My Designs

AND IN THE MEADOW
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THIS LITTLE PIGGIE
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CARTWHEELING CLAUS
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BUBBLE BATH
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NOVA
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A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS
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GIFT BAG
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HAUNTED HALLOWEEN
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CHRISTMAS BELLS ARE RINGING
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CHRISTMAS ANGEL
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COUNTRY CLAUS
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STAR CROSSED
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LAKE VIEW
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LEXA'S ANGEL
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OH CHRISTMAS TREE
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PEPPERMINTS MUG RUG AND ORNAMENT
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SPRING SHOWERS
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My website is currently down while I am considering other options so I thought I'd post pictures of my patterns so I can give a link to see them all at the same time. If you have any questions about any of my designs please email me at: larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

Abandoned Art

Have you heard of Art Abandonment yet? This is a group of artists who leave their artwork in public places to be found, enjoyed and taken home by whomever finds it. It is one more way to share our talents and bring joy to others by what we love to do! Come join the fun!http://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtAbandonment/165339420257702/

Sneak Peak of library quilt

. . If you are a regular reader of my blog you probably already know I am working on a quilt as a fundraiser for my local library. But in case you're a new reader I'll give you a little background. The Whitehall Public Library, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be celebrating its 50th birthday in 2013. Alfie Chico had the original idea of making a raffle quilt to raise funds for the library but after meeting with Paula Kelly, the head librarian, the two decided the quilt should hang in the library upon completion. Debby Recker attended the meeting where the fundraiser was proposed and volunteered to help with the project. I was brought in to design the quilt and supervise the construction of it. People will have the opportunity to have a book of their choice represented on the quilt for a $100 donation. There will be 50 adult books and 50 childrens' books featured on the quilt as well as a window and window seat and a lot of special, little details. There will also be a companion book to the quilt in which all of the donors will have a page of their own to explain their reason for choosing their book or books. While we are waiting for all of the book titles to be chosen I have started to piece the window section of the quilt. The window is pieced using paper piecing, curved and traditional piecing but will probably also have some applique added later. The curved piecing was a little bit of a challenge for me since I haven't done much of it but I am very happy with the result and I will definitely do more of it! I am so grateful for the opportunity to work on this very important project. I feel so blessed that I can use my talents to help others and I can't wait to see it hanging in the library and show my children "their" book!

For more information or to have your favorite book featured on the quilt send me an email at: larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

*sigh*

My regular students, who know me well, know that I am very generous with my knowledge, my time, my talents and my tools. They know I put in a lot work when I get ready to teach a class for which there is no compensation. I don't get paid for the time I spend looking for or designing a suitable project or the gas I use to go shopping for supplies. I am not reimbursed for the supplies I need to purchase to make a sample. Yes, I usually get to keep the sample but since it needs to be kept looking like new I don't really get to use it. So it really bothers me when I get a complaint about someone having to purchase a pattern for a class.

This happened recently for a class I teach. These are new students to me so I guess it makes sense they might not understand that I am not trying to get them to spend as much money as possible but only trying to follow copyright laws. Usually, I use one of my own designs for this class and I give it to the students for free but since the summer session is 2 weeks shorter than the other sessions I had to find a simpler project to give them the best chance of finishing. The pattern in question retails for $9.95 and I give the students a 25% discount on it so they are paying less than $8 for the pattern. If I am teaching someone else's design it is illegal for me to teach a class without requiring each student to have their own copy of the pattern. I cannot photocopy it and hand it out and the students cannot share a copy or purchase one and make a copy of it themselves. To be perfectly blunt, that is STEALING, and if you do it, you are a THIEF.

Believe me, I understand wanting to get the most for your money but when the shop where you are taking a class is already letting you use one of their machines instead of making you bring your own or allowing you to use their tools and their classroom you are already on the plus side. There is no benefit to the shop to have additional wear and tear on their floor models, to have to replace needles that are broken due to the user not knowing how to use the machine properly or to have rotary cutter blades and mats wear out before they should.

The shop where I teach this class is not compensated for the use of their classroom either. The only thing they ever get out of it is an occasional machine sale or the wholesale price of a pattern or other supply. We are using their space that they pay for with their rent or mortgage payment that they could be using to teach their own class. We're also using their tools and their electricity.

Teachers that aren't nationally or internationally known aren't getting rich teaching. We do it because we love it. We love to share what we know and we love knowing that other people are enjoying learning a new skill and being successful in their creative endeavors because of our efforts.

I don't know if the right people will see this post but I hope that I have at least educated a few people out there who may be tempted to complain about having to pay for something they don't think they should. I would love to hear other peoples' thoughts on this subject, even opposing views.

Quilt still available!

I can hardly believe it, but this beautiful quilt is still available! My friend is looking for someone who will appreciate this handmade quilt and give it a good home. She is asking only $500 but is also open to entertaining other offers. This quilt measures 80" x 92" and is handquilted. Contact Kathy Hartman if you are interested.

 412-563-5871 or kathleenhartman@verizon.net.

Mermaids, again.

 I have a lot of people that find my blog because of the word "mermaid" so I thought I would post a picture of the project I was working on today. It is a jean jacket with a mermaid applique which I did a while ago but today I decided to get out my new Babylock Embellisher and add some yarn and wool roving in the background. There is still a lot of work to do but thought you might like to see the progress. I'd love to hear what you think about her!

Sewing and Quilting Expo coming to Pittsburgh!

In case you haven't heard, The Original Sewing and Quilting Expo is coming to Pittsburgh for the first time! The show is August 2, 3 and 4, 2012 and registration for classes has begun. Lots of big name teachers and wonderful classes! I even have the opportunity to teach my tips and tricks for paper piecing with directional fabrics!

Pictured above is my project. They are ornaments with a little pocket in the back where you can hide a gift card or other small gift for someone special. Both ornaments are made with the exact same fabric but used in different positions. If you've ever wanted to use a directional fabric in a paper piecing project but found it difficult to get it just right I can show you how!

Here is a link to the Pittsburgh show: http://sewingexpo.com/PittsburghPA.aspx

Quilt For Sale!

This beautiful quilt is completely hand-made. I was told it was hand-pieced and it is obviously hand quilted. It measures 80" X 92". The background is pink and the kaleidoscope blocks are fussy cut and pieced from the same fabric. If you are interested in purchasing this quilt contact Kathy Hartman at 412-563-5871 or kathleenhartman@verizon.net. Serious inquiries only please.

Beginning Quilting

I teach a beginning quilting community college course a couple of times a year. The project I teach has all of the elements of traditional quilting, including strip piecing, applique, adding borders, quilting, binding and adding a hanging sleeve. This is one version of that project. In the first class, I talk about choosing fabric and the supplies each student will need. I also show my first quilt and point out there are almost no points on any of my stars. In addition, I show some of my more recent quilts but I want to make sure they know I was a beginner once, too. In a recent session of this course, I met a lady who was as passionate as myself about quilting and she inspired this design. The project I usually teach has a simpler applique design but as soon as Nancy learned how to piece the background she began making more backgrounds in different fabrics. Each background had a different theme so it needed a different applique design. So far, between the 2 of us, we have created 4 other applique designs. Our idea is to do seasonal banners and this rose is the banner for February. We have also finished designs for December, March, April and October. I will post pictures of those soon. Did you take a beginning class or are you self taught? What was your first project?

Busy, Busy, Busy

I am working on so many projects right now its hard to keep them straight! The ones I am most excited about are the designs chosen for publication by Arbee Designs. I've got 3 more in the works for them and I feel like a 10 year old waiting for Christmas! I wish I could give you a preview but I have to wait until Arbee is ready to publish so it will be a little while.

I got to spend last Saturday with a group of ladies from the Hearts and Hands Guild in Scottdale, PA, teaching them paper piecing. What a great group! Most of the ladies worked on my design called, Bubble Bath, pictured below, but I had a couple doing some other projects, too. One was working on my design called Cartwheeling Claus, also pictured.

A New Chapter

This is my newest design, called Star Crossed, just published by Arbee Designs! It is a small, paper pieced wall quilt and I had a lot of fun making it myself, so I hope others will, too. I am so excited to be working with Arbee Designs since I will have more of an opportunity to do the part of quilting that I love the most--DESIGNING! I love being able to create something that didn't exist before. So many people think quilts can only be made with half square triangles and squares. That is simply NOT true and I aim to prove it. Traditional quilts are beautiful and I admire them but today's quilters have so many tools and techniques that we aren't limited  (unless we want to be) to doing what our mothers and grandmothers did. Try something new, spread your wings and fly!

Ruth Blanchet and her team at Arbee Designs will do the part I like the least--printing, folding, marketing and selling. I've already got 2 more designs in the works with Arbee so its back to work for me.

Check out all of the other amazing quilt patterns available from Arbee Designs here: http://arbeedesigns.com/

What Now?

I haven't had much to say lately, um...let me rephrase that...I haven't had anything nice to say lately so I've been quiet. This world is such a crazy place and some days you just want to hide. The shooting of the young man in Florida is really troubling, but I don't want to rant about that, so I'll just say how sad I am for his family and I hope justice will be done.

The other thing that has been bothering me lately is this big flap made by Kate Spain over someone using her design illegally. If you haven't heard about this it involves a quilt designer using some of Kate's fabric to make a quilt that was published in a book. The fabric was used in a scrappy manner so I believe it wasn't all hers but then the publisher of the book used an image of the scrappy quilt to make tote bags. Kate licenses her designs so she has a say in how they are used but when does the design stop being in her control? There was the threat of a lawsuit and she allegedly wanted the books destroyed as well as an outrageous sum of money.

This whole thing smacks of good, old American greed and I can say for sure I will not ever purchase anything with Kate Spain's name on it and that includes gift wrap or stationary or anything else.

I'm sure there will be other opinions out there and this is just mine but life is too short to deal with petty people!

I feel better now.

Library Quilt underway!

I have been asked to help construct a quilt to benefit the Whitehall Public Library as well as celebrate its 50th Anniversary! Plans are already underway and we are excited to get to work. But we can't do too much until we know what books will be featured on the quilt. The quilt has been designed and we have a list of books, so far, but want to make sure people are aware of this project and let them know they have the opportunity to get their favorite book represented on the quilt, too!

The actual quilt will be a book shelf/shelves with 50 adult titles and 50 children's titles. It will hang in the Whitehall Library and be displayed with a companion book that will feature the names of the people who chose the books and their reasons for their choice.

We have a lot of special details planned for the quilt so it will definitely be something to see when it is finished. The deadline to get your book choice in is August 31st, 2012 so we will have enough time to construct it and have it ready for unveiling in the spring of 2013.

Feel free to contact me via email for more information: larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

Or contact The Whitehall Public Library
                  100 Borough Park Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15236
                  412-882-6622
                  www.whitehallpubliclibrary.org Email - whitehall@einetwork.net