Monday, September 01, 2008

Saturday I drove up to Saugatauk, Michigan to meet Nellie Durand, of Nellie's Needles, who was showing her work and doing a demonstration at Good Goods gallery there. I've enjoyed Nellie's blog and admired her beautiful work for several years, so it was delightful to meet her. Here Nellie is constructing one of her lake series and in the other picture you can see another of her quilts. She works in several styles, all fascinating. If you're not familiar with Nellie, be sure to visit her blog for more examples, and to read some of her tutorials.




Nellie suggested I check out the Petter Gallery in nearby Douglas, and I was so glad I did, and had a chance to see the work of Sue Holdaway-Heys. Her fabric work is striking, combining quilting and painting to produce beautiful landscapes and floral studies. Take a look at more of her work here.

I've also been getting acquainted with the new Janome. Last Thursday, during Al Gore's speech (about ten minutes), I made this pile of triangle squares on the new machine. It is fast! It's also very accurate. The quarter inch foot has a little flange that guides the fabric very securely, making a nice straight seam.


So I'm pleased. Of course this morning I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out why I had a thread jam. I think the machine wasn't threaded right, but I'm still not sure. This learning the ropes is normal, I guess, at least for me. Mechanical I'm not.

5 comments:

dee said...

Lucky you! I've been a fan of Nelly Durand for a while. Really wonderful work. Nice to see you getting time to play with the new toy.

*karendianne. said...

Absolutely amazing. I've yet to see such work like this. Thanks for sharing.

As for mechanical, well, I'm never the expert. I think its my lack of patience that gets me every time. I try though, I really do. To have patience I mean! ;)

*karendianne./ Living Life at LeeHaven

Nellie's Needles said...

It was such a pleasure to meet you after reading your blog and exchanging emails and thoughts for the last couple of years. I felt as though I were greeting an old friend when I met you on Saturday. Thank you for coming to the gallery.

That new Janome looks a lot like my Brother Nouvelle 1500S. I have a love/hate relationship with my machine. It's fast and makes a great straight stitch. However, getting and maintaining an even tension between the top and bobbin threads drives me nuts. Hope your machine is less temperamental than mine.

McIrish Annie said...

How exciting to meet Nellie! I have been a fan for a long time. and congrats on your new machine!

laura west kong said...

Thanks for sharing Sue's quilts. They're wonderful!