A great book for every creative to read

Inspiration is everywhere - even on your bookshelf

Life in the summer can take on a different pace, and I recently had an opportunity to engage in a bit of screenporch reading of a very good book. I should note here that I need to do more of that, and that’s something that I am working on. This book just happens to be written by a talented quilter, Linda Ramrath - who, yes it’s true…is a friend of mine. I have an amazing circle of friends, and I am always enriched by time with them, whether it’s a weekend, coffee, lunch, days at the lake - or quickie phone calls that come when I least expect it.

I received her book when I had a lunch with her earlier this year, and it’s the kind of personal journey that just resonates with me. Our paths have some similarities, and I always come away from conversations with her with the feeling that I want to know more.

This book fills that need. Linda’s creative journey is rooted in garment sewing, and the inspiration for all her creative inspiration is her grandmother - that’s one thing that we have in common. Linda’s drive to expand her knowledge and technical expertise eventually brought her to quiltmaking, and thet’s when I crossed paths.

Her background as a pattern designer, an entrepreneur, tv producer, and professional speaker all play in the background of this book, which is an easy read. Her ‘message’ is that all creatives have many avenues to explore, and that you playing and creativity is essential to most of us.

This was a UFO I was inspired to dust off and finish because of her book!

As it turns out, our paths crossed again when my quilt guild asked her to teach a class on design and free motion quilting. This unquilted sample is as far as I got with this class, and it’s been languishing in my UFO bin since the class ended.

I had the best intention to finish it - I really did - but somehow I just never took it out to play. I love this quilt - hydrangeas are one of my favorite summer flowers, and this is the most ‘playtime’ quilts I’ve ever made. This one made the very short list of quilts that I wanted to complete this year.

I’m testing our new edge stitches on my new machine. This was FUN!

Moving onto the free motion quilting settings, and an easy filler pattern. More fun -

I am so glad I hung onto this one - rereading from Stitches to Smiles really made we want to pick this one up just for me. It’s a great book for you, your guild, or a (dare I say it) Secret Santa gift.

You can order it by clicking here.

Recently, I took a look at my schedule, and decided to flip my day to allow me to find more time for my art. I’ll talk about that - and why you may want to make some changes, in next week’s blog post. I’ll see you then!