Quilt Show Take-Aways

Vendor Hall
It really did look like this.

I went to the show knowing I'd find gobbs and gobbs of fun, wonderful quilt stuff.  And, I was not disappointed.  But, I also had a budget (my money tree has not started producing yet.)  My strategy was to visit the booths, and yes we do look in every one...mostly, and mark down on the map what I liked and the booth number where it was found.  It actually worked pretty well.





I only came away with two things. But, I still managed to go over my budget. (sad face goes here)

The Oregon wall hanging pattern speaks for itself.  As I am a Portland girl, I just could not pass it up.

Before I talk about my other purchase, 

I need to give you a bit of background.

The first two quilts I ever made were QAYG **.  One, a simple 4-patch and the other  a BOM* from Cool Cottons in Portland, Oregon.  Back then I knew so little about quilting that when the group was talking about sashing I thought they were saying slashing!   I thought that was a bit strange, but oh well ...  the group did eventually correct me. Imagine my embarrassment.

I  did not like the finished result of QAYG at all. They looked sloppy and wonky.  I've never done one since.  But, I did not think I would EVER pay to have someone else quilt them, either...too expensive.  That, of course, changed because if you don't QAYG and you don't send them out the only thing left is to tie them.  I have tied a few....functional but not as pretty as quilting. (You could quilt them yourself on your domestic machine...I learned a whole new vocabulary quilting them myself.)

Simple 4 patch for my son.
QAYG

BOM that I gave to my friend, Peggy.
QAYG

Enter Mr. Flynn.  At another quilt show (I think it was Paducah)
 I met Mr Flynn and purchased the Flynn Method for free motion quilting.

Think of it as the poor-woman's answer to a sit-down quilter, like the Tin Lizzie or the Handi Quilter Sweet 16.

It looked so easy!  I was so motivated!  It is still in the box 10 years later!!!

Every show I attend I stop and talk to Mr. Flynn, as I did this year.  I promised him THIS year, I would take it out of the box.  And I will keep my promise.

Now, back to the present time:  as we were perusing the vendor booths (I'd only purchased one item so far and feeling pretty proud of myself)  I happened on a booth with a sign "THIS METHOD FOR QAYG WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE."   Being the smart-aleck that I am, I scoffed.  But, I gave her a few minutes of my time.

IT DID CHANGE MY LIFE....AND TOOK ME OVER MY BUDGET! I bought her kit.

All the Instructions

All The Tools

I could not possibly describe how this works, so here is a link to the website with videos on how this works.
Here is a link to a very short  demo video.

The process in a nut shell.
The last circle is the finished sashing.

The result is very attractive, looks really easy and I  think I'm going to liked it very much.

One more post tomorrow to talk about some Honorable Mentions.
Things I would have purchased if I hadn't already run out of money.

Ciao.




*BOM = Block of the Month
**QAYG = Quilt as You Go

Field Trip !!!

 

On The Road Again! A few of us Needlers* hopped into the car and headed to Ontario, CA (about an hour away) to spend the day guacking at quilts and perusing vendor's booths at the 25th annual Road to California Quilt Show. Our Fitbits certainly showed we got our steps in that day.

We did not have the opportunity to meet Jenny Doan of Missouri Star as I had hoped, but we DID meet the Quilting Cowboy and he is every bit as handsome in person! (hubba hubba)  If you don't know who these two are, check out their videos on YouTube.

And the Quilts!!!  There is really no way to capture with my iPhone just how beautiful these quilts are.

 Best of Show.  Marilyn Badger, creator. 
It was truly stunning AND designed in Electric Quilt.
How many hours do you think went into this quilt?

Here are just a few pictures I managed to capture before my phone ran out of juice.

Super Bloom
Glendale Quilt Guild Opportunity Quilt.

I've always loved this pattern, and
I really like her color choices.

Created from a photo.  The creator is very talented, indeed!
It made me want to capture my mom & dad's Kentucky home in a quilt. (alas, it is now sold)
The reality is I'm NOT that talented.

Never forget the men and women who fight for our freedom.

A quilt of a quilt show!  How creative!
Creator, Laura Peterson
A confession, I didn't actually see this quilt at the show.
I saw it on the R2CA website.
But I like it all the  same.

As I mentioned, my iPhone could not even begin to capture the detail, creativity and beauty.  You will just need to mark your calendar for next year.  It is always toward the end of January.  Check their website. And in the meantime, check out this link to see this year's show winners.

Tomorrow I will share what I took away from the show, both in booty and inspiration.


*Needlers:  The group of ladies who meet on Tuesday nights.

National Quilt Museum

As I do a couple times a year, over Labor Day I traveled to Paducah, Kentucky to visit my family.
Paducah is known for the BIG quilt show every April (and now they've added a show in the Fall), Hancock's of Paducah, and the National Quilt Museum.   My baby sister and I made a visit to the Museum. (I meant to post this pictures then....) 

On exhibit were some amazing collage quilts by Danny Amazonas.

My Favorite

I have completed two collage quilts to date:  Laura Heine's Cat and the Piggie Quilt in memory of my mom and my quilting Auntie, Nyla. They are not as easy as you might think.  Choice of fabrics and getting the colors and shades just right is the trick.  Danny Amazonas is a very talented artist, to be sure!  Google his name.

Laura Heine is probably the most recognized name for collage quilts.  She is a featured speaker at a lot of guild meetings across the country and she makes a presence at quilt shows. (I was introduced to her patterns at the Road to California show.) But here is another option, The Collage Quilter. I LOVE her Adoration quilt.  I also found a a collage quilt tutorial.  While not exactly the way I would do it, it was pretty good.  This has kind of given me 'the bug', again.

Spinning Out by Helen Remick of Seattle, WA - My sister's favorite display.

P.S. While we are talking about the Quilt Museum, they also sponsor a BOM* every year.  Last year's blocks were part of the exhibit. The blocks were very imaginative and very good, but not out-of-this-world.  Don't be intimidated!  At the bottom of the BOM page, click through the blocks. They do an excellent job of giving you all the tools for creating the blocks. Check it out!  YOU can do it!

*BOM:  Block of the Month

A New Year - New Projects

This new year is well under way.  I have been in a bit of a fog since my mother's passing and have had a hard time "getting started."  Kind of like an old car that keeps cranking over and cranking over until finally it starts.

A couple of us ladies have been getting together in the Mezzanine Room this past week to work on our projects.  Finally, I have "started."













In January a gaggle of us attended the Road to California in Ontario, CA.  It was fun. But, truth be told, a bit over whelming... so much to see, so many "geese" taking in the sights!

Charlotte's (aren't the eyes weird?)

Toward the end of the day, when my resistance was low, I purchased a kit.....
first because it reminded me of my mom and
second because my friend purchased one, too.

Quilt Collage wall hangings by Fiberworks

Mine.  My mom loved pigs.
I'm going to rename mine "Dona & Nyla"
for my mom and her sister, my favorite Auntie.

Absolutely adorable, donja think?
Go to the website, take a look.

I won't lie, it's not as easy as it looks.  It is very time consuming.
Charlotte and I have both struggled with "placement."  But, it does get easier, the more you work with it.

Charlotte's is coming along faster than mine.

We have ears and snouts!
It doesn't even look like anything at this point.

We got this far after two evenings.  Lucky for us we can leave our projects laid out in the Mezzanine Room until mid-April.

Until next time, keep those machines humming....

What's on Your Design Wall? (or Design Floor, or Design Bed)

Do you do "something" in your sewing room every single day?  I travel a lot for work and sometimes I have handwork to take along and complete....sometimes not.  Last week was a very heavy travel, work-with-clients week: In 5 days, drove over 1,000 miles, 4 different clients, 3 different hotels.  I did not do any type of sewing the entire week.  When I returned, there were Easter activities, church and celebrations.

So, I've picked up again this week.

I'm working on a baby quilt for my niece (whose shower is fast approaching.)   This is actually the back.  The pattern started out as a adaptation of "Fresh as a Daisy" from the book Welcome Baby but I had to pick it up off my "design floor" when The Babes arrived and could not get them back in order... so, it is what it is.

The front was a piece of fabric that was just too cute to cut.  It is "Meet The Gang" by Marisa and Creative Thursday for Andover Fabrics.

Too cute, is it not?

I'm still plugging away on the Splendid Sampler 100 Blocks Quilt Along.

I left off on block number 9 and they are now on block 13.  There are a few I don't particularly care for.  Then it hit me!  There are 100 blocks.... if you don't care for one, skip it....What a Thought!

Here is what I have so far:

A couple of the blocks I liked so much I made them twice!

I think I'm going to give this quilt to my sister (I have 7 sisters so if  any of them are reading this blog, they won't know WHICH sister...tee he)

 It's not too late to start.  Good practice for various quilting techniques.

And, just last night I decided I wanted to make the first block of the Gypsy Wife.

I liked this pattern the very first time I saw it, which was at a Desert Lilies quilt show in Yuma, AZ, probably 3 or 4 years ago.


I picked up the pattern at the Road to California quilt show this past year.  It's a great way to use up scraps.

There you have it...three UFOs (by far not the ONLY UFOs I have.)
So, What are you working on?  More than one at at time?

All Roads Lead to....

So, did you make it to the Road to California this year?  It was pretty awesome.  I was so over whelmed with the beauty and creativity everywhere I looked.

Look what you can do with Hexies!?

Of course, visiting the vendor booths was fun...and I bought a few fun things...

Here is my own slide show of quilts I found inspiring...

Just Do It

Ya know when you are so darn busy you can hardly catch your breath... then, finally, things slow down....and you don't know what to do first... so you do nothing?  That has been me the first two weeks of this new year. 

Getting the Christmas quilts finished and delivered, not to mention all the other stuff that goes with the holidays, consumed all my waking time and thoughts.  Now... I have an idea of how I want my quilt year to go...but no real direction in getting started....

So, last night I decided just to sit down and sew.  I added some blocks to my string quilt block collection and some blocks to my crazy quilt block collection.

Sometimes the pump just needs to be primed.

Beautiful Crazy Quilting

My form of "crazy quilting" pictured above is not the "pretty" kind of crazy quilting pictured on the right.  Maybe mine should be called "crazy piecing."

I've tried my hand at "pretty" crazy quilting... while it is very pretty, I do not have the patience for it... it takes a long time.

Here is a link to a "crazy piecing" tutorial by Abby Holverson.



I think string quilting is probably the easiest thing in the world to do.  By design, it is not precise.  It uses up a lot of left over quilt binding scraps to boot.  If you've never tried it, here is a link to Missouri Star's tutorial.

As I was sewing I was thinking about how I would put these blocks together and who would receive the finished quilts.  I think I'll match the sashing, backing and binding and give them to a couple next Christmas.  Lap quilts .... oooo, just had an idea... use Minky on the back!  Make them soft and cuddly.

OH!  I almost forgot!  Road to California is coming up in a week!!!  Do you have your ticket? That will help our creative juices!  (See, it's working... As Nike says "Just Do It.")

So, what about you?  How do you get off the mark?

Stuff, Stuff and More Stuff

We're coming to an end of the "must-have stuff" list.  Thank Heaven!!!
If you haven't realized it before now, quilting requires a lot of "stuff."  Some stuff is a "must have" and some stuff is a "it would be nice to have" and some stuff is "I MUST HAVE" because it just looks like fun!

And, people are out there thinking up more cool quilt stuff all the time.
That's what makes quilt shows so much fun...all the vendor's booths!

Road To California Quilter's Showcase
January, 2015 Ontario California

I came home from the Road to California Quilters Showcase with a nifty gadget, which I will show you later in this post...

Ok, enough of that rabbit trail.

Quarter Inch foot: Unlike constructing clothing items, quilt seams are 1/4 inch (sometimes a "scant" 1/4 inch.)  Using a quarter-inch foot is very helpful.

Here is a You Tube video on using the Quarter-Inch Foot (everything you ever wanted to know, eh?)


Quarter inch seams are SOOOO Important!  If you are even a smig over or under, your block will not measure accurately. So, check the accuracy of your quarter-in foot.  (Follow this link)

Seam Ripper:  Only God is perfect, you will still need one of these.

The very first quilt block I made was part of a BOM (Block of the Month) I participated in at a GREAT store in Portland, OR,  Cool Cottons. 

They gave us the fabric we'd need and the instructions for that month's block.  I went back to the store 8 times for help!!!  (Absolutely true)  I ripped it out so many times the fabric began to fray...I had to buy more fabric!  (I did eventually catch on.)
So, you will still need a seam ripper...We lovingly refer him as "Jack" (as in Jack the ripper.)

BOM Blocks from Cool Cottons

Here is my one and only gadget I bought at
The Road to California last weekend.
I'll let you know how well it works.

The next big thing is RULERS

We use rulers to cut the fabric that will make up the blocks.  There are hundreds of sizes of rulers.  Ok, I may be exaggerating just a bit.  But there are a lot of sizes of rulers and lots of specialty rulers.

You do need a couple rulers to start.  I have about 12 or 15 rulers.  But I didn't accumulate them all at once.  I started out with a nice, long, wide ruler and a square ruler.

A "good sized" ruler will be 6" wide and 25" long. (Look Here)

A ruler this long can be hard to control.

♫♪♫♪ Slip Slidin Away ♫♪♫♪ 

So I use a handy device called a "Gypsy Gripper" to help hold the ruler in place (and keep my pinkies out of the way.)

Gypsy Gripper

A Gypsy Gripper "suctions" to the ruler.  When using your rotary cutter, using slight pressure on the Gypsy Gripper will hold that ruler just where you want it. Very nifty.

Pick one up at Jo-Ann's-- use your coupon.
(Are you seeing a pattern here?  Jo-Ann's and her coupons are good for quilting "stuff.")





Bobbins and A Bobbin Holder:  Not much to say about these.  You want to have enough bobbins that when you run out of bobbin thread you don't have to stop and wind a bobbin.  I have about 20.  They are not expensive.  If you do need to buy more, take one with you to make sure you get the right kind for your machine.

Sewing Machine Needles:  I use two kinds: Schmetz or Klasse (Just depends on what store I am in when I decide I need them.)  The main thing to remember is the size; 80/12 Sharps and don't buy the cheapest brand.

A lot of quilters I know use "Universal" needles.  They are OK...they are not as sharp as "Sharps."  Sharps will glide through your fabric better (I was told by a published quilter, Lauren Smith.)



Marking Pens:  You need two kinds; one for marking light fabrics and one for marking dark fabrics.  Here are the two I like:


For marking light fabrics nothing beats FriXion Pens.
 I have black, blue and red.  The touch of a warm iron will magically "erase" the markings.  I can't say enough good  about these pens.

For marking dark fabrics I use a Bohin mechanical pencil, white.  I just like  the feel of it in my hand. (And, the Bohin man in his booth at the Road to California gave me a free pen because I mentioned in passing the one I had was broken... how nice was that!)

Straight Pins and a Pin Cushion:  You probably already have these.  Long-ish pins are great.  I pin my pieces together before sewing.  It is so frustrating to get everything situated under the presser foot and right at the last minute the pieces shift...arrrrrggggg!!!!
 

Ginghers

  Thread Snips:  I should have posted this with the Scissors.

  While not a "must have" these really make quilting life sweet!

  These are my favorite.  They are spendy, but you are worth it!!!  I have two pair; one pair at my sewing machine and one pair at my ironing station.


 

And, finally, you need some place to store all this junk...ah... I mean "important stuff."
You know that old tackle box from Uncle Mel?  There ya go.... (as long as it doesn't smell like fish bait...just sayin.)

Any storage box will do

That's it!  Whew!  It is not everything you will acquire in your quilting life, but these are the items I really like and tend to use the most (keeping in mind I am still a "baby" quilter by most standards..)

See ya next time...