Finishing UFOs

I have been trying to declutter my sewing studio.  When I was still working, I would buy things, with the idea that when I retire, I will have less income.  So I am trying to get things arranged so that I can easily find them.  I am going through my stash, trying to get it better arranged so that I can find fabric that I need!

In the process, I found a couple of projects that just needed a little bit of work to go into the finished pile.  This little quilt started in a Nancy Prince thread painting class that I took at Indiana Heritage Quilt Show several years ago.  It was a very fun class.  Nancy is not only a great teacher, but one of her quilts won Best of Show at the 2014 International Quilt Festival at Houston!  All this one needed was to be bound.  I used a single thickness binding.

After learning the thread painting technique, I was looking for another project.  My nephew Logan is an artist, and had drawn this dogwood branch.  I took it and recreated it in thread.  It was needing to be quilted and bound.







There are still a number of UFOs in that pile...a quilter's work is never done!

Past Heritage, New Traditions

That was our theme for Illini Country Stitcher's 2013 Quilt Show!  This was my second time chairing our biennial quilt show.  It is a lot of work, but it is enjoyable to see ideas come to fruition, and to have a chance to display all our guild members' immense talent!  At times it is like herding cats, but you just gotta love it!  I'll blog later about the show itself, but now I am just gonna brag a bit on myself!
I entered 7 quilts into the show, in 6 different categories.  I came home with 7 ribbons, but one quilt didn't win anything.  So I will start with that one!

Resting Amongst the Cone Flowers was a quilt inspired by a class with Ellen Anne Eddy through our guild last summer.  I thread painted the bunny and the dragonfly in class.  The background fabric is some of her hand dyed fabric.  It was entered in the art/innovative class.  The competition was stiff, and I was not surprised that I did not win a ribbon there.

This Double Wedding ring quilt was entered in the Antique class.  It was gifted to me by my Uncle Howie when I got married.  He said it was made by my Greatgrandmother Matilda Bell.  However....she passed away in the late 1920s, and this quilt contains many printed feedsack fabrics which were not manufactured until the 1930s.  So we have a family mystery quilter!  This quilt won third place!

This quilt was from a pattern in Quilter's World magazine last fall.  I fell in love with it.  I donated this quilt to a local charity for their silent auction, then purchased it back.  It placed third in large wall hangings.

This quilt belongs to my hubby, and he insisted that I enter it in the show, as he likes it better than the above quilt.  It was also made and donated to the same charity, and hubby purchased it through the silent auction.  Both quilts were in the same category, Large Wall Hanging, and hung across from each other in the show.  It placed second!  Hubby says, I told you so!  I am proud to say that this quilt (well the top, anyway) has been to Houston!  I took it there when I took a class with Teri Lucas to get her opinion on how to quilt it!  Thanks, Teri!

My small group, Material Girls, had a row swap last year.  I requested a Christmas themed quilt.  I was just overjoyed when I was gifted with my rows!  I had a lot of fun deciding how to place my rows and then quilt it!  It placed second in group wall quilts.

This little gem has won before, at the Midwest Heritage Quilt Show.  This was started in a class with Sally Collins at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show in 2012. It now has won two first place ribbons!

 

 

This beauty won first place in Mixed/Other (meaning more than one technique was used, ie. a combination of paper piecing, and applique) and Best of Show!  This started life as a Block of the Month through The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. The design was by Sarah Vedeler, although I modified the design starting in month 6!  I call this Sedona Joy, because it was a joy to work with such beautiful colors!

I am still flabbergasted that I won so many ribbons.  The competition was truly marvelous, and people were constantly sighing and saying how hard it was to make a choice!  Counting the ballots took the committee 5 hours because there were many ties!  I am so proud of our guild and the great talent that our members posses!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retreat and Debbie Caffery Workshop

July has been a good month.  We have had unseasonably mild weather here in E. Central Illinois.  Not to say that we haven't had some hot and humid days.  But as I am writing this wearing sweatpants and thinking about a sweater, well, I think you get the point!

One of the fun things for this month is getting started on a new project with Chocolate Chicks, one of my small groups.  We are doing a Churn Dash Stash Buster.  This is how we are doing it.  This month our hostess Cyndee entertained us (about 12 quilters) with appetizers and soft drinks.  She passed out a pattern for the Churn Dash that she wants, along with a fat quarter of a cream fabric to each quilter that she wants used as her background.  We are to use from our stash fabric for the churn dash.  She requested a print that reads "Red Solo Cup"! I think this nailed it!  I used three different prints from my stash.  She will receive three 7.5" finished blocks from each member, so she will have enough to make a quilt!  Each member takes a turn hosting! Simple appetizers, nothing fancy.  We have found out that there are so many different variations of the churn dash pattern.

I went to retreat with the Materials Girls (another small group I belong to) for a long weekend of sewing and girl fun!  We stayed at The Old Brick Inn in Chrisman!  Joy, the innkeeper, is a delightful hostess.  We ate wonderful meals in a cozy atmosphere.  I worked on several projects while there.  This was a miniature I had purchased the kit for at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show this winter.  It is now on the to be quilted pile!

Last week my local guild hosted Debbie Caffrey for a lecture and two workshops!  I was unable to attend her PowerCutting workshop on Friday, but I was able to take her workshop Open a Can of Worms. There we learned some power cutting techniques, how to use the half square triangle ruler to make half square triangles and trapezoids.  These blocks I got done in the morning.

These I got done in the afternoon, sort of like extra credit!  These fabrics are the same fabrics I used in the Kaye England workshop a few months ago.  They are Christmas prints, so I will be able to make a sampler of workshop blocks at some point in time!  The diamond shape I am going to make a small medallion quilt with it!

Quilt Shows!

One of the things that has kept me busy is going to quilt shows!  Back when we rode Harley's (and yes, I had my own!) we used to plan our vacations around going to bike rallies.  Now, we plan our vacations around going to quilt shows!
I am so fortunate to live within driving distance of several really great shows!  One of my favorites is Indiana Heritage Quilt Show that is located 3 hours away in Bloomington, IN. It is a smaller show, but it more than makes up for volume by the quality of the quilts!  And the roster of national teachers is phenomenal!  I always have a hard time deciding what classes to take!  This year, I decided to immerse myself in learning EQ7.  I have had the program (which is a quilt designing software) for several years, and played with it, but really felt like I could get more out of it than I could teach myself.  So for three days I took classes, starting with the basics to more advanced.  I know there is still much more that I can learn, but I have a much better grasp on it!

On a whim, I decided to enter Circle of Life.  When I didn't get an email notifying me of a ribbon, I thought, okay.  Then when I started to go through the show on my lunch break, a friend saw me and congratulated me on my ribbon!  What!  An Honorable Mention!  The competition was tough, so the HM is a thrill!

The next show was Paducah!  Living just 4 hours away makes this an easy show to get to.  I left hubby at home and stayed with some friends.  I also met up with a church friend from way back who lives and works in Paducah.  I only took one class this year.  I have set a goal of learning to become an certified quilt appraiser.  The class I took was an all day class on Dating Quilts.  Oh, my!  There is just so much to learn!  I have increased my library with reference books.  And have developed a fascination with Feedsack Fabrics!

Of course, Paducah itself is inspiration galore!  Fantastic quilts, crowds of talented quilters, vendors galore hawking every notion imaginable!  If you can't find it at Paducah (or Houston) you probably don't need it!

 

AQS once again presented the Tentmakers of Cairo.  I had seen them in Grand Rapids, but never tire of watching these talented gentlemen plying those ginormous scissors to make such intricate shapes!

Stay tuned for more updates!



Indiana Heritage Quilt Show

I just spent a fantastic long weekend in Bloomington, IN at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show.  The only sad note is this weekend is also marked with deadly tornadoes through southern Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and on and on.  My heart and prayers go out to those affected by the storms.  Please remember that this tragedy will go on for these people long after we have put it out of our minds, so continue to keep good thoughts going their way.

I first was introduced to IHQS when Mickey Depre was teaching down here a few years ago.  We had been internet friends, and I wanted to take a class from her, so that was the perfect opportunity.  I passed up last year because of time constraints (well, I was going to Paris, and needed to save my shekels for that trip), but I couldn't pass up this year's show!  The instructors for this year's show were all people that I had either taken a class with, or had their books and was wanting to take classes from!  What to choose?  It was difficult!

Bloomington, IN is about 3 hours from my home, so we came on Thursday to travel leisurely.  After getting checked into our hotel, we went to Shiisa Quilts.  Being the smart woman that I am, I encouraged my hubby to go into the shop with me!  He saw lots of things that he thought I should do!  I did buy a batik for another project, and one kit for a cool wall hanging that he liked.  I only wish I had the time to do all the things he wants me to do, and all the things I want to do!

I got to meet Janet Meese, another internet friend, who is the owner of Shiisa Quilts!  What a delightful lady, and very welcoming!  I will be traveling down the end of the month to take a Hexie class from Mickey Depre, and staying over for an all day sew the next day!  What fun!

I was craving pizza, so asked Janet a recommendation for a good pizza place!  Without hesitation, she recommended Lennie's Pizza.  And why not!  Lennie is her brother!  It was so great, that we went Thursday night, and again on Saturday night!

Of course, I had to have a stein of the home brew from the Bloomington Brewing Company.  On Janet's recommendation, I tried the Java Porter.  Good choice, Janet!

My first class with Nancy Prince.  I was first introduced to Nancy from The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims.  I love the look of thread painting and was wanting to experience all I could!  Nancy is a delightful instructor, and helped all of us do our best with our class project!

Hubby was impressed!  It was lots of fun to do!  I am still amazed that I actually did this!

In keeping with the eccentricity, or eclectic, style that defines my quilting experience, the next day I took a class with Sally Collins.  Sally is known for her precision quilting, and her miniatures!  Another awesome instructor who took the time to explain how she gets her precision work done.  And spent time with all of us to make sure we would come away from the class with the tools to improve our quilting, whether on a minature level, or on a more "normal" sized level.

Yes, that is my class sample we are holding!  I was the over achiever and got two done in class!  I see a miniature quilt in my future!

Oh, Yes!  There was also a quilt show there!  This was the Best of Show quilt!  All the quilts were awesome, and I got lots of inspiration from them!  And a great group of vendors, too!

Ellen Anne Eddy

One of the best benefits of belonging to my local guild is the great speakers that we have come to give lectures and workshops.   Our next big name speaker to come will be Ellen Anne Eddy.  I had not heard to her, but when I heard the names of the workshops (The Color Cookbook Approach, Gilding the Lily, Bobbin Work Applique Flowers, Thread Magic Mastery: Working with all Kinds of Threads) I knew that this was going to be a great.  Then, I was reading Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles and she had done a review of Ellen's latest book.  I knew I had to get this book before Ellen came.

I consider myself pretty savvy as far as ordering things from the internet.  But the morning I went to Ellen's site, was not one of my better days.  I erroneous ordered two of her newest book, Thread Magic Garden, and I tried to correct it, but my computer was giving me some fits.  I decided it would be okay, as I could always gift the extra one. 

Okay, to quote John Melloncamp, I'm still hayseed enough to say look who's in the big town.  So when my cell phone jingled, and showed an unfamiliar phone number, I wondered who could be calling.  It was none other than Ellen Anne Eddy herself!  She had seen that I was having some difficulty, and just decided to call and straighten up the situation!   What a pleasant and congenial person.  We chatted about computers, and her upcoming appearance in Champaign.  I even ended up buying a third book on her recommendation, that would help with one of her workshops.

Her newest book explains how to do thread painting, and speaks of the stabilizers, interfacings, and threads that she likes to use.  She also explains her technique, so that you can try your hand at thread painting.  This is a my attempt to do a free hand flower.  A bit of puckering, because I didn't have it well stabilized, but I was pretty happy with the results.

The best thing is that she breaks down how to create different kinds of flowers, and shows not only the finished product, but also what it would look like before you add the stitching.

I tried my hand at the zinnia that is pictured above.  I love zinnias, used to grow them in my flower garden when I was growing up.  They always remind me of my Aunt Zola.  Here's my attempt.  I think is not a bad job!

I love thread painting.  I will be taking a class with Nancy Prince at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show next month.  And I love Ann Fahl's work.  If you love thread work, I really think these books are for you!