Susan Purney Mark Talk to me: info@susanpm.com Web: www.susanpm.

com

Design Notes
Volume 3, Issue 2 March 18, 2010 Feel like cruising?
Welcome Come with me to Alaska in Septem-
ber 2010! We’ll be embarking from
Working in a theme…… Vancouver aboard the Holland
America Zuiderdam and calling in at
Have you ever completed a quilt, placed it on the wall and thought “next
Skagway, Ketchikan and Juneau as
time I’ll make it larger, smaller, more blue, less blue, more blocks, fewer
well as seeing the famous glaciers
blocks …..and so on? I think its rare that we are totally, 100% pleased in Glacier Bay. Contact Sharon Sher
with our work. There always seems to be something we’d change….next at Cruise Ship Centers 1-866-477-
time! 4898. If you have questions about
We can explore what we are trying to learn about our work by creating the workshops I’ll be offering, then
more than just one or two pieces. I just finished a small piece that I am email me at: info@susanpm.com
very pleased with, however the technique I used lends itself to many more
possibilities that I want to investigate. I think I could work at exercises
where my quilts could be longer and more narrow, the piecing could be
more complex and the units could be larger. I can use other fabric types
such as silk or linen. I want to try other colour combinations. My quilting
designs could change as well as the threads I use. I know there are many
possible combinations and any number of quilts that I could create.
Some discussion on one of the internet lists suggests that working in a
theme helps us to work towards resolutions for design issues. It also
helps us to “find our voice” or create a style that is uniquely ours. Themes
can be as diverse as technique, design elements, size, colour or shape.
Do you work in a theme….share it on my blog: http://susanpm.blogspot.com/

Creating Design-
Design-Printing Templates
Last weekend I went to our local
sewing and craft show for a very
quick visit. The show has enlarged Book Review
and now has a scrapbooking sec-
tion. Normally I wouldn’t find much I bought this book a couple of months
to buy there but was intrigued by ago and have been very impressed
some plastic templates that had with the excellent instructions, inspir-
ing pictures and the designs the au-
good design potential.
thor uses for her quilts. I particularly
Have a look at this website and like her mosaic-like quilt layouts.
then see what I did with some thick-
This book would be an excellent addi-
ened dyes.
tion to your library if you are inter-
ested in using photographs in your
http://www.thecraftersworkshop.com/
quilts. Now I just need to get my copy
back from a friend!
I used the template called Gathered
Flowers. I think I might over dye it a Visit the author at:
soft light yellow…...see Page 2! http://www.charlotteziebarth.com
 Volume 3, Issue 2
More yellow!!
Doesn’t spring get you excited about using colour in some new On the Road Again!
way? In my part of Canada where its quite temperate the spring
colours are emerging every day. This year will be a busy one with travelling to
On the weekend we were out driving and came across a huge different and interesting places….
field of daffodils waving in the breeze. If I’m in your area, please come and say hello. I
love to visit with friends!
April 27-
27-May 2 Calgary, AB Quilt Canada
May 20-
20-2 Minneapolis, MN Quilt Market
June 3-
3-5 Charlotte, NC North Carolina Quilt
Symposium
June 11-
11-13 Victoria, BC Quilting in the
Trees
August 5-
5-7 Bellevue, WA Block Party Quilters
September 7-
7-9 Albuquerque, NM Ann Silva's
Bernina Center

When I began quilting I was told that yellow was a very difficult September 11- 11-18 Cruise to Alaska
colour to use in a quilt and it was easiest to avoid it all together. October 14-
14-16 Atlanta, GA Georgia Quilt Show
How sad! Yellow is so joyful and energizing, its happy and
makes us smile. 21-24 Toronto, ON Creativ Festival
October 21-
Have you made a quilt that’s mostly yellow? Its easy to find yel- November 16 Kitsap, WA Kitsap Quilters Guild
low fabric now.
Here are some interesting statements about yellow….(from New Store!
Wikipedia)
I’ve started a new website to sell my textile
Indian Yellow is a transparent, fluorescent pigment used in oil
artist packs, thermofax screens ready for
paintings and watercolors. Originally magnesium euxanthate, it
was claimed to have been produced from the urine of Indian printing and more. It’s still underdevelop-
cows fed only on mango leaves. ment but there are some exciting products
Yellow Ochre is a naturally occurring pigment found in clays in to tempt you.
many parts of the world. It is non-toxic and has been used in Please check it out. If you order anything
painting since prehistoric times.
and mention that you saw it in Design
The ancient Maya associated the color yellow with the direction Notes, I’ll add a special gift.
South.
http://www.fabricimagery.com
Remember yellow from the 1960”s? Yellow Submarine
(Beatles) and Mellow Yellow (Donovan).
Yellow cabs and yellow school buses? Goldenrod, yellowjackets,
and buttercups.

"Yellow" (“giallo"),
in Italy, refers to
crime stories, both
fictional and real.