Lilo Bowman

I'm Back...And, It's A Brand New Year!

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 10:40:39 -0800

I’m back. It’s been a while, I know. Things behind the scenes were, I promise you, cooking along for the last two months of 2020, which kept me from doing much of any other writing. 2021 brings a very busy ‘virtual’ lecture schedule, so I might ‘see’ some of you in the coming few months. Currently I offer two lectures, but there will definitely be more added.

Lectures are a live PowerPoint presentation filled with tips, tricks and new images of real studio situations, most of which are not included in my book Love Your Creative Space (with C&T Publishing). I’m excited to share what I have found with the makers of this world.

My long awaited and anticipated segment on TheQuiltShow.com went live on January 1, 2021! The show is the TQS 2021 BOM launch and features the fabulous and exclusive design, Color My World, by the incredibly talented Australian artist, Wendy Williams. Due to COVID-19 Wendy was not able to make the trip to join us in the studio. The TQS BOM Pattern tester, blogger and quilt teacher extraordinaire, Barbara Black, stepped in to share Wendy’s tips, tricks and piecing techniques. My segment on organizing comes later in the show.

Did I mention that this show (#2801), is FREE and AVAILABLE for ANYONE to watch until Dec. 31, 2021!!! I’d love for you to watch, share the link with your friends and help me promote my 15 minutes of fame.

Here’s the link:

Feeling The Fuzzy

Sat, 14 Nov 2020 11:36:06 -0800

Hello again. Last week when I shared this book, temperatures were finally starting to feel more like fall. Oak and maple leaves have begun to turn, and to my delight the seeds from one of my decorative pumpkins (purchased in October 2019 and left to disintegrate in my garden after the holidays), had decided to finally produce two very tiny pumpkins. All summer we had only lovely leaves and beautiful flowers, but no fruit. Will these wee pumpkins actually grow to any substantial size before the cold really sets in, is anyone’s guess? But, no matter the size, they will be given a place of honor in my kitchen window for their sheer determination and resilience.

Crisp mornings make me think of wool sweaters, well-loved jackets, warm socks, hot cups of tea with lemon, and weekends with pot of something simmering on the stove while I’m snuggled under a quilt with a good book or a bit of hand work. So, getting cozy with a bit of felted wool handwork armed with Makiko Arai’s book Happy Felted Animals was definitely on order last weekend.

Happy Felted Animals by Makiko Arai (C&T Publishing) presents a menagerie of 30 fuzzy palm-sized or smaller adorable critters with charming life like personalities with Makiko’s careful attention to shaping, color and texture. From bears to bunnies, cats, birds and mushrooms, there’s sure to be numerous characters to spark your interest. I mean really, who could pass up this adult and baby polar bear without melting?

Needle felting, with a few bits of wool roving can be a relaxing and fun way to spend an afternoon. Instructions are clear, and...Read More

Scraps of Whimsy and Character

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 06:17:46 -0800

As temperatures drop from what seem like a never ending days of heat, my thoughts invariably turn to the upcoming holidays and hand-made gift making. Not large items, but small gifts that can be tucked in as an unexpected surprise. Recently I was asked to review two new books which, as it happens, is very timely for those gift making thoughts swirling about in my head right now.

I first met Olesya Lebedenko during the 2019 Houston Quilt Festival. As usual, we were holed up in a windowless classroom for the day taping interviews with artists for TheQuiltShow.com. It's a tightly scheduled day of artists coming and going, and allows us to capture as many interviews as we can in one fell swoop. At one point early in the day, Ricky Tims mentioned to me that an artist would be dropping by to show us her new book Sewing Scrap Blocks with Character. These serendipity moments often lead to unexpected gold nuggets, as was the case with Olesya Lebedenko.

After lunch, when the very apparent lack of caffeine really began to take it's toll, in walked a smiling, petite young woman wearing long lavender streaked dreadlocks decorated with wooden thread spools. Her smile and effervescent personality were charming and infectious. I was eager to spend time getting to know more about her and the book she had written.

As makers, we have generate a lot of. It's the nature of the beast. Scraps on the worktable, scraps on the floor, scraps that have fallen on the cat laying at my feet and scraps in little piles on the cutting area. Many that are too small to use usually end their life in the trash. In 2018, feeling that there...Read More

Something Strange Is Going On

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 21:15:38 -0700

Do you ever have one of those days when everything just seems to go sideways? I'm up before dawn to prepare for the podcast interview with Brenda Dayne for her new podcast Sleeping in Public which begins in early October. All was going swimmingly until five minutes before the interview was to start.

We've recently begun a flagstone path project, but learned that we had bitten off more than we could chew. Digging into what can only be called concrete (otherwise known as dormant Bermuda grass) during the hottest month of the year was probably not a good decision on our part. Never mind that while the project was moving along at a seemingly glacial pace, it rained for several days, which kick started the grass to grow again. Hooray! Except that we now couldn't mow the grass with bags of sand, pea gravel and flagstone neatly laid out waiting for us to finish. Time to call in some muscle.

My yard guy is a beast when it comes to yard work, and as such needs a fair amount of monitoring. He can heave a pick axe, dig and haul dirt for hours. But in his enthusiasm there can be some surprises that are not always welcome on my part. Such as the time I asked him to just cut a few of the wayward branches from my shrubs that were leaning into the street. No problem he says with a smile. I return a while later to discover that not only has he cut the leaning branches, but he's also trimmed the entire length of shrubs along the street into nice square cubes! Not exactly what I had in mind.

As I'm just about to put my headset on for the interview when my partner bounds down the hallway shouting my name. He opens the door and says "the gardener has cut into the drip line while using the pick axe, and, the truck won't start; I think the battery has died. Do you know where the battery charger is in the garage?" It took all my might to...Read More

C&T Quilter's Project Planner Social Media Tour Day 6!

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 08:56:20 -0700

It's Day 6 of the C&T Quilter's Project Planner Tour! And it's my turn to share.

The recent three-day weekend gave provided the perfect opportunity to do some much needed house cleaning in my studio. With Zoom meetings having gone from just occasionally to several times a week, my corner desk situation is really driving me crazy. Everything, it seems is now in my line of vision, stacked on the desk (the laptop on a random shoe box, the Ottlight, colored files, etc.), and I am really getting claustrophobic. Don’t get me wrong, I love pattern and color in my surroundings, but surprisingly, not at my desk. For that area, I need calm, clean and very little color to enable me to focus.

Away went the pink cover (which I never really loved anyway) of the laptop. Better. But I still need to visually calm down the area and get as many items as possible off the desktop! For years colored folders have been my go-to. But seeing them out of the corner of my eye is now very distracting. Keeping everything in the same color palette provides a more unified and calmer look visually. All white folders and a wall mounted holder will help tremendously. An opaque white box to prop up the laptop will continue the clean, unified and calm that I need.

A quick trip to IKEA for supplies. Hanging file holder, got it. White boxes, ah…wouldn’t you know it, everyone, it seems, also likes the white boxes. That shelf area was empty. Oh, well, the blue version (purchased for another area of the house) is for now, a temporary replacement. On the way home, I grabbed white folders from my local office supply. The desk area is getting better. It’s calmer, not perfect, but it’s a work in progress.

And speaking of WIPs. As I was clearing things out, I found a quilt project with blocks ready to be sewn together. I’m on the home stretch. Why did I put this away? Ah, now I remember, I decided to enlarge the quilt because it was too small for snuggling on the couch....Read More

C&T PublishingQuilter's Project Planner Tour!

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 08:42:36 -0700

I was so please when C&T asked me to join a number of others to help celebrate the launch of their Quilter's Project Planner Kick-off party, which starts today! For the next 8 days, you will have the opportunity to peek inside the colorful and tip filled Quilter's Project Planner through the eyes of 7 very diverse makers (including me).

And here's the best part, you have the chance to win yourself a brand spanking new copy of your very own (US only)! For your chance to win, simply leaving a comment here by Thursday, September 17. Let me know what projects you'd like to get started or finished, and how the planner would help. What a great way to get your 2021 off to a new and organized start!

Be sure to visit all of the stops along the way for insights, tips and other goodies.

The Quilter's Project Planner Party
September 9-17:

September 9- C&T Publishing

September 10 Teri Lucas- Terificreations

September 11: Bonnie K. Hunter- Quiltville

September 12: Susan Arnold- Quilt Fabrications

September 13: Mary Puckett- Zippy Quilts

September 14: Lilo Bowman- lilobowman

September 15: Laura Coia- SewVeryEasy

September 16: Laura Piland- Slice of Pi

September 17: C&T Publishing

It's The Little Things

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 06:18:22 -0700

I know, it’s been a while since my last post. Where have I been? Can I use the excuse of saying it’s due to COVID-19? Not really. Thankfully, my absence was not due to being out of work, sickness or a lack of things to write about. Since early March, we’ve all been in the constant ‘shift’ gear as we learn to adapt. Staying focused and not feeling overloaded is real work…even for the best of us. I’m determined to not bogged down by it all and instead focus on the little unexpected surprises that bring me joy.

After a very long hiatus, I’ve taken up crochet again. Nothing grand or elaborate, so I’m starting with smallish projects. At the end of a day filled with hours of sitting in front of a computer screen I find it relaxing to be doing something creative with my hands. Completing a small flower motif or rows on a scarf brings such a wonderful sense of satisfaction. There’s no deadline, or sense of urgency, the project will be completed when it’s finished. It’s about enjoying the process.

My newish hobby requires hooks in various sizes, and the model that feels good in my hands happens to be the Knit Pro Waves I bought my two summers ago at Hoop Haberdashery while vacationing in England. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s not available in the US. So, like many of us, I went shopping online in early March. Everyone it seemed, is crocheting right now, which made the hunt a bit more challenging! Apparently, I’m not the only one who has discovered solace in handwork. I finally found a vendor in Israel who offered the multi-size pack of hooks I wanted. ‘Add to cart’ and life continued. Focus on my book promotion and my upcoming guest appearance on TheQuiltShow.com was in full swing. Life was really busy.

Weeks went by. I checked the...Read More

Learning In Your PJs Can Open Up A Whole New World!

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 07:22:58 -0700

Are you, like so many other guild program chair's, trying to figure out ways to keep your membership connected and engaged while we're all practicing social distancing? Of course we'd all like to go back to the days of in person meetings and workrooms buzzing with the hum of creativity. But for right now, that's not in the foreseeable future. Online learning, in the creative world and elsewhere, is seriously taking off. Some are better than others, but everyone is adapting and making an effort to learn this new approach to reach creative-learning starved audiences.

And while sitting in front of a computer screen might not be everyone's ideal, it does offer some great benefits. Your guild can now access teachers/lecturers it might not ever have been able to book due to costs, travel arrangements, challenging calendar, etc. There's an amazing array of talent out there for your guild to capture...right now! So dust off that checkbook, credit card or contract and get ready to bring some fabulous talent to your guild.

I'm going to be a part of the Global Quilt Connection, a virtual meet the teacher/lecturer event that will allow your guild program chair to meet teachers/lecturers (including ME!), from all over the world who are offering live virtual online classes/lectures. The event is free to register and will include 30 different teachers each day (August 5, September 2 & 9). I hope to see you on my day September 9, when I present.

Book Tour Winner Announcement

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 08:40:13 -0700

Hello. How are you? It’s a pretty typical early morning routine in the home office before my ‘day job’ starts. The sun is not yet up and it's quiet in the house while others are still sleeping. I’m at my desk with Gracie snuggled on the chair behind me. While Rex, who prefers the comforts of his favorite dog bed, is curled up under the table. This scene has played out pretty much uninterrupted for the last two years as I dove into the world of book writing. The only exception to this scene being the death last June of our much-loved Daschund, Leo. Rex came into our life in early February and has taken on the role of ‘service dog’ for Gracie (who is almost blind and deaf) very seriously.

What a crazy time to launch a book, right? Everyone’s nervous, trying to social distance and spending a lot of time in their space. Spending time doing something creative can be so rewarding mentally. But many of us, including me, are finding that the clutter behind a closet, in the drawers or stacked on the table can no longer be ignored and is really starting to drive us nuts. Organizing offers some control during a time when much of our life at the moment is so not in control.

And now to the exciting part...the selected winners of the Blog Hop Book Tour! I'm so excited to announce that Beth Digi and Elizabeth Frankow-Reid have won a signed copy of my book. Lynette Gross has snagged herself the eBook from C&T. Thank YOU ALL for your wonderful comments. I read each and every one of them to learn what you are dealing with or find helpful. Autographed copies of the book have been swift and at this time I'm waiting for more cases to arrive, this week, I hope. Please be patient as we get your order to you.

I’m not one for writing about myself, but if you’d occasionally like hear about things I’ve discovered when it comes to organizing, DIY, with a sprinkling of dog adventures, gardening, or the occasional recipe tossed in, I’d love for you to follow...Read More

Love Your Creative Space Book Tour & Give Away!

Tue, 30 Jun 2020 06:04:56 -0700

Hello! And thanks for stopping by on the Love Your Creative Space Book Launch Blog Tour! Today is my turn to share what that I personally use in my studio space to try to keep the stacks of stuff from taking control.

It’s so exciting starting a new project. And then, suddenly, despite your best efforts, life takes over and the project shifts to being just another orphan hiding in the waste land, otherwise known as the closet, chest of drawers, or other place you hold things ‘for just a bit’. For many of us, organizing WIPs (Works in Progress) and UFO (Unfinished Objects) is a huge dilemma. Keeping track of all the bits and parts often turns into a very frustrating game of hide and seek.

I’d like to help you avoid unnecessary irritation down the road by sharing a few simple, time saving, inexpensive plan ahead tricks and storage options, that will help to keep everything related to your project together (and labeled) for when the time comes to pick it up again.

here.

Plan Ahead

Whether your budget is small or large, it’s important to keep everything together, because items, like my Dachshunds, Gracie and Rex, tend to stray. There’s nothing more frustrating than being delighted with an afternoon of free time, only to discover that you cannot find that one critical item needed to continue.

The Benefits of Cataloging

Cataloging offers a fast and easy way for you to remember what you had in mind for that project; especially when it might be several weeks, months, or even years till you next lay eyes upon it.

Cataloging doesn’t need to be complex and shouldn’t take a great deal of time, so plan ahead by creating, and printing out a stack of your own easy to fill out project sheets (or electronic files). If you enjoy a variety of work, make a project sheet for each. Design your own or look for free downloadable options. When something new...Read More