Congratulations! to Mary who will win Victoria’s book 15 Minutes of Play
Her creative warm-up: “One of my fav creative warmups is to line up all the fabrics I think I want in the piece, then return to the stash & pick something that DOES NOT BELONG! All kinds of things can happen from there.”
Now moving on to Today’s GIVEAWAY!
The publisher of my book was recently bought out by F+W Media. Interweave press is keeping its name but is now a division of the larger publishing house. So far, they have been lovely to work with and they kept many of my favorite people on board.
Notebook Covers and More is a compilation of a number of Quilting Arts Magazine articles by various artists over the years. Most are a variation on how to make a book cover of some sort.
For a chance to win this booklet, leave a comment telling me if you carry a sketch or notebook around with you. What do you put in it?
Am I the only one who can’t remember anything unless I write it down? It’s not an age thing with me – I’ve always been like this. I call my sketchbook my paper brain. It’s definitely not a work of art – It’s full of all kinds of things like grocery list, meeting notes, my children’s drawings. Oh – and yes, sketches too.
I do like it when that book is all dressed up pretty though. I’ll draw the winner’s name on Friday. US entries only please for this one – I plan to post an international drawing on Friday!

41 Comments
Deborah M
May 15, 2013 at 4:29 pmI’ve been using (not always carrying) a sketchbook for about a year. Recently took an online course in sketching and watercolor and loved it! Now, I’m more likely to depict natural and human made things along my way. I’m probably too late to be entered in the drawing for the giveaway, but would be very happy if I’m not!
Paula
May 11, 2013 at 1:54 pmI carry my sketchbook every where ..and my sewing machine most places…my family thinks I’m odd.
Linda D
May 10, 2013 at 4:31 pmI have a sketchbook at home and use various notes/books for lists/ideas when I’m out and about. I am not working currently, so I’m home more than out and about! I loosely sketch ideas for mixed media projects as they pop up!
Betty
May 10, 2013 at 6:09 amI sketch free motion ideas in 1 notebook and in another I design zentangles.
I’ve started texture and shape sketching in a third sketchbook. I think quilted book covers would be fun. I watched your tutorial.
Doreen
May 10, 2013 at 5:06 amYes, my book holds leaves, flowers and doodles!
arlene
May 10, 2013 at 12:11 amSo far I don’t have a dedicated notebook I carry around, but I should because my important info gets written on random scraps of paper which are never handy when I need them.
Marlaine
May 9, 2013 at 5:18 pmI almost always have a datebook with me that I use to scribble notes in and stick post-its to, but I would love to get into the habit of having more of a “real” sketchbook with me for more extensive notes and drawings as well.
Loretta Bedia
May 9, 2013 at 12:09 pmYes, I carry a really small notebook in my purse. I call it my “brains”. It includes an ongoing to do list. I also have a sketchbook used mostly for notes and ideas when I go to guild meetings and other related quilt meetings. I have a separate notebook for knitting. I LOVE notebooks.
Janny
May 9, 2013 at 9:25 amI make pictures and hope I can remind the details, but often they are gone, when I’m back home…….
simone
May 9, 2013 at 9:14 amI try a notebook more and more, but I find it hard work. I’d rather make fabic covers for sketchbooks…..
Marjolijn
May 9, 2013 at 8:25 amYes, I carry a little sketchbook with me and a pencil and a black pen. I make notes and even sometimes some sketches. But not enough. And a smartphone as notebook and camera. Bye, Marjolijn
Ellee
May 9, 2013 at 8:10 amI always have a graphpaper book with me along with assorted pens to sketch ideas for quilts. I also have a camera with me to take pictures of inspirational shapes, designs, and color combos.
Denise Carter
May 9, 2013 at 1:57 amYes, I carry a sketchbook with me. It has sketches, phone numbers, dates, addresses, ideas, zentangles, layouts for quilts, photos, torn pages from magzines and I don’t even know what else! Someone once told me that I needed to draw for 5,000 hours! To get better you have to put in the time! Draw something every day. I listened to you, I’m working on it! Thanks, I’m getting better!
Nancy G Cook
May 9, 2013 at 12:40 amYes, I do. It has a handmade cover and I take lots of notes in it, and occasionally make some sketches in it.
Ellen Gambrell
May 9, 2013 at 12:26 amWell, actually, yes I do. I also carry a few micron pens and a calligraphy pen. Never know when or where I’ll become inspired!
Mary
May 9, 2013 at 12:06 amYES.. I always carry a small sketchbook because ideas often POP POP POP when I least
expect them!!!!!
Kerry Faraone
May 8, 2013 at 11:38 pmI love to have sketchbooks and notebooks with me at all times…last year I used your YouTube about journal covers to make 40 covered books for my guilds annual QuiltIn!!!
Suzanne Gwynne
May 8, 2013 at 8:18 pmI have always carried notepaper and a pen because I forget stuff. . . Now, I carry a sketch/idea book, a mechanical pencil and a Pitt pen. If I am travelling, I pack a bag which my family calls “Mom’s Stuff-to-Do”! Generally, my “Stuff-to-Do” is an overflowing basket near my end of the sofa in the family room. I can’t sit still for more than a few minutes to watch tv without something to do – sewing, crochet or knitting, sketching or coloring book and crayons! I have several beautifully covered sketchbooks from talented artist friends and would love to learn how to make one for them.
Jeannie
May 8, 2013 at 7:53 pmLast winter my Dad suffered a paralysing stroke. It meant packing up quickly and heading out for a 5 hour drive. While staying for a couple of weeks, I found the importance of having a notebook with me. The hospital was old and beautiful. I went to the gift shop and purchased a little memo pad for taking notes from nurses and doctors since we are all at “that” age where nothing stays in memory for long. The lesson was that to keep my sanity, I went to the lobby and drew. I went out in the rain and drew. I have never thought of myself as a drawer or artist, but the ability to focus on something other than my situation was a gift. There is now a notepad and a mini moleskin in my purse – never leave home without it! 🙂 Thanks for the chance to throw my name into the basket for the drawing!
Stephanie
May 8, 2013 at 2:45 pmi take notes on my phone but should carry a notebook. but then my 2 year old would steal it (smiles)
Christine Smith
May 7, 2013 at 3:31 pmI love having a notebook with me for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, and things I want to remember: book names & authors, websites, sketches, color combinations, and anything else that sparks my interest. I secure envelopes in my books to keep business cards, receipts, notes, photos.
Nancy
May 7, 2013 at 3:21 pmI do! I carry two–a handmade one in which I sketch ideas and plan projects and and jot down interesting things I’ve heard, and one that is ostensibly my daily planner but which tends to bleed into all areas of my life. Today I’m making one for a friend who is going to Paris for a stretch–it will be handmade and stab-bound and small enough for her to carry in a pocket.
mjkasz
May 7, 2013 at 12:21 pmI carry a notebook to keep quilt ideas and information shared by others on quilting and I sometimes also use it to sketch ideas for quilting. I must be honest and say it also carries lists of things that I might forget if I don’t write it down.
Carol Claytor
May 7, 2013 at 11:14 amI too carry a small notebook with me. It’s there for the times that I become bored or need to remember things.
Lissa goldsmith
May 7, 2013 at 9:45 amI carry a little sketchbook, Pitt pens and pencil wherever I go for whatever I feel the urge to do. I carry it in my purse!
Lissa
May 7, 2013 at 9:43 amI have a little notebook and I carry it with my Pitt pens and a pencil in a little case that was a gift. I can doodle, make notes, whatever I want, wherever I go!
Meg Cupman
May 7, 2013 at 5:32 amI always have a notebook with me. What’s in it? Book titles I want to read, addresses and phone numbers of people I meet, DVDs I want to request from the library, drawings, websites, to do lists, bits of poetry, quotes, quilt inspirations, musings, etc. anything I want to remember or capture.
Leanne Hopkins
May 7, 2013 at 4:46 amSketchbook contents? Ideas for new techniques to try, thumbprint drawings of quilts, notes from my Art Quilt group, even a recipe for Banana Bread discovered when I was in California…had no other paper along. I made a special cover that includes a small tin of water color paints (which I used to color a landscape when flying back from SoCal, colored pencils, pens, eraser and sharpener.
Linda Woosley
May 7, 2013 at 4:03 amI keep several notebooks with me, some with lined paper & some w scratch paper. I usually cover them with class projects or travel projects to inspire me. Love your classes & want your book!
Betty
May 7, 2013 at 3:02 amYes, I carry my sketchbook or have it nearby. I sketch with my new favorite pen, the unscented Sharpie fine. This sketchbook started out as a food journal with notes about clever ideas and recipes, grocery lists, and a few yard sales. Now I’m making more room on each page for daily sketching.
Fay Rawls
May 7, 2013 at 1:35 amLove using my iPad for photos and notes at classes.
Fay Rawls
May 7, 2013 at 1:34 amI seem to use my iPad for many things I want to remember. Love using it for notes & photos at classes.
Sue
May 6, 2013 at 9:22 pmI always carry a book with me,,, blank pages and black pens ,,, the best,
Rebecca
May 6, 2013 at 9:09 pmI want to carry a notebook with me. I always think about doing it but I never seem to get around to putting one in my car. So I’m going to do it right now! Here I go: a notebook and some colored pencils are on their way.
Faith
May 6, 2013 at 8:05 pmFor sure I carry a notebook! There is sooo much inspiration around. AND I am expected to remember mundane things such as work rosters, appointments and shopping lists ! So into the notebook it goes.
Then there are times when one is waiting… So out comes the ‘Book’…. To read or sketch in!
Katherine Stein
May 6, 2013 at 6:15 pmI carry a small not book in my purse always. I either scribble down new ideas, to sketch in when I get an urge, also to write down names, addresses, toner size for the printer at home, names of flowers or shrubs, movies or whatever comes to mind at the time.
Jayna
May 6, 2013 at 6:07 pmI carry my camera and my Moleskine calendar which has notes pages for notes and sketches. Sometimes a sketchbook as well. And recently my iPad with a sketch app.
Sharry Miller
May 6, 2013 at 5:41 pmI keep meaning to carry a notebook with me for capturing ideas, designs, words, but I don’t ever seem to do it. Maybe I just need a bigger purse so I have room for one! Hmm…a new purse – I like it!
Cyndy Clauss
May 6, 2013 at 4:09 pmI have notebooks including a special gratitude one. I have to be able to have some blank pages and pockets to put my scribbled notes that end on random scraps of paper.
Sharon DiGiulio
May 6, 2013 at 4:09 pmI always carry a sketchbook with me in my briefcase and one in my pocketbook. I write down random ideas, notes, sketches, recipes, attach color swatches – you name it! I know that I can always refer back to my journals for future inspiration or to remember an important detail.
Amie
May 6, 2013 at 4:05 pmI carry a small notebook with me for things I may forget! I have a huge purse and I am the designated carrier of all things family, so I keep it in my purse. Occasionally I carry a sketchbook, depending on where I am off too.