A Question : :

We had such a beautiful & very full long weekend. I hope you did too! The sun was pretty intense in all of the photos I snapped yesterday of my mostly finished Endless Summer QAYG quilt. This one is still waiting on binding, which is happening immediately, followed by a proper photo shoot as soon as it's possible! Even unfinished I couldn't resist bringing it along to the lake with us to take a few shots. This little waterfall & stone spot is a favorite of mine, I love the way this quilt mirrors the stacked pattern of the rock wall!



This morning it's a challenge to return to this sewing/quilting blog of mine since I haven't had a minute to sew in several days! I often think to myself how much easier it could be to maintain my blog with new, daily blog posts if I were brave enough to branch out from my usual fabric & quilt-y report to share more of the things we make and do together as a family, and even more if I shared all my recipes! I love to cook, I'm gluten free, and at times have been very low carb and no sugar, as well, although that's a tough one for me to stick with! Still, I can't help but wonder if sharing here, even just once a week, might help me stay the course and even better, might interest or help some of you, too? It's become such a habit for me to only photograph what's happenings in my sewing room each day to share here, as a result I pass over sharing more personal photography, all the simple joys, and so many of my favorite things!

I’d love to read your thoughts today, as I work on something quilt-y to share tomorrow! What do you love most about blog reading? 

Binding Day : :

My newest Making Rows quilt arrived back home from Sew Shabby Quilting this past Friday (you can see the beginnings of this quilt here, here, and here). It is all Pat Bravo, from her lovely Rapture collection with a few coordinating Pure Element solids. 

It's backed in my favorite Wild Beauty print, with 100% cotton batting. Rather than quilting it with my machine, I sent it off to Melissa for some long arm quilty swirls and loops!

Today I'm ready to bind with an AGF Squared Element in Noir! 

Since I didn't have a solid plan when beginning this quilt, just a simple quick sketch of a few rows of pattern ideas, this one became another make-as-I-go 'throw size' quilt, my favorite size to make! With these improv style of quilts, I simply stop when I start running out of fabrics!  

On Saturday I took this unfinished quilt, along with the four others I have finished so far this year and my current Endless Summer wip, and demonstrated my quilt as you go technique at the Potter County Artisan Center Grand Opening. I got a little nervous setting up since there aren't many opportunities locally for me talk about my work, but realized quickly that when it comes to speaking about quilting, I have a lot to say! It was really fun! The experience left me with plenty to think about, and has certainly sparked in me an interest in speaking and teaching more often!

I'm quite the lonesome modern quilter here in Potter County, Pa and realize that if I were to offer sewing/quilting classes that I won't be blessed to see many of you wonderful readers. However, your feedback is always incredibly helpful! So I'm wondering, how many of you have taken a sewing/quilting class? Do you prefer an online workshop forum such as Crafty or Creative bug or do you like to attend face-to-face classes and retreats when you have the chance? How have classes added to your skills as a quilter?

Thank you in advance for sharing with me today! 

♥  Maureen

A Question -- UPDATE : :

Happy Monday! If you follow me on Facebook, then you already know that I heard back from West Elm in regards to my "A Question" post from last week.  How wonderful is that?! From the comments that were left, it's obvious that as a community we all share a very similar opinion on being original, where it is acceptable to get inspiration from, and most importantly -- to always give proper credit!

I'm so happy such a wonderful conversation emerged!

photo from West Elm

From the moment I first saw the Kantha Chevron Pillow Covers come through my facebook feed, to the time I hit publish on that post, was less than 10 minutes. I didn't even think it through fully and I left out some important points initially --

It wasn't my intention to make the pillows, sell the pillows if I made them, or to create a tutorial, when I asked the question.

I was not asking about "copying" or showing an example of an individual artists work, asking if it was alright to "steal" their design.

I was asking as a maker, who so often sees something in a magazine or in a shop, and thinks, "I can make that."

When I asked the question, I used the word "inspired" because my goal would never be to see this pillow and to try my best to make one as similarly as I can. If I were to decide to make one, I would of course want to make it my own through color choice, fabric selection, dimension, construction, process. I would of course give credit to West Elm for being my inspiration!

My Blogger Bundle Inspired by West Elm Mugs

So, here's what a West Elm representative had to say about it...

"Hi Maureen! 

Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention. At west elm, we're happy to provide inspiration any way we can — whether it's the catalyst for a DIY project or desire to purchase our designs for yourself. We embrace the expression of personal style and to keep our own in-house team of designers inspired, we continually seek out designers and artists around the world as collaborators. You can see our current roster of collaborators here: Our Collaborators

In addition to designers and artists we have been partnering with Etsy for the past two years. We work to feature handmade Etsy products and artists in our monthly catalogs and host a number of events in our stores to celebrate local makers in our We <3 Handmade Art events. More on our partnership with Etsy: Shop . Collaborations . Etsy

We like to celebrate personal style on the west elm blog, Front & Main and you can see how some of our fans "make it yours" by taking inspiration from west elm designs and transforming them to meet their needs: Make It Yours

Thanks again for reaching out — if you decide to make a tutorial inspired by our pillow, we'd be happy to feature it on Front & Main!

Best -- AARON"

Are you surprised by their answer? Do you think that their response is rare? Are most companies this supportive of the handmade community? Or, can we truly believe now, what many of us assume -- that these large companies ARE just as inspired by what the handmade community is making?

Should I make the pillow with a tutorial now?! It would be fun, now that I have permission, and that sounds like a pretty good opportunity!

I could use up some of my fabric scraps! Or better yet, wouldn't Indie be the perfect fabric to make one in?!

Indie by Pat Bravo on Facebook

I had also mentioned to my friends Nicke and Jessica, that it would be fun to use this opportunity to do a challenge -- to have a bunch of us make a pillow, all inspired by the Kantha Chevron Pillow Covers, and then we can prove that even with the same image as inspiration, we will all make something different.That everything we make, no matter where the inspiration comes from, can be uniquely ours with our own creative flare! Of course, I would have to get the approval from West Elm before I did anything like this.

So, again today I'm asking one last time for your thoughts on this -- please share!! ♥ Maureen

A Question : :

I just stumbled upon these gorgeous pillows on West Elm, pinned them, and right away thought, "Oh, those would be so fun and simple to make!"

photo from West Elm

This happens to me ALL the time! How about you?

The thing is, I'm not sure if this is alright.

I few years back I was on the receiving end of a mean-spirited and ridiculous attack from some local women (this wasn't online and wasn't something sewn -- I don't think I even owned a computer yet and definitely didn't use my sewing machine yet), who thought I had created something based on a product they had seen that looked similar. They were completely wrong, but it was awful, and hurtful, and sad!

It changed me forever. In a lot of ways.

Artistically, it made me question where my inspiration for my own projects can come from. Where is it ok to pull inspiration from?

As an artist and maker and blogger, my goal is to inspire! I hope that those of you who have found me, see what I make, and it inspires you! To make something or to even try to make what I've made, yourself.

I hope it makes you happy, like it makes me! I hope it makes me you feel all the kinds of wonderful I feel, when I give something that is made with my own two hands to someone, who might love that thing. It's amazing! And that's the reason for ALL of this for me.

For companies, I realize it's different. But is it ok for us as makers, to see a product and then make it ourselves, rather than purchase it? Is it ok for us as bloggers, to then create a tutorial for how to make it? etc...

I know this happens ALL the time. And so, I thought I'd quickly throw this out there and finally ask these questions...

I'd love to know your thoughts on this -- please share!! ♥ Maureen 

edited to add -- I am not planning to make this pillow. This is just an example of what makes me think, "I could make that!" Here's another good example -- and this has been recreated a zillion times on blogs and flickr -- The Orimono Flower Pillow on Anthropologie