This Fall, quilting friend Victoria Findlay Wolfe has released her first book, 15 Minutes of PLAY: Improvisational Quilts. The book is filled with colourful inspiration, project ideas and challenges. I have been admiring Victoria’s quilts and her fabulous use of colour for a few years now, and am thrilled she asked me to be a part of the blog tour for her book.
In the beginning of the book, Victoria talks about PLAY and how to overcome some common fears or roadblocks we quilters and artists all experience at some time in our creative journey.
The next section of the book focuses on “made-fabric”. To quote, “Made-Fabric is created by taking bits of otherwise useless scraps and sewing them together to make a usable piece of fabric that can then be utilized to make a variety of blocks and quilts. It’s a chance to make something from nothing that might otherwise not have found a home in a quilt.”
Here are a couple of the quilts from the book completed with “made-fabric”. Since I absolutely adore scrappy quilts, this style of quilting is definitely a favourite.
Victoria includes four techniques for creating your “made-fabric”, all based on 15 Minutes of Play. She’s included 16 traditional quilt blocks to inspire you and 11 challenges to get you playing with your fabric and creating. The book is filled with gorgeous quilts that will are sure to inspire everyone.
If you find yourself in a creative rut, love scrappy quilts, have bins of scraps but no idea how to use them, or just want to step outside of your own creative box, then I highly recommend this book. You will be inspired!
Be sure to visit Victoria’s 15 Minutes of Play blog for daily inspiration!
My Questions
Victoria sent us a couple of FUN questions to answer as part of the tour.
Do you have a favorite color to use and why?
Purple is my favourite colour, but that is not necessarily reflected in my quilts. I don’t really have any one go-to colour that I use. The past year, I have been mainly working on scrappy quilts with wild colours. I do like to use a neutral or strong solid colour to help balance with the scrappy goodness (my postage stamp quilt below is a good example). I do think every quilt can benefit from a hint of yellow, orange or red.
If you are not PLAYING in fabric, what else do you PLAY in?
Since September, I’ve been taking a very intense dog training certification course to become a pet dog trainer. Unfortunately, this has left me with little time to play, except with Milo. Here he is after school tonight:
I do love to needlepoint and crochet too, but it’s quilting and playing with fabric that really feeds my creative soul.
Give-Away
C&T Publishing is giving away a copy of Victoria’s book to one of my lucky readers. US winners receive a hard copy of the book and international winners receive an electronic copy. To enter the give-away, leave a comment below answering: What feeds your creative soul?
The winner will be chosen randomly on December 12, 2012.
Blog Tour
Increase your chances of winning a copy of Victoria’s book by visiting the other participants in the blog tour and entering their give-aways too.
Nov 26: Victoria Findlay Wolfe
Nov 27: Bonnie K Hunter
Nov 28: Alissa Haight Carlton
Nov 29: Pat Sloan
Nov 30: Fat Quarter Shop
Dec 1st: Karen Griska
Dec 2nd: Angela Walters
Dec 3rd: Generation Q
Dec 4th: Tonya Ricucci
Dec 5th: Michele Foster – you’re here!
Dec 6th: Scott Hansen
Dec 7th: Amy Ellis
Dec 8th: Rachaeldaisy
Dec 9th: Jackie Kunkel
Dec. 10th: C&T Publishing
And the winner is…
Congratulations to #200 Sandy. Check your inbox for an email from Victoria.
Nature
photos of cities
My kids feed my creative soul. Their interests and passions are often reflected in my quilts and handycraft endevours. My six year old loves Raggedy Ann and so it inspired me to do a Raggedy Ann quilt.
Doing things for others feeds my soul. Seeing something that I have created to give others pleasure.
Variety – of fabrics, of patterns, of people….
See the beauty in colors coming together in nature.
Music feeds my soul… I can get inspired by the song, the words, the melody… and I always have music when I am doing something creative…
I find inspiration in colours of nature, in particular in spring and autumn. I love quilt books and blogs to help me decide on block design and overall design of my next quilt. I find I have more inspiration than time to execute ideas ;-)
I do play with my fabric–and my threads–and my patterns. In addition to quilting, I love to create costumes, which I guess is kind of similar to quilting since it gives me the opportunity to fondle a LOT of fabrics.
My artistic friends feed my creative soul, and the raw materials used are also inspiring. Color! Love of learning something new:-)
No pressure sewing…just sewing/creating because I want to…not because I have to finish a project by a deadline.
Sewing, sewing and sewing. The more I sew, the more I want to sew!
My quilting friends and all of the wonderful projects I see online and in magazines.
Colors everywhere…
Life and everything about it!!!!!
Thank you for the chance – looks like a wonderful book! Finding some quiet time in the day to play with fabric!
Color, whether from nature or fabric and the lovely quilts we make from it!
What feeds my creativity is good music and equally lovely fabrics. Music to relax the mind, fabric to touch and swoon over and before you know it something wonderful is created.
I find myself inspired by so many different things. Lately my creative soul has been fed with vintage dishes and fabrics. But I’m also inspired by architecture, art, nature, and travel. Have a super day!
Beautiful projects and beautiful fabrics feed my creativity. Once I see something I love, I just have to get started sewing it up right away. Thanks for the opportunity to win a book that looks to be full of new ideas.
Just love fabric…I get a high just touching and looking.
C O L O U R S…!!!!!:0))))
My inspiration is fabric, family, friends and colour.
Finishing one of my many projects, it gives me the “rush” to get started on another one.
thanks for the chance to win this fabulous book – playing with fabric feeds my creative soul – looking at it, planning projects, playing with scraps – love it all :)
Music feeds my creative soul. Also, going into a fabric shop or going through my stash.
My colorful stash feeds the creativity and the many ideas I get looking at quilting blogs and looking at google images.
Thanks for the creative book.
Just walking into my sewing room, knowing I have the time to play.
Color. Whether it’s in my stash, in a photograph, or out in the world.
Quilting blogs do it for me.
Love to stroke my fabric!
Going through my stash and dreaming about how beautiful it is.
images that catch my eye inspire me.
I get inspiration from seeing what other creative people are making in my SAGA (Smocking Arts Guild of America) group!
I get inspiration from different places. It may be a sunset, or a painting. I never know when it will hit.
Beautiful batik fabrics in vivid colors–and dreaming about the pattern I should begin first.
Fabric definitely inspires me but everything else in life does, too! Major events…weddings, babies, gradutations…my favorite way to celebrate milestones is with fabric and thread!
I get inspiration both from life’s experiences and from colors. I love how colors can portray such different feelings. Of course, I love seeing what others are able to do with quilting on blogs and books, etc.
Quilting feeds my creative soul. Thanks for the chance to win your giveaway. LOVE LOVE LOVE Scrappy quilts!
Getting all my fabrics out and seeing what takes my fancy at the time is what feeds my creative soul. I often start with a certain pattern but will change it a lot depending on the fabric and any ideas I think of as I plan…
Surfing on the net, visiting all my friends, all the worlds quiltbloggers. That´s giving me so much energy and inspiration and my creativety goes high :)
Gun, Sweden
colours, textures,fabrics,books, magazines various blogs all contribute to my creative soul.I also love to look at various galleries of quilts.
La naturaleza es la primera fuente de mi inspiración.
Browsing the quilting blogosphere and getting inspiration from all the beautiful work!
Seeing pictures or actual quilts helps to motivate me to get going. I love, love, love seeing all the eye candy. What a great book!
Quilting feeds my creative soul. I occasionally try other arts/crafts, but I just keep coming back to quilting. :) Thanks for the fab giveaway!
Time spent im my sewing room working with my fabrics, planning my next project. Also there is nothing better than completing a project, that is always inspiration for the next.
What feeds creative soul? making something special for either one ofmu adult children. Since my mother passed away two years ago, both of them,who’re adults, are appreciating much more having something hand made
I love trying to learn a new technique, sometimes successful and sometimes not so…but it’s a learning experience.
fabric