MQS 2011 - The Things I Learned!

I had an absolutely wonderful time at MQS again this year.  I was privileged to work in the judging room as a scribe, quilt holder and general jack of all trades.  Patricia Harrison and Linda McCuean, both NQA Certified Judges.  I learned so much observing their process and listening to the comments they made as they evaluated the design and workmanship of the quilts and other items entered in the show. 

New this year was the recording of the judges comments.  After an initial evaluation, the judges comments were recorded and subsequently downloaded onto thumb drives donated by YLI.  Each entrant received the evaluation sheet and the thumb drive with the judges comments.  Had I entered a quilt, I would have been thrilled to hear a recording of their comments in their own voices.  They were generous with the quantity of comments - not limited by how fast the scribes could scribble - and the educational value of their comments was tremendous even to me as an observer.  They commented on things done well and offered helpful suggestions for improvements.  Most of all, their comments were upbeat and encouraging.  What a wonderful way to encourage quilters at all levels to improve their craft.

After completion of the judging came the classes.  I signed up for classes outside of my comfort zone and learned several new ways to embellish quilts and to quilt quilts.

Gina Perkes talked about ways she embellishes quilts.  She mentioned obtaining Ultrasuede from garments at Goodwill and other resale shops as a way to cut down the cost of obtaining materials.  She likes Ultrasuede for her longarm applique technique as it doesn't ravel.

One of the more interesting techniques discussed by Gina - the leaves are completed separately and then only partially quilted onto the quilt.  This adds quite a bit of dimension to the quilted piece.

 Another class I took was from Mindy Wylie Casperson.  I've been trying to figure out how to get swags using the templates I have on hand...not possible.  She's developed a series of Swag templates that accomplish the job quite nicely.  I also learned some other ways to use templates that I hadn't thought about before - a very helpful class.

OK, not the best picture.  But a great example of one of the ways swags can be incorporated in a border.

I took a wholecloth class from Judy Woodworth a year or so ago and enjoyed her teaching style tremendously.  So when I saw the class on quilt painting and coloring, it seemed like a good way to become familiar with new techniques.  And it was.  A side benefit was getting to meet her husband, Woody, who does most of the painting on her quilts. 

This quilt is an adaptation of a picture of her daughters in their clown costumes.  It's wonderfully vibrant and fun to explore (a term I heard used in the judging room frequently that really expresses how quilts can be viewed). 

My final class was as a Teacher's Angel for Mari-Lee Seei's class on using templates.  It never hurts to learn more about using templates and I was curious as to why the Off-The-Edge circle rulers were marked the way they were.  I've used circle templates marked with rays (45, 90, 135, 180 degree markings and so forth) and was having difficulty envisioning how to use circle templates marked with lines parallel to the centerline.  Well, Mari-Lee explained it beautifully and identified a whole new range of ways to use templates.

The central motif is generated using a circle template combined with just a portion of a stencil.  It really looks elegant and is different from anything I've tried up to this point.

If you can't tell, I had a great time and learned quite a bit at the show.  And if you want to see who won ribbons at the show, check out the MQS website:  http://www.mqsshow.org/. 

Cheers!
Margaret

The Challenge Picks up Speed

We're nearing the mid-point of our guild's UFO challenge and it certainly picked up speed today with one member completing 12 quilts and another completing 8 quilts.  What's even better are the variety of quilts we have seen - some more recent UFOs and some that have been languishing for years in closets and under beds.  The other interesting thing is that quilters are giving themselves the freedom to do something different than they had originally planned - either by using a quilt block as a medallion, changing the size and layout of the quilt blocks, or using some other creative way of completing their projects.

So...the tally is the Batik team with 63 UFOs completed and the Calicos with 74 completed UFOs.  It's relatively close in numbers but the amazing thing is the total number of UFOs completed to date and the energy around getting some of these projects completed.  This challenge has really stirred things up in a good way. 

Here are just a few of the quilts completed and displayed at May's meeting.

Cathy had two different Christmas themed quilts.  She had made one into a beautiful table topper and was going to use this block on the back but liked it so well it became a quilt all its own.  The center ribbon square was one she received from a block exchange - but whose block it was remains a mystery.

Ruthanna's Sunbonnet Sue.  The quilt top was one she purchased from the auction of Judy McClure's quilting related items a few years ago.  Ruthanna hand quilted this - didn't take too long, she said!  Beautifully done, too.

Jan had these two quilts - very pleasing to look at.  What made these particularly interesting were the beads she had incorporated as she was doing the hand quilting on them.

Kay (she moved - sorry she's so blurry) finally completed this quilt that had been laying over the back of her couch for a few years.  Beautiful piecing and wonderful hand quilting.

June with her daugher, Valeri.  June has this wonderful quilt and Valeri's holding a picture of their cat on the quilt.  Valerie claims she'd get more quilting done if it snowed in Texas!

Another of June's quilts - for the wall above another daughter's bed.  What a wonderful gift.

Joyce completed several quilts that will make their way to the Quilts of Valor program.  Joyce prefers to make up her own patterns.  Look at the sawtooth border - isn't it wonderful?

Alice completed this quilt.  What a wonderful variety of stars in the quilt.  She pointed out that she ran out of the blue fabric for the sawtooth border so substituted some of the maroon fabric randomly.  What a great way to turn a potential problem into a nice design solution.

Lena (she's standing to the right outside of the picture)  used this gorgeous Lone Star quilt for practice machine quilting.  She echo quilted inside the diamond shapes.  The corners have a variety of quilting designs that she freehanded.  While she says some of the corner shapes are better than others, it all adds up to a striking quilt.

 

Rosemary actually completed two quilts using this 9 patch design that makes an Irish Chain.  What a pleasing color palette.  Rosemary's quilting is just beautiful, as well.

Another of Rosemary's quilts.  The colors in the border are picked up in the various blocks in the body of the quilt.  This was a half square triangle exercise.  The gold colored cornerstones also add a punch to the quilt.  Rosemary had apparently started with those being all black but realized it needed something to add that zing.

Heifers on the hill - a fun quilt.  Rosemary shared the story of her daughter being given directions to her grandfather's (I think) home in the country that included turning when she reached the heifers on the hill.  The year the heifers weren't there resulted in a wrong turn.

This was just a small sampling of the quilts displayed.  Congratulations to those who have completed so many UFOs.  And for the rest of us, including me, we need to get sewing.

Cheers!
Margaret

Creative Costumes

Today was our monthly quilt guild meeting.  While our members have a variety of talents, at least one of our members is a creative dynamo.  Susannah works with the local dancer's guild on costumes for their wonderful presentations.  Alice in Wonderland is coming up this weekend and we got a sneak preview of some of the costumes these lucky dancers will be wearing.  As a side not, daughters of two members and the granddaughter of one of our guild members will be in the ballet.

Susannah moves too quickly for me to catch her in a still pose.  But you can see the gorgeous butterfly wings that will be attached to the unitard.  There were several different versions she displayed, explaining that they rarely had enough fabrics to make everyone the same costume.  Nor would they all want to look exactly the same!  You may also be able to get an idea of the headpiece Susannah has on - the feelers and eyes for the butterfly.

This headdress goes with a unitard in blues and greens for a lizard (I think).  What a creative way to get the long tail and headpiece to go with the outfit.

Susannah's on the move again but this is the flamingo outfit.  The head of the flamingo, with the beak pointing towards the wall, sits on top of the dancer's head.  Susannah was explaining the modifications to the costume so the dancer could see when she turned her head.

One of the flower costumes with petals that have wire inside them so they can be curled up once the costume is on.

Not sure if this is Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum.  No matter, it's a cute costume.  The top and pants are attached to a circle that holds the fabric away from the dancer's body.  The top fabric is a lame of some sort that chewed up needles, according to Susannah.

Just a sampling of the delightful costumes she shared.  What was even more incredible were the other materials used to enable the costumes to hold their shape.  Wire, fishing line, and all sorts of intricate construction and the results are wonderful.

We're blessed to have such a creative person in our midst and her cadre of sewing helpers to make these costumes come to life.

Cheers!
Margaret

Quilts of Valor

Over the past few years, I've noticed an increasing recognition of the Quilts of Valor program in the quilting world.  The mission is to cover all service members and veterans touched by war - quilts to honor and comfort our wounded. 

The Columbus Chapter of the Quilts of Valor program has been prolific over the past 6 years, providing more than 6,000 quilts.  One member, Alice Corya, was recently profiled in our local paper, The Republic, for her contributions.  Alice has made 150 quilts per year for the past 3 years.

The front of the sanctuary with quilts on display.  In addition to the quilts hung up front, notice the quilts draped over the stage.  Quilts were on both sides of the stage.

This past weekend was the semi-annual display of quilts and there were 199 quilts on display at the Community Church of Columbus.  The quilts adorned the sanctuary and were viewed by visitors on Friday and the congregation on Sunday.

Flossie, another of our prolific quilters, stands by one of the quilts she made.  She's well into her 90's and is still turning out several quilts a week.

Quilts were hung from the balcony, draped over room dividers and hung along the side walls of the sanctuary.  Kathy (red shirt) is the coordinator of the Columbus group and Ken (back to camera) is one of the quilters.  Several other quilters from the group come to see the quilts hung.  It's fun to see them hung and they certainly look different than when you see them one at a time.

Yesterday, we took down the quilts, folded them and inserted the letters that go in the pocket sewed on the back of every quilt.  The letters express our appreciation to our service members and talk about the loving care that is put into each quilt in the hopes it provides a measure of comfort.

The quilts run the gamut from traditional to contemporary with fabrics to match.  There are also a great number of patriotic quilts in red, white and blue. 

Quilts from this group are headed to VA Hospitals in Albuquerque, NM, and Marion, IN, where they'll be given to wounded service members.

If you know of a wounded service member who would benefit from receiving a quilt, contact either the Quilts of Valor program through their web site or let me know and I'll forward the information to the appropriate personnel.  If they are in the Columbus area, we would love to give it to them in person and express our appreciation for their service.

Cheers!
Margaret