Proud Parent
Even though my intent for this newsletter is to focus on quilt related things, there are some family milestones that are just too significant to leave out. One such event is my son earning the rank of Eagle Scout! Woohoo!!!

Eagle Scout is the highest rank in Boy Scouts. It is very prestigious, so much so that it's helpful in obtaining college admissions and career positions. There's a lot of work required to achieve this recognition. Not only did my son earn 24 merit badges, he also served in various positions of leadership and organized a large community service project. Perhaps most impressive: he did all of this with an excellent attitude. My husband and I are extremely proud of him. Way to go, my son!

Color E-book Complete
I'm delighted to have finally finished my new e-book, Personal Workshop: Adventures in Color. It's jam packed with 157 pictures on 65 pages, plus a 23 page workbook, and an ink saving section, so I'm very excited about it! It's designed to be a self-guided class, with exercises throughout. Thus the "Personal Workshop" part of the title.

I'm still testing the sales/download interface, but I should have it available soon. In the meantime, please take a look at this excerpt.

Upcoming Events
- Raleigh, NC, May 28-31, North Carolina Quilt Symposium (3 classes)
- Melbourne, FL, June 15, Embroiderers' Guild of America, Indian River Chapter
See Teaching and Events schedule for more details, and other events.

Next online class: Instant Art Quilt, April 17, 2009. Class information. Sorry, this class is now full. If you missed out, you can request early notification of any of the classes, by using the subscription option at the bottom of this page.

Final SMALL Quilt
Recently, I made three small quilts. The last one, Bird of Paradise, is shown at right. I love the graphic imagery of these flowers.(Actually, it's faced, but I sent it to an exhibit before I got a proper photo.)

A few design notes, which might interest you:
- A dull, and relatively dark background, allows the flower to take center stage. (See the October 2008 newsletter for more on that.)
- Setting the flower off-center provides a focal point location that pleases me. Note that the strong contrast between black and white helps to emphasize this.
- Cropping the flower acts as a zoom lens, attracting attention, even though part of the flower isn't visible. I love that!

I'm very happy with this little quilt, but there's one thing I'd do differently, if I were to do it again: I'd make it in a freeform collage fashion, rather than with a pattern, as I did in this case.

CopyRIGHT or CopyWRONG?
I LOVE the way the internet so easily connects all of us. Such easy access makes it possible for me to conduct online classes and interact with students on the other side of the world. Awesome! However, that same technology makes it very easy to share all types of digital files. This increases the liklehood of copyright infringement, as well as abuse of download user agreements.

For instance, someone who purchases an e-book from me can email it to a friend. Since the book is intended only for the person who purchased it, such an act would be contrary to the stated user agreement. Of course, I tend to believe that MY customers would never do such a thing. I hope I'm right about that, but maybe not everyone realizes that such activity is wrong.

Resources:
Part Two of an article by Linda Matthews, about online copyright.

Enjoy the adventure!
Ellen

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