Quilt Artistry

Proressing nicely

2011-12-31T10:57:00.002-05:00

Well the quilt in my last post is progressing nicely. I am quite pleased. It started with one idea in mind and as it progressed it became a quilt more about what my mother taught me then anything else. So while doing all the machine quilting, and yes there is quite a bit, I decided that the wording added next would have a purpose.

If you know me or my family, you know my Mom is a strong women. She raised us all to be strong, independent women. I hope I have instilled half of what my Mom instilled in me, in my daughter, but that is another story. So as I quilted, I thought of words that would be fitting to describe what my Mom taught me. I came up with Confident, Proud and Passionate, but after looking at the words written down, I knew I wanted another word for Confident that began with a "P". Without revealing the reason why, I asked both of my kids, separately, for another word for Confident. Well believe it or not they both suggested Poised. Robert said that one of his football mantras is "Poise is Confidence under Pressure". Hmmm, I like that expression a lot. Even if it had nothing to do with the piece, I thought it described both me and my Mom really well. When I told him why I asked, he agreed (as did Raven) that Poised was the right word for their Nana!

While this photo does not show the lettering in their current position, it does show the font I used. I have moved the words around to make them balanced, but don't you love how the curls of the "P"s resemble the curly ques in the quilting of the hair and the curls of the applique. I think they are a perfect accent!

I stitched the letters in place 2 days ago. Next, I have to determine what type and how much quilting I will add to the face. I want to reduce some of the puffiness, without too much quilting. Then I will make some piping to use as the binding. I have to run out and get the right size cording, what I have is too thin to properly frame this piece. The binding will be made out of the same Kona Black as the applique to frame the piece without adding a heavy boarder or binding.

Well Happy New Years everyone! I hope 2012 is a great year for you all!!

Renee

One of my newer projects ...

2011-11-10T16:49:00.001-05:00

Here is a piece I started at CG Fall Retreat 2011 a few weeks ago. I am loving this piece... I know, I love them all :-)

This will be a tribute to my Mom who has taught me to be a strong, confident woman. As you can see the profile is generic in nature... it could be me, Mom, or even you. The message here is that Women every where can all possess these traits.

I have already added the quilting to the hair, using just a touch of grey. I think such knowledge is viewed as wisdom. And NO, I do not think you need to age or be grey to have wisdom, it just seems I was greying before I appreciated my Mom for what she was and what she taught me, so I thought it only fitting :-).

I also added trapunto to the piece in the corners not occupied by applique. I echoed the paisley applique shapes for the trapunto and created sort of a trapunto boarder in those corners.

I am now in the process of quilting the piece. Unfortunately, last night after an hours worth of quilting, I realized the tension was off, so I spent the next 1 1/2 hours ripping it all out. I still have about another 1 1/2 hours of ripping tonight before I can get back to quilting.

Once the quilting is done, I plan to add wording down the center along the striped lines. Right now I am thinking: "Proud Confident Passionate", each on their own line. They will be in a heavier, darker thread than the background quilting to give them prominence. Since I added a layer of wool blend felt in the sandwich between the batting and backing, the quilting is pretty pronounced, so I want the wording to stand out as well.

I will post more pictures as I progress. Hope you enjoyed!

Hugs, Renee

CQ Retreat Fall 2011

2011-10-31T17:49:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been a busy month and I had a lot going on, so I guess I am going to have to start posting more regularly again :-).... I finished the clown quilt that I started during Hurricane Irene, I have finished a top I started over a year ago at Mary Anne Ciccotelli's 3D workshop and I am almost finished quilting a piece I started at this falls retreat.... but I will share all of those in separate posts, hopefully within the next week :-).

Today's post is about the CQ Fall 2011 Retreat two weeks ago at Interlaken Inn, in Lakeville, Ct. As always we had a ball, just laughing, eating and quilting away! A little smaller group this year than normal, only 48 of us, but still a wonderful time was had by all. Somehow I forgot to take pictures of quilts in progress until Sunday, so sorry if I missed sharing some of the masterpieces of the weekend.

This is Claire Oehler on the left, the former owner of the Country Quilter, our hostess and her daughter, Jane Davila on the right... both all smiles for the camera.

Here is Nancy Mirman, another of our hostesses for the weekend. She is very talented and has her own pattern line for quilted clothing, bags and accessories. Nancy is working on a paper pieced star from the new book she and Claire have just released! Those of us at retreat were fortunate to be able to order a copy and they will be signed by both Claire and Nancy... WooHoo!!!

Somehow I missed getting a picture of Noreen Lipolis, another one of our hostesses busy quilting, but I did get a shot of her from our Saturday night, Red Carpet themed dinner...

Noreen, is in black on the left. Sorry Noreen for not getting a better shot. But thanks to all 3 of you for a wonderful weekend!! P.S... no I don't dress up for theme nights.. so I played the roll of Paparazzi and took photos :-)....

And here is Donna Chambers working on her one of her mosaic pieces....

Donna, a goldsmith by trade, is so talented and has her own jewelry line. Check out her jewelry website for a little quilting inspiration :-)
This is Donna's mosaic technique. She will be teaching it to some lucky quilters at The Storytellers Retreat coming up this weekend and at Hartsdale Fabrics this winter in December and January. Her workshop filled up so fast at Storytellers that I am going to be her assistant. This shall be fun, can't wait until Friday :-).

Gay sat next to Donna in the Patio room (we love the sunlight and view of the garden during the day). Gay is part of the gang from The Pelham Quilters guild I belong to. A bunch of us (Donna, Lorraine, Margaret, Jeanne, Evelyn and I) have been coming to retreat for years. We even sit in the same seats.

Gay worked completely by hand this weekend. She does stunning hand applique and hand quilting. We were all so jealous when it was time to pack up. No machine, etc... to load up!

Here is Lorraine busy at work...

Lorraine was working on Christmas presents for her grandchildren this year. Sitting next to her is Margaret. Margaret always finds such lovely panels to incorporate into her work. This year she was working on a Dahlia piece for her sister.

Remember, in my last post I mentioned I had won 2nd place in the Art Quilts category at the ViewArts Show in Old Forge, NY. Well Marie won 1st place in the Wallhanging category and her lovely piece was used as the cover image for the Exhibit's Program. Way to go Marie!! Marie always works on very complicated paper piecing patterns. Here she is taking the easy way out, doing a 'simple' cat paper piecing pattern.... lol.

On the design wall behind Marie is Ashley's circle quilt, seen here..

Ashley is my long time buddy and retreat roomie. Can't believe I didn't get a picture of Ashley, but her gorgeous colors will have to represent her :-).

I also didn't get pictures this time of Jeanne or her Mom, Evelyn. Guess I was so focused on quilting this weekend that my picture taking duties seem to have taken a back seat. Sorry Jeanne and Evelyn. I will remember to include you in April for our Spring 2012 retreat!

Well, now let's go next door into the room where we always here the most laughter coming from. On the design wall right outside our door was Dory Higgin's house piece, made from all striped fabrics.

Actually, Dory sits in our room, but the design walls were all busy when she went to lay out the piece so she slipped next door.

Also in the room next door is Jane Davila. If you are a quilter you know Jane's name. She is the a well known quilter, teacher, speaker and author. She teaches across the globe, has a great quilt pattern line and has written a number of "Sew Simple" quilt pattern books. Not sure how she will use this pattern, but I believe it is being created using a Jelly Roll....

Barbara comes every year and works on very interesting patterns. This year, she is turning a photo into a stunning floral piece...

You can see her pattern on the table in front of her in the first picture. It is an enlarged version of the photo in the bottom left hand corner of the picture below. I can't wait to see what it looks like in the spring, at our next retreat!

Here is Jenny intent on laying out a nice blue and white top...

I believe those are called tumbling blocks. There was another quilter working on a tumbling block pattern, but I didn't catch a photo of it.

Just like I don't remember whose top this is, I just loved the daisy fabric. I think it is one of those BQ block patterns...

Love the polka dots fabric as well!

Here is my piece. I stated it in a 3D Workshop with Mary Anne Ciccotelli over a year and a half ago. The mariners compass as well as the circular flying geese are all 3D, using Mary Anne's folded fabric method. I completed the circle after the workshop and then it just hung on my design wall, waiting for me to figure out what to do next. It finally spoke to me a few months ago, so I drafted out the rest and packed it up for retreat. The side boarder geese are folded as well, using the one seam flying geese method. They aren't sewn on at this point, but I have finished the top since coming home. More on that in another post.

Well I hope you enjoyed visiting with me today. As you can probably tell, we have a great bunch of quilters who retreat with the CQ ladies every 6 months. It is such an inspiration after a busy summer when I get so little quilting done.

I hope to bring you up to date on my other projects soon, but until then, Happy Quilting!

Hugs!!

Doing a happy dance!!

2011-10-02T20:52:00.000-04:00

I am grinning again!! I just got an email letting me know that "In the Spotlight" won a 2nd place ribbon at the 25th Annual Northeast Quilts Unlimited Exhibit.

This is the first time I have entered this competition. It is sponsored by View Arts, at the Arts Center in Old Forge, NY. This is not a typical show, instead it is a 2 month quilt exhibit held at the Arts Center. Info from their website states: "The quilts are hung gallery style and include quilts from all over the United States. This competitive exhibit features both traditional and eclectic quilts and wall hangings. Over $1,800 in cash and prizes are awarded." The exhibit runs from October 8th to November 30th, with an opening reception on the 8th.

Thanks go to my friend, Claire Oehler (who owned the Country Quilter in Somers, NY before retiring), for letting me know about the exhibit!

P.S. This is the 3rd ribbon for this quilt :-). It won second place ribbons in both the Empire Quilters Show, in NYC in March and the Northern Stars Show in Somers, NY this year.

A new toy!

2011-09-16T23:09:00.001-04:00

So while traveling this week on business a co-worker turned me on to note taking applications for my iPad. She uses Bamboo Paper. So I came home and tried them out. While I liked Bamboo Paper, I decided on Penultimate. Penultimate allows you to have multiple notebooks. So right away I created one for doodles and one for sketching new quilt ideas. It is so much fun! Using my finger I have been able to quickly create two pages of doodles and just now, two quilts that i had floating around in my mind. Penultimate let's you choose the width of the pen stroke, as well as one of five colors (black, grey, blue, green and red). This is going to be dangerous. The app let's you export the pages to PDF files, so I will try exporting my doodles and post soon. I love that you can also grab photos out of your photo library and draw on them. Can't wait to try that. Can you imagine I can take a picture of a finished top, import it and then try out quilting designs. Oh yeah..... I think I found me new best friend :-).

"Clowning" around during Irene

2011-08-30T23:13:00.000-04:00

My prayers and good wishes go out to those who are still without power or have been flooded out of their homes here on the east coast. I know these are trying times for many. We were very fortunate that Hurricane Irene just left us with some twigs on the ground after it came through on Sunday with it's strong winds and rain.

The rain started here on Saturday and for the first time in a long time, I was able to sit down and sew for more than an hour at a time. Since I had finished Ashante Rhythms that you saw in my last post and it is all ready to be shipped to the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, I was ready to begin my next project. With 3 babies coming into the family over the next 6 months, I knew that I was not going to get a chance to work on any of my 3 WIP's. No they would have to wait for awhile.

Instead, I started on a baby quilt for a little boy who joined the family 2 weeks ago. I knew it was going to be a clown quilt. I had even picked up some coloring books with clowns in them to get a feel for the applique I was going to have to make. So early Saturday afternoon I sat down with my sketchpad, pencils, wonder-under and some fabrics I brought in Chile this spring and by later that evening. I had my clown all fused down. (Thank God for crockpots, because I was able to put some short ribs of beef in about noon, and didn't have to worry about stopping to cook hubby dinner :-) ). I spent Sunday afternoon and evening appliqueing him down with a tight satin stitch. I figured that it will be washed many times over, so I better stitch it down good. Tonight I went in and did another round of satin stitch on the ribbon collar to give it some dimension and then added highlights to the eyes and nose with some thread play.


So what do you think?

He will be in the center of the quilt top and he will be juggling balls, spelling out the baby's name. I drafted the balls this evening as well, so I will spend time the rest of this week creating those appliques and then adding sides and top to the clown rectangle, so the balls can be appliqued in a semi circle over his head. I expect the finished top to be about 50" x 40".

I hope he and Mommy like it :-)

Is he finished yet?

2011-08-04T22:38:00.002-04:00

Have you ever had a slow talking quilt? Well this dancer is exactly that. Don't think he will sweet talk anyone anytime soon :-)....

I have had my latest dancer in the works since late winter. Yes, I seem to be quite fixated on dancers these days, but I guess like my circle quilts of a few years ago, they are my muse at the moment. While the center was easy applique from my sketch pad, we went through early spring together deciding on how to work the sashing and boarders. I threw away a bit of fabric deciding on the sashing color... blue or yellow, but finally he said blue. The boarder accent fabric had been my inspiration for the color scheme, but oh my there sat full circles printed too far away from each other for my use. So I had to improvise by fussy cutting the circles out of their black background fabric, cut them in half and applique them on a different Kona black fabric at a distance that worked for him.... phew!

Then it was how to quilt it in late spring. The center was easy. I wanted something that had a primitive look to it and I had to be able to hide some Adrinka symbols in the background. A couple of hours and the center was done. But, once again, the sashing became the stumbling block. So once again, I had to put him down until he spoke to me.

By early summer he was finally quilted, but he needed more. So I decided to pull out some embellishments I had brought for my last dancer and never used. He has a silk ribbon skirt, as well as arm and ankle bands made of yarn and beads and a beaded neck piece. Then I added crystals here and there, both in the background to accent the Adrinka symbols, but also in the center of each of the setting squares. I figured, hey why not... it adds a sort of pizazz! :-)

He is quilted entirely in Superior Threads.... Rainbows for the Adrinka symbols, and then either SewFine or Masterpiece for everything else.

How do you like those abs ? :-)

Tonight I finally got around to squaring it up, so I can attach the binding this weekend. It would be nice to get him finished in time to submit him into the Pennsylvania Quilt Fest, but entries have to postmarked by next Friday, and of course.... I am not sure if he is finished yet.... I think he wants a headdress.... I think he's telling me that no respectable Asante warrior would go into battle without one.

What to do... what to do.... What do you think?

Is he finished yet????

The Quilt Shop, Santiago, Chile

2011-06-27T12:05:00.001-04:00

You can tell life has been crazy when it takes you 2 weeks to blog about something you really enjoyed. But as many of you know, that is my life. I hope it will settle down at some point, but for now, I will take it as it comes :-).

All this to say, that I am really excited to share a surprise that I stumbled upon in Santiago, Chile 2 weeks ago. The Quilt Shop! That's right. I was in Argentina and Chile for business so of course I went looking for a quilt shop. Although I searched the web and asked around, I found nothing in Buenos Aires, Argentina. No one there even knew what I was asking about. But while browsing the web for a shop in Argentina, up popped an article about the owner of a shop in Chile, who had single handedly brought the art of quilting to Chile! Pilar Donoso I., a Chilean woman who had lived in California for twenty years. You can read the whole story on The Planet Patchwork site here.

But Pilar, did just that. She opened the only quilt shop in Chile, she has her own line of patterns written entirely in Spanish and she teaches classes to a growing number of Chilean Quilters. They even had their first show last year! The shop on Vitacura, is tucked behind a large tree but is quite welcoming, with brightly colored quilts hanging throughout the shop. All are class samplers and as Pilar says, making samples for classes means less time for her personal quilting, but it helps to promote the shop and where quilting is heading.

Visiting the shop, you van see why Pilar has been so successful. When I entered with a co-worker from Mexico, she got up from her machine and chatted with us for quite awhile, helping to share the art of quilting with my co-worker, who had no idea why I dragged her off to find a quilt shop before we could eat dinner :-). Before she met me, the co-worker had no idea that people cut up fabric, only to sew it back again.

Pilar and I chatted about quilting in Latin America in general and Chile in particular until another customer came in. I browsed the fabrics, while she gave the new customer the same warm welcome she had given us. I made my selections, seeing many fabrics I recognized from shops here in the states, but as always supporting the LQS I visit. Pilar made sure she gave me one of her signature The Quilt Shop bags to carry my goodies home.

Yum.. Yumm... I have a clown quilt to make for a baby, so these fabrics are just perfect :-).

Thanks Pilar!

Bisa Butler comes to Pelham Quilters!

2011-06-09T23:49:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. This is not good. Plus I have so many exciting things to share with you. But today, I will start with a workshop held by Pelham Quilters on May 21st. We had the pleasure of having Bisa Butler come to visit! Bisa is a collage artist who now does all her work in fabric. Her signature works are portraits and that is what she taught the 11 women of Pelham Quilters on such a fine day in May.

As always the group was revved up and ready to go. Each started before the actual day of class, by sending Bisa a photo, which she broke down into lights, mediums and darks and sent back to us, so we could create the pattern in whatever size we wanted to work in. Armed with 2 copies of our patterns in hand, we began.

I must say most, that is everyone but me, really picked up the concept and grasped the whole, color and value thing quite quickly. Just look at what some of the ladies were able to accomplish in just a few hours...

First, let's look at Joanne Maroney.... She is working on a picture of Jill Scott, the singer... You can actually see the face come alive as she progresses thoughout the day. Looking at all the little pieces in the pattern on the left!

I just love the eyes, so expressive! Even at this stage.

Next, let's take a look at Anne Frascarelli, who is working on a portrait of her Dad...

Not sure Anne is making as much progress on her piece as she is on the donut that Donna brought in :-) I must admit, they were yummy!

Cathy's made good progress with the picture of her daughter....

As did both Doris with her grandson and Donna with her daughter, Corey, all decked out....

Then there was Joann and Millie...

I believe Joann is also working on a picture of her Dad, while Millie is doing a self portrait. As you can see both were so engrossed in what they were doing, that neither looked up for the camera.

Next we have Jean, who is working on a present for a co-worker.

As with all our Pelham workshops, Jean is one, I am am sure will actually finish her piece :-).

I worked on a piece as well, but with getting things set-up, ordering and distributing lunch, taking photo's and yes, running my mouth, I didn't get much accomplished. But then again, since mine will be an Xmas present for someone who reads my blog, I couldn't share my progress anyway :-)/

Northern Star Quilt Show 2011: Part II

2011-05-09T20:59:00.000-04:00

Here's an update on the NSQS, A World of Quilts XXXII. I never did post pictures from all the other wonderful quilts.

This won Best in Show.... it is fantastic... but it took Carolyn Cook 4 years to complete! Shaping the trees and adding all the details. The trees on the right hand side are shaped by using wide ropeing, cut in half and stitched over with various yarns. If you get a close look, you will see how each element was made individually and added to the top. Carolyn said it took her months to decide to leave the top uneven. Her original plan was to have a black boarder... but after looking at it behind the piece for months she knew it wasn't right. I am glad she didn't.

You have seen this piece before, it is from my friend, Donna Chambers. "Dr Smoooth" was a creation pulled together after taking a 3D class with Mary Anne Ciccotelli. Donna and Mary Anne (you'll see her quilt in a minute) are both members of Pelham Quilters with me as well as a fellow quilters in the mini-group I belong to.

"Goodbye NY" by Jerri Riggs received Honorable Mention. Jerri is known for his bright colors, which is why I have always loved her work. There is tons of quilting in this piece. Jerri dyed her own fabric for the background.

I have always wanted to do a Jacqueline de Longe quilt. Here is one "Colors of Life" by M. Sugar. Look at all the piecing. I love those points and colors!

Another friend of mine, Mary Anne Ciccotelli, made this quilt as a wedding present for her niece and nephew. It is absolutely gorgeous!

I really was happy to see so many quilts of different styles and techniques, and soo many by my quilting friends :-). I actually watched this piece by Sandra Parratt, another member of my mini group, come alive. I remember Sandra going through the decision process on the size and shape of the black birds. "Eye of the Black Bird" took 2nd Place in it's category of small quilts. Sandra does a ton of thread painting in her work. She did a lesson for our mini group, but I still haven't mastered the technique.

This quilt just captured my eye for a long while. "Scattered Blocks" by Sterk (sorry, I missed the first name), is very different then the rest of the quilts in the show. Each block is totally different, but blends into the rest of the quilt quite nicely. I love the way she gave the illusion of the blocks being 3D by adding a darker fabric to give the feel of shadows.

While I didn't get pictures for some reason, I want to give a shout-out to Eunice and her husband. Both got ribbons this year. Eunice for 2 very different quilts, in 2 very different styles. Eunice and I, as well as Donna Chambers partake in the bi-annual Country Quilter Retreat (hear after to be known as the CQ Getaway). Way to go Eunice!

Ok, time to get quilting. I will see if I can post more pics later in the week.

Cheers!

Quilters are such wonderful people!

2011-05-05T16:00:00.000-04:00

I received a really wonderful card yesterday with a Happy Birthday message from a woman I have never met before. She is a fellow quilter and member of Empire Quilters, a guild I belong to in NYC, although I rarely attend the meetings. In the card were photo's of two of my quilts which were in the recent Empire Quilter's Show - Urban Inspirations.

In the card was a note, telling me how much she enjoyed seeing my quilts in the show, congratulating me on my ribbon and telling me how much she enjoys seeing my work. WOW! I am deeply touched. She concluded by saying she was one of my many fans :-).

So Cindy Russell.... if by chance you happen to be at this months meeting, I will be there and I hope I get the opportunity to Thank You in person for making my day!

Renee

Thanks to Jane Davila, I finally figured it out!

2011-05-03T12:01:00.001-04:00

If you remember in March I did on post on Quilt Show Judges comments. I had just received my quilts and comments back from the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest. All in all the comments were spot on, but I just couldn't seem to comprehend what one comment was meant to tell me..... "Your quilting was all the same size, flattening the otherwise very daring composition." I discussed this comment with quite a few quilting friends and we all just scratched our head. How would varying the size of the quilting improve the composition? Especially when the design included trapunto and to see the full effect of the trapunto, you need tight quilting. That is what helps make the trapunto stand out.

Well, last night Jane Davila gave a lecture to The Pelham Quilters on the "Elements of Design". She discussed the principles of color, value, contrast, symmetry, repetition, scale...... and quite a few others and how they work together to help improve the design of the quilt and to tell the quilts story (oh.. I will share one quote in a bit, that really hit me in the face :-). She shared some of her pieces, as well as those from family and friends to highlight how each of these elements improved the overall aesthetics of the quilt. But notice the word SCALE..... hmmmm... the judges comment talked about how my quilting was all the same size. Well, think about it, varying scale of objects in your quilt top, makes it more interesting... your eye has to roam, move around the quilt. The various size of objects help to make some more important or dominant in the quilt top, while allowing others to play back-up roles. We do this all the time, without even realizing it. All this I knew....... But could this really be true with the quilting? OMG yes! The quilt in question, has 3 different size medallions, nested one inside the other, appliqued on a blue background.

Can you imagine the difference in this piece, if I increased the scale of the quilting as I came out from the center? Since the colors get brighter as you work your way out of the center, just think if the quilting did the same... from tiny to small to medium to large! It might even had an almost 3D effect !!!

Well, thank you Jane for my 'AHA!' moment. Sometimes, we have to have a nail pierce through our outer protective layer and listen with no ownership for us to really understand things that can effect both our being and our art!! I am glad, that I was at least open enough for it to penetrate, for that is how we grow, both as individuals and as artist.

Now for the comment of the night (at least in my humble opinion)....

"Art is a conversation between the artist and a viewer, so a piece is not finished, until it has been viewed by someone else besides the artist."

Cheers!

Northern Star Quilt Show 2011: 3 Quilts and 3 Ribbons..... WooHoo!

2011-05-01T22:11:00.000-04:00

I have been on the road in Latin America this past week, but I was very happy to make it back in time to attend the Northern Star 2011 World of Quilts Show in Somers, NY. The show always features a very diverse body of quilts, which is full of new and exiting techniques as well as traditional bed quilts.

Well, last night I received an email congratulating me on my ribbon from a friend in the Pelham Quilters. While on my way up to the show today, I got a text from another friend Teri Lucas, that simply said "WOW". So yes, I was excited and I knew I had won something, but since I had 3 quilts in the show, I didn't know which one or what type of ribbon.

As I walked into the show floor, fellow guild members from 2 guilds and friends from the Country Quilter Retreat gang, came up offering their congratulations. I thanked them all, but still didn't know what for. The first quilt I saw was "In the Spotlight" with it's 2nd Place ribbon in the Appliqued Wallhanging - Human/Animal category and I was so happy. It got an "Honorable Mention" last month at the Empire Quilter's show. Then I turned the corner and to my surprise, there was "Mis Hijos" the portrait quilt of my children from a workshop with Bisa Butler and it received "Honorable Mention" in the small quilts category. I was soo happy...:-) 2 ribbons, just like last years show!! Well I continued through the show and I was stopped in my tracks..... there was "In a Blaze of Glory" with a 3rd place ribbon in the Appliqued Wallhanging category!!!

I was so thrilled, I stood in the middle of the aisle and just grinned. 3 quilts, 3 different styles of quilting, 3 totally different looks and 3 ribbons. I am humbled. Thank You Northern Stars :-)....

Of course there were many other wonderful quilts in the show, but I will have to share those tomorrow, as I am almost out of battery on my laptop. But I thought I would close by sharing the text I received from my son, when I told him that I had won ribbons on all 3 quilts..... He replied.... "LOL you mean a quilt with my face on it won a ribbon!"

Priceless.....

MQX East 2011, Providence, Rhode Island

2011-04-22T00:06:00.000-04:00

I have been jotting around a lot lately and last weekend was no exception. I was fortunate to be able to get away Thursday night and DH and I toke the 3 hr drive to Providence, Rhode Island. It was a gorgeous day, so the drive was a pretty one. I had signed up for a class with Cathy Higgins (hint, hint... "What's Brewing?") on designing quilts from photos and one with Gina Perkins on creating great quilting designs. Gina had a family emergency come up, so I was fortunate to have Karen McTavish step in and teach the class. I have always wanted to take a class with Karen, so I wasn't too upset :-). But more on my classes another time. Today's post will be about the quilts. Boy was I blessed... the show was a gem! I have so many pics I am not sure all will make it into the post, but here goes.

Let's start out with the quilt by a friend of mine, Teri. Her quilt "Moon Over Manhattan" won a Teacher's Award. This quilt was also used as cover art for a rock group out of England.

Next is a quilt of another friend of mine from Facebook, Pat Delaney. Pat's quilt "Inspiration From Nature's Art" was quite striking. It is always nice to see quilts made by friends hanging in shows. I had never met Pat in person before, that is until MQX. She and I both tried out the APQS Millennium long arm machine. Yes, I am still dreaming :-). But for the time being Pat does all her quilting on her domestic machine, like me.

Here is a close-up of the quilting. Pat and I were both in the quilting lecture by Karen McTavish. Not sure she needs it.

There were a couple of quilts by Dustin Farrell that really impressed me. His quilts were so original and so full of detail and of course, I loved the color in "Garden Orbes".

Look at those flying geese... they are all 3D... yes!!

Dustin did something I have seen very few quilters do. Once he had all his background quilting in using black thread on black fabric, yellow on yellow, blue on blue, etc..., he went in and added accent quilting using silver and gold thread. It looked like Glide poly, but I can not be sure.

Look at the level of detail in this piece. He has buttons and gems attached by crocheting them on with cotton thread circles.

And if you think that was good, look at this piece. It is done almost entirely with thread. Talk about a lot of thread!! Take a look at "Whitetail Morning"....

Take a close look.... let me know if you can see any fabric that isn't covered in thread. I dare you to find an area, bigger than an inch that isn't covered :-).

The level of detail is amazing. This deer looks so peaceful, just sitting there, taking in the sights...

Even the birdies in the tree are just chilling out, enjoying the morning air.

Well that's all for now. I have about 40 more pictures, so I will post more over the next week.

The kids are coming home for Easter weekend and then I am off to Peru and Columbia for work on Monday, so I will have plenty of plane and hotel time to do some posting.

Cheers!

Pelham Quilters 2011 Round Robin

2011-04-21T11:43:00.001-04:00

I have been really bad this year. I haven't kept you up to date on the Pelham Round Robin. Well, we have 3 tops going around this year. Unfortunately, I only have pics from two :-(. But here goes.

I didn't get a picture of the center alone. So I tried to crop it from another photo, so you can see the wonderful hand applique that started this piece. The photo gives you a hint of what was added in round two, but think about receiving a square with this gorgeous hand applique on a square beige background.

We all had visions of a wonderful traditional quilt top springing up from the center tree. Well, weren't we amazed when the second quilter brought the piece back in with her round added.

Stunning right? She took the 'love birds' in the piece and created a mosaic heart boarder, circling the tree and love birds. Talk about taking the obvious and putting your own personal spin on it. The mosaic pieces were all randomly cut and individually placed on the background. The fabric had fusible web on the back before it was cut into pieces. I can't wait to see what comes in for the third and final round :-).

The second top started as a paper pieced circular star. It's color choices were very unusual.... teal, purple, pink, off-white and BROWN. That's right brown and not black. She drew her colors from the batik, which had all of these as well as a bit of green and lilac.

Once again, the group expected the piece to come back with more paper piecing or as a circle. But notice the change, not only in shape, but also in color focus. In the above photo, the purple and teal come forward as dominant colors. Not anymore.... The piece has morphed quite a bit and the brown and pink have replaced the purple as one of the dominate colors. Funny what one picks out of another's piece as the focal point to draw inspiration from. The second round has carried forward points as a design element, but those points are now pointing inward, vs out and they don't mirror the circular shape of the first round.

These are going to part of our best round robin yet. Can't wait to see what comes in for the third top.

WooHoo Ladies!!

Country Quilter Spring 2011 Getaway...What a great time!

2011-04-06T23:29:00.000-04:00

So last week was a whirlwind!! I was in Mexico City, Mexico for work Monday through Thursday. Then Friday afternoon, after only about 15 hours home, I picked up my friend Lorraine and headed north to Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, Ct for our bi-annual Country Quilter quilting retreat. Along with 55 other quilters we had a wonderful 3 days of eating, laughing and quilting, thanks to the ladies of the former Country Quilter in Somers, NY. Even though the shop is closed, Claire Oehler, Nancy Mirman and Noreen Lipolis (CNN to their friends) have kept the retreat going. Claire was the owner of the Country Quilter for over 20 years, so she knows what it takes to make quilters feel at home.

As is the norm, I thought I would share some pics of the weekend. For the life of me, I can't remember the names of all the ladies, but as you can see, we are a big group :-).

So if you are reading this post and I don't identify you, please know that it is merely a senior moment. You know one of those times when the world goes blank and all the thread seems to just jumble up and clog the gray matter we call our brain.

At least these ladies by Donna Chambers have hats on to keep their brains together. Donna is always doing something different to keep us on our toes.

Now completely different, Donna is working on a collage piece in prep for a class she is thinking about offering. Just wait until you see the work she did on our Pelham Quilters Round Robin... a collage heart that will blow your mind... unless you pull your hat over your eyes :-).

And here's Ashley working on the back to her green and white quilt. She was intense, determined to finish a bed quilt she'd started at the last retreat.

Eileen is just starting a new piece, squaring up her center for each square.

Maria is at the other end of her project. All sandwiched up, by Sunday, Maria is beginning to machine quilt her weekends project.

Ever have a hard time deciding on baorders? Pat is getting help from her fellow quilters (senior moment here... sorry).

This is a piece that I worked on this weekend, translating a picture of a parrot I took at Jungle Island in Miami into a quilt. Still need to fix the beak and add more leaves.... but I love all the thread art used to create the parrot. I will probably also add more definition to show his ruffled feathers. I might even have to define his perch a little more, it seems to be blending into the background... oh well, that is why photographing your work, can really help you to see what a piece needs. Love having a digital camera :-).

Yes, we have hand quilters in the group as well. Doesn't she look so relaxed... hmmm maybe I need to take a page from her book.

Funny thing, while Mom sits peacefully with her hand quilting, daughter is busy at her machine creating a new quilt. Will she machine or hand quilt it? Guess we will have to wait until October to find out.

Smiles all around with this cheery yellow quilt. With kaleidoscope blocks on her design wall behind her, she holds up her latest completed block. Oh yes.... triple senior moment with the last three photos :-).

Claire is busy using the left over fabrics from two other quilts to make a third blue and white quilt. The colors must agree with her... she is all smiles for the camera.

Oh yes, here is our fearless leader. As you can see by Sunday night many retreaters have packed up their machines and are relaxing with hand work. Claire Oehler, the mastermind behind our wonderful weekend.... WOOHOO!..... is chilling doing some hand work on one of her quilts.

Nancy, one of the N's in CNN, is 'chilaxing' as well.... yes, I picked up some slang from my great nephew.... I think she is working on a binding, winding down a quilt, as we all wind down for the weekend!

Now it is count down until Oct 14th, when we all head back up to Interlaken Inn, for another wonderful weekend with good friends, lots of food and laughter and all the quilting you can imagine. Interested in joining us? Just email the ladies at cqgetaway@gmail.com. I think I heard there are only 17 spots left!

Hope to see you there!

New Jersey Quilt Fest pics!

2011-03-30T00:57:00.000-04:00

As promised here are pics from the New Jersey Quilt Fest held earlier this month.

Once again I created a SmileBox slide show, because with 51 pics, it was toooooooo many to copy here one by one. Most have the signage showing title of quilt, quilter and data about the quilt, but some, I just got carried away and started taking pics :-).

Free picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

Hope you enjoy the show :-)

Renee

In the Spotlight wins Honorable Mention at the Empire Quilter's Show!!

2011-03-28T22:59:00.001-04:00

This past weekend one of the guilds I belong to, Empire Quilter's, held their bi-annual show: Urban Inspirations 2011. I was lucky enough to have two quilts in the show. In the Spotlight and A Blaze of Glory. If you remember, these are the same two quilts that were juried into the Mancuso, Virginia Quilt Fest. Well, In the Spotlight won an Honorable Mention, in the Art Quilts category.... WooHoo!!!

Blaze of Glory was in the Wall Quilts category...

I really chuckled when I read the judges comments, because if you remember I felt kinda bewildered after reading the comments from Va Quilt Fest. But thankfully, these judges gave both compliments as well as suggestions for improvement,... like on Blaze, here are two of the comments: 1) Scale of quilting is perfect for the design of the quilt, and 2) When using flange on a quilt try to make sure it is the same size all around the quilt. Boy, I couldn't agree more and remember considering taking off the binding when I first finished the piece to try and fix the piping. Compare those two comments to the comments from the Va show: 1) Your quilting was all the same size, flattening the otherwise very daring composition., and 2) Like the use of piping. So I guess as the saying goes, take a judges comments for what they are worth and move on :-).

And that is what I am going to do. I submitted both of these quilts and a third in another show at the end of April. I don't know if they will be accepted, but it will be interesting to hear what those judges have to say.

Anyway, for some reason, the colors and quality of my photos from the show aren't great, so I am only going to share those that are half decent. Enjoy....

I love the beading on this piece. The bodices on the dresses as is the bottom border are hand beaded!

The center applique figure is a pattern, which the quilter embellished with bead work.

Believe it or not, this was a Kaffe challenge. All the skirts are made from Kaffe fabric.

I find this peice visually striking and her detail is exquisite! Too bad I didn't get a close-up so you could appreciate the quilting. Sorry :-)

This piece reminds me of many of my doodles, that have yet to be turned into a quilt.... oh well ... The quilting really enhances the effectiveness of this piece.

Well hope you enjoyed the show! I have pictures from two more shows that I have to share... AQS Lancaster and Quilt Fest NJ. Since I am traveling, maybe the nights in the hotel room will let me catch up.

Cheers!

You know when it just isn't right..

2011-03-23T23:12:00.000-04:00

Tonight I spent 2 hours frogging. That's right I ripped out last nights quilting and it took me a full 2 HOURS! Ughh...

But, I am sure this won't be the last time. Funny thing is, last night I stopped quilting a piece I had been working on for the last week. I am quilting a Christmas quilt for a friend. I was very pleased with the feathers I did in the bowtie blocks last week. Monday night I finished the sashing. So I thought I would sail right along last night and quilt the boarder. Well I practiced two different designs, decided on one and quilted 1 1/2 sides. Then, I lost my mojo. I just didn't feel like quilting anymore. So I listened to my senses and called it a night.

Tonight when I sat down at the machine, I knew immediately why I stopped last night. The quilt pattern just wasn't right for the piece. My husband looked at me with two heads when he saw all the ripping out I was doing. But, I know in my heart it was the right thing.

So back to the drawing board tomorrow.... or should I say, back to the sketchpad to find the right design for this quilt. My friend keeps my husband and son in baked goods. So I definitely need to make sure it is just right :-).

Night!

Current Work In Progress

2011-03-15T18:37:00.000-04:00

This started as a retirement present. But not anymore. I like it so much, I am keeping it for myself :-). But first of course, I have to figure out how to quilt it.

I have had a lot of fun with this piece. First when researching correct abdomen definition of male ballet dancers for when I quilt it, I found quite a bit of discussion on why modern day male dancers of all types stuff their fronts! You know for definition below the abs :-). Second, I have had the fabric I used for the outer boarder for awhile. It was inspiration for the color palette for the piece. But when it came time to actually add the boarder, I could not use the fabric as it came off the bolt. The circles were too big and too far about for my needs. So instead, I had to fussy cut the circles from their existing black background and with fusible create the new boarder fabric. I rather like the effect with the half circles circling the top. Next, I started having fun with how I will embellish the dancer. He is actually wearing a loincloth underneath the ribbon sheath I have pinned on. But I know once he is quilted, I will shape the sheath and add additional embellishments. More fun waiting to happen.

I know I want to do some type of hieroglyphic quilting in the background behind the dancer. I have a Superior Rainbow that will just blend right into the background, while still adding a punch. I know from my research, I want to add some definition to the dancers abs, to make him not only look more realistic, but also to provide for even quilting in the center.

The piece measures just under 48" x 60". It is a lot bigger than I originally envisioned, but I am loving every inch!

Hugs, Renee

Who's going to MQX East in Providence, Rhode island next month?

2011-03-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

I am excited. For the first time since I started machine quilting, I am going to attend MQX East this year..... WooHoo!!

So who will I meet? Will you be there? I will arrive sometime on Thursday the 14th and be in Providence until Sunday.

Any recommendations on things I should do?

Renee

Quilt show judge comments

2011-03-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

So my quilts came back today from The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. I was so happy to have them juried into the show, but getting them back was just as exciting. Why you ask? Because one of the reasons I wanted to enter such a large show and have my quilts judged was to start getting comments from some well known, international judges. I am emotionally ready to grow from comments/critiques made by 'the experts'.

Well I must say, I was a little disappointed. Yes, there was some constructive criticism if that is what you call it..... "Your quilting was all the same size, flattening the otherwise very daring composition.". So am I supposed to interpret this to mean that I executed the daring composition nicely, but ruined it by making all the quilting too uniform in size?

I did enjoy one comment on the same quilt, which read.... "Van Gough would have appreciated your choice of color, as he once said, there is no blue without orange and yellow".

I was disappointed reading the comments on my latest piece, "In the Spotlight". The only two comments read: like the boarder treatment on the ride and bottom, and like the subtle use of beads. It was is they didn't have time to provide real input, so they stated the obvious.

Yes, I know judging 200 quilts is a real daunting task. And no my work is not up to par with some of the internationally known Quilters who had quilts in the show, but I was hoping for either some real insightful comments or a number rating that would have given me a view of what they thought of where my work sat in areas of composition, choice of color and fabric, quilting, etc....

Oh well, they came back today and Saturday I take the same two quilts to be judged for the Empire Quilters 2011 Urban Inspirations Show, later this month at F.I.T in NYC.

Let's see if I am just expecting too much :-)

Night,

Renee

Vote for Paducah, KY as your Favorite Destination!

2011-02-24T09:49:00.000-05:00

Since 2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Dozen Distinctive Destination program has recognized cities and towns that offer an authentic visitor experience by combining dynamic downtowns, cultural diversity, attractive architecture, cultural landscapes and a strong commitment to historic preservation, sustainability and revitalization. In each community, residents have joined together and taken action to protect their town’s character. Browse their site to learn more about the 2011 Dozen Distinctive Destinations and cast your vote for your favorite destination through March 15th. When you vote, you will also be entered for a chance to win a 2 night stay at a historic hotel.

Come on fellow quilter's, let's make sure Paducah wins the top spot of distinction!

P.S. Thanks to Libby Lehman for sharing this news :-)

Cheers!

Shopping Trip :-)

2011-02-23T23:29:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it. I am working on my part of the Pelham Quilters Round Robin and I have made great progess. The applique is all fused on and half of it has a zig zag stitch securing it. Woo Hoo !! But.... as if I was getting dressed for a fancy party and opened my closet, only to discover I have nothing to wear..... I don't have the right shade of deep pink. How is it that possible with over 100 spools of thread??

My husband just shook his head and said, 'Oh well guess you will be heading to the quilt shop tomorrow'. My reply, 'unfortunately yes' :-)

Let's see.... anything else I need :-)

Cheers!.

Professional Quilt Photography Anyone?

2011-02-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Hi, just a quick post to see if anyone has paid to have their quilts professionally photographed? If so, can you share with me what they charged, how they charged, was there a minimum number of quilts, or a volume discount? Was it a pleasant experience, would you use the photographer again? Can you provide me with the name of the photographer or a website?

Any tips you can share about having quilts professionally photographed is appreciated. I am trying to help a photographer who is looking into offering a service for quilters.

Thanks!

It's Round Robin time for Pelham Quilters

2011-02-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you will know that Pelham Quilters in Pelham, NY have hosted a Round Robin for the last two years. I started this idea, as a way to stretch members creativity and give folks an opportunity to work on pieces they didn't start, with colors and techniques they might not ordinarily work with. I think Round Robins are a great way to begin working without a pattern or any preconceived notion of what has to happen next on a quilt top. This year we have three tops in circulation. I am working on the second round of one of those tops.

This is what I received just over a month ago. It is paper pieced with some very interesting fabrics. I love the batik in the background. It is made up of white, chocolate brown, teal, pink and even a hint of green. It took me almost 3 weeks to decide what I wanted to do with it. I love working in circles, but didn't think I wanted to keep the initial shape. Too predictable. I love points, so I knew that I wanted to have points in my round. I am also finding that I love having brown as a background, so I knew I was going to use the chocolate brown as a background for adding to the great colors of this piece.

Well here we are with two weeks left before I have to bring the top back to guild meeting and today I finally moved my idea from paper and strips of fabric and I am in the middle of creating.

I am off to my studio to start putting it all together. Check back next week to see if my ideas actually worked out. :-)

Cheers!

My first juried show!

2011-02-10T23:57:00.000-05:00

So I mailed off two of my babies today. In The Spotlight and A Blaze of Glory (yes finally named) were both juried into the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, Va. This is a first juried show for me. In the past, I only entered local guild shows. Yes, I have won a couple of ribbons, but that is not the same. To be accepted into a show with both national and internationally known quilters. I am so excited..... but also nervous.

Just think, I just sent my first two babies out into the world, to a show I have never even attended. I have no idea what types of quilts are usually shown. Plus they are walking in all alone.... without me or anyone I know there. I sure hope someone reads this and goes to the show and tells me how they look :-).

Oh yes, I forgot, I never got around to posting pics of In The Spotlight totally finished.

So here it is...

The center dancer was in my sketch pad for over two years, waiting for me to decide how to use it. Then a few years ago at the NJ Quilt Fest, I saw this fabric and immediately knew that he had found a home.

I appliqued him on using black thread, then added his sarong and head piece. His wrist and ankles have been embellished with both yarn and ribbons and his wrist also have beads.

Once he was on, I added a side and bottom boarder that is outlined with Superior Metallic thread. Using a free motion straight stitch, I added a zigzag edging to the wiggly boarder and connected the two side boards with another shade of Superior Metallics with horizontal thread play. I couldn't believe it took a couple of hours to do all of the metallic work!

Once together I used Superior Sew Fine and free motion quilted a 'flame' sttich radiating out from the center. I absolutely love the effect.

This is the first wallhanging that I have completed using a wool blend felt behind the cotton batting. I love the way it hangs. Thanks Juanita! :-)

Well now on to the next project... the Pelham Quilters Round Robin. I have the second round, which is due March 7th. I will post pics of this piece in the next week or so.

Cheers!

T-Ball Memories

2011-01-21T18:00:00.000-05:00

This past fall I took a Fabric Portrait class with Bisa Butler at the Storytellers in Cloth retreat. You can read more about the retreat here. I started this piece in class. This was a picture of my kids when they played T-Ball, standing in front of a tree. My son was in kindergarten at the time, my daughter was in 3rd grade. They are now 21 and 23 respectively. :-)

Some detail. First Raven,

and now Robert.....

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. It was a great class and I will definitely be making another !!! In fact we are bringing Bisa to do a workshop for The Pelham Quilters. So if you are near Southern Westchester County, NY and are interested in joining us, just leave me a comment or email me directly and I will share the details so you can join in on the fun!

I made a Quilted iPad cover....

2011-01-17T19:59:00.000-05:00

So I finally got around to taking pictures of the iPad case I made. Since I went ahead and purchased the Apple case with a hardcover to protect the screen I didn't worry about using Pellon. Instead I just used regular cotton batting. The quilted case serves two purposes: 1) holds my iPad along with the cords and my mifi card and 2) show my love for quilting.

As promised, I thought I would share some pictures:

I made a pocket on the front with an elastic opening, to store the cords and mifi adapter. I used velcro for closure.

As you can see, the inside is made from the same fabric as the binding. It is quilted on a diagonal using the grid method. The iPad slips in the inner pocket.

I just love it!!!

Quilted iPad Sleeve anyone?

2010-12-27T00:26:00.000-05:00

Hi, yes it has been awhile. December has been such a whirlwind. Amazingly, it has been a great month, just really BUSY!

I do have a question for my friends in blogland ---- has anyone made a quilted case for an iPad? My DH gave me one for Christmas and i want to make a case for it. So i was wondering if plan batting was stiff enough for the sleeve or if I should quilt it using Timtex or something similar. What do you think. Has anyone seen a post with hints or suggestions ???

All suggestions ae welcome!

I took 1st Place in the Storytellers 2010 Challenge!!!

2010-11-21T21:56:00.000-05:00

So I am finally getting back to my Storyteller posts. As promised, here is the posts on Storytellers 2010 Challenge. The subject was African American History over the last 15 years, to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Storytellers. We were asked to pick an event in African American history and make a 12 1/2" block, that was made up of white or white on white fabric, with no more than two other colors. Each block had to include crystal as it is the symbol for a 15th Anniversary, but we could add any other embellishment. Those in attendance voted to select the Viewers Choice. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons were awarded, along with scholarships to next years retreat.

Out of the 75 quilters only 10 submitted entries... Lucky me... I won 1st Place.... YEAH!

Here are the winning entries:

My tribute to Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe and "Revelations".. both celebrating 50 years. The creation of the Dance Troupe in 1958 and the Premiere of Revelations in 1960.

And here is second (Color in the White House) and third place (Storytellers Anniversary, by Joann Shelton):

.... and here is a smilebox with the other 7 entries:

Free slideshow design personalized with Smilebox

Hope you enjoyed the show....

Storytellers Show-n-Tell

2010-11-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

OK, here is installation number 2 of my pics from the Storytellers Retreat. Today I am posting pics from Show-N-Tell. It is always amazing to see the different styles of work, but for me what was unusual for 75 women from all over the US, was the similarity of the fabrics. They were all beautiful, it was just interesting to see such a consistent theme.

For easier viewing I have made a Smilebox. I would appreciate your comments as to whether or not you like the Smilebox postings or would prefer if I attached the pics one by one. Just leave a comment :-).

Ok, here you go:

Personalize your own photo slideshow

Hope you enjoyed the show!

Renee

What a weekend @ Storytellers!!

2010-11-17T17:35:00.001-05:00

I came home on Sunday with such a HIGH. Nothing better than being surrounded by other quilters, who are all so supportive and nurturing. There was 75 quilters in attendance with a few husbands sprinkled in, to help with technical aspects of the weekend. This was my first time at a Storytellers retreat (some have been going for 15 yrs!) and I will definitely be going back next year.

I took more than 70 pictures over the 4 days, so I will break my posts up by subject.... and no I won't post all the pics, but will do another Smilebox for those who want to see more than a few. I should start with my ribbon for the Challenge ... I WON 1st PLACE :-).... but since that was on the 3rd day, it will have to wait.... I will post all the challenge pictures together.

Ok, first thing Thursday morning was the first segment of Juanita Yeager's 2 1/2 day class, Paint It... Quilt It...Finish It... I took the first 2 days, paint/quilt it, and am I sooo happy I did! You can take a look at Juanita's blog here. She is such a talented fiber artist. In fact, while we were there she found out that she had won Best Machine Workmanship Award at Mancuso's show in West Palm Beach over the weekend.... way to go Juanita!

Juanita uses watercolor pigments to create the most stunning floral quilts. She stepped us through the materials she uses, including how she prepares her fabric and then guided us through a day of painting two different floral designs. Here is a picture of my first flower, that we drew freehand and then painted:

and here is my second flower which was first traced from Juanita's pattern and then painted....

On the second day, we learned all of Juanita's tips and techniques for machine quilting our flowers. The class was geared to anyone from a novice to someone like myself who has machine quilted for a while. I always find it amazing that quilters everywhere seem to have little tips to make quilting easier and Juanita had a few that I had never heard before. I love her tip on burying threads... oh my gosh so simple!... but you have to take her class to learn how (I can't just share her secrets with the world.. hehehehe...)

So here is my first flower after quilting:

All the quilted is done free motion, with no marking. She had us sign our piece while quilting in thread, like an artist signs their paintings. Notice the thread painting that provides more depth and contrast above the stem in different color Sulky Rayon threads.

I had such a wonderful time with Juanita and the other ladies in the class. Here is a short Smilebox with a few pictures of the other quilters work...

Another digital slideshow by Smilebox

I hope you get to take a class from Juanita one day... it will be well worth it!

Breakthrough thinking...

2010-10-29T00:21:00.000-04:00

In 14 days I will be joining 5 of my quilting friends and attending a Storytellers in Cloth Quilt Retreat at the Heritage Conference Center in Southbury, Ct. Two of my friends went last year, had such a good time and convinced the rest of us to go this year. I love retreats, so I really wanted to go, but had to find a roommate... Thanks Aline!

The theme for the weekend is "Remembering Our History" and Carolyn Mazloomi, a noted quilt maker and historian, will be the quest speaker. Since this is the 15th Anniversary for Storytellers, this years challenge is to create a 12.5" block that depicts an event from African American History over the last 15 years. The block must contain white or white on white fabric, no more than 2 other colors and use crystals (the symbol for 15th Anniversaries) as an embellishment. Now for those of you who know me, I don't do challenges. Why.... I am a very literal person, so I have a hard time thinking out of the box and creating a piece that conveys the theme. See, to me 'theme' doesn't equal pattern or technique. Tell me to design a mariners compass quilt or to do something with applique or paper piecing and I am in. But a theme, my brain doesn't work that way. At least not until now....

But lucky for me I have two relatively new 'inspirations' in my quilting life. 1) a mini group made up of some very talented quilters, who tend to gravitate more to the artsy non-traditional side than the traditional squares and triangles.... and 2) a new quilting buddy (she is also part of the mini group), who is an artist by trade and has helped me to step outside of my box.

So while I have had the challenge information for months, it wasn't until Mondays' mini group meeting that I had the courage to actually dive in. I came home and sketched out a new idea and as of tonight I have my block all laid out. No stitching yet, but this is the great thing... it is sort of cut, snip, pin, glue as you go... then when I get a composition I like, I will sew/quilt as I go. I have it up on my design wall, so that it will stare at me the next day or two, and if it says 'done', I'll start sewing. I am so excited. It is as if I have started on a new journey :-)

I am looking forward to continuing on my quilting evolution at The Storytellers weekend as I will be taking classes from two great quilters. Juanita Yeager's "Paint it, Quilt it" class where you learn to use watercolor pigments to create a quilt top design, then learn free motion quilting techniques to enhance the design. This is a recent piece by Juanita... look at the shading and texture in this flower. Yummmm

And Bisa Butler's "Portrait Quilts" class, learning to translate a picture into a portrait quilt. Both of these ladies are fabulous quilters. I just can't wait until I turn a photo of my kids into something like this quilt of hers...

This is going to be a truly inspiring 3 1/2 days... but first I have to finish my challenge piece!

P.S.... I can't post my challenge progress until the retreat is over as many of my friends read my blog and I can't give anything away. Hey, I do want to win one of the prizes :-)

I think I am hooked.. or should I say tickled :-)

2010-10-24T23:53:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have the feeling that you have found something that you just have to have? Or see something that you just want to do or try? Well that is how I am feeling about feathers right now. I want to put feathers in everything.

Many quilters use feathers in their quilting. Friend and quilter Teri Lucas has her curly feathers and boy take a look at how small she makes them!

Sally Terry has written books on her "Hooked on Feathers" technique

Sally Bramald has had some recent posts on her blog Feather on a Wire, that has been jaw dropping. Talk about eye candy... OMG!!!

Sally and Ferret have a way of making feathers look so yummy.

Nothing else, just feathers.

You can see why I have been adding feathers to everything lately :-). Now I just want to finish the 3 UFO's I have going, so I can make a whole cloth feather quilt on some of the luscious Radiance fabric (by Robert Kaufman) I brought from Quilted Angel in Petaluma, Ca this spring. Yummmmm I even have some qorgeous YLI silk thread to use.

Have I ever done a whole cloth quilt before...NO, but who cares. I can't wait to start sketching it out :-).

I know I promised, but here it is....

2010-10-22T16:04:00.000-04:00

So I did promise I would post pictures of my day trip with hubby to the Pennsylzannia National Quilt Festival. I know it was over a month ago, but hey better late than never, right :-).

What took me so long, was that I had so many wonderful shots I wanted to share with you. So I decided to try my hand at a Smilebox post. They say make someone smile in 5 minutes and it is true, it didn't take much longer than that.

So I hope you enjoy!

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Little Drummer Boy

2010-10-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

I finally got some decent pics of the quilt I made for my niece, Noelle. Here she is the day of her shower as she walked in. No she wasn't surprised, but she sure put on a good show :-)

As you remember, her hubby asked for a drum themed quilt as he plays the drums. So of course I tried to oblige and made my own drum applique design and built a quilt around it. Yes, they knew it was going to be a boy and Yes, they had already picked out a name, so I was fortunate. It made my designing process a whole lot easier :-).

So here is the quilt....

and here are a few close up shots....

I trapunto'd the drum, to give the little guy something to play with and to give the quilt a little texture.

His name, Lucas Samuel Lipscomb is monogrammed on the quilt...

Pinwheels with circular quilting... again trying to show movement with the quilting.

.... and my drumstick design.

Both Mommy and Daddy to be loved the quilt...and were anxious for the arrival of their little bundle of joy.

WELL...... Baby Lucas just couldn't contain himself. He arrived just 2 days later.... 5 WEEKS early!!

Isn't he a cutie!!

Tension!!!

2010-10-13T21:09:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have been quilting, but why do I have nothing to show for it?

Well, I have delivered 2 of the baby quilts. Both of the showers were great and the Mommy's to be loved the quilts! Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the one with the drums. Mine are all blurry, so I am waiting for my niece's husband to send me one.... he is a fabulous photographer. The third baby quilt is all done, except for the binding. She isn't due for another couple of weeks, so I have time to get that done.

So what am I working on... well I am quilting another quilt for a friend. My second commission piece.... YEAH! But OMG am I having tension problems and this is after the Bernina dealer worked on my machine for two hours! I don't know if it is the thread or needle or what. Finally, I have used a new needle, new spools of thread for both the blue top thread and white bottom thread AND lowered the top tension and tightened the bottom tension and think it is finally right.

I won't have time to work on it until the weekend, so keep me in your prayers :-)

Not Quilt Related, but I have to share

2010-09-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

Very rarely do I post about anything that isn't quilting related, but I just had to share with you my very uplifting lunch.

A few months ago, a friend of mine, Nancy Rosenberg (proprietor of the recently closed Quilt Cottage in Mamaroneck) suggested I become a mentor for an organization call HerHonor Mentoring. A program started by Nicole Sheindlin and her stepmother, Honorable Judy Sheindlin, aka Judge Judy. HerHonor Mentoring is a program designed to expose young women from at risk environments, who have managed to make the right decisions in life, to professional women in the fields they plan on pursuing in college. The mentor/mentee meet for 4 hours a week in a professional setting, allowing the mentee to see what the professional experience is all about. HerHonor also pays the mentee at the end of the school year for the hours she spent as an apprentice in her mentors workplace, thereby providing money as the girls head off to college. The programs partners (Merrill Lynch, Bloomingdales, etc...) host workshops for the mentees during the year on topics such as financial planning, dressing for success and business meal etiquette. Today's luncheon was the kick-off to the year where we were introduced to our mentees and other mentors.

Well, all I can say, is I was blown away. First, my mentee is a HS Senior of Mexican decent, who is the middle child in a family of 5 girls. She is ranked #9 in her senior class of over 300 students. She is a straight "A" student, who while going to school, also works so that she can help her parents as they figure out how to pay for a third daughter entering college in as many years. She attends a technical HS, where she is majoring in computer circuitry and design, so besides the normal state HS academic requirements, she has an extra 2 periods a day to complete courses in her major. At the end of last year, she passed the Cisco Networking certification exam, so she is certified in network support. Oh yeah, all this and she just turned 17. I can not wait to start meeting with her on a weekly basis! Yes there is hope for today's youth!! (Yes Raven and Robert... my children.... are doing well also, but you must admit, that is what is expected of them.)

Of course, as I tell my children, I told my mentee, use every opportunity as a chance to network. So that is also what I did today, getting to know the other mentors. Our careers range from software sales, like myself, to doctors, lawyers, judges, entrepreneurs, marketing, financial planners, councilwomen and on and on. Yes, we even had a farmer amongst us whose mentee is interested in green agriculture. What a dynamic group of women! Of course I traded business cards, but it was just a great feeling to see a group of 40 diverse professional women come together to help the next generation.

Wow, I feel good!

Country Quilter Fall Escape 2010 - Friday Night Fun

2010-09-16T19:43:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, so last weekend was my bi-annual trip to the quilt retreat sponsored by The Country Quilter. While we were down in numbers this year due to the Jewish holidays and a few quilters who were sick, fun was still had by all those present.

I know, I know, I usually post pics of everyone from the weekend, but this time is different. Yes, I remembered my camera, but I had forgot to charge the battery. So my apologies.... no photo album of all the busy quilters and their fabulous work. Instead, I came home and took a picture of the piece I made Friday night, during my normal Friday Night Fun. For those of you who haven't seen the results of my Friday night pieces, my goal on Friday night is to make something fun and quick to get the juices flowing for the weekend. I don't have a pattern, sometimes an idea, and yet other times I just cut fabric and go.

This weekend, I had a sketch on my sketchpad and inspiration from a piece Ricky Tims had done earlier in the week. Here is the result of my night of fun:

As you can see, she is dancing away, just enjoying the music in her head. Hence the name "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy". Here are a couple more pics. One of the quilting in the center sparkling lime green background and the other a shot of the back.

It was fun to make. I once again, I did free form feathers in the boarders. No marking, just let the machine guide me. Both boarders were cut freehand, no rulers.

From the first pic, you can probably tell that only the bottom is finished. I am 'facing' this piece, instead of binding it. The bottom edge is faced, but not the other three sides.

Still have to finish the facing... but otherwise it is done.

I will post a pic of the other piece I worked on tomorrow. It is another baby quilt, totally designed by me, including the appliqued drums.

Hope you enjoy it.

Sweet Dreams

2010-09-15T23:11:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have finished one of the three baby quilts. I must admit, this is a pattern I did before, but once I saw the now 8 yr old with her quilt, I knew it was something that had to be made again :-). Plus it is a relatively easy pattern from Jane Davila's 'Sew Simple Quilts' series, Book Two.

As it did the first time, I made it in soft cuddly, flannels in soft pastel colors. The one change from the pattern that I kept in this piece, is the addition of corner stones in the borders, vs classic solid boarders.

The quilt finishes at 43" x 56", which means that it also didn't take long to quilt. I used the same YLI variegated thread in soft pastels that I used 8 years ago (same spool and I still have some left :-)) in the top center and a Superior Art Studio pastel pink for the boarders. I used Superior BottomLine in white in the bobbin. The quilting was all done free motion. No marking the top at all, not even the spine of the feathers.

As you can see from this close-up, the thread worked wonderfully. No need to play with the tension. My normal .5 top tension worked wonderfully.

My curves were all smooth and the feathers just flowed around the corners with no issue. I did not have to adjust the tension, as I switched threads between the YLI and Superior.

I hope Baby Bailey likes it. Delivery date is set for Oct 26th, but I will be giving the quilt to the Mom to be on the 3rd, while in Virginia for my other nieces shower. I made good progress on her quilt as well last weekend while at Quilt Retreat, but I will post those pics in the next day or so :-).

A first for me....

2010-09-03T13:26:00.000-04:00

I had been asked by one of my good friends to machine quilt a piece for her. This friend is primarily a hand quilter, although she will stitch in the ditch from time to time on a small wallhanging. She knows that I had been toying with the idea of quilting for others and as life has added a few years, as it tends to do, hand quilting just isn't as enjoyable for her as it used to be. Especially when the piece measures 92" x 81"... hey not small by my standards either :-).

Anyway, I finally said yes. I reminded her that most of my quilting lately has been small tight decorative quilting, not the type of quilting I would do on a bed size quilt... but that if she let me do what I thought I could do, I would give it a try. I figured it would be a win/win for us both. I would see, if I enjoyed quilting for someone else and all the mind games that come with that and she would have her piece done. I told her I wouldn't charge her, as I didn't know what it would look like in the end. Fair enough.... right?

Well I quilted it and when I called to let her know it was done and that I would bring it by the next day, she said 'Ok, how much do I owe you?'. I reminded her of our conversation and she said... "Oh no, I wanted you to see that you could do this, so don't bring it over unless you have figured out how to charge for your work.' Well what do you know, I had been duped! She had been telling me for quite some time, that I should make some money off of my quilting, and now she got me. So thanks to some quilty friends on Facebook, I put it out there and they help me figure out a fair price, given all the facts above. First quilt, not perfect, etc....

I delivered it the next day and she was thrilled... she loved my feathers and said the person it was going to would love it as well :-). So here it is.... my first commissioned quilting job, if that is what you call it...

Since it is a busy quilt, with lots of pattern in the fabric on the front. I did a loose swirly all over pattern in the center, using a green cotton Aurifil 50 weight thread on the top and Superior Bottom-Line, almost white thread on the plain white backing.

The quilting shows much better on the back.

As you can see I did free motion feathers in the boarder. This is the first time using the 'hump' method and they were real easy. I just marked the boarders with a curvy line to serve as a guideline for the spine and went from there... even wrapping the feathers around the corners. I was so happy when I had gone around both sides that the beginning and end came together so easily.... whew!

I was pleasantly surprised in the end to see that the feathers did indeed show up on the front, almost as well as the white on white on the back. I had expected that they would really disappear as the thread color was so close to the fabric color. My friend really loved the feathers, she said they looked very graceful.... Whoo Hoo!!!

As I left her house, she said she would have more for me soon. OMG... am I really going to do this? Yeah, I think so, but only for friends at this point. I have not the time or inclination to do it as a real business just yet. Don't think I am 1) good enough, or 2) ready for the pressure of, will they like it. At least my friends know what I can and can't do and are able to make an informed decision when they ask me to quilt something for them.

So, as I said, another first for me...

Thanks to my Bernina 830... I wouldn't have been able to do it without her :-).

There must be something in the water...

2010-08-25T22:33:00.000-04:00

This coming fall, I have two nieces and the wife of one of my nephews who are expecting babies. One in October and two the first week of November. So I figured I better get started on baby quilts. The good news all three of these nieces/nephews and their spouses are really into my quilting and have treated previous quilting gifts like gems. My nephews first born, has not gone a day in 8 years without her quilt by her side. It goes to school, play dates... everywhere :-). Her mom treats it like gold, washing it with fine washables, etc... (that is when she can get it away from her). One of my nieces husbands is always drooling over the quilts I design myself and has asked for a quilt with a drum based theme, as they know they are having a boy. So needless to say, I am thrilled to be making them quilts, there will be no 'cheater' panels on these!

Last night I finished drafting the 'drum' quilt. I choose the fabrics and even created the pattern for the drum applique. I had thought that was all I was going to do for the night, but when I stopped it was 1 a.m. in the morning and believe it or not, I had 3 drum appliques all fused down, ready for their satin stitching. No quilting tonight, but after looking over my applique work with my 20 yr old son, he came up with a great idea. They were going to need to be texturized.... soooo I decided to trapunto them. Make those drums pop right out off of the quilt top. The drums are basically 10 inches in size, on a 12 inch square, so they will give the baby plenty of area to touch and feel, especially with the 'flags' on the side, plenty of places for stitching.... I am sure a picture is worth a thousand of my words, so as soon as I do the satin stitch on one and get the trapunto behind it, I will post a pic.

As you can tell I have gotten back into my quilting mood... after an endless summer running around in the sweltering heat.

Hope to see you guys here in blog-land more once we take my son back to college tomorrow.

Enjoy and sweet dreams :-)

Quilting for charity...

2010-08-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

I have 3 baby quilts to make for nieces and nephews, but before I could start, I had to finished 2 charity quilts I committed to do this summer. One was for my guild to donate to a local nursing home and the other was for a guild member who is traveling to Africa with a quilt tour group this fall. They are bringing quilts for the babies, so I promised I would donate one for the trip.

Well, I am sure I am like most quilters on 2 accounts. One, I usually work in similar colors and two, I save all the odd left over pieces from quilts I make. So I was fortunate enough to look in my scrap basket and find some treasure. Earlier this year I made two quilts for nieces, both with purple as the main color. Since both also used turquoise, I was able to pull enough scraps with coordinating colors from the basket to make both tops.... talk about pay-day.

The first was real easy, as I had quite a few left over squares from one of the quilts, where I just didn't like some of the colors or fabrics for the look I was trying to acheive.... but since I took them all out whole, they came together to make the quilt for the African orphanage....

Nice bright colors, where strip sets and squares made a nice 46"x42" baby blanket. It has almost a scrappy feel but still cohesive :-). For the quilting, I just did a continuous line design, joining swirls and leaves. It has been such a long time since I quilted large graceful work, I had a hard time getting into the groove. My rhythm kept wantingto take me back to my small intricate quilting of late. But, I managed and am happy I was able to finally free motion quilt with my Superior Rainbows thread. I just lowered the top tension to .5 and the stitch length to 1.0 and off I went! No snagging, breaking or spit up on the back, like I had been experiencing with the Rainbow thread. I guess practice and learning your machine, really does pay off :-).

I then took the left over purple and turquoise strips and half square triangle blocks and put them together with Kona Black for the second top.

This piece measures 42" square and they mustn't be any larger. as this is safe size for use with a wheelchair. Otherwise, it can get caught up in the wheels of the wheel chair...

The top came together really quickly. I did some free motion feathers in the black sashing and 6 other designs in the 'blocks'. I decided to practice doing quite a bit of my filler patterns on this piece, except making them about 10 times larger. I decided to practice doing quite a bit of my filler patterns on this piece, just making them about 10 times larger. It was interesting seeing which filler worked or was easy to do on a bigger scale, and which ones didn't. I will let you be the judge, but here is the one I like the best....

I realy enjoy what I call 'leaves on leaves'. I love the way you can change directions and they look as if they were layered one on top of each other.

I used the same Superior Rainbow thread in this piece. Again using Bottom Line in the bottom, with a 90/14 Sharp needle.

All ran smooth as can be. Just have to do the piping, which I do by hand, usually as I travel up and down the road. Now I can get started on the 3 baby quilts that are joining the clan this fall :-).

The first will be drum themed. I just have to design it first :-)...

Nite....

Progress against to do list...

2010-08-18T13:56:00.000-04:00

So I finished the top and back of the quilt for the Pelham Quilter's outgoing President.... Thanks to the 19 other members who contributed squares. It is funny that the yellow and blues were all so similar in value, that it made it pretty easy to create a cohesive piece. The greens were different, but since greens remind us all of nature and leafs and such come in so many different shades of green and live together so wonderfully in nature, they still worked well. I ended up using a very simple setting method, with a basic inner/outer boarder as not to take away from the beautiful blocks.

I was heading out of town, and ran out of time, so my DH delivered it to Mary Anne who will quilt it for us. Our meeting is the 13th of September, so I wanted to make sure she had enough time to quilt it on her George.

Lorriane has been president for almost 20 years... yes we are bit unconventional as a guild :-). I hope this quilt will be a fitting tribute to her years of service. I will post pics once we present it to Lorraine in September.

I also spent some time quilting a small piece for a friend, Donna Chambers, to take with her on her trip to Africa this September. She is going with a quilting group and they will stop by a children's orphanage. She has asked members of the guild to make baby quilts for her take with her. I should finish this next weekend. Will post pics of this as well, once finished.

I have broken a golden rule...

2010-08-04T10:59:00.000-04:00

When I first decided to blog, I new that I would not do so daily, but felt that if I was going to be a blogger, than I had to do so at least once every 10 days. Well, it has been almost a month! Not good. Seems as the stretches have gotten longer and longer. Maybe it is because it is the summertime and we have so much going on as a family... jazz concerts, trips to the local parks and pools, a great family vacation in Cancun, hosting a family re-union for my husband's family. Yes, I have been busy this month.

I have done some quilting as time and the weather permits... (It has been one hot July in southern NY. We had 17+ days over 93, without the heat index and quite a few over 100!) But back to quilting... I made two charity quilt tops that will need to be quilted (pics once quilted, promise). Had a wonderful quilty day with my girlfriend Ashley in my studio. I have made some progress on the African dancer I started at retreat this spring, adding detail and embellishments on his neck, arms and legs. He is now ready to be quilted, so I played with different quilting stitches and threads to determine what combination I like best... right now a flame stitch with matching cotton 50wt thread, so that the quilting doesn't detract from the dancer.... at least that is the thought for now. And this week, I will be pulling together squares made by members of the Pelham Quilters into a top for a quilt to be presented to our out-going President.

Now the real reason I wanted to post today is I am thinking about making a small wall hanging to Thank the pediatrician that has taken care of my children for the last 23 years. At the end of the month, my 20 year old son will be going for his last yearly physical before he turns 21 (and is no longer able to see a pediatrician :-)). My oldest was this doctors first newborn, so on her last visit they sat and chatted and cried for over an hour. She has seen my kids through Juvenile Arthritis, a screaming, streaking kid who would run at the first sight of a needle, Asthma, ASD (or a hole in my then 16 yr old daughters heart that required surgery), and a totally broken - not torn - meniscus that will have to be replaced in a yr or so with a transplant from a corpse. She has done all this with a smile, patience and heart of a saint. For some things, calling just to check in on them to see if they or I, needed to talk. So.... any ideas on patterns or shapes I should use would be welcome. I thought of a Heart, but it seems so literal and I wanted something with more meaning, to show just how special she really is.

All suggestions are welcome.... now back to work :-)

830 Update

2010-07-05T22:10:00.000-04:00

So I had thought I would get some quilting in today. And although I did sit down at the machine, I didn't work on my dancer as I had hoped. No, instead I loaded the latest software update on my Bernina 830. Almost had a heart attack, as it seemed to take way too long, after the 'successfully installed' with restart, to the 'update complete' message. But it went on without a hitch, so I was able to play.

One of the things the update was supposed to address was tension problems with a wide range of threads. So I am hoping that it solved some of my problems with all my different threads. I played with my Superior Metallics, Sew Fine, Tinsel and Rainbows today.

Guess what? I tried both free motion quilting and free motion with the BSR. NO problems... no faulty 'thread breakage' messages, no thread spit up on the back, no pebbles on top or bottom because the thread is being pulled to the other side.......... ahhhh, NICE!

So I played with a couple of metallics trying to decide on the color to use on my dancer. I think I am going to go with the gold, although the cooper will allow the dancer to take center stage vs the quilting. Hmmmm.... maybe the cooper. The cooper Sew Fine just fades into the background, so maybe the copper mettallic will add just a tad bit of sparkle when the light hits it just right, adding a glowing effect to the dancer. Maybe the copper mettalic is better. Decisions, decisions..... guess I am going to have to sleep on it.

The good thing is I am on vacation this week and don't head out of town for a couple of days, so I still have time to play.

Play-time: Superior Rainbows and BSR

2010-06-28T00:26:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are also my friend on Facebook, you can skip this post :-). I just want to share my latest experiment with my friends in blog-land.

Last week, while my head was spinning on what to work on next, I decided to see if my new found friendship with the BSR on my 830, would wash away all my troubles using one of my favorite threads, Superior Rainbows, on the 830. And since I was playing I decided to try my hand at actually working on something else I want to try one day, a whole cloth quilt. So out came a piece of Kona White, my pencil, a compass, a protracter (no this isn't math class, but I can't draw a smooth curve let alone create multiple curves, all lined up around a star... so I needed just a tad bit of help :-)). I loosely drew what seemed like a pleasing outline to start with and quickly grabbed a piece of scrap wool batting and one of my many Rainbow cones.

So... I was set. Ready to begin.... I attached the BSR assembly, loaded my thread and off I went. The center shapes came out okay... I missed my marks a bit, so things don't line up all the way, but the stitching was smooth. No skipped stitches, no spit up on the back and NO thread breakage! I was beginning to think that I got the hang of this thing. I was even able to do the next round, quilting using my 'leaf on leaf' motif, that I created for my last piece. Again... no issues.... I was on a roll!!!

I came back the next night and decided that my shape was to be enclosed in a circle and I would use a close stipple to make my archs pop from the wool batting. Well wrong I was! Snags, skipped stitches, spit up... yes it all came back. Then I remembered, oh wait, I was supposed to lower my stitch length. That is what I learned from the Bernina BSR Webinar about a month or so ago... so I lowered my stitch length to 1.0 and away I went. Smooth as a baby's bottom. Half-way through, I decided to call it a night.

I came back the next day, used the same settings as the night before and WHAM, same 'ole, same 'ole. Well no skipped stitches or thread breakage, but I did have tons of spit up on the back. I could even feel it happening... I don't know what changed in the 24 hours I was away from the machine. My tension and stitch length was the same... I was smart enough to save the settings as a favorite. So what happened?

Well I don't know. But later that night, I remembered that the latest software update for the 830 includes a fix for tension issues on a wide variety of threads. Maybe, just maybe, it will help with my Rainbows issues. I have tons of this thread, love the color changes, love the sheen, love the look in my quilts, but HATE the way it behaves when mixed with the 830... BSR or un-aided free motion quilting.

Since I am in Florida right now on business, I will have to wait to see if the update actually fixed my problems. But I thought I would at least share the results of my play time...

So here it is:

Once I get home I will once again try to fix the issue with the Rainbow thread and then try this on one of my Radiance silk/cotton blends, with silk thread. Yummm, isn't playtime, just wonderful!

Odds and Ends...

2010-06-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

Still no name for my UFO, but it will come to me.

While in Atlanta last week, before heading to the airport I made a stop by Intown Quilters. This is one shop whose website does not do it justice. Actually, I really debated if I was going to go or not from looking at their site. Boy, was I presently surprised! This place was huge, had quite a bit of diversity in fabric, patterns and quite a wide range of tools/notions. They had an entire section devoted to children"s fabric, quilts and clothes. Another section of Kaffe Fasset fabrics, another section for orientals, another for batiks, another for african fabrics, etc... The shop was bright and cheery. Of course, I did my usual damage... some black and whites, some african and some thread. A good end to a good business day!

On Saturday, I had a great time with Ashley. She drove down and we spent the day quilting and chatting. What a great day... good friends and quilting. Life just doesn't get any better!

My UFO is finished!! but it needs a name :-)

2010-06-14T18:56:00.001-04:00

So, I have been busy the last two weeks, and part of that has been quilting. Yes, the piece I started in October 2008 is finally done. But I am not lamenting.... Nope... There is no way, I could have done what I done with this piece back in 2008. I just wasn't up to the task.

Well here it is....

Yes, I am pretty proud of myself. I love the colors, the applique, the trapunto, the quilting.... yeah, just about everything about this piece, I like.

It all started at retreat in Oct 2008, when I picked out the fabrics and decided to do a 'medallion' quilt. While I layed out the background, I had a hard time deciding on what the appliques would look like. So home it came and over the next 2 months, my DH and I played with different applique shapes. In the end, I modified one of Ricky Tim's applique shapes from his Rhapsody patterns and came up with two different shapes that I liked and fit the areas just right. The center applique is totally original and was done via the old paper doll method.... folding a piece of paper in quarters, drawing a design on one of the quadrants and then un-folding it to see what you get. I played with 3 or 4, until I came up with this.

But it became a UFO, because once I got the appliques on, I couldn't decide how to quilt it. Then all of a sudden trapunto came to my mind and I pulled it back out. I figured trapunto would be a great way to fill in some of the wide open spaces.

With the trapunto done, I knew that I needed fairly close quilting to make the trapunto stand out. So I played with a few different designs and agreed this piece needed different designs in the different sections. So you can see I used basic meandering in the center. Then added my circle in a circle pattern in the next section. In the salmon section around the applique I used a leave on leave pattern. I think I like this design because it really adapted itself to going around the shapes and around the gold medallion.

Then I ended with a pattern I learned from Mary Anne Ciccotelli, even though I don't know what it is called. Nice thing about this design, is it can be used as a fairly tight quilting motif, or a big loose motif on a bed or lap quilt. Very versatile it is :-).

Anyway, you see next I decided to add piping, versus just facing this wall hanging like I have been doing so much of lately. I just thought it was more suitable to the piece. A more traditional style deserved a more traditional ending.

This piece is quilted totally with Aurifil Cotton 50 weight thread. I am liking Aurifil more and more lately. It did such a wonderful job on this piece!

Now the problem is, it hasn't spoken to me yet, so I don't have a name for it yet. Will have to let it hang in the studio for awhile, until it tells me what it wants to be called. That is, unless you have a good suggestion?

Cheers....... Renee

Surface Design Workshop with Jane Davila

2010-06-01T21:28:00.000-04:00

I am lucky enough to live close enough to Jane Davila, to take workshops in her studio (yeah me!). So in March I took her Surface Design Workshop which teaches techniques to enhance your quilt top..... I know this post is a little late, but better later than never is my motto :-).

Jane used some of her pieces to talk to us about various techniques...

Then we had the opportunity to play. There were 4 of us and we had a ball trying out some of the basic techniques.

We played with Shiva Stiks.

This one was made by Donna Chambers....

The next one was done by me...

We used scratch pads and then one or more Shiva Stiks of different colors.

We also played with shaving cream to create our own marble fabric. That's right shaving cream. It is a technique that Jane created that allows the inks to be suspended on a medium, in this case, shaving cream and then transferred onto fabric. We used plain white fabric, but the same technique could be done with any type of fabric. Unfortunately, I forgot to take out my camera when we were creating our marble fabric.

We also played with water color pencils. Real cool, just like drawing when you were a kid, but now you can do more than just hang it on the refrigerator :-).

Once you make your line drawing, all you have to do is go over it with a wet paint brush and before you know it, you have a water color painting on fabric. Add some batting and backing and some free motion quilting and you have a great little quilted piece. This is a great way to incorporate your child's artwork amongst your own to make a quilt together!

Donna Chambers kept adding to her basic water color design...she added depth using Ink Pens for highlighting and then gold paint on the mesh from Wonder Under to add texture. Once painted the 'glue' mesh from Womder Under can be ironed onto your top, creating great texture to your piece, especially if you use some of the wonderful iridescent paints we got to play with.

The day flew by so fast, we ran way over the allotted time. Jane gave us a tour of her husband, Carlos's studio space and of course we got to purchase some cool stuff :-). Now to make sure I actually use it... wait I have used the Fusible Thread and I already have plans for the Fusible Powder.... both provide a great way to add accents to your quilt tops.

If you are ever in the same place where Jane is teaching, make sure to sign-up for one of her classes. I can guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Next stop: Picket Fence Quilts - Novato, Ca

2010-05-21T17:57:00.001-04:00

So after my last meeting on Thursday I made it to Picket Fence Quilts. I forgot my camera, so unfortunately no pictures of the shop. But boy or boy.... what a bright and happy feeling you get when you walk in the door. I felt right at home as soon as I walked in the door. Bright fabrics hit you right away, and you know how I am about brights.

They had a nice selection of batiks as well as black and whites. I found a couple of fabrics that I need for a few projects that have been dancing around in my head.

Too many ideas... now just need time to make them a reality :-). Anyway....

Also brought a new book. Loved all the project ideas. I think the Art Deco style works well for Miami, so might have to make Raven another quilt :-).

They had a large room in the back as a classroom and also provided Long Arm quilting services on premise.

I noticed that they carried some Superior Thread and for what they didn't have, they provided the thread cards so that they could order what you needed. Nice touch!

The owner was working and we chatted a bit about the local quilt shops. She runs the place with her daughter. She gave me a listing of shops in the area for future trips which was nice and suggested that if I have time to stop into Rainbow Fabrics, Crafts and Things. She said as an contemporary quilter, that I would fine it interesting.

Boy was she right! Rainbow in Fairfax, Ca is such an eclectic shop. They have a little bit of everything, from cotton fabric to fun fabric, to buttons, to beads, to ribbons, etc... etc... the 'Things' part of the name is real fitting! While there, two Moms came in with their young children and it was like watching kids in a candy shop. I laughed, as they said No about a million times. It really isn't a quilt shop, but of course I found something I liked. Isn't this fabric cool! Tons of movement.

Well, it was definitely worth a stop and look see.

All in all a great trip our west.

Now back at home, I finished quilting my 15 month UFO last night. WooHoo! I'll post pics in the next day or two...

Quilted Angel: Petaluma, California

2010-05-20T18:22:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it has been over two weeks since my last post, but with work and travel, my time has been short. Anyway, I wanted to share with you two quilt shops I visited while in the North Bay area of California.

Let's start with the Quilted Angel in Pelatuma, Ca.

Boy, I sure wish they would pick up this entire shop and move it to Westchester County, NY. We lost one shop last year and are loosing the other at the end of the summer. The Quilted Angel is perfect. They have tons of everything, but what dropped my jaw was the thread!

Aurfil, mostly 50 weight cottons, as well as some 28 wt and some wools,,,, yummy....

Superior of all types.... King Tut, Razzle Dazzle, Rainbow, Masterpiece, Sew Fine, etc.... I was in heaven..

You will note that at the bottom of this rack with the Superior Thread, that they also carry some YLI Silks. That's right, in quite a wide range of colors.... and no this is not all the thread, they had more racks than I got on camera.

I quess it is only fitting, because not only do they carry silk thread, but they also carry silk batting (which I just had to buy to try) and a delicious array of a silk/cotton blend fabric.

They also carried wool, cotton, and polyester batting. And you could buy it pre-packaged or off the roll. And if you need a ruler, believe me they had it. I have never seem so many types of rulers. But as I said, they had just about everything in this shop.

As you can see... I just had to bring some of it all home.. Oh yeah, I needed something to read on the plane, so I also brought a machine quilting book. Too bad I had to leave Friday morning, because the weekend they were having a local sale -- all the shops were offering 20% off yardage. Gee wiz.... just my luck!

Oh boy, oh boy... got to finish my 15 month UFO so I can play with those silks.

Oh yeah, the folks at the shop were great... real friendly. And you could tell that the locals just hang out there. When I entered there were a few ladies just chatting away about the local school system. In the back, they have a kids area, with a TV and video games and toys and such to keep the young ones occupied as their Moms shopped or chatted.

I'll share the other shops with you next time.

Cheers!

Quilt Escape - Spring 2010: Part II

2010-05-03T23:48:00.000-04:00

OK, as promised here are some pics from the retreat last weekend. You will see what I meant when I said we had some pretty talented ladies... the creativity just flowed freely at the Interlaken Inn, in Lakeville, Ct. Our host from Country Quilter/Flourish --- art quilter, Jane Davila is always the "hostess with the mostess".

Alright, without further adieu, here are some pics ....

My roomie, Ashley, worked on two different Kimono projects this weekend. Ashley is known for her precision piecing and decided to try her hand at paper piecing this weekend. Here she is next to four Kimono's using Japanese fabrics. Ashley was unhappy, because in prep for the weekend she sorted her fabrics into 'good' for the Kimono's and 'rejects' for the Kimono's. Well upon unpacking she realized she brought the 'reject' pile of fabric and not the ones she considered 'good'.

Now you tell me, do you see anything wrong with the fabrics she used in these Kimono's? I sure don't.

Here is a close up..... they work for me Ashley! The one on the right is a second set she is working with just black and white fabrics with all the sashes done in red. Very sophisticated looking... right :-)

This is a piece Donna Chambers started before the retreat for her Mom. You can see she finished the top, made a fun back and has it all basted to take home and quilt. If you look closely, there are squares with women in the center to represent the strength her Mother has provided her. I think this is going to be a wonderful Mother's Day present. The question.... will she get it finished in time???

Donna also worked on a top from a kit she picked up at Lancaster. Here she is busy at work...

As you have heard me say before, Donna always has some interesting fabric... even when she buys a kit. I guess she just has an eye for it :-).

Jean was her normal quiet self, but as you can see, she was also focused...

She brought this fabric and the pattern at Lancaster, when the Pelham Quilters went to the AQS Show. But by the end of day Saturday, she had the top all put together. I just love the colors. I told Jean that should she decide she doesn't like the quilt, or that it doesn't fit into her color scheme at home, that my quilt museum would feature it with honor :-)....

Next in one of the other rooms, Jane's sister, Linda decided that this was her weekend for hand work. She didn't cart her sewing machine, just one bag with this master piece....

the fabric is all her own... either dyed or painted, or both.... it is all needle turn applique. Can I hear the OMG's as you read this. Here is a close-up.... take a breath... breathe....

I said breathe! Absolutely stunning..... My hat's off to you Linda!

Back into the room I sew in... the Garden Room. One of the women who rides up with me, has a strong tie to very traditional fabric and patterns. So Lorraine spent the weekend working on her 56 12" blocks. This will be a Queen size quilt when finished...

Here they are layed out on the design wall. She completed 42 of the 56 blocks. Boy my hat goes off to her for her determination!

Tonight, Lorraine told me one of her friends saw it laid out this week and fell in love with it and wants it. Now that it has a home, it means it has to get finished, so Lorraine asked me to quilt it. Yikes... Queen size... haven't done that in a while. But, it will get me into practice... another story for another day, but I am thinking about quilting on commission. Of course when I told Lorraine in the car going home, I told her I would start on smaller projects first. But as she said tonight... this will be a good practice piece :-). We'll see...

Another of my car buddies is Margaret. Margaret is also pretty quiet most of the weekend. She just sits at her machine and sews.. not much talking from her. But that usually means that at the end of the 3 1/2 days, Margaret has finished more than one top.

Here she is with her 'Suduko' quilt... always a challenge to lay out, so that you don't repeat a color in a row or column.

And here is Margaret with a top she fused before we arrived, but needed to be machine appliqued down.

That is a picture of Margaret's mischievous cat sitting in the flower pot amongst the tulips!

Maria, is a girl after my own heart. She does a lot of paper piecing. Her points are always exquisite and her quilts stunning. I thought I had a picture of one of her tops finished, but it must have been blurry, because I can't find it. But here, you can see she spent the weekend creating spiky sections via paper piecing.

Can't wait to see this one finished next year :-)...

Next are a couple of photos I took in one of the other rooms, but I don't know whose work they are, as the quilters were doing the same thing I was.... wondering the three rooms, getting inspiration from others work.

Yes, I am an AKA, so pink and green hold a special place in my heart, but don't these squares just sing to you.... boy I can't wait until the fall to see this one finished... at least, I hope she brings it back.

This was a quilt on one of the design boards.... It is string pieced, but you can see the pattern and the design is pretty interesting. I love the way the colors move around.... but in this state, who knows where the quilter may be taking this piece. Guess we will have to wait until the fall on this one as well :-).

Ok, I confess... I just can't pull her name out of my head right now.... come'on, give me a break, there were 51 women this weekend. She sits in the room right next to mine and is at all the retreats.... why can't I remember her name. Oh well, take it from me... she loves color.... and her quilts always full of it.. Here she just finished squaring up a block. As you can see, color abounds. Gee... why can't I remember her name... and I can't blame on a Senior moment, because I have been bad with names for years :-)....

Well I think that is about all the photos I have. Except one of the group...

We are a motley crew, aren't we! This is right after Sunday lunch and most of us, just want to get back to our machines :-).

I do have a bunch of photo's from Donna of quilts she had made prior to retreat, but I think I will save those for another night.

Night all.....

Quilt Escape - Spring 2010

2010-05-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

So I finally got around to going through my photos from retreat last weekend. I didn't realize I took soo many pictures. But there was alot of creativity going on in those three rooms. I must say that the Country Quilter / Flourish staff, did a wonderful job, as usual, making sure that the inspiration was all around us!

So I have sorted and cropped my photos and picked out a bunch I think you will like, but if you indulge me, I will start with what I worked on over the course of the weekend.

The first was a male dancer inspired by a piece of art work I had seen years ago. My sketch had sat in my sketchpad, waiting for 2 years. Then while at Lancaster last month, I saw the fabric that he was waiting for.... a piece of hombre fabric.... yummmmm...

He is appliqued on with a satin stitch using Black Madeira Rayon thread. Then using Superior's Metallic, I used a straight stitch and created a fuzzy or feathery stitch on his clothing, head dress and the accent fabric.

I enjoy using a little thread play to add texture to my tops. Using the metallic thread adds to it's interest. He isn't finished yet. I still have to take gold metallic thread and add his arm and neck bands and them some Superior Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin and do some bobbin play on his wrists and ankles. I will probably do some other thread play in the right hand upper corner, before I sandwhich it up, but that is all I accomplished Friday night / Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon I took out another sketch I had captured from free clip art. I enlarged it and using some Dupioni Silk, I made the center of this piece.

I think I am going to love this piece. If you remember, I have had paisley images dancing around in my head for awhile. Right now the silk applique pieces are outlined in satin stitch in matching thread (some Madiera and some Isacord). It amazes me, but I do love the satin stitch on my old Viking Lilly... I carry the Lilly with me on retreats, because it is light weight and easy to manage, but I must say it is my favorite machine for satin stitch. The Bernina 830 is very heavy and too fragile to drive around, but I will use it for the bobbin/thread play and of course the quilting. Quilting on the 830 is a dream.

OK, back to the quilts... each element will get jewels added to make up the design which calls for small dots on the outside of most of the elements. I am then thinking of adding ribbons of silk that will overlap onto a mostly purple border. I haven't chosen the boarder fabric just yet, which is why I didn't get much farther on this piece :-).

On Sunday, I took out a piece I had been working over over the last two retreats. It was my 'backup' project in case I ran out of stuff to do on previous weekends. Well, I picked this one up and finally got the center of the quilt together.

I really enjoyed working on a more traditional piece. The colors are wayyyy off, but I will share more pictures once I get the boarders on... hopefully before next retreat:-). This was a give away pattern a few retreats ago, that has been hanging around with me ever since. It is called Bento Box and was designed by Mary Gay Leahy. Nice....

That is all I got done this time. No finished projects. Although, I did draft out the next round on my 3D Mariners Compass, it wasn't speaking to me enough to actually make it. So, I put it away this weekend. But, I did see something at the quilt show in Somers yesterday that gave me an idea. I sketched one corner last night and I will let it soak in for a few days, while I work on my 15 mo old UFO. Yes, that is progressing nicely. I will grab a picture of them both and post sometime later this week.

So I have three posts to do now.... First, the remainder of the photos from the show, then the photos of the retreat from all the other quilters and then my UFO and 3D quilts.

But again tonight I am heading to bed... so tired. We went up to RPI today and picked up some of Robert's stuff before he comes home for the summer....

You know, I just realized I have 5 pieces going at once. This from the girl who was never comfortable with 2 works in progress. Now 5... guess I better get busy!! But first tomorrow night, Pelham Quilters Guild meeting... oh well, guess posting and quilting will have to wait another day or two :-)

Northern Star Quilt Show - A World of Quilts 2010

2010-05-01T22:35:00.000-04:00

I won 2 ribbons!!

Today was the opening of the Northern Stars Guild Show and when I arrived to work my shift as 'Quilt Security' I got the surprise of my life... 2 Ribbons. I entered three pieces, Celestial Enlightenment, Sistah Chat and Miami Waves. Sistah Chat won a Third Place....

Miami Waves won an Honorable Mention in it's category....

It was a great show... even without my ribboms :-). Here are some of the pics I took... enjoy the show...

This quilt is stunning. It was right as you entered the show. I love the movement and the use of all commercial fabrics. Each blue section is made up of multiple small strips of fabric.

This quilt won it's category. The image is so real, as if you were looking at a photograph. The quilting is tiny, giving the piece quite a bit of texture.

This quilt is taken from the Ricky Tims Rhapsody book. She did an excellent job with the piece and the quilting is exquisite!

I have seen ths pattern before. It is a wonderful take on Grandmother's Fans. I thought it was visually striking. Loved the colors pulled from the focus fabric and the way she made the boarder apart of the design.

This Mom as the card read was forced to make a monochrome quilt for her 'other daughter'. It is entitled OM3 = Other Mothers Monochromatic Madness. I love the way she used the one color in many shades. I remember my second quilt was going to be 2 colors and the women in the quilt shop recommended against it. She said the eye would not travel well across the top. Well I made it and my sister loved it and I just love this piece. My eye continually travels across this piece. Doesn't yours?

From one color to the color wheel. This quilt is called Circular Color Wheel. The quilter's neice brought a circular bed, so she made a circular quilt to go on top. According to the quilter, it is actually used on her niece's bed! I would love to walk into my room and see this on the bed :-)....

My friend and fellow Pelham Quilter, Donna Chambers made this piece. Believe it or not it is her first quilt! You have to know Donna, she is a true artist. Each piece she makes is more beautiful then the next. As soon as I post pics from last weeks retreat you will see what I mean....

Anyway, I don't know about you, but what first quilter thought to take an ordinary log cabin block and turn it into this! Her fabrics are always so full of life. I think I should go fabric shopping with her :-)....

Ok, that is enough for now. I have a few other pictures, but I am tired. I will post those sometimes next week.

And yes, I know I owe you guys photo's from retreat. I promise to post them soon..... we had such a wonderful time, I came home exhausted!

3D Mariners Compass and UFO Update..

2010-04-19T16:58:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I just had to see what this thing was really supposed to look like, so I spent about 3 1/2 hours recreating my center (printing the templates, cutting the fabric and sewing it all together).

I don't know about you but that's not alot of time on a technique you are just learning. Think about how long it would be to draft and do this using paper piecing?

Now I will work on my circular flying geese that are folded and go on the outside. I don't think I will stop there as Mary Anne did.....I think I will set mine in a square and add more folded points as I set that square in a square..... well we will see....

Still working on my 15 month old UFO that I picked back up 2 weeks ago. Designed my trapunto shapes and am now stitching them in with water soluble thread. .... not used to working on 2 pieces at once... not sure I like it either....

But hey, gotta like variety :-)....

Pelham Quilter's 3D Mariner's Compass Workshop

2010-04-13T22:02:00.004-04:00

This past weekend my local quilt was fortunate enough to have one of our own guild members, Mary Ann Ciccotelli, host a folded fabric 3D workshop. Most of those in attendance chose to work on the gorgeous Mariner's Compass that Mary Anne made as the class sample.
But one adventurous quilter decided she wanted to use the technique to make a sunflower. So the usual suspects gathered for a fun filled day of fabric folding and friendship.

Lorraine, our guild President, was the adventurous one in the bunch. Here is a picture of Lorraine working away. Tell me she isn't having a great time!

Here is Lorraine with half of her sunflower completed. While in Lancaster last month, she brought a fuzzy piece of brown wool to use as the sunflower center. Can't wait to see the finished result. Knowing Lorraine, I won't have too wait long!

Donna and Paula, two of our newest guild members, worked really quietly on their pieces. I had to sneak over and try to catch Paula at work. She was a busy beaver...

I can tell you she is working in blue... but unfortunately she left too early for me to get another picture. :-(.

Donna, always has such wonderful fabrics in her stash. Makes you wonder where she get's them all from.

She is sooo busy at work here, she didn't even bother to look up, when I came by. I can see the blues and reds, with a hint of something dark... hmmpphhh....

I see light and dark blue with gold, in this stage it looks almost like an oriental fan.... especially with the way she is peeking over the top :-).

(Pop on over to Donna's website. She is one gifted jewelry designer.)

Blue must have been a popular color, because Millie also worked in blues. The background to her compass points was blue as well. Here you see Millie preparing her background pieces before sewing the compass points into the background.

Here is Millie with a quarter of her compass sewn together. She used rust and bieges as her compass points.

Jean and her mother, Evelyn, worked side by side all day. Jean choose black, white and red as her colors. They really looked sharp together, even though Jean doesn't like to be photgraphed, so I don't have great pictures....

You can see her here pressing one of her seams. Don't you love her fabrics! Those points are going to look sharp on the black.

Evelyn was just getting started when I took this picture, so my apologies.. but here is Evelyn sitting calmly working on her first wedge.....

Evelyn took the time to fussy cut her print fabric, so that all four of her front compass points will have the same design positioned in the center of the point.

Here is a picture of my day's work..... of course, no picture of me. As you can tell my compass is on much more complex than the class sample. I wish I could say it was by design, but it is called a slip in directions.

So you will have to stay tuned for a finished picture of mine. You see, my background wedges are cut too small, so my circle is actually a half circle :-)....

Either way... we had a ball. Mary Anne is a fantastic quilter, who enjoys finding new, easier ways of tackling complex patterns. She has many quilts using this basic technique... the mariners compass, the sunflower, a color wheel and even a highly decorated turkey! Take a look at her website or her blog to see some of her work, and of course if you or your guild are looking for a fourth generation quilter to teach you a new technique, give Mary Anne a call!

I am now ready to tackle a 15 month old UFO

2010-04-08T17:10:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, you might remember some posts focused on 'decisions'. It was one of my design it myself pieces, I started back in Spetember of 2008. I got as far as this...

I fused all my scrolls on, then started appliqueing them and stopped. Why? Well I am sure I had a bunch of reasons back then, that sounded good... hahaha..... But 15 months in a drawer, let's be real.... ughhhh....Oh, I loved the fabrics and colors, so it wasn't that it wasn't speaking to me anymore. No, it was fear!!!!

That's right, I said it! I was afraid of the piece. I saw this really wonderful top, that was calling for wonderful quilting and I just knew that I wasn't up for the task. At least not at a place mentally that I 'thought' I could do a decent job quilting it. All those open spaces.... I couldn't just do free motion meandering... what a waste of a pretty piece that would be!

But now .... I think I am ready. 15 months of practicing and I think I am up to the challenge!

Now one more DECISION... what to quilt... feathers.... more scrolls.... do I do some trapunto???

Hmmmmppphhhh.....

My Flowing Lines Piece

2010-03-31T23:55:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago, that the Pelham Quilter's were lucky enough to have Elizabeth Rosenberg teach a workshop on her Flowing Lines technique. We had a blast and many have finished the work they started.

Well I am 99% done, just have to face the piece, but Teri and Elizabeth have been pushing for pics, so I thought I would share with you as well.

As you can see, I added a boarder to the piece. I've been dying to play with a paisley design I had been sketching. I love these swirls, but as you may have read from an earlier post, they gave me quite a fit. But, I really love them. I echo quilted them and will definitely be doing more with paisley!

Here is a close up of the quilting. At first I tried just quilting lines along the curves of the seams. I tried two different variegated threads. But neither the quilting nor the thread really spoke to me. So, I pulled it out --- twice and went with a different thread for each fabric (matching thread color to the fabric). I then quilted the same free motion pattern in each same colored section..... feathers in the orange, swirls in the magenta, etc....

I like the varied quilting. It adds to the texture of the piece.

I had fun... and I definitely like the curved flowing lines.

Thanks Elizabeth!

Dublin, Ireland

2010-03-24T13:20:00.000-04:00

On the road and once again very much surprised at the lack of quilt shops in major European cities... As you know I travel a bit for business and am always looking for a quilt shop to visit. But as in London, Paris, Milan and Geneva, Dublin is another major city with no quilt / patchwork shop in the downtown area. Why is that?

In Paris at least I can head out to Le Rouvray which is close to Notre Dame Cathedral (even if it is owned by an American). In London, I used to be able to take the Tube and hit 2 different shops in about 20 minutes from the downtown area....Creative Quilter and Stitch in Time. Creative Quilter is still there, and is a nice little shop, but Stitch in Time which had become Tikki Patchwork has closed. I am told that since my last trip in 2007, I can find one in the outskirts of Milano, but not when I was there.

So why is this? I know quilting is alive and well in Europe. You can see the European Quilt Festival and many other quilt shows talked about in blogs and on forums. Why are there so few quilt shops or are they all just in the countryside??

Oh well, I head back to the states tomorrow and am looking forward to the new AQS Show in Lancaster, PA this weekend. My guild has a bus load of folks going on Saturday and I have my shopping list all made out :-). Will you be there?

I should have known better!

2010-03-12T12:32:00.000-05:00

I have had sooo much fun playing with a sketch of a paisley pattern lately, that I decided to use it as applique boarder for my Flowing Lines piece I did in Elizabeth Rosenberg's workshop. So I sketched it out, resized it and pulled out my color pencils to decide on just the right color combination. Sounds good so far... right???

I was having so much fun, that I even posted about my date with paisley applique on facebook! Using fusible interfacing I went ahead and traced, ironed and cut my pattern four times. By the end of the date (;-)) I had a really nice looking applique boarder, all ready to stitch. Woohoo!

But last night was I kicking myself. Now I do alot of applique and I use wonder under as my fusible of choice. Well I forgot, that just because the fabric was the right color, that did not make it the right choice for the project at hand. You see, when I am doing applique that has small curvy areas, I try as a rule to use batik. Why, might you ask.... well batik has such a tight weave, that it doesn't matter if you are working with small curvy pieces of fabric that expose bias edges. Batik doesn't fray and the stretch is minimal if you need to un-sew.

But no... I used a regular woven fabric, because the color was right.... and yes... I had my hands full with stretchy, unraveling fabric that didn't want to cooperate. It took me 3 hours to get 3 small paisley designs raw edge appliqued.... and then I had to add fray check to all the edges, so the piece didn't just unravel when it gets quilted!!!

Let's see if tonight I can get the last applique on without punching myself :!@!@!

Ok, now I can breathe :-)

NJ QuiltFest Pictures

2010-03-07T23:09:00.001-05:00

6 of the Pelham Quilters and I had a great day yesterday at the NJ QuiltFest in Somerset, NJ. It was a glorious day for the drive with the sun shining. 50 minutes down the NJ Turnpike and we walked into the show with the sun and smiles on our faces.

I was half way through the show when I remembered that I had my camera in my bag. So I thought I would share my photos with you. Of course, I wasn't smart enough to take photos of the names of the quilters, so my hats off to all, whether your quilt is included here or not....

These first three are from the same quilter. The tops are made of about 1" squares and the way th elight plays on the quilts is absolutely breathtaking. Can you believe the leaves on these trees are all made with thread! They looked like ribbons at first...

The next looks as if light was shining through the center of the quilt.....

Take a look at the detail in the base of the trees. Totally amazing....

I was surprised this quilt was by the same artist. While many of the techniques are the same, it didn't have the same moving spirit. I like the quilt alot, but it showed a different dimension of the quilter.

As you can see trees were a common theme this year. This is a different quilter, but I loved the depth in this piece and the way the birch trees continued right out of the top of the quilt.

There is so much to see in this piece. First, those who know me know that I love circular points made via paper piecing. But this quilt takes a twist, as the flowers are 3D... the flowers come off of the black centers. Then look at the background quilting... omg... the leaves and flowers quilted into the background. I just love the detail.

Here are two detail shots of the bottom right hand side and corner.. and one of the detailed quilting of leaves and flowers....

So that's a quick glance. I will share more tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed a view of the quilt show....

A Star in Miami!

2010-03-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

Many have followed my progress since October, when I started this piece at the Fall Quilt Escape Retreat hosted by The Country Quilter. I have many post as I worked along the way, with the first post back in November, here.

Well Raven... I hope your Google Reader sends you an alert on this piece, but here it is finished and hung.... I know, it doesn't belong here... it has to make it's way to Miami, but I had to hang it to take a picture.

It needs to be hung properly, so that the waves continue gracefully across the 3 pieces of the tryptych. But I really enjoy the way it looks.

Ricky Tims and Libby Lehman, a huge Thank You! for teaching me how to do the ribbons when I attended the Ricky Tims Super Seminar! I will use this technique over and over again :-).

My friends are telling me that it shouldn't go to Miami just yet, that it needs to go to a few shows first, but we will see.....

P.S. I have started quilting my initials in my quilts... really making me feel like an artist...uh oh :-)

Playing with Aurifil... first time fpr pebbles

2010-03-03T17:43:00.000-05:00

I just finished two major projects and haven't had a time to just sit and play at the machine for awhile. So I did so last night. Boy was it fun!

I decided to cut a piece of fabric and play with my free motion machine quilting. I have a couple of designs I use over and over again. But working on Raven's piece (yes I know I owe you guys a finished picture.. just need the right light.) I decided I needed to add to the designs that I do without thought. I also decided that I needed to play with the Auriifil Thread I have, as I have really only used the 40wt cotton.

So this is what I came up with....

I love the little leaves in the center. This was one of the designs I picked up from 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting. I thought it was pretty. DH loved the spins in each of the leaves. Not sure mine really look like hers, but I like them anyway. I love the way they swirl, so decided to add the circular design around the leaves. Isn't it interesting how this makes a nice little center design for a circular piece. I will definitely need to remember this the next time I work on a circular project. Next I decided to play with free form feathers around the circle. I have a hard time doing feathers with a spine first, then adding the feathers. I can always make the right side look great, but can never match the look on the left. If I start on the left, the feathers on the right are ok, but they don't match the look on the left. So I practiced making feathers without a spine. Wow! what difference it made for me. My free form feathers took on a totally different look and feel. It gave me the freedom to turn them any way I wanted and my feathers looked more natural as I wasn't always trying to hit the spine at the right angle :-).

As I got closer to the edge of the piece of fabric, I decided to try my hand a pebbles. I always like the tight look and feel they have and the added dimension they give the feathers... contrasting the big and free feathers with the small and tight circle of the pebbles. Take a look...

I really like the way the pebbles frame the other quilting. Having never played with the pebble design before, I experimented with making them all the same size and then mixing the size. I also had to stop doing them all in a line and change up on how I circled back over the stitching line to move in a different direction. I didn't like leaving a gap, so I had to figure out a way to ease smaller pebbles in between larger existing ones. Fun... I think I will start adding pebbles into my work, but will have to be careful to make sure I have even quilting across the top, so it doesn't warp the piece.

Now onto the thread. I used Aurifil 50 wt with a Topstitch 90/14 needle. On my Bernina 830, I dropped my tension to 1.5, which is typical for what I use with other threads. To be honest, I wanted to use up bobbins, so there is a mix of bobbin threads. Well to my surprise, I had NO tension problems. I ended up using three different bobbins, with three different threads and each stitched as nicely as the last. I have never been able to do this with any other brand of thread.... NEVER! Oh yeah, these was also almost NO LINT in the bobbin area. Wow... what a shock. I usually have to clean out the lint in the bobbin area after an hour of quilting. Not with Aurifil :-)

I did not use the BSR functionality, I just used my round open toe applique foot and had at it!

Here comes one of my 'inquiring minds' questions.... How many people use Aurifil thread? Do you like it? What weight do you find works best for free motion quilting? Do you find one needle size or type works better than the other? Do you use the same thread in the bobbin?

Let me know.....

Pelham Quilter's 2010 Round Robin... progress report...

2010-03-02T18:52:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are the pictures of not only the round robin top I have been working on, but also the other two tops being done by the group.

I will start with the one you have seen already....

If you remember, this top was started by Cheryl, with the black/white and red center, with curvy sides. We were all anxious to see what the next person would do with those sides. Well, Donna added the wonderful women appliqued onto to the grey background. Each women has different jewelry that was created using a thread painting technique with silver metallic thread. Next, Jean added the bold black/white/red boarder using Drunkards Path as it's design inspiration. I like the way she added the corner stones. I think the curves of the Drunkards Path compliment the curves of Cheryl's original 'square'. This group is ahead of schedule, as it already has it's final boarder added, which was done by Evelyn. Evelyn enveloped the piece nicely with the grey narrow boarder, followed by the red wide boarder. I think it was a perfect finish, as it said, ok... this top is DONE. Nice job ladies!

Next is a piece that I don't believe I have showed any pictures of, as I wasn't at either of the meetings where it was passed on.

This piece was started by Joanne M. with the center block composed of a blue/green/teal star. I am not sure what the pattern is called, but I like the way it also has the appearance of a circle. I can imagine a couple of these blocks linked together.. should create an interesting secondary pattern. Anyone know the name of the center star? Anyway, next Joanne S. added the light grey/powder blue/teal boarder, giving a nice frame to the star. Lorraine, our guild President, added the outer round. I like the way she brought the fabric from the center star out to the third round, while also introducing a new complimentary fabric. The burgundy in the batik introduces the opportunity for the next quilter to add another color into the final boarder. Can't wait to see what Cathy comes up with as she works on the last round.... anticipation. Guess I will have to wait until May just like everyone else!

Last, this is the top I worked on. You will remember my challenge to figure out how to treat the piece. it kept talking circle to me....

If you followed my earlier posts, you will remember that Teri created the fused center with diamonds creating a starburst outlined with the blue stripe on a black background. We all loved the center, but had no idea of where to take it. Doris added the print pieced boarder and black fused boarder that used both circles and diamonds. So my quandary was what to do next... we had a square with diamonds in the center, then outlined with more diamonds and circles. So, I decided to follow where my heart kept taking me... put the square center into a circular hole. And to do so why not add another shape, so I added triangles via circular flying geese. I decided that I needed to add orange to the center of the piece, so I used a thin orange piping around the square from Doris, before adding it to the lime green circle. Then I felt it needed the print brought from the center, so I found a similar print and added another thing piping before adding the flying geese. Lucky for me, Teri and I have similar tastes, so I had all of the fabric she used in the starburst in my stash. WooHoo! Anne gets this top next. Funny thing is she said when she saw the top after Doris, it screamed 'circle' to her as well. Now the question is, will she leave it as a circle.... Hmmmmm.... I wonder?

Well that is the current status of our 2010 Round Robin. Stay tuned.... all three tops will be finished by our May meeting. We will draw names from those who worked on each top for a 'winner' of the top. Then we ask each quilter to come back in September with the top quilted for us to gaze at and enjoy the completed process....

Oh yes, then it will be time for Pelham Quilters 2011 Round Robin... boy does time fly....

Man, Male, Dude, Guy, Bro.....

2010-02-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

No, I am not one of these, but.... Man these Dudes can QUILT!

I know of Matt Sparrow from the APQS forum. I have never met him, but any couple (his wife is a quilter as well) who have 8 kids and still find time to quilt.... well just say, my hat goes off to them. But after reading on the forum that Matt now has a regular column in Quilters Home, I decided to find his blog.

Scrolling thru it, I read a post about a space he created to see how many 'man', 'male', 'dude', etc... quilters he could find. I think last count was 87, but take a look at their work here.

My or My.... These Men can Quilt!!!

Feeling Good!!

2010-02-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

So last week, I promised to bring you up to speed on what I have been up to.

First, I finished my round on the Pelham Quilters 2010 Round Robin. Remember, this is what I received. I can't show you what I decided on just yet, but I promise to post a picture after guild meeting Monday night.

Second, you have seen me working on Raven's wall hanging for awhile, actually since early November. My poor daughter has had to wait while I finished two Christmas presents, then I worked on hers while I also worked on the Round Robin. Well it is all quilted and blocked. Here is a picture of it being blocked on my only rug, in the front porch.

I changed quilting designs as I moved throughout the piece, which was fun, as it didn't get boring. The top is still wet in this shot, so you can see some of the seams, but here is a close up of some of the quilting.

But to be honest, I am not sure I really like the thread. I searched and searched for the right thread and while I like the variegated green, with it's subtle color changes, I think it is too heavy. I used Sulky Blendables 50wt, but think I should have used a finer thread, so that it sunk into the top a little more. Maybe if not finer, than a little lighter.... but, too late now.

Since this will be a tryptic, I now have to decide where to cut it. Raven wants the center to be bigger than the side pieces. It will have to hang a few days and give me a chance to stare at it, before I decide. Then I will use the technique my friend Elizabeth Rosenberg taught me last week for facing a quilt without corner seams.

I hope to have it done by Monday night to take to guild for Show and Tell and then ship down to Raven in Miami.

The juices are flowing... what about yours?

2010-02-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

I had a great night quilting last night! My round robin is coming along nicely. I really like the fabrics and colors. The design says Renee! Can't wait to show it to you... but that will have to wait until after 7pm on March 1st.... that's our next guild meeting.

But now that my creative mojo is back on track, I was thinking today.... was it really just being with my quilting friends on Saturday that finally got me going? Almost 6 weeks I looked at the piece and my stash.... multiple visits to quilt shops, multiple conversations with quilting friends on ideas.... nothing. Then, all of a sudden it clicked. Now don't get me wrong, I am happy... actually thrilled that it did, especially since the due date is coming up quickly and I am the organizer of the round robins for my guild. Surely I couldn't be tardy. But what would I have done? Would I have just slapped some fabric on it to say it was done... without making it mine... without ????? I sure hope NOT!

So with this in mind, I have one of the curious questions again... where do you find inspiration???? how do you get unblocked, when you just can't seem to get going???? Is there a secret you can share with the rest of us?? :-)

Finally Unblocked!!

2010-02-15T23:26:00.003-05:00

I have had a mental block for over a month. I have not been able to find inspiration anywhere. Yes, I continue work on Raven's piece (I have even finished quilting it.... I will post pics after it is blocked and faced...I promise). But, actually figuring out what to do for my round on the Pelham Quilters 2010 Round Robin has been impossible. I have sketched out four different designs, even got two of them on graph paper. But they weren't right. Either I couldn't find the right fabric to get the look I wanted, or the dimensions didn't quite work.

Well after Saturday's workshop with Elizabeth Rosenberg, I came home really feeling good. I sat down and did the last hour or so of the quilting on Raven's piece. Then I sat down with my sketch pad again and went back to my first idea. Still not thinking I could make it work I went to bed. Well, they say dreams can come true.

I woke up yesterday and knew exactly how I was going to tackle the problem. I had worked it all out in my head during the night, even seeing the fabric right in my stash. After a wonderful Valentines Day with my husband, we sat down to watch the Olympics and out came the paper and pencil. Within an hour or so, I had the pattern done, fabric selected and everything set up for a quilting day today.

Enjoying the three day weekend, I ran errands this morning, came home and made some Wild Mushroom Soup and garlic bread for lunch (YUM!... even DH surprisingly thought it was very good... he usually has to have meat in his soups :-)). Next, I spent the afternoon and evening after dinner working on my round. It isn't finished, nor can I show you what I am working on, until I bring it to the March 1st guild meeting, but I made great progress and I feel GOOD!

I will share with you the piece as I received it.......

As a tease... here are the fabrics I choose....

Can you figure out what I am doing?

Improvisational Flowing Line Workshop

2010-02-13T23:13:00.002-05:00

It has been a long time since I posted. Almost a month, that is very long for me. But once again life has kept me going in multiple directions. The good news is I have been quilting. I will catch you up later, but for now wanted to share the fun I had today!

One of my favorite people in the quilting world, the person who expanded my quilting from patterns, squares and triangles, to applique, bright colors, batiks and finding my own quilting voice has recently added a new workshop to her list of lectures and workshops. Today, along with 6 other Pelham Quilter's, I had a ball in Elizabeth Rosenberg's "Improvisational Flowing Line Workshop".

No patterns, no rulers, just a mat, rotary cutter, some fabrics that read 'almost' solid, your machine and a willingness to think soft curves and your in.

Lorraine, our guild President, was one of the first to embrace the mantra...

It was great to see her smiling so. She really got into the swing of graceful sweeping curves, no pins... Just go for it Lorraine!

As usual, Cheryl got down and dirty. She is a speed sewer. Cheryl quickly decided to cut her strips early and then get to sewing. Here you can see Cheryl and Elizabeth discussing placement of her fabrics...

Cheryl decided she was going to make a tote bag. During our lunch break, you can see one side hanging over her machine and her work on the other side laying down on the table. Hmphhh... what to do next?

Millie was also a busy beaver. She was quick to decide to combine the flowing lines with traditional patchwork cut in.

I love Millie's colors. Purple, turquoise and lime green.... yum! Just look at those lovely pinks in the background.

Here is Elizabeth with the sample for the workshop. Just got to love her work. Stop on over to Elizabeth's website / blog and see some of her other pieces. I just love these. Take a look at the second one... omg... it is to die for!

Ok, here's a picture of the group.... interesting how each piece is so different... different colors, different curves, totally different vibes. I really like the yellow slanted inserts in Cheryl's piece. I think I will have to add that in mine as I complete it. Thanks Cheryl!

Isn't it great getting a chance to spend a day with friends, doing something you just love!! Oh yeah, thanks Lorraine for the cake, brownies and other goodies. I think I am going to go have a slice of your banana cake now with a cold glass of milk.

The Quilt Scene - Miami, Florida

2010-01-19T16:35:00.005-05:00

So, we made it to Miami just in time for DH to see the games on Sunday. We spent yesterday with DD and since she has to work today, we did some exploring. So, I found a quilt shop!

I did my usual and Goggled quilt shops in Miami. To my surprise there is only one shop in the Miami area.... The Quilt Scene. What a vibrant personality it has! I walked into the shop and was immediately greeted by a cheery staff member. (Not the lady below, she was the one who checked me out.) We chatted, she shared an overview of the store and their 'celebrity' staff member and then left me alone to browse. There was a group standing around one of the tables in the back discussing fabric choices with a new quilter.... quilters and staff alike were helping walk her through the process of choosing fabrics.

There is a large, bright room in the back where a class was going on, so I didn't explore too much back there. As usual I was on the hunt for threads..... they carried a good selection of Superior... King Tut, Razzle Dazzle, Masterpiece and Rainbows. They also carried YLI and a good selection of YLI Silks. Of course they carried Sulky Blendables, and Mettler and other thread for machine embroidery and sergers. Much more variety than many quilt shop I have visited. This is a good thing. To me, many shops focus on fabric, patterns and gadgets, but for those of us who tend more to contemporary or art quilting, a good variety of thread is a must!

The Quilt Scene is a dealer for both Bernina and HandiQuilter16. My husband was intrigued by all the old Bernina machines they had on display. They showed old popular machines dating back to 1950 along a shelve on the perimeter of the store. Don't know if you can see them on the shelve in the back.

These quilts are by Jane Hardy Miller, who works at the shop and is also their 'celebrity' staffer. Jane has a pattern line and is also the author of of the "French Braid Quilts" books.

I brought one of Jane's patterns, as well as another from ToadQuilts and some more black & white. Both of the patterns are good for quick, easy, but yet vibrant quilts. Great for gifts. Yes, this was a good trip for B&W's, I have built up my stash. I didn't have much room in my luggage for alot of fabric, so I had to keep my fabric purchases to a minimum on this trip, but I will be back:-).

I must say, I really liked the feeling of this shop. I told my DD that she now has a place to buy me presents :-). My DH and I were intrigued by some sample wallhangings they had with Angelina film (not the fibers)... really neat. Definitely need to get me some of that!

So 2 shops in Florida worth visiting as you travel down (and past) I-95 South....

Oh well, back to NY tomorrow... I will miss the 75+ degree weather!

Magrieta's Quilt Shop - St. Augustine, Florida

2010-01-16T21:39:00.009-05:00

I stumbled on a wonderful shop today! While driving to Miami we were planning to spend the night in St. Augustine, Fl. So while enjoying the scenery, I decided to google quilt shops near our hotel..... I was pleased to see that there was one only 7 miles away!

Once my husband settled in to watch football, I got in the car and headed to Magrieta's Quilt Shop.

Ooooohhhh, I knew as soon as I walked in the store, that I was in for trouble. Good thing we were flying home and I only had a little carry on bag :-)!

The store was just my style.... brights, batiks, plenty of eye candy to brighten your spirit, tickle your fancy and grab a hold of your pocketbook. They carry a wide assortment of batiks as well as traditional and eclectic prints.

The staff was friendly.... ... and of course I did my usual damage... but at least just enough to fit in my carry-on luggage. I loved it that they had plenty of crisp black and whites.... not those almost white or greyish blacks, but true colors. They have a whole section dedicated to just such lovely baby's.

And some pinks for a pink, green and white quilt I want to make for some lucky young lady. Maybe I will donate it to my local Project Linus Chapter... they give quilts to a girls summer camp, where all the girls are in foster care, waiting to be adopted.

Then a piece for the back of Raven's wall hanging, which I have to get finished.

The spool of thread is one of Superior's King Tut variegated threads that I liked. They carry Superior, Sulky, Mettler, Aurifil and a few other thread brands. A nice variety for all type of quilting!

They are getting ready for The Florida Breeze Shop Hop, which starts on the 18th, so if you are in the area, stop in.

It is definitly worth the trip!

I signed up for a new workshop...

2010-01-15T21:29:00.002-05:00

I am sooo happy! I have admired the artistic work of Jane Davila for a long time. I first met Jane at my all time favorite quilt shop, The Country Quilter, which closed last March. Jane ran the store with her Mom, Claire Oehler... one great woman. I miss the shop so much!! It really defined who I am as a quilter. Luckily they still offer quilting retreats twice a year, so I get my fix... But I digress..

As you can see by taking a look at her blog, Jane is offering a workshop called 'Surface Design Sampler' where you get to play with paintstiks, neocolor pastels, assorted inks, mediums, paints, stamp pads, glitter, foil, smooch, angelina fibers and films, and more. :-). I have always admired how some quilters add depth to their quilts using a little surface coloring, so I am psyched to get the opportunityto learn from someone as talented and diverse as Jane! I brought some painstiks and watercolor pencils long ago and they are just sitting there. Now maybe I will have the courage to use them :-).

March 20th .... I can't wait !!

Hands or Feet?

2010-01-11T23:54:00.004-05:00

Have you ever used the BSR on a Bernina? I have an 830 and have played with it now and then and have not yet found my rhythm. Some folks say if you are good at free motion quilting then it isn't really helpful. Others love it for the speed control and stitch length regulation, no matter how fast or slow they go.

I do quite a bit of free motion quilting, so this weekend, I decided to play. I spent an hour or so using the BSR with the foot pedal and another couple of hours using my hands to control the speed. You know, I like the fact that I only have to think about my hands, but I find that when I need to move my hands I am just not coordinated enough (yet :-)) not to cause a noticeable stop/start in my quilting. I think that when I use the foot peddle my mind already knows to slow the machine down so I can use my hands... hey it is what I have been doing for years.

Yes, I know like anything else, I will have to play with it a bit more to get comfortable. I am just looking for any pointers or thoughts you might feel comfortable sharing...

Do you use a BSR? How long did it take you to get comfortable with it?

Foot or Hand control or both, depending on what you are quilting?

Yes, this inquiring mind wants to know ?

Round Robin Dilemma and other stuff...

2010-01-05T22:44:00.004-05:00

What is a quilter to do? Yes, I have a dilemma... As you know the Pelham Quilters are doing our annual Round Robin. We have three tops going and each will have 4 contributors. I was absolutely thrilled when I saw who I would be sharing a top with... Teri Lucas, Doris Green, me and then Anne Frascarelli... all real fine quilters. Teri and Anne entered a piece in the Hoffman Challenge and it was accepted into the traveling show. You can see why I was excited!

Well, once I saw Teri's beginning 2 months ago I was even more excited. As usual, she created a wonderfully colorful square made with appliqued batik jewel tone diamonds on a Kona Black background. Doris brought in her addition last night and she added a bright on black print boarder then batik diamond and circles appliqued on a Kona Black boarder. It was a wonderful complement to what Teri had started and gave me quite a bit to think when I got home. The colors and fabrics could have been taken right from my own stash. In fact, I have quite a few of the batiks in the quilt in my own collection. But, do I continue the applique theme or do I change it up with some piecing? Do I add some curves to offset the geometric shapes or do I continue with points and diamonds? Do I work with it as a square, or do I do what Doris suggested and set it on point? I drifted off to sleep last night dreaming of all the possibilities.

So you can imagine what popped into my mind tonight when I hung it up on my design board and stepped back. Oh my, the center square is not a square, it is not a triangle... no, it is uneven...one side is almost 2/3" bigger.... and two of the circles in the last boarder are just a tad too close to the seam allowance... one will definitely get eaten up by a 1/4" seam!

What am I to do? Do I leave it as is, add my round, whatever that ends up being or do I take off the second round, square the center and then fix the circles, so they won't become ovals???

If I leave it as is, it will effect they type of design I add... I can't do any drafting, as the square is not a square and it will become increasingly noticeable as the piece gets bigger. If I don't try and make some adjustments, at the very least it will put poor Anne in the same quandary I am in now? Do I call Anne and discuss, so we can make a joint decision?

What am I to do???? I definitely won't be fantasizing about all the design possibilities tonight in dreamland.... I won't even get to focus on the piece I just basted with minkie backing and all the quilting possibilities for my great nieces quilt that has to be done by Friday night!

Ugh... I wish I had left it in the bag until I was finished with my deadlines :-(....

Santa's Elf Made me a Big Board!

2009-12-29T17:59:00.002-05:00

Yep that's right, my very own special Elf made me a Big Board for Christmas!! I guess he took the bait .....

.... this summer when my son ironed a shirt it came complete with all my loose threads, (I had just finished some un-sewing). After picking them all off he said... 'Hey Mom you really need your own iron board.. so we can keep this one upstairs and it isn't always covered with your quilting stuff.' So I very simply replied... 'You know that's a good idea and they even have large boards specifically for quilters.... sounds like a great Christmas present!'

Well he stored that bit of information in his head and while combing the internet for a large ironing board he found instructions to make one! I should have known it.... he has always had a love of making things, so that is exactly what he did!!! He also gave me an IOU for the cover. He ordered the material, but it didn't come in before Christmas.

As soon as I get the cover I will post a picture.... but for now, I am happy that my son who is studying Structural Engineering in college, used some of his talent for ME... woohooo!

Thank you baby!

2009-12-15T22:48:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, but the 4th quarter of the year is really busy in corporate sales, so I have been heads down... I have managed to find some time late at night to quilt. I need to get some XMas presents done... so much to do, so little time. But, I am making progress.

I have been working on a lap quilt for one of my nieces. I have two that requested a purple quilt to cuddle with. One is almost done, the other... well, let's just say.. I might have to give an IOU :-).

Here are some pics of the one that is almost done. As you can see, I am in the process of quilting the piece. Here are a few close ups of the front, showing the quilting. I am using purple Masterpiece by Superior in both top and bobbin.
I have been playing with different types of feathers. I'm playing with "molar" feathers that have loop-di-do's along the spine.
Here is a view of the back. As you can see, I am using my doodling method on this quilt. I just quilt one design until I am tired of it, then start something else. I know, I know... but as you can see from the front other than the sashing the blocks are kind of busy, so it is a good place to practice :-). The back is actually pieced in all the leftover fabrics from the front... although you can't really tell from the picture.

I've got pics!

2009-12-08T00:35:00.005-05:00

So I posted a little earlier that our guild's round robin is really getting exciting. When I kicked it off at the beginning of the year, I asked the participants to step out of their comfort zones and do something they had always wanted to try and might have felt a little intimated by. Hey.. in a round robin, you never know what direction a piece will end up in... and you will probably not own the piece in the end... so why not go for it... right?

Well Donna Chambers just sent me the pics of our first center and how it is progressing, so I wanted to share them with you.

The center 'square' made by Cheryl Hoist

As you can see it is not a square so, when it came in last month, we all said... 'oooh I wonder how the next person is going to build on this. Look at all the curved piecing.....'

Well, tonight we found out! Here is the center with the next round added by Donna Chambers.

Donna took a class recently on 'Quilting out of the square'. Well I say she mastered the lesson perfectly. She made the background. Appliqued, they ladies on the background, and then appliqued Cheryl's center on top of the ladies. WOW!

And here is a close up of one of the ladies.
Notice the jewelry... both the earring and necklace is done with thread work... silver metallic thread. And no two ladies or their jewelry are the same. Isn't that clever!

Oh, I can't wait to see what Jeannie does with this piece and how our other 2 centers are being expanded. Such fun!

WOW... I am so excited!!

2009-12-07T21:51:00.002-05:00

Just came from my local guild meeting and oh my!!! We are doing 3 round robin quilts and tonight one of the quilters brought in her progress for show and tell. She was a month early and a new quilter to our small guild, so we had no idea what to expect.

Well she blew our socks off! Yes, I will post a picture as soon as I get it, BUT... it was exquisite. She is an artist by trade and just quilting for a year, but she has gone way out of the block with her work. I just can't wait to see what the next quilter adds on. Feeling a little pressure Jeannie :-).

Donna, you have really raised the bar for the 8 quilters left to work on our pieces :-) !@!!

Thread, Thread, Thread...

2009-11-19T23:34:00.004-05:00

Thread... I think just about every 'art' quilter or fiber artist or quilter or whatever we call ourselves have a love affair with thread. We have cotton thread, rayon thread, polyester thread, wool thread, metallic thread and silk thread. Thread with sheen, thread that is thick and thread that is thin. Thread made by Isacord or Sulky or Madiera or Gutterman or Aurifil or Superior or YLI or Coats & Clark, or... or... or....

I for one, have some of every type, every brand above, plus some. I think I love my thread as much as I love my fabric. Well almost :-)... But one thing that I have noticed as I started really using my Bernina 830, is that thread that was almost lint free on my old Viking throws off tons of lint on the Bernina. Some, so much so, that I have to clean the machine in between bobbin changes. On my Viking, using the same assortment of threads, I almost never saw a buildup of lint. In fact, I could go two full quilts before I realized... OOPS!, I haven't cleaned the machine since I worked on that other project.

I wonder why that is? I know many of you have multiple machines. Do you see a difference in the lint build-up on one type vs another? Or even on one model vs another?

Yes, those same inquiring minds want to know...... Oh, but wait, no one had a thought on the last question this inquiring blogger posted. Oh well... I guess I will just have to ponder this thought on my own for awhile.

Dye Candy's having a give away...

2009-11-17T13:39:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone... Candy over at Dye Candy is having a give away over on her blog. Her fabrics are to DYE for :-).

Hop on over and leave a comment for an opportunity to win.

Inquiring minds want to know....

2009-11-13T23:55:00.003-05:00

As I am working on my DD's piece I am at the stage where I just want the thread play of the ribbons to be over (actually I only have 2 more to go...woohooo...). So my mind has started to wander on to the next stage.... what decorative accents should I use in the center... applique, thread applique, couching, etc... and what type of quilting will I do. Hmmmm...

My head is overflowing with ideas.... this is for a Miami apartment. Do I add circles to represent beach balls... do I add stars, for the movie stars Raven meets in her job (she's met Sienfield, Vanessa Williams, Bernadette Peters and a few others).... or what. And what about the quilting??? Normally I stay within the boundaries of each section... you know one design per wave. But I am thinking of going free and letting my stitching change as I feel it, vs as the quilt top is constructed. I think I like the freedom of that.... just go wherever it takes me. But even once I get that worked out, I still have to think about thread... variegated, one solid, or many different solids??? I do know that I don't want the quilting to take over the piece, it is bold enough on it's own.

So, I was wondering... do you design your quilting as you design your quilt top? Or do you finish your top and let it speak to you?

If you read this, please post a short comment and share your quilting design practices.

Inquiring minds want to know....

Oh, I forgot....

2009-11-10T22:48:00.007-05:00

Take a peak at some of the quilting doodles I played with while watching one of those baseball games. I did do something :-). Remember they say, practice, practice, practice...

Actually, I think I may take some of the new water color pencils I brought at retreat last month and color some of it in. It might make a nice piece to donate to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Who knows.... we'll see....

I am still here...

2009-11-10T21:48:00.006-05:00

I have been so busy lately, that I haven't had much time to blog. Between, work, the American Leaque Championship and the World Series, baseball and my YANKEES!! have kept me busy. That's right 27 World Series... WooHoo!!!

But I need to focus... After my Celestial Enlightenment piece, my dear daughter has asked for a Thread Play Triptych for her Miami apartment to hang over her 80" sofa. While I had creative block for awhile and then went into a real funk after traveling for almost 3 solid weeks, I finally got going.

Miami is so different than NY where we live or Phili where she went to school and it has definitely influenced her, because she sent me paint colors to match that I would never have expected my brown/blue/black loving daughter to pick.... Mexican Chili, Mint Majestry, Honeydew and Botanical Tint. This is a glimpse of the project as it has progressed...

It took almost a full weekend to create the wavy background. All curves were cut freehand using a rotary cutter. The trick was to keep them all on a 45 degree angle. I then used a zigzag stitch to sew it together. Once the top was complete the fun began.

Here I am transferring the ribbon design from freezer paper to the top using water soluble thread. It was a bit of a job, as the top is quite big for a wall hanging :-).

Here is a shot of the top with most of the paper removed. All except inside the ribbon....

Here I have completed the thread play on the ribbon and am adding the highlight in a darker color thread.
This is where I am as of today. The top is a bit wrinkled... all the stuffing and heaving under the arm of the machine. I still have two different colors to do the highlighting on. Each of the 30 ribbon sections take about 40 minutes of thread play to complete, so it is indeed very time consuming, but I think I am enjoying how it is coming out. Oh, did I say that all of the fabric came from my stash... maybe my love of brights is rubbing off on my daughter :-).

The next stage will be to decide what type of embellishment to do in the center of the piece. Remember the top will be cut into 3 after the quilting is done, so placement is critical. Hmphh???

Fall Quilt Festival

2009-10-30T12:24:00.007-04:00

Many of my regular followers will have seen this quilt. But it is the entry I have chosen for Amy's (Park City Girl) Online Fall Quilt Festival. I enjoyed making this quilt for many reasons. First, the background was a piece I had discarded because it was wonky. I later realized two of the pink squares were 1/2" larger on one side. Second, it helped me learn some new techniques I had seen at Ricky Tim's Super Seminar. Both by Ricky himself and by Libby Lehman. Third, I pulled it our of the scrap pile, because I thought it was a good piece to use to get to know my new Bernina 830, which I have fallen in love with. Lastly, I love the way it came out.. and it is no longer Wonky!

So here is my entry. Hope you enjoy it. I have called it Celestial Enlightenment!

Here are some close-ups....

Cotton Cocktails Give-a-way

2009-10-29T13:10:00.002-04:00

Hi.. it has been awhile and yes I will post soon to show what I have been working on, but wanted to share with you a Give-a-way by Quilthaze to celebrate her 3 months of blogging regularly. Just go to Cotton Cocktails blog and follow the instructions to win one of her cute bags filled with quilty goodies!

Good luck.. but really, I want to win :-)...

Heading to Brookfiled, Wisconsin

2009-10-12T13:33:00.002-04:00

Hey, I am heading to Brookfield outside of Milwaukee this evening. I should have a moment before heading back to the airport tomorrow to check out a quilt shop. Anybody ever been to Patched Works in Brookfield? Or any other shop in the area?

Any recommendations?

Traditional, Contemporary, Traditional or Contemporary.... that is the question??

2009-10-10T22:35:00.002-04:00

Most of you who have been to my blog know that I am mostly a contemporary quilter. But the person who first introduced me to quilting when I was just a teenager, was a traditional hand quilter. I didn't learn to quilt then, or from her. She passed away before I took the plunge. But when she did, her daughter, my best friend, gave me a box with some of her quilting stuff.... fabrics, books, tools, etc....

I have been quilting since 1999 and have made many a quilting present for friends and family. Well, about a month ago while on a weekend getaway with my friend, she commented twice that she didn't own a 'Renee' quilt. OH MY, how did I let that happen. My first thought was, I have to remedy that. But, for the last month I have been in a tizzy.

Just like her mother, my friend loves traditional things. Her home, her decorating, her style of dress is entirely traditional. She has purchased quilts over the years from various quilt shows, including the Kutztown, Pa. Fair... all traditionally made hand quilts in blues, burgundy, greens and creamy beige. Not my style at all!

So what to do?? Do I make her something that fits her style and home ---- OR ---- do I make her a 'Renee' quilt. An artsy, contemporary piece full of color, done all by machine???

I am definitely at a loss....

Jeux d'aiguilles, Geneve, Switzerland

2009-09-26T17:06:00.006-04:00

So, I google Quilt Shops in Geneve, Switzerland, before I left my hotel room this morning and what did you think I found? A directory of patchwork shops in Switzerland.... ok, ok, I know that is what google is for. Well, I found one entry for Geneve, so I looked it up on the city map and what do you know... it is less than a 10 minute walk from my hotel.... Oh, no... it is only open to 1pm on Saturdays... better hustle.... yes I slept in this morning :0).

So off I went to Jeux d'aiguilles. Nice looking front window...
So I go inside.... thru the window, I can see a group of women sitting at a table in the back. Did I catch a class in session? Wouldn't that be a treat! Alas, no. Instead it was a cross stitch group, sitting around working on projects. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, but wouldn't let me take a picture. So I grabbed a close-up of the window on my way out, so you can see the type of work they do. As you can see, there is both cross-stitch and quilting projects in the window. Hey there is always, more than one way to skin a cat :-). (No animals affected.)

The shop had more cross stitch than quilting supplies, in fact, it only had one little display of Mettler thread and about (3) floor to ceiling shelves of fabric. Everything else was cross stitch. But of course, I found something to bring home from Geneve. Don't know why... these (2) 1-meter peices cost me $54!!!! and one was a Moda Marble. Guess I will ask about prices next time, I don't see them marked on the bolt! But, I think they will go nice as pillow covers for Raven's sofa. The pillows that came with her sofa really are not her style.

Of course, there is a quilt show starting 3 days after I head home... of well can't have everything. I did ask the owner if there were other patchwork shops in the area and she said no. So I asked where the local quilters get their fabric from... hey, this is home to Bernina. Guess what her answer was.... the internet!@!@! Even with the shipping charges, fabric is cheaper in the US, than in Switzerland, because it is almost all imported. Of well, quess we really do have it better in the good 'ole USA.

Off to Yvoire, France for the day tomorrow, since everything other than restaurants are closed on Sunday in Geneve... not even one museum is open. Hmm... wonder what I can find on google for Yvoire? I know I have found an interesting shop in Zurich.. just don't know if I will have any time. Hey, I am there for work :-)

Where in the world is Renee??

2009-09-26T05:09:00.003-04:00

Hello, I know it has been awhile, but I am on the road again. Paris and London last week and I arrived in Geneva last night. In Geneva thru Tuesday, then on to Zurich. Home on Thursday. No quilting expeditions in Paris or London, I was too busy. But hopefully as I wander the streets of Geneva this weekend, I will find a shop or two.

Keep up the quilting end for me, I will have lots of posts to catch up on when I get home. That is, after retreat, because the Country Quilters Fall Retreat is next weekend... WOOHOOO!!

See you again in blogland after the 5th!

Quilting in Geneva, Switzerland and current project

2009-09-14T19:45:00.003-04:00

OK, so I am heading to Switzerland in a week and of course there must be plenty of quilt stops that I HAVE to try to fit in. I am hoping somebody can recommend a nice shop or two I can visit. If you are reading my blog, you probably know that I am not a traditional quilter. I love brights and batiks and do a lot of art quilting. I will be in the downtown business section of Geneva. Of course if there is a shop open on Sunday, then that would be great. Otherwise, ones open after 5pm work best...

I will also be heading back to London, in the Paddington area, so shops there are also welcome.

Other than that, I have just designed a wall hanging for my daughters living room in Miami. What colors she has chosen! I had to go to Home Depot to get paint chips for the colors she wants to use. How about these names: Honeydew, Mexican Chili, Botanical Tint and Mint Majestry... they sound and look yummy.

Gotta go match fabric to paint chip... hope my stash is up to the task :-)

A Quickie...

2009-09-07T22:41:00.004-04:00

My niece started her freshman year at Morgan State 2 weeks ago. She asked me to make her something for her room before she went away, but she never told me what colors. Lucky for me, my sister showed me a picture of her room all set up after dropping her off. At least now I knew what color and style. But I figured I had until Thanksgiving before I had to have something done.

Wrong! She showed up at home for the long weekend. So good ole auntie, got busy at her machine yesterday and pulled something together :-). I had an idea simmering for the last two weeks anyway. Hey, I had a new quilting motif I wanted to give a try.... Curly-que flowers. So here was my chance.The piece is 28" x 28" and should hang nicely on any wall in her dorm room. Her comforter is black with bright dots dancing across it. So the circles are a way to represent the dots, but instead I turned them into lolly pop flowers (her last name is Flowers).

I did a lot of quilting in the background. In fact I tried 3 different threads before deciding on this one ---- a Superior bright and two different YLI bright variegates. I ended up with a YLI pastel variegate. I hope it didn't take over, but my niece seems to love the pieces I do that are full of color and heavily quilted.

Notice, I also couched a fuzzy turquoise yarn as an inner boarder edge and instead of a binding. I didn't have the time for a conventional boarder and I thought this would look funky enough for a young college freshman.

I liked the effect of the yarn and she loved it. She said it was her favorite part. Although, this picture is pretty fuzzy, I really like my new motif. The curley-que flower. I will definite use it again.

My sister told me when she dropped her off at the bus-stop to head back to Maryland, that my niece told her, that now her half of the room would look better than her roommates. Glad I could be of assistance :-) !