So let's chat

about the Sherry Lynn Wood workshop that I attended over the weekend. I had great fun seeing so many of my quilty friends. Marty of Marty's Fiber Musings was there. As were Lori, Marquita, Glen (of Quilts and Dogs blog), Joyce, Stephanie, and Yvonne from BRMQG. They were there for the long haul--Friday through Sunday and staying overnight, which means they had dinner together at local restaurants.

Of course, I had the pleasure of meeting other quilters, mostly from Quilters Guild Acadienne, which is a guild in Lafayette. QGA and BRMQG have fearless leaders willing to combine efforts and resources so that Louisiana quilters can learn from national teachers.

On Sunday we had a slightly larger crowd as more friends joined us. Unable to come on Saturday, Kelly and Sharon quickly caught up with us on Sunday. And look at what Kelly managed! She's a natural quilter able to blend color and design beautifully.

Saturday's Ruler Free Mashup took care of straight line piecing. Sunday was a day of curves. All curves. All the time.  So after this weekend we can, essentially, make an entire quilt without touching a ruler.

But, oh, how I missed my ruler! I just wanted to straighten the edges a little. Only when I had a big block that needed to match another big block. If you know me, though, you know I follow the rules. So there was no ruler in my bag of tricks. And it was a good thing, because I absolutely, positively, would have cheated. In this picture I am pondering how to put four pieces of different sizes together to create one piece. In the end, the four separate pieces were packed up and carried home to be dealt with. Ruler or ruler-free, I need a design wall. 

Sherri would asked "what did you learn, what surprised you, what would you do differently" anytime we showed our work. I could fill a book answering those questions.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Sherri Lynn Wood workshop

I attended a two-day workshop with author Sherri Lynn Wood thanks to the Baton Rouge Modern Quilt Guild and Quilt Guild Acadienne. Held at A&A Sewing Center, this workshop could not have been more. Class fees paid for everything, and I mean everything. That included more delicious food than we could eat. (South Louisiana, y'all. We know how to eat!)

Sherri Lynn Wood (center) with our fearless
leaders, Torch (left) and Lori (right)
Thanks, ladies, for a wonderful weekend!

And now to inspire you, just a few pictures of some of the pieces we worked on. No one felt compelled to complete any one work. There simply isn't enough time. 
Day 1: Ruler Free Mashup--sewing without rulers.

Follow Sherri Lynn Wood on Instagram

Day 2: Template-free curves--cutting and sewing curves freehand. 

Pin It Wednesday #7

It seems that Pinterest has a flaw.  Yes, I've said it.  There's a flaw.  Although I really like the site, I've often wondered where the photos come from.  Of course, there's no one answer: 

some are uploaded by users -- For example, these two quilts, which I uploaded from my computer to share with followers are on one of my boards and gives me credit.

some come from other websites -- For example, these quilts come from a variety of sources, some of which I know, but many are not credited at all.

This cute quilt photo came from flickr.com,
but I have no idea who posted it there.

This darling little quilt photo says, "uploaded by user."
Now who that is?  We'll likely never know.

This one by Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle gives them credit in the comments.
However, it's easy enough to remove the comment when re-pinning the photograph.  Ouch!

And some are blatantly taken from sites that clearly do not want to share because they are trying to sell something.

From patternspot.com via pinterest.com

So what's the problem, you might ask.  Well, it's quite simple if you visit patternspot.com's copyright page.  

All content and material available via PatternSpot.com is protected by International Copyright Law. The copyrights on individual works are retained by the designer and/or publisher, as noted.

Every file delivered through PatternSpot.com is watermarked with information sufficient to identify the site user. 

No copyrighted material or design may be distributed or reproduced by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical—without prior written permission of the designer or copyright holder. This includes, but is not limited to: photocopying, emailing, file-sharing, recording, taping, posting to a third-party site, information storage and retrieval systems, etc.

They don't want anyone to take or use the photographs on their site.  Sure, it's free advertising, so that might help to sell the patterns, but there's no way to know that the photo came from their website.  The pinterest.com copy doesn't give credit to patternspot.com unless the person who steals (yes, that's the word) makes the effort to give them credit.

Does anyone else see a problem here?  Please weigh in with a comment.  I don't want to start an argument, but I would like to know how others feel about this issue.  Plagiarism, copyrights and information theft are becoming a major problem as a result of the freedom of the internet.  I'm curious about what other people think.