Something About Nothing

My friend, Korrin, started an avalanche at our house!  She was cleaning out her basement and asked if we would like a beautiful, hardly used,  Grace hand quilting frame . I hesitated wondering how much use I would get from it because of my carpel tunnel, but I decided to go for it.  She brought it over and before I knew it my daughter, Ann, was excited to learn to hand quilt!  I put a call out to my quilt group for someone to teach her, as I don't feel confident in my hand quilting skills.  My friend Leigh, who has been my roommate at the Utah State Quilt festival for several years, happily volunteered!  We went to Leigh's house today and she began to teach my daughter to hand quilt: I hope Ann continues to enjoy this new skill for many years! Leigh's basenji, Katie, kept watch for us.  We were not disturbed by any squirrels or birds. She is so adorable! I look forward to seeing the beautiful things Ann will create! Are you...

I was thrilled when my friend Jamie Fingal ask me to create something using her new fabric line, Autumn is for the Birds, from Hoffman Fabrics. I decided to use my favorite method of creating: free form piecing.  When I create a quilt with this method I rarely plan anything out, other than perhaps a general size and a few elements.  The problem with this method is that I often have to rearrange as I go.  And sometimes I need to unpick - a LOT.  I took a few photos as I went to help me get an idea of where things were going and then based upon those photos I added or changed.  I put the photos together in a short power point so that you could see a little bit of my process.  I apologize for the dark photos as my design wall is in a dark hallway but I think it still gives you a good idea of how things went. The final quilt is approximately 30"x 37". I love the focus fabrics!  There are a lot of textures in all of the fabrics.  Ho...

Congratulations to  I have contacted you through Instagram because I couldn't find an email address on your website.  I'm very excited to share this book with you.  Please email me asap at something_clever (at) man (dot) com!

 I am participating in the 28 Patterns challenge issued by Balzer Designs.    A new pattern everyday and I've been posting them on Instagram (Somethinglisa) and my Facebook page.  If you haven't seen the patterns people are posting you should search #28patterns in whatever social media you follow.  Here are my first 9 patterns: The first 6 days were patterns I drew with Sharpie markers, except for day 3.  Day 3 (the penguins and whales) started as a drawing and then was enhanced in photoshop.  Days 6 - 9 have all been created with my hand carved stamps.  I created the fish and butterfly last summer and the jellyfish was made today. I am really enjoying the patterns I've made with the stamps. The question now is, which stamp do I use next? Or do I create something new?

About two months ago I wrote a review about the book Fabric Printing at Home written by my friend, Julie B. Booth . Today I'm going to show you one of the things I learned from her book and then give you an opportunity to win a copy of the book for yourself. I used a hot glue gun to create a design onto a toilet paper roll.  I was impatient and didn't seal the toilet paper roll with white glue or a gel medium before creating my design.   I inserted a short roller handle that one can find at the local hardware store into the toilet paper roll. . .   . . . and used my 3x5" Gelli Plate as a paint palette.  I rolled the paint across a sample piece of fabric. . . . . .first going long ways. . .  . . .and then again short ways. I really like the texture this provides whether I go once or twice across the fabric and I'm gladly adding it to my art "toolbox."  Have you tried something like this before?  What ha...