Art Challenge 2014

There is in some a deep need to create, whether it's distraction or fear that stops us, it will prevail if we try...

I have had a desire to create differently than I have been for the past several years. I have been distracted by everyday life thinking tomorrow I will start, next week maybe... Now it's turned into years. I have been fearful in starting because I'm not sure of my artistic abilities anymore. No more excuses I'm going to jump in with both feet! In the words of Arther Ashe, "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."
For 2014 I have created an art challenge to help me make time to create, discover what I can do, and find the artistic part of me again!

Here is the challenge, join me if you feel a similar need. Make your own rules and guidelines but most of all have fun. I am excited for this challenge and this year!

My 100 day art challenge for 2014, rules and guidlines:

1-Spend 100 days during the year working on something artistic (At least an hour per time, that's about 2 days per week.)

2-Use any type of medium.

3-Need to stay in a $100.00 budget for supplies for the whole year, "use what I have", be creative!

4-Projects can be small or large, it can also just be an exercize to learn techniques and expand my skills.

5-Journal and Blog about my experience.

Wish me luck! I hope you find more time to create too!

Time or Dimension

Beyond Tradition is a book I designed a few years ago to showcase traditional designs and introduce more modern designs. It has the "Study in Black and White" as well as chevron type stipes, "Pizzaz". It can be purchased on my website for $5.00, for a limited time at juliepopadesign.com.

Yesterday I had the privlage of showing some of my quilts at the Piece By Piece Quilt Guild in Hyde Park, UT. It was fun to see quilters that have taught me and some that I have taught through the years. They are fun, amazingly talented, and very generous with each other and the quilts they make. It inspired me to sew more often!

As I showed each quilt we talked about the comment that has been shared about me that I was ahead of my time when I made my book "Beyond Tradition" and a few other patterns. Now that the quilt industry has a huge modern side I should fit in, but I'm not sure. So we decided I must be in a different dimension. 😊 Do you ever feel that way?

"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." -Andy Worhol

Here are a few of my different designs, but I like them....

This is my pattern "Simply Sublime". It has three dimensional leaves, yes they are leaves but many people see them as different things. One person thought they were fish jumping out of water, so I took this photo on a river bed.

This is an all wool table runner named "All Deco'd Out", it has some Art Deco inspiration, big and bold.

This is actually a table topper created from my "Fun with Shapes" pattern. I just liked displaying it on the chair, it shows the great spaces the orange peel shape makes.

These patterns and more can be purchased on my website, juliepopadesign.com.

... So I guess what it comes down to, when creating, art, and design, do what you like, at least you will like yourself!

My Creations

Many of my favorite quilt designs have been on display the past two weeks at My Girlfriend's
Quilt Shop, in Logan, Utah. So my kids wanted to see them, so here they are all in one spot, my creations! Aren't they beautiful, and handsome!

To see more information about the quilts and to buy patterns and books visit my website, juliepopadesign.com.

Teaching "Sunset"

I taught my pattern, "Sunset" today at the K & H Quilt Shoppe in Kaysville, Utah. It was fun to teach, but mostly fun to talk with the great ladies that took the class.

Angela and Amy, sisters in quilting and in life, showing their finished blocks!

This is Jackie with her teal and brown block, beautiful!

Here is Heather with her bright block, it looks great!

Thank you to Kay and Heidi for inviting me to teach. I am excited to come teach again!

Sewing for service!

It has been a long while since my last blog, life gets going and I have been working on other projects and my family keeps me busy. As you can see my little helper! She is so good at sorting my fabrics for me!

 

In March I went to a Modern Quilt guild meeting held at Suppose Quilt Shoppe in Preston, Idaho. Jo Thomas taught a modern piecing method she learned from Denise Schmidt (you can see her quilts at www.dsquilts.com) It was so fun! My mom went with me and we had a great time. I will not make all my quilts this way but it was very freeing. This is the block I came home with!

 

A neighbor of mine donated a bunch of fabric to me before she moved because I am in charge of finding humanitarian projects for people in my church to participate in. She donated a bunch of corduroy fabric and I thought this technique would work well, with a few bright colors mixed in. I had different size strips already cut and we put our machines close together.  First we sewed two starting pieces then passed… then you added one strip and passed. We continued to do this while we talked and talked for several hours. We had a great time, and look at the blocks we made!

 

This is only the first step for these blocks. We will put them together different ways, add applique and  make them into runners, pillows and other projects to donate to the Mothers Without Borders fall boutique. The money they raise from the boutique goes to help their orphanage and school in Zambia, Africa.  To learn more about Mothers Without Borders and to donate any craft items to sell at their boutique go to this link motherswithoutborders.org.  I will show you the finished projects before we give them away.

Another organization we made things for with donated fabric is Days for Girls.  Groups all over the nation make these hygiene kits that are given to girls in other countries to help them each month.  In fact they might have a local chapter near you, ours helped us get started and provided the waterproof fabric we needed.  Our group sewed the shields, liners, and bags then collected the rest of the items that all fit into the bag.

It took a lot of work and many hours of service from our group of amazing ladies, but it felt good.  We made over 100 kits to send to Uganda and I know they helped the girls and women their get back some of their days.  For more information about Days for Girls visit daysforgirls.org.  Its worth the visit.

What is Bunting?

My niece was married a few months ago, when I asked what I could do to help her with the wedding she said I could make the bunting.  "What is bunting?" I asked her, a little embarrassed that I didn't know.  When she explained I let out a big, "Ohhhh, the fabric triangle banner things".  I didn't know they had a fancy name.  They looked festive hanging on the trees at the cabin where the reception was held.

They were made using the 'Party Bunting Tutorial' from supposecreatedelight.com website, go to their blog and click on the bunting tutorial.  

Nicole did such a beautiful job planning the whole wedding day.  All that she planned went so well together, it almost felt like we stepped back in time for the day. She has a fun creative style that you can see more of on her blog at blissandapolkadotdress.blogspot.com where she features a 90 minute maxi skirt tutorial.  

When she was 15 her and her 16 year old sister Amanda helped me sew some of the quilts in my "Young at Heart" book published by Martingale in 2008.  These quilts are still two of my favorite quilts because of the memories of sewing with them.

This quilt is named "Brickwork".  I gave Nicole and Amanda a pile of fabrics I liked together and let them choose where they wanted to place them.  They did a great job sewing the blocks together and making sure there was a variety of fabrics.  They made it so well that I asked them to help me with another quilt.

For this quilt "Starlight" we took a different approach.  After working on all the quilts for the book I was running out of color inspiration, so I took the two girls to the quilt shop with me to get some fresh ideas.  They found a polka dot they liked for some of the background areas. From that fabric they choose the yellow and pink stars and then pulled most of the bright colors from my fabric stash.  I admit I wasn't sure how all of it was going to look, I hadn't thought of any of those colors for this quilt.  

So I thought I would be a fun aunt; I told them we could stay up all night watching  movies while we work on the quilt.  I was asleep on the couch by 10:30, I woke up at 5:00am and they were still sewing!  They had made all of the bright colored square blocks!  I love this quilt, it is bright, and full of happy memories.

The "Young at Heart" book is no longer in print but you can purchase an ebook or the individual epatterns of these quilts and more from shopmartingale.com.

Pattern spotlights #1

Summer is going fast!  

Full of camping, family reunions, yard work, 

and more fun with the family.  

It's hard to find time to blog, so for this blog I thought I would 

introduce some of my newest quilt patterns.

These pillows come from the pattern, "Flowers on Display".  The pattern also includes a poppy and narcissus flower.  I designed these pillows during the winter a few years ago to get me out of the winter blues.  I needed to see some bright colors and flowers.  I pull them out every year now about mid February -- they cheer me up every year!  The applique is done with fusible web and machine stitched to hold in place.  I made all four flower pillows as a set, each flower is different in color, but I made the borders the same to unify them. 

 I also made a wall hanging with this pattern, using the tulip design 

multiple times and reversing the direction of the flower in a few places.  The applique technique is different for the wall hanging.  I didn't want any rough edges showing and I wanted the project to have an artistic feel, so I used a double-applique method.  I also used cotton corduroy for the background of the tulips and cotton velvet for the border.  Then my quilter Paula Murray quilted all the cool details and a wood grain in the border so it would look like a frame.  

Next up is a very new pattern called "Mosaics".

"Mosaics" is a design I had in my group of ideas for several years but I just hadn't found the right fabrics for it until I found Kaffe Fassett"s 'Millefivre' fabric (the red used throughout).  It was perfect because I had imagined the quilt having the look of a Moroccan rug.  In fact all of the fabrics used are Kaffe's except for the plain black.  It was very fun to blend the prints and colors.  I worked to find the best colors and color balance, I cut and tried and then retried many fabrics until I found the combination that worked.  That's why the quilt ended up so long, I realized I needed to balance the red so I added another row.  The finished size shown is 76" x 110", but the block is simple to make.  More blocks can easily be added to the sides to change the width or taken from the length to make the quilt smaller, or make only two rows for a table runner.  I know I waited until I had the Moroccan style fabrics, that's just what I do, have to have a mental idea to focus on while making the quilt.  Once it is complete I can see so many possibilities!

Find these quilt patterns on my website at juliepopadesign.com, or talk to your local quilt shop about carrying them.