I hope everyone had a fabulous and creative weekend! I had every intention of quilting outside, but alas, I pulled a neck muscle last week, so I just tried very hard to be still and take it easy. I read a lot outside on a lounge chair where it was just an absolutely gorgeous sunny and 85 degrees here in Houston. (It is going to be very hard for me to get used to this warm weather…in March!) I can’t wait to get a few more plants for my backyard, and hand stitch or paint fabric outside on the weekends.

I just have to train Clarence, my newly adopted pooch, that while I am relaxing outside, it is not ok to dig up and chew through the wires for the lighting in the garden. I got him out of there, but then he ran upstairs and flopped onto my pillows as if to say, “Yeah, yeah, Woman. I’m way too cute for you to get really mad at me…”

Time For My Maudlin-Free Monday Giveaway!

While continuing to clean and set up my studio last night, I realized I own two editions of Lyric Kinard’s book, Art + Quilt: Design Principles and Creativity Exercises. This is really a fabulous book if you want to create art quilts and hone your design skills.

All you have to do is answer the following question and I’ll randomly choose a winner this Friday.

My Giveaway Question…

One of the things I read this weekend was the latest SAQA Journal, and there was an article by Cindy Grisdela who interviewed a handful of art quilters about how they appropriate their studio time. One person she interviewed was one of my favorite art quilters, Charlotte Ziebarth of Boulder, CO, an artist who abstracts her own photographic images and incorporates them into her quilts. Charlotte said that when she wakes up and knows she is going to work in her studio that day, she doesn’t check her email right away—instead she gets a cup of coffee, and spends the first hour of her day knitting in front of her computer, which is set to a slideshow of her own photographs.

Now, I thought that was a pretty smart way to warm up and stimulate her brain for a creative session in her studio.

My Question: What creative exercise or warm-up do you do to get yourself in the creative zone for some studio play? Or do you just dive in and get to work?