RedBarn Studios

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been busy lately trying to get a quilt finished for an upcoming show’s deadline.

I have been dyeing some more fabrics though. Check them out at my hand dyes blog at www.artfulcreations.wordpress.com. Remember to bookmark this site or, better yet, sign up for the feed for it so you are one of the first to see and buy the new fabs available.

Here’s a preview of a few of them:

Sienna Burst

Rich Flame

Blue Rushes

Go on.  Go over and check them out, you know you can’t resist.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: Art, artful creations, fiber art, hand dyed, stash, surface design by k grace howes
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So I’m reading this book about the art of stress-free productivity. It’s my newest with-me-all-the-time-just-so-I-can-finish-it book. It’s not a new book (© 2001) but its concept is new to me. Well…not really…the concept is not new, the strategy to implement is.

David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done” is not one of those voraciously read books that you just can’t put down nor is it an extremely boring book that you have to prop your eyes open….it’s a needed book especially at this time period in my life. How to get things done and live to tell about it.

Today All I did was read a certain phrase in the book and the penny sorta dropped, you know….one of those few light bulb moments that catch you off guard.

There I was, sat in my hairstylist’s chair, reading (and waiting of course), listening to conversations (you know the one’s where you find yourself straining to hear the juicy bits just as they start talking sotto voce) when I reread the phase “thinking in a concentrated manner” for the 3rd time.

So what Mr. Allen is saying is I have to work at it to get my things done, really work at it in a determined way but I also have clarify the end result I seek.

Now why that was so revelatory I don’t know but it hit me….like a V-8 thunk on the side of the head……all the time during my waking moments, things constantly pop into my head all day long about all the items on my to-do list but all it is, in the end, is just that…..A TO-DO LIST.

There apparently is no action activities that go with my list, an action that would help get the darned things OFF my to-do list. In other words….what action will I do next to move the to-do item further down on the list and then onto the completed accomplishments list?

A-HA you say….so that’s the ticket! DO what I say I’m gonna do. I know what you’re thinking, it can’t be that simple, and I’m only on page 15. What can take 243 more pages to explain????

Well according the table of contents you have to read up on the “Five Stages of Mastering Workflow”. I like that….mastering work flow…. cause we all know work can take over all things, our lives most of all. As I master life’s daily (weekly, monthly, never-ending) tasks I’ll try to keep you abreast of how I’m doing.

Don’t ask….cause then I’ll feel the pressure and it’ll set me back and who knows where I’d end up then. So…..

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: defining one's art, life etc., monday posts, ponderings by k grace howes
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I’ve updated my blog with a few new pages. The first is about the presentation I give to guilds entitled:

“Evolution of a Fiber Artist: The Life and Times of a Quilt Addict“.

If you would like to book a presentation for your guild please use the contact form on the right to send me an email.

I have also included a “Workshops” page. Right now I am reformatting the workshops I offer so check back often to see the updated list. I can’t wait to share them with you.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: schedule, teaching, workshops/presentations by k grace howes
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I took a hiatus off from website duties this summer (I know, I know naughty girl…remember your marketing right?) but you all know, when the kids are home during the summer it’s really hard to keep to any schedule. To write code (or pretend to with a WYSIWYG editor) would take too much time……lots and lots of free umpteen-hours long time.

So I was a good artist and scheduled it for this month….today in fact. Ready to take on the goobly gook of web speak and get right down to it I opened the program.

You know that a keg in the wheel is coming don’t you? Let me catch you up.

Earlier this year I didn’t have 800 or so dollars to buy DreamWeaver so I chose instead to be a guinea pig and go with a free trial version of Microsoft’s Expression Web.  Ooooh…..I liked it…..a lot. Now, remember please that I do not claim to be a web designer but I don’t think I did too bad with what I came up with for my website (www.redbarn-studios.com)….and yes, it still needs work……but in due time people!
So back to today….

I am ready to get my head back into head-wringing web design but……….(here it comes)……..

the trial version has expired! $#@$%^$$!….I CANNOT work on my website,

I am doomed! I’m sure that I could have gotten a discounted rate to purchase the program had I remembered the expiration date.

BUMMER!

So now I am having to cough up the big bucks……YIKES!……. to purchase the software outright. I have to do it. It’s about the marketing, getting my name out there and keeping an updated web presence.

So the moral of the story is….in the summer, tell the kids to ‘GO READ A BOOK TODAY”….Mummy is busy!
See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: down time, ponderings, website by k grace howes
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I have to tell you that to take a class (or hear a lecture) frrom Robbie Joy Eklow is to just have some plain good fun!

Robbie visited our guild (Charlotte Quilter’s Guild) last Wednesday and did 2 workshops for us on Thurs and Sat; her famous fusing technique from her book and a machine quilting class. She is very very down to earth and so easy to talk to AND…she is extremely funny.

Robbie regaled us with stories of her family and her varied adventures in the quilting world. She had tips galore to make the processes work much better and her quilting class was so invaluable.

Now don’t get me wrong…..Robbie is a true professional but she makes taking a class and learning from her soooooooo easy and effortless it’s like playing hookie with a favorite friends for a day of quilting, quilting, quilting.

Who could want more than that?

I have to tell you that I have been fascinated with Robbie’s technique for her puzzle quilts using fusible ever since I purchased her book a few years ago. Seeing it demonstrated  is even better than reading it….but we all know that. Once you get the technique everything falls into place. But I must confess (it supposedly is good for the soul ya know), on Thursday at the end of the workshop I had only one layer of one cog done. I held that up for all to see….I was so proud…everyone else was as well.

What you don’t know is that the pattern has four different cogs with each one having 3-5 layers. Okay….so it took a while to sink in ……or better yet it took a while to sink in because we were laughing so much we couldn’t get our work done.

I am happy to say that I completed the pattern on Sunday…or at least the part of the pattern I chose to do. I used some of my hand dyes (which you can purchase at www.artfulcreations.wordpress.com).  and, frankly, I think it came out great.

Love the boldness of colours against the black background and the play of light and dark that I achieved. I need to quilt the finished piece but will definitely use Robbie’s technique of fusible binding. She demonstrates it on pg 70 in her book Free Expressions. Check it out.

Thanks Robbie for a most enjoyable 3 days!

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: fiber art, monday posts, patterns, working small by k grace howes
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