As it turns out I am not very motivated to clean my studio. I headed out there this weekend with all good intentions of getting my space clean and I honestly cleaned (or more accurately, contemplated cleaning) for a total of five minutes before I found myself distracted by a drawing I had started at Quiltcon in my Compositional Quilting/DRAWING class. I have to admit that after returning home from Quiltcon I have felt a little panicked. Panicked that I taught everything I had and that I was going to be out of ideas. I began looking through some of the pictures I had taken while teaching (admittedly way too few) and that beautiful quote by Leonard Nimoy came back to me again. "The Miracle is this, the more we share, the more we have." Some Brilliant student work Wow. Wow. Wow. and WOW. It was either the threat of cleaning or all of the energy and openness that I absorbed from my students that inspired me again....or maybe a little bit of both. I wasn't really out of ideas after all. Phew. I put away any thoughts about cleaning (which wasn't hard) and started drawing and then quilting something I am pretty sure will be a sample for another class. As a rule I don't generally mark on quilts. A whole cloth type quilt is obviously an exception to this rule. In my Compositional Quilting/DRAWING class we spend the class marking on mylar and then marking on a whole cloth. Many years ago I took a whole cloth design class from Karen McTavish. It was a full day spent designing a whole cloth quilt that we took home to quilt. If you ever find yourself with an opportunity to take a class with her or see her lecture, DO IT, I'm not kidding. Whole cloth quilts are traditional by nature and are generally designed using beautiful floral or feathered motifs, stencils and if you have the patience the quilting usually involves some trapunto. This was my finished Wholecloth quilt from Karens class. From class to quilt. In my Compositional Drawing-(expanded version) class it is my hope to merge the traditional with a more modern aesthetic. I don't know that a whole cloth will ever be considered "modern" but I do believe in my heart of hearts that there is a place for this type of quilting and design somewhere. This is the fundamental basis for Compositional Quilting Filling in the blanks I had to get rid of my free motion drawn swirls, I found I could not follow my own drawings. I managed to quilt in the areas of feathers I should have left unquilted Some new moon ideas This is as far as I got, not bad for a weekend. As you can see, cleaning is overrated and I am not out of ideas yet. I am hoping to be teaching this class and many others in the near future. I will keep you posted on the details here. For those of you who feel inspired by this post, awesome. For those of you who enjoyed this post but feel less inspired and more discouraged by this post this last picture is for you. While I openly admit I have skills, I know that those skills didn't come without a lot of failures, practice and flat out shitty quilting. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt, be ok with shit quilting, move on, take classes, learn as much as you can from yourself and others. You will never quilt exactly like me, just as I will never quilt exactly like Karen McTavish. And thank goodness for that, lord knows theres only room for one of her, and me and you. Be ok with that. You be You.
Decorative Quilt Artist and Tutor
Okay, so I am thrilled to finally share with you the final results of this beautiful quilt, Harriot. This is...
Scalloped borders can add an elegant touch to both modern and traditional quilts. In this engaging class, Natalia Bonner will guide you through the process of machine quilting 12 stunning scalloped border designs. Whether you prefer smaller or larger borders, this class has got you covered. Worried about needing multiple machine quilting rulers to create these designs? Look no further! Natalia will teach you how to achieve all the designs using her renowned machine quilting rulers. So, let's dive in and start stitching! WhenNow! Lessons and workbooks are available. Work at your own pace and share your progress in our online community. (You will have access to video lessons forever after class begins.)Wherepiecenquilt.com - When you check out you will be sent an email that will contain information on how to join the class dashboard.Join our Piece N Quilt - Show & Tell Facebook group. Share your machine quilting progress. Interact with quilty friends and win free prizes! What You Will NeedSomething to quilt on. Natalia will be quilting all of her designs on a custom Let's Stitch Scallops Panel; you can purchase a panel from Honest Fabric. Natalia will be stitching on the 50"x60" size.If you prefer to piece your own top, you can pick up Let's Stitch Scallops Piecing Pattern. BattingQuilter's Dream Poly Deluxe Batting.RulersNatalia will use her machine quilting rulers: The Trailer, 4N1, Mini 4N1, Inside Out & Mini Inside Out. We also recommend our Piece N Quilt Pop Socket Ruler Grip.ThreadSo Fine! #402 and Bottom Line #624MaterialsIf working with the custom panel you will only need backing and binding material.Backing - 3 yardsBinding - 1/2 yardWorkbooksLet's Stitch Scallops Design Workbook Let's Stitch Scallops Piecing Workbook Quilter's Sketchbook MeasuringA foldable tape measure.MarkingMark B GoneSkill LevelStudents should have a basic knowledge of free-motion quilting and machine quilting with rulers.Anyone on any machine with the ability to machine quilt with rulers and free-motion quilt can join Natalia's classes. Beginner's Guide to Free-Motion Quilting book or online class is recommended as a pre-requisite to this class (but not required). Visual Guide to Creative Straight-Line Quilting is also recommended as a pre-requisite. **Workbooks are not spiral bound.**Class registration is only valid for one student. Lessons may not be shared.
So, it's time for the big reveal of Lynette's Dragonfly Party 2. This is a special quilt to Lynette, it's one of two twin quilts, I'm sur...
The weeks seem to come and go and before I know it it's been two months and I still haven't mentioned something as important as my FIRST 1st place win! I'm finishing up this quilt...finally!...with a blogpost and linking it to Finish It Up Friday with crazymomquilts.blogspot.com! I entered the AdornIt Quilt Challenge at HMQS (Home Machine Quilt Show) in Salt Lake City in May. I have to confess that despite my hopes of winning, I had convinced myself I wasn't going to win, so I decided not to go to the awards ceremony. I regretted that so much when my awesome friends from the Handi Quilter Education Department (Vicki, Marie, and Cheryl) text me congrats on my win. Before the quilting began: This was a pattern on the cover of Quilter's World Spring 2014 edition (designed by Holly Daniels). Quilting in progress: I should mention that everything on this quilt was done hand guided with either templates and rulers or free motion quilting with the exception of the round flower motif (pic below). I designed that in Art & Stitch on my computer. And finished! Love the back texture too! When I finally made it to the show I made it a point to introduce myself to Carolee McMullin, the founder of AdornIt. I was able to learn her amazing story of starting both her scrapbooking company and her fabric company, AdornIt, while raising a family. Now her children are grown and help within the company. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet Carolee. Not only is she inspirational to small business owners, but she is a genuinely kind person! And, like you and I, she is passionate about sharing her creativity with the world! I also entered the SewBatik Challenge at HMQS and won a Judge's Choice award.
This quilt made its way to me from Arizona. A gal is teaching this pattern (a Jacqueline de Jonge pattern) in a class at a community college and asked me to quilt it after seeing an article I wrote…
I just finished this dream big panel for a customer. It has a bit of Christmas feel to it doesn't it? Nothing but free motion feathers all over, what a joy to quilt. I know these panels have been around for quite a while but this is the first time I've quilted a red one and I gotta say, it did give me a bit of Christmase Spirit! I hope as you are safe, healthy and filled with Joy this holiday season. This quilt has two layers of batting, quilters dream wool over 80/20. I used 60 wt glide and bottom line thread on top. I think the center has 40 wt Glide. I used Celery, a tan, read and dark green thread. Just a flurry of feathers!
Deborah Louie sets herself apart in the quilting world by taking advantage of all of those stitches on your sewing machine.
More amazing quilts from the Denver show! The '39 by Jo Baner Pyrite Ammonites by Kimberly Lacy First Place Innovative ribbon Dolce LaVita by Elsie Campbell, long arm quilted by Kelly Cline Honorable Mention ribbon Objects at Rest by Colleen Wise 2nd Place Innovative I really like this one :) Glacier Star by Barbara Odor Long arm quilted by Jewel Nickel 3rd Place Traditional Love the quilting on this one.... Rose in Wonderland by Sharon Schlotzhauer The machine quilting and embellishments on this one are amazing. 2nd Place Wall Quilts Ruffled Roses of Basel by Jean Konopacz Honorable Mention Traditional I do like Shirley Gisi's quilts! Floating by Shirley Gisi 3rd Place Wall Quilts I think I've seen this one before, maybe in a magazine, but Lea was also recently on The Quilt Show and they showed it there. She was at the Denver show too, standing in front of her quilt and talking about it. You can learn about her techniques on a recent episode of The Quilt Show. Panning for Gold by Lea McComas Best Wall Quilt How Sweet It Is...Buzzing with Bees by Rhonda Denney Best Colorado Wall Quilt Oriental Poppies and Pink Daisies by Bea Mansanarez 2nd Place Traditional Once again - amazing quilting! This quilt was quilted by Peg Collins. Evening Mystasha Lillies Mary Sue Suit and Diana Larson 3rd Place Innovative You know what Mystasha means right? Everything came out of their stash!
Make One Up for Every Season And Another to Give to a Quilt Lover! Your favorite combination of fabrics will make an impact in this easy table runner. Choose a charm pack for squares of fabric that already work well together or dig into your stash and coordinate them yourself. This runner is so easy …
Cleaning was inevitable. It had to happen.... I rarely custom quilt for customers anymore but I have a few ladies who have been with me from my beginning who I will always quilt for. This particular lady loves the asian panels and I have really enjoyed quilting these tops. There are a wealth of quilting designs to be found in the fabric and I have always felt comfortable playing with the lush traditional Japanese motifs. I auditioned threads to get the process started. I will probably choose the lightest thread you see. And despite my dislike of changing threads I will likely switch on the ivory, to... ivory. My default thread color choice is almost always the lightest color present in the quilt top. My machine and I love Superior Threads. So Fine 50 wt. thread is what I use for the majority of my long-arm quilting. Studio clean, quilt loaded, now what? You guessed it....Plexiglas. The Plexiglas had a boxy maze drawn on it already, instead of erasing it I laid it down and used it as a starting point. I liked the way it looked over the circle, so I left it and started adding straight line work mixed with a tracing of the Japanese water and flower motifs. Moving the Plexiglas from the quilt top to a white table, gives a different perspective, enabling you to see the quilting design independent of the quilt top. It's a great opportunity to start evaluating how the quilting works or doesn't work compositionally on its own. I like where it's going but the circles need more definition, at this point I decide to get rid of the boxy maze outside of the circle and define the circles with a quarter inch (ish) echo. hmm... it's ok but something isn't quite right. I feel like the density of the quilting in the circles is too heavy. Densely quilted areas are going to recede while the areas that are less densely quilted are going to pop. In this case I would prefer that the background recede not the circles... back to the drawing board so to speak. I leave the boxy maze but change the scale, I do like a quilting design that maintains a similar density throughout. All the straight line work is still too much of the same for me, there is not a strong delineation between background and foreground. I am going to lose the boxy maze and add swirls to the background area to define and simplify the space. I like the feel of where this is going, I think it is starting to work more fluidly with the quilt top. I love working through my designs this way, I am able to see a lot of different ideas come to life without committing to anything. I will continue working out the kinks in this quilting design but I feel more confident in my direction and don't feel like I am just staring at a blank canvas any longer. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to make friends with your Plexiglas. I will leave you with a couple finished Asian panel quilt details, the first quilt is the back of an owl panel, the second and third are Kimono quilts, all pieced by Carlene Embry. Have a wonderful week.
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"Eyes of the Forest" by Margaret Solomon Gunn was Best of Show at the 2024 AQS QuiltWeek in Daytona Beach.
t the AQS show I noticed so many intricately pieced quilts. These intricate quilts must have taken months or maybe even years to complete.
Continuing with Winning Quilts from the Craft & Quilt Fair in Melbourne late last month, presented by the Victorian Quilters Inc. here are the BEST OF SHOW and RUNNER UP. BEST OF SHOW "COLOURFUL RETINA" by SUGY KIM Sugy said "The eye is the window of the human body through which it feels the beauty of the world and also the sorrow of the world. What a human eye sees is an illusion of what is real. It is the retina of the eye which converts the light into neural signals and sends these signals on to the brain for visual recognition and interpretation. My quilt is the perception of a beautiful life seeing through a colourful retina. Having a colourful retina will always see a positive, happy and bright side of human life. Hand appliqué, hand and machine piecing, hand quilted. My own original design." (forgive the black bar through the middle of my photo, that was the barrier prohibiting people from getting too close) "Colourful Retina" was entered in the Innovative Quilts section, for which it won First Place and then was awarded Best of Show. CONGRATULATIONS SUGY KIM Quilt measures 207cm x 207cm RUNNER UP to BEST OF SHOW was "CAMEO ROSE" by ELIZABETH ALLEN whom we all know as "Lizzy Allen" "Cameo Rose" won First Place in the Mainly Appliqué Professional Section. PLUS Longarm Quilting Award Judge's Award Lizzy said "Vintage 1930's American Beauty Quilt pattern by Story Time Treasures. I chose to use Sharon Schamber's method of machine needleturn using water soluble appliqué paper. The appliqué fabric is Hoffman hand dye fabrics and peach homespun background. I used a khaki thread to tone down the peach and make it less peachy. Machine appliqué. Machine quilted by myself on a track mounted, stitch regulated hand guided system." Study the border detail Quilt measures 244cm x 216cm CONGRATULATIONS LIZZY Don't forget to visit the Craft & Quilt Fair in Canberra this coming week if you are able to. We have FOUR daily seminars and shall be also demonstrating various products on our stand too. Special orders to be taken to the Show need to be received by 3pm Friday 4th August, 2017 please. PUNCH WITH JUDY STAND A02
This large quilt belongs to Mary. I am love, love, lovin this quilt! Many times when I take a quilt off of the longarm and hang it to take its picture I am in awe of how good it looks. It is really good to get a different perspective on it. This is especially true with a large quilt like this one. I think that by the time I am nearing the end I am getting tired of looking at it. Yes, I do love variety! Anyway, when I stepped back to look at this quilt after I hung it I said, "Oh My Gosh!" out loud.
Here is a limited showing of quilts I’ve done for myself. This page is not updated regularly. Quilting gets in the way sometimes! Check me out on Facebook – I post most pictures there …
At UQSM I learned about Days for Girls https://www.daysforgirls.org which is a wonderful organization that provides education and feminine hygiene supplies for girls in impoverished communities. Above is a list of items they need donated. Perhaps you have some of these items lying around your sewing room? I'm pretty sure I do! Paper Round by Kimberly Sandberg The Modern Pineapple by Carolina Asmussen Honorable Mention (Don't you love the quilting?) Cake Plate by Salena Korpi Beckwith 3rd Place Pieced Again... Don't you LOVE the quilting?? Inspire by Marie Eldredge First Place Modern We got to see this little Cutie Pie's first dance recital this weekend! What a JOY, what a TREAT, oh how FUN it is to be a GRANDMA! 😁
May is here and finally is is nice to be outside. Our weather has gone from 40's to 70's in a matter of 2 weeks. It's pretty nice out there. But, I am stuck inside for a few more weeks, at least mos
Have you ever tried using decorative stitches for quilting? Learn how to take a stitch and turn it into a computerized quilting design.
Its been awhile since I've shared client quilts, and I have quite a few for you to enjoy. Here are some of my favorites. - Bridget - It was so fun to take this basic pinwheel baby quilt and add lots of detail and textures. The fabrics are so soft and sweet. Love this! Inside the pinwheels I wanted to quilt some petal like designs, which are topped of by adding the line with the three dots. Inspired by another machine quilter. On the back those lines and dots form a chain on point. One of the great parts of quilting is seeing how the design comes together, especially on the back. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the back anymore. I used a cream thread and an 8020 batting on this quilt. I love how the light catches the textures. I finished it off with a free hand back and forth rope design in the inner border and a loose swirl on the outer border. - Jane - After I pinned on Jane's quilt on the machine canvas...before even starting to quilt, I posted a picture on instagram...it was instaloved instantly. Her fabric choices and colors were spot on. Jane's request was lots of detail. As I look at each quilt, I try to figure out something that will enhance the fabrics and blocks...the background was begging to have these oval uneven stone like pebbling everywhere. Yes, on a quilt this size it takes awhile, but it was so work it. The "Spin Cycle" blocks just pop! I also wanted to detail the points and add something to keep it cohesive throughout the quilt. And, it was sure fun to do. The finished result is...perfect...or at least I think so, this is why its one of my favorites. Love how the light enhances the fabrics and quilting. I used a tan perma core thread and an 8020 batting. - Jean - Isn't this quilt amazing?!?!?! I has specific instructions to add a ton of detail to this quilt. The wool batting that Jean provided allows the quilting to pop and prevents the quilt from being stiff. Love the wool!! The hours that this took to even decide what to do were long, and I'd show you my drawing but its not too great...so I'll stick with these pictures. Enjoy! Its quilted with a cream perma core 30 tex thread. Here is a close up of one of the blocks. Do you see the block inside the block?? Yeah, amazing! When figuring out a detailed pattern, I try to use some of the same quilting designs in different parts of the blocks to tie whole design together. You can see that here, with the two blocks together. Love this! The borders. Here are a couple pictures of the back...love to see all that detail together. - Jeanette - This was a fun little wall hanging to quilt. This was Jeanette's first quilt, and she did an awesome job! I wanted to crackle the background to give it some texture, because there is so much wide open space. Then, I added a swirl and feather design to the tree to give it a fancy look. One of my most favorite parts though is this wood grain trunk. I used coordinating thread colors and 8020 batting. -Jeanne- This was another instahit on instagram. By pebbling the background it made the circles and how they are quilted pop. A side view. I used 8020 batting and a white perma core thread throughout. - Jen - Jen made this quilt for her lucky son! To keep it masculine I wanted to add all the lines. The lines in the grey add extra dimension to the chevron. And, who doesn't love this color combo! I used an 8020 batting, grey and cream perma core thread. - Karen - This quilt is made up of a simple quilt block, and was begging for some detail. Thankfully the block allowed this orange peel design to dress it up. I used a 8020 batting, and a cream perma core thread. - LaReen - LaReen made this gorgeous table topper out of one of my favorites fabric lines. She gave it to her mom for Christmas lucky, huh! I wanted to do something simple in the background that would enhance the star. Also, something fancy in the red border to dress up all that space. It turned out lovely. When a client gets their quilt or topper back and says now they need to make one for themselves, its quite a compliment. Thanks, LaReen! I used a 8020 batting and coordinating threads. - Lisa - This was another instahit! Can you believe all of these 1" squares...its king size and there is no border, which means there are 10,368 squares. This is an amazing one! Lisa asked for simple cross hatching, and I love it! 8020 batting and a cream perma core thread was used. This gorgeous spool quilt is one that I think Lisa made with a guild. I saw a few other of my clients names signed next to their spool. I wanted to add some detail to the spool to make them stand out, so I just did a simple echo line outside of each spool in the background. Look at all of that amazing hand embroidered wool work. Lisa, you are amazing! I wanted to add something that would make the wool pop and would dress up the background and open space, this all over swirl feather design does that. 8020 batting was used, with a cream perma core thread. Lisa made this for one of her lucky friends, for her birthday. The colors and fabric choices, make this one of my favorites. Because this quilt has minky on the back I needed to do a loose all over design in the center. This one is super fun to do, and I can add just about anything to it. I thought crackle quilting would enhance the appliques that Lisa did. Love those stems and flowers. 8020 batting was used and coordinating threads. - Maho - Maho always makes amazing quilts and does a fabulous job each time. This is a perfect example, normally I cringe inside when someone brings a quilt with really large borders (because they grow and ripple out of control) , especially when the inside is pieced on the bias...but not Maho! She is excellent at cutting and sewing exactly! Thanks, Maho! This is a quilt that she made for her daughter. She wanted some detail...So, I did an all over pattern in the background...which was the easiest way to get around the ric rac. I thought the lines and feathers would add great texture to the chickens. This quilt is amazing!!! The light catching all the details. Maho's husband came with her to pick this quilt up and was in awe...I've heard he raves about it to some people that we both know. 8020 batting used and a cream perma core thread. - Sandy - These are called the "Shinning Star", and my mom made these three in a long weekend sewing getaway we had last year. Even though the fabrics are the same for two of them, I'm showing them to you because the quilting is a little different in the backgrounds. This is quilting example number 1. This is one she made for my grandma. A close up of the feathers. This has feathers all over it! This is quilting example number 2. She made this one for my aunt Kris. I quilted a very tiny cross hatch in the inside of the feathered circles. Feathered swirls in the star and feathers in the border. Close up view. This is quilting example number 3. This one my mom made for my sister in-law, Brooke. She is the classiest person that I know, so I wanted to keep it as simple and classy as possible. The background has lines, the star is a feather swirl and the border is also feathered, with a back and forth rope design in the inner border. These soft golds went well with Brooke's Christmas décor. Love the light catching the details. Another view. All three stars I used 8020 batting and coordinating threads. - Wendy - I'm sad I didn't keep more pictures of this quilt! This is the first quilt that Wendy has made, and she gave it to her mom. It turned out gorgeous! Love love love, this fabric line. I do want to show you the quilting though. We talked about adding some details to this border to show off all the piecing that she did while sewing...I love how this one turned out! It even awesome on the back, look below. The quilting on the center of the quilt. This quilting on the backside of the border. Fun to see how the pattern comes together. I used an 8020 batting a cream perma core thread from A&E. Lots of beautiful quilts, huh?!?! Which one is your favorite??? Hopefully I can do this more often, its inspiring for everyone to see all these different unique patterns. Hope you enjoyed this, and happy sewing! ~ leisha
I've had the chance to review the book Free Motion Quilting for Beginners (and those who think they can't), by Molly Hanson. I love that title! I'm a big proponent of quilting your own quilts, as you know, and I've read a lot of books about free motion quilting. I like how everyone presents the information in their own personal way....there is always more to learn! This book presents all the practical information you need to get started. More importantly, it gives you the confidence to jump in and give free motion quilting a try. There are 15 projects in the book that encourage you to start small and increase your comfort level with free motion quilting before you tackle something larger, like a quilt. What I love most about this book is Molly's tone of encouragement throughout the text and the projects. She is great at guiding you though the entire process! I've done a lot of free motion quilting and I love how relaxing it can be. I also know how easy it can be to get in a rut. I challenged myself to get out of my box, so to speak and try some new-to-me, designs. I gave this squared off stippling pattern a try and it went pretty well! I had to slow down and think about where I was going from time to time, but it was fun! I could see doing this all over a whole quilt. I also quilted a few swatches of different designs and I turned them into a set of coasters. Binding them was a little fiddly, but totally worth it! (I can say that now that they are done. Ha!) These are great because I not only used scraps of fabric, but scraps of batting as well. Hurray! I'm happy to count these as scrap project #94/101. If you would like the chance to win an e-book copy of Free Motion Quilting for Beginners, please leave me a comment in this post. In your comment, I'd love to hear what your favorite go-to FMQ pattern is. Or, if you are new to FMQ, I'd like to hear what pattern you would like to master. I will pick winner in a few days!
I just got back from my trip to the Middle East and had a wonderful email from Kathleen Rountree waiting for me in my inbox. She is a fabulous quilter and fellow Linen Lady. She entered one of her linen quilts into the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Virginia and received a Judge's Choice award from Anna Hergert. It's always nice to hear when a linen quilt receives a special award or ribbon in a show as these are still "new" in the quilting world. Congratulations Kathleen!!!! Beautiful quilt! Hugs, Cindy :)
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There were over 400 quilts at this years Sydney Quilt Show. So many amazing, beautiful, outstanding quilts. This is just a small selecti...
My experience at Market was similar to Lori's and Mary Kate's - there was lots to see, plenty of people to meet and reconnect with and cool new things to
I still can’t get over how wonderful and beautiful the quilts from the Home Machine Quilting Show (HMQS) were. You can see pictures from Part 1 and Part 2, and today will be my final round of…
Hi Everyone! If you live here in America, and maybe other places in the world, you probably had a more difficult time than usual waking up on time this morning. Yes, it is the weekend we all dislike--the dreaded time change in which we all lose one hour. I would say that the opposite weekend, in the fall, is everyone's favorite! And while I know that the time changed early Sunday morning, let's face it--it doesn't really impact people until Monday morning. Twice I have lived where the time doesn't change--in Arizona and most recently Hawaii, and I really didn't notice much difference with the daylight, so I'm not sure why we feel the need to "save" it. At any rate, at least it is a sign of spring and maybe the cold weather will go away now. Today I'm going to share more quilt pictures from Midatlantic. Tomorrow I will share some of the goodies that I bought, as I had a request for that. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I photographed the show this year, there was certainly no rhyme or reason to it. I didn't even take pictures of the best quilts! Probably I was too engrossed in them to take a picture. I also took many pictures of the quilting. I guess that is the technique that I'm most interested in right now. Here are some of them. The picture above and below are of the same quilt. It is hand quilted. The stitches were so tiny that you didn't even notice them--just the "puff" that they create. Below my finger is as close to the quilt as I could get without touching it--for scale. More and more I am amazed at how the quilting can totally change a quilt top. And consequently, more and more I'm less happy with getting tops "all over quilted." Since we aren't millionaires, though, I will continue to get them done that way, but I do like to get special quilts custom-quilted occasionally. Midatlantic is probably like many major shows--it features the entered, show quilts, and then other exhibits. My favorite quilts in this show were from one of those exhibits. The Baltimore Applique Society had a group of quilts in an exhibit titled "A for Applique." They were gorgeous! The quilt below began, as I interpreted, from a commercial pattern, but the artist added to it, creating a tribute to Texas--featuring long-horn cattle, armadillos... ...and even the creep-crawlies like this perfect, hairy, rendition of a tarantula. There were also centipedes, snakes, and even cockroaches. This one below was my favorite. The applique is incredible. I have two closeup pictures of blocks so you can get the full impact. I suppose I have over-loaded this post with enough photos for now, so I'll end. Have a great day! JoAnne
Both Pin Basting and Spray Basting Are Covered! Doing a good job of basting the quilt layers together is an important step in producing a finished quilt without puckering that lays smooth and flat. Yet, it’s easy to rush through the process and achieve less than optimal results. Fortunately, the most important points, plus several …
I LOVE Austin TX. I just returned from teaching at Quiltcon 2015 and I really don't think I can do a blog post without at least mentioning how much I LOVE the food in Austin. I'm not here to wax poetic about my diet or health but I will say I follow a pretty restrictive AIP Paleo diet and I found more delicious farm to table food than any celiac could shake a stick at. Just sayin'. Apart from eating at Max's Wine Dive a total of 5 times (in 4 short days), I also enjoyed seeing some of my favorite people in the world and meeting some of my new favorite people in the world. I am a very visual person and I am guessing if you're reading this blog, you are too. So, thanks for reading and come enjoy some photos with me. This quilt; Diving Geese, pieced by Katie Pedersen, won best machine quilting at the show!! Here are some pictures I took while quilting it. The last picture is a beautiful full shot of the quilt taken by Katie. The Back: The subliminal Star Trek emblem: Leonard Nimoy passed away four days ago and I started researching his life and his quotes. This one hit me hard and has resonated with me since. "The miracle is this, the more we share the more we have." -Leonard Nimoy photo courtesy Katie Pedersen I was able to share some of the things I have learned over the past ten years with my students at Quiltcon and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. My students filled me with their energy and spirit. I made this as a sample for my zig zag sampler class, one of my students took it home as a door prize! I always love a rainbow. Speaking of teaching and sharing, have you gotten yourself a piece of plexiglass yet? This is THE TOOL I could not live without. If you were in one of my classes you might want to shoot yourself in the foot rather than hear me say it again but if you don't have one yet, DO IT, BUY IT, TAPE IT, USE IT! DO IT! I use a 20"x30" piece of plexiglass that you can source from your local home improvement store. TAPE the edges with painters tape......trust me, even though you think you won't, you WILL draw off the edge. Mark on the tape "drawing side" so you only use one side. Lay that bad boy down on your quilt and you can try out every design your heart desires to-scale. Deal with the density of quilting, play with different designs in different places. This is not a marking tool. This is a drawing tool to help you visually understand the space you are getting ready to quilt. You are also building muscle memory when you draw your designs. I'm not kidding, DO IT. Now that I got all my design work sorted out I can start quilting without stressing about what I am going to quilt. If you're wondering about this awesome quilt it is a pattern called Modern Mountains designed by my namesake bestie Krista. You can find the free pattern here. This version was made by one of my awesome customers, Amanda. Do I draw in a sketchbook? Yes, all the time. But the sketchbook does not give me the perspective to deal with density of quilting and other to-scale design issues. I'm gonna say it again. PLEXIGLASS. DO IT. Use your sketchbook too. Use it every day, bring it with you on the bus, train, airplane. Don't be afraid to use anything/everything you see. Designs belong to all of us. I love moons. I love drawing them. I love quilting them. Here is a sneak peak of a quilt my sweet friend Jen Carlton Bailly made for Cheryl Arkison's book, You Inspire Me to Quilt, coming out soon. Of course I consulted my plexiglass first: Collaborations are so awesome when you are on the same page with your friend/customer/collaborator. Plexiglass is a great way to visually communicate with your piecer, or yourself, if you're lucky enough to have the time to quilt your own work! Plexiglass again? Are you sensing a theme here? I finally finished my value quilt and have been sleeping happily beneath it, even though it still remains unbound. Sorry for the blinding flourescent reflection. And Voila: The last photos I am going to share are more WIP shots from a quilt that I quilted for Elizabeth Hartman for her book Patchwork City. I was so happy to see her sweet face in Austin and teach two doors down from her. I am always in awe of Elizabeth's work. This quilt is badass and completely blew my mind. There are some of the coolest blocks in this quilt that I have ever seen. I love the way the brilliant piecing in this quilt informed my design decisions to explore so many unexpected possibilities. I wish I had taken photographs of the plexiglass for this project. You can trust me though, I used it. As always, thanks for stopping by. I expect you to have a sheet of Plexiglass before my next blog post which technically means you are off the hook for at least another 6-7 months, right? DO IT.
Harriot by Sue Cody for Material Obsession. Applique work by Beth and quilted by Judi Madsen
