In case you haven't noticed, Men Quilt Too!!

Where have I been??  Where are my manners??

I've entered an online all-male exhibition and competition on Pigtales and Quilts.

Check it out!! (and, vote for me . . .)

More Male Quilters than you can shake a stick at . . .

Can you believe it's been eight months since I last posted a link to my list of Male Quilters??

It has . . .

Here's a new link to an old page:  Male Quilters with an online presence.

Enjoy!!

I can hardly stand it!!

Do you remember me telling you about the Yahoo! QuiltGuy group??  I've participated in several fabric swaps with them in the past.

Well, I've done it again!!

This time, I entered not one, not two, but THREE different fabric swaps!!  One was themed "Solids," one was themed "Tone-on-Tone," and one was themed "Neutrals."  There were about 20 guys in each swap, so I got about 5 yards of fat-quarter fabrics!!

So much for being a "quilter without a stash" because now I have 15 yards of fabric!!  I guess it's a start, eh??  First, I'm gonna sort it, then I'm gonna determine "what's missing."  I'll post pics (I promise).

What am I gonna do with this fabric??  Well, my other blog, Tessellation Nation, turns one year old tomorrow.  I'm gonna post some new patterns there and pick one (or more) to work with.

Men and the art of Quiltmaking . . .

I went to the AQS quilt show in Des Moines this weekend . . .

I had Friday off, and I busied myself shopping, packing, cleaning the litter box, and taking out the trash.  When I picked up Ed from work, we headed northeast.  We listened to the last hour or so of "Abarat, Book Two" by Clive Barker, then started on "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larson.  We drove as far as Ottumwa, IA, and stopped for the night.

Saturday morning, after breakfast, we hit the road again.  We got to Des Moines in plenty of time:  we parked the car, got our passes, and found the hall where Joe Cunningham was gonna speak.  There were two other men present who were also included in Joe's book, Men and the art of Quiltmaking:  Mike McNamara and Erick Wolfmeyer.  The four of us did a round-robin of autographing each other's copies of the book, LOL!!  Then, we took the time for a "photo op."

Pictured above (from left to right) are Mike McNamara, Erick Wolfmeyer, Joe Cunningham, and myself.

Joe gave an interesting lecture, featuring many of the men in his book and their quilts, but it wasn't well-attended; there were less than two dozen people in the hall.  Afterwards, Ed and I went to see some of the quilts, particularly the display curated by  Joe of some of the male quilter's quilts.  This is me beside the quilt I had on display (which is also featured in the book).

Ed and I wandered around for a little while, looking at some of the other quilts, but I had seen who I came to see, and there were a LOT of other quilts to look at (it would have taken the rest of the day).  I still had a long drive ahead of me.  So, I had a twelve-hour drive for a two-hour visit, but it was worth it for me.

We headed back to St. Louis, stopping only for gas, and food (and chocolate).

I may do it again next year . . .

Des Moines, here I come!!

Remember I mentioned being interviewed for Joe Cunningham's book, Men and the Art of Quiltmaking??  I submitted three quilts for inclusion in the book, and prepared a pattern for one of them.

Well, his book is now REALLY a book (a living, breathing, physical thing)!!

AQS (American Quilter's Society), the publisher is gonna launch the book at their show in Des Moines, IA, October 6-9.  Joe will be there, signing copies of his book.  One of my quilts will be there, as part of a promotional quilt show, in conjunction with the book launch.

And, I'M gonna be there, to stand near and talk about my quilt . . . I'm thinking of driving up for opening day and driving back afterwards (or maybe find a hotel along the way and sleep).

I've never been to one of these shows (no, I've never been to Paducah, either) . . . what are they like??  If you've been to one, I'd love to hear from you.

Updated Male Qulters list . . .

A long time ago (or, so it seems), I wrote a post listing other male quilters like myself with an internet presence . . .

I've spent the better part of the day updating that list, adding new quilters, checking links, and so on . . .

I invite you to take a look (or another look) at Male Quilters with an Internet Presence . . .


Thank you for reading my blog . . . please take a moment to leave a comment and subscribe to this blog.

My 100th post!!

Yes, I've been quiet . . . several people have written to ask "what's up"??

The truth is, I've been busy. Too busy to write, you wonder?? Well, in a word, "yes."

Several weeks ago, I got an email from Joe Cunningham. He's the quilter in San Francisco who interviewed me last year for the book he was writing about male quilters. Anyway, he sent me a pic of the book cover. This book will be out in the fall, and I'm in it!!


Joe had a favor to ask of me: would I be willing to write a pattern for one of my quilts shown in the book?? Though I'd never written a pattern before, I said, "yes." The process was quite fun, actually. I configured Electric Quilt to print the templates to a file; then, I imported that file into CorelDraw, where I made the cutting lines thicker, the seam lines dashed, and positioned the templates next to each other to facilitate cutting them apart. The instructions were originally 12 typed pages long!! I managed to edit them down to three (which is what the editor wanted). I could see doing this again . . . in fact, I DID do it again with the templates for my design tile, which leads me to my next activity.

Last week, I gave a lecture and workshop for the Santa Rosa Quilt Guild in Santa Rosa, CA. I prepared about 35 sandpaper-backed templates for my design tile, and 500 muslin foundations!! I shipped slides, templates, foundations, and quilts to Santa Rosa overnight, rather than stuff 'em all in my suitcase. The lecture was well-received, with about 200 quilters in attendance, and there were about 14 quilters in the workshop the following morning. And, of course there were requests for patterns!! I'm gonna have to work on those . . .

Now, I'm home and getting ready for a lecture at a local guild next month. I want to have plenty of templates and foundation muslins on hand, LOL!!

I'm toying with the idea of starting a new blog . . . don't freak out!! I'm not abandoning THIS one (and leave you behind), but I want to focus on a single topic. I'm all over the place on this one, LOL!! I will certainly keep you posted on developments . . .

Thank you for reading my blog . . . please feel free to leave a comment and follow this blog!!

Writing and being written about . . .

I am writing a book . . .

No, I have written a book . . .

No, I have written THE book . . .

Yes, I've written the book about my design system . . .

Years ago, I read Peter S. Stevens' "Handbook of Regular Patterns: An Introduction to Symmetry in Two Dimensions." That's where I learned about the four operations of symmetry: translation, rotation, reflection, and glide reflection. That's where I learned about the 17 wallpaper groups, a mathematical classification of two-dimensional patterns developed by crystallographers. But, crystallographers are not necessarily quilters . . .

Then, I read Ruth B. McDowell's "Symmetry: A Design System for Quiltmakers," and Jinny Beyer's "Designing Tessellations: the Secrets of Interlocking Patterns." Both books used the same crystallographers' classification. But, quilters are not necessarily crystallographers . . .

I used the same classification system in designing patterns. As an aid, I drew a chart of the symmetries, using groups of four squares. Looking at the chart, I discovered two things: the 4-patch blocks were basically two pairs of squares placed beside each other, on top of each other, or diagonally from each other; and, in all but one instance, the squares were right side up or upside down, but never sideways. Granted, the crystallographers' system was based on what they observed in nature.

I propose a new method of designing 2-dimensional patterns, ignoring the operations of symmetry, and using more "sideways" squares. Considering the crystallographers' system is based on what they observed in nature, my system would have to be considered "outside" of nature and "beyond" symmetry. "Beyond Symmetry" is the working title of my book.

The book chronicles how I saw what everyone else missed . . . it presents a square, and a set of "design cards" to play/experiment with . . . it methodically works its way through 4-patch and 9-patch blocks to patterns . . . it shows how to design other original squares (there are literally millions of 'em to be made), and presents a set of multi-use templates for the patterns in the book. Finally, it presents a section outlining my oft-requested "ribbon" quilt (which just so happens to be among the infinite patterns the templates can make). I'm currently writing the last section.

The book will be about 40 pages, at best. For now, I intend to have a dozen or so booklets made up at the local copy shop to have on hand for a local lecture in a week and a half. After that, I'll delve into the realm of "print-on-demand" and offer the book on my redesigned website.


So much for writing . . .

Earlier today, I was interviewed via telephone by Joe Cunningham (www.JoetheQuilter.com/). Joe is writing a book about male quilters, and wants to include me. I must have talked for an hour and a half (it WAS his dime, after all)!! It was a great interview (when I let him get a word in edgewise to ask a question, that is). He learned about me, and I learned about him . . . we both learned what we have in common.

Joe promised to pick out the juiciest, most salacious, sexy, and gossipy parts of the interview to include in my 3-4 page chapter (the real challenge will be to find the parts that AREN'T)!! I'm willing to bet that statement alone drives up book sales!! LOL!!

I eagerly await my "15 minutes of fame" . . . WooHoo!!

Male Quilters' blogs and websites

The following list is another "work-in-progress" . . .

I am looking for other male quilters who have an online presence (either website or blog).

So far, my list includes:

1. Bob Adams -- Bob Adams
2. Curly Boy -- Curly Boy
3. Rob Appell -- Rob Appell Designs -- Rob Appell Blog
4. Jean Pierre Avonts-Saint Lager -- Les Tableaux Textiles
5. Phil Beaver -- J. Phil Beaver Quilts
6. Gene Black -- Gene Black, an Alabama Artist
7. Tristan Robin Blakeman -- Tristan Robin Blakeman Artist
8. Edward Bostick -- Edward Bostick African American Quilts
9. Kevin Britton -- Journey of a QuiltGuy
10. Rich Brote -- Rich, the Quilt Man
11. Wendell George Brown -- Wendell George Brown
12. Bruce -- Confessions of a Male Quiltaholic
13. Greg Bryson -- Flat Out Quilting
14. Richard Caro --Deus Ex (Sewing) Machina -- A Quiltversation
15. John Cary -- Quilt Dad
16. Michael A. Cummings -- Michael A. Cummings, Artist & Quilter
17. Joe Cunningham -- Joe the Quilter, AKA Joe Cunningham
18. Glenn Dragone -- yarn + needle
19. Ken Ellis -- Featured Artist
20. John Flynn -- Flynn Quilt Frame Company
21. Jim Gatling -- Jim Gatling's Crazy Creative Life
22. Tom H -- Quilting and Carving
23. Brian Haggard -- The Creative World of Brian Haggard
24. Michael Handley -- State of the Craft
25. Scott Hansen -- Blue Nickel Studios
26. Luke Haynes -- Luke Haynes
27. Simon Henry -- Simon Henry Needle Craft
28. Carl Hentsch -- 3 Dog Design Co
29. Henry Holmes -- Henry's Arts
30. Raymond K. Houston -- Nacho Grandma's Quilts -- Tessellation Nation -- Knotty Celtic Knots
31. Michael James -- Michael James Studio Quilts
32. Jack Jeppson -- Real Men Quilt -- Blog
33. Jeremy -- Sew Like a Man
34. Alan Kelchner -- Alan Kelchner, Textile Artist -- Alan Kelchner's blog
35. Mike Kelley -- Mike Kelley's Rainbows
36. Wayne Kollinger -- Tuxedo Park Design
37. Kevin Kosbab -- Feed Dog
38. John M. Kubiniec -- Big Rig Quilting
39. Eddie Landreth -- The Arkansas Man Quilter
40. Peter Lappin -- Male Pattern Boldness
41. Richard Larson -- Quilting Design Studio
42. Steven Lennert -- Wind River Quilting
43. Don Linn -- Mr. Quilt's World
44. Mark Lipinski -- Pickle Road Studios
45. Patrick Lose -- Patrick Lose
46. Jay Martin -- You Quilt?
47. Jimmy McBride -- Jimmy McBride
48. Rick McGuire -- Rick McGuire, Quilt Nerd
49. Jim Mikula -- Artwork by Jim Mikula
50. Scott Murkin -- Scott Murkin
51. Rick Najdzion -- Whimzee Stitches Designs
52. Paul Perger -- Outnumbered Quilter
53. Gerard Quak -- Gerards Handwerken
54. Shawn Quinlan -- Quiltman
55. Gert van Raalten -- Real Men Stitch and Sew (written in Dutch)
56. Daniel Rouse -- Piece and Press
57. Gerald Roy -- Pilgrim/Roy Antiques and Interiors
58. Tom Russell -- Tom Russell Quilts
59. Charlie Scott -- Qubee Quilts
60. Bruce Seeds -- Quilts.Bruce Seeds
61. Jonathan Shannon -- The Alliance for American Quilts Interview
62. Mark L. Sherman -- Remarkable Quilts
63. George Siciliano -- George Siciliano
64. John Sims -- John Sims Projects (you gotta skip the intro, then click on "Pi Project," and follow the arrows)
65. Matthew Sparrow -- ManQuilter.com
66. David Taylor -- David Taylor Quilts
67. Ricky Tims -- Ricky Tims, Musician & Quilter
68. Giles Turnbull -- Touch And Sew
69. Ben Venom -- Mr. Ben Venom
70. David Walker -- David Walker: Artist and Web Designer
71. Dwayne Wanner -- Dwayne F. Wanner, Contemporary Quilter
72. Jim West -- Sew Many Places -- Scrap Map -- Quiltposium
73. Lane Wilhite --That Man Quilts?
74. Kent Williams -- Kent Williams - Art Quilts
75. J. Bruce Wilcox -- J. Bruce Wilcox
76. Erick Wolfmeyer -- E. Wolfmeyer Quilts

Do YOU know someone I've missed??