But the other side of that, at the end of the studio day, you have you, your phone, and whatever happened that day. It’s a natural thing to take some pictures. And in the end of that, you’ve got a record of what happened here.
This is another story about technology. Most of us have come to that moment where your phone is your camera. It took me awhile. First off, they needed to be good enough to be your camera. They’ve been that for a while.
But if your camera is always there, you can always use it. Recently I got a new-to-me Iphone 12 Mini. Apple hasn’t continued a line of mini phones, but for me, they’re ideal. My hands are small and I really can’t hold on to a big phone. But the camera is just as good as you could ask. My latest book, Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book, was completely shot with my phone.
I post these in a regular way on my business Facebook page, in albums, because it’s fun for you to see, and it’s good for me to keep track of.I also regularly put some of them in my blog as I talk about my work. But my other reason is that I think it’s really important to have these for the owner of the quilt. Lately, I’ve been sending those photos with the quilts when I sell them. It’s their baby. They should have baby pictures.
I hope you keep pictures of your work on a daily basis. It’s good documentation. Your phone is right there. Use it.
I taught twice over the last two weeks. I had a magnificent class with Gems of the Praire Quilt Guild and with a group of teen artists at the Peoria Art Guild. Seeing that I hadn’t taught a full day class for over ten years, it was a wild experience. I haven’t quite caught my breath. But I had a great time. I hope they did too.
At Gems of the Prairie, I did a classroom book for them, just because I hadn’t done one for that class. Over the years I’ve done a number of classroom books. I taught the Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book, where we make a book out of samples of different kinds of free motion work. The booklet covered it all with step-by-step photos, tips, and tricks. It’s available now from Amazon in Kindle and in print.
Classroom books are not just for a pretty coffee table. I’ve always loved designing eye candy books. Who doesn’t like eye candy? And feeding your eye is an important part of any art. You need to see things that excite you to go on to exciting work of your own.
But classroom books are for a different purpose. They may feed the eye, but they’re there as a guide through a class and as notes for someone who doesn’t normally take good notes in class. Why would I do that?
Because different people learn in different ways. Some folk learn auditorily. They need to hear everything. Some learn visually and need to see everything. Some learn only by doing. In class, you hope all those modes will be covered. If I offer a comprehensive class guide, I’ve doubled down on the visual mode which is usually the most common
How do you know which mode is operating for people? They’ll usually tell you. “I see that…..” I hear that…”The kinetic mode is the least common, but it’s obvious when you see it. They have to touch everything. And they are the ones who probably take the most thorough notes. It involves physical motion.
None of that is good or bad. It just is. Most folk operate in all modes to some extent. They do better when you hit on all three, but they can absorb information from each mode.
Unless they are in some way dyslexic or distracted. At which point, it’s crucial to have a mode ongoing that they can utilize.
Why does that matter? I came out of school to teach first grade. I don’t believe in the bell curve. I believe everyone needs to learn their colors, tie their shoes and read. And have a fighting chance to learn what they want to learn. I believe in meeting a student where they are and leaving no one behind.
So rather than do dense note handouts on boring white paper, I’ve made classroom books for my students. Due to the wonders of print on demand, it costs as much to print a short booklet as to bring in handouts. And the handouts don’t have as cool pictures.
Sadly, the company I printed my other classroom books discontinued my books, when they stopped doing saddle stitched books. So they’re now out of print.
I don’t know that I’ll take up traveling to teach again. But I do think I’ll teach, just because it’s something I really like to do. And I think that the books I did for class are still important ways for people to learn whether I teach them or not.
The downside of a classroom book is that it’s meant to cover just what’s in a class. Usually, they have a supply list, patterns, step-by-step pictures and instructions, a short gallery, tips, and a source guide. They cost more because they are self-published. It’s a limited scope.
So I’m revisiting those books. I’m hoping on reprinting them, although the format needs to change a bit to accommodate perfect-bound books.
Because, even without class, a classroom book is there to share information, to teach whether you are there or not.
So I’m planning on reprinting these with booklets put together in a series of books called Skill Builders, What do you think? Is it something you’d like?
This is a special week for me. After 10 years, I’m teaching in a guild again. I’ll be lecturing at Gems of the Prairie Wednesday, May 3rd, and teaching the class The Stitch Vocabulary Book on May 4th. The class is full, but I’m told the guild welcomes non-members for the lecture. You are all very welcome to come!
It’s my developmental lecture.: How I became an artist. That’s a misnomer by the way. We are artists by the way of being human. It’s how I stumbled into my own art, and where it has taken me.
Every year I try to do something I’ve never done before. for my birthday. This year, I’m teaching a lecture and class, after a ten-year hiatus.
And on May 5th, I turn 70. I’ve always dreaded that. It sounds so old. Yet here we are. And if you’re a contemporary, so are you. As someone quite wise said to me, “If you made it, you celebrate it.” I intend to.
My life has always been a bit upside down. I’m too dyslexic to do things in a rational linear order. I started doing my art in my 20s. I married at 62. I borrowed other people’s children, although I always gave them back. And I had a lot of physical limits. 10 years ago, I pretty much stopped doing art and wrote books instead. And then Don gave me his old house for a studio. And my art flared up like a forest fire. Only a bit less destructive. It was back.
Making art is an expression of vision. Teaching is the sharing of technique. They really aren’t very similar. But they balance each other on the see-saw for good art is always bound by technique, and the ability to share technique extends everyone’s ability to share vision.
In prepping for class, I’ve done some things I really haven’t done for a while. I wrote and published a new classroom book for the class. Classroom books are all about technique, and this one is chocked full of different ways to use free motion: zigzag stitching, straight stitching, garnet stitch, hard edge applique, soft edge applique and bobbin work, with extra chapters on silk flowers, globbing and Angelina fiber. Bookmaking is a skill. It was nice to come back to that again.
And I’ve brushed up that lecture. It was shocking to realize how much my technique had changed in three years. The revised lecture needed to cover that. My stabilizer techniques, my drawing techniques, and my stitching techniques are massively different.
To celebrate the class, I’ve put quilts on sale. I’ll have them at lecture and class but you can also purchase them on my Etsy site at www.etsy.com/shop/EllenAnneEddy
What was more shocking, was that I had enough quilts to do a full trunk show out of that three years of work, with no older work included. Old work is fun for a lecture, but I think my new work is much more exciting. Yes. I will let you touch them. It’s astonishing what gets done if you are doing it daily.\
My point is that life isn’t linear. It’s a spiral, just like time in a garden. It doesn’t start at one place and just go to another. It cycles, it stalls, it spins out, It shoots up. Flares down. But even when things stop, they come back again in a different form at a different time in a different way. I don’t think I need a thing for this birthday, except, note to Don, some new books. The journey is the gift.
You are so welcome to come to my lecture. for Gems of the Prairie. It’s at St Paul Lutheran Church 1427 W Lake Avenue, Peoria, IL, United States, May 3rd, at 6:30 PM. I’m bringing piles of fabric, books and hand-dyed threads so people can play with the toys I use.
All time is a spiral. Wait long enough and things lost come back in their own way and time. I am grateful.
This classroom book takes you through all the techniques I use to create my art in 5 easy exercises on 9″ squares. Then you take those exercises and bind them into your own reference book, there to remind you what works best for you.
I love classroom books. I think it’s important to give people the whole recipe for something, with nothing left out. That’s what I tried to do here.
It includes free motion techniques on straight stitch, zigzag, bobbin work, hard edge applique, soft edge applique, rocks, Angelina fiber, globbing, couching, silk flowers and leaves, and all machine binding.
The Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book went up yesterday on Kindle and is now available! I’ve been sharing my chapters with you so you can get a taste. This is the classroom book that shows you most of the technique
es I use for my work.
I will be teaching the class, Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book for the Gems of the Praire Guild in Peoria on May 4th with a lecture on May 3rd.
This is my first guild gig in about 10 years. There are a lot of reasons for that, and I don’t know that I’m back to a gig I have to travel for yet. But I am so excited to be back in a classroom, and I’ve found there are so many techniques that have changed or modified over that period of time. And so many more things I can do with those techniques..
So I did this booklet, especially for this class. But it should stand alone as a set of exercises you can use to build your skills and stretch your abilities. There is a full toolbox of free motion techniques you can include in your work with just a little practice.
You can see several chapters up on earlier blog posts.
Skills covered Free motion straight stitch Free motion zigzag Bobbin work Hard edge applique Soft edge applique Working with Angelina Fiber Working with dyed cheesecloth Couching Adding silk flowers and leaves Globbing
I tried to write a book that would cover a lot of information in a small space. I’m hoping you find it useful. You can order the Kindle Stitch Vocabulary Book right now. The print book will be out at the end of the month, and it’s part of your kit if you are taking the class.
I’m so excited to be sharing this material with you and to be out teaching again with the best people in the world. Quilters!
Most people don’t think about free motion being an applique technique, but it gives you lovely curved edges with great textural lines. Here’s a sneak peek of the chapter on Hard Edge Applique.
Here’s Chapter Three of the Stitch Vocabulary Book! This time we’re focused on bobbin work. For more information about bobbin work check out Topsy Turvy and Skimming the Surface both on bobbin work.
Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book will be available for sale in early May!
