Two New Quilts and the 100 Days Begins
It's Day Three...
Welcome to the next iteration of my newsletter - Bea Creative on Substack. In many ways it’s just like my old newsletter on Quilt n Learn. You can read what I’ve been up to and click on links, but you can also leave comments now, and share it with friends more easily.
Bea’s News
The 100 days project is ticking along and this is day 3. You can absolutely still join and just add a few days on the end (that’s what I plan to do if I miss any days). So far I’ve been using collage and mixed media, but I plan to introduce fabric soon.
On day 1 I got my stash of fountain pen ink samples and just enjoyed making marks on pages from old, damaged books. On day 2 I did a little therapy exploration and used some of that paper. The fellow with the horns is Chernabog from Disney’s Sourceror’s Apprentice (video here).
Two New Quilts
In my last newsletter I criticized the murders of citizens by ICE at the order of Trump. Responses came in three groups.
Go back to where you came from, and I’m unsubscribing.
I quilt to escape politics so don’t keep mentioning it or I’ll unsubscribe.
Thank you for speaking out.
I understand all three groups and I get it. Having a safe space to go to escape the hatred and intolerance is important. It’s also a privilege. As an immigrant, I’m always at risk of being kicked out of the USA on one of his whims. This got me thinking about what would cause a not-currently-at-risk group to get involved. There is a famous poem that I’ve been thinking about daily since Trump was first elected. “First They Came” was written in around 1947 by a german lutheran pastor who was not exactly a straight forward character (wikipedia page). He was pro-Hitler until it impacted his religion. The poem starts,
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist…
My friend Matt saw the quilt and said “wow, imagine how far they would have got down the list of groups in order to get to the quilters”. Yes. Just think.
Meanwhile the colorful quilt is for my soon to be published (any year now) Hexagon Gradient English Paper Pieced quilt. This is the baby size, all hand pieced and quilted. I will share here when I actually get around to publishing that darn pattern.
Never Miss a Quilt Label Again - Now Available
My “Never Miss a Quilt Label Again” workshop is now available on demand at beabyrne.com. It was so much fun to teach this one earlier this month!
Your First Hexagon: A Simple Introduction to English Paper Piecing
My next live workshop will be March 19th at 11am PT (2pm ET, 7pm GMT). It’s all about english paper piecing and while we start with just one hexagon, we’ll make another 7 and you’ll end up with a pincushion or coaster. Perfect for your sewing space!
I have taught this one all over California and love seeing all the finished items!
Paid subscribers to this newsletter get free registration! Simply go ahead and subscribe and you will get a coupon for 100% off registration.
That is it for now. I hope you are all well and want to thank you for being here and reading my newsletter. Now that it’s easier to comment I’d love to know what you think - add your opinion and I promise to reply!
Stay safe everyone.
Bea
If you enjoyed this newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers will get my new pattern for free, as well as my thanks for supporting my work as a fledgling artist.
That was one of my favorite quilts. The picture was sent to me by an artist that has nothing to do with quilting because she thought it was so powerful.
Love your quilt and love what you stand for. This is not the United States that I grew up in or know. I quilt sometimes to get away from the bad part of politics but believe in First Amendment and like that you spoke out. Thank you