Traveling

This is where I'll be tomorrow.

I have only a limited time because I'm combining a trip to the show with a family visit and have to be back by the middle of next week.  My plan is to spend Tuesday visiting the Quilt Museum, Hancocks of Paducah, and some of the art galleries and shops in downtown Paducah.  Tuesday evening, as a contestant, I can attend the awards ceremony free of charge, and see the stars win their prizes.  (I wonder if there's a Red Carpet...) Then I can go to the preview evening for two hours, and spend part of Wednesday back at the show.  That will have to do it, but it should be enough for a good look at the quilts.  I find I can only take a short time with the vendors before sensory overload sets in, and I'm not in shopping mode anyway.
Should be fun!  Photos next week.  

A Test

I am spending this week as a substitute nanny for my grandsons, and then hope to drive to Paducah and then on to Missouri for another week. So blogging may be a bit irregular for a while. As a computer I have brought along my new iPad, which I find has some real limitations.

One is the weird keyboard, with its only sometimes helpful autofill. Also I don't know how to upload photos or even if that is possible, and finally, Apple does not like Google apparently, so reading my regular blogs is a problem. It's frustrating to be away from the familiar, but new things have their joys too; and who can complain about having the latest cool tech gadget!

So this post is a test of how everything works. Thanks for the comments on the elephants. I'll see you when I can, and please don't think I'm ignoring you!

Six Elephants

Road Trip

41" x 41"

Machine applique, machine pieced, and machine quilted

Finally, the "punch line of a joke" quilt for a guild challenge can be revealed. When I first heard this challenge, I immediately thought of this joke because my husband has always thought it's hysterically, laugh-out-loud funny.  (This tells you a lot about him, probably.)  I also immediately thought, "I can't draw that."  However, as time passed, I kept thinking about it, and thinking about it, and with the help of Google images and how-to-draw web sites, here it is.  I got lots of inspiration and tips from Mary Lou Weidman's wonderful books, and the Hoochey Mama monkey wrench blocks in the border are hers too.

I loved every minute of making this quilt; I had been in a creative slump, and this was the jolt that got me out of it. The bright colors brightened the dreary weather, and I loved the silliness of it.   I'm not much for embellishment usually, but for this quilt, even that was fun.  My favorite is Mama E's version of a flag pin.  She's patriotic, of course--an elephant, after all.  Currently, I'm still looking for an appropriate charm to put on a bracelet for Sister Elephant!

Back from Darkness

We've had no internet service here for 12 l-o-n-g days.  Our internet provider (a local broadband company) stopped working, there was no way to contact them, and we were stranded.  After several days of denial, we decided they had gone out of business, and over my husband's groaning, bit the bullet and contacted AT&T for the bundle of internet, cable, and phone.  A week later, we've got it!

Total excitement!  Not only is it wonderful not to read and answer emails on the tiny phone screen, but this is the first time we've ever had cable TV.  And of course there's the new wonder of DVR!  (I've already set it up to record Glee and Dancing with the Stars forever.) And maybe we'll have faster internet for better streaming videos.  And caller ID!  And the I-pad I got for my birthday is not just sitting in its box.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

Ironically, as the AT&T installer arrived, the old internet came back.  But I've written them a letter...  So much for shopping locally; we tried.

Design Wall Monday

I've gone back to working on my Athena's Puzzle quilt.  This is only a small part of the blocks I've finished, and there will be many more.  If anyone has seen this design completed, you know that they actually are set on the diagonal.  However they're sewn together in straight rows and then trimmed.

There will be lots of waste, but I'm sure I can find a use for the partial blocks.

It's an easy pattern; the only tricky thing is sewing the strips in the right order and orientation, but now that I have worked out a system, it's going fairly quickly, and has reached that nice, relaxed, flow state of sewing.

A Satisfying Finish

Once I went back to the nine-patches, the addictive quality of these little blocks kicked in.  I had only intended to make a few more, and then go back to another project.  Instead, I finished this, which can be a lap quilt for the veteran's hospital where one of my guilds sends quilts.

It turned out to be quite a stash buster; when I started cutting the longer sashing strips I was no longer using tiny scraps and had to use larger pieces.  That's a good thing.  The final outer border used up a piece of amazingly hideous dull green and brown fabric, and I pieced the back, using up even more fabric which seemed a bit dated to me, but works perfectly here.  So I'm very pleased with the whole thing.

I'm also happy with the batting I used.  I like polyester batting for service quilts because of the easy care, and this time I bought a new product from Mountain Mist called Quilt-Light batting.  It's very low loft, which makes it light, non-bulky, and easy to manipulate for quilting in the Janome, and I had no problem with the fabric creeping and producing tucks.  It's soft and drapey when finished also.   The king-size batt I bought should make three more quilts.

A few other things to be pleased with:  Peppermint Stars is packed and on its way to Paducah, I have a place to stay when I go there, and all my Alzheimer's quilts have sold.   If anyone reading bought one, thank you so much!

More Nine Patches

When I made nine-patches for Debra's American Cancer Society auction quilt a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of a scrap reduction nine-patch project I've had going for a while.  So this afternoon, after the joke quilt was all finished, I got it out and made a few more blocks.

As you can see, this neutral, earth tone palette is very different from Debra's.  The blocks are larger too, finished size of 4 1/2 inches. I love the softness of various browns together, and this quilt will make a good gift for someone else who does.  The pattern is a double nine patch block, with triple sashes and nine patch cornerstones making a chain of small squares throughout the quilt.

Nine patches are much more fun to make since I stumbled on Bonnie Hunter's directions.  I never could get my head around how many and how long the strip sets should be when you make strip sets with three fabrics.  Bonny says to use one kind of strip set about four times the length of the cut squares, and then just cut one extra square from the fabric that goes in the corner.  Slice your strip set into four pieces as though you were going to make four-patch blocks, add the extra square to the end of one piece, and put the block together.

I intended to link to Bonnie's instructions, but I couldn't find them on her site, so this picture should give the idea.  Maybe everyone else already knew this, but it was new to me.  Thank you, Bonnie.  This is just one of many wonderful ideas on her web site.

P.S.  Here's the link to Bonnie's instructions, thanks to Amy of the Calico Cat.

Showers and Flowers

There's a soft spring rain coming down today; maybe it will turn the ugly grass green and bring out more spring flowers.

I made these two postcards for a local school's silent auction.  I'm hoping they'll bring in a tiny bit of cash.  Also for a good cause, two of my Interpret This! pieces, Spring Dreams and Saratoga Ovals are for sale on the Alzheimer's Art Quilt site.    (If anyone is interested in Spring Dreams, please note that I had to crop it for the Alz Quilts size limit, and check the size on their web site, not the IT! blog.)  Now that the AAQI has little quilts for sale all the time, not just during the auction at the beginning of the month, it's interesting to browse that page from time to time.  There are some beauties.

I have my joke challenge quilt completed except for the binding and embellishments.  I can't show the whole thing, but here's another peek.  The colors in this quilt make me smile.  I  particularly love this blue striped fabric in the binding.

Have a good day, everyone.  Spring is coming!

It's in the Genes

My sister sent me this photo today, one I've never seen before.  That's my mother, sometime in the 50's, I'd guess.  She's found a fabric treasure, and isn't she happy!  I don't recognize the other ladies, and I'm not sure I know the place, but I know the feeling.

Some Old Beauties

An interesting item came up at guild last night.  Apparently about 20 years ago, our guild helped register quilts made/residing in Indiana before 1950.  Photographs and information was stored in the Indiana state museum.  Now the museum would like to put this information in digital form to be included in the Quilt Index.  There is no state funding available for this, so the museum is asking guilds for contributions, and since we were one of the earlier guilds instrumental in collecting records we were asked to contribute $250. Some members felt this was too much, but after discussion, we voted to contribute the full amount.

It was gratifying to see how strongly people felt about this: the importance of the project (although no one seemed familiar with the Quilt Index), and pride in being a group who made a contribution to quilt history.

By coincidence, last week I visited the Wylie House museum in Bloomington, Indiana, and saw these old quilts, part of their collection.

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the information cards, so I can't add to the pictures.  However, I do know that the Grandmother's Flower Garden at the top of the page was bought from the Henry Ford Foundation.  It is English, made from drapery fabrics of the 1840's and is lined but not quilted.  Isn't it contemporary looking?  It could be Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

Tara Lynn Darr of Sew Unique Creations also attended this exhibit and took many excellent pictures, with close ups of the information cards.  From her web album you can see these quilts and all the rest.  Thank you so much, Tara.

Briefly, the pink and green quilt, called Ships Wheel dates from 1850-1875, the crazy quilt was probably made by Rebecca Wylie in the 1880's,  and the Cherry Basket quilt dates from 1860-1880.  As you can see, there is only incomplete documentation on these quilts, reinforcing the importance of labeling ours.

So here are a few of the Indiana quilts that may someday be added to the Quilt Index. Thank you, River Bend Quilt Guild, and all the other quilters who will help.

Bits and Pieces

Yellow nine patches for Debra:

Deb Geyer and I in front of Carolina Baskets at the IHQS:

It was wonderful to meet her and talk, although briefly.  We shared some thoughts about the machine quilting on display at this show.  When I can get my thoughts straightened out, I will post some, as well as a few more picture.

And--big news:  Peppermint Stars, pieced by me and quilted by Deb, was accepted to Paducah.  When I marveled at the Paducah show several years ago, I never thought I'd have a quilt there, so this is stunning to me, but after this one was accepted at Road, I decided I had nothing to lose.  As Colin Firth said, "I think my career has peaked."

A Tired Tuesday

Sneak peek:  Here's what I'd be working on if I had any energy.

I'm feeling lousy today, with no energy to do anything but sit and stare at space, or at the computer.  However, I've got the miracle drugs and am hoping to be back in good form by tomorrow.  That's the day I'm driving down to Bloomington to visit the Indiana Heritage Quilt show, one of my favorite shows.  The plan is to meet up with Deb Geyer.  This should be fun--she's done a beautiful job of quilting several tops for me, but we've never had an in-person meeting.  There will be some outstanding quilts there, I know, and although the number of vendors isn't large, they're good ones.  It's always a fun trip, so kick in, Cipro!

An Appraisal

Recently I posted about quilt appraisals.  Road to California offers a chance for an appraisal while your quilt is on display there, so I had Peppermint Stars appraised. This is a replacement cost appraisal for insurance purposes,  the cost to have the quilt made again with similar materials and by quilter(s) of "similar skill and reputation." A market value appraisal might be different.

My result is as described by our guild speaker:  the two page report is totally objective, including things like size of blocks and borders, the colors, the patterns, the layout, type of fabric, quilting design, batting fiber, etc.  There are no judge-type comments at all.  The only subjective comment concerns the difficulty of the pieced design and quilting patterns.  As for the value assigned, I'll just say that I wouldn't be likely to buy this quilt!

The up side:  It's gratifying to see a nice monetary value on something you made, and to know that if something happens to it, you've got compensation.  It's also interesting to think that someone actually spent a lot of time examining the quilt.  (The judges apparently did not.)  The down side:  when I sent the quilt to the Smoky Mountain guild show, I insured it for its appraised value.  The resulting shipping cost made my jaw drop.  Homeowner's insurance covers the quilt in the home, but I'm not sure about en route to a show.  Before I do this again, I'll need to find out.

Using Value

I've been having so much fun working on my joke challenge quilt!  Most of the motifs that make up the picture are done now, and just need fine tuning before I begin to stitch them together and do the final assembly.  Then the quilting--like Scarlet O'Hara, I'll think about that tomorrow.

Here you can see my fabrics for this project sorted by value dark, medium, light in the back, with the multicolors on the upper left. I approached fabric choices for this a bit differently.  I chose a color plan, and made a sketch, but instead of planning what color each piece should be, I only planned what value it should be.  I wanted to be sure to get enough contrast in the focal points to let those shapes stand out, and less contrast in more secondary areas.

I found this a very satisfying way to work.  It's somehow simpler to look for a dark fabric than wonder whether I want a blue or a green or an orange, and it makes sorting the fabric easier too when I'm working with a large number of possible choices.  As I went along, I did consider color, making sure that the different colors are spread around in a pleasing way.

By coincidence, Libby of Creative Endeavors has been working with values in her painting projects, and it seems to be working well for her.
We'll see how this works for me, but so far, I'm pleased.

While stitching lots of little letters...

I learned something.  Last summer I discovered that if you hold the bobbin thread when you start to zig-zag, the Janome pulls the knot to the back.  Now I discovered something even better.  If you DO NOTHING, don't touch any thread, both threads and the knot go to the back.  Isn't that great?  The only problem is that I have such a habit of holding a thread, it's hard not to do it.  But I'm learning.  So much faster, which is a blessing for this project.

Also, I'm wondering why Superior Threads makes their Mono-poly thread only in a very dark smoke or clear.  Neither color blends well on a medium fabric.  The Coats and Clark nylon that I no longer use blended better.

Finally, I just wasted some time looking at H of Paducah's on-line sale.  The sale batiks are beautiful.  I know what I said about batiks a while back, but these really are lovely, and with prices going up, it's a good opportunity.  I'm resisting.  I'll use my Christmas gift certificate on wool batting instead, but that's boring, isn't it?

Designing and Decisions

I don't know if I like this stage of a project or not.  Sometimes it's fun--there's a real surge of adrenaline; but then sometimes the decisions just tie me up in knots.

Here's where I am on the joke challenge quilt.  I'm stuck on the background fabric, not able to find exactly what I visualize.  The one on the right seems a bit bright, and also dark enough that having visibility for the center elements may be a problem.  They'll need to be either dark or light, not medium.  The one on the left has a flower sprig, which isn't right for the mood or theme.  I know it is only visible close up, but still it bothers me.  I'm not quite willing to try a couple more fabric shops, but maybe I will.  On the other hand, maybe I'll just say,  "Oh, well," and go with it.  See what I mean about indecision?

This is probably the only post about this quilt since it should be a surprise.  It's hard not to be able to post what you're working on, isn't it?

The retreat was delightful:  a warm, sunny room with a view of snow covered woods and fields, good food,  good company and plenty of time to sew.  What could be better?

I've finished 18 (out of 72)  of the Greek key blocks, and started making some of Mary Lou Weidman's Hoochey Mama blocks.  Her method produces straight edges, which means the finished blocks are more stable than other wonky methods where you just piece and hack.  These are fun, but not particularly fast to make.  I need at least six or seven more to get a good range of color and to make a border of the right length.   So with two unfinished projects, I probably won't be posting finished work for a while.

One thing that is finished, however, is the Interpret This! Challenge.  Debra posted an excellent summary of the project with links to everyone's work, and you can just scroll down and read our final comments too.  I hope you'll visit this site if you haven't yet.

Time to Retreat!

Assuming the roads in Michigan are plowed, I'm packing for retreat.  Here's my project stash:

The batiks in the back are for the Athena's Puzzle block, good for brainless sewing.  The front piles are for a new project, a Mary Lou Weidman style "story quilt".   It's for a guild challenge:  the punch line of a joke.  Now there's a challenge!  But I do have an idea, and while it will stretch my drawing skills to their pathetic limit, I'm giving it a shot.  This weekend I hope to do some of the wacky border blocks, and then develop the center later.

I'm also planning to finish this little thing for Alzheimers'  quilts.

In my stash was a scrap of fabric with faux blue-work flower designs that I've always thought would make a sweet little miniature.  So here it is.  Miniature, or potholder?  Will curved bound edges help, or just add to the potholder look?  You can cast your vote here.

As soon as I finish organizing, I'm off to the grocery.  In case you haven't heard, we've had a massive snowstorm, and I'm afraid the choice of fruit for the fruit salad I'm supposed to make may be slim.  We'll see.

The Batik Blur

I used to love batiks.  When I started making "wearable art" about 12 years ago, batiks were new to me, and they were perfect for what I was doing. 

 The low value contrast and blended colors worked for quilted  clothing, because after all, not many people want to look like they're wearing one of Grandma's quilts.  Some of my batik stash dates from that period, but I've added to it constantly, finding uses for some of it, but always thinking "Some day I'm going to do something wonderful with these batiks!"

In the last few months, it's been dawning on me that I no longer like batiks so much.  They've become much more common, and often are used in such a way that their already blended look becomes just a blur--there's no pattern left in the quilt.  The popular jelly rolls are very much to blame for this.  Many batik jelly roll quilts seem to me like a big smudge of finger paint--pretty colors, but without any pattern definition.  Now if you love jelly roll batik quilts, I know I'm stepping on your toes.  Don't take it personally.  You can still love them.  It would be a dull world if we were all alike, right?

So--DRUM ROLL:  It's time to use up some batiks! ( It's not that I don't like them at all, it's just that I'm not "saving" them any longer.) I'm making Athena's Puzzle, from a pattern I bought at the Chicago Quilt Festival last spring with the aim of busting batiks.  I love the Greek Key design, so that's a bonus, and it's actually just a simple Courthouse Steps block.

I have a retreat coming up in two weeks, so I'll cut this out and sew it there, and will have reduced the batiks stash noticeably.  The quilt will be fairly blurry, but that's okay.  Nine yards of fabric, plus backing and binding will have been finally used.

I keep repressing the voice that says, "You're going to want that blue for sky!  That blue-green has been perfect as an accent.  No! Not that purple!  You'll be sorry."  So far it's working.

It's Still January

Greetings from the tundra.


What's happening:

I'm preparing these three Interpret This! pieces to send to the Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative.  Two of them need a sleeve, since I didn't do that when they were finished.  The pink tree has been cut smaller to meet the AAQI size limit, without any impact on its effect that I can see.

The service quilt that was posted last week is quilted, bound, and ready to go.

I've also been reading, finishing the Inspector Troy novels by John Lawton.

  These are an odd combination of police procedural, cold war espionage, and historical novel, since they're set in London at  various times from the Blitz to 1963.  Lawton wrote four novels, the fourth bringing his hero Inspector Troy to the end of his career, and then apparently not really finished, wrote subsequent novels that went back and filled in gaps in Troy's life.  I'd highly recommend these books.  Troy is a fascinating,  not totally likable character; as the son of a family of aristocratic Russian refugees, he's a bit of an outsider in England. There's an excellent cast of supporting characters, as well as vivid descriptions of English society at various time periods.

What's not happening:

I signed up for a Quilt University course, Playing with Paint, taught by Lyric Kinard.  I debated a long time about taking this class, but finally decided it might motivate me to use some of the fabric paint that is sitting on my shelf.  I've bought the paint because other people make such beautiful things, but after the paint comes into my house, it usually sits untouched.

Stupid as it sounds, I just don't like the mess.  Clutter is okay, but I don't like to get my hands dirty, or spill stuff that has to be wiped up, or wash paint tools.  In addition, if there's anything that says "bad art everyday" it's my painted fabric.  I look at it, and think, "Now what?"  So last Friday I downloaded the first lesson,  read it,  and haven't opened a jar of paint!  I will do the class work; I promise.  Just not yet.