Thursday, May 22, 2014

Mixing up Simple Free Motion Designs

Our guild is currently making baby quilts for charity and this was a top from Maria. Maria said that she had had this top for around a year so it would be nice to get it finished. The block is based on the Flatiron Partnership logo - which I think makes a really great block. It was such a great idea my Maria to translate this logo into a patchwork design. I read somewhere that you are a true quilter if you see a quilt in everything you see - and I don't know how many of you also walk around the world looking at things constantly thinking 'that would make a great quilt' .... my list of ideas & projects is seemingly endless these days.




As soon as I saw it and saw all the white negative space my eyes lit up. I decided to play with mixing various designs together.


The top I started off with spirals and pebbles. 


A little further down the quilt I added some longer wavy spirals to the standard spirals & pebbles.

Next I added in some plain waves to the mix ...


... and finally I added some feathers (I love this row the best.)


It was a fun, quick project - and I love the result.

I hope that in the future I will be able to push this idea further and mix lots and lots of designs up together to make a really interesting texture/design - try and encourage people to look at the top of the quilt for a long time - hunt for different designs and concepts mushed in together in unexpected ways!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

When Victoria ....

When Victoria Findlay Wolfe contacts you and asks you to quilt a quilt for her you do not say no. I shook in my slippers through out the whole process. Not sure I've yet recovered. Here is a sneak peek of some detail ..... 









Thursday, May 15, 2014

I am having a little R&R so here are some photos

I've been working really hard at the moment but not on much I can share .... I also recently had my thyroid removed which has been simple enough (apart from the damage to my vocal chords leaving me sounding like a very small squeaky toddler with a serious smoking habit!) So I have been looking for things I could share with you. Until I can show the interesting secret stuff ....



I recently went to my first quilt show - the Quilt Fest of New Jersey X which was held in New Jersey in March of this year. I was lucky enough to meet my stepmum there - Jennie Rayment - who was judging, teaching, lecturing and the featured artist. It was wonderful to have Jennie there to walk me through the exhibit explaining why certain quilts got certain awards and what if anything could have made them better. It was really educational - as well as great to see the lovely lady herself.

Here is Jennie in action explaining her tucking and twiddling techniques to eager visitors.

 I was very excited to immediately spot this quilt by Michael Michalski - who is also a new member of the NYC Metro Mod Quilters. I missed seeing this in person at a guild meeting - so I was thrilled to see it up close in person.  It won an honorable mention - I felt it deserved more. Michael uses Electric Quilt 7 to create his designs. I am so tempted to explore this software. Has anyone else used it? Liked it? Sees value in it?

 This was the best in Show from the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival XXV. Quilted by Laura Trenbeath - it was stunning. The quilting was AAamazing. The added notions gave even more of a shimmery gold sheen.  I studied her quilting for quite some time. I want to be this good. I dream about being this good. My aim is to be this good ..... quilting that is - I'm not sure the piecing part of patchwork has me fully hooked yet!

I loved this quilt from the moment I saw it. It is my BJ Titus . I am not going to say why this one did not get an award as I don't agree with the reasoning at all. If I was a judge this would have been one of my favorites.

 I liked this quilt as there are 75 different materials used in this quilt. 75 different fabrics shows an amazing attention to detail if you ask me. I admire attention to detail - something I lack a lot of the time. This quilt was made by Maxine Burkholder and won an honorable mention.

Ok so this quilt isn't hanging in a particularly flattering way and is lacking something but all I could see was potential potential and I wished that I had had an opportunity to quilt it as the huge amount of negative space (space - get it?) and swirling planets. I saw adding shimmering swirling threads etc giving more movement & depth to the piece. (I didn't note who made this quilt.)

This was a beautiful quilt offered for sale by Pat Bishop called Spring Woods. 

I failed to make a note of who made this. But what fascinates me is the use of a voile or something similar as an overlay to make the fabrics a different color in some areas. The quilting was also gorgeous & very detailed. (I am now searching for things to put over fabric to change its color when quilting.)

Another quilt for sale - a beautiful landscape - I would really like to learn how to make landscapes - the detail and the mingling of colors and the added stitch detail. All yummy. I need at least another 12hrs on each day to fit all these things in .....

This is a snap shot of another quilt that was made from velvet & silk. The texture on the quilt was divine - my photo doesn't do it an inch of justice. Since seeing it I have been obsessing about quilting vast quantities of white velvet & silk ..... 

.... it is a bit dangerous going to these places and bombarded with inspiration, fabric lines & other fabulous ideas. I feel my head, workroom & wallet would all be in a better state if I just stayed at home & didn't go exploring ;-)

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Bess Beetle's Quilt

I think I have mentioned before my little blog crush on Asia & her blog Fun at Home with Kids. It is a site I can loose myself in - make endless lists of projects & ideas to do with the little bunnies.

So imagine how excited I was to get this through the post.


S is her adorable four year old girl who seems game for any messy fun project - and I love that! Bess is her pet beetle!! And I have been asked to make a children's art quilt for them.

I can not wait to start work on S's quilt. I have lots of ideas - lets hope I can put them off!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Kaffe Kassett Hankerchief Corners



This is another beautiful quilt made by Andrea. Andrea claims no originality in this quilt - but having not seen the fabric or pattern before - I think it is just gorgeous. (I understand the pattern is from the book Shots & Stripes.)




When Andrea & I discussed quilting options I was really surprised that I kind of persuaded her to take on my idea on how the quilting should be. Andrea has some recipients in mind for this quilt and I felt that the pattern was very bold and could take and not be affected by a softer more feminine approach than just straight lines.


When ever I hang quilts to take photos of them in the hall I always get little visitors. This is my youngest little bunny - playing hide & seek.



I still struggle not to point out every mistake when I return a quilt. I know I have to stop this - I know that the people who come to me are happy with what is returned to them. To demonstrate my issues here I have photographed what I consider is a big mistake. Can you spot it? (And here I am foolishly opening myself up to you spotting all sorts of things I haven't spotted yet!!)


The thread I used is King Tut by Superior Shifting Sands. (Do not be fooled by the orangey color shown on the internet.) It is a gorgeous variegated thread - soft beige's and golds with tinges of light blue in it. I can easily see myself using it in all sorts of projects in the future.


I think the pattern adds another layer to the quilt - a soft beautiful layer you can only see when you get up close. 



And being a lover of white on white texture I think the back looks pretty yummy too. 


A big thank you to Andrea again for trusting me with her beautiful quilt tops.


Monday, May 5, 2014

Tutorial: Sixty Minute Split Strip Quilt

And try and say that in a hurry!




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Sixty Minute Strip Quilt 
(Top only  - twin size.)

Material needed for top:
~ 5 yards of different fabrics – cut into 5” width strips (making the strips wider gives the quilt a more modern bolder look)
~ or 35 x 5” WOF strips to make a scrappy version.


- Sew all your strips together into one big strip – mixing up the materials in random or in a pattern 

- Fold your long strip in two and sew along the right edge – when you reach the end/or fold – cut the bottom

-  Continue folding the strip and sewing along the right edge & snipping the bottom until you have 16 strips sewn together.  


- The width of your quilt so far should be approx. 72” - measure 72” up the quilt and cut straight across. You will have 1 x 72" square and 1 x rectangle approx 72" wide. 

- Turn the 72” square 90 degrees and sew the cut off strip back onto the square. 


- Baste & quilt your quilt. 


- Trim & square corners.


- I  added a cute pink ribbon & bow at the 72” seam point (as this was made for a 7 year old) – but you don’t need to do this.

- Bind your quilt. 

The sewing for this quilt top only took me a little under 60mins. It would be an easy last minute project to make in a night .