The Importance of Show and Tell

We had another great club session today. My favorite part... Show and tell!

Why is show and tell so important?

For yourself: 

- The opportunity to be recognized by fellow makers who truly appreciate your work.

- Motivation to complete or make progress on your project.

- Solicit feedback from the group if you are stuck.

Showing your work for your own satisfaction is only a small part of the reason.

For others:

- Inpsire other members of the group. Someone may be looking for the right inspiration to stop petting and start cutting her fabric.

- Teach others a new technique. Show and tell sparks conversation. So many teaching discussions start from show and tell. 

- Provide courage to that student who is too shy or modest to show her work.

For the teacher:

- Your teacher glows with each piece of show and tell. This means she's inspired you or taught you something. 

- She loves seeing class progress.

- She loves seeing kits turned into quilts! 

- Sometimes you inspire her with something new. Maybe this sparks a new class or store sample. 

Students ask me all the time about bringing show and tell.

Question: Is my work good enough to show?

My response: Even the greatest quilters start somewhere. Most quilters do not recognize the quality of their own work. The classroom isn't a quilt show. Give yourself a break!

Question: I think I bring too much show and tell. I don't think I should bring any more.

My response: Your work is a gift. Unless you are boastful and braggy, the other students really enjoy seeing your work. Everyone has a different amount of time and skill to dedicate to the craft. You may have time to complete a quilt (or two) in the same time someone else can make a block. PLEASE continue to bring show and tell. Your work is so inspiring! 

Question: Can I bring the quilt if I didn't buy the fabric from the shop?

My response: *GASP* you shop somewhere else? - TOTALLY KIDDING! A shop can't possibly carry all the fabric in the world. As a shop owner I only ask that you don't start selling other wares. It's important to support your local shop, but you are not expected to spend all your quilting dollars there. 

Question: I made a really cool scarf. Can I bring that to show and tell? 

My response: We don't carry an inch of yarn, but we encourage makers. We encourage all kinds of creativity!

So the next time you think it doesn't matter, run back to your sewing room to grab something to share before you head to class or club! Who know, you might even win a prize! 

Hugs and Quilts! Julie 

Find Your Pin-spiration

Hi everyone! I'm Kat from Calico Cali Designs, and I'm sew excited to be blogging here with Patched Works!

Have you ever wondered what inspires your favorite fabric designer? How do they come up with such great color combinations, striking patterns and motifs? Thanks to Pinterest, now you can find out exactly what inspires them.
 

What is Pinterest? I'm glad you asked! Pinterest is an online cork board. You "pin" photos to it that inspire you. Think of it as a virtual design wall, but instead of pinning up individual quilt blocks you pin photos. Each photo links back to the website where it came from...so it's a great way to keep track of multiple tutorials, recipes you want to try and anything else you don't want to lose track of.

Pins are organized onto category boards, and when you pin a photo, you decide which of your boards to pin it to. To see what inspires others, you follow people and the boards they create. You can choose to follow every board that they have created or just certain ones. When you first log on to Pinterest you will see the pins from the people/boards that you follow. You can also search for items that you are interested in. 

In order to join you have to be invited to create an account. You can browse the site without an account but you will not be able to create any boards or pin any photos until you have an account. Click here to request an invite to join.

When you first join I recommend installing the 'Pin It' button to your internet browser's tool bar, which makes pinning extremely easy and automatically links pins back to their originating website. Click here for more info on how to install the 'Pin It' button.

For more details on how Pinterest works you can read their "Help" section. It has clear instructions on how to join, pin photos, follow people and more.   

As for those fabric designers I mentioned earlier, below is a list of just some of the amazing fabric designers and companies that you can follow on Pinterest.  Be prepared to be inspired by all of the goodies you will see!

(click on the designers name to open up and view their Pinterest boards)

* Kate Spain - fabric designer with Moda 

* Yummy Goods (Melissa Averinos) -  fabric designer with Andover Fabrics

* Pat Sloan - fabric designer with P&B Textiles. Starting in 2012 her fabric will be with Moda

* Betz White - fabric designer with Robert Kaufman Fabrics

* Bunny Hill Designs - fabric designer with Moda

* Dear Stella Designs

* Riley Blake Designs 

* Robert Kaufman fabrics   

* Moda Fabrics

* Happy Zombie  (Monica Solorio-Snow ) - fabric designer with Lecien 

* Bari J - fabric designer with Art Gallery Fabrics 
* Heather Ross - fabric designer with Seven Islands Fabrics

Happy Pinning!!!

- Kat