Hello my quilting friends! Today I'm chatting with Elizabeth Townsend Gard about quilting and copyright. Listen to the episode or download it to your computer using the player below:
You can also watch the episode and see the Dresden Plate quilt blocks I'm piecing in this video:
Click here to check out Just Wanna Quilt, Elizabeth's podcast about the quilting industry and intellectual property.
I was also on Elizabeth's podcast and we chatted about business, the ups and downs of running a quilt along, and how copyright plays a role in my business. Click here to check out that episode.
I have long felt that copyright and quilting is a tricky subject. On the one hand we have a huge range of public domain quilt blocks and patterns. Basically if your great grandma was piecing log cabin blocks, chances are her great grandma was too.
On the other hand many designers struggle to sell patterns because quilters copy and share them rather then purchasing their own copy. It's one thing for a log cabin block to be in the public domain, but the pattern itself - the cut sizes and the words used to describe how to piece that particular quilt are the property of the designer.
In the podcast we discussed a specific issue that happened recently with a private Facebook group. The members of the group were copying patterns and quilting books and intentionally covering up or removing the attribution and the information about the authors.
I think it's safe to say that most people know this is 100% wrong. I also think it's safe to say that most quilters want to support the designers that they love.
But there also seems to be a good bit of fear in the quilting design community from accidentally designing a pattern to similar to someone else. When do you have to ask permission to make your own version of a quilt? When do you have to ask permission to use a tool or machine or gadget?
I've now listened to several of Elizabeth's episodes from Just Wanna Quilt and I love hearing abou the quilting industry from many different perspectives. I have my own little snapshot of what the industry is based on my experience working online and teaching, but that's a very different perspective from a fabric manufacturer in New York or a quilt shop owner in Utah.
This is exactly Elizabeth's goal - to create a picture of the quilting industry by talking to as many different people at she can. That includes designers, quilting teachers, fabric manufacturers, and hobby quilters too!
If you like to be on the Just Wanna Quilt podcast, please get in touch with Elizabeth and share your thoughts on quilting.
Click here to find the Just Wanna Quilt Facebook group.
Click here to find Elizabeth's website.
Click here to find the podcast on iTunes.
Updates from around the house...
Today I'm working on a new Dresden Plate Quilt block using the Slice ruler I'm designing for Grace Company.
We're working together to create three new quilting rulers for machine quilting on a home machine and longarm. I like to make my rulers multi-functional so I also try to design them to also cut shapes as well. The Slice ruler is an 18 degree wedge which means it can also be used to piece 20 petal Dresden Plate blocks!
This was a bit of an unexpected project so I've shuffle things around, but I'm really happy to be working on it and exploring what these new rulers can do.
I designed my first set of rulers - the Dresden Plate Template Set last year for the Machine Quilting Party. It's a 10 piece ruler set and could only be cut for home sewing machines because it was just too expensive for longarms because they need to be double the thickness so the hopping foot on the longarm doesn't hop over the edge of the template.
This new set of rulers with Grace Company will be sold separately and you'll be able to cut AND quilt with them. I'm already planning several videos to show you how they work!
Super Squares and Sashing Workshop
Speaking of teaching, we have a new quilting workshop for you today. Click here to check out this online quilting class.
In this workshop, you'll learn how to quilt 17 designs in the sashing and another 16 designs in small squares. This creates a beautiful sampler of designs you can hang on your wall. Anytime you get stuck, just glance over at the Squares and Sashing quilt and you'll find a design to finish your quilt. Click here to check out this new workshop!
Prism Path Begins April 2nd
This week I finished the quilting videos for Prism Path. This is the next quilt we're making from the book Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day.
I love this new version of the quilt with black background fabric. It makes the rainbow batik fabrics I'm using glow off the surface. The quilting designs we're using for Prism Path will also show up much better using a darker background too.
Let's go quilt,
Leah Day
