Quilts

A Grand Day Out: The Valley Quilters Quilt Show

February 24, 2014February 23, 2014 Elizabeth E.3 Comments

It was a beautiful day that the Valley Quilters held their quilt show, and I had a morning free, so I headed down to Hemet, about 40 minutes away from my house. I like going to this small show–it’s kind of the antidote to all the craziness and glitz and flash and overwhelmingness that is Road to California.

This is it. I think they had about 50 or so quilts. I was joking to one woman that it was the tonic that cured me of my exhaustion from Road. “Oh, Road!” she said. “Too much walking.”

This is what greets you, as you enter the community center gymnasium: Glacier Star, by Shirley Mykris and quilted by Diane Best. I meandered through their display, so these quilts are in no particular order.

This Is Me, by Beckie Stabile and quilted by Marvel Dorf. She said in her notes that these are her favorite quilting things.

All the helpers were wearing decorative tabards.

Here’s a detail of the quilt above.

The name of this is Kaleidoscope, but Dawn Guthrie-Clark and quilted by Debbie Blair. (Hey! I have a quilt named Kaleidoscope!)

I thought these ladies looked great in their coordinating quilted jackets and they agreed to let me photograph them.

This is a detail from one of the beginner quilts that was displayed in this show, and they are all basically the same with different details. I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked at these quilts, for these young quilters were working hard to master the craft that I love so well.

Some have thought that my choices of the Most Ugly Quilt at Road to California were a dagger to the heart of beginners, and some took me to task believing that we should never say anything bad about another creation. (I agree, up to a point.) But beginning quilts should be in this type of show: a guild show, which displays a wide range of skills and talents.

Beginner quilts do not really belong in a national juried show, unless they are working at a very high skill level, which my Most Ugly Quilts (MUQ) were not. And all of these beginner quilts shown here are heads and shoulders above some of the MUQuilts, as they are authentic. And charming. And well made with a central, balanced design.

And they make you smile, not cringe, especially when one young quilter noted that making a quilt is not as easy as it looks, and that “it was my first time using a sewing machine.”

Mary Myers just happened to walk by her quilt, Circle of Hope, when I was looking at it.

It’s quilted by Nancy Williams.

Wouldn’t you love to win this ribbon, with it’s tiny Sunbonnet Sue bonnet? And don’t you love the little decorated clothespins with their colorful yo-yos?

Green Tea and Sweet Beans was made by Susan Bailey and quilted by Laural Arestad, from a pattern by Jen Kingwell. This, or a version of this, is definitely in my future.

A lovely classic basket quilt.

I loved the cute snowman peeking out from different places on this quilt (sorry, didn’t get the name).

Thyme to Water was made by Alice Novak and quilted by Chuck Anderson. I loved the detail on her watering cans.

And check out those ribbons–TWO of them. It was well deserved.

I just couldn’t get a good photo of this quilt, titled Pioneer Braid, but it was vibrant and colorful, as shown by the detail below. Jenelle Pickett made this quilt, and it was quilted by Nancy Williams.

There is something so appealing about a scrappy quilt.

Japanese Quilt Shop is another quilt by the duo Alice Novak (maker) and Chuck Anderson (quilter). When I put this up on Instagram, I got a lot of questions about the pattern. She credits her design source as Piece by Piece Quilts by Joe Wood. But Barbara Brackman, on her blog, has a free pattern that may work for you, if you substitute in a quilt block or two in the houses.

There was obviously a lot of tender loving detail given to this small show, as witnessed by this antique stroller filled with dollies.

There were even a few vendors, and this great chair at one of their booths.

Bonny Tucker made and quilted this quilt, titled Alice’s QD Christmas 2012. She used a coloring technique, then embroidered them to make the blocks, but it wasn’t until the Christmas 2012 Quilter’s Dozen came along that she knew what to do with them. (I assume it was a guild program.)

Jan Dolan’s “A” is for Apple was a lovely gathering of alphabet representations. The story of the quilt is complicated: it was originally started as a block-of-the-month at one shop, but the shop was sold and the designer/teacher was injured in an auto accident. The pattern was still given out to finish on their own.

Mary Myers made Flourishes, and it was quilted by Jodie Krot. The design source was Piece O’ Cake Designs. She writes that this was a tribute for Edward Myers’ life: “I took the squares with me everywhere. Many doctor & hospital visits. I started it in October, 1999 but it was not completed until April 2007, six-and-a-half years after his death.” I don’t know if Edward was a son, or a husband, but it is a wonderful memory quilt.

Dancing Wonky Wildflowers was made by Jacquie Buchanan and quilted by Jami Doto, with the design source noted as “Wonky Wildflowers” by Sandra Workman.

I’m a sucker for a well-done Hunter’s Star quilt (sorry, no name on this one either).

I’ll close with two appliqué quilts. The quilts I’ve shown are only a sample of this show, so come on over next year! The quilt above, titled Critters, is by Billie Kercmar, quilted by Karen Gehring (from Woodland Creatures by Rosemary Makhan).

And this stunner is Ladies of the Sea, made by Deborah Morrione and quilted by Better Barney. (Design source was Sue Garman.)

200 Quilts

This and That, February Version

February 22, 2014 Elizabeth E.6 Comments

This made me laugh this week, as I had NO life, yet TOO MUCH work. A bit out of balance. Papers to grade, lessons plans to prep, more grading, ACK!! Finally, yesterday afternoon I pushed back from the computer, and went outside to breathe in some balmy Southern California air.

First, a visit to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store, where they exchanged my Christmas-present phone for a new-to-me phone. That should fix the battery problem, the Genius said. Thanks, Justin.

Next, writing out my quilting goals for a couple of months. I tried to be judicious in my choices, not throwing EVERYTHING up there, but just the things I’ve committed to, or think I can do. I’m not doing the Finish-A-Long this quarter, but do like the push it gives me, so I have to generate my own push. I think I’ll tackle the quilting on my Tiny Envelopes quilt. It’s been pinned together for several weeks, waiting for me to finish my grading.

I always “test” my quilting in a doodle, then mark right on the fabric what the upper tension needs to be. Here are a few other test drives. I’m using King Tut thread by Superior Threads in the top, and So Fine thread in the bobbin. I LOVE So Fine. I often use Bottom Line thread in the bobbin, but then need to loosen the upper bobbin tension more. Bottom Line is very fine, so “sinks” into your backing nicely. I found the upper tension also varies between using my free-motion foot (needs to be lower), and my walking foot. Test, test test.

First, quilt the little envelope shapes.

Then I started looking up ways to quilt the larger design on the quilt, looking at all different kinds of postmarks on Google Images. Did you know you can send your envelopes to North Pole, Alaska and they will cancel your Christmas letters for you, with a postmark that says “North Pole”?

I thought this design had some potential, but I kept looking.

The one in the upper left corner — a square with wavy lines — that was the one that pushed my quilty buttons.

I always print out a “faded” version of my quilts onto paper, then doodle some designs. I’d been doodling for a while before I found that one. I recreated it in the upper left corner, then went to work. I Googled “wavy lines template” and found one here: cutting_wavy_lines. Click on that link and you’ll get a PDF file of some wavy lines.

I traced one of the wavy lines onto some heavyweight plastic from an old binder divider I had laying around, then traced the wavy lines onto my quilt with an air-disappearing marker.

After a couple of hours of quilting, I hit the proverbial wall, but since the marker is a disappearing marker when exposed to the air, I knew whatever marks I had made would be gone in the morning, so I quilted until I ran out of thread in both the bobbin and on the spool. I got the message, so called it a night.

200 Quilts

Olympic Geese

February 16, 2014February 17, 2014 Elizabeth E.11 Comments

Well, first, Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!
(card is from my husband)

And I made some cookies (recipe *here*) for the occasion.

But in amongst the papers that had to be graded and the handouts that had to be written, I wanted some form of Olympic quilt. Something. . . somehow.

So I laid out some snips from some recent projects in circles, playing with this layout and the other.

So, here it is. Olympic Geese. Little triangles flying around in circles.

While free motion quilting, I decided to try different ways of tackling the quilting. I figured out about twenty different ways to quilt a triangle. A little self-tutoring while goofing around.

Then I quilted lines radiating out from the center, close together.

While at Road to California, I found a pattern for a bag I’ve wanted to make for just about forever.

So it starts out with lots of squares, with batting and backing, then stitched around. This is the interior. I used heavy thread, like a sashiko thread, to create the stitched lines. I then stitched it in rows, then the rows together. Of course, all done while watching the Olympics and cheering on Noelle Pikus-Pace.

I then stitched the sides together, which about broke my already burdened brain (remember? the grading? the handouts?).

And here’s a picture of the interior. It has woven faux leather handles, which I zig-zagged onto the bag, and will cover the cut ends of the handles with more fabric. It’s kind of an odd shape, but it intrigues me. I’ve got to find a way to put it together more easily–this hand-stitching of all the squares together is for the birds. And I think I’d like to try it in bright colors, and smaller squares. And I’d also like to fly around the world, too.

Okay, back to grading tomorrow. Then to do our taxes. Who says it’s a holiday?

Quilts

So Here We Are–Tiny Envelopes

February 7, 2014 Elizabeth E.13 Comments

I started here at the beginning of the week–the layout of the blocks with some turned and twisted.

I ended here with a very random quilt. I bordered the envelopes with different solids, interspersed Kona Snow and Kona White blocks, then added colorful strips. I separated the rows with more Snow/White strips and sewed it together.

What is it? you ask. No clue, I must answer. but it will give me a field in which to practice some FMQ, and that will either make it more random, or pull it together. It might need a border. It’s too soon to tell.

Tonight is our Quilt Group Get Together, coupled with watching the Sochi Opening Ceremony while we chat, eat, sew, quilt, and I need to cut some strips out of my Kaffe Fassett fabrics because I’m determined to have some sort of quilt top with those fabulous quilty designs on them that I see on every athlete’s vest, on the officials, and on the flags and banner. Here’s a website describing the origins of this design.