Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Ruler Inventors; or, Sleeping with Euclid

Although I doubt any of us ever wanted to grow up to be a quilt designer, here we are. It's been an amazing journey so far, and unexpected things have happened along the way. I should have seen this coming when I found myself in a special "new math" class (the OLD new math- way back in the early '60's) back in 2nd or 3rd grade. This is what happens to middle-aged math geeks who quilt.



Barbara Chojnacki
http://www.sixgablesdesigns.com

Design Inspiration

Being able to express myself through quilting and other artistic endeavors feeds my soul.
I think if I did not have the opportunity to be creative on a regular basis, I would feel sad and unfulfilled.
One of the most frustrating things about being a creative person is that there are so many ideas spinning around in my head, but not enough time to do something with all of them!
People ask me "Where do all those ideas come from? What inspires you to design?"
For me, inspiration can come from almost anywhere. Often it is from nature. I look closely at flowers and other plants to find magnificent colors, interesting textures, intriguing patterns, and a myriad of shapes.

Man made objects can also spark an idea for me. Whenever I go into a big city, I enjoy searching for interesting architectural elements on buildings. People think I am taking random pictures of stately edifices, but really it is just more fuel to feed the creative fire!
I'm always paying attention to decorative details on common, everyday objects. Think about possible quilt designs that are inspired by this antique glassware!


My cousin loved the decal on an old dish that had belonged to my great-grandmother, so I made a quilted wallhanging for her, using that old design.
















Sometimes I fall in love with a fabric that inspires an entire quilt. The red squiggles in this fabric made me think if oak leaves in the fall, and from that, "Autumnal Equinox" was born!



One of my favorite ways to brainstorm a design is to do the following:
1. Put four small bags in front of you.
2. On individual pieces of paper, write down as many COLORS as you can. Place them in the first bag.
3. Write down the names of as many QUILT BLOCKS as you can think of and put them in the second bag.
4. In the third bag, do the same for SHAPES.
5. In the last bag, put in slips of paper with all kinds of THINGS written upon them.
6. Pull a piece of paper from each of the bags. Do some brainstorming to incorporate all of those ideas into a quilt design.

It is fun to do this with a group as a design challenge. Everyone's block or quilt will come out differently, even though the design elements that were picked are the inspiration for each project.

Years ago, I did this exercise with my guild. We picked teal (COLOR), nine patch (QUILT BLOCK), circle (SHAPE), and fish (THING). Can you find all of those requirements in my kitty quilt?
If you ever get stuck for an idea, the method described above is a great way get your brain jump started again!

There are all kinds of websites that come up if you search Google for "design inspiration". One of my favorites is http://designspiration.net. You could spend hours and hours poking around on the pages of this site!

I hope I've sparked some inspiration in you for your next quilt! Send me an e-mail about what inspires you at chickensoupdesigns@yahoo.com.

Happy Quilting!
Kristi

A Quilter's Sampler

The members of the New England Quilt Designers Cooperative are very excited about the upcoming Quilter's Sampler! The Sampler will be two days jam packed with classes, lectures, and the opportunity to shop the vendor's mall! It is being held this year on May 10 & 11 at The Courtyard by Marriott in Nashua, NH.

Go to www.aquiltersgathering.com and click on the link for the Sampler. You can check out detailed descriptions of all the classes and register on line. Here is the short version of what the NEQDC members are offering:

Beth Helfter will be doing the Thursday lunch lecture and teaching classes about embellishing quilts. Beth is a lot of fun...you won't want to miss this!

Judy Damon is taking on the lunch crowd for the Friday lunch lecture and also teaching. One class is about crazy quilting, and another is for those of us who don't know what to do with our boxes and bins full of scraps.

Cary Flanagan is teaching her "Cut, Shuffle, and Go" method of quilting. The technique isn't difficult to do, but you will be amazed at the awesome results!

Terri Sontra will be teaching some more creative ways to embellish quilts. You can also make her delicious "Chocolate Truffle Scarf".

Kristi Parker will be teaching an applique class that is done entirely by machine but the end result looks as if it done by hand. The picture above shows some examples of the technique.

We hope you can join in all the fun! In order to sign up for classes you must register before May 1st

See you at the Quilter's Sampler!

We've added a new show!

You can find Barbara Chojnacki of Six Gables Designs manning the booth at the Greater Hartford Quilt Guild show on October 13th in Enfield CT. For further info or directions please visit the guilds website http://www.ghqg.org . If you go, be sure and wave to Barb!

2012 Schedule

Wondering where you can find us this year? All over the place!

March 17-18 Pioneer Valley Quilt Guild
Westfield State University
Westfield, MA
http://www.pvquilt.org

March 24-25 Thimble Pleasures Quilt Guild
Blackstone Valley Technical School
Upton, MA
http://www.thimblepleasures.org

April 21-22 Narragansett Bay Quilt Guild
N. Kingstown High School
N. Kingstown, RI
http://www.nbquilts.org

May 4-5 Bedford Friendship Quilt Guild
St. Elizabeth Seton Church
Bedford, NH
http://www.bfqg.org

May 10-11 A Spring Sampler (classes & lectures)
Courtyard Marriott
Nashua, NH

June 1-3 Quilter's Unlimited
Dulles Expo & Conference Center
Chantilly, VA
http://www.quiltersunlimited.org

July 26-29 Maine Quilts
Augusta Civic Center
Augusta, ME
http://www.mainequilts.org

August 4-5 Clamshell Quilt Guild
Connecticut College
New London, CT
http://www.clamshellquiltguild.org

November 1-4 A Quilter's Gathering
Radisson Hotel
Manchester, NH
http://www.aquiltersgathering.com

Whew...I'm tired just typing it out. We might add a show or two along the way - if we do, we'll be sure and let you know. Hope to see you out and about during this year's quilt season!

Terri Sontra
Head Moose
Purple Moose Designs
http://www.PurpleMooseDesigns.com
http://www.Facebook/purplemoosedesigns

Fifth Anniversary Celebration!

Last Friday night the members of NEQDC were all together again for only the third time since the group first formed five years ago. (Another great photo of smiling happy faces! Left to right: Barbara Chojnacki, Beth Helfter, Kristi Parker, Judy Damon, Terri Sontra and Cary Flanagan.)

We presented a program at the Amoskeag Quilters Guild in Manchester, NH. Each of us described how we became designers, showed a selection of our quilts, described our different design styles and talked about what it is like to be part of the group. We also talked about the business side of NEQDC - how we vend as a group at guild and regional quilt shows. At the end we had an opportunity to vend our patterns, books and notions and had a really nice display of our larger quilts hung in the background.

This presentation was a lot of fun and we were well received by an almost standing room only crowd - more than 85 members of the guild were there which is a really good turnout for a bitterly cold January evening!

Before the guild meeting we all met for dinner to visit with each other (lots of giggling!). We rarely get to meet informally like this, since we live all over New England and we really enjoy each others' company. But we also started brainstorming ways we could expand what we offer as a group in addition to vending at shows. Stay tuned as we work out details - we have some really great ideas in the works!

I am so honored to be part of this talented and fun group of 'designing women'!

Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine Quilt Design

Happy Smiling Faces!

The six designers in our group live all over New England, from southern coast of Rhode Island to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, so it is not often we are all in the same place at the same time!  So we thought it would be fun to show you our smiling faces from the one and only time we actually got together as a group while vending.

This photo was taken at our booth at MQX in Manchester NH, spring 2010.

Left to right:  Terri Sontra,  Judy Damon, Kristi Parker, Barbara Chojnacki, Cary Flanagan, Beth Helfter.

Check out the links at right to go to our individual websites.  And watch for our vending schedule for the coming year.  Maybe we will be coming to a quilt guild near you!