During the past year, I've worked on six different round robin quilts of varied styles, colors and fabrics in addition to sending my center square off. It was a challenge to keep them secret for so long, but I did. Last week was the Dear Jane Fall Retreat in Shipshewana where the quilts were returned to their owners. Here are the finished tops from our group of seven that included three MI, one WI and three IN quilters. This is the first quilt I received. When I saw all of those colors, I had to put on my sun glasses. These are not my usual fabrics to work with, so doing the RR gave me the opportunity to stretch my comfort zone and try new things. I added the pieced hearts for my round. My second box revealed another bright beginning with some beautiful applique. I chose to applique flowers, stems and leaves and piece four baskets in the corners. My third challenge was made from all solid colors that were pulled from her inspiration fabric. The third round of colored arrows is my work. This is my sister, Connie's RR. I had fun paper piecing the four corner snowmen and adding the colored squares for my addition. This one was really tough to keep secret. Strips and nine patches were added here. I love the colors in this quilt. The last quilt had me stumped for some time. Finally I decided to add the stripped border from all of the colors used in the squares. This was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I did it. But next year will bring new challenges, so no RR for me. My quilt top! I sent an appliqued apple pie block and love what I got back. The last round is embroidered with my great Aunt Emma's pie crust recipe and an apple pie recipe. I bought a backing while at the retreat; hopefully, this will be in the done pile soon.
The top you see above is part of a round robin project with my small group. Round robins are a fun way to push your creative boundaries. You work with styles and colors that might be a little uncom…
Remember way back in June when we exchanged center blocks for our first BoulderMQG Round Robin? Well, eight of our members have been working hard for
Just had to show you how I quilted up my awesome Round Robin that my talented NSQBQ buddies made for me. You can read about it here in case you missed my post. I am so in love with this quilt. It has such special meaning and is filled with so much thought and love. 💝 It's a quilter's quilt for sure. I call it "SEW ME" because my friends certainly captured me in fabric. It just needs a binding, which will be similar to the two black print inner borders and then I will hang it over my sofa for all to see and admire. For the backing, I raw edge appliqued the leftover blocks and fabrics onto a length of "Nummers". The quilting will keep them well attached. The girls even saved me the selvedges so of course they had to get added. I threw in an orphan snail block to fill up space. I can't wait to show off our Round Robins as well as a sampling of our quiltmaking at our first ever NSQBQ quilt show being held as part of Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival, in Amherst, October 13 and 14. Hope you stop by and say hello. 😉
I haven't blogging lately due to computer problems, I could not up load my photos, but I'm up and going now. A couple of years ago I did a ...
A creative explosion was the result when four quilt designers took on a project that pushed all their personal boundaries. See the thoughtful design elements added to this quilt every step of it's journey.
As I told you in a couple of blog posts in December, several of my blogging friends and I are hosting a Stay At Home Round Robin.
This week I have been taking it easy and enjoying a bit of a quilting break, well not completely! I did put my Round Robin on my machine and quilted it up this week and got the binding on as well.
Many of you are aware of the fact that family issues have caused me to step back from most of my commitments during the coming year. The one thing that I can still manage to do, in the evenings, is design work - so those efforts will continue to the extent possible. Because time is at a premium in my life right now, I have no new quilts to show. Still, there are some old quilts that I am pleased to post on my blog this month. These quilts are antique quilts that hung in a special exhibition at the International Quilt Associations's 2009 Show in Houston. Every year, the IQA quilt show has inspired me to create several new designs. This past year was no exception - and once my calendar is more flexible, you'll be seeing several old quilts made new. For now, however, below are a few of the quilts that I dearly loved seeing. Thank you to IQA for giving us such wonderful exhibitions! The exception to the antique quilts is the very first one; Winnie F is the proud owner of this quilt, which she started as part of a round robin. It has inspired me tremendously and is truly a fresh and innovative medallion quilt. Winnie is well-known in the Houston area for her medallion quilts; they are all exquisite. With best wishes to everyone for a grand New Year -- happy sewing! Sue Garman (c)2010 Susan H. Garman Winnie Fleming's round robin quilt The remainder of this quilts are, I'm sorry to say, not identified as to the maker or year. My first New Year's resolution should have been "take better notes!" The above photo is a close-up of the quilt below. Don't you just love the bright colors and the whimsical play of the half-square triangles in the above quilt? It is so delightful! Happy quilting in 2010!
I have been preparing starter kits over the last few days for a weekend retreat where I will be teaching Robin's Nest. After careful cutting and calculating I have managed to make a few extra sets! If you are interested in a starter pack for this quilt project either email or phone Somerset Patchwork. Background packs are also available. Robin's Nest quilt measures 70" x 70" (1.8m x 1.8m) Until next time,
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With the motivation of my Q1 Finish A Long Goals list, I have been a busy quilter, especially now that my MQG Swap minis are done and have been received by their recipients. I finally (FINALLY!) finished the quilt top from the 2015 Round Robin activity I did with my guild, the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. It looked more or less like this when I got it back at the end of the round (I had to perform a bit of surgery on it to take out a couple of rows that just didn't work for me): I got out my yarn-dyed scraps along with my other scrap bins and set to work. First up, I added some larger-scale flying geese. Then came a row with improv quarter-circles: The top still needed something to widen it. Arrows to the rescue! And finally a scrappy monochromatic slab for the top and we are all set. I had wanted to get it quilted right away, but I'm setting the top aside to tend to some more pressing projects.
This Black & White DYB Round Robin was started in 2009 and finished in early 2010. Again, DYB stands for “Do Your own Block”, and each participant pieced six 6” blocks. Each person works on one entire block as it comes to them, and when the blocks return to their owner, five of six are complete. That leaves one for the block owner to complete. There are some missing photographs of finished blocks in these pictures, but we’d still love you to see most of them. Black and white are particularly difficult colors to photograph, and both the participants and CQI have done their best to present them well for you. The talented ladies participating in this round robin were Ann F, Nancy, Skye, Simona, Rita and Wendy. Let’s take a look! ANN’S BLOCKS Ann’s Naked Blocks Ann’s Block 1 Ann’s Block 2 Ann’s Block 3 Completed Block 3 stitched by Skye Ann’s Block 4 Completed Block 4 stitched by Nancy Block 5 Completed Block 5 stitched by Rita Close-up of Rita’s spiderweb and stitching Close-up of flower by Rita Ann’s Block 6 NANCY’S BLOCKS Nancy’s Naked Block 1 Block 1 stitched by Rita Block 2 Block 3 Block 3 stitched by Wendy Block 4 Block 4 stitched by Skye Block 5 Block 5 stitched by Ann Block 6 Block 6 stitched by Simona SIMONA’S BLOCKSSimona’s Naked Blocks Simona’s block by Ann Simona’s block by Nancy Simona’s block by Rita WENDY’S BLOCKSWendy’s Naked Blocks Wendy’s block by Simona Close-up of Simona’s work Wendy’s block by Ann Wendy’s block by Nancy Wendy’s block by Rita SKYE’S BLOCKSSkye’s Naked Blocks Skye’s block by Rita Skye’s by Wendy Skye’s by Ann RITA’S BLOCKSRita’s Naked Blocks Rita’s block by Wendy Rita’s block by Simona Rita’s block by Ann
This week I have been taking it easy and enjoying a bit of a quilting break, well not completely! I did put my Round Robin on my machine and quilted it up this week and got the binding on as well.
Improv is one of my favorite techniques, and it was even more fun when we added a group of quilters and some time limits! Last Fall, one of my local quilt shops offered a Round Robin Improv class t…
In late 2010, two Luscious Lace round robins finished up. One was a DYB (Do your Block) RR, which is this one. In the next post we will show the Luscious Lace traditional (one block per stitcher) RR. The talented stitchers in this DYB were Arlene and Peggy Sue from Australia, and Nicki Lee , Gayle, Cathy L and Lisa from the USA. I would like to apologize in advance for the poor quality of some of the pictures. Some of these were originally uploaded to our databases in a small size so that enlarging them for the blog resulted in loss of quality. CK ARLENE’S BLOCKS Arlene’s Naked Blocks Gayle stitched this lovely block for Arlene This was Pegsue’s work for Arlene The next block was stitched by Cathy L Lisa’s contribution was this block for Arlene Arlene’s finished block (one left for her to do) CATHY L’S BLOCKS Cathy’s first two naked blocks Block 1 was stitched for Cathy by Nicki Lee The second block was stitched by Arlene Cathy’s naked blocks 3 and 4 Block #3 was left for Cathy to finish, but Lisa created this lovely block Cathy’s naked blocks 5 and 6 This block was completed by Gayle Pegsue’s block for Cathy GAYLE’S BLOCKS Gayle’s Naked Blocks Lisa stitched this block Arlene’s block for Gayle Peggy’s block for Gayle This is Cathy L’s block Nicki Lee’s block for Gayle PEGGY (PEGSUE)’S BLOCKS Peggy’s Naked Blocks Peggy’s block by Gayle Nicki Lee’s block for Pegsue Cathy L stitched this block for Pegsue Peggy’s block by Arlene LISA’S BLOCKS Lisa’s Naked Blocks Lisa’s block by Nicki Lee Lisa’s block by Arlene Gayle’s block for Lisa Cathy L’s block for Lisa Pegsue stitched this block for Lisa NICKI LEE’S BLOCKS Nicki Lee’s naked Block #1 Cathy L stitched Block #1 for Nicki Lee Naked Block #2 (left for Nicki Lee to do) Naked Block #3 Arlene stitched this block Details of Arlene’s amazing stumpwork beetle Naked Block #4 Pegsue stitched Block #4 Block #5 Lisa’s block for Nicki Lee Naked Block #6 Block #6 stitched by Gayle
As I told you in a couple of blog posts in December, several of my blogging friends and I are hosting a Stay At Home Round Robin.
Improv is one of my favorite techniques, and it was even more fun when we added a group of quilters and some time limits! Last Fall, one of my local quilt shops offered a Round Robin Improv class t…
This week I have been taking it easy and enjoying a bit of a quilting break, well not completely! I did put my Round Robin on my machine and quilted it up this week and got the binding on as well.
This week I have been taking it easy and enjoying a bit of a quilting break, well not completely! I did put my Round Robin on my machine and quilted it up this week and got the binding on as well.
The stitchers of the Wool Do your Block Round Robin were: Karrin H, Cathy K, Leslie E, Hideko I, Simona (who later had to drop out for personal reasons) Marya and Ritva P. HIDEKO’S BLOCKS Hideko’s Naked Blocks Marya’s block for Hideko Leslie’s block for Hideko Cathy’s block for Hideko Karrin’s block for Hideko Ritva’s work for Hideko CATHY K’S BLOCKS Cathy’s Naked Blocks Set 1 (Woodland) Ritva stitched this Woodland theme Hideko stitched a Woodland spring Marya stitched this Woodland block Cathy’s Naked Blocks, Set 2 (Christmas) Leslie created this Christmas block Karrin’s block for Cathy KARRIN’S BLOCKS Karrin’s Naked Blocks Ritva did this basket of flowers for Karen Hideko’s work Marya’s work Leslie’s block for Karrin Cathy K’s work Karrin’s finished blocks LESLIE’S BLOCKS Leslie’s Naked Blocks Cathy K’s work for Leslie Leslie stitched this block herself after Simona left. Karrin’s block for Leslie Ritva’s work Hideko’s block for Leslie Marya’s block RITVA’S BLOCKS Ritva’s Naked Blocks Marya’s block for Ritva Hideko’s block for Ritva Leslie’s work for Ritva Cathy K stitched this block The first four finished blocks for Ritva Karrin’s work for Ritva Ritva’s stitched her sixth and final block SIMONA’S BLOCKS Simona’s Naked Blocks Karrin stitched this block for Simona Ritva also completed a block for Simona Hideko stitched this block for Hideko Marya’s lovely work for Simona MARYA’S BLOCKS Marya’s Naked Blocks Leslie’s work for Marya Cathy stitched this block for Marya This block was Karrin’s for Marya Ritva’s block Hideko’s work for Marya Simona’s final block (stitched by Leslie??)
This quilt has a great story, it was our quilt guilds 2014 Round Robin project. We each made a center block and it was then passed around each month with a new set of instructions for others to build
This is a large quilt block that I made, I think it was about 26" square, if I remember correctly. The pattern is called, "Mexican Star." I made it for a "Round Robin" project...for those of you that don't know, It will go out to 5 different quilting friends and they will each add a border to it until it's the size of a quilt for one of our beds! As each person adds their border, it's a secret to me, so I have to wait until it's all done to see the final product! I loved these colors and it was really fun to make. I can't wait to see what it will look like when I get it back next summer!
I have been participating in a Round Robin with the online group the Southern Cross Crazies . We all had to make six, 6" crazy patchwork bas...
The stitchers of the Wool Do your Block Round Robin were: Karrin H, Cathy K, Leslie E, Hideko I, Simona (who later had to drop out for personal reasons) Marya and Ritva P. HIDEKO’S BLOCKS Hideko’s Naked Blocks Marya’s block for Hideko Leslie’s block for Hideko Cathy’s block for Hideko Karrin’s block for Hideko Ritva’s work for Hideko CATHY K’S BLOCKS Cathy’s Naked Blocks Set 1 (Woodland) Ritva stitched this Woodland theme Hideko stitched a Woodland spring Marya stitched this Woodland block Cathy’s Naked Blocks, Set 2 (Christmas) Leslie created this Christmas block Karrin’s block for Cathy KARRIN’S BLOCKS Karrin’s Naked Blocks Ritva did this basket of flowers for Karen Hideko’s work Marya’s work Leslie’s block for Karrin Cathy K’s work Karrin’s finished blocks LESLIE’S BLOCKS Leslie’s Naked Blocks Cathy K’s work for Leslie Leslie stitched this block herself after Simona left. Karrin’s block for Leslie Ritva’s work Hideko’s block for Leslie Marya’s block RITVA’S BLOCKS Ritva’s Naked Blocks Marya’s block for Ritva Hideko’s block for Ritva Leslie’s work for Ritva Cathy K stitched this block The first four finished blocks for Ritva Karrin’s work for Ritva Ritva’s stitched her sixth and final block SIMONA’S BLOCKS Simona’s Naked Blocks Karrin stitched this block for Simona Ritva also completed a block for Simona Hideko stitched this block for Hideko Marya’s lovely work for Simona MARYA’S BLOCKS Marya’s Naked Blocks Leslie’s work for Marya Cathy stitched this block for Marya This block was Karrin’s for Marya Ritva’s block Hideko’s work for Marya Simona’s final block (stitched by Leslie??)
The Flower Fairies “Do Your Block” Round Robin (where each participant does one entire block for each other participant) was so popular, that several other fairy round robins followed. Some, like this one, were specifically Flower Fairies based on the beloved drawings and poems written my Mary Cicely Barker in England in the 1920’s - 1930’s. The participants in this round robin were Ritva, Marci, Wendy, Cathy K, Cobi, and Karrin. RITVA’S BLOCKS Ritva’s Naked Christmas Tree Fairy Block Marci stitched the Christmas Tree Fairy block for Ritva Dandelion Fairy Dandelion Fairy Block stitched by Ann F (doing angel work for Cobi) Naked Daffodil Block Daffodil block stitched by Wendy Naked Block Block stitched by Cathy K Rose Fairy Block Block stitched by Karrin Extra block that returned home to Ritva to stitch And Ritva’s lovely work on this block MARCI’S BLOCKS Naked Cornflower Fairy block Cathy’s work on the Cornflower Fairy Block Lilac Fairy Block Ritva’s work on the Lilac Fairy block Naked Lavender Fairy Block Karrin’s stitching on the Lavender Fairy block Naked Forget-me-not Fairy block Ann F did more angel (substitute stitcher) work. Lovely, isn’t it? Naked Chicory Fairy block Wendy did the beautiful stitching on the Chicory Fairy block And the extra block returned home to Marci unembellished. KARRIN’S BLOCKS Karrin’s Naked Fairy Block Wendy stitched this beautiful block Naked Lilac Fairy Block Cobi stitched the Lilac Fairy Block Tansy Fairy Block Cathy stitched the Tansy Fairy Block ... and the Tansy Fairy stitched a little coat! Naked Block Stitching on this block was by Marci. Lavender Fairy Block Lavender Fairy block by Ritva The extra block returned home to Karrin for her to stitch. WENDY’S BLOCKS Naked Zinnia Fairy Block Cathy’s stitching on the Zinnia Fairy Block Naked Fuchsia Fairy Block Cobi and Ann both stitched on this lovely block Naked Apple Blossom Fairies Block Marci completed this nice Apple Blossom block Another naked block Masterfully stitched by Ritva Naked Clover Fairy Block Clover Fairy stitched by Karrin And this was the extra block that returned home to Wendy Aren’t these blocks gorgeous when put together? CATHY K’S BLOCKS Naked Yarrow Fairy Block Yarrow Fairy block stitched by Ritva Naked Lilac Fairy Block Marci stitched the Lilac Fairy block Naked Chicory Fairy Block Marci stitched the Chicory Fairy Block Apple Blossom Fairies Block, naked The Apple Blossom Fairies were stitched by Wendy The WillowTree Fairy Block Cobi stitched the Willow Fairy Block The Tansy Fairy block returned home for Cathy (and the Tansy Fairy?) to stitch on. COBI’S BLOCKS Cobi’s Naked Nightshade (?) Fairy Block Flower Fairy block stitched by Ritva Wild Rose Fairy Block This block was stitched by Wendy Black Elder Tree Fairy Block naked Black Elder Tree Fairy stitched by Karrin Yarrow Fairy Block Yarrow Fairy Block stitched by Marci Naked Honeysuckle Fairy Block Honeysuckle Fairy Block stitched by Cathy And this extra block returned home to Cobi.
I have been participating in a Round Robin with the online group the Southern Cross Crazies. We all had to make six, 6" crazy patchwork bases and send them off to the next person on the list. Most people give details of what sort of theme or colours they would like for their blocks. The last set of blocks I received were from Glenda and she wanted lots of lovely flowers or a garden theme if I remember correctly. Because I was the last person to work on Glenda's blocks I didn't have a choice of bases, I had to work on the one that was left. Glenda's base block I didn't want to repeat the flowers that the others in the Round Robin had done, so I tried to make it a bit different. Here is the finished block. Glenda's block by Linda Here are a few detail photos so you can see the stitching better. I also took some photos of the blocks that other people in the group did for Glenda. They are all beautiful aren't they? Because of I been a member of this group for a few years now, I can recognise the different quilter's styles and know who did the blocks without looking at the names. That's the end of the Round Robin for this year and although I have enjoyed participating, it is still time consuming and I am enjoying getting on with my own work now. I'll show you the crazy blocks that I have received back in another post. Bye for now, Linda
This was another Flower Fairies themed DYB (Do Your Own Block) round robin, where each participant pieced six 6” blocks. Then, as they rotate through the stitchers, each woman stitches and embellishes one complete block. When they return to the owner, five out of the six blocks are complete, leaving her the sixth one to do herself. The participants in this Flower Fairies II round robin were Carolyn P, Darlene D, Maria S, Rita C and Cathy L. CAROLYN’S BLOCKS Carolyn’s Naked Blocks The Oak/Acorn Fairy Darlene’s work on the Acorn Fairy Block Close-up of the squirrel button This is Carolyn’s Silver Birch Fairy Block, naked Maria adorned the Silver Birch Fairy Block This is Carolyn’s Alder Tree Fairy block “before" And here is the “after” with Cathy L’s work Sycamore Tree Fairy Block Rita stitched the Sycamore Tree Fairy Block Close-up of some of Rita’s work This was the Ash Tree Fairy Block And this is the Plane Tree Fairy Block CATHY L’s BLOCKS Cathy’s Naked Blocks She used the Flower Fairies found in her garden! Carolyn stitched the Pansy Fairy Maria did the Tulip Fairy. Darlene completed the Cherry Tree Fairy block. The Dandelion Fairy block was stitched by Rita. Lauri did the Daffodil block for Cathy. Five of the six blocks are complete. Cathy will get to finish the Clover Fairy herself! DARLENE’S BLOCKS Darlene’s Naked Blocks Rita’s work for Darlene Close-up of foliage and berries. Cathy L. did this block Carolyn stitched this lovely block for Darlene. Close-up of Carolyn’s bird Maria did the rose-themed block. LAURIE B’s BLOCKS Laurie’s Naked Blocks Cathy’s work on Laurie’s Lavender Block Carolyn did the Willow Tree Fairy Block Close-up of Carolyn’s frog in the rushes Darlene’s completed block Darlene’s little snail on a leaf! Maria stitched this block for Laurie Detail shot of some of Maria’s work Rita’s work on the Forsythia Fairy Block Laurie’s completed (5 of 6) blocks together. MARIA’S BLOCKS Maria’s Naked Blocks Darlene’s work for Maria Detail of Darlene’s work Cathy L. stitched this block for Maria Carolyn’s finished Fairy block for Maria Maria’s completed Fairy Blocks RITA’S BLOCKS Rita’s Naked Blocks Rita selected six tree fairies Cathy worked on the Willow Tree Fairy Laurie stitched this block Carolyn’s work for Rita Maria’s block for Rita Rita completed this lovely block. Note the bunny and dragonfly!
Medallion quilts are a fun way to experiment with borders. Gain inspiration from the past. Join me in a fun sew along to create your own.
The block today is the Ohio Star designed by Tessa of The Sewing Chic.
AQS, Paducah Quilt Show, Paducah Quilt Week, show quilts, orange peel quilting, marking a quilt, nine-patch quilt, antique quilt
This was a fantastic UTS (Under the Sea) Do-Your-Block Round Robin that began in late 2010 and finished in mid 2011. The accomplished stitchers of this round robin were Carolyn, Kerry, Nicki Lee, Ritva, Merle and Alice. KERRY’S BLOCKS Kerry’s Naked Blocks Kerry’s By Nicki Lee Kerry’s by Carolyn Kerry’s by Beryl Kerry’s by Alice Kerry’s by Ritva BERYL’S BLOCKS Beryl’s Naked Blocks Beryl’s by Carolyn Beryl’s by Nicki Lee Beryl’s by Ritva Beryl’s by Kerry Beryl’s by Alice ALICE’S BLOCKS Alice’s Naked Blocks The rest of Alice’s Naked Blocks Alice’s by Carolyn Alice’s by Beryl Alice’s by Kerry Alice’s by Nicki Lee Alice’s by Ritva CAROLYN’S BLOCKS Block 1, Naked Block 1 stitched by Beryl Block 2, Naked Block 2 stitched by Ritva Block 3, Naked Block 3 stitched by Alice Block 4, Naked Block 4, stitched by Kerry Block 5, naked Block 5, stitched by Nicki Lee All of Carolyn’s finished blocks together NICKI LEE’S BLOCKS Nicki Lee’s Naked Blocks Nicki Lee’s block stitched by Ritva Kerry for Nicki Lee Alice’s for Nicki Lee Beryl’s for Nicki Lee Carolyn’s for Nicki Lee RITVA’S BLOCKSRitva’s Naked Blocks Carolyn for Ritva Beryl’s for Ritva Ritva’s by Nicki Lee Alice for Ritva Ritva stitched one of her own blocks Kerry’s for Ritva
This blog is a showcase of crazy quilting work by the members of the "Crazy Quilting International" Facebook group. Members include stitchers from all over the world. We would love to have you join us - either as a stitcher, or just as an interested viewer. Have a seat and enjoy!
This past month has flown by, with no time to spare for updating my blog – but at least I finally finished my Bed of Roses quilt! I am more than happy with how it turned out. Sometimes I just don’t fall in love with my quilts until they are quilted. That was also the case with Tucker’s Tulips – which surprisingly won Best of Show and Judges Choice at my guild’s quilt show last month. As a reminder, here is Tucker's Tulips. I am mildly embarrassed because there were so many truly spectacular quilts in the show; here it is, but what I really want to show you all are the other tulip quilts! What other quilts, you ask? In one of my bees, I drew a pattern for a 12” block based on an old 1800s quilt made by Serena Tucker. Several bee members took the pattern and decided on their own settings for the block – changing colors, sizes, and the number of blocks. Here’s what a tulip block can look like when made without any instructions except “modify it as you see fit.” First, here is Marsha Fuller's quilt. She took the pattern, enlarged it, set it on point, and added floaters and a wonderful set of borders. Next, here is Pat Cotter's tulip. She also enlarged the block - and set it on a black background with a red floater border. It is lovely! The wonderful quilting on this one was done by Denise Green. Next is Fran Gentry's quilt. She made it for her grand daughter -- adding lovely hearts in the setting triangles. I love the ingenuity in this next one, made by Joy Hampton. She appliqued two blocks... and then stitched two blocks using embroidery floss! Here's a close-up of the embroidered blocks. What a wonderful idea! The quilting on this quilt was also done by Denise Green. Jerrianne Evans chose a different path -- since the bee we all belong to is called the UFO bee, and was started with the notion that we would work on UFOs... she took a set of homeless basket blocks, set them with a border of flowers... and took the tulip from the tulip pattern and used it in the border. Talk about creativity! Georgann Wrinkle chose to modify the pattern more significantly than most of us -- she shrunk it to make four teeny little blocks and then added a little mini-border of ruffled swags. Don't you just love this idea? Sharon Meyer, on the other hand, modified the vase significantly, then added sashing strips of 9-patch blocks. What a great idea! I love the colors Sharon chose, also. Jean Cloyd chose to use four blocks, but set them apart from each other and added wide borders that accented the colors she used in the tulips. Jean's quilt was quilted by one of my favorite quilters, Cynthia Clark; her work was phenomenal, as you can see here. Aren't all of these quilts amazing? Would you have ever guessed that they all came from the same single pattern? Think about taking one of your bees and giving them a challenge like this -- choose a block and give them these instructions: modify as you see fit! Give a deadline that is generous in time so that nobody is stifled by the workload. You might be amazed at what you see. Here is one more example of how a pattern was modified. Below is my Lily Rosenberry quilt. Here is Lily Rosenberry again... but the queen of shrinking blocks has taken the Lily Rosenberry blocks, modified it and reduced it in size so that the blocks are a teeny 8 inches in size! She devised her own border to surround the four-block center. Oh my, but Georgann has patience when it comes to stitching LOTS of tiny pieces! But aren't you starting to see how taking a single block and modifying it gives you a whole new view on a quilt? Gotta love it! By the way -- all the ribbons you have seen on these quilts are from my guild's recent quilt show. Eventually, photos of all the quilts will be posted on their website (http://www.lakeviewquiltersguild.org) - but wait for a couple of months before bothering to look; photo prep is a time-consuming process. Another set of quilts that was in the guild quilt show was the Round Robin quilts that five of us all worked on. For those not familiar with robins, a round robin is a method for having a group of quilters all work on each others’ quilts in serial fashion. That is, Quilter A makes a block and passes it to Quilter B who adds to it (setting it on point, adding a border, adding applique, or whatever...), who then passes it to Quilter C who adds more to the quilt center. Eventually, everyone in the group (usually 5-6 quilters) adds something, and the final “pass it along” step is when the quilt top is returned to the person who made the starting block. It’s a great way to sharpen your skills because you may work in colors and themes that push you both technically and creatively. In our group, we passed fabric along with the original block and we gave each other two months to do an addition before the sets were passed along. It’s a lot of fun – and look how gorgeous the quilts are! Here is Cynthia Clark's, with its double feathered star center. Jean Cloyd's robin was unique by the time we had all finished working on it. We turned her rectangular center into a square quilt! Marsha Fuller's used a combination of piecing and applique - I added the border outside of the stars... and it inspired me when I was designing the border of my new Bed of Roses quilt. This quilt is gorgeous to view. I think I won the lottery -- I SO love what the gals did to my quilt block. They certainly don't stoop to avoid a lot of work, do they? Georgann Wrinkle's quilt used a wonderful combination of soft pastel reproduction prints - something I don't often see. I love how the gals took the flower in her center block and reproduced it in the setting triangles and the cornerstones. Round robin quilts are certainly a wonderful way to build upon your skill set -- and such fun! Okay... I started this blog by saying that I finished my Bed of Roses quilt... so where is it? And I mean I FINISHED the quilt – it’s quilted and bound, with only a label and sleeve left to be added to it. First, the whole-quilt picture: And now for some close-up pictures. I did cross-hatch quilting in the setting triangles and in the four rose-tree urn blocks. In those rose-tree urn blocks, though, I added a portion of a feathered wreath so that the center block stood out. The rest of the appliqued blocks were echo quilted. Here's a better photo of those feathered wreaths on the rose-tree urn blocks. And another photo of the center... And finally, a photo of the quilt lying on my sofa... ready for me to enjoy! One thing I want to point out is that there is a lot of detailed quilting in my quilts. I believe that quilting really can enhance the piecing and applique in any quilt, when it is done well. I think about the quilting design in all of my quilts before I start them. It makes a difference! And one thing I always do is quilt in the ditch around every bit of applique or piecing - it makes them stand out. I think my biggest complaint about a lot of for-hire longarm quilters is that they are "production" quilters - they do what is fastest so that they can finish the quilt quickly. Some quilts are utility quilts, and that's fine - but I've seen many outstanding quilts that were diminished by quickly quilted loops and stars and feathers and a total lack of in-the-ditch quilting. My message in this is that you should know the style of your longarm quilter and you should have a detailed discussion with him or her about how you want your quilt quilted! This is a very long blog entry (which might explain why I'm late!), but I want to throw in three more things, very quickly. First, Avon asked if I ever use white-on-white versus tone-on-tone prints for the background. Absolutely, I do! I use whatever I think will best enhance the overall look of the quilt – sometimes it’s a solid white or off-white, sometimes it’s a white-on-white, and sometimes it’s a neutral print. Next, Gail commented and asked when the pattern would be available for my Stars and Nine-Patches quilt (refer to my March 31, 2011 entry). The answer is... I am not sure! I’m running far behind on pattern-writing, but will eventually get the pattern done. Give me a few months. Third, for those who went out and bought the June issue of Quiltmaker, looking for the article featuring my paper-cut quilt and how I hand applique, I apologize. I should have been more specific: the article is in the July/August issue, which hits the newsstand in June. So here is what I couldn’t show you earlier -- a four-block paper cut quilt! The Quiltmaker magazine has quite a few close-up photos of how I do needle-turn applique (http://www.quiltandsewshop.com/product/quiltmaker-july-august-2012/just-arrived). The quilt was fun to make – you might think about doing a simple quilt like this for yourself, for a baby gift, or as a gift to a friend or for your guild’s auction. It is easier than you think - and the magazine has many detailed pictures of my applique. I tried making a video to include in this blog, but discovered that Google has SO many restrictions and rules and agreements associated with videos that it just wasn't worth the effort (darn it!). Next, I wanted to say something about why we quilt. Why do YOU quilt? Let me start by saying that I received an email from Anita Smith who sent me a photo of a nearly-finished Ladies of the Sea (which I designed), made by 83-year old Joanne Ellsworth – an amazing woman who began her career as a millinery buyer for The Bon Marche in New York City. In Joanne's own words, “While growing up in Whittier, California, I was exposed to quilting at every turn. Grandma quilted and made clothes for me. Mother sewed for us as well as making slip covers and other household projects. Is it any wonder that I majored in Home Economics?” She jumped into quilting in 1985 after she retired and joined “Quilters on the Rock” on Whidbey Island. In 1991, she perfected her applique in a workshop with Elly Sienkiewicz, and later perfected her quilting stitch after taking a workshop from Nancy Lee Chong in Hawaiian quilting. Two things are clear to me: quilting is Joanne’s passion, and learning never stops! I can't argue with those concepts, for sure. Above is Joanne with her Ladies of the Sea quilt. You ROCK, Joanne!!! But there's more to quilting than passion, though passion often fuels the fire. Last week I got an email from Becky Stephenson, who has been active in Relay for Life which helps communities across the globe celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. For the past three years, Becky has made a quilt to raise funds for Relay for Life; her mother and her sister and her brother all died of cancer, and Becky is a cancer survivor, so her commitment to Relay for Life is very personal. I have been honored to be invited to quilt the quilts she's made for Relay for Life. Here is here latest one - the small stars in the border are a tiny 3 inches in size!. This year, at the Relay for Life events in Fairfield, Texas, where Becky lives... well, let me allow Becky to tell the story... For several months prior to the Relay we sell luminaries "in memory" or "in honor" of those that have had cancer. We line the track with the luminaries (they are placed in white sacks with the names written on them) at the high school football stadium where we have the Relay. At dark we light them and turn out the stadium lights. There are several hundred luminaries. It is a site to behold to say the least. Then each name is called out in a very moving ceremony. The luminaries are placed on the track randomly usually by our "community service" workers. It was really windy while they were being placed that night. One of the luminary sacks fell over that was directly in front of my tent where my friend Betty and I were selling tickets on the quilt. I got up and uprighted the sack at which time I noticed it had mother's name on it. Then I looked to left and there was my brother Mike's sack and to the right of mother was Aunt Gayle's. Betty saw the look on my face and asked me what was wrong. I purchase these at every Relay. In all the years I have attended Relay I think I have found Mike's or maybe Mom's one time. I usually don't have time to try to find them because I am too busy with all that goes on during Relay. It was comforting to me to know their memory was close to me all night. Betty passed on this to the other committee members and soon everyone was in tears. Before the luminary ceremony we drew for the quilt. When I called out my sister Jerrianne’s name as the winner, there was a huge applause from the crowd. Before the luminary names were called out the speaker told everyone in the stadium about this. There was another round of applause. It was heartwarming but also bittersweet. This ceremony is always very emotional for me but especially this year. After the ceremony and when the lights were back on, several people from crowd came up to me and gave me a hug and said "now we know why you do this every year" and thanked my husband Phillip and I for our work. We don't do this for attention but I thought maybe we might have recruited some more volunteers for next year. I can always hope anyway. As I read this note from Becky, it became so obvious to me that I – and we – quilt for many different reasons. Designing and making quilts is a personal artistic expression – and inspiring others to make quilts is very rewarding to me. Living amongst a community of friends who enjoy the art of quilt making provides each of us with enormous support. But plenty of what I do is because it supports the wider community – whether it is from entering quilts into the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo that have earned over $100,000 in scholarships for local youth, or from making community service quilts that support Ronald McDonald House and The Rose and Brooks Army Medical Center, or from quilting Becky’s quilts for Relay for Life in support of cancer research, quilt making for me is rarely a solitary act, it is more often an act of solidarity that brings comfort and healing to others, and is done in support of the broader community. Okay... let’s get on with making more quilts, expressing our passion for life, and quilting. If you happen to be in the Houston Bay Area on the third Monday in August, consider visiting our local guild’s (www.lakeviewquiltersguild.org) annual auction. We will have a boutique, a book/magazine sale, a silent auction, and a fantastic live auction. My mother, who is an invalid, is no longer able to quilt, and has donated her stash to me. There will be a fabric sale to beat all fabric sales, with no fabric over $4/yard... fat quarters, yardage, stacks of 10-inch squares, finished quilts, notions galore, tons of patterns and kits and blocks-of-the-month... the list goes on and on. I’ve been a lunatic these past two weeks, pressing, cutting, folding, and packaging fabric, laundering old quilts, and sorting out box after box. I hope to see a huge crowd that night; it will be worth the trip down to Clear Lake! Happy quilting, everyone! Sue Garman (c)2012 Susan H. Garman
Warm sunny weather greeted us upon our desert adventure to Quilt Arizona !, the new name for the 2016 annual show of the Arizona Quilters Gu...
This is the beginning block I made for my group's round robin. I embroidered the tea cups that will be in the center of each block.
Ganz im Stillen und unter strenger Geheimhaltung durfte ich letztes Jahr an dem Round Robin Germany teilnehmen. Eingeladen dazu wurde ich von Heidi - Libellen Quilts und von Sandra - Hohenbrunner Quilterin. Jeden Monat hatte ich es mit neuen Aufgaben der einzelnen Teilnehmerinnen zu tun. Die Blöcke sollten ein Maß von max. 400 Square-Inch haben. Ob quadratisch oder länglich ergab sich dann bei der Aufgabe selber, bzw. den Wünschen der jeweiligen Teilnehmerin. Manche wollten, das ihre Blöcke komplett zu einem Quilt zusammengenäht werden, andere wieder wollten die Blöcke einzeln haben (so wie ich), um das Layout später selber zu bestimmen. Ab Februar schickte jeder seinen Starter Block samt Aufgabenheft auf die Reise. Meiner ging an Heidi und meine erste Aufgabe bekam ich von Ulli - Stoffliebe by Ulli Februar Block für Ulli - Flying Geese Ulli wünschte sich Flying Geese - Grauer oder heller Hintergrund und Mintfarbene Geese. Wunderbarer Weise habe ich die tolle Paper Piecing Vorlage von Aylin und konnte damit ihrem Wunsch (hoffentlich) gerecht werden - mit den Stoffen und Farben war das kein Problem, denn die fallen ja bekanntlich komplett in mein Beuteschema! März Block für Bettina - Sterne in Grau Bettina, die seit letzten Jahr bei mir um die Ecke wohnt (worüber ich mich sehr freue!), hatte sich graue Sterne auf hellem Hintergrund gewünscht. Ihren Starter Block seht ihr oben rechts. Der Block links daneben stammt von Ulli. Wie es der Zufall wollte, hatten wir beim Quilt Along 6 Köpfe 12 Blöcke gerade den Stern Block von Verena - einfach bunt - es gibt keine Zufälle! - und der passte wunderbar zu Bettinas Wunsch. Entsprechend habe ich die Sterne rund um die beiden vorher zusammengesetzten Blöcke drapiert - et voila`..... April Block für Dorothee - Flying Geese Im April war Dorothee - Sternwerfer mit ihrer Aufgabe bei mir an der Reihe. Sie wünschte sich Flying Geese in Grün Türkis mit einem grauen Hintergrund. Die Anordnung entstammt einer Idee, die ich mal bei einem Kundenquilt gemacht habe, nur eben in klein. Da ich mit Dorothee schon sehr lange befreundet bin, mit ihr zusammen bei den Munich Modern Quilters und in der Bee Germany bin, kenne ich ihre Lieblingsstoffe ziemlich gut! War also ein Kinderspiel, die passenden auszusuchen und in diesem Block zu verarbeiten. Mai Block für Ulli - Sprüche Die gleichen Bee Gruppen wie bei Dorothee verbinden mich auch mit Ulli! Den ganz genauen Wunsch von Ulli - feinestöffchen weiß ich im Wortlaut nicht mehr, aber es handelte sich um Sprüche und Wünsche. Jeder konnte sich die Technik aussuchen, mit denen man den Spruch zu Stoff bringen wollte. Ich habe die Buchstaben zu diesem Spruch erst gepatcht und dann appliziert. Farblich hatte sie bei ihrem Starterblock die Stoffe von Brigitte Heitland - Zen Chic "For you" verwendet. Ich mochte in dieser Serie immer gerne die Coral-, Pink- und Orange Töne, daher habe ich diese Farben dann auch für meinen Spruch verwendet. Juni Block für Carolin - Wald Carolin - Fädchenspiel hatte sich einen Wald in klassischen Farben gewünscht und da ich von meinen Beemates, die vor mir diese Aufgabe bekommen habe, schon einige tolle Ideen mit im Paket hatte, musste ich tief in mich gehen, um diese zu ergänzen! Als Vorlage habe ich mir den irre tollen Quilt von Blue Nickel Studios - Painted Forrest ausgesucht und drei verschieden große Baumvorlagen daraus gearbeitet. Der Painted Forrest Quilt steht ziemlich weit oben auf meiner To-Do-Liste! Juli Block für Birgit - Geometrie Brigit - Bischu5 hatte eine wirklich ganz spezielle Aufgabe an uns gestellt! Es gab verschieden mathematische Formen zur Auswahl und für jede Form hatte sie eine bestimmte Blockgröße vorgegeben. Ihr Plan vom fertigen Quilt, einem Wandbehang, hatte sie exakt geplant. Aussuchen durfte man sich die Form, je nachdem, was noch übrig war.... Mir hatten es die Dreiecke angetan. Die Idee zu diesem Block habe ich mal irgendwo aufgeschnappt und aus dem Kopf heraus umgesetzt. Dazu habe ich mir den Block Original groß- und die verschieden großen Dreiecke dazu aufgezeichnet, dann die Dreieckteile auskopiert, zugeschnitten und genäht. Dabei dann auch mehrmals aufgetrennt.... Man soll es nicht für möglich halten bei so einem eigentlich einfachen Block.... August Block für Andrea - Bauhaus Gunta Stölzl Andrea - AC genäht am See hatte sich Blöcke im Bauhaus Design gewünscht. Besonders hat es ihr das Werk von Gunta Stölzl angetan. Im Nachhinein bei ich etwas unsicher, ob ich ihre Aufgabe wirklich in ihrem Sinn umgesetzt habe, weil mein Block nicht nach Ideen der besagten Künstlerin entstand, sondern einem Bauhaus Plakat zu einer Ausstellung nachempfunden ist.....Den Block entworfen habe ich mit Hilfe von EQ8. Die Stoffe sind Kona Cotton "Pepper", "Tiger Lily" und als Hintergrund "Snow". Bei dem Entwurf für diesen Block habe ich richtig Lust bekommen, mal einen gesamten Quilt in dieser Formsprache und mit den reduzierten Farben zu machen! September Block für Gesine - Nähen verbindet Treffender hätte das Thema von Gesine - allie and me für mich nicht sein können! Mit Gesine darf ich seit drei Jahren planen, lachen, grübeln, weinen und vieles mehr, seit wir uns über unseren gemeinsam organisierten Quilt Along 6 Köpfe 12 Blöcke näher kennengelernt haben - ein wirklicher Herzensmensch! Was passt da besser, als ihr Herzen zu nähen??? Die Idee war, für jeden von uns 12 Teilnehmerinnen ein Herz zu patchen. Die Vorlage dazu habe ich bei Happy Sew Lucky "Heart Tattoo" gefunden. Am liebsten hätte ich in jede einzelne Banderole noch einen Namen gestickt.... aber auch so ist es ziemlich klar, dass für jeden von uns ein Herz reserviert ist, oder?! Oktober Block für Sandra - Reisen Sandra - Hohenbrunner Quilterin hat sich das Thema Reisen ausgesucht - Orte und Länder, an die man unbedingt mal gesehen haben sollte. Ich kenne keinen, der so viel unterwegs ist, wie sie..... da muss man erst mal was finden, was noch nicht mit einer Pinnadel auf dem Weltatlas von ihr bereist wurde! Ich bin dann eher von mir ausgegangen, was ich mal gerne bereisen würde: Japan! und das möglichst während der Kirschblüte. Wunderbar passten da die verschieden Foundation Paper Piecing Blöcke von Blossom Heart Quilts "Kokeshi" und die Buchstaben Blöcke von "My first Alphabet" von From Blank Pages. November Block für Alex - Nähutensilien Als vorletzte Aufgabe bekam ich den bis dahin schon ziemlich großen Quilt von Alex - Hexenweib. Sie hat sich lauter Nähutensilien gewünscht. Da ich erst so spät dran war, waren natürlich schon viel Utensilien "vergriffen" und hinzu kam, dass sie sich ausschließlich pastellige Farben gewünscht hat (das Bild gibt die Farben leider vollkommen falsch wieder!) - hatte ich nicht.... Die Bestellung bei der Konkurrenz verzögerte sich derart, dass ich den Block / Quilt erst im Dezember zu Heidi weiterschicken konnte. Die Idee zu dem Nähkasten habe ich bei Leila - Where Orchids Grow "Ringo Pie April - sewing box for Amber". Auch hier kam wieder EQ8 zum Einsatz! Dezember Block für Heidi - Half Square Triangle Heidi - Libellen Quilts hatte uns die schöne Aufgabe mit auf die Reise gegeben, ihr lauter Half Square Triangle zu nähen. Um sich farblich zu orientieren, gab sie uns einen Stoff mit, der auch in unseren Blöcken Verwendung finden sollte. Ihr seht hier den ganzen bis dahin fertigen Quilt incl. meines Blocks oben links. Das Problem war für mich, das der Quilt proportional schon perfekt war, bevor ich mit meinem Part dran war. Außerdem gab es noch einen weiteren Block, der dem Quilt nicht angefügt war. Daher entschloss ich mich, meinen Blockteil nicht anzufügen, sondern es Heidi zu überlassen, wie und wo sie ihn haben will. Zusätzlich habe ich ihr noch weitere HST´s mitgeschickt, damit sie ein wenig mehr Spielraum hat. Fazit Tolle Aufgaben, viele Herausforderungen und eine Menge dazugelernt! Das war wirklich eine ganz tolle Bee und ich bin total froh, dass ich dabei sein durfte! Danke noch mal an Sandra und Heidi, die das ganze organisiert und moderiert haben! Auf Instagram unter dem Hashtag #roundrobingermany2018 könnt ihr die Blöcke und Quilts anschauen - es lohnt sich!!! Meine Blöcke liegen noch sortiert in der Box und warten darauf zusammengenäht zu werden. Daher zeige ich, was ich von meinen Beemates bekam, auch erst später ;-)
I found a pattern a few years ago at a thrift store for these stuffed sheep with quilt block sides. The pattern was 25 cents, so I bought it thinking I'd give it a try in CQ. Took the directions out when I got home and was completely boggled by them. There were extra pieces to be cut for the shoulder and legs that just didn't make sense to me. I put it away thinking I'd read through it again later and maybe it would make more sense. Well, I took it out again recently and it still boggled my brain, but this time I left it out and read through them again a few days later. Still not clicking. Then I decided to just take the ram by the horns and start cutting out the pattern pieces. A few more days go by and suddenly it clicked. The "extra" pieces were to make the traditional square quilt block become the sheep-shaped pieces they needed to be...AND since I wasn't limited to making a square CQ block, I could cut a foundation piece that incorporated the sides and the extra shoulder and leg pieces all in one. So that's what I have so far. They'll be embellished in spring pastels with probably fleece used for the head of the sheep.
Her theme is "buttons, bows and kiddo's" and her theme fabric is the brown with turquoise print.
This blog is a showcase of crazy quilting work by the members of the "Crazy Quilting International" Facebook group. Members include stitchers from all over the world. We would love to have you join us - either as a stitcher, or just as an interested viewer. Have a seat and enjoy!
Meet Robin O'Neil who has been quilting most of her life. She used to worry about the quilt police and now creates for the joy.
The stitchers of the Wool Do your Block Round Robin were: Karrin H, Cathy K, Leslie E, Hideko I, Simona (who later had to drop out for personal reasons) Marya and Ritva P. HIDEKO’S BLOCKS Hideko’s Naked Blocks Marya’s block for Hideko Leslie’s block for Hideko Cathy’s block for Hideko Karrin’s block for Hideko Ritva’s work for Hideko CATHY K’S BLOCKS Cathy’s Naked Blocks Set 1 (Woodland) Ritva stitched this Woodland theme Hideko stitched a Woodland spring Marya stitched this Woodland block Cathy’s Naked Blocks, Set 2 (Christmas) Leslie created this Christmas block Karrin’s block for Cathy KARRIN’S BLOCKS Karrin’s Naked Blocks Ritva did this basket of flowers for Karen Hideko’s work Marya’s work Leslie’s block for Karrin Cathy K’s work Karrin’s finished blocks LESLIE’S BLOCKS Leslie’s Naked Blocks Cathy K’s work for Leslie Leslie stitched this block herself after Simona left. Karrin’s block for Leslie Ritva’s work Hideko’s block for Leslie Marya’s block RITVA’S BLOCKS Ritva’s Naked Blocks Marya’s block for Ritva Hideko’s block for Ritva Leslie’s work for Ritva Cathy K stitched this block The first four finished blocks for Ritva Karrin’s work for Ritva Ritva’s stitched her sixth and final block SIMONA’S BLOCKS Simona’s Naked Blocks Karrin stitched this block for Simona Ritva also completed a block for Simona Hideko stitched this block for Hideko Marya’s lovely work for Simona MARYA’S BLOCKS Marya’s Naked Blocks Leslie’s work for Marya Cathy stitched this block for Marya This block was Karrin’s for Marya Ritva’s block Hideko’s work for Marya Simona’s final block (stitched by Leslie??)
FFT #13 was a traditional round robin. Completed in 2010, the participants were: Maureen Greeson (not a newbie, obviously, but a first-time participant in a CQI round robin), Lorrie R, Mary, Valerie, and Jacque. JACQUE’S BLOCK Jacque’s Naked Block Lorrie’s work on Jacque’s block Jacque’s block after Lorrie and Mary Maureen’s lovely work Valerie’s work Jacque’s completed block LORRIE’S BLOCK Lorrie’s Naked Block Mary’s work for Lorrie Maureen exquisite work Valerie added lots of flowers! Jacque stitched Lorrie’s initial A lovely thistle stitched by Jacque Lorrie’s completed block MARY’S BLOCK Mary’s Naked Block Maureen stitched this beautiful corner The block after Maureen’s work Valerie added more flowers and stitching Jacque added a butterfly and lower right flower After Lorrie’s additions, this was Mary’s completed block MAUREEN’S BLOCK Maureen’s Naked Block Vicky’s work for Maureen Jacque added this top embellishment A border of pre-made roses from Jacque Lorrie added and embellished this fan Maureen’s block complete VALERIE’S BLOCK Valerie’s Naked Block Jacque’s work for Valerie Lorrie added the fan and corner embellishments This cute birdhouse was stitched and framed by Lorrie The block after Lorrie was finished Additions by Mary Maureen’s additions Valerie’s completed block
The participants in this round robin were asked to choose an artist they admired, and piece six blocks in that style. The other stitchers were then to select and stitch one of the 6” blocks, keeping to the artist style and theme. The talented participants in this DYB round robin were Gerry Krueger, Hideko Ishida, Gayle Schipper, Margreet de Reus, Helina Penttinen, and Ritva Peltola. Nicki Lee Seavey served as the angel (replacement stitcher if needed). Gayle chose artist Georgia O’Keefe, an American painter of large scale, bold flowers. Stitched by Gerry Krueger Stitched by Margreet Stitched by Helina Stitched by Hideko Stitched by Nicki Lee (angel for Ritva) Sixth block returned home for owner Gayle to stitch Gerry chose to highlight a theme of young girls with their dolls, done by various artists. The six naked blocks Stitched by Gayle Stitched by Helina Stitched by Ritva Stitched by Hideko Stitched by Margreet Helina chose Finnish artist Helene Schjerfbeck Helena’s Naked Blocks Stitching by Ritva Work by Hideko Stitching by Gerry Stitched by Margreet Work by Gayle Hideko chose Swiss/German modern artist Paul Klee Stitched by Margreet Stitched by Gerry Stitched by Helina Stitching by Ritva Stitching by Gayle Margreet chose Pieter Mondriaan, a Dutch painter Margreet`s “With a Wink to Mondriaan” Blocks Stitched by Gerry Gayle’s work for Margreet Helina for Margreet Hideko’s work Ritva for Margreet Margreet stitched the sixth block herself All six blocks together (and bordered) Margreet made front and back covers and stitched the blocks into a book! Ritva chose a Finnish wildlife artist - Ferdinand von Wright. For each block Ritva pieced, she included a picture of the artist’s painting for inspiration. Stitched by Ritva Stitched by Hideko Stitched by Helina Stitched by Margreet Stitched by Gerry Ritva stitched her own final sixth block
Yes, I've been working away this month, trying to finish a new quilt... and finish some old ones... and finish some blocks... and help a couple friends finish their work... phew! I'm almost out of breath! Except I'm not... because I relaxed at a guild retreat this past weekend, which explains why I'm late (again) posting on the first of the month. So here goes... a lot of different things, but I hope you enjoy them and learn at least one new thing. Let's get started! I co-chaired my guild's retreat (www.lakeviewquiltersguild.org) this past weekend and we had a great time working on projects and sharing friendship. Members of other guilds sometimes attend - and members of the Island Quilters Guild were working on their new raffle quilt. It was a beautiful Judy Niemeyer quilt, with phenomenal machine quilting done by Marcia Henry. It was a quilt that simply glowed as we oohed and aahed over it! And it is the perfect raffle quilt -- it will draw people to it, ready to open their wallets and buy some tickets. And here's a close-up of Marcia's wonderful quilting. Last Fall, I participated in a Secret Sister exchange, and gave my secret sister blocks each month for 3 months. At the retreat, she put them all together; take a look at JoAnn's quilt. Now, I want to make more of those blocks and put together a quilt for myself. I love how JoAnn set the blocks on point -- it's not a setting that most of us intuitively choose to use, and even if we do, we don't always use print fabrics in the setting triangles. Good job, JoAnn! One of the things that happens at retreats is you get to see others working on their projects - and they inspire everyone. Here's a quilt with baskets -- you can probably see how simple they were to assemble -- I love blocks like this! What is not obvious is that the basket handles were made of bias strips that were machine appliqued in place, making assembly even easier! My friend Mary Jo was working on this quilt.... ...while her friend was working on this set of pink baskets. I love the border print she plans to use: In the meantime, my friend Cynthia was assembling her triple four-patch blocks into a large bed-sized quilt. She had several leftover blocks, and a bunch of leftover four-patch squares. She gave them to me... and after I came home on Sunday, I started making blocks from the 4-patch squares and adding them to the set of finished blocks. I still have more 4-patches to assemble into blocks; when I'm done, all of these blocks will go into my guild's annual auction. I'm chairing it this year, so I'm always on the lookout for items to add to the auction, which funds many of our guild's monthly programs. While putting those blocks together, I also worked on my Block-of-the-Week blocks (but I'm making 7 of each block pattern, so it's really a block-of-the-day!). Here are four of the latest... and a stack of the remaining units. I like paper piecing, so I generally take every pieced block and draw up a paper foundation for it... you can see my stack has the pre-cut fabric and foundations, ready to sew together. I have all the remaining block-of-the-week blocks ready to sew, and just need to find the time to get them done. Don't you love how the same block can look so different based on fabric choices? Part of what I love about making all these blocks is the fact that they are chewing through my scrap pile! My guild's quilt show is coming up in May, so a lot of us are getting quilts finished or ready to be quilted. One of my friends travels a lot and knew she would not have time to quilt her quilt. I volunteered to quilt her quilt, as she's done plenty of favors for me. Here is Cynthia's round robin quilt -- I loved quilting this quilt, even though there wasn't a lot of opportunity to do anything fancy in the open areas, as there weren't any! I love this quilt -- how can 6 women, independently, do such wonderful designs and make such a gorgeous quilt? It happens! Here's a close-up of the quilt so you can see some of the quilting. I did diagonal cross-hatching in the area outside of the swag border, and straight-line quilting inside of the swag border. I love how that looks on the outside border of a quilt. I also finished quilting my own round robin quilt. What a lucky gal I am, to have such talented friends! Actually, they are talented, but mostly, I think that round robins inspire all of us to stretch ourselves to come up with exceptional additions. In this quilt, I did 1/2-inch diagonal cross-hatching in the interior border -- I love how "neat" it looks in a quilt! And here's a close-up of the outer border -- again, I used straight line quilting inside the swag border and 1-inch diagonal cross-hatching outside the swags. In a couple of months, I will post pictures of all of the finished quilts that were involved in this round robin series -- they will be in my guild's quilt show in May. Okay -- here's a picture of an antique quilt -- a Princess Feather quilt. When I first saw it, I knew I had to make one. It was just so bright and colorful! I started making this quilt about 7 years ago. It was always my "take-along" applique project until I finally finished the applique on it. Then it sat around for two years while I debated what borders or sashing to put on the quilt. I opted for no sashing and several plain border stripes, as I wanted a space where I could insert a wonderful quilted border design. The photo doesn't do the quilt justice -- you can see all the wrinkles and miss the dynamic look of the quilt in the photo, but all of this will look great once the quilt is quilted. I'll work on quilting this quilt sometime in the next month. Or two. No sense pushing myself too hard, right?! And here is the new block-of-the-month that I have been working on. I changed the design once I finished piecing four of a planned five feathered star blocks; after laying the quilt out on the floor with all of those pieced and applique blocks, it just looked way, way too busy. So... I removed the feathered star blocks and when I assemble this quilt, I will put some nifty quilting in the empty block areas below. I had to rearrange the blocks after I removed the feathered stars, which meant that I needed a ninth applique block -- that's it in the lower left corner. I still have a lot of applique left to do in the setting triangles. This quilt is going to be called Bed of Roses. Here's a close-up of what the setting triangles will look like -- this is the only one that I have finished appliquing, out of all of them. Sigh... so much to sew, so little time... Okay, now for a little departure and example of the process I use for designing and making quilts. Below is a picture of a quilt made by Serena Tucker in 1853, for her own marriage. The photo was in the book Quilts in Community: Ohio's Traditions -- 19th and 20th Century Quilts, Quiltmakers, and Traditions by Ricky Clark, George Kneper, and Ellice Ronsheim. In one of my bees, we decided to give ourselves a little challenge: take the tulip vase block in this quilt and reproduce it... in whatever format each person wanted: make it bigger, smaller, different colors, or whatever other modification came to mind. I love these kinds of challenges because I know I will see so many different thought processes at work. So what is my thought process? I thought you'd never ask! First, I drew a pattern of the block for the participating bee members. Take a look; it's a pretty simple 12-inch block. But then... I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my own version of this block. The first thing I did was to try out various combinations of colors, using Adobe Photoshop. Here's design using greens and reds and golds.... And here's another one, using a gradation of pink to red shades for the flowers.... I was drawn to this version because I felt like it was quite unique and with the right combination of fabrics for the vases, there would almost be a "glow" to the quilt when it was done. But I realized that with sixteen 12-inch blocks, I would have to do a LOT of applique and I would end up with just a 48-inch square quilt. Hmmm. You know I love applique but this might be a little bit of overkill! So I put my thinking cap on and decided that maybe I only wanted to make a four-block quilt -- less applique, right? And then I decided that I should consider fabric I had always wanted to use: cheddar and teal -- it was used often in quilts in the 1800s. So I made a mock-up of that fantasized version.... But... really, with only four 12-inch blocks, will I really be happy with a finished 24-inch square quilt? I like bed-sized quilts. Or at least large lap quilts. So I thought... hmmm... why not enlarge the pattern and make the blocks 36 inches square? Yes! That's the ticket! I put that little 12-inch pattern on my printer and enlarged it, bit by bit, in 16 different sections... so here's the 36-inch pattern, all taped together from the enlarged sections. Yeah - four of THESE babies will make a NICE sized quilt, once some outer borders are added! And hence... the birth of what I'm calling "Tucker's Tulips." It's 86 inches square - now we're talking! I hope you learned something by watching how my thought process worked. It always involves just a little bit of experimenting, tweaking, imagining, and trial-and-error before the final design pops out of nothingness! We had about ten gals each make their own version of the Serena Tucker blocks -- and I cannot wait to show you the results. The quilts will hang in my guild's quilt show in May - I'll post photos after that, and you won't believe the variety! Next month I hope to show you the finished Bed of Roses quilt... my fingers are crossed! And maybe something else will be finished by then, too. I never know what will sneaky little project will crawl out of my UFO trunk, calling my name and begging to be finished! See you in May -- until then, happy quilting, everyone! Sue (c)2012 Susan H. Garman
I have finished the final block in our Southern Cross Crazies Round Robin and I am just about to post the block off to its owner. It is the...
