Friendship Quilt

This quilt was made for my great grandmother (with some prompting) by her daughter and friends who lived nearby. The blocks were pieced and embroidered with names in the winter of 1941.

My dad remembers going to visit his grandmother before going to Vietnam and saying the things that elderly grandmothers and nervous soldiers say at such a time. He said she was working on quilting the friendship quilt that day.

Two years later, both had survived and my great grandmother gave my dad the finished quilt. He picked up on my interest and gave the quilt to me this year.

Cross-stitch portrait: Ira Glass

I saw this and I love it. beelisty on Craftster made it. You must look.

DIY guide to quilt history interviews

Earlier in the summer, I spent some time trying to interview people that knew about the quilts I have inherited. I have found the perfect guide for the next time.

The Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories Manual is a project of the Alliance for American Quilts. It addresses everything from quilt photography to interview questions to etiquette. A guide to mp3 making would make a good update.

Linking Etiquette

There are so many interesting things to read online. Before providing any other links , here is a post that explains the legality and etiquette of linking to other sites:
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2007/01/12/link-etiquette-you-do-not-need-permission-to-link/

Recommended Reading

The American Quilter's Society has a list of the program course books and the recommended bibliography for their appraiser certification. Too bad I don't have more time for reading.

Intellectual Property

I have been looking into whether I should apply for the copyright for my quilts before I display them on my blog. I am finding that it isn't really necessary if you can prove that you made the image.

The thing is that could take some work. I have only saved some of my receipts from fabric purchases (only because I thought I might one day sell a quilt and need them for tax purposes) and I haven't always taken pictures of work in progress (lately I'm doing that because it helps to see color tones by looking at the image in black and white).

I would not want to have to get involved in a court case. It would take away all of the time I have for creating. So I attempt to use the U.S. Copyright Service's electronic office to copyright a quilt.

Reading the official questions and treating my work so formally is exciting, like I am taking myself seriously. I have technical problems and cannot complete the form that day.

Then I hear that my friend (a musician who has one year left of law school) sends all his songs and poems together as a collection of his work and gets everything copyrighted at once for one fee. I was told this is legit even if the songs and poems won't be published together.

That means that I should just keep creating things until I have enough for one big economical copyright claim.

I would welcome any comments from someone who knows above the hearsay.