Cami Shaskin

Violin Blog


About


This blog is about all things violin. It is meant to educate, inspire, and provide resources for parents, teachers, and students. The author takes full responsibility for the viewpoints expressed here. In instances where she quotes ideas from others, she pledges to cite her sources as fully, responsibly, and accurately as possible. Topics will include book reviews, technique tips, entertaining anecdotes, quotes, jokes, educational findings, instrument care suggestions, violin in the news, repertoire lists, etc.

Cami J. Shaskin graduated with her master's degree in Music Education in 2008. Violin has always been her primary instrument, since beginning private lessons at age five. See camishaskinviolin.com/info for her music résumé, or click on Spotlights for historical recordings. Cami has enjoyed an array of experiences in writing, from penning award-winning articles as a journalism staff writer in high school, tutoring peers at BYU's Writing Center, earning a Writing Fellows scholarship and a minor in Language and Computers, and later becoming a published author. She recently picked up web programming as a hobby, earning a certificate in Web Programming and Development from the local community college. This blog has been a collaborative effort between her and her husband, who is a Web Developer by profession. Together, they designed and coded this blog and its original content "from scratch."

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2021
    Jan
        16 - Welcome to My Blog
        23 - Violin Teaching Kits
        30 - The Power of Inspiration
    Feb
        06 - Valuable Techniques
        07 - From the Top
        13 - In Honor of Valentine's Day
        20 - Violin Jokes
        28 - Beginning Orchestra Teaching
    Mar
        06 - Singing in Orchestra
        13 - Nurtured by Love
        21 - Helpful Websites
        27 - Unique Case Uses
    Apr
        02 - Favorite Music Quotes
        10 - All About Tone
        17 - Unique Composer Stories
        24 - Teaching Values
    May
        02 - Believing Teachers?
        15 - Violin in Art & Architecture
        23 - A Solo Repertoire List
        29 - Our Quartet
    Jun
        20 - Theft and Other Lessons
        26 - Violin Bridge Tips
    Jul
        07 - Clever Violin Memes
        20 - Horses and Lions
    Aug
        04 - Music During Covid
        16 - Favorite Music
    Sep
        12 - Being There
    Oct
        16 - Sight Reading Tips
    Nov
        05 - Why It's the Frog
    Dec
        20 - Bach on the Brain
        30 - Impact for Life
2022
    Jan
        23 - Tendonitis Helps
    Feb
        21 - An Old Performance
    Mar
        23 - Cars3 & Coaching
    Apr
        28 - Buying a Violin for Dummies
        29 - Preferred Brands
    May
        27 - Love: A Calling
    Jun
        20 - Gratitude for Idaho Shop
    Jul
        19 - Violinist Interviews Books
    Aug
        08 - Music Opens Doors
        23 - Top Classical Tunes for Violin
    Sep
    Oct
        11 - 100 Days of Listening
    Nov
        27 - Useful Analogies
    Dec
        28 - A Humorous Anecdote
2023
    Jan
        14 - Favorite Concertos & Sonatas
    Feb
        15 - Our Commonality
    Mar
        10 - Extras
        18 - Autopilot
    Apr
    May
    Jun
        06 - Motivation
        07 - Starting Lessons Again
    Jul
        08 - A Tale of Three Cloths
    Aug
        26 - The Ink
    Sep
        23 - Raw and Real Recital Reactions
    Oct
        18 - In Honor of Halloween
    Nov
        26 - Music Copyright
    Dec
        13 - Memes: Fun Facebook Finds
2024
    Jan
        15 - Fame and Fortune
    Feb
        05 - Details and the Big Picture
    Mar
        14 - Intermission
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Posts


A Tale of Three Cloths
08 Jul 2023

My mom is very creative. I could take pages explaining all the fun activities she does with her fifth- and sixth-grade History classes, like mummifying hot dogs, reenacting Civil War Battles, and laying on the floor to draw masterpieces on the underside of their desks like Michelangelo with the Sistine Chapel.

When I was in college, my mom had the brilliant idea to quilt me a cloth as a cover for my violin inside the case, in place of the cloth the case originally came with. She told me it was probably the only time in her life she’d do any quilting for me by hand. (Smart choice, as the cloth was about 9 by 27 inches, as opposed to the size of a full quilt!) I was extremely grateful and treasured that gift. I was proud to show it off to people who asked about it. The quilted cloth included pieces that were a dull red, to match the case interior.

When my violin was stolen ten years later, inside its case (see "Theft and Other Lessons"), I was devastated at losing all the sentimental things, including that cloth! When the insurance wouldn’t cover the theft, a replacement violin was partially paid for by an anonymous family member, for which I am beyond appreciative. The interior of this violin's case was forest green. My mom very kindly decided to quilt me a new cloth to go with the new violin and case.

Fast-forward to a couple of years ago: I bought a second violin that I eventually decided to sell, as it wasn’t being used enough to warrant the purchase. It was to be sold along with the green-interior case. But what to do about the cloth?? I wasn’t willing to give up my final quilted handmade cloth from my mother, which had double the sentimental value to me, given what happened to the cloth’s predecessor. But the case needed an interior cover of some kind.

I had three options:

  1. Find the original green cloth that had come with the case. I thought I had kept it, but who knew at the bottom of which box in the garage attic space it was buried in.
  2. Bring my case in person to a designated dealer for Bobelock (the company that made it), at least an hour’s drive away, so they could order a replacement cloth and mail it to me.
  3. Buy some satin and velvet and sew my own replacement cloth.

I’m not very domestic! But I have been ever-so-slowly broadening my horizons in regard to sewing very simple projects. For example, I doubt I’ll ever get into sewing clothes, and making my kids aprons from a pattern felt way out of my league, but I can handle making pillowcases.

I decided to go with Option 3. I think my cloth turned out pretty well! And this way, I can feel good about carrying on my mom’s tradition for the next owner of the violin. I am able to pass on a little of my own creativity--a reflection of myself, if you will--to the next lucky player of the instrument. I'm grateful that my mom left me such a legacy of ingenuity and commitment.

Pictured are my mom’s masterpiece (left), and my sewing attempt (right). I promise the cloth is green, not blue, as the lighting seems to suggest!

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