Blue Nickel Studios

admin July 14th, 2010

well, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I have been thinking and plotting to get this unique garment from a Seattle-based company.....and because Linda saw them demonstrated at a conference awhile back and has repeatedly told me that she wanted to get me into one…..

so she won…..I think that most of these pictures are actually horrendous, and that 5o pounds that I really wanted to lose has now turned to 70…but neither figure is probably super realistic…..and it requires more conviction than I presently possess….which I say because I just polished off a couple 3-4 larger scoops of vanilla ice cream

Some of my Twitter pals had alternate views on me getting it, but most were for it, okay most who said anything directly regarding this purchase——there is no accounting for those who followed their mother’s advice about things “nice to say” and silence, etc…...and Monica told me I must show them SOON….so I am doing so right now….fresh back from the trip to Seattle.  So there  you have it….and don’t call it a skirt, okay, or something like this may happen to you…..I’m just warning you that’s all…

But just so you know we did a little more in Seattle than this (though not much I must admit)  We happened upon a couple treasures I’m going to share with you.

Found these wonderful books for sale in an antique “paper” store…really neat shop, side street…I did not write down the name….sorry kindly shopowner…

I got them mainly for their covers and the inside art…and just their overall look…even the lovely old book smell…

I love Joe’s outfit on this cover….I think would need to lose half of me to pull it off though…and about 25 years… 

I liked the title of this one, and it reminded me of what I am trying to do in the world of textiles and quilting….the swim part of course is  the actual goal…

I liked all the bindings, but this one in particular caught my eye….

And earlier at the toy store, along with bacon lip balm and bacon soap for the boy’s Christmas stockings, I got this little guy….

  and his box    

and here’s this sad little guy’s story…I looked at the display model, and saw it work all wound up and all….and didn’t take this guy out of his box til I got home….when I did, his arm promptly fell off, and though we got him back together his arms don’t move, and I am pretty sure they did on the model, and he doesn’t really walk too good either….so goes the phrase buyer beware….

That’s it for today’s 2nd post…..(haven’t done two posts in one day in awhile!)

Oh, and I might even read those books….......eventually….....maybe…....

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admin July 19th, 2009

.......Mr. Fassett and his upcoming book Quilt Romance.  I got to see this book in it’s raw form….(mostly the pictures and not all the words) when I was at Quilt Market 2 months ago (was it really only 2 months ago? seems like a long time ago already…

Anyway back to Kaffe Fassett’s newest book.  Here is the cover of the American version

  and it is alright….But…..

 I actually liked the cover I saw on Kaffe’s copy at  Market, but he of course had the British cover. This is that cover:

Yummy, huh??!!         I am trying to see if I can get this UK version instead. It will probably cost me more for shipping and the book even, and the insides will be the same but I REALLY liked the UK cover much better.  You see, this cover is more indicative of what the insides are like…lush and exquisite settings with simple but incredible quilts in luscious fabrics…..yeah, I just love Kaffe’s books…

And speaking of books….one of my quilts made the cover of another book, this time in front and center.  The book is Oh My Stars and should be out sometime this late summer I am thinking. Marci asked me to interpret her idea in quilt form for her book and the center quilt in this photo is what I came up with.   It was quite involved and took a lot of time, but Marci and crew really liked it, and I was happy to have helped them out, and equally happy to have it on the cover!

Okay and remember my first quilt for Free Spirit? Well I just saw that it was in France recently. 

I knew it had been to Germany (was in a German magazine ad too, I was told, but I haven’t yet seen that ad; still hoping to though), but I saw my quilt in slide #14 of this slideshow.  Pretty cool I thought..I should have embedded a camcorder in that quilt so I could see the world with it! 

And this next piece is just so cool I had to share it with you. I discovered it on DudeCraft, and got the embedding code from there. I was so excited that I figured out how to embed a YouTube video….with a little computer help from my web guru Richard.

    Now tell me …wasn’t that cool??!

Okay….now a Blue Nickel Post wouldn’t be complete without some completely random shots of something do with color, design, art….or just life in general…so here are a few of the backlogged photos.  

This is closeup of garage sale pix in previous post… 

This is really old from the spring…love these little grape hyacinths   

My friend Jona sent me this order from her store Fabritopia.....and all the little snippets on the right? they were thrown in for free!!  I cannot tell you how much that little extra touch totally made me want to shop with Jona again!  Thanks Jona…(oh, and that is “john-na, not “joan-ah” everyone!....don’t even try her last name!!  )

Oh, and some Sis Boom Laundry...at least I think it is all Sis Boom…if not it must be Free Spirit!

       I haven’t yet cut into this batch…I really need to…I just love it SEWmuch!!    

Well that’s it for today…this post took quite a time to get up….I want to sew and PAINT the rest of the day…I love and hate computers…and right now, I am really getting tired of  being so “plugged in”  I think I am becoming addicted….but that is another story altogether.

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admin August 13th, 2008

Wendy, the self-proclaimed stitchduchess!  So now, Wendy, you need to email me privately to collect your prize.   A huge thank you to all who stopped by and left comments.  Any and all comments are appreciated. And I will have more giveaways!

I will post a picture of the gift Wendy will be getting later….for now, I wanted to show you all the newest book by my friends Sara Nephew and Marci Baker…This book is shipping out right now, so be sure to ask for it!  The quilt on the comfy chair by the fireplace is MY quilt!! Sara has had me test patterns for her over the years, and recently sold her business to Marci.  Marci and I are planning on publishing many new designs together in magazine, books, and patterns.  So look for us in the future.  I have been working on one right now, and since it is slated for submissions to be published, I can’t post it here, but it is cool!  Can’t wait for it to be published! 

So that is all for today folks!  Make sure you head over to Wendy’s site to tell her she won!

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admin August 6th, 2008

When I was in college a couple hundred years ago….well, not quite that, but it was before the internet for the common folk, baby!   Anyway, I was an English major back then, and I still love words.  I just love the word play on these books that follow.  I saw  them at the craft store last night.  I don’t knit, so I didn’t buy them, but they definitely got my attention.  I mean sex obviously sells.  

As does (MDT) Male Dominance Theory…this book kinda makes me want to take up knitting…just because I can’t let this guy to have the bigger balls…okay, I don’t even understand the show-up-manship that happens between us guys, but I mean really, look at the size of those balls.  ( I mean the yarn balls, people, okay? Sheesh, where are your minds anyway?)     

And in this one, the title and the photo just crack me up.  Very anti-American TV programming, isn’t it?  I mean that hot, dark,and handsome man is looking very dejected by his equally hot and crafty woman….maybe if he buys the book above, they could have a little more in common!   

Sometimes, I just don’t know where I get these thoughts from.  You know all my sewing needles are pretty small compared to knitting needles, hmmm….maybe I should take up knitting…...

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admin March 24th, 2008

That sounds ominous, but it wasn’t.  I just didn’t have time to write about the weekend during the weekend that is all….or I didn’t make time to write about it.  Anyway, Easter Saturday was a really cold morning.  When I went out for my morning fitness walk, Sassy, our beloved she-manx cat, barely lifted herself out of her bed.

  Here she is in her royal swan bed.  My dad made this bed as a planter, but after the first set of geraniums died, her royal highness Sassy, took over years ago, and it is now her place. It was so cold though, she wouldn’t even come to the door looking for a hand to pet her, or a handout of food.

This is the sunrise that greeted me on that Saturday morning.  I wanted to capture the abundance of snow on the foothills, but I don’t think this photo does it justice. We really don’t have snow on those hills very often, especially not on Easter morning.         

Easter Sunday rather a disappointment to me, as I didn’t at all get the sermon at church.  The time of worship was good, but the best part was when my friend Mike read from Matthew the part about not worrying about the future, each day has enough worry of its own. It reminded me of a book I recently read called The Shack.    It is a very powerful book, and one of the best parts was about  God’s love for us.  The phrase “God loves you” is so over done these days, I find it rather meaningless but this book reminds us the God is “especially fond” of us…all of us, even if we don’t acknowledge His hand in our lives.  The whole “His” references are challenged in this book too, as God first shows up as a very large African-American woman.  I love it!   There are many far-right seekers of God that would be offended by that, and the far-left seekers get too wrapped up in themselves to see that God is both male/female.  He created us that way in His/Her image.  I still refer to Him as Him, but it is good to know that He is our mother as well…...Kinda trippy and metaphysical I know, but it is a good book, and the book is not hard to read at all.  There are no pictures, and I even managed to get through it in 3 days….

Another great book (with some REALLY trippy parts) as well is The War of Art .   

 It is rather strange, and parts of it are hilarious, but some of it speaks well about fighting artistic blockages of all sorts.  It rather demonfies “resistance” and glorifies perhaps defies art.  The author has some strange religious anger brewing underneath his ramblings, and some of that I found rather annoying, but I did like how he faced resistance head on and basically challenges the reader to keep plugging through all the barriers that keep one from creating.   I recommended it to my friend Mark Lipinski on the phone, and while we were talking he ordered it from Amazon.  I am wondering what he will think when he reads it.  I think the line that I read him likened the problems of Resistance to somethings like acne, world hunger, and erectile dysfunction.    I KNOW that the ED is in there, that is what made me laugh out loud. 

Anyway back to Easter Sunday….it rained and rained and rained…..not very “springy”......so the Pagan Easter part of the celebration was pretty drenched down….did see some neighbor girls way out back running around in boots and fancy dresses looking for eggs….that was pretty funny  The Christian part of the celebration left me rather sad….I think I must have missed it….all of it…the point of Jesus on the cross and ressurrecting on Sunday I “KNOW” it in my head, but my heart sure didn’t seem to notice, and I think that is the point where I was very disappointed by it all..

This is supposed to be an “Artistic” blog, so I don’t know why I wrote all that heavy stuff…it is not like anyone really reads this stuff anyway.   But there you have it, Easter weekend in a nutshell…..

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admin June 8th, 2007

 Are these cool flipflops or what?  My lovely wife, Linda, picked them up at Fred Meyer’s for about 4 bucks.  I thought they looked mighty fine on the old farm table that I spruced up with sherbert colors last summer:

Speaking of my lovely wife, she had two dolls featured in the book Art Doll Adventures by Lisa Li Hertzi, below is a picture of the cover:

     Linda has more about it at www.missmabelstudio.com look it up under OOAK dolls (One Of A Kind).

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