Category Archives: quilt

A peek into Linda’s stash…

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Linda sent me this photo of her fabric stash. She is using hanging shoe and sweater organizers and they look a lot better than I thought they would. In fact, if I did not already have shelves in my own fabric closet, I’d use this system. I like the way the fabric is compartmentalized.

Linda's Fabric Stash

Linda’s Fabric Stash

Linda has a lot less fabric than she used to have, and a lot less than I have. But you know what? This looks like a really good size for a stash. I know I have too much fabric (again). It’s too hard to find what I’m looking for, especially when I don’t really know what I’m looking for. Having too many choices can make choosing harder, not easier. I am looking at Linda’s very tidy closet with envy :-).

In other news, my foot is doing really well! The doctor had me cut the bandage to relieve the pressure on my foot on day two and that took the pain away. I can even put a little weight on it today (as per doctor’s orders). I’m still only allowed to be up only 5 minutes at a time. The rest of the time I have to sit with my foot up. The better I feel, the harder that is to do, but I’m sticking to it.

Show and tell… my Mom’s Welcome to the North Pole!

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My mom began this quilt in May of 2012. The finished quilt went on her wall a couple of weeks ago…

MomsNorthPole-13

Mom chose some fabric from my stash and then I brought more fabric. I offered to give her ‘help’ but she was very happy do make this on her own. She did it her way and it’s perfect!

The top was finished in time for it to hang on her wall last year, un-embellished. I quilted it this summer and she spent the following weeks adding embellishments. Can you tell that my mom really likes sequins :-)?

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None of this was easy for her. She struggled with her glasses, arthritis and neuropathy in her fingers. Threading the needle and dealing with the little sequins and beads was a challenge—but she did it! Click the arrows on the slideshow, below, to see more of the blocks.

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Have I said that I’m proud of my mom for sticking with this? I am! It has a folk art vibe that just can’t be beat. Way to go, Mom!

 

A big (almost easy) quilt…

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Lorna and Chris have a king size bed and Lorna needs a new cover for it. Not a pieced quilt, but still a quilt. She fell in love with two fabrics that I have (had) on the bolt—one is Tula Pink’s huge dot (printed on wide fabric) and the other is a floral print by Amy Butler  printed on sateen.

After much thinking, I decided that it would be best to make this a quilt without binding. Instead we would layer the top and back right sides together with the batting against the top, sew the edges, turn it inside out, and then quilt it. It was not nearly as easy as it sounds.

We cleared out my living room and vacuumed. Then we placed the batting on the floor. After a few false starts, we did manage to use basting spray to stick the the top to the batting. It took more than an hour and I did let slip a few choice words.

Lorna trimmed the batting even with the edges of the top fabric. Next we placed the backing right side down on the top. I then pulled out all of my mats and many rulers and we squared up the outer edges.

Lorna used Clover’s basting clips to hold all the edges together. I took it to my machine and sewed all the way around this monster, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn it through. This quilt is a lot heavier than I thought it would be.

The walking foot came in very handy.

Lorna had to leave so I trimmed the corners and then turned the whole thing inside out which was surprisingly satisfying.

I tidied and pressed the edges, finished the opening, and top stitched all the way around, 1/2″ from the finished edges.

It’s not done yet because it has to have some quilting. Otherwise the batting will fall apart with use and washing. Steve is going to do a little basting on it this weekend to help keep everything together during the quilting process.

Lorna wants to quilt it and it will be quite a job for a new sewer. We’re thinking of a diagonal grid, between the big dots. I may try to get some of the longest lines sewn for her if there’s time before my foot surgery on December 3. Otherwise I’ll be shouting encouragement from the other room while she sews :-).

Wool quilt auction…

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If you get my newsletter, you already know that Linda is auctioning off many of the quilts that she made for our book, Wool Applique the Piece O’ Cake Way. She doesn’t have room for them—that’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? I’m writing this post for those of you who may have missed the news.

The flower basket, below is on auction. It’s one that didn’t make it into the book so you have not seen it before. It’s pretty! To see all of the quilts, and to find the instructions for bidding, you can click here or on the link in the menu bar. Happy bidding!

WoolFlowerBasket

Quilts from the big show…

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The quilt show side of the International Quilt Festival is amazing. So many quilts to see! And I only had 1 hour to see them! I didn’t take many photos but if you search social media I suspect you will find hundreds of pictures.

If you go, you will find quilts that were entered into the judged show and exhibits with different kinds of quilts. This quilt hangs near the front and I love it! It is called Daisies and Dogwoods by Fiona Lindsay from Australia. It is hanging in the In Full Bloom exhibit sponsored by Prym Consumer USA, Inc.

Quilts-FionaLindsay

Vermeer Meets Fassett by Lynn Czaban is just lovely. It is a small quilt entered in the judged show.

Quilts-LynnCzaban

There were several applique quilts entered into the judged show that were just stunning. I didn’t have a good way to get a good picture of the whole quilt. In most cases the detail shots are better. (FYI: Winners won’t be announced until Wednesday evening.) This is Magnolia by Fusako Takido. Isn’t it great!

Quilts-FusakoTakido

My Sweet House with Kirara by Ayako Kawakami is another amazing quilt. I didn’t pay close enough attention but I think both of these are from the Handmade category.

Quilts-AyakoKawakami

Ben’s Midnight Garden by Barbara Korengold is another quilt that is both lovely and masterfully sewn.

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So many quilts have details that are beautiful. The piecing and subtle applique in Where Love Goes by Miyuki Hamara work so well together.

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I really loved the simplicity of Little Farm On The Prairie by Enid Weichselbaum. The quilting adds so much to what is already a great design.

Quilts-EnidWeichselbaum

The quilts in the different exhibits are not part of the judged show but are just as much fun to look at! There is an exhibit of the quilts from Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s book Double Wedding Rings: Traditions Made Modern. This one, Deconstruction, is one of Victoria’s own quilts.

Quilts-VFWolfe

The antique quilt exhibit was also fun to tour…

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Click here to go to the Quilt Festival home page. I suspect that you’ll find a link to the list of winning quilts there by Thursday.

Show and tell…

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Lindsay Fulmer emailed with photos and a story of her Spring Wheels quilt. She wrote:

I came across the Spring Wheels pattern from the Once Upon a Season book many years ago when I was a beginner quilter. A few years ago when I felt as though I could take on the quilt, I decided to just pull up my big girl pants and do it. I used a white on white Lakehouse dot for the background and each wheel has a unique Kaffe Fassett fabric. I have been collecting his fabrics for years.

FG Kaffe Wheels Show

The quilt won first place for Large Contemporary and Viewers Choice at the Flying Geese Quilt Guild show called “Harvest of Quilts”. It’s also been shown at Road 2 California. I had Judi Madsen of Green Fairy Quilts do the machine quilting – all done on a long arm however not computerized. The only requirement I had of her was to not quilt on the Kaffe fabric, just on the white. Otherwise, she had full reign over the quilt. Click here to see Judi’s blog post.

KaffeWheelsBack

Recently my husband found my quilt on Facebook….he had seen a post from his childhood art teacher. It’s amazing the power of social media! There are over 26k likes at this point. Click here to see that post.

Lindsay, let me add that I think you made a fantastic quilt! Congratulations on the acclaim you are getting for it. For those of you who haven’t made Spring Wheels, I think we would both say that it is too much fun to miss out on.