Inspiration vs Copying

It has been so much fun having ya'all comment on the last post. It makes me feel loved, even though I know what you are really after is the wonderful Amish Abstractions book.

As part of the contest, I specified that you'd get an extra chance to win if you made a quilt top inspired by one of the quilts in the book. Inspired can be taken really loosely. For instance, you don't have to use solids unless you want to. You can be inspired by the color palette, the way the colors are used in the blocks, the way the blocks are arranged... There are lots of different ways to be inspired. And as far as the letters go? Initials count. Or the year (okay, those are numbers but haven't you realized yet I'm not that big of a stickler about rules?).

Additionally, I didn't say you had to make a great quilt. It doesn't have to be fabulous and it doesn't have to be large - a doll quilt is a-okay. And it just has to be a *top* by June, not completed.

I'm thinking we could have a class/get-together so we can actually do quilts together following the theme of Amish/liberated/letters. Not starting just yet, cuz life is still a bit crazed, but soon. Our recommended texts will be Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking (I and/or II) and Amish Abstractions. Recommended, not mandatory.

And I'm thinking we use solids or near solids, since so many of you commented that you had them and this would be a good project to use them on. Personally, I think just plain solids are boring, but mixing in a few hand-dyes really adds some depth. You could also use single-colored batiks... Or the Gee's Bend line (which no, I still haven't used yet).

I had a new quilter asking me about copyright issues and at what point inspiration becomes copying. In particular, the photos from Pheromone shown in this blog post.

Taking the actual photo and printing it out on fabric would be a big no-no. That's a clear copyright violation. The artist might be willing to let you do that, especially if it's explained that this is a quilt for personal use, not for sale. The proper thing to do is write and ask for permission.

Now taking the photos as inspiration and doing something completely different is highly encouraged. Just the idea of making bugs appeals to me. I tried some drawings and realized pretty quickly that I'd either have to piece huge monster bugs OR embroider on things like antennae and legs OR simplify. I like making small blocks and this is how I'd approach free-piecing the ones on the book cover (seen above in the catalog that Pokey is reading).

Oops, I didn't color in the bug on my second drawing, so it looks a bit goofy. See my tutorial here about starting a free-pieced design.

On a completely different topic, Lily managed to charm everyone at the vet's office when she was there for her wellness visit and rabies shot. She is not going to be happy when I take her back in for a teeth cleaning. Pokey had to go in too (the next day) and is hanging in there, doing as well as she can (Pokey has Chronic Renal Failure) - she's been a bouncy, playful cuddle bunny. The latter bit is making it hard to hand-quilt.

I love Fridays because I get to watch the tv shows I recorded the previous night. Of course now I've watched The Office (an okay clip show) and 30 Rock (nothing really inspired unfortunately), and Fringe (loved the first 10 minutes but it got a bit predictable) and Project Runway (I love how using non-fabric to make dresses really brings out the creativity - burlap ranks up there with candy and newspapers in previous years) so now what can I watch? Nope, not that Burn Notice, must wait for my husband for that. sigh.

As good as they were, none of the shows compared to the most recent episode of Better Off Ted called "Lust in Translation" - so so so funny. Love that show.

Off to hand-quilt and watch more tv. It's a rough life. Take care.