11.30.13

Well, our snow is gone but we had deer visiting on Thanksgiving day. I took a short video. These three were in our yard for a few hours. No wonder our little dog has a sniffy wonderful time each time she goes out.

I hope today has you enjoying family and friends and the comfort of home. Stay out of the way of all those maniacs who have been out shopping since Black Friday Eve.

11.29.13

I have been a busy little quilter lately. Well, sewist. Last weekend I went as far as I could go on a charity top, finished the top of a quilt started in July, 2008, got backing together for my quilt from Retreat 2013,  finished a happy quilt top for someone, and all but finished a surprising something. Maybe by the time you are reading this, I will have the borders on, and the backing selected, bought, and pieced.

Charity top lacks inner border though pieces for outer border are cut and ready

If you do not know a lot about quilting, there is a part of the whole mess where the quilter has to "sammach".  

That is a technical term that means stretch the backing out nice and flat, roll out the batting nice and smooth, layer the quilt top over all of it evenly. Then is the really hard part. They need to be connected to each other temporarily so the actual quilting can occur.  

In the 70s, Georgia Bonesteel taught us to do a little at a time and "quilt as you go".  A lovely idea but many times I like to see the whole picture and design out from the center. I guess if I had that computer program I keep putting off buying, I could design virtually. Still, as someone who has Kindle apps and libraries of free downloadable books, I like to turn an actual paper page. Likewise, I like to arrange and rearrange with real fabric.

What is it? Who is it for?

Anyway, in the past when I had a "sammach" job to do, I would spread everything out on the floor and use big curved safety pins. A lot of times I would get carpet pinned to the backs of quilts.Then, when I retired and joined a guild or two, I had help and tables with extension legs. I could tape down the backing, spray baste the batting, spray baste the top, then pin.

?

 

 

Note: Spray basting makes a gluey residue which slows down the needle. Try pulling a #7 crewel embroidery needle through a gluey "sammach" trailing a #8 perle cotton.

Then I discovered that long arm quilt professionals can help me out a bit. They will machine baste my quilts so I can quilt them. I am a long way from "quilting by checkbook"--that is designing and making the tops and letting another creative person select stitching designs and apply them to my quilt.  

What could it be?

Are you wondering what quilt I started in JULY 2008?  Click the link to read the post or just look at this.

I was modern before Modern Quilting was cool.

I remember when I bought the backing--enough for a KING sized bed.  I took it out of its resting place and spread out. 

NO! It couldn't be! The pieced top was only as large as a double bed quilt. In about three hours, I found the border fabric, made some decisions about placement and had it together. I can't wait to see the whole thing all basted. The plan was to feature the pieced part in a way that makes the king size bed seem smaller. It will be a challenge to quilt because it is difficult to roll a king size quilt under a standard home sewing machine. But it can be done. I have seen it done. I expect to follow the lines of the design with the machine and hand quilt in the borders. It would actually be easier to do it the other way around.  Time will tell.

11.28.13

Happy Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for the opportunity to learn things that enrich my soul. Today is the perfect day to show you a quilt by a favorite teacher: Audrey Hiers. 

She says fall is her favorite season. This quilt is called IT'S FALL YOU-ALL.

Detail from Audrey Hiers' IT'S FALL YOU-ALL

She won a silver sponsor award.

She mixes batik fabric and more traditional prints.

She uses traditional blocks in unexpected ways.

She flings sunflowers with abandon.

Designed, made, and quilted: IT'S FALL YOU-ALL by Audrey Hiers

Her

borders

do 

NOT

match.




It is JOYful!













 

11.27.13

It is Thanksgiving Eve for many of you. Not us. We are not tied to dates so when we had family visit a couple weekends back, we had Thanksgiving then.

"CENTENNIAL SAMPLER" quilt made and quilted by Stephanie Ferrell

I am willing to bet it was Thanksgiving for Stephanie Ferrell when she saw the awards she received for Centennial Sampler, a quilt she made and quilted following a Judie Rothermel  book some friends gave her. 
 

Detail of "CENTENNIAL SAMPLER" by Stephanie Ferrell

She not only won the Ken's Herbs Silver Sponsor Award, of the almost 200 quilts at QuiltFest 2013, hers took the Viewer's Choice Award. Deservedly so.

11.26.13

Tea Time Tuesday

Michelle May over at the Raspberry Rabbit has developed a style she calls Folk Art Fusion. If you like WOOL APPLIQUE and you like TEA pots and tea cups, you will enjoy this.

A Spot of Peppermint Tea kit from Raspberry Rabbit

 

She has downloadable patterns at her Craftsy.com store and kits with all the fabrics plus VALDANI perle cotton--quite possibly my favorite quilting thread.

Click HERE to see it assembled but not yet finished

And she likes pumpkins. AND sometimes, she doesn't get projects finished within the time frame she sets for herself. How can you not like THAT? 

I think the pumpkin is from her new book Fabled Fusions. I like her style.

Is this Harrington or Hannah?

11.25.13

Monday Mantra

Don't you believe it is true? I do.

11.24.13

My very good quilting buddy, Cindy Stevens, made this pretty little quilt.

I have a real fondness for small quilts, 30s reproduction fabrics, and Dresden Plate quilts.

No wonder this is one of my favorites! I wish my photographs had been clearer.

I particularly like the different color lattice bars. The whole thing is so cheerful, don't you agree?

11.23.13

I think you have seen parts of Debbie Lachmiller's Winter Ice.

WINTER ICE quilt by Debbie Lachmiller

She and I took the Audrey Hiers class together last spring. Debbie was CLEARLY an advanced "third grade" student while I enjoyed first grade lessons.

This is one of my favorites of her lovely trees.

While I find this one intricate and enchanting, you can not possibly understand how VERY small some of these blocks are.

Now you can. The tree at which I am pointing contains about 30 pieces and is no larger than three of my fingers. 

Hold your hand out and see what that means.

11.22.13

Sue Royal was my first machine quilt teacher. My only one, if you don't count online lessons and countless hours spent poring over books.

Backwards and Forwards by Sue Royal

She continually challenges herself and keeps taking classes.  This art quilt was the result of a class at John Campbell Folk School.

This reversible art quilt shows such skill in thread painting that it drew many oohs and ahhs as QuiltFest goers took a walk around to see the other side. Which side do you like best?

11.21.13

Patricia Squire's Dancing Umbrella quilt was quilted by Russ Adams of Back Porch Quilters.

JUDGE'S CHOICE AWARD WINNER "Dancing Umbrellas"

I love umbrella quilts. In fact, we have one on our bed.

I had not thought to combine batiks with other prints. Patricia Squires did, though, and to wonderful effect.

See how Adams' diagonal crosshatch quilting enhances the idea of a good, steady rain? It echoes the diagonal assemblage of the umbrellas giving the quilt a breeze-tossed look.

11.20.13

Liz Ploppert says she likes puzzles quilts. I think she does. Look at her entry for Quiltfest 2013.

Detail from "Twin Dragons" by Liz Ploppert

It completely folds flat. I watched the head quilt handler assemble and suspend this star shaped beauty. It came in flat, not much larger than a two gallon bag.
As I have said, I only took pictures of quilts that impressed me.

This one received an Honorable Mention, but clearly, the judge was not in a position to manipulate it and see the genius behind the design.

I do not remember what its competition was. Maybe I took pictures of the others, too.

11.19.13

TEA TIME TUESDAY

Add caption

I was looking for pictures for Tea Time Tuesday and saw this one on Pinterest. Right away, I thought, this must be how a Tea Shop looks in Oregon. In fact, it is SO MUCH like little places I have seen while watching PORTLANDIA, I felt I already knew it.

It is, in fact, the Maplewood Coffee and Tea shop in Portland, Oregon.

If I went there, do you suppose they would serve me in this Oregon Cascade Handcrafted Pine Cone set made by Lindsoe Clayworks? If you want one and can't make it to Oregon, you can order yours from Stash Tea. I find her work pleasing in a cookie cutter sort of way. No doubt that made her work popular for Stash Tea. Generally, I prefer one of a kind pottery when it is handmade. But there is ALWAYS room in my Virtual collection for one more mug, one more teapot.

11.18.13

Monday Mantra and Words to Think About

Isn't that right, Chicklet?

We are making progress. Say it. We are making progress.

11.17.13

Big Book of Scraps. Now I have a copy. I think it will be a great spring board for ideas. When I am ready to reduce the amount of "left over" fabric I have, I will select a few of these and cut up scraps a couple of hours at a time and "bag them" and file them with the pattern for assembly at a later date.

Who'd a thought you could buy this at Target dot com?

11.16.13

Detail from Pam Clark's  Merry Merry quilted by Linda Gorman

Isn't Merry Merry a cute design? It is a pattern from Bunny Hill. That reminds me, I MUST get out MY Bunny Hill squirrel quilt and get to work.

Pam Clark made this and chose great colors! I might have been tempted to go all greens and white or all blues and white, and I would have made the mistake of saturated tones but she chose reds that read warm and lovely soft beiges and taupes for backgrounds. Her brighter whites for the snowmen really help them have a presence.

11.15.13.

Who, ME? PRIMITIVE STYLE? Well, it is growing on me. 

I leafed through this and put it in my "to be purchased" stack at QuiltFest 2013. SURPRISE! I paid for it as a book, but it is a magazine! In fact, I think it is QuiltyFriend(the Original)'s favorite. I was heavily influenced by AppliqueLHFriend. We urged each other to buy books we found interesting...therapists call that an enabling relationship.

If I had room for back issues, I would go HERE.

Perhaps I will consider subscribing for a year and see how it suits...

11.14.13

Dian Schoeps' version of  a Quilt Mavens pattern

I was the one who checked in Diane Schoeps Illuminata quilt, quilted by Darlene Barnes. I wish I had gotten better pictures of it.

Yellows and reds on Diane Schoeps' Illuminata

It is foundation paper pieced, but that does NOT mean it was easy to do.

Diane Schoeps fine work in Illuminata

See how graceful the curves are and how the design breaks into itself in the transition from purple and lavender to blue and yellow.

Diane Schoeps earned a well-deserved ribbon for her quilt

Lovely color and the tails of her ribbon may give you an idea of how small the pieces are. I wish I had showed you my hand next to it.

I wonder how many pieces it took?

11.13.13

Debbie Mumm

Wa-a-a-a-ay out of date in quilting style, but timeless as far as holidays go. I think I am going to enjoy it. The six panel Santas reminds me of the Santas From Around the World from one of our 1970's classy department stores. Yes, I see some potential here.

Also Debbie Mumm

It had a pumpkin on the cover. 

What can I say.

11.12.13

Poketo Tea for One found HERE

 TEA TIME TUESDAY

My parents and I have a joke about Tea for One. Even so, I think this little set is quite lovely. I would consider lifting it right out of my Virtual collection to my LITERAL collection, but I already have a little lavender pot that does the trick just fine even if it doesn't have a cup that goes with it.

Versatile--suitable for loose as well as bagged teas

11.11.13

Monday Mantra

Just because they are out to get you doesn't mean you have to be paranoid.

Yes, Dad. I know I said it backwards.

11.10.13

Winter Quietude foundation pieced by Bet Courey

Bet Courey, a fellow applique quilter, made this lovely quilt. Who would have thought of multi-color pine trees? and yet, they work beautifully on the gray and white.

ETA--QUILTING BY DARLENE BARNES!!!

Winter Quietude by Bet Courey, quilted by Appalachian Quilters

She says she observed the colors of winter. Good eye, Bet. The angled sunlight of winter does wonderful things with color and so do you.

11.9.13

I picked this up and put it back several times. I may not use it the way it is intended, but there are some wonderful ideas I can push around to fit my style. Thanks, QuiltFest 2013, for the used book sale.

by Pat Sloan

11.8.13

Quilter Karen Machetti's work on Sally Bolen's Quilt, The House on Willow Hill

I have many favorite quilters and several belong to Misty Mountain Quilters Guild. But not all attend my Applique Group. Sally Bolen does, though. 

I went through the Quilt Show before there were very many viewers and photographed everything and anything that caught my eye whether it had a ribbon on it or not. I made a point of taking the I.D. pictures so I could give credit to these fabulous quilters. Usually, I did an overall shot, I.D. shot, then a close up or two.

Because I did not have my reading glasses on, I was unable to read the cards. When I was editing my day's photography, I was surprised at how many of Sally's quilts I photographed.  

Then again, after getting to know her a little at the Boutique booth, I am not so surprised. She can surely count me as one of her fans.

11.7.13

I am not particularly a Debbie Mumm sort of gal, but I like a lot of her figural designs--people and animals. Her colors--not so much. The look is dated, I know, but I thought some things in the Christmas line are kind of timeless. So, I bought this book. It actually has less than I wanted in quilting, but more than I wanted in gee-gaws. Oh, well. Gee-gaws are a mainstay at the QuiltFest Boutique. Over the next 22 months, I may make one or two.

Debbie Mumm