Angel Snakes

Constant Learning, the Key to Creativity

"Most of the the time, though, creativity is the act of reassembling many elements that are already known. That's why domain knowledge is so critical," Seth Godin in his recent blog post.

In an attempt to acquire more domain knowledge and to have fun with friends, Gay recently attended a luncheon and presentation connected with the Berea Arts Council Quilt Extravaganza. She had a great time and learned much. 

The speaker for the occasion was Katie Pasquini Masopust who entertained us with stories of her travels around the world and beautiful images of quilts, some hers and some made by others. 

We also visited the exhibits of quilts by local artists at the Berea Arts Council Gallery and the Berea Community School. 

Gay spends a good bit of time learning what others do. Such study helps her be creative.

Wings Up!!!
Madilla

PS: Sharon is young so we took her to the the event in hopes of educating her. Unfortunately, she only had eyes for the corn pudding and the English trifle at Boone's Tavern. 

Design Wall for Quilters and Other Artists

Much as a painter uses an easel, a quilter uses a design wall to be able to see what she is creating in an upright position. 

This is one of Gay's design walls that she constructed from a 4' x 8' piece of 1 inch foam insulation board (@$16 at Lowe's). She covered it with felt using her big staple gun and clipped it to her stash racks to keep it upright. It weighs very little. Fabric for the quilts will stick to the cloth even without being pinned if it is not too heavy, but pins easily stick into the board to hold things securely if that is necessary.

Fung Shui specialists say that open shelving drains energy, so Gay looked at her book shelves and agreed that they did not make for the most pleasant creative space.

She went back to Lowe's and got another piece of foam board, cut it to the right size (very easy with a box cutter), and leaned it against the shelves. Now she has two design walls and nicer scenery. 

By the way, Gay moves a lot, in case you had not figured that out. These design walls will move with her very easily.

Wings Up!!!
Madilla

PS: Gay needed to block a sweater she had knitted, so she just laid the design wall on the floor and laid the sweater out. It worked perfectly.