My grandmother always loved telling the story about when we went to Marie Calendar’s for my seventh birthday and offered to split a piece of cherry pie with me. When it came, she put it in front of me and told me to eat what I wanted and she will finish up. She continued to talk to my mom who was also out with us. I wasn’t very hungry after eating a big meal, so I just took a few cherries and gave it back to her. Before I knew it, she was laughing and exclaiming loudly that I took every cherry out of the pie and didn’t touch anything else. She was so amazed that I didn’t disturbed the pie filling or the crust. Until her death about 8 years ago, she thought that was the funniest thing and would tell the story to all who would listen. Looking back at it, I am glad it brought her so much pleasure even though I knew that there wasn’t much to the effort of eating them ALL since I only had 3 or 4. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her favorite restaurant just gipped us on the cherries.

If pie is your thing, be sure to visit our website to find three “pie day” buttons. Click on the button and not only get a great pattern for a pie quilt but also get a yummy recipe. The recipes at our shop are: Banana Rum Cream Pie, Chocolate Pecan Chess Pie, and Buttermilk Shoofly Pie.

How Pie Days Works:

Celebrate FabShop Pie Days with us by visiting each of the participating online retailers who are offering specials on their websites in honor of National Peach Pie Day.

Visit each website during the 5-day promotional period and look for the page with our exclusive block design for a full pie or a slice of pie. When you find it, click to open a PDF download with a pie recipe and the directions for making the block.

There is a different pie recipe at each participating site so be sure visit them all to compile your very own pie cookbook!

FabShop August Pie Days

Saturday through Wednesday, August 21-25

Pies and Quilting – Both Yummy Treats! Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Pies and Quilting – Both Yummy Treats! originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on August 19, 2010.

This year my husband and I have gotten really involved and taken positions on the board. I am in charge of the website, advertising, and design work. Since I have been a graphic designer for almost 20 years, it is no problem. It also gives me another creative outlet where I can experiment with my design. Here are some T-Shirt designs I worked on this weekend. I have many sample on various colored Tees but I will just show you the ones on white to keep it simple.

The T-shirts will be used for their big Final’s Competition in July. Drop me a comment and let me know which one you like best.

Footsteps

Circle

Just Swim

Ian Thrope Quote

My Weekend Fun Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

My Weekend Fun originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on June 20, 2010.

The Orange Blossom Junction in Exeter, California brings in musicians from all over to entertain. The restaurant is only open to the public Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but during the week they will have special events like we saw last night. Dinner is included with the concert. This is where we enjoyed our first bite of creativity.

The four items on the dinner menu all sounded so good — Salmon, Chicken, Flat-iron Steak, or Artichoke stuffed Portobello Mushroom; all with their distinctive specialty sauces. I would have loved to have a bit of them all. Although our main dishes were very good, it was not the entree that surprized our taste buds, but rather the salad. It was a nice full salad with their signature dressing and sautéed asparagus. That alone would have been delicious, but instead, the chef added one other element…a french onion sorbet. Yes, that is right, french onion. It was not some sweet fruity dessert, but a rich, full flavored french onion. The taste of a french onion soup with the shock of the cold was a very interesting combination. The flavor was almost too strong for me, but once I combined the sorbet with the salad, it blended wonderfully.

The musician for the night was Peppino D’Agostino, a guitarist originally from Italy. Peppino didn’t just play the strings, but the whole guitar. He would be playing one part with his left hand and another with his right. I know you are thinking, “don’t guitar players always use both hands?” Yes, but he was actually plucking and playing parts of the melody with his left. His left hand was not just used to help the right hand make the notes or chords, but was used like several instruments being played at once. The best example of his style was his song “Why Not?” You can see it on You-Tube here.

So why am I writing about a guitarist and a restaurant, when my primary creative outlet is quilting? Because, the whole time as I ate and listened, I kept marveling at the fact on how we are all made with such different spirits of creativity. I might be visual and my creativity comes out in my art and quilts, but I tasted and heard creativity last night.

Für Mackenzie - Designed and made by Ronna Ross (c) 2006

As we look at various quilts and art, we can appreciate a creativity that comes from that person. We dream of fabric and colors, stitches and texture. But what about the chef who dreams of flavors and textures, spices and arromas? Or the musician who dreams of chords and notes, harmonies and songs? Are they any less creative? We all have our venues and mediums.

What I want to know is where does it come from? Is it a disease that some catch and others are ammune to? As quilters, we joke about being obsessed or fabric-aholics, but few would say it is a disease and needs to be cured.

Some might argue that it is all part of natural selection or we have evolved to be this way. I would argue back that if that were true those living would all show developing talents or being dying away.

To me, creativity is like a spirit that comes upon us. It is something extra that enters us, stays and breathes life into our vary soul. How we feed and listen to that spirit will determine how our creativity, thus our talent, grows.

Last night, my all my senses went on a creative ride with tastes from a talented chef and a man that stood in front of me making more sounds come out of a sixed-stringed instrument than I thought possible.

Pippino played a song called “Close to Heaven.” Thank you to him and the Orange Blossom Junction for taking all who attended a little closer to heaven last night. And thank you to my husband, for 8 years of creative marriage.

Picking Your Creativity Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Picking Your Creativity originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on June 16, 2010.

“The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” — Alan Alda

Have you found yourself today?

Seek and You Shall Find Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Seek and You Shall Find originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on May 26, 2010.

Matt, will you marry me? Oh, wait that would probably p-off your wife and my hubby. On second thought, I take back the offer. I do not want to break in a new man. I already have 10 years invested in this one. (Besides, he does make me happy.)

Honestly though, as I read Matt’s article, I could so relate. It had only been 30 minutes since my search to find just one of my 15 pairs of scissors was not very fruitful.  My youngest, the most inspiring artist, has done something with them all. I know his room is clean, so where on earth is he storing them?

I loved Matt’s line, “I have learned that the imaginary line I draw between my studio and the rest of this crazy house can only be seen by me.” I am constantly wondering why the people I live with cannot see, my work space and theirs. And how is it that I tell them to clean up the living or dining room and I find all the items conveniently placed in my studio? So, how do I deal with it? I have started putting my quilting stuff in the living room. That will show them! Yes, I do live in a dream world.

As my kid’s summer vacation is fast approaching, my husband said to me the other day when we were discussing our kitchen duty schedule, (He does the dishes 3 days, Mack does 2 days, and I do 2 days.) ”Do you really think it is appropriate that this summer everyone else is home and I still have to do the dishes after working all day?” Does he really think I am going to have more time to do things when the kids are home all summer? I will need the evenings and his help more than any other time of the year just to keep with what I do now.

Yes, there are many joys to working at home — the freedom to be your own boss, the ability to enjoy a child’s drawing right after he drew it, and to get a hug as they run through the house. There are also many down-sides. It is a matter of perspective and creativity. This seemingly constant chaotic mess can be the source of creative inspiration and joyful memories for years to come if you embrace it rather repel against it. At the end of the summer, be a friend and remind me of this when I am curled up in the fetal position babbling in the corner.

(Hardly) Working from Home Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

(Hardly) Working from Home originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on May 24, 2010.

Patio Between Playground and Parent's House

Maybe this will interest the husbands out there more than the quilters, but you have got to admit the price is right.

We have a nice large yard with one square acre, but knowing what to do with that yard is a whole other thing entirely. Even though we have a large patio right off the back of our house, we found ourselves sitting on my parents patio located at the back of the property because we could see the kids and it was cooler. We wanted to have a patio for larger groups where parents of our kid’s friends could sit in a cooler spot and still watch the kids play. But a patio that size would have cost thousands of dollars in bricks or cement.

Walkway just after it was finished

Then my hubby had a revelation. He went down to the recycling yard where they have large broken up pieces of concrete from construction crews. He assembled the pieces like he would flagstone or some other material. Since the concrete was disposed of and it would cost the company to deal with it, they gave it to us for free. It cost us less than $100 for the grout.

We did the same thing for a patio near our pool and a walk way to my parents house. In these instances we wanted better drainage and easy maintenance. We are letting the grass grow in between the stones for the pathway for easy mowing and placed a low growing grass/flower by the pool so we do not have to mow.

He did a great job. Good thing I have a hubby that can lift all that weight.

By the Pool

The ground cover starting to grow near pool area.

Making a Patio for Less Than $100 Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Making a Patio for Less Than $100 originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on May 12, 2010.

Pants Splitting Fun - Hubby and Jacob struggle with the mid-section

Need to Rest!

Jacob sizing him up.

Jacob's good job on creating a wholesome, respectable snowman.

Hubby's new girlfriend. At least she isn't thinner than me. What was he thinking?

Oh my. Need I say more? The man has lost it.

I hope you have a good laugh. See what I have to live with? And they call me crazy.

Hubby’s Idea of Creativity in the Snow Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Hubby’s Idea of Creativity in the Snow originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on April 20, 2010.

Early on it was easy because my first child was calm and placid, not to mention I had a nanny to help with the cleaning and child care. But now, all my kids are in school and peace should reign throughout the land. Right? Wrong!

My 5 year old gets out of school at 11:39, and enjoys a few hours at the YMCA until grandpa picks up him and his brother at 2 pm. Unfortunately, sending them over to grandma’s and grandpa’s doesn’t relieve me from destruption as they storm in and out. Did I mention my parents live here too? Then my teenager comes home starving, but only wanting sweets so I have to say “no” to everything. Don’t you just hate being the bad-guy all the time and saying “no” so many times in the day. “No, you cannot have ice cream for breakfast.” “No, you cannot hit your brother. I don’t care that he thinks it is funny right now.” “No you cannot climb in the compost pile and expect to be let back into the house without being hosed off.” “No No No No!”

So as summer looms upon us with only a little over 2 months to go, parents and grand-parents entrusted with the summer fun for these precious (but loud) miracles, need to find creative alternatives to stimulate, educate, and provide hours of fun so that we can have peace to work, breathe and not go nuts.

Here are a couple of resources I have found:

Sir Knight Mackenzie defeats the Skeleton Ninja

At Home Mom – Freelance Writer and Blogger, Genesis Davies shares her tips and experiences of working at home with small children. Click the link to read her top 15 Quick Activities. I think I have tried most of these with the exception of the silts and the circus. I figure there is enough clowning around under my big top to encourage more of it. I know mean mommy!

Associate Content - Keeping Kids Busy during the Summer by Michelle Knudson makes some suggestions as well.

While searching the internet, I also found this great little workbook of 101 Ways to Keep Kids Busy.

Some of My Ideas for Summer Fun:

Swimming/Water Play - this is a must for 3 active boys. My two little ones are on the swim team and practice 3 times a week. Once the season starts, they will have meets the other two days. When the weather warms up, nothing keeps them more entertained than the pool. Luckily I have my teenager and my dad who can watch them freeing me to work.

Webkins – In this age of computers and video games there is one site that I have found that my kids love and I approve of:  Webkinz.com. You go to the store and get a small stuffed animal. On the animal is a tag/code. This code allows you to adopt your pet online and becomes the kids online “persona”.

Webkins has great quality games from all ages but is best for 4 to 10. It allows them to play different games, is safe, and you can adjust the settings with parental controls.

Costume Fun – We do not do Halloween, so it great to have a box of costumes to stir the imagination. The kids will play for hours, making up pretend games and stories. Even my teenager gets into it. For inexpensive costumes, hit the garage sales. A few weekends ago we bought 4 plush, well made costumes of an elephant, Scooby Doo, Scrapy Doo, and a bumble bee for all of $5. My Dad picked up the Samurai, Ninja, and Skeleton costumes for a $1 each about 6 months ago. As crafters, whipping something up shouldn’t be difficult either. One of the photos has my Jacob and Jared dressed as Dalmatian puppies. I took some old stained white polo shirts and marked them with a sharpie. For the ears and tail, I cut the shape in black and white and stitched them together turning the seams in and finishing on a piece of elastic. For the tails, I made a tube with a tapered point and stuffed with batting. I didn’t even finish the end. I just left about 8 inches without batting and stuffed it into their pants. It took about an hour for the two.

My Little Pups on Costume Day for Church Camp

Church Camp - We are so lucky that our local church provides a Creation Day Camp for the entire month of July. Kids go 9 am to 12 pm, Monday through Thursday. They learn about the planets, science, plants, and animals as it pertains to creation. The price is affordable for almost anyone and it is a great safe environment where the kids learn and play.

Crafts – Crafts are big in my house, but the biggest problems they have are they need my supervision or if they are too easy, it doesn’t capture their attention longer than 5 minutes.

Exploring the Options:
Win a $25 Gift Certificate

What are some crafts or projects that you have done? I want to hear about some crafty ideas that the kids can use their creativity, have limited supervision/input/direction from me, and provide 30-60 minutes of fun. Be specfic so we can test it out and post the fun back on the blog. Please make sure that if you got the idea from someone else, you credit them. Crediting someone else will not affect your eligibility to win.

I will accept submissions until July 15. You can use the comments below to submit the idea. If you feel more comfortable use my contact me form. I will elaborate on the ideas in a later post (June/July) and show pictures of my kids trying the projects. All submissions will be placed in a drawing at the end of summer (August 1) to win a $25 gift certificate to my quilt store Grace Full Creations.

Make sure I have a way to reach you at least by email. You can register on the blog or via my quilting site.

Creative Thinking for Working at Home Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Creative Thinking for Working at Home originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on April 20, 2010.

I don’t know if you noticed, but if you are a Mark Lipinski fan you have missed his mug and pug on the last few issues of Quilter’s Home Magazine. Back in September, he resigned as the editor. He promises that he will be having many new projects as well as signing on for several new episodes of Quilt Out Loud™.

Mark Lipinski was elected to the Board of Directors for The Alliance for American Quilts. The Alliance for American Quilts is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to document, preserve, and share our American quilt heritage by collecting the rich stories that historic and contemporary quilts, and their makers, tell about our nation’s diverse peoples and their communities.

Mark Lipinski Joins All American Crafts, Inc. as Creative Director

All American Crafts, Inc., announced in a press release that Mark Lipinski, has been named Creative Director of All American Crafts combined print and online content.

In this newly created position, Lipinski will serve as Executive Editor for the Fall 2010 debut of his new concept, Mark Lipinski’s Create (. . .when one craft just isn’t enough). Create is a highly entertaining quarterly magazine devoted to the crafter and the crafting lifestyle. It’s a magazine written in the first person by Mark Lipinski and infused with his off the cuff, no holds barred humor and love of the creative spirit. Create is bursting with updated and trendsetting traditional arts and crafts projects, the latest techniques, new ideas and products, honest reviews, edgy editorial, and interesting and engaging interviews with the leaders of today’s DIY movement. Mark Lipinski’s Create is fearless inspiration for real people who love to create!

Lipinski will also take over the reigns of an existing All American Crafts title, Fabric Trends, starting with the Fall 2010 issue. Renamed, Mark Lipinski’s Fabric Trends, the content of this quarterly magazine will be greatly expanded to include quilts, as well as home dec projects and fashionable wearables. With the focus on introducing the latest fabric designs and contemporary fabric and project designers, the expanded title will be an entertaining, twist on the traditional pattern magazines.

Additionally, Lipinski has been named the newly appointed Executive Editor of, Christmas 365 magazine, beginning with the Fall 2010 issue. Christmas 365 is a quarterly publication and is the most recent addition in the All American Crafts publication lineup, debuting the first issue in the Fall of 2009.

As Creative Director, Lipinski will be responsible for the creation, development and production of various special interest publications for the company. Additionally, he will partner with All American Crafts, Inc., in the development of a more significant online presence for the company.

An internationally recognized quilting and lifestyle personality who was most recently the creator and Executive Editor of Mark Lipinski’s Quilter’s Home magazine, Lipinski changed the face of the quilt publishing industry with his take- no-hostages approach to a quilting lifestyle magazine.

In addition to his new position at All American Crafts, Lipinski is the designer of Mark Lipinski’s Home for Northcott fabric collections (www.northcott.com), designer and owner of Pickle Road Studios, is the co-host of QNNtv.com’s, Quilt Out Loud internet- based video show, the face of 3 thread collections for Aurifil thread (www.aurifil.com), sits on the Board of Directors of The Alliance for American Quilts (www.allianceforamericanquilts.org) and has recently signed with Berwick Offay ribbon (www.offray.com) as the designer for the development of special projects.

Way to go Mark!

Where in the World is Mark? Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Where in the World is Mark? originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on April 8, 2010.

I have addressed this before, but wanted to address it again. Although I am not a security tech nor a lawyer, I am very passionate about security. I have a love/hate relationship with credit cards. I love the convenience of allowing customers to use them to purchase from my store. But I hate the debt it causes. They have too many fees to the merchant and to the consumer. But, in this era we need to use them.

Here are some helpful ways to keep protected:

1) The number one way to avoid credit card theft is never to use your cards. That may not be a viable solution for you. So lets think more realistically.

2) Limit the paper. The first thing that anyone thinks of with credit cards is internet purchases, but it is not the only way people can get your number or identity. In fact, the mail or trash is still one of the easiest ways to steal a person’s information. It is quick and you do not have to be a computer programmer to access the data. You just have to be willing to go through yucky garbage or steal someone’s mail.

• Make sure you shred all mail, even advertisements for credit card offers.
• Put up a locking mail box.
• Do not have statements sent via mail. Log on to their secure websites to view.
• Mail bills and payments directly at the Post Office, not through your street box.

3) Restrict Purchases on-line by:

• Use only one card with a low credit line for all internet purchases.
• Keep a log of your purchases – date and company so you can identify when there is a problem.
• Purchase gift cards from the actual company you are purchasing from or one from a major credit card company so you can pay with the gift certificate rather than credit card. This is a form of debit card and will also help you stay out of debt.
• Place the order on-line and then phone in your credit card number.
• NEVER, Never send your credit card info via email. But if you have to send it in 3 different emails. It is easy for someone to capture one email randomly, but the odds of catching all 3 for the same person is very rare.
• Sorry to dis PayPal™, but using PayPal™ does not 100% protect you. Giving them your number is just as dangerous or safe as giving a small merchant with a secure site. It is just a matter of who you want to give your information to.

4) So what make a site secure?

• Daily Scans: I spend boo-coo bucks each month to have my site “secure” from McFee Secure™. It receives daily security scans and provides a logo from the company telling you that it is active and scanned. It scans for potential vulnerabilities in which a hacker can get it. Basically it tries to hack my site daily. If it gets in, in any way it notifies me. If it is able to get in to any sensitive data (credit card numbers, profiles, etc.) it will even lock up my security with a notification and removal of the McFee Secure logo until I fix the problem.
• Identity Verification: Every site that is secure has to register their identity to proof they are who they say they are. When you click on the logo, it should give the name, location, and verified information. If that certificate does not match the website you are on, you might have potential problems.
• Little Locks and Cute Features: So do the little locks, green bars and other bells and whistles mean added security? Some do and some don’t. Not every site has them for the main reason, it costs more to get them. There is one feature that all secure websites has. It is the one way you can tell if the site has security features in place. Look at the address bar in your web-browser. Watch how you change to different pages it goes from “http:” to “https:.” This “s” will not happen unless security features are in place. Note that not all pages need to be secure. Pages like registration, password and log-in, cart and checkout pages are the ones that are needing the security, because they transfer your personal data. Other pages like product descriptions do not need to be secure. On some sites you will see it go from a secure to non-secure page. You might even get a warning, but it does not mean the site is not secure where it counts.
• Here are additional articles on Security:
  • Inorganic Ventures
  • e-How
  • SSL.com

5) For making purchases in person:

• Make sure all copies of CC slips are accounted for.
• Do not let your credit card go out of your site.
• Shred receipts not needing to be saved for tax reasons.
• Scan and save all your receipts on a CD and store with tax papers for that year rather than the actual receipt.

6) Protections starts at your end, first!

• Keep up-to-date with Program Updates: Make sure you are using upgrade web-browsing software, computer security software, and system software. Most upgrades are security based and help keep your computer, thus keeps your credit card information and identity safe.
• Got Cell Phone??: We are a people that wants that constant link with other. Just go to a restaurant and see how many people are texting, on the internet, or talking on the phone. (What happened to enjoying the company that you are with?? – Any how that is another topic.) Don’t give your credit card information, social security number, or drivers license to anyone over a cell phone. Reasons:
  • It is not a secure line. Transmissions can be captured with the right equipment from an electronics store.
  • It can be overheard by anyone.
• Protect your network. With wireless networks and hardware popping up everywhere, there is a lot of information floating through the air.
• Make sure your network is hidden with a secure password. Passwords with a combination of upper and lower case letters along with numbers are way harder to guess or randomly select. There is a very interesting article regarding passwords in the NY Times. Also, if you can see your neighbor’s networks, they can see yours. So can anyone driving into the neighborhood. Hide the network, if possible on your system, so that someone cannot even join or see the network without knowing the name.
• Change your Network name and password frequently. And do not use the default name that comes with it, yours or any family member’s name, your pet’s name, phone number, nor your address.
• If you use WiFi in hotels or internet cafes, makes sure there is firewall on your computer and that the computer itself has a password. Make sure you have up-to-date virus and malware software.

If you would like more information about protecting yourself, please checkout my other articles in my
Keeping Your Identity Safe (#1)
Keeping Your Identity Safe (#2)
Keeping Your Identity Secure (#3)

Keeping Protected On-line Contemplating the Creative Spirit Ronna Ross

Keeping Protected On-line originally appeared on Contemplating the Creative Spirit on April 8, 2010.