WITH HEART & HANDS BLOGGER INTERVIEW
1. Name of blog
With Heart and Hands
2. Url
http://with-heart-and-hands.
3. How did you choose your blog's title?
Having done transpersonal lay therapies involving healing touch energy work for many years, I understood the power of combining the work of the heart, with the work of my hands. It was a logical transition for me to extend that same energetic fusion into my journey in the art of quilting, and those experiences created the title for my blog.
4. What was your purpose in beginning your blog and has the purpose changed over the years? If so, how?
In the fall of 2005, I was was one of 200 quilters who gathered together in a downtown Salem (OR) Convention Center, to make quilts for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. In just two days, 200 of us created an amazing 200 quilts. That experience was so energizing, and so fulfilling, that I wanted to further my goals of both creating quilts for charitable causes, and finding ways to share that quilting process. Once I became aware of quilt blogs and blogging, and learned how to create a blog......I did!
5. How long have you been blogging?
I officially began blogging 5 years ago, in October of 2006.
6. Do you have special features on your blog? If so, what are they?
My blog is most recognized by search engines for my sharing of well over 2,500 free quilting and quilt pattern links. It now is ranked at the top of many search engine hit lists....in spite of being originally offered on a blogspot address and not as an original "dot com" quilting website. This has resulted in a steady rise in viewership and references on quilting sites and boards around the world.
7. What style of quilting do you prefer?
I began sewing as a very young girl, first by hand, then on a treadle sewing machine at age 12. I progressed to making all of my own clothes by the time I was 17 or 18. When I left for college in the late '60s, I first became aware of the fun of 'patchwork' quilting and began making simple pillows and baby quilts. By the later 1980's when the groundbreaking book "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts" came out, I taught myself all of the traditional patterns in that book by simply starting with the simplest pattern, and progressing my way through the book.
Rather than making an album quilt, which I might still have to this day...I made pillows. So, one pattern per pillow creating dozens of pillows. One by one, they were all given away and many were used on reading couches in elementary classrooms, here in Salem. Sadly, I have nothing of my own making until about 1989 when I made my first queen sized quilt using a variation of the 'Buttons and Bows' pattern. Made in dark browns and coral tones, the bright sun coming into our bedroom window faded that within six months. I was reminded of the transient nature of all things and to appreciate and treasure that which we have...while we still have it.
I am now having a great deal of fun with what we are called "Liberated Quiltmaking" after the well known Gwen Marston. and her quilting partner, Freddy Moran. The freedom from not having to match points and to focus on fun and creativity, rather than precision, has been very freeing and a great deal of fun.I also delight in the making of creative 'art' quilts in a variety of styles learning and using many design techniques that I have learned over the years from many other art and craft forms.
8. What type of camera do you use for taking photos?
I have gone through all of the major brands and all sizes and styles. As a result, I now focus on sturdy... and as inexpensive as I can find! And I have learned to only carry a small purse or pocket sized camera while visiting the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and walking for miles and miles in the hot sun ; )
9. Is there any one project that you are particularly proud of? Please describe.
I am a passionate supporter of the Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative . With 15 members of my immediate family now having, or have had, some form of Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia, this charity means the world to me! Spending as much as 5 1/2 months a year in Alaska, in my childhood island home caring for my parents over the past 6 years, I have not had as much time to give to this group as I would have liked. But I have made and donated 28 quilts to-date and am currently working on more.
The art quilt that I am most proud of would have to be Mama's Brain Got Tangles....But Mama's Still Inside . It was selected from among 150 other art quilts to be part of a traveling exhibit slated to tour the nation in 2011. I also have a second quilt titled "The Alzheimer's Prayer that has been included in this exhibit, as well. Its simple style and deliberately 'wonky' quilting is meant to show change and loss as well as inspire others that even the simplest of quilts has value and worth and not to be judged. And it is valued for its message of respect and care for the loved one with Alzheimer's and a deep recognition that no matter how they might seem now, they are still lovable, loving, and to be loved and cherished.
The exhibition is titled Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope and includes 182 large (6" wide by 7' tall) quilts featuring 10,000 names of people who have or had Alzheimer's Disease. Displayed among them are 54 Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts that illustrate Alzheimer's in some way and my little quilt is one of those.
I am very proud to still be able to make at least 25 quilts a year. While a few are given as gifts, the overwhelming majority are given to charitable organizations. I have made and donated quilts to Wounded Veterans (both locally here in Oregon, and at Fort Madigan in the State of Washington) to hospice, foster children programs, abused women and children organizations, the local hospitals neo-natal center, cardiac patients, disaster relief organizations, and through a number of local church groups, and of course Alzheimer's organizations.
10. Have you participated in online classes, quilt-alongs, etc... If so, what was your favorite and why?
Currently, I am the moderator for the Liberated Quilters Challenge at AAQI. Composed originally of members of the Liberated Quilting Webring and the Liberated Quilting Message Board, our challenge is to learn to think 'outside the box' by trying new quilting or art quilting techniques for creating and donating AAQI art quilts. So far, our groups have made and donated 180 quilts and more are always in progress. This challenge is open to anyone..simply email me...and ongoing.
11. Have you entered a quilt is a contest or show? If so, which show or contest and did you win any special honors?
The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative traveling exhibit described above. I felt extremely honored to have had my quilt selected from among so many truly lovely and creative quilts. Other than that, I believe that quilts are meant to be loved and appreciated.....and if they hang in public, to be viewed with admiration and not judgment. So, I have chosen to show my quilts only in non-judged venues and most often that means they are given away and honored in other people's hearts and homes, rather than in a public venue. I have been delighted to have one of my quilts shown in American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine...August 2011, issue 111, page 1 as part of a 'Quilter's Give Back' series...loved being part of that message. And even more, to learn that they grace the entry ways of children's centers and hospice and nursing homes as well as a local Veteran's Center.
12. What style of fabrics are you most drawn to? What are your favorite tools? What type of sewing, quilting or other machines do you use in your quilting projects?
As a primarily charitable quilter, I am very proud of using donated, scavenged, cast off and re-purposed fabrics that others throw, or give away. And yes, I do love 'beautiful' fabric as well but I loved the idea of 'green' sewing and not wasting anything. What few scraps I have that can't be used for sewing, are donated as 'bale' to a local mission that earns money through a fabric salvage process that creates new fabric in Japan. I own several sewing machines including my grandmother's treadle from the early 1900's that survived our house fire in 1971, my first and second Vikings, my lovely Viking Sapphire 870 Quilt, and my precious 'green' 1964 Singer Featherweight.
13. Is there another kind of online presence that you would like to have in the future?
I am delighted to have my current blog do as well as it has. And by doing well, I do not necessarily mean my reaching 2,300,000 viewers. as I did recently, but making new friends from all over the United States, as well as all over the world. My best presence is that which goes unseen but lives in the gratitude and hearts of others.
I love reading and writing in others' blogs, giving advice when asked ;) and being more of a real person than a presence, as such. When others say they feel like they know me...just from my writing....that means the world to me!
14. What type of posts seem to get the most attention from your readers?
When I made the decision to drop anonymity and open myself and my life experiences to my readers, I found that the hearts I touched more often touched mine, in return. The journey through the heart and the connection with others is far more meaningful that I ever expected of a simple quilting blog and I am grateful for those openings, and those connections.
15. What is the content of your posts? Are they instructional, informative, reviews, interviews, link posts, rants, research, memes, and/or projects?
I find ways to fit just about anything that catches my own interest into my blog and somehow they end up relating to my life, and my quilting, as well!
16. Concerning advertising, do you have any affiliate programs, links to your own online store, etc. . .
I link up to literally thousands of other quilting sites, blogs, and quilters, but I do not currently use advertising of any kind. I am not anti-advertising, I love all of my favorite products and sewing and quilting sites, I don't currently have any on site except in individual blog posts as I write about my sewing experiences or gifts that I have received.
17. Do you have goals for your blog and how do you measure your success at meeting. these goals?
When I began, I wanted to feel like I had friends that shared the same interests and passions that I did. Later, as I began to feel true connections with others,I wanted to reach out and touch the lives and the hearts of as many other quilters as I could, and learn, and share from that process. In that sense, I have surpassed any, and all goals.
18. Is there a future direction that you would like your blog to take?
I am open to the whatever the Universe has in store for me, and for my blog. And with the interesting challenges that my life has taken on so far, I'm sure it will be an adventure!
19. Is there some point when you will stop blogging? How will you make that determination?
I am a hope filled realist. If at any point, my own life, my family, or my own feelings on blogging should change, I would very simply go with that flow. Right now, I am happy with, and love the process, as well as the wonderful connections with others.
*I was asked to give an online interview for another blog. This is altered, updated, and therefore newer version of that Q and A..
With Heart and Hands
2. Url
http://with-heart-and-hands.
3. How did you choose your blog's title?
Having done transpersonal lay therapies involving healing touch energy work for many years, I understood the power of combining the work of the heart, with the work of my hands. It was a logical transition for me to extend that same energetic fusion into my journey in the art of quilting, and those experiences created the title for my blog.
4. What was your purpose in beginning your blog and has the purpose changed over the years? If so, how?
In the fall of 2005, I was was one of 200 quilters who gathered together in a downtown Salem (OR) Convention Center, to make quilts for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. In just two days, 200 of us created an amazing 200 quilts. That experience was so energizing, and so fulfilling, that I wanted to further my goals of both creating quilts for charitable causes, and finding ways to share that quilting process. Once I became aware of quilt blogs and blogging, and learned how to create a blog......I did!
5. How long have you been blogging?
I officially began blogging 5 years ago, in October of 2006.
6. Do you have special features on your blog? If so, what are they?
My blog is most recognized by search engines for my sharing of well over 2,500 free quilting and quilt pattern links. It now is ranked at the top of many search engine hit lists....in spite of being originally offered on a blogspot address and not as an original "dot com" quilting website. This has resulted in a steady rise in viewership and references on quilting sites and boards around the world.
7. What style of quilting do you prefer?
I began sewing as a very young girl, first by hand, then on a treadle sewing machine at age 12. I progressed to making all of my own clothes by the time I was 17 or 18. When I left for college in the late '60s, I first became aware of the fun of 'patchwork' quilting and began making simple pillows and baby quilts. By the later 1980's when the groundbreaking book "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts" came out, I taught myself all of the traditional patterns in that book by simply starting with the simplest pattern, and progressing my way through the book.
Rather than making an album quilt, which I might still have to this day...I made pillows. So, one pattern per pillow creating dozens of pillows. One by one, they were all given away and many were used on reading couches in elementary classrooms, here in Salem. Sadly, I have nothing of my own making until about 1989 when I made my first queen sized quilt using a variation of the 'Buttons and Bows' pattern. Made in dark browns and coral tones, the bright sun coming into our bedroom window faded that within six months. I was reminded of the transient nature of all things and to appreciate and treasure that which we have...while we still have it.
I am now having a great deal of fun with what we are called "Liberated Quiltmaking" after the well known Gwen Marston. and her quilting partner, Freddy Moran. The freedom from not having to match points and to focus on fun and creativity, rather than precision, has been very freeing and a great deal of fun.I also delight in the making of creative 'art' quilts in a variety of styles learning and using many design techniques that I have learned over the years from many other art and craft forms.
8. What type of camera do you use for taking photos?
I have gone through all of the major brands and all sizes and styles. As a result, I now focus on sturdy... and as inexpensive as I can find! And I have learned to only carry a small purse or pocket sized camera while visiting the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and walking for miles and miles in the hot sun ; )
9. Is there any one project that you are particularly proud of? Please describe.
I am a passionate supporter of the Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative . With 15 members of my immediate family now having, or have had, some form of Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia, this charity means the world to me! Spending as much as 5 1/2 months a year in Alaska, in my childhood island home caring for my parents over the past 6 years, I have not had as much time to give to this group as I would have liked. But I have made and donated 28 quilts to-date and am currently working on more.
The art quilt that I am most proud of would have to be Mama's Brain Got Tangles....But Mama's Still Inside . It was selected from among 150 other art quilts to be part of a traveling exhibit slated to tour the nation in 2011. I also have a second quilt titled "The Alzheimer's Prayer that has been included in this exhibit, as well. Its simple style and deliberately 'wonky' quilting is meant to show change and loss as well as inspire others that even the simplest of quilts has value and worth and not to be judged. And it is valued for its message of respect and care for the loved one with Alzheimer's and a deep recognition that no matter how they might seem now, they are still lovable, loving, and to be loved and cherished.
The exhibition is titled Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope and includes 182 large (6" wide by 7' tall) quilts featuring 10,000 names of people who have or had Alzheimer's Disease. Displayed among them are 54 Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts that illustrate Alzheimer's in some way and my little quilt is one of those.
I am very proud to still be able to make at least 25 quilts a year. While a few are given as gifts, the overwhelming majority are given to charitable organizations. I have made and donated quilts to Wounded Veterans (both locally here in Oregon, and at Fort Madigan in the State of Washington) to hospice, foster children programs, abused women and children organizations, the local hospitals neo-natal center, cardiac patients, disaster relief organizations, and through a number of local church groups, and of course Alzheimer's organizations.
10. Have you participated in online classes, quilt-alongs, etc... If so, what was your favorite and why?
Currently, I am the moderator for the Liberated Quilters Challenge at AAQI. Composed originally of members of the Liberated Quilting Webring and the Liberated Quilting Message Board, our challenge is to learn to think 'outside the box' by trying new quilting or art quilting techniques for creating and donating AAQI art quilts. So far, our groups have made and donated 180 quilts and more are always in progress. This challenge is open to anyone..simply email me...and ongoing.
11. Have you entered a quilt is a contest or show? If so, which show or contest and did you win any special honors?
The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative traveling exhibit described above. I felt extremely honored to have had my quilt selected from among so many truly lovely and creative quilts. Other than that, I believe that quilts are meant to be loved and appreciated.....and if they hang in public, to be viewed with admiration and not judgment. So, I have chosen to show my quilts only in non-judged venues and most often that means they are given away and honored in other people's hearts and homes, rather than in a public venue. I have been delighted to have one of my quilts shown in American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine...August 2011, issue 111, page 1 as part of a 'Quilter's Give Back' series...loved being part of that message. And even more, to learn that they grace the entry ways of children's centers and hospice and nursing homes as well as a local Veteran's Center.
12. What style of fabrics are you most drawn to? What are your favorite tools? What type of sewing, quilting or other machines do you use in your quilting projects?
As a primarily charitable quilter, I am very proud of using donated, scavenged, cast off and re-purposed fabrics that others throw, or give away. And yes, I do love 'beautiful' fabric as well but I loved the idea of 'green' sewing and not wasting anything. What few scraps I have that can't be used for sewing, are donated as 'bale' to a local mission that earns money through a fabric salvage process that creates new fabric in Japan. I own several sewing machines including my grandmother's treadle from the early 1900's that survived our house fire in 1971, my first and second Vikings, my lovely Viking Sapphire 870 Quilt, and my precious 'green' 1964 Singer Featherweight.
13. Is there another kind of online presence that you would like to have in the future?
I am delighted to have my current blog do as well as it has. And by doing well, I do not necessarily mean my reaching 2,300,000 viewers. as I did recently, but making new friends from all over the United States, as well as all over the world. My best presence is that which goes unseen but lives in the gratitude and hearts of others.
I love reading and writing in others' blogs, giving advice when asked ;) and being more of a real person than a presence, as such. When others say they feel like they know me...just from my writing....that means the world to me!
14. What type of posts seem to get the most attention from your readers?
When I made the decision to drop anonymity and open myself and my life experiences to my readers, I found that the hearts I touched more often touched mine, in return. The journey through the heart and the connection with others is far more meaningful that I ever expected of a simple quilting blog and I am grateful for those openings, and those connections.
15. What is the content of your posts? Are they instructional, informative, reviews, interviews, link posts, rants, research, memes, and/or projects?
I find ways to fit just about anything that catches my own interest into my blog and somehow they end up relating to my life, and my quilting, as well!
16. Concerning advertising, do you have any affiliate programs, links to your own online store, etc. . .
I link up to literally thousands of other quilting sites, blogs, and quilters, but I do not currently use advertising of any kind. I am not anti-advertising, I love all of my favorite products and sewing and quilting sites, I don't currently have any on site except in individual blog posts as I write about my sewing experiences or gifts that I have received.
17. Do you have goals for your blog and how do you measure your success at meeting. these goals?
When I began, I wanted to feel like I had friends that shared the same interests and passions that I did. Later, as I began to feel true connections with others,I wanted to reach out and touch the lives and the hearts of as many other quilters as I could, and learn, and share from that process. In that sense, I have surpassed any, and all goals.
18. Is there a future direction that you would like your blog to take?
I am open to the whatever the Universe has in store for me, and for my blog. And with the interesting challenges that my life has taken on so far, I'm sure it will be an adventure!
19. Is there some point when you will stop blogging? How will you make that determination?
I am a hope filled realist. If at any point, my own life, my family, or my own feelings on blogging should change, I would very simply go with that flow. Right now, I am happy with, and love the process, as well as the wonderful connections with others.
*I was asked to give an online interview for another blog. This is altered, updated, and therefore newer version of that Q and A..
