Part of creating is about having excellent tools to aid you in working to the best of your ability. Today I am sharing my experience of my quest for good studio lighting. It can be overlooked by many makers (me included!) as we spend time researching sewing machines, tools, rulers, batting, mats, buying lots of awesome fabric (wink wink) etc. Yet every fine workspace must have GOOD LIGHT at all times of the day.  I don't care if you are creating at you're dining room table, bedroom, designated studio or your very own she shed. Proper lighting is essential! Right? Yes, I am right. Why didn't I heed my own advice?

HERE'S MY STORY:
Sometimes I am a real cheapskate. And I put things off. So, I squinted through "the bad lighting period" in my studio, scratching my head many a morning about some horrible color choice, sore (whaaaa!) eyes or iffy stitching executed the night before. Don't even get me going on the annoyance of cast shadows as I pulled additional desk lamps from all over the house to my studio space to rid the problem! I had become pretty fed up. OK... NOW It's really really time to do the work to find the best task light and to solve my problem once and for all! No more partially lit work table that was using outdated bulbs that weren't energy efficient anyway! The thing is, lighting can be expensive, especially compared to other important tools such as rulers and rotary cutters. My first attempt "by the seat of my pants" quick solution was a trip to the local hardware store and in an hour I happily erected two huge, cheap, duo painter's lights and was blasting light everywhere! I felt kinda smug thinking my problems were solved! But they were cumbersome and threw off tremendous heat as well as bulbs that burned out every 3 weeks. Plus they weren't task oriented and I still had too many shadows over my work. My family was wondering when I was going to don a paint suit and open a gallon of Ben Moore or go up in flames due to the heat!! Plus the price of my electric bill skyrocketed, not to mention I stumbled over the #$%@#* stands more often than I care to admit!! Bad choice. I got what  I paid for.... and it was a waste in the end. (They are boxed back up in the garage waiting til we change wall colors or when Satan ice-skates to work!)

So, to cut to the chase: About 18 months ago while browsing the booths at QuiltCon in Pasadena, I discovered a sleek, easy to maneuver, attractive line of lights by  DAYLIGHT COMPANY that were beautifully designed, full spectrum, LED (no intense heat!) and made for people just like me. Instant love! They were dazzling my aesthetics as well as having the most powerful, true light to enhance my professional work! I have been happy ever since while using my two favorite Daylight lamps and want to shout them out to you. Top picture, I am appliquéing under the SLIMLINE and also use it at my sewing machine. It is such a pleasure to finally have good light in my studio! I feel special. I also rely on the LUMINOS lamps daily for my cutting and design tables for their broad scope and ease of movement (see below). If you have a favorite light source, or other studio tools you can't live without, share it with us! We all love hearing about great products that make our sewing spaces a wonderful place to be. 

Also I am using my Black&White Collection a lot lately pairing it with mostly Kona Cottons and have a brand new Polygon Play Pattern that has extended pattern options coming out with STASH BOOKS this Fall 2017!
Happy Creating!
xo

We all know there are plenty of classes you can take online with Creative Bug, YouTube, Quilt University, etc. and they offer convenient learning; often technique-based. If you live in the middle of nowhere or have difficulty fitting in-person classes into your life online classes offer a connection to the quilt world. If you live near a quilt shop, a sewing center, part of a quilting bee or are willing to travel to a retreat or special workshop, I encourage you to pack up and leave the house. Nothing beats the real thing, NOTHING. Especially if it's something you value, have planned for, or want to treat yourself. Sparking new ideas by venturing out, seeing, touching and sharing with other like-minded makers is so satisfying. It definitely fuels your MOJO when you HANG OUT WITH OTHER QUILTERS as you always learn something new. You all must be kind, supportive and shine together. You must give and take. You must bring your best self to the party. That's how these things work. Leave the therapy session for a few close friends. And if there is a toxic dose of backstabbing or cattiness, RUN! Find a new group that you deserve and deserves you. Seriously!!

I take classes too. Always have, always will. Sometimes I go solo, with a friend, or with my mom and sister who live on the East Coast! Yes it involves planes, trains and automobiles, but I plan for it! It's not only wonderful for CREATIVE MOJO, improvement of skills and techniques, but it makes the most special memories, never to be forgotten, worth the money and time. Life is what we make it. We need to do special things for ourselves to stay happy, healthy and growing. 

In the spirit of all this learning and filling up our creative tanks, I decided to host my very own workshop here in sunny California next spring, March 24-26, 2017. It's a first for me! I'm going the extra mile (read about it here) as I enjoy teaching and living in the San Francisco Bay Area. My focus is about creating a rich and fertile work space where you can stretch boundaries, learn more about color, value and composition and be supported in the best of ways. To have fun, laugh and feel awesome. I am about meeting you where you are, celebrating what you do know and helping you to shine even brighter. ​

We all hit the wall, lack ideas and stare at our piles of fabric without a clue of what to do with them! It's normal. Knowing that helps take the sting away from feeling uninspired. But do something about it. Take that class you've been thinking about. You'll be happy you did.  If you can swing a trip to the East Bay of San Francisco, take my Octagon Shimmer retreat, I would love to have you. I promise, we will have a ball. 

As always, 
xo

Thoughts from the Studio. 
Keep it Creative- Part 2. Fuel your Mojo.

Hey Creatives! Welcome back. Two weeks ago I talked about your creative spark and nature walks to get you thinking. 
Today is more about active exploration of what you can do to fill your creative mojo cup and learn what the pros do!

1. Be a SPONGE! This post is heavy photo based, full of images that appear to be random and chaotic. Why? To show you a snippet of my creative process and how easily a nice, neat, white table becomes piles of color, action, confusing mess, juicy, fun, promising and stimulating- Full of possibilities! How does that happen and why is it important to creativity? Because a critical part of the process is TO BE A SPONGE! No judging or ruling out yet...Just collecting and soaking up what grabs your attention. (No need to curate now, that comes later)
Be the magpie who is attracted to all things shiny and just can't help herself from bringing it back to the nest!
a. POSTCARDS, MAGAZINE PAGES! Collect postcards from pretty much anywhere that intrigues, they're cheap & tangible. Collect color tabs from paint stores or design shops. Rip out pages of catalogues, magazines (sneeze while doing it at the dentist's office if you are that bold!) Quilt designs are noticeable everywhere we look and great references to file.  
b. COLLECT BOOKS! Quilt books, graphic books, home decor. Visit the museum and if you love the exhibit, get the book. Go to library sales- full of great books for cheap! Flea markets.....etc....No matter how sophisticated our technology gets, the way we leaf through a book and truly ingest whats on a printed page is a rich and wonderful experience. I reference my books all the time for inspiration. Any good idea is worth exploring again. Derivatives are always an intriguing path to go down and in the quilt world, so much new work is inspired by tradition.  
c. SOAK UP NATURE. Study pattern and repeats in our natural world. Quilts are just geometric simplifications of so much complexity in the designs from Mother Nature. Color is also wonderful when your palette is chosen from nature. It always, always works! 

2 Make STYLE FILES are crucial to organizing your wonder/wanderings! To get to the point of having enough stuff to spill out on your dining room table, your studio desk or your college kids now tidy, unused bed, you need STYLE FILES! I keep them in light plastic snap folders marked: MODERN QUILTS, NATURE GEOMETRY, COLOR EXPLOSION, MONOCHROMATIC, ETHNIC/IMPROV DESIGN, TRADITIONAL/AMISH QUILTS, MUSEUM, QUILTCON, etc... Name them whatever your interests are. If this is your first time creating style files, keep it manageable by choosing your top 7 or so categories. Don't overwhelm yourself but do organize your ideas. I have many obsessions (I pretty much appreciate ALL colors and ALL styles when designed and made well- plus I have so much fabric design files in addition to quilt design.... so my library is  over the top, but it's my full time job, so it works for me and I do love it. ) One of my finest textile design teachers from FIT told us on the first day: "You are as good as your best reference" Just make sure you do what works FOR YOU!

There are so many other sources of creating style files too: Pinterest, iPhoto, Instagram and various other applications suitable for screen viewing. Today we focused on the tactile inspiration. I still prefer them even though I am a huge fan of the online availability of endless inspiration. But for now, we have limits and boundaries....That is also part of the creative process. Knowing when to reel it in,  put your head down and get to work. 

Harnessing your own creative potential gives you a path to navigate and builds on your already existing knowledge. All of us need to hear it again and again with fresh ears. 
1. Be a sponge. Keep your eyes open and scour the world for the good stuff. 
2. Organize your Style Files. Start one that's been hiding in the little nooky part of your mind. 

xo- Until next post.
Creatively yours,

Thoughts from the Studio.
Keep it Creative- Part I. Fuel your Mojo.

1. Born Creative 
You came into this world with a creative spark. Believe it. Scribble it on a sticky note for the fridge and your car dash.        "I was born creative". Say it out loud—Again and again and again. Train your children, get a parrot. 

Hope, wonder, curiosity, experimentation, silliness, action and reaction. Children embody creativity with the least of efforts and it's a main ingredient for growth. We marvel at the beauty and freedom of a child's way of being. Creativity nourishes us, drives us, transcends us. It is vital to our well being as individuals and our culture as a whole. We all get blocks too. Sometimes for hours, days or even years...So lets tackle it. We have such potential...are you open?

Beginning in elementary school, we begin to lose touch with that space to play, discover, fall down and get up with humor, forgiveness or ease. As we age, pressure and duties increase and we lose touch with our playfulness, our creativity. Later, we beat ourselves up, declare ourselves lazy, overworked, bored or bitchy. Or worse: someone else does (BIG YUCK!). Doubt is a disease that attacks from inside and out. As we experience life's highs and lows, if we do a little self reflection, reassess what we need or what makes us tick, we often find ourselves yearning to be in touch with that creative spark again...because is just feels right to remember and honor something we were given at birth. This is where your craft comes in. Are you feeling connected to your work? How is it really going? Are you ready to get out of summer mode and into a fall rhythm?

Finally I want to share with you the wisdom of a creative collective. At Quilt Con 2016, I was a guest speaker on a  panel of designers from our industry talking about how to keep the MOJO alive.  We all had different stories and thoughts to share, taking questions from the audience on what to do when you hit a road block.  The messages shared were similar, even when our paths meandered in different directions. We all get stuck, we all have fear and we all have to work through it, show up, have a plan, deviate from that plan, create bad stuff to get to the good stuff. We also have learned to trust the process, to forge ahead and slosh through the muck to get that groove feeling that is so worth fighting for. It's a practice. It's a commitment. It's the best high I know. ​

To wrap it up today let's keep it simple, real simple. Embrace two things this week:
1. I WAS BORN CREATIVE

2. GO OUTSIDE

We will delve a little deeper next week, until then, be good to yourself. 
​Creatively yours, xo

PS: Sale this weekend in the shop. 20% off all items until September 6th. Use code: luckyme
All sales come with this free pin up below- For your workspace: Pattern free to make your own in previous post. 

recommended reading:
Carrie Bloomston- The Little Spark.  
Austin Kleon - Steal Like an Artist.
Sherri Lynn Wood- Improv Handbook for Quilters.
Amy Butler- Creative workshops.