Sunday, December 28, 2008

2008 List...


It is that time of year that all the magazines and news show start making their lists...the best shows of 2008, the worst dressed, the best book, the worst movie....So I thought I'd make my list of what I am thankful for in the "Quilting World" in the past year. These are in no particular order and if you want to add to the list please do....

1. International Quilt Study Center and Museum
In March of 2008 they opened the museum and study center at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. My goal is to get there in 2009. What is really great though is you don't have to physically visit to benefit from this great collection of quilts. They are a wonderful on-line resource. If you don't get their "Quilt of the Month" email you should sign up immediately. It is like getting a little gift in your email each month!

2. QG Newsletter
Michele@quiltinggallery.com This comes to my email each month and provides links to many interesting quilting blogs and sites. I have made several fun projects and found blog sites that I return to often.

3. Scraps and Shirttails, by Bonnie Hunter
To see a friend archive something they have wanted to do for so long is really inspiring. Bonnie is also one of the most hardworking women I know and is so generous with her time and talents that to see her name on the cover of a book was a real rush. Sometimes good things do happen to good people! (The photo below is a block I made from her Carolina Crossroads online mystery...)

4. Expansion of the Quilt Index
www.quiltindex.org
Before you go to this site get a really big cup of coffee, tea or heck a good red wine. The number of quilts on this site went over 18,000 this year. The index allows you to search through them quickly...ok, it finds them quickly though I guarantee you will spend hours going through the photos and reading the histories. (maybe keep the pot of coffee or bottle of wine close at hand) Even if you are not a quilt history fanatic you will find this indes useful. The other day a blogger was asking for ideas on how to finish a hexegon quilt. I typed hexegon into the index and it came back with 134 examples...that was a two cuppa visit!

5. Local Quilt Shops
I am lucky to live in an area with two very different quilt shops within a few miles of my house (with a new artsey one opening next month!) I tell my Dh it is my patriotic duty to support them! On the serious side however Jeff's fixes my 12 year old Viking and makes it run like new again. (I once got a note that read, "this is a sewing machine not a cat bed!"...Brownie would dissagree.) The shops are where I go when I need a some thread and a bit of inspiration. After a couple years of living overseas and doing the majority of my shopping online it is really nice to touch the fabric again...

6. Eco-consciousness/Quilters are going green
I got my first piece of bamboo batting this month. My first quilt, circa 1972, has a thick polyester batting that is sneaking through the seams...I worry that in a fire the quilt would melt! Natural fibers, cotton, wool, or now bamboo, have to be better for the earh and for the users! The growing number of patterns for shopping bags ment to replace your plastic is a long way from the bags we used to make to hold our plastic bags! And finely, quilters are looking at their "stashes" as things to be used and less as things to hoard. Some of my favorite antique quilts show how frugal a quilter can be when they need to be! (Scrap quilts rule!)

7. Tutorial Explosion
Between bloogers posting instructions and quilting web sites you can find directions on just about anything to do with quilting. I am amazed at the generosity of those who put their ideas out there to share with us. In some ways it is like a online quilt guild. (without all the cookies and chocolate....)

8. Reproduction Fabrics
Those of us who love the look of a vinatage quilt in our own quilts are lucky to have so many choices right now. I can remember buying my first bundle of Aunt Gracie's fabrics back in the early 1990's and being afraid to cut into them...what if they don't ever print anything like them again! (I never did use the pink rabbit flying the airplane...) It was about that time I was making my first Baltimore Album quilt and I bought a piece of every reproduction fabric that came into Seminole Sampler...Now there are dozens of collections to choose from! (If they would just reprint that madder stripe from the mid-1990's that I only have a small 10x10 piece left)

9. Quilting Bloggers
The past couple of years blogging has become a major contributor to how I look at quilting. It is not only the physical act of quilting but the talking about fabrics, about families, sharing ideas, and events in our lives. That is quilting. That is can be done with women (and a few men!) from all around the world is a bit overwhelming...but overwhelming in a good way.

10. Fill in the blank....what do you think was an important event, product or service in the world of quilting in 2008? (Allright, I couldn't think of another thing to write....help me out!)

16 comments:

Lady of the Cloth said...

Boy, I think you pretty much covered it. Great thinking! I too love the on-line quilt community. I spend more time with lots of you than my family. Not because I want to, but my family (grown) live so far away and have their own lives. I want to meet you all in person and laugh and cry with you. Isn't that what friends do?
Thanks for sharing with me and the rest of the blogging world. As to stash sewing... I've got a huge stash and so do lots of others, and we need to use it, but I keep thinking when everyone says no more fabric buying in 09, what about all of those quilt shops. Nearly every one of the ones around here have closed! Gee, I hate that. Just a thought.
Carline

Tonya Ricucci said...

Wheee, fantastic list. The IQSC is so amazing - I want to get there someday too. They have a huge book coming out in the spring I'm excited about.

Number 10? For me that would be Gwen Marston self-publishing Ideas and Inspirations. I get so frustrated with the lack of books out there that don't focus on patterns, so this one was a treat. That's one of the reasons blogs are so great - there's a huge range of quilts to be shown, esp those that aren't made for shows. Happy 2009!

Sew Create It - Jane said...

Happy New Year...great list there! I'm with you on no. 9...the support and friendship of bloggers is the best thing about having a blog. I've been so inspired and have learnt so much from my daily reads.

Bonnie K. Hunter said...

Thanks for the plug Sio!! 2008 has been an upside down year for me too with the move (as you are experiencing) leaving my massage practice, writing a book, traveling like crazy.....but it's my friends that anchor me! Thanks for being an anchor!

Bonnie

Browndirtcottage said...

all of what you said......some of these i didn't know about..thanks for the info!!

CCnUK said...

My number 10 is wonderful people who are patient and willing to share their knowledge of quilting with people who barely remember how to thread their sewing machine, and spend their first class folding and unfolding material. I will be forever grateful to you my friend.

Mad about Craft said...

I am another one that loves this virtual club of quilters (& also in my case knitters). In the last year I have been inspired by other bloggers, grateful for online information and just very happy to be part of the computer age!

Happy New Year!!

McIrish Annie said...

I think you covered just about everything! What a great list. Thanks for sharing the info. I'll be checking those links out soon

Lori in South Dakota said...

make an appointment and visit the Quilt Museum in Lincoln NE--it's breathtaking!! I toured it with a group and we got to page thru the archived boxes, and they brought out quilts to show us, it was just wonderful.

*karendianne. said...

Sio, What a fantasic post! This is tops. Thanks for sharing this. I'd say this goes in the "What I'm thankful for in the Quilting World" ~ personally. ;)

You Rock! with Love, *karendianne.



Living Life at LeeHaven

Quiltdivajulie said...

My #10 would be all the inspiration that comes from blog surfing and exploration ~ there are so many incredibly talented and generous folks out there in blogland . . . and Tonya has it right, we all need more of the "create for the sake of creating" instead of "paint by number" approach! Here's to you and so many others who motivate and inspire!

Becky said...

#10 for me is my sewing group. I just love getting together to sew with other quilters. It is inspiring and helps me develop as a quilter. Your list and observations are fabulous. Thanks for sharing!

sewprimitive karen said...

What an interesting post. I want to visit the Nebraska museum in 2009, too. Happy New Year!

Joyce said...

I'm with Tonya on #10. And I'd add Freddy Moran as well. They have been a huge inspiration to me.

Sandi@Piecemeal Quilts said...

Great list! My #10 would be the influx of new quilters. I'm a relatively new quilter myself (about 5 years), and every day I see another blog post or Yahoo! Answers question or a "real life" friend take the leap into quilting. It's wonderful to see the craft continue, but it's more than that. New quilters mean new ideas and new ways of accomplishing things. Helping them get started helps me clarify my thinking.

Dionne said...

This is a great list! I LOVE the idea of having a list about what's GREAT!
You are very inspiring, I think I'll make a list and you will definitely be on it! #1 - This blog is GREAT
Cheers,
Dionne