Open Book Wall Hanging

I've been quilting for many, many years - off and on. Recently I decided to return to making quilts by starting small. My first project of what I plan to be many quilts is an open book wall hanging. It is pieced which is a change from the appliqué I have been doing more recently.

Open Book Wall Hanging

Open book close-up

Bookshelf close-up

Open book close-up

Back of wall hanging

Back close-up

The Open Book Wall Hanging is available from my Etsy shop.

The wall hanging has two shelves of closed books and two shelves displaying open books with quotes: "Not all who wander are lost." and "A ship in harbor is safe but that is not what ships are built for." The "pages" of the books are machine quilted with appropriate designs, including a sailboat, a lighthouse, and a mariner's compass. The shelved books are outline quilted.

The wall hanging is machine pieced and quilted, from 100% pre-washed quilting cotton. The back is Timeless Treasure book fabric, always a favorite. There are three tabs at the top for hanging. It measures 23.5 inches high and 31 inches wide.

I was very happy with the overall look although it didn't come out precisely the way it should have. Those 1/4 inch seams can have their own minds which I can't get under control. 

This wall hanging was made from the Open Book pattern designed by Nancy Harcourt of Prairie Queen Pattern Company, which can be purchased at her Etsy shop (prairiequeenpatterns.etsy.com).

Geek Sewing

I am a longtime closet geek. I'm not embarrassed by being a geek, it's just not a trait by which I identify myself. Loving Star Trek, Star Wars, Avengers, and Sherlock is one part of my life. Some people in my life can't understand the fascination, and I get that. I'm also a HUGE fan of Shakespeare and that's as strange to some as loving science fiction.

How do those add up? In the words of Walt Whitman:
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

I have never been a comic book lover so it came as a huge surprise when I went to see The Avengers and fell in love with those characters. I loved the movie and it instantly became one of the favorites. It also inspired my first foray into geek sewing.

Captain America Pillow

Yes, I am team Cap. I did all the Avengers as pillows, which you can see here.

Before Avengers was Star Trek. I was not old enough to enjoy Star Trek when the original series was on but when I grew into it, I loved the optimism, the hope, the fellowship of the Enterprise and her crew. Not to mention having a gigantic crush on Captain James T. Kirk. 

I haven't sewn any Star Trek items although I made a stained glass Enterprise. It sold and I need to make more. 

I am old enough to have been one of the original Star Wars fans from the first, and still to me, the best movie. Star Wars is one of my go-to movies when I need familiar and comforting. Seeing Luke, Obi-Wan, Leia, and Han never fails to make me feel secure and home.

I made Star Wars tote bags from original designs, which you can see here.

Equally surprising to loving The Avengers was falling completely and utterly in love with BBC's Sherlock. While not a huge fan of the original Sherlock Holmes as written by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, BBC's Sherlock quickly became a favorite. It's unfortunate that there is such a long gap between seasons but the results are always worthwhile. The show inspired me to make these pillows.

Sherlock and Watson from BBC's Sherlock

Again, these are original designs although the characters do not belong to me. (I'd really like to belong to Sherlock, truth be told!)

Not so long ago, I made the mistake of posting a question about one of my totes to a Facebook forum. I am conflict-averse and knew I shouldn't have posted there. Curiosity overrode caution and I posted the question. Rather than getting a sensible answer, I was lambasted for being so derivative. I was told that I should only post original creations and my shop was filled with the work of others. It made no difference when I pointed out that I was hardly alone in posting fan items inspired by popular culture. 

I don't consider my creations theft. I don't claim to own any of the Avengers or their icons. I do make my own version of each creation, based on images from the original medium. Even Disney has backed off from demanding that fans cease and desist. It's a new world of crafting. We all borrow from books, movies, and TV shows we love. We don't claim them as our own, only as our own interpretation.

Welcome to Crafts of Note

"Follow your bliss." 

After years of refusing to listen to my creative muses, I finally decided that the only way to be happy was to spread happiness to others. That is my personal mission - to spread cheer and smiles to as many people as I can reach with my one of a kind creations, all of which are handmade of fleece, cotton, and occasionally more exotic fabrics like faux fur. My workshop is small but filled with creative energy. Every item in my shop is sewn with love - for the creation and the eventual adopter. 


Before I became a full time creator, I worked in higher education as a fundraiser. It was a rewarding, frustrating, fulfilling, interesting career. When circumstances made it impossible for me to continue, I left my position at the college. Not certain what to do next - planning ahead within my life is not my strong suit - I decided to enroll in the college where I had worked. I entered the associate's degree program for simulation and game design. I admit this was an interesting choice since I am not a gamer and I am most definitely not a computer programmer. I was an English major! I didn't know C+ programming from vitamin C. But I learned. It was a struggle, and it was informative. I had no fundamental knowledge of gaming or programming, two obstacles which I refused to let stand in my way. (Incredibly enough, when I graduated I had the highest GPA of my program. No one was more surprised than me!)

Why study gaming at all, then? Mostly because I believe gaming can be a change for the better. I do believe there is some correlation between violent games and becoming desensitized to violence. I don't think playing violent games makes anyone violent. Rather, I think that it blurs the line between reality and virtual reality, what is acceptable in real life and what is not.

Additionally, there is an incredibly heavy male basis to gaming. Women are portrayed as little more than a set of breasts. The guys in my gaming classes thought that was the way things were supposed to be and could barely understand my objections. Bringing a female point of view to gaming is something I was wiling and able to do. As a relative outsider, I didn't care what they thought about me. I'm not a part of any gaming community so they couldn't haze me on line. And they knew better than to bully me in class. When they tried, I reminded them firmly (and somewhat maternally, I'll admit) that we were all adults and they needed to act like they remembered that.

I also believe that the right kind of games help improve cognitive ability. I am completely incapable of completing jigsaw puzzles. My ability to visualize orientations is practically nil. But I am a wizard at Tetris. While cardboard puzzles are nearly impossible for me, electronic puzzles make sense and flow together.

My ultimate goal is to create electronic games for seniors, to help with cognitive ability. We baby boomers are aging but we don't necessarily have to grown old. I'm not making games yet, but I will one day soon.

In the meantime, I am using my creativity to sew. I love to sew, to take fabric with beautiful, colorful designs, cut it apart, and make something brand new. I have started designing my own wall hangings and really enjoy that part of the creative process as well.

This creativity has led me back to my love of quilting. I learned many years ago but became intimidated by the process. Every time I tried to make a quilt, I'd hear the experts telling me that all seams had to be an exact 1/4 inch, quilting had to be close together, hand quilting was the only true way to quilt, if it wasn't perfect, there was no use doing it. I've quieted those voices. I strive for 1/4 inch seams but if they aren't perfect, my quilt will still be beautiful and will still keep me warm at night. I don't have to hand quilt to be a true quilter. Fabric, batting, and thread are the basic ingredients. Creativity, love, and effort make a quilt. So what if they aren't perfect? Who among us is?