Goodness me! I feel so very fortunate. I have had such a fun and busy summer that I don't even know where to start!
This past month I have been working on a custom quilt order that I got through Etsy. My client wanted the pattern of this quilt:
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| Galapagos | |
With the palette from this quilt:
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| Sand and Sea Glass |
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It sounded easy, but when I went to buy fabrics, I realized that there are places for 17 fabrics in the Galapagos quilt and, I don't know how many colors in the Sand and Sea Glass quilt, so it was a bit of a challenge to get all of the colors represented.
This is the gradation that I ended up with---->
So, now the quilt top is pieced and ready to go to Regina to be quilted.
I have this quilt hanging in landscape orientation, because that is how it will hang on the wall of her new home.
In addition to that I had a wonderful time at my booth at The Yellow River Jam, which is a festival that happens every October in my lovely town of Porterdale. It involves kayak paddling on the river in the morning, followed by an afternoon of live music, food, and artists booths in the park beside the river. So Much fun! My dear friends Mary Beth and Eleanor joined me for the weekend with Mary Beth's pottery, and we had so much fun!
In September, I went to spend some time with Baltimore Heritage Quilters Guild. I did a trunk show there, plus I taught an A Maze Zing class. It is so much fun to see all of the color variations they came up with!
I had such a lovely time with this group of ladies!
BTW: I will freely admit that I am not the most tech savvy blogger around. When it comes to technology, it seems like I am always struggling and bungling. I just started an Instagram account. I am excited about this because it means that in future I can post class photos to that account directly from my phone on the same day as the class, instead of waiting until I get around to uploading photos to my computer. Maybe now it will not take me a month and a half or more to post photos from my classes. Hope springs eternal anyway! Now, if only I can get my Instagram account to add my posts to my Quilt Designs by Candace page, instead of my personal Candace Hassen page.... one day.....
So that is what I have been up to lately, I hope your summer has been fun filled and productive. Thanks for stopping by! Linking to Oh Scrap! and Main Crush Monday
I hope everyone has been having a lovely holiday season!
Now that the New Year is almost here, my thoughts are drawn to what I can do to make the most of the coming year.
For a couple of years now, I have wanted improve my technological skills. Navigating the digital world has not come very naturally to me. A couple of years ago, I felt completely lost. Then I learned that you can find videos on how to do almost anything imaginable on YouTube. That helped some. I have since discovered https://www.creativelive.com/
They have classes geared towards people who are trying to pursue some type of creative endeavor. There are always many classes about photography. I have learned many things about my digital camera that I never knew. There are also a lot of classes on using Adobe Suite programs, and different aspects of digital marketing for creative people. I have always wanted to figure out how to add computer drawn figures to my patterns, instead of the hand drawn figures I have been doing. That way it would be easier for me to sell a digital copy of my patterns if someone prefers that to a hardcopy. The classes there are quite meaty. They are not too expensive, and there are lots of sales. Also, they always have about 6 classes you can watch for free. But, to see them for free, you have to watch them when they are on, like old style broadcast TV. To watch them on YOUR time schedule, you have to pay for them.
So here are some goals I am planning to work on for 2017:
1. Synchronize imagery in my blog, FaceBook page, Website, Pintrest, and Etsy site. Notice the new banner?
2. Add rest of my quilts to my Website.
3. Learn InDesign, and use it to layout patterns, and add illustrations to those patterns.
4. Start a YouTube channel-I already have several quilting related video ideas. First I am gonna have to learn to make and edit a video. Before I do that, I probably going to have to get rid of this pesky cold.
5. Make an email newsletter so I can let people know when I have uploaded a new video, have a new pattern, or quilt.
6. I have always wanted to write a book, but my quilt designs tend to be pretty varied, and I struggle with tying enough of the together with a cohesive concept. I might try to write an ebook. That way I can experiment, and not be restrained by a publisher's idea of what will sell.
7. I want to add projection to my trunk show. Sometimes I want to show a quilt I no longer have to make a point. It would be really nice to be able to project a photo of a quilt I no longer have on hand.
8. Last I hope to be a better, more consistent blogger in 2017.
So that is what I will be striving for in 2017. What will you be working on? I would love to hear what your goals are.
Here are some quilts I finished in 2016:
Sand and Sea Glass-complete
Hoopla-pieced and quilted, still needs binding hand stitched, sleeve added, and photographed
Burgeoning Spring-likewise, piecing, quilting, and binding machine attached, but I still need to sew the hand sewn side, add the sleeve, and photograph it.
Ablaze-pieced and quilted, partially bound, but still needs binding hand sewn, sleeve, and to be photographed. I have also added a boarder since this photo was taken.
Dresden plate-I haven't gotten it quilted or named, but the top is done. It will probably be the first to get quilted in 2017!
Baby quilt for Dori-completed and delivered.
Baby quilt for Madelyn- shame on me, I finished this quilt, but forgot to photograph it. In a year when I have so few finishes, I am not about to exclude it anyway!
I hope you all had a good 2016, and best wishes for all of us for a 2017 filled with good times, good friends, and good quilty fun! Thanks for stopping by!
I almost forgot, I finished a quilt just a couple of weeks ago. It is called Sand and Sea Glass.
I wanted to make a quilt that used the "Sonja's Windows " block with colors arranged randomly as opposed to in color families to form HST like I did in my Lake Country Bungalow quilt.
I wanted the blocks to be butted up against each other with no sashing in between them.
And as the name Sand and Sea Glass would suggest, I wanted the colors to remind you of the beach. So here is my new quilt.
That's what I have been up to, thanks for stopping by!
It has been ages since I had anything on my design wall that I could post about for Design Wall Monday. This week I have 2!
A friend of mine saw my "Anastasia" quilt, and ordered one-yeah! She tweaked the colors and size a bit to suit her needs.
I am putting the background together. I discussed that more in my last blog post, so if you want more detail about that, just scroll down one post. Here is a photo of it on my design wall.
I am also working on another strip pieced quilt. This one is made with the same block as my "Sonja's Windows" quilt, but I wanted one where there was no sashing. I also have a friend that is looking for things with "beach colors, part of the motivation for this quilt was to entice her. I have several blocks up on the design wall. This weekend I made strip sets for the rest of the blocks.
When this quilt is finished, I will have this one where the colors are random, and there is no sashing, Lake Country Bungalow, where the strips are arranged to form HST, and which I am still binding.
And the original Sonja's Windows, with sashing. I like being able to show the same block 3 different ways in programs and classes.
So, that is what I am currently working on. There are loads of other peoples' projects at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. I know you will enjoy seeing them, so check that out.
Have a great Monday, and thanks for stopping by!
