buying such a large bucket of soda ash because he was having trouble balancing the chemicals in his pool. My husband answered that he didn't have a pool, but that his wife needed the soda ash to dye fabric. The Leslie's guy then asked, "Did she write a book about this recently?" My very surprised husband answered yes. The employee then added that there had been several people in lately to buy soda ash and when he asked what they were going to do with it, they replied that they had recently bought a book about dyeing fabric and that soda ash was necessary to the process. In my book I do write that local pool supply stores are great resources for soda ash.
Now, how cool is that?



My only regret is that my ruse about having a spectacular backyard pool is over and I have to rejoin the non-pool owning population.

Two Places at Once

Isn't it great that the internet makes it possible for me to do something that I never can manage in the non-virtual world? I can be both here, blathering in this space and at Whip Up guest blogging over there. I've never been more efficient than I am at this very minute.
Anyway, I put together a little post about my book, Color Your Cloth, and dyeing fabric. I also designed a special pattern just for my guest blogging gig. It's free and available as a PDF from Whip Up.
I had mentioned previously that I was madly in love with the Baktus scarf. The free knitting pattern for that is available on flickr. When Kathreen from Whip Up asked if I'd like to do a guest post about my book, I decided that I wanted to create a special pattern as part of the post. I'd been thinking about how to adapt the Baktus scarf to fabric and wrote to Strikkelise, the scarf's designer, to get permission to rework the pattern in cotton.



Since the focus of the post was hand dyed fabric and crafting with it, I patterned some cotton with a stamp I created by gluing a pair of wine corks to the back of a letterpress stamp I bought on Etsy. Instructions for making stamps out of all sorts of commonly available objects are found in the book. I then backed the patterned front with a hand dyed solid and I had my very own fabric Baktus.



I hope that some of you who've enjoyed making the knitted version will be inspired to sew a Baktus.
Before you decide though, head on over to Whip Up to read my post, check out the free pattern and...oh yeah...enter the give away for a free copy of Color Your Cloth.

Slow Going

You know what they say about best laid plans. Especially mine.
Anyway, I had planned to have most of my book projects added to my store, but there must be some big holiday coming up because I've been seeing a lot of a activity in my wee little shop and that's been keeping me busy.
So, rather than a big deluge, I've added a few things everyday.
Yesterday I uploaded images of a some new fabric offerings.



What does this have to do with the projects in my book? Nothing, but I get distracted easily.

I've apparently regained my focus because today's additions do relate to my book.




Both of these quilts are minis made out of hand dyed and patterned stripes.



Really, the biggest difference in patterning the fabrics for these quilts is that I used a small calligraphy brush for one and a wide, house painting brush for the other.



There are a lot of design possibilities though in the humble line. I'm convinced that the simplest shapes offer the most inspiration. Oftentimes the more I try to impress myself and others with complex designs, the more I'm reminded that keeping it simple is really the best way to go. The funny thing about using a simple shape or motif is that it's open to so much manipulation that it can become complex. Maybe those two ideas are actually intertwined to some degree rather than being polar opposites?

Busier than...

...an ant at a fourth of July picnic. So, I'm just dropping in here for a minute to share a few pictures from the book signing last Sunday.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Book Woman, it's been around Austin for quite a few years. It's also, as far as I know, the only independent feminist bookstore in town. I think it's a terrific store and I was so excited to have my first event there. Even my folks drove in from Houston.



See that bald head there? That's my dad. And do you see what section of the store he's facing toward?



Yep. My mid-seventies dad is staring right at the "women's erotica" section. It made for some interesting questions after the book signing.
I think that despite his bewilderment at exactly what kind of titles constitute women's erotica, he and my mom seemed to enjoy themselves.



I had, for one, had a blast.

Hey, but the celebration's not over. I do have another book event scheduled in early December, but, even as I speak, Erin from House on Hill Road, is showing off a terrific project she made with some of my hand dyes and hosting a book giveaway.Why not head on over there and share in the fun?

In which I redirect you to other places

Oh, but you're going to be so happy I redirected you because you're going to pretty places with lots of bright colors and opportunities to win stuff. I mentioned last week that there was some fun online stuff happening in conjunction with the publication of Color Your Cloth and today I'm sending you off to three amazing sites run by three incredibly talented women.

The first place, Pink Chalk Studio, is Kathy Mack's wonderful blog. If you've picked up a sewing magazine in the past few years, you've seen Kathy's terrific designs. As we speak her work is on the cover of the Quilting Arts Gifts issue. Along with designing, Kathy runs a great online fabric store where you can find the latest from Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, and many of the new designers that are energizing commercial fabrics.
Kathy has crafted a set of lovely coasters from some of my hand dyed fabric and is offering a free book to one lucky commenter. Head on over there and check that out as the comments close on Wednesday.

Next set your cursor for Blair's wonderful spot on the internet, wise craft. I've long admired Blair's blog and, in all honesty, been a lurker there for longer than I've been a regular commenter. I love the projects she makes, her writing style and just the feel of her space. She too has crafted an inspirational project with some hand dyed fabric and offers her take on Color Your Cloth.

Don't head home yet because if you do you'll be so disappointed you didn't stop by Jennifer's blog. Not only does Jennifer write a wonderful blog by she also runs her own online store, JCasa Handmade , where she sells her patterns and creations. I'm a huge fan of Jennifer's and was lucky enough to get to meet her in the non-virtual sense last February.
Her post about the book not only features a giveaway of three items, but a free tutorial for making an adorable set of soft baby blocks. I'm at that stage of my life where none of my friends are having babies anymore, but no one is yet at that grandparent stage, so I am racking my brain trying to think who I can make these for. I'm so in love with them I might just make them for myself.

Finally, if you're interested in doing some real life traveling and you're local, I'm having a book signing at Book Woman this Sunday, November 15, at 3:30. I'll talk a bit about the book, show off some of the projects and offer a giveaway prize to some attendee. Best of all, I'm baking cookies!
If you live in Austin or nearby, I'd love to see you there.

Color Your Cloth Today

Today's the day, the official publication date for my book, Color Your Cloth: A Quilter's Guide to Dyeing and Patterning Fabric. Yay!
I've taken some inside views of the book as well as the front and back cover and listed the copies I have for sale in my shop.



I'm planning a giveaway for later this week and I've got a few online helpers to giveaway books as well as present some amazing projects crafted from hand dyed fabric. There might even be a free pattern in there to get your creative juices flowing.
If you're local, I have two book events scheduled in the next few weeks and I'll give more details closer to the dates.
In the meantime, I've got a few inside peaks of the book to share and a big thank you to send out. I can't tell you how much your support and interest have meant to me. Before I discovered the world of blogs and flickr I often felt like I was creating in a vacuum. I couldn't really stop making things because that was so much a part of who I am, but other than the occasional show I didn't really have any one to share my creative ventures with. And that's a two sided activity. I didn't have a venue to display my work and I wasn't fed and excited by seeing other people's work because, like the opportunities to show my work, seeing other people's creations only happened once in a while.
All that's changed and I'm very glad. I hope to inspire, but I am, without a doubt, inspired by all the creativity I see now on a daily basis. So, thanks very much for that.

Me and My Stack

...of books.



Those are most, but not all, of the books I purchased so that I could sell signed copies from my shop. The official publication date isn't until next Tuesday, so I'm going to hold off on selling any until then, but I know that the books have been shipping out from Amazon and, I assume, Barnes and Noble already. I decided to wait because otherwise the publication date will feel like a regular Tuesday instead of a really exciting, amazing, I've never-had-a-book-published-before kind of day. I do have a few things planned for next week and I even have another giveaway planned for this week as well as a new sponsor announcement, so the fun doesn't need to end.

Which brings me to last week's giveaway. I'm happy to announce that Ann was the lucky, randomly chosen winner of Spike Gillespie's Quilting Art book.

Ann said,

It looks like a fabulous book. Congrats on getting your quilts in it.

So, Ann, if you'll email your address to me at malka@stitchindye.com, I'll send your book to you faster than you can ask, "Where's my book?"