Sampler

I don’t know if this ever happens to you, but sometimes I’m in the middle of working on a bunch of things and can’t seem to get anything totally finished before I need to move on to something else.

That’s where I’m at right now.

So I thought I’d share a preview of things I have in progress and things you can read, listen to, and share in the meantime.

Film Festival Reviews

I’m working on more in-depth reviews of the films we saw at Arizona International Film Festival (AZIFF) last year.

For AZIFF 2019, I’m planning to cover more days of the festival and would love to know what you’re most interested in hearing about!

Comment:

What film festival stories do you want to read?

Reviews of more films? Any particular type/genre (documentary, comedy, animation, etc.)?
The AZIFF experience and tips for getting the most out of it?
Filmmaker Q+As or interviews?
Would you prefer any of the above in video or audio (podcast) format instead of written articles?

Quilt Show

This year I went to two days of the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival in Phoenix. The first one was with my mom (who introduced me to the Festival) and the second with my sister-in-law Dinah and friend Kelli (who was my co-presenter at Craft Camp and co-taster at Macayo’s Scottsdale).

I’ve been editing photos and am impressed all over again with the creativity and inventiveness of the exhibitors we met there!

Read:

A couple crafty posts from Kelli…

Festival Food

While we were at the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival, I wanted to investigate the food vendors at the Fairgrounds a bit more.

I found out that the concessions actually come from several independent businesses, who really do care about the food they make. Over the 2 days we were there, my quilt show squad and I got to sample a huge Indian taco, several flavors of kettle corn, a whole buncha barbecue, and this ridiculous brownie sundae.

Local Art Loves

I haven’t done an official kick-off post yet, but I definitely want to celebrate local art you love again this Valentine’s Day!

Share:

You can start anytime by snapping a photo of art in your neighborhood and sharing it using #localartloves.

Read/look at:

Last year’s Local Art Loves

[UPDATE: 2019’s Local Art Loves kickoff post is up now!]

Phillip in the Wampa’s Lair

Okay, not really something I’m doing, but Phillip was recently interviewed on the Wampa’s Lair Podcast! It’s a Star Wars podcast that we’ve been fans of for a long time. (Phillip wears their t-shirt everywhere. And one of the hosts, Jason Hunt, shared some great tips for our Phoenix Comicon newbies post.) Anyway, they have a series called “Tales of the Lairians,” where they ask their listeners (a.k.a. the “Lairians”) to share Star Wars stories from their own lives, and Phillip is featured on the latest one!

Listen:

Tales of the Lairians #13 – Phillip Liebold

And that’s it for now! So at least I finished one thing. Hopefully, this starts a trend.

Just FYI: we received complimentary quilt festival tickets, food, and a 2018 AZIFF media pass from the respective organizations/vendors. More info will be in upcoming posts, but let me know if you have questions!

September 27, 2018May 23, 2023

2018 Quilt, Craft + Sewing Festival

When the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival was in Phoenix earlier this year, I went with my official quilt/sewing expert – my mom, Cyndee – to see what was new since the last time we went.

The textile-arts-focused expo moves around the western United States throughout the year. It features a mix of local and national/traveling exhibitors, demos, and seminars. Some exhibitors offer open make-and-take projects for a small materials fee (usually $3-5).

Here is a sampler of who and what we saw at the Festival…

Fabric and Patterns

Elkhorn Quilt Company – Based here in Mesa, Arizona, Debbie Dominy specializes in modern quilts and a curated collection of contemporary fabrics. You have to catch her at an exhibitor booth, since she sells exclusively at quilt shows and festivals.

IG: elkhornquiltcompany

African Everything was founded by Mary Ogwel (a.k.a. “Basket Mary”) to help women lift each other out of poverty. Her imports span the continent and include coiled bowls, hand-painted batik fabrics from Tanzania, beaded wire bowls from Kenya, and artisan baskets from Ghana and Tanzania.

Online shop.
IG: @africanbaskets and #basketmary
IRL: Saturdays at Downtown Phoenix Public Farmers Market (8am – 1pm) + Uptown Farmers Market (9am – 1pm)
Extension of Maendeleo Imports and Thank You and God Bless (TYGB).

England Design Studios – Designer/owner Cynthia England developed her own style of quilting called “picture piecing” for her beautifully detailed quilts. The technique allows you to reuse your pattern, does not waste fabric, and makes it easy to fix mistakes. She now sells her patterns, kits, and books to help others learn picture piecing.

Spirit of the Artisan – Formerly Stitch in Time, Gale Carson continues find and import gorgeous artisan textiles from Southeast Asia, including vintage Hmong embroidery and Thai silk batik, as well as hand-loomed silk, Ikot, cottons, and wools.

the-sampler.com’s booth is covered with day-glow quilts and vibrant All About Color fabrics! They also sell patterns and quilt kits.

FB: AllAboutCColor

Rochelle’s Fine Fabric and Quilting had all kinds of odds and ends, but what really caught our attention was the woman with the scissors through her head! It’s just one of the gag headbands they offer – you can also choose from options like cleavers and plungers. They sell other novelties, as well as handmade aprons, mesh totes, and patterns.

FB: rochellesfinefabrics

Embellishment + Decoration

Chenille-It: Nannette Holmberg invented a type of bias tape that allows you to easily get a chenille-edge effect. She had examples of it lining quilt squares and embellishing sweaters.

Laura Murray Designs– Just as we were visiting this booth and puzzling over a product called “Paintstiks,” we heard Laura Murray was about to give a workshop about them. So we rushed into the seminar building and slid into some seats. After watching the demo, Paintstiks seem pretty neat – kind of like a sophisticated crayon that you can use to make patterns on fabric (or other porous surfaces like paper).

FB: lauramurraydesigns

Taylor Made Iron-on designs has all kinds of bling for embellishing fabric. They also had a t-shirt with a U.S. map captioned “Been there, done that,” so you can decorate the states you’ve visited with iron-on rhinestones or embroidered RVs, etc.

Jewelry

Bob Miller continues making rad steampunk accessories! He also does custom craft-themed jewelry with teeny scissors or sewing machines or knitting needles. You can make a fob to decorate your keychain or claim your favorite crafting scissors at his booth’s make and take.

Karen and Chuck Nolke – It was great to see these artists again and talk to them about their team process for creating the one-of-kind jewelry pieces in their collection. She chooses colors, he fires them, and she then adds paint, which creates a unique layered look.

Etsy: karennolke

Guilds

The Lacey Ladies of Arizona (chapter of the International Organization of Lace, Inc.) were super excited to show off their different types of lacemaking, often talking over each other!

Their annual Lace Day event this year will be on November 17, 10am-4pm at Beatitudes Life Center in Phoenix.

Arizona Desert Weavers and Spinners Guild demonstrates traditional spinning and handweaving techniques. They have monthly fiber artists’ meetings October through May.

FB Group: Arizona Desert Weavers and Spinners Guild

More Info

Quilt, Craft + Sewing Festival

Upcoming 2018 shows:

Orange County, CA September 27 – 29
Puyallup, WA October 18 – 20
Tucson, AZ November 15 – 17

Phoenix event

January 31 – February 2, 2019
Admission: $10 for all 3 days.
Largest of the Quilt, Craft + Sewing Festivals.
Held at the Arizona State Fair Grounds.
The closest parking is the South Lot at the Fair Grounds. Enter through the McDowell Gate at 17th Ave and McDowell Rd.)
Parking $8.

We were guests of the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival.

February 1, 2018February 5, 2020

Make a Difference with Things You Make

There are lots of ways to get crafty to do some good – regardless of your skill level!

Here are some DIY projects to make a difference.

Build a Little Free Library.

Make a place for a neighborhood book exchange! You can build it or repurpose a phone booth, mailbox, vintage bread warmer or other weatherproof container to house books in.

Organization(s):
Little Free Library

Good to know:

Crochet/knit a chemo cap.

Help someone with hair loss due to cancer treatment feel more comfortable.

Organization(s):

Good to know:
Before making a cap to donate, check the charity’s guidelines on best yarns and patterns to use. Many of them offer free patterns on their sites!

Make a composting unit.

You can reduce trash by composting food waste and turning it into something that’s good for your garden.

Good to know:

Make a card…

…for a child in the hospital.

Caitlin’s Smiles distributes handmade cards and “bags of smiles” with arts and craft supplies to kids in hospitals. You can make cards, tote bags, or donate art supplies.

Organization(s):
Caitlin’s Smiles

…for a cancer patient.

Make blank cards that will be personalized and sent to people with a cancer diagnosis.

Organization(s):
Card Care Connection

…for a housebound senior citizen.

While there won’t be an official Meals on Wheels campaign like last year’s “Love Letters,” you can contact your local Meals on Wheels program to find out about creating cards.

Organization(s):
Meals on Wheels

…for your congressional representatives.

Postcards may currently be the most effective way to let Congress know what issues matter to you.

Good to know:

Kids Art Congress has ideas for paint and collage, including using watercolor postcard blanks and kids’ art.
CollectiveVision gives tips on who, what, and where to write. They also have postcard sets you can order (if you don’t have time to DIY).
Postcards from the People has free downloadable postcard templates.

Make a blanket…

…for animal shelters (knit, crochet, sew, or tie).

You can knit, crochet, sew, or tie blankets for dogs and cats in shelters.

Organization(s):
Comfort for Critters

Good to know:

20-inch square is the preferred size.
They have free patterns and blanket ideas!
You can drop blankets off at a local animal shelter or ship them to their Illinois headquarters.

…for NICU babies.

Knit or crochet neonatal baby blankets.

Organization(s):
Knots of Love

…for veterans.

Organization(s):

Operation Gratitude gives care packages to veterans, as well as currently deployed U.S. Troops, first responders, and military families. You can make blankets, cards, caps, cool ties, drawstring bags, and/or scarves.
Quilts of Valor awards patriotic quilts to thank veterans.

For pollinators, make…

…a mason bee nesting spot.

Help save the bees! Solitary bees are great pollinators and don’t have painful stings.

Good to know:

Make a wooden pallet bee house
Build a small mason bee house
Drill holes into scrap lumber (National Wildlife Foundation)
UK tips

…a bat house.

Bats not only help pollinate plants, they eat mosquitos and other pests. As forests are cut down, they have fewer safe places to raise their young.

Organization(s):
Bat Conservation International

…a hummingbird feeder.

Hummingbirds need a lot of calories every day! They can fuel up on nectar at feeders or flowers like honeysuckle.

Good to know:

Make a hummingbird feeder from a glass bottle.
Make nectar for hummingbirds.
Tips for filling a wine bottle hummingbird feeder.
More about hummingbirds and their favorite flowers.

Craft for a Fundraiser

If you sell items you’ve made, you can give the proceeds to whichever charity is meaningful to you. Cash is the most versatile donation.

Stamp metal bracelets.

One fundraiser craft idea is hand stamped bracelets. MyIntent (who I received a necklace from) now sells a Maker Kit, so you can make your own custom jewelry. One fundraiser selling hand-stamped bracelets brought in over $4,000 in 3 weeks!

UPDATE: Found a discount code, so I wanted to share! VDAY25 will get you 25% off a MyIntent Maker Kit.

Organization(s):
MyIntent.org

What else can we make to make a difference?

PS While some of these projects are U.S.-specific, hopefully, they’ll spark ideas for anywhere you are!

May 8, 2017February 5, 2020

Vacancy

Phillip read an article an old hotel that had been sitting abandoned for years with plans to tear it down when the city decided instead to preserve it.

He wanted to go find the Edwards Hotel on his day off, so we drove to the Peoria address in the article. It wasn’t hard to find.

Even from outside the chain link fence, it was interesting to guess what had been there originally and what had been added later.

Then we took a stroll around Old Town Peoria, where there’s currently not much going on, but they have a revitalization program in the works.

In the meantime, they have ornate, agriculturally-themed bus stops, a handful of historic buildings (including a church that was turning 100 the week we were there), and a nice little community center with paintings and quilts on display. It was all a cozy contrast to the hollowed-out hotel.

February 4, 2016February 5, 2020

Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival Wrap Up

The Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival is a 3-day expo focused on quilting and textile arts. It takes place in several western U.S. cities throughout the year with local vendors in each location adding variation to the pattern.

Backing Up

With 350 booths, the Phoenix event is actually the largest of the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festivals.

It’s held annually at the Arizona State Fairgrounds with 2 exhibition buildings bursting at the seams with booths and a third dedicated to seminars.

I went last week with veteran of the festival and quilter/sewer/fabric crafter Cyndee (a.k.a. my mom) as my guide.

We arrived well before the 10am opening time, and there were already lines at the entrances. That’s because this is a tenacious crowd, unafraid to fight for a giveaway or stake out seats at a seminar or interrupt a demo until their questions get answered.

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that quilters are scrappy.

The show program is available online (as well as onsite), so you could piece together your schedule ahead of time or just improvise when you get there.

We blocked out time to attend a seminar and spent most of the rest of the day threading our way through the crowds in the exhibition halls.

The Top of the Class

Seminars

Each day there are seminars on topics like quilt wall hanging, embellishment, and shortcuts, as well as some focused on specific products. They repeat at the same time each day of the festival, so you can catch everything you want to.

We went to a seminar called “Recycle It!” with Linda Winner of Winner Designs and sewing tool manufacturer Martelli Enterprises. She was a fun, engaging speaker, getting the class involved and moving quickly through a lot of projects.

She defined “recycling” really broadly to include using leftover fabric, and that’s what most of the seminar turned out to be about, but she did include some upcycling and repurposing tips too. The emphasis on using leftover fabric meant ample opportunity to plug her products. She’s designed some really useful-looking templates, but I just felt there was a bit more pitching than the topic warranted.

Again, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Someone whose job is selling tools for fabric is bound to have some bias.

Make and takes

Some exhibitors offer open make-and-take projects – needlepoint, Japanese braiding, a beaded fob to keep you from losing your scissors, etc. – with a small materials fee (usually $3-5). The one whose project we had planned to do had forgotten her materials, but we did see several other make-and-takes in progress. Since the exhibitor will probably be splitting time between instruction and running the booth, allow a little extra time for your project.

The Sandwich

Food at all the festivals comes from the fairgrounds or venue where they’re located.

In Phoenix’s case, that’s C and C Concessions, which has permanent operations at the Fairgrounds. Offerings included pizza, baked potatoes, roasted almonds, and flame-grilled burgers. Also, the ice cream stand sells sandwiches (like chicken salad. Not like ice cream sandwiches. Or quilt sandwiches.), salads, and some really good pita chips with red pepper hummus.

There are lots of picnic tables, and you also have the option to bring your own lunch.

Exhibitor Sampler

There were brands demonstrating sewing machines, longarm quilting machines, and furniture, as well as individual quilters and pattern makers selling their own work.

Of course, I’m always interested in the makers.

Many of the exhibitors we met not only had interesting work and a passion for what they do but were also friendly and happy to talk about it.

I shouldn’t be surprised when people surrounded by quilts are warm.

Some highlights:

Lauretta Crites is a pattern-maker and one half of A Couple of Old Broads, the company she runs with her friend Cindy Meyers. She showed us her handy cross-body bags made with a pattern you can customize to fit your stuff.

the-sampler.com had a super colorful booth with fabrics, patterns, and quilt kits.

Joyce Teng of TSC Designs had stamps, ink, and lots of shades of glitter. I associate stamps with paper crafting, but we also saw quilts with stamped designs at the show.

Gale and Carl Carlson, the couple behind Stitch in Time has spent years building relationships as far away as Thailand and Bali, bringing back textiles like intricately folded Thai appliqué and beautiful sari silk, which Gale incorporates into jackets. You can also buy the textiles separately for your own projects.

Quilter Wayne Snyder of Bear Quilts does longarm quilting for Quilts of Valor, a volunteer organization that provides quilts for veterans. He also sells kits for quilters who want to piece together a quilt top that he can finish with the longarm.

Bob Miller makes custom beaded earrings with craft-themed charms (think tiny sewing machines or scissors) and steampunk jewelry.

Mary Fatula of Lumenaris designs tons of inventive felt kits for purses, pillows, coasters, cozies, decor, and perfectly adorable petit fours.

Pam and Tom Keenan of Pocket Change Fabric sell colorful handmade Mola shoes, Ghana baskets, quilts with bold designs, and fun fabrics.

The Splinters & Threads booth featured stacks of beautiful wooden printing blocks hand carved in India, as well as paints and quilting supplies.

This show is the only thing that Chuck and Karen Nolke will drive their RV out to Arizona for. He fires lightweight, one-of-a-kind porcelain pieces, and she makes them into jewelry.

Robin of Bird Brain Designs had a booth with full size and mini quilts with her funny “robinisms” expressions, lots of vintage sewing items, and even a purse made from a gourd. She just published Snow Happy: Whimsical Embroidery Designs to Mix and Match.

The Lacey Ladies of Arizona (chapter of the International Organization of Lace, Inc.) was there working on beautiful bobbin lacework. They hold regular meetings for lacemakers and will be celebrating Lace Day this November.

Tying Up

There are lots of great resources and inspiration at the festival for anyone who quilts or does any kind of fabric craft.

If you’re in Arizona and didn’t make the Phoenix show, the smaller, less-crowded Tucson show happens in November. Check quiltcraftsew.com for the full festival schedule.

—
We were guests of the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival.