QuiltCon 2018 Wrap-Up

February 27, 2018March 1, 2018 Elizabeth E.46 Comments

Quiltcon_good morning.jpg

QuiltCon is so many things: a quilt show, a conference with great speakers and classes, shopping–complete with short demonstrations going on, a chance to meet Famous Quilters, a chance to hang out with friends and people you don’t see much, and most of all, it’s quilts. Lots and lots of quilts. And fabric–did I mention that, too?

I arrived with Leisa Wednesday night in time for the beginning of the conference on Thursday, February 22, 2018. I stayed until Sunday afternoon, about 10 minutes before they rolled up the rug and kicked us all out. It was inspiring, exhausting, stimulating and I had a great time.

Three of my local quilt buddies came with me: Simone, Lisa and Leisa, and we met so many others at different lunches and dinners:

QuiltCon2018meal_1

from l: Joan, Mary, Leisa, Lisa, Cindy, me, Stephanie, Janice, Simone

QuiltCon2018meal_2

from l: Leisa, me, Mary, Joan (end of table), Cindy, Jenn and Heidi

QuiltCon2018_AnnularityII

I was able to see my quilt hanging up Paintbrush Studios’ booth. In the circles above (click to enlarge) it’s evident the booth was busy (center circle), and Deena, Amy Barickman and her mother were so kind and helpful.

I had TOO many classes, and generally I learned something new from almost all of them: QuiltCon 2018 ESE Classes.png

(Click on any circle to enlarge.)

I love the pencil case of my seat-mate in my Boho Embroidery Class. I wonder what Angela would say about that sign (!), and you see the beginning of my printing. Thank you to my daughter for the Amazon Gift Card which became a great squeegee. My umbrella is crying–we need rain!

QuiltCon2018steadycam

Famous Quilter had a Craftsy film crew wherever she went and even in our class. I thought the operator of the Steady Cam deserved a photo.

QuiltCon2018_Pineapple Fabrics — Pineapple Fabrics booth at QuiltCon 2018

QuiltCon2018demo1a

I had was asked by the kind people of Paintbrush Studios to do a demo using their Painter’s Palette Solid fabrics, and since I love those solids, I knew it would be easy to talk about them…

QuiltCon2018demo1

…until I saw that the cozy 20-seat demo space had been replaced by a large screen and 80 chairs. My husband talked me down off the ledge, and Leisa cracked jokes to make me laugh and forget I was terrified.

QuiltCon2018demo3 — *(photo by Leisa Plocher)*

The first demo was difficult for a variety of reasons, but at the second demo on Sunday morning, I had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came and I hope you were all early enough to get a kit.

QuiltCon2018_demokit
Instructions can be found here and here (where you can also right-click to download the instruction card) in case you want the info.

I also have a few samples from QuiltCon that I’m happy to share. Leave a comment below if you’d like to try Painter’s Palette Solids. I’ll pick one winner from the comments. If you are a follower, leave me a second comment stating that, and you’ll have twice as many chances!

Giveaway is closed now. Thank you!

Quiltcon Goodnight

I’ve been posting a ton of quilt images on Instagram, and will continue to do so for a while.

FYI: QuiltCon will be in Nashville in 2019, and back to Austin in 2020. See you there!

Annularity II

February 18, 2018February 18, 2018 Elizabeth E.18 Comments

Annularity1PBStudios

This is the story of the design of my quilt Annularity. It is also the story of Annularity II, which will hang at QuiltCon in Paintbrush Studios Booth.

Annularity II
Quilt Number 194
Designed and Pieced by Elizabeth Eastmond
Quilted by Natalia Bonner
59″ square

The story of this begins when I was contacted by the fine people at Paintbrush Studios, who make the ever-lovely Painter’s Palette Solids. I submitted one design for review, time passed, things changed; I thought the process was dead in the water.

AnnularityDesign_1fabrics

But I had all these lovely fabrics, so we started the process again.

Annularity Fail

I played around in QuiltPro, my favorite quilt design program and came up with the above design messes.

annularityfailalmost

I showed them to Simone, seeking advice, and she said, “Don’t forget the white.” Negative space is critical, but sometimes you get in the weeds of a thing and you can’t see your way clear.

Given that the Great American Eclipse was on my mind, I started calling my quilt Annularity:

Screen Shot 2018-01-05 at 11.11.41 AM.png

I began building the quilt top, remembering the white. But when I got to the outer edges, something still wasn’t right. A designer can do all the designing they want to, but then the fabric takes over and slowly, the outer edges morphed from the planned design to what you see at the very top. Then there was the problem of the center.

AnnularityOPQuilt Centers

I tried lots of combinations: yellow, aqua, violet, maroon but finally finished with periwinkle, one of my favorite colors in the Painter’s Palette Solids line-up. I finished it and when Paintbrush Studios told me that Natalia Bonner was going to quilt it, I was over the moon, because I quite admire her work. I bundled up the quilt, sent it off, and then waited. And waited. And waited. And I began to wonder, even though I’d tracked it to her address, if it had gotten lost. I worried, then did the next best thing:

My Annularity

I made another.

In the rush, I didn’t have all the correct fabrics, so some are pieced. But then I heard from Natalia that she had the quilt. Whew! Since it’s going to be hanging in the booth at QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena, I gave the first one a new name, since now there were two in the world: Annularity II.

Pineapple Fabrics has the complete line of colors needed to make this design, and you can soon buy the quilt pattern from them. Come and see Annularity II in the Paintbrush Studios booth, #905.

But I’ll be quilting mine, Annularity, bit by bit, sharing that experience as I proceed. In the meantime, enjoy the photos of Natalia’s fine work:

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200 Quilts · quiltcon

Cinque Terra Tiles • Improv Applique (Part 2)

February 12, 2018February 27, 2018 Elizabeth E.16 Comments

Cinque Terra Tiles_3

This is the story of my Improv Appliqué Demo, coming up at QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena. In the last post, you saw me making a whole gang of these little bits squares, some with slightly wobbly shapes. And lo and behold, one day they all turned into this:

Cinque Terra Tiles_ front

Cinque Terra Tiles, Quilt # 193

Yep. I arranged those little bits and bigger bits until they coalesced into this quilt, which I love.

At the request of Paintbrush Studios, I’ll be doing two demos of this Improv Appliqué technique during QuiltCon 2018:
• Friday, February 23 from 2:45 to 3:15 p.m.,
• Sunday, February 25, from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m.

If you come, you’ll get a little kit to get you started, complete with needle and thread, and a mini-charm pack of fabulous Painter’s Palette Solids. I’ll have a set of printed directions for your improv appliqué, plus tips on folding techniques as well as basic hand-appliqué directions.

UPDATE: Here are the directions I passed out at QuiltCon (right click on each to download):

I loved working with this fabric, as it has a nice tight weave, but not so tight that it won’t ease and fold into shape. The colors are saturated and rich and play well against each other. I’m totally sold on this fabric, especially after working with it in such close circumstances: handwork reveals everything, I think.

Cinque Terra Tiles_1a Cinque Terra Tiles_1b Cinque Terra Tiles_1c Cinque Terra Tiles_1d
I’m deluging you with photos, because if you want to make one, all of a sudden you’ll say, I need a new shape! a new color combo! Feel free to steal one of mine. Cinque Terra Tiles_5

I did cut out the back of the larger appliqué shapes, but you can see where I appliquéd smaller on larger. You can also see that I did NOT press seams open, but instead, to one side. I grouped them together, sewing four smalls, then seaming that onto one larger, and so on (sew on?)

Cinque Terra Tiles_5a

Sometimes it’s fun to see the undersides of our quilts, right?

Cinque Terra Tiles_6 back

I chose a fun Kaffe Fassett circles pattern to back it with. I decided not to gild the lilly, that is, to excessively quilt the little bits: I just stitched in the ditch. But on the borders, I picked up the circles theme again, and did arcs in varying sizes with black thread. It’s nearly invisible on the front, but you can see it very well on the back. Cinque Terra Tiles_6alabel Cinque Terra Tiles_7quilting

Hope to see you in Pasadena–come and learn how to do some Improv Appliqué!

200 Quilts · quiltcon

Cinque Terra Tiles • Improv Applique (Part 1)

February 8, 2018February 6, 2018 Elizabeth E.17 Comments

Cinque Terra Tiles_Italy1

The kind folk at Paintbrush Studios asked me (some time ago) to give a demo at QuiltCon 2018. I set to wondering what I could teach in a short amount of time (20-30 minutes) that would be interesting. Shortly after they asked me, I visited Cinque Terra, Italy, and stood on a plaza in Riomaggiore, overlooking the sea (above).

Cinque Terra Tiles_Italy2

We walked down the steps, and underneath the plaza was a passageway, the walls decorated with these tiles in all sizes. It was on the way to Via dell’amore (the Walk of Love).

Cinque Terra Tiles_Italy3

When I returned home and started looking at my photos, I thought about all those mini charm packs we pick up everywhere, and how they could become something along the lines of this impromptu artwork in Riomaggiore. Cinque Terra Tiles1_1

So I got out my mini-charm pack from Paintbrush Studio Solids and started pairing up the colors, trying to make the duo sing together–have a little friction together–trying to get pairs that would play against each other.

Cinque Terra Tiles1_1a

I found a worksheet online that had a whole bunch of oddball shapes, and I began trying some.

Cinque Terra Tiles1_1b

I sent away for more mini-charm packs. Once I got started, I kept wanting to make more.

Cinque Terra Tiles1_2

And more.

Cinque Terra Tiles1_3 Cinque Terra Tiles1_3a Cinque Terra Tiles1_3b

I carried around a little baggie of paired squares, and did them while watching TV, getting my hair colored and while in Urgent Care one bad flu season.

Cinque Terra Tiles1_3c Cinque Terra Tiles1_4 Cinque Terra Tiles1_4a Cinque Terra Tiles1_4b

I loved watching my collection grow. I would do one shape for a while, then another. I used up bits and pieces of squares. I even tried some paper-piece-wrapped hexagons; I ended up not liking them so much because the charm of these squares was in their wobbliness, their wonkiness.

And then one day, I put them up on the wall with other, larger, squares–just like the Walk of Love passageway in Italy. And wouldn’t you know it–it was really looking fun. Cinque Terra Tiles1_5

I wasn’t finished, but what I hoped would happen, did. I took this photo and put it up on Instagram, using the SnapSeed app to expand the edges and add the text.

Next post: the finish and the details about my demos at QuiltCon.

200 Quilts · Quilt Shows · quiltcon · Quilts

Winter Pines • Finished!

February 6, 2018January 28, 2018 Elizabeth E.14 Comments

Winter Pines
Quilt No. 193
73″ high by 64″ wide

You saw the sewing of Winter Pines and I’m back to tell you it’s finished.

The backing is an oldie from the stash; I deliberated whether or not to use it as I was “saving it for just the right quilt” but am so glad I decided to use it. I love it with the wintery theme of this quilt — just the right colors.

My quilter did a great job, using one of my favorite edge-to-edge patterns: a swirling loop-de-loop.

I’m sewing the binding on another quilt that I’ve kept under wraps for nearly six months. It will hang in a booth at QuiltCon, so the time is getting closer to showing you all, but first I have to make the label and get that sewn on. Soon, very soon.