Don’t you just hate when technology gets in the way of your creative urges? My computer has been behaving more and more erratically lately. For example, it has been messing up my email accounts and my primary quilt design program. Most frustrating , I have tried numerous times to access my blog and although I can get to it to see old posts, I have been unable to post new content on my computer. It finally occurred to me I should try my tablet. Lo and behold, I can write a new post to my blog on my iPad (herewith). Very strange, Sorry it has been such a long time sine I last wrote. A new computer may be in the cards.
I spent a fabulous few days at “our little log cabin in the woods” with my sister-in-law Edie in mid-August. I mentioned earlier that she is an artist and we planned to spend these few days , just the two of us, experimenting together with new materials and mediums. The idea was to “play” with our art with no pre-determined outcomes and to support each other. Working with mixed media is very new to me so this concept was both exciting and frightening for me! Edie has worked with mixed media and collage beforea and was excited to bring natural ‘found’ items into her work with oils and acrylics on canvas. At the cabin we are surrounded by trees of many varieties which yielded pine cones, lichens, moss, twigs, and Birch bark. Lots of interesting colors and textures! Edie was in heaven!
For my part I wanted to combine working with fabrics and small canvasses, using Modpodge as a glue and a way to get a 3-D effect with fabric. I also cut some of my fabrics into tiny squares and made a mosaic using the Modpodge to hold the pieces on the canvas. I really stretched my boundaries but had great fun experimenting.
The best part was that Edie and I were able to bounce ideas off each other and critique each other’s work as it progressed with no value judgements attached. It was an exhilarating process for each of us.
We had such a good experience during those few days that we both wanted to do it again. However, with each of us living on opposite coasts (New Hampshire and California), the idea came to me we should look into finding a workshop that both of us could enjoy (mixed media instead of a quilt oriented retreat) And I found the perfect one to be held next January in Napa CA. It is called Craft Napa (craftingalifellc.com/craft-napa). It will be four days of intensive immersion in two one-day workshops and one two-day workshop. I am really psyched!
SO - talk about new adventures and living the “Big Juicy Life!! Give it a try - you will have a blast!
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Another Year Older!
So - Yesterday was my birthday. I am 73 years young. Even though parts of me no longer look or function quite the way they once did, I am happy to say I am just as creative and “juicy” as I used to be.
When I tell people I have finally decided to ‘retire’, they think I am going to stop doing all the things I have been doing for the past fifteen years. Heck no! I will continue to design, sew, write, create, but hopefully with more freedom to just enjoy the process and not have to make something to order, or meet a specific requirement or deadline. THAT is the part I am retiring from.
Recently I was part of a wonderful conversation with a group of people ‘of a certain age’. We were talking about our lives including sore knees and backs. One gentleman (who was likely in his late 80’s) brandished his cane like a badge of honor and said emphatically: ”None of us knows how long we have left. I prefer to live as full of joy as I possibly can and not worry about what comes next!” I have heard this lifestyle referred to as living a ‘big juicy life’. That is the way I try to live my life, though, I have to say, it is pretty tough when the heat index (temperature plus humidity) is near or above 100 degrees!
Anyhow - back to my birthday - I had a really lovely day. Lunch with my best girlfriend, a few hours at a sewing machine shop (Nashua Sew & Vac), a nice dinner at home with my hubby, who not only cooked dinner but also brought me flowers and a yummy desert! Nice!
The best part, though, was my purchase of a high end sewing machine with lots of bells and whistles at a close-out price of almost $800.00 under the regular price! I figure, at this stage in my life this will likely be the last time I purchase a serious machine (and it replaces my twelve-yr. old machine that died a couple of months ago). On top of that, I got talking about what I do (design, teach, etc.) with Karen, who was helping me with the purchase and the owner and they have invited me to bring my patterns next time I am down there to discuss the possibility of teaching some classes! Pretty awesome!
So as part of my new, more liberated juicy life, I am certainly not above accepting (even encouraging) opportunities to teach (which I love to do) and (not incidentally) make a little money. While I am at it.
Feeling Groovey!
I love comments and will respond to everyone who leaves one.
Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine
www.somethingsewfine.com
Somethingsewfine@comcast.net
When I tell people I have finally decided to ‘retire’, they think I am going to stop doing all the things I have been doing for the past fifteen years. Heck no! I will continue to design, sew, write, create, but hopefully with more freedom to just enjoy the process and not have to make something to order, or meet a specific requirement or deadline. THAT is the part I am retiring from.
Recently I was part of a wonderful conversation with a group of people ‘of a certain age’. We were talking about our lives including sore knees and backs. One gentleman (who was likely in his late 80’s) brandished his cane like a badge of honor and said emphatically: ”None of us knows how long we have left. I prefer to live as full of joy as I possibly can and not worry about what comes next!” I have heard this lifestyle referred to as living a ‘big juicy life’. That is the way I try to live my life, though, I have to say, it is pretty tough when the heat index (temperature plus humidity) is near or above 100 degrees!
Anyhow - back to my birthday - I had a really lovely day. Lunch with my best girlfriend, a few hours at a sewing machine shop (Nashua Sew & Vac), a nice dinner at home with my hubby, who not only cooked dinner but also brought me flowers and a yummy desert! Nice!
The best part, though, was my purchase of a high end sewing machine with lots of bells and whistles at a close-out price of almost $800.00 under the regular price! I figure, at this stage in my life this will likely be the last time I purchase a serious machine (and it replaces my twelve-yr. old machine that died a couple of months ago). On top of that, I got talking about what I do (design, teach, etc.) with Karen, who was helping me with the purchase and the owner and they have invited me to bring my patterns next time I am down there to discuss the possibility of teaching some classes! Pretty awesome!
So as part of my new, more liberated juicy life, I am certainly not above accepting (even encouraging) opportunities to teach (which I love to do) and (not incidentally) make a little money. While I am at it.
Feeling Groovey!
I love comments and will respond to everyone who leaves one.
Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine
www.somethingsewfine.com
Somethingsewfine@comcast.net
Sunday, July 29, 2018
New Directions
I am back at the “little log cabin in the woods” for a long weekend, visiting my brother and participating in the annual art show of the Arts Council of Tamworth (NH). I had two of my wall quilts and my novel “After the Storm’ in the show and was delighted to sell one of the wall quilts at the opening Friday night.
It was lovely to have several people come up to me as soon as I arrived at the opening who greeted me with “so you are the quilter!” And then the woman who shyly approached me to ask questions about one of my quilts and then bought it. I have missed the days when I used to vend at quilt shows (both big and small) and had a chance to meet and talk directly with people interested in my work. I really enjoy that kind of personal interaction and need to find new ways to experience it.
I have been thinking for a while that as part of my journey towards New Directions I would like to concentrate on making smaller quilts that could be displayed as art pieces as opposed to the type I have been designing for the past 14 years that are primarily larger quilts meant to be used on beds or to snuggle with on sofas. This art show has given me the push I need to begin thinking more about quilts as ART and to be willing to sell some of them. I also need to think of myself more as an artist than a designer. That is more difficult to internalize but I am working on it.
One idea that came up when I was visiting family in Berkeley CA the last week of June was to collaborate (for want of a better word) with my brother and sister-in-law who are both painters. I love their work and thought how wonderful it would be if I could make some art quilts “inspired by” some of their paintings and maybe mount an art exhibit together. My SIL loves the idea! What do you think?
I welcome any feedback you want to share.
Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine
Http://www.somethingsewfine.com
It was lovely to have several people come up to me as soon as I arrived at the opening who greeted me with “so you are the quilter!” And then the woman who shyly approached me to ask questions about one of my quilts and then bought it. I have missed the days when I used to vend at quilt shows (both big and small) and had a chance to meet and talk directly with people interested in my work. I really enjoy that kind of personal interaction and need to find new ways to experience it.
I have been thinking for a while that as part of my journey towards New Directions I would like to concentrate on making smaller quilts that could be displayed as art pieces as opposed to the type I have been designing for the past 14 years that are primarily larger quilts meant to be used on beds or to snuggle with on sofas. This art show has given me the push I need to begin thinking more about quilts as ART and to be willing to sell some of them. I also need to think of myself more as an artist than a designer. That is more difficult to internalize but I am working on it.
One idea that came up when I was visiting family in Berkeley CA the last week of June was to collaborate (for want of a better word) with my brother and sister-in-law who are both painters. I love their work and thought how wonderful it would be if I could make some art quilts “inspired by” some of their paintings and maybe mount an art exhibit together. My SIL loves the idea! What do you think?
I welcome any feedback you want to share.
Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine
Http://www.somethingsewfine.com
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Musings on the Old Country Store
Have you ever purchased a penny candy from a jar or been offered a sample sliver of delicious cheddar cheese from a huge round under a glass dome? Have you purchased a loaf of homemade bread fresh from the oven, a yard of pretty red ribbon and a pound of nails all from the same counter? If you have, you were likely in an old-fashioned country or general store, the kind that carries pretty much anything anyone might ever want to buy.
There are several old stores like that that I enjoyed visiting as a child (and still do when given the opportunity). One of my favorites is in Moultonboro NH. It has the distinction of being one of the oldest country stores in the US still in operation. It was established in the late 1700’s! I pass by this fascinating store every time I travel to or from my family’s summer place and I always wish I had time to stop. It seems I am always in a hurry to get somewhere or do something. Part of my transition promise to myself is to take time more often to enjoy the ride more than the destination.
Here is how Hannah Applegate describes the store owned by her childhood friend Jane’s parents in my novel “After the Storm”.
There are several old stores like that that I enjoyed visiting as a child (and still do when given the opportunity). One of my favorites is in Moultonboro NH. It has the distinction of being one of the oldest country stores in the US still in operation. It was established in the late 1700’s! I pass by this fascinating store every time I travel to or from my family’s summer place and I always wish I had time to stop. It seems I am always in a hurry to get somewhere or do something. Part of my transition promise to myself is to take time more often to enjoy the ride more than the destination.
Here is how Hannah Applegate describes the store owned by her childhood friend Jane’s parents in my novel “After the Storm”.
“Sometimes Jane, Lydia and I stopped at her parents’ general store on our way home from school to visit or to pick up something my aunt needed. Jane’s mother always welcomed Lydia and me with a big smile and an offer of a sweet from one of the many jars on the counter (my favorite part of the store). She was very round and jolly, always talking and laughing with the customers. I don’t think I ever saw her angry with anyone in all the years I knew her.
I did not see much of Jane’s father. He was in charge of keeping the books and bringing in new stock. Once in a while, he appeared when I was there with an armload of shovels or a few bolts of new calicos. He also spent one or two days each week away from the store with a large “Tinker’s” wagon. He would go from farm to farm in the outlying areas to sell his wares to folks who rarely came into town. He would collect from them fresh butter and milk, apples, furs and wool in trade. When I saw him at the store, he always had an affectionate word for Jane, a warm greeting for me, and a smile for his wife but otherwise was quite reserved.
I marveled at the variety and abundance of wonderful things sold in the store. They had everything from giant pickles in a barrel to pitchforks and kerosene lamps, not to mention staples such as potatoes and baking flour, eggs and fresh vegetables in season. Huge bags of grain were sold for livestock, along with parasols and dress gloves of fine leather or lace. If you brought in your own jars or bottles, you could get honey or maple syrup measured out for you. It was almost more than a mind could take in.
Behind the counter was a shelf filled with bolts of fancy dress fabrics, including silks, satin and the more common muslins and calicos along with threads and notions of every kind and color imaginable! This shelf fascinated me and I wished I could go behind the counter to get a closer look. There was also a giant wheel of the most delicious cheddar cheese next to the register, and you could ask to have a tiny piece cut off for a taste or a wedge wrapped in paper to take home.
Aunt Rebecca ran a tab at the general store that she would pay off at the end of each month with her hard-earned money. Often she bartered fresh eggs or her own homemade jams or pies for part of what she purchased that month. Other folks in town did the same, bringing in fresh vegetables, bushel baskets of apples, jars of maple syrup from their own trees That’s how there were always fresh goods at the store. It was an arrangement that worked well for everybody.
In summer, folks gathered on the wide veranda in front of the store to rest and gossip in the shade when they had the time. There was a swinging bench at one end of the veranda and several rocking chairs to the right of the entry into the store. Fresh lemonade or sarsaparilla with a chunk of ice was a welcome treat on a hot day! In winter, men gathered around the big pot-bellied stove that stood in the center of the large main room, and smoked their pipes or cigars and talked. The store was warm and welcoming and had a wonderful smell of pipe tobacco, spices, and herbs, fresh baked bread and donuts. It seemed to me that this store was the very heart of the village. Except for my aunt’s house, the general store was my favorite place to be as I grew up!"
What was your favorite place to be when you were growing up? What do you wish you had more time to savor before you have to move on to the "next thing"? What do you need to make more space for in your life? I would love to hear your thoughts and insights.
Cary
www.somethingsewfine.com
somethingsewfine@comcast.net
What was your favorite place to be when you were growing up? What do you wish you had more time to savor before you have to move on to the "next thing"? What do you need to make more space for in your life? I would love to hear your thoughts and insights.
Cary
www.somethingsewfine.com
somethingsewfine@comcast.net
Thursday, July 12, 2018
A log cabin in the woods
I have been spending this past week at my family’s summer property on a small lake south of the White Mountains in NH. My husband and I are the caretakers since we live the closest (my family is scattered across the US and Canada and come east when they can.) Each spring and fall we open and close the cabin for the coming season. (I will spare you the details of what that entails, just know that mice and occasionally squirrels are involved.)
Our cabin is made of logs cut from the woods all around it back in the 1930’s when my parents bought 300 acres at $10.00 an acre! My mother designed the cabin but it was built by local woodsmen and builders and the road leading to it was also cut and laid by local men through 3/4 of a mile of thick woods and marsh.
It is so quiet here and so serene, it is possible to forget you live in the 21st century! So it is no particular surprise that my first novel “After the Storm” was set here, moving this cabin, this lake, the small local village and the entire region all the way back to the 19th century.
Hannah, the primary character of the story, was orphaned in the early years of the Civil War and was raised by her Aunt Rebecca, a dressmaker, who taught Hannah to sew and eventually to quilt at a young age. Hannah and her friend Aaron went to the nearby one room schoolhouse together and eventually grew up, fell in love and married. Aaron built this lovely log cabin on this small and isolated lake. He cleared the land, built a barn and here they started their family.
What do you suppose life was like in the 1860’s, ‘70’s and beyond? What might it have been like to be a dressmaker or quilter at that time, to raise your children and live off the land, to live in a small farming community, to be part of a quilting bee of like-minded women? These are some of the questions I sought to ask and possibly answer when I wrote “After the Storm, the Life of Hannah Applegate Benson Stone”
Go to www.somethingsewfine.com to order your own autographed copy of “After the Storm”
I am currently working on a sequel. Stay tuned.
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Transitions are all about mindset!
I am trying to wrap my head around what it really means to be 'retired'. I am feeling a bit like a kid in a candy shop trying to decide which yummy looking candy to try first! Nothing is physically changing in my world - it is more a matter of changing my mindset. Giving myself permission to experiment and play. I am not there yet but I am working on it!
I remember when I left full-time work for Big Brothers Big Sisters in April of 2004 after more than sixteen years I gave myself several months to experiment with a number of creative ways that I could start a small business and work for MYSELF! Since I was already a quilter it seemed logical that would play a large part in whatever I decided on as my new direction. That was fourteen years and many quilt patterns ago! Now I am ready for the next phase of my life (it is not coincidental that I am facing another birthday soon).
I am still a quilter. I am also a writer with two books under my belt and another one in the works (after a long delay). There are so many ideas I want to try out (this blog being one of them!) For example - making art quilts and experimenting with mixed media artworks. The trouble is, that can be too much of a good thing! It is hard to focus. And this incredibly hot and humid weather is not helping.
When you have too many ideas rolling around inside your brain and you start to 'spin', what do you do to help yourself get grounded? Feel free to leave a comment and don't forget to visit me on Facebook!
I remember when I left full-time work for Big Brothers Big Sisters in April of 2004 after more than sixteen years I gave myself several months to experiment with a number of creative ways that I could start a small business and work for MYSELF! Since I was already a quilter it seemed logical that would play a large part in whatever I decided on as my new direction. That was fourteen years and many quilt patterns ago! Now I am ready for the next phase of my life (it is not coincidental that I am facing another birthday soon).
I am still a quilter. I am also a writer with two books under my belt and another one in the works (after a long delay). There are so many ideas I want to try out (this blog being one of them!) For example - making art quilts and experimenting with mixed media artworks. The trouble is, that can be too much of a good thing! It is hard to focus. And this incredibly hot and humid weather is not helping.
When you have too many ideas rolling around inside your brain and you start to 'spin', what do you do to help yourself get grounded? Feel free to leave a comment and don't forget to visit me on Facebook!
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Still Crazy - Part Two
Moving forward -
I plan to invite a few guest bloggers to post here from time to time. Some of my quilting friends, perhaps, possibly some characters I have created in my fiction! I hope you will indulge me!
Many of my own interests and my background appear in my story of Hannah in "After the Storm" as well as its sequel, which I hope to finish in the coming months. Everything from the obvious (quilting, designing, writing, teaching and so on), life in 19th century New England as well as other long-neglected interests of mine such as genealogy. After all, I had to work out the entire genealogy of Hannah's forebears as well as of her descendants, which was great fun. It can be a challenge to work both backward and forward to figure out things like average age at marriage and lifespans so that every generation would have plausible ages and dates.
Anyhow, you will learn more about both me and the characters I have created, as well as my quilt designs and patterns as we go along.
Enjoy the ride!
PS - please visit my website www.somethingsewfine.com to learn more about "After the Storm" and my other work. Also, please follow me on Facebook.
Cary
I plan to invite a few guest bloggers to post here from time to time. Some of my quilting friends, perhaps, possibly some characters I have created in my fiction! I hope you will indulge me!
Many of my own interests and my background appear in my story of Hannah in "After the Storm" as well as its sequel, which I hope to finish in the coming months. Everything from the obvious (quilting, designing, writing, teaching and so on), life in 19th century New England as well as other long-neglected interests of mine such as genealogy. After all, I had to work out the entire genealogy of Hannah's forebears as well as of her descendants, which was great fun. It can be a challenge to work both backward and forward to figure out things like average age at marriage and lifespans so that every generation would have plausible ages and dates.
Anyhow, you will learn more about both me and the characters I have created, as well as my quilt designs and patterns as we go along.
Enjoy the ride!
PS - please visit my website www.somethingsewfine.com to learn more about "After the Storm" and my other work. Also, please follow me on Facebook.
Cary
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Still crazy after all these years!
I have decided it is time to get back to
Telling My Story!
I have so much to share about my work and my life.
I actually began this blog in 2011 but my most recent post was in 2015!
Oh, my!
Here are a few of my earliest posts to give you an idea of where I was seven years ago. You will discover in my newer posts just how far I have come since then! I am excited to share my current transition from full-time professional quilt pattern designer (starting in 2004) to laid-back designer, quilt artist, and author. (In other words, at the age of almost 73, I have decided to retire and "do my own thing".) If I manage to continue earning some money along the way, that will be icing on the cake.) I am curious to know where I will end up. I am certainly not taking this "growing older" thing lying down!
For those of you who do not know me yet, here is an interview I did for Quiltwoman.com (the publisher/distributor of my quilt book and patterns) in 2016:
This is enough to get you started catching up on my work and who I am. In future posts, I will catch you up all the way and move forward with where I am now!
Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine Quilt Design
Here are some excerpts from my very early blog posts:
For those of you who do not know me yet, here is an interview I did for Quiltwoman.com (the publisher/distributor of my quilt book and patterns) in 2016:
We love it that you have such a diverse and varied background. Tell us more about all the things you have done.
Yes – VERY diverse! I sometimes feel like I have lived a number of different lives, but that’s what keeps things interesting.
I have been designing and making things since I was little. I have tried about every craft imaginable. When I was in my early teens I became a designer of enamel, copper and silver jewelry. My dream was to become a famous professional jewelry designer and have my own shop. I began college as a music major and thought I wanted to become a professional musician (I played ‘cello for 12 years starting at age 9). I attended music camp for five summers in my teens. I sang in glee clubs and choirs. I was introduced to pottery making and continued my work in silver in the college art department. I joined an International Dance group on campus. I ended up majoring in Sociology and Anthropology and spent the summer before graduation working at an archeological dig in northern California. I spent the summer after graduation at the School for American Craftsmen in Rochester NY, focusing on silver-smithing and pottery. Whew – that was all before I turned 22!
I married a year after college and worked as a secretary (ugh) at MIT for several years. Then my husband lost his job as a biomedical engineer in the recession of 1970. We decided to join the “Back to the Land” movement of the early 1970 ’s and bought an antique colonial “fixer upper” in Bristol NH, doing all the renovations ourselves. We started a huge vegetable garden and planted young fruit trees. The locals thought we were hippies growing pot! (NOT) We were full-time professional potters, selling our work retail from our own shop in our barn and wholesale all over the country. We raised most of our own food, including raising pigs for several years. We did that for almost twelve years.
Eventually, the business began to take its toll on us physically (my aching back). It was a tough way to make a living, although we loved the lifestyle. After Ron was almost killed in a pile-up on black ice on the highway, we decided it was time to grow up and get “real” jobs. We sold the house and moved to our current home just east of Manchester NH. Ron got a good job as a stockbroker/financial planner and I worked various part-time jobs while going to graduate school. I received a Master’s degree in Counseling in 1987.
I worked at the Community Mental Health Center in Manchester for several years and then joined the staff at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Manchester. I was there for almost seventeen years. I loved the work but became thoroughly burnt out by the time I left in 2004. I have been running my own quilt design business ever since.
What got you started in quilt design?
I began making quilts around 1990 and joined a local quilt guild soon after (Amoskeag
Quilters Guild, Manchester NH.), where I am still a very active member. I became
Quilters Guild, Manchester NH.), where I am still a very active member. I became
Involved with making charity quilts as part of the guild’s programs. We would hold all day
workshops a couple times a year to make these quilts. Soon after leaving full-time
workshops a couple times a year to make these quilts. Soon after leaving full-time
work I designed a block cutting technique that made it possible to cut all the blocks for a quilt in very little time, ideal for charity quilts. It is what I now call a “stack,
cut and shuffle”design.I began teaching others in the guild how to make these blocks
and people started asking me to write up instructions so they could make them at
home. A light bulb went off in my head and that block became the basis for my very first commercial pattern, "Rule of Thirds”. I enjoyed the design process so much I just kept designing!
(True Confessions: I have no idea what happened to the formatting of this paragraph!)
cut and shuffle”design.I began teaching others in the guild how to make these blocks
and people started asking me to write up instructions so they could make them at
home. A light bulb went off in my head and that block became the basis for my very first commercial pattern, "Rule of Thirds”. I enjoyed the design process so much I just kept designing!
(True Confessions: I have no idea what happened to the formatting of this paragraph!)
In the past, you ran a pottery brick and mortar shop. When you started your quilting business what made you decide to work from home?
Both businesses were/are run from home. That is where my studio and office are. But I sell my patterns online through my own website and, of course, through www.quiltwoman.com. I have been with QW since the current owner, Nancy Dill bought the company, nine years ago. My designs sell all over the world because of her.
What do you wish someone had told you before you started quilting as a pastime?
Let me broaden that question. What I wish someone had told my husband and me before we became full-time potters, was how to separate our business lives from our personal lives. With the pottery studio covering most of the second floor of our house (with a morning commute of “just down the hall”), it was too easy to allow our professional and personal lives to become all one. That turned out to be a serious mistake.
Because of that experience, when I established my quilt design business I knew the importance of keeping my business and private lives separate as much as possible. You have to set some boundaries and priorities so that the business does not suck you in to the point of neglecting home and family.
Who taught you to quilt?
I am primarily self-taught but have read many quilt books and taken many classes/workshops over the past 20+ YEARS. I learned to sew very early from my mother and have made clothes, curtains, slip-covers and so on before I discovered quilt-making.
What are some of your favorite quilting tips? (our readers LOVE these)
I could easily repeat what some of the tips other featured designers have mentioned. Instead, I would like to urge anyone who does not already belong to a quilt guild, to join one. I have learned so much from my fellow quilters, not to mention making many really good friends. I have also been active in several board positions over the years, participated in many annual retreats (3-4 glorious days of no responsibilities other than to sew), and many charity programs with the guild. For the past three years, I have joined other guild members in making brightly colored and cheerful pillowcases for seriously ill children in several local and regional hospitals. Last year, as a group, we produced about 2500 pillowcases. Our goal for this year is 5,000 and we are well on our way, thanks to many individuals and quilt shops who donate fabric for the cause.
Being part of an active guild is one of the best things I ever did as a quilter. If you live in an area where there are no conveniently located guilds, start one yourself or join one or more online groups, of which there are dozens.
A lot of our readers tell us they have trouble finding more time to quilt. What advice would you give them?
This is one of those “do as I say, not as I do” responses. I am not nearly as organized or as disciplined as I would like to be. I have way too many interests and I become easily distracted. (True confessions).
So my advice is to get and stay as organized as possible (this is not to say you can’t have a messy studio – just don’t let the mess take over). Learn to stay focused. Make spending time in your studio (or wherever you sew/create) a priority, every day if possible. In my case, I am either sewing, or designing, or writing most of the day, but I also make time for my husband and mother-in-law, (who turned 100 years old in March), and, of course, my friends and family. We have two dogs that we love and both of us enjoy going on long walks or playing with them every day. I also love gardening, reading for pleasure and for research, and so much more!
I am currently working on my first novel and hope to get that published in June or July of this year (2015), so that has been my primary focus for the last few months. The story is about a quilt maker growing up in the last half of the 19th and early 20th century in a small village in NH. Not coincidentally, the protagonist, Hannah, becomes possibly the first quilt pattern designer in New England and develops a successful mail order pattern business.
I am already planning a companion book which will showcase a variety of quilts that might have been made by Hannah and members of her Quilting Bee, along with diagrams and instructions for making these quilts.
One other tip – allow yourself time to do nothing, if that is what you feel like doing. Or do something for the sheer fun of it. I highly recommend it. As I get older I am letting go of the need to “do it all”.
https://www.facebook.com/SomethingSewFine.QuiltDesign
Visit my website: www.somethingsewfine.com
This is enough to get you started catching up on my work and who I am. In future posts, I will catch you up all the way and move forward with where I am now!
Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine Quilt Design
Here are some excerpts from my very early blog posts:
Monday, October 31, 2011
Greetings, fellow quilters and quilt enthusiasts -
I have finally succumbed to blogging as a way to communicate with anyone interested in my evolution as a quilt designer. I plan to blog about new quilt patterns in development or ready to market, new connections and alliances with other designers, fabric companies, publishing houses and quilt magazines and any other adventurous avenues I may pursue as I move forward in my career as a quilt designer and author.
I have just returned from several days in Houston at the biennial International Quilt Market and have lots to tell. Watch for details in upcoming posts.
As I write this, we still have no electricity following a major VERY early snowstorm in the northeast. Thank goodness we have a generator! We had no connection to the Internet until about an hour ago, but that has returned, so I can indulge my passion for staying connected. (I could go into pretty serious withdrawal without the Internet!)
I hope you are doing OK. Stay in touch. Would love to hear about what you are working on.
Cary Flanagan
Golly - I am so embarrassed! I knew it had been a long time since I last posted in my blog, but I recently discovered it has actually been almost a YEAR!! So I have set a goal (I am not into resolutions - just too hard to keep) to post at least once a month to talk about my new designs and my creative process.
So here goes on January 2nd in a new year.
This past year was kind of strange for me. I had a number of "dry spells" in which I felt blocked or stuck. I know it happens to everybody sometimes but I felt like it was happening to me a lot, and it was discouraging. I have learned, however, that at such times it helps to walk away from whatever is immobilizing me and set off in a different direction for a while. It usually works pretty well. Here are some of the things I accomplished since I last wrote in between my dry spells.
During the waning months of last winter, I was going great guns on a quilt for my youngest great-nephew and was having a really good time working on it. He had explicitly asked me for very bright colors - "bright red, bright orange, bright yellow and some blue", he announced when he was nine. So I had been collecting the brightest and most fun of all those colors and started working on the quilt while it was bitter cold and snowy outside. His quilt kept me toasty warm with all that brightness! When I presented the quilt to him last summer when he came with his family to our summer place in the White Mountains, he loved it! That was the best part for me, though, to be honest, I really hated to give it up. I just LOVED that quilt!
A few months ago, I began working on a novel that I have been thinking about off and on for years. It is about a young woman growing up in rural NH in the 19th century. She becomes an accomplished quilter and tells the story of her life to one of her granddaughters. I have been interested for years in my own family's history and this story contains many elements from my own and my family's stories of the past. I have been having fun researching life in the late 1800's in the small town near where my family has been summering since way before I was born.
I love the story and the characters I have created, and whether or not the book ever gets published is kind of beside the point right now. It may take me years to finish, but meanwhile I am enjoying living with my characters and the process of creating their personalities and the events which help to shape them. The writing part is a bit harder than I thought it would be, but I enjoy that part of the process also.
I did manage to design a new placemat pattern and get it published in the spring, but I got stuck with most of my other ideas as the year progressed. November and December were the hardest time for me. I always get depressed around the holidays since my family is so scattered. My DH and I decided to give gifts to several important charities this year instead of buying into the commercialism of Christmas and that made both of us feel more of the true meaning of the holidays.
Not too surprisingly, right after Christmas my creative energy came back in full force and I am hard at work designing and making several more quilting projects that should result in at least three new patterns in just a few weeks.
Watch for several photos next time and updates on my new projects.
Have a Happy, Healthy, Creative and Prosperous New Year!
.If you read through my earlier posts you will quickly discover I am not very good at keeping to a schedule on my blog! There are so many aspects of living the Creative Life That I am easily sidetracked. Oh well - I will try to catch up here and then on to some new and exciting things in my next post.
Most of this past year has been taken up by researching and writing my novel - After The Storm. This is a story of a courageous 19th-century quilter who faces and overcomes many challenges in her life. I have really enjoyed every aspect of working on this book until the last part where I have been bogged done in the editing and finishing details. Being a complete newbie at writing a novel I had no idea what to expect, but finishing and letting go of my manuscript has proven SO much harder than I anticipated! I flip-flop back and forth between thinking it is a really interesting, well-written story AND thinking it is a piece of you know what. By holding onto my manuscript and not allowing it to continue through the publication process, I guess I am holding off on the inevitable - finding out how my book is actually received once published and distributed.
Luckily I have discovered that almost every new author (and even some that are well established), feel exactly as I do before their books reach the public. Only those who are so self-confident as to verge on arrogance do not shake in their shoes before their book is published. Knowing that makes me feel much better!
At any rate, I have been consumed for much of the year finishing writing and editing my novel. (How do you know when you have really finished writing?? Ideas keep coming, I add a new story-line or more details...) I do hope I can send it off to the publisher for the final steps soon. Will keep you posted.
I am about to embark on a new project - actually two: I am planning a companion book to my novel which will include quilt projects and complete instructions related to the novel. I am being deliberately vague since this is still in the early stages of development. Related to this - I volunteered to be in charge of Block of the Month for my guild for 2015-2016 and I am opening up this same BOM to my FaceBook friends. It should be a lot of fun - Stay tuned for more details, coming SOON!
As if all of this was not enough, my DH and I are in the midst of planning a major renovation of our house (tearing down and moving walls, a totally new bathroom, and upstairs laundry) One result will be a much larger studio for me! Hooray!
I am bursting with creative energy - just have to learn to channel it better.
I have finally succumbed to blogging as a way to communicate with anyone interested in my evolution as a quilt designer. I plan to blog about new quilt patterns in development or ready to market, new connections and alliances with other designers, fabric companies, publishing houses and quilt magazines and any other adventurous avenues I may pursue as I move forward in my career as a quilt designer and author.
I have just returned from several days in Houston at the biennial International Quilt Market and have lots to tell. Watch for details in upcoming posts.
As I write this, we still have no electricity following a major VERY early snowstorm in the northeast. Thank goodness we have a generator! We had no connection to the Internet until about an hour ago, but that has returned, so I can indulge my passion for staying connected. (I could go into pretty serious withdrawal without the Internet!)
I hope you are doing OK. Stay in touch. Would love to hear about what you are working on.
Cary Flanagan
Details, Details...
One of the things I enjoy most when I go to a big show like the International Quilt Market (and there are many), is studying the incredible quilts that are on display from all over the world. I take lots of photos and especially enjoy looking at the details - the techniques and "hidden" details that really make the design sing (or shout or cry or whisper) to the viewer.
I have posted a few details that "spoke" to me - simple background blocks or startling new ways to set a very traditional block into something totally new. I love color, texture, "surprises" - I learn so much everytime I view the work of others, especially masters such as those at Market. I could easily post hundreds of such photos but will stick with these few for now. More later.
What do you enjoy most about attending a quilt show featuring so much creative and artistic talent?
Everywhere you go, try to see everything around you with new eyes. (And bring your camera!)
Cary
I have posted a few details that "spoke" to me - simple background blocks or startling new ways to set a very traditional block into something totally new. I love color, texture, "surprises" - I learn so much everytime I view the work of others, especially masters such as those at Market. I could easily post hundreds of such photos but will stick with these few for now. More later.
What do you enjoy most about attending a quilt show featuring so much creative and artistic talent?
Everywhere you go, try to see everything around you with new eyes. (And bring your camera!)
Cary
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Golly - I am so embarrassed! I knew it had been a long time since I last posted in my blog, but I recently discovered it has actually been almost a YEAR!! So I have set a goal (I am not into resolutions - just too hard to keep) to post at least once a month to talk about my new designs and my creative process.
So here goes on January 2nd in a new year.
This past year was kind of strange for me. I had a number of "dry spells" in which I felt blocked or stuck. I know it happens to everybody sometimes but I felt like it was happening to me a lot, and it was discouraging. I have learned, however, that at such times it helps to walk away from whatever is immobilizing me and set off in a different direction for a while. It usually works pretty well. Here are some of the things I accomplished since I last wrote in between my dry spells.
During the waning months of last winter, I was going great guns on a quilt for my youngest great-nephew and was having a really good time working on it. He had explicitly asked me for very bright colors - "bright red, bright orange, bright yellow and some blue", he announced when he was nine. So I had been collecting the brightest and most fun of all those colors and started working on the quilt while it was bitter cold and snowy outside. His quilt kept me toasty warm with all that brightness! When I presented the quilt to him last summer when he came with his family to our summer place in the White Mountains, he loved it! That was the best part for me, though, to be honest, I really hated to give it up. I just LOVED that quilt!
A few months ago, I began working on a novel that I have been thinking about off and on for years. It is about a young woman growing up in rural NH in the 19th century. She becomes an accomplished quilter and tells the story of her life to one of her granddaughters. I have been interested for years in my own family's history and this story contains many elements from my own and my family's stories of the past. I have been having fun researching life in the late 1800's in the small town near where my family has been summering since way before I was born.
I love the story and the characters I have created, and whether or not the book ever gets published is kind of beside the point right now. It may take me years to finish, but meanwhile I am enjoying living with my characters and the process of creating their personalities and the events which help to shape them. The writing part is a bit harder than I thought it would be, but I enjoy that part of the process also.
I did manage to design a new placemat pattern and get it published in the spring, but I got stuck with most of my other ideas as the year progressed. November and December were the hardest time for me. I always get depressed around the holidays since my family is so scattered. My DH and I decided to give gifts to several important charities this year instead of buying into the commercialism of Christmas and that made both of us feel more of the true meaning of the holidays.
Not too surprisingly, right after Christmas my creative energy came back in full force and I am hard at work designing and making several more quilting projects that should result in at least three new patterns in just a few weeks.
Watch for several photos next time and updates on my new projects.
Have a Happy, Healthy, Creative and Prosperous New Year!
2014 One of the things I have enjoyed most this past year is visiting Pinterest and collecting images of many kinds. I also post images to share with others. I have almost 2500 pins now and it is a fabulous collection of everything that interests me, inspires me, makes me feel good or just provides eye candy! What is not to like about that?
My own quilts are posted of course, along with quilts that other people have made from my designs. I also have lots of pins of quilts that other people have made which I think are wonderful. I have inspirations for updating my home, garden and studio when I get the funds to do so, lots of images of fabulous places in the world I will most likely never visit, not to mention great recipes and food ideas! I have also been collecting photos of antique quilts and 19th century clothing as research for my book. And of course, I have photos of my canine best friends and other animals who give and receive love as if they were human (oh, go ahead and laugh! I am such a softy).
I guess my point is that inspiration and creative energy can be developed almost anywhere and it helps (at least for me) to have concrete reminders of what some of those inspirations are. Please visit me at::
hyyp//www.pinterest.com/caryflanagan/ to see what I have collected and posted.
Please Note: as of June 2018 I have 110 Boards on Pinterest, 14,507 pins and 3,147 followers! I LOVE Pinterest! I Know - lots of people laugh at Pinterest as being a major time sucker, but it is an important design resource for me.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
.If you read through my earlier posts you will quickly discover I am not very good at keeping to a schedule on my blog! There are so many aspects of living the Creative Life That I am easily sidetracked. Oh well - I will try to catch up here and then on to some new and exciting things in my next post.
Most of this past year has been taken up by researching and writing my novel - After The Storm. This is a story of a courageous 19th-century quilter who faces and overcomes many challenges in her life. I have really enjoyed every aspect of working on this book until the last part where I have been bogged done in the editing and finishing details. Being a complete newbie at writing a novel I had no idea what to expect, but finishing and letting go of my manuscript has proven SO much harder than I anticipated! I flip-flop back and forth between thinking it is a really interesting, well-written story AND thinking it is a piece of you know what. By holding onto my manuscript and not allowing it to continue through the publication process, I guess I am holding off on the inevitable - finding out how my book is actually received once published and distributed.
Luckily I have discovered that almost every new author (and even some that are well established), feel exactly as I do before their books reach the public. Only those who are so self-confident as to verge on arrogance do not shake in their shoes before their book is published. Knowing that makes me feel much better!
At any rate, I have been consumed for much of the year finishing writing and editing my novel. (How do you know when you have really finished writing?? Ideas keep coming, I add a new story-line or more details...) I do hope I can send it off to the publisher for the final steps soon. Will keep you posted.
I am about to embark on a new project - actually two: I am planning a companion book to my novel which will include quilt projects and complete instructions related to the novel. I am being deliberately vague since this is still in the early stages of development. Related to this - I volunteered to be in charge of Block of the Month for my guild for 2015-2016 and I am opening up this same BOM to my FaceBook friends. It should be a lot of fun - Stay tuned for more details, coming SOON!
As if all of this was not enough, my DH and I are in the midst of planning a major renovation of our house (tearing down and moving walls, a totally new bathroom, and upstairs laundry) One result will be a much larger studio for me! Hooray!
I am bursting with creative energy - just have to learn to channel it better.
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