"M" is for Minute as in: Goddess of the Last Minute, The New Book by Robbi Joy Eklow

Goddess of the Last Minute: Laughter and Lessons from an Uncommon Quilter   

By

Robbi Joy Eklow

A funny thing happened on the way to the quilt show. . . .So the story invariably goes, because, where Robbi Joy Eklow (a.k.a. The Goddess of the Last Minute) goes, something funny is bound to happen--or simply to occur to her. As colorful and surprising as the quilts Robbi is famous for, the stories and reflections gathered here create an irresistible picture of an irrepressible character quilting and quipping her way through life. Filled with the kind of gems that have made her Quilting Arts Magazine column so popular, this book includes Robbi's musings on creativity and color, as well as on the trials and tribulations that every quilter faces.

The Goddess of the Last Minute invites readers to take a wry look at those trials--and, with Robbi's wit and insight, turn them into the sort of crazy quilt that warms and brightens daily life. The story of how she became a Goddess, anecdotes of life on the road, encounters with fellow quilters: these and other often hilarious tales of a not-quite-charmed life make this quilter's compendium a delightful patchwork to contemplate, and to treasure.

So true!
I cracked the book open the minute it arrived, I confess I had the wonderful pleasure of working (and laughing) with Robbi way back on Simply Quilts and I was simply tickled when my copy of
The Goddess of the Last Minute showed up.

This is the quilt she did on the show and full directions are here, it is called Groovy Guitars. I learned so much about her wonderful technique.

So Robbi was kind enough to partake in my little interview Q & A:

1. What does your workspace/design space look like?

I have two studios. My dry studio, which is an extra bedroom, and my wet studio, which is in my basement. Here's a picture of my dry studio, at least the part where some of my dyed fabric is stored. I'm in the middle of making a quilt, so some of the fabric is thrown around right now...

I'm not showing you my wet studio right now, because the laundry is also in the basement and I don't want to air my dirty laundry....

2. Do you save your mistakes/or designs you don't love right away-or ditch them?

I save everything. If I have printed out designs full size, I roll those up and save them. Designs that got as far as being made in fabric get saved too. Sometimes it's like sourdough bread, a mistake from the last quilt is a starter for another quilt.


3. What's on your "next to try" list?

I'm going to try painting more on fabric. Not sure if the quilt will be whole cloth, or if I will paint on pieces.


5. Do you ever work with recycled materials?

I don't put recycled materials into my quilts, but I repurpose tools to do other things. I've been saving the bottom rack from my last dishwasher to use as a print drying rack if I ever start playing with paper. I save all kinds of containers to reuse. Plastic coffee "tins" are great for putting dyed fabric in the microwave in the basement.

6. What music do you listen to when designing?

James Taylor, KT Tunstall, Coldplay. Lots of other stuff. I have a lot of music in itunes.

7. How long does a design take you to create?

I can't really answer that, because I never time it. And most of the time, something is made from bits and pieces I have designed before.  I use Adobe Illustrator to design quilts, and sometimes I just doodle around and save things in a file to use later. And I'm redesigning as I go. The quilt that I'm working on now is an example. I keep going back to the computer and making new templates to use.

8. How do you organize your supplies?

I have a wall of drawers. Here's part of it. Those are Iris stacking storage units. I buy them in sets of six drawers and restack them to be 16 drawers high. (That's as far as I can reach.) Each drawer is labeled, but for now, the labels are kinda messy, as I'm in the midst of rearranging. The picture shows half of the storage.

Interviewer's note: I just got to the part in the book about these babies-so funny!

I store my beads in flat tackle boxes. One hue per box if I have a lot of them, for example, I have a box full of lime beads. And another full of green. An those fatter tackle boxes hold crystals, or bead threads or some other stuff I can't remember.

9. What books/magazines do you read?

Of course I read Quilting Arts, because I write a column, Goddess of the Last Minute. Also Cloth, Paper, Scissors. Bead and Button, Beadwork, Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits, Knitters, Threads, Time, Newsweek, Macworld, MacAddict. I read books about writing, quilting, knitting, beading, the Sookie Stackhouse novels... We have magazines and books all over the house. 

10. How would you describe your personal style?

I'm a slob.

11. How do you determine what a design is going to be made with?

I have been using my own hand dyed fabrics for a long time. Sometimes I use batiks. Mostly my own hand dyes. 

12. Do you have a collection of anything?

I have a crayon collection, only Crayola, they have to be special editions or in tins. Or on sale. I collect those cheap souvenir thimbles, it started out when my husband would travel and remember to bring something home at the last minute. Usually a thimble from the airport. So now we collect thimbles with the city name whenever we can. My kids bring them home and some of their friends bring them for me too.  I collect knitting needles, not expensive ones, the ones you'd normally knit with. My husband is pointing out that I have a huge collection of tote bags. 

13. And the all important question (from Ravelry) what is your favorite swear word?

B**ch

Thank you so much for sharing Robbi!

And readers, if you thought she was a crack up here, grab a copy of

The Goddess of the Last Minute for more!

My question of the day:

What non-crafting book are you reading right now? What is your top fave book?

In addition to reading The Goddess of the Last Minute I am listening on cd while I walk to The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie and When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. I recommend both!

Comments

[julie m]

I am reading "The Complete Chinese Crested" because I am hoping to adopt an older rescue CC dog. My fave of all time is "The Agony and the Ecstasy", Irving Stone's book about Michelangelo.

[BrendaLea]

It's been so long since I have read anything that did not have something to do with crafting. And I can't remember any titles at this time (brain fog) but my all time favorite author is Harold Robbins.

[Janet]

China Inc by Ted Fishman - the story of how China is awakening at warp speed, transforming itself into the greatest superpower of the very near future, with the biggest, tallest, longest and fastest of just about everything.

[MonkeyGurrl]

How can she even suggest she's a slob?! With all those storage drawers/tackle boxes?!

I just read a great book - a collection of sci fi short stories written between 1940 to about 1960. Very Bradbury-esque. Rohl...Kohl... POHL! Frederick Pohl. Very funny guy.

[Wil]

I am reading several books at the same time, but one of them is the Empress by Karen Miller. For me it is not possible to mention one favorite book, there are so many good ones.