Quilts and More Quilts

This past week was the annual Indiana Heritage Quilt Show at Bloomington.  It's always fun to see the quilts at the show and shop at the vendor booths.  Deb, Kathy and I have been going for the past several years and it's a wonderful tradition.  I missed part of that tradition this year because I took a class on Thursday but I did get to eat lunch with Deb, Kathy, Lois and Jan.  It took on a special glow this year as Deb and Kathy mentioned that the quilt I entered had received a ribbon!  I'd been in class all morning so hadn't even had a chance to check that out.

I snuck under the tape barriers protecting the quilts so that Kathy could get my picture.  It's a Third Place ribbon in the Pieced Wall Hanging Category.  And to think I almost didn't enter the quilt in the show!

Lois, Jan and I took a class from Sue Nickels on Stitched Raw Edge Applique.  Although applique is one of those techniques I never thought I'd be interested in, I've come to appreciate how much it can add to a quilt.  I had heard about what a good teacher Sue is and after taking her class, I wholeheartedly agree.  She has a wonderful syle of presenting information and a great setup for ensuring everyone can watch her closely.

Sue has a small camera in front of her, just under the white Ott light.  She works so that the camera projects what she's doing on the screen behind her.  This is a terrific way to demonstrate techniques in a way that everyone in the classroom can see what is happening.

Jan and Lois are working on their applique pieces.  Lois has a great travel iron with only one flaw...the handle sometimes will just decide to collapse to one side.  Make it interesting!

We learned how to do applique with fabric hidden under adjoining pieces of fabric...

...several layers of fabric, sharp points, and embellishments, including the small thread flower stem...

...and this happy flower with a type of reverse applique in the middle.

Sue's tips were really helpful and I found a button on my machine I didn't know I had - the start of pattern button!  While I may have read about this button when I got my machine, I obviously hadn't used it until this class.  My machine applique isn't quite up to snuff but I was pleased with the results after this class.  I just need to figure out what my next project will be after I get done with the quilts in waiting.

Cheers!
Margaret

CSQ Annual Auction

Each year, the Columbus Star Quilters Guild has an auction to raise money for our educational programs.  The other purpose for the auction is to give us an opportunity to clean out our sewing rooms.  Members bring in those items they've outgrown, fabric they liked several years ago when it was purchased but no longer fits in any future sewing plans, books not referenced in several years, and so the list goes.

Jan looking over just part of the stash.

Another section of items going up for bid.  And there's yet another row of tables filled with books, magazines and more fabric.

This year we were blessed by a gentleman bringing in items from his deceased mother's sewing room.  She apparently had indicated that the Guild was to get these items for their use and he showed up the day of our auction.  How fortuitous!  The boxes included several quilt tops, lots of fabric, patterns, silk scarves and other sewing materials.

Prior to the auction, we did hold a short business meeting and had our Show and Tell session.  Lillian, one of our newer and obviously quite ambitious members, had completed 8 UFOs - a record number!  When asked by a show of hands, most members had completed at least one UFO on their list so the UFO Challenge seems to be taking off.  The Calico Team is in the lead with 30 projects reported complete out of their total 309 UFOs.  The Batik Team isn't far behind this early in the Challenge with 21 of their 310 UFOs completed.  This is only a rough count and there's plenty of time left to get those UFOs completed.

Jamie, Lois and Jeannette standing in line with their completed quilts for Show and Tell.  You can see by Jamie's stack that she's made quite a bit of progress in reducing her stash. 

Melissa, excited about having completed her redwork quilt.  Beautifully hand quilted and a lovely quilt.

 Then the fun begins.  Bidders with their paddles are ready to bid on their selected items.  You can see the stash of magazines and some fabric bundles already in front of the winning bidders.

This picture was taken AFTER we had taken most of Ruthanna's items to her car.  Ruthanna's pile was equally as big as the stack in front of June, which keeps getting bigger with auctioneer Cathy adding another item to her pile.

 I wasn't planning to buy anything but couldn't resist this antique quilt top.  This was one of the items from the items donated by .  It's a simple block pattern but nicely done.  The fabrics are wonderful to look at and there are loads of different fabrics, most seeming to be from the 30's - 40's.  It will be fun to learn more about the fabrics that make up this quilt.

Why the blog picture is sideways from the way I took it remains a mystery.  But the thing I noticed in the picture more so than with the naked eye were the dark runs of fabric down the quilt top.

Here's a close up of some of the fabrics.

So another auction comes to a close having raised $880 that will be put to good use for our upcoming educational programs.  We're having Terry White as a speaker in June and she'll be giving a day long workshop on Threadpainting - I'm excited to learn her techniques.  Then in October, Mary Buvia will be our guest speaker and will provide one of her superb workshops on machine quilting.  I've taken classes from Mary in the past and know she's an excellent teacher so will be looking forward to this workshop as well.

Cheers!

Margaret

Just Friends - and a Quilt

Just Friends is an adult day services program in Columbus.  I'm on the Board and am pleased to be associated with this program, even in a small way.  With the completion of Mill Race Center, a new community center for active adults, Just Friends moved into one wing of Mill Race Center.  This move came after a temporary stay of only 22 years at the First Lutheran Church!  The Church has been a wonderful supporter of the Just Friends program since its inception, letting us use their space, their kitchen, their pots, their pans and their dishes.  See where this is going???

So, with the move to a new facility, we decided to hold a Kitchen and Bath Shower to welcome the program to their new home.  Although Thursday was a rainy, dreary day, we had lots of laughter and fun with the shower, with over 50 people stopping in to see the new digs.  Take a look at the fun we had!

Look at the wonderful space the nurses now have in their office.  There's also a quite room for participants about the same size, very comfortably outfitted with recliners.  Okay, so this isn't showing much fun yet - but it's exciting to have this new space! 

People starting to arrive, being greeted by Marilyn Clerc, Executive Director of Just Friends.  Marilyn's in the white blouse.  You can see the hat rack in the foyer - a really charming accent piece that is part of Just Friends' logo. 

Judy, standing, talking with a group waiting for a break in the buffet line.

Two quilters (left) are holding a quilt they and a group of their friends made for Just Friends.  Liz introduces them as staff members stand by to accept the gift.

Their idea is for each participant to embellish a square so that it becomes a true memory quilt.  The colors in the quilt complement the pain color nicely - a happy coincidence.

Vickie (left) assisted in opening the presents.  She's handing Marilyn a box of kitchen towels and potholders that will come in very handy as food is prepared.

Don got in on the action, too, and opened his fair share of presents.

Waunita reacts with excitement as a gift is opened.  The wonderful thing about Waunita is that she was excited about EVERY present that was received - all useful and necessary items for the program's operation.

Linda made the table decorations - just lovely.  You can see the expanse of space available for activities.  Just beyond the lockers on the left is the serving counter with the kitchen behind it.  To the right is an expanse of windows that let in lots of light.  At the far back of the room is the administrative office.  

A good time was had by all.  The food was delicious - especially the sausage rolls and desserts.  Donors were generous and ensured that Just Friends has the equipment needed to continue providing a safe, secure environment where social, emotional, physical and intellectual activities are provided to our loved ones who need this day care to remain in their home setting.

Cheers!
Margaret

Longarm Group Meeting

Despite all of the rain, we had a great time yesterday.  There were eight of us that met at Jamie's house for one of our periodic longarm group meetings.  Her home is set in a picturesque area of Ripley County and includes a wing built using logs from a dismantled log home.  

We started off with Show and Tell.  Carolyn had two wonderful quilts, one of which had the corners cut off at an angle so it was less bulky on the bed.  Great idea and it looked beautiful.



This is another of  Carolyn's quilts.  You can see the feathered vines in the light areas and all of the beautiful colors in the quilt, expertly pieced.

This is the back of Carolyn's quilt.  The quilt is gorgeous but  I was enthralled with the quilting.  In particular, I like the mix of fills around the straight line quilting emphasizing a square block on the front.  She develops her own designs to  fill the spaces perfectly.  

 

Another of Carolyn's quilts.  You can't see it here, but the fills around the baskets are all different. 

We moved on to unfinished tops.  Several of us had tops and everyone chimed in with ideas.  Several of the tops had applique so ideas for fills around the applique were a hot topic. 

We used an acrylic sheet on which to audition quilting designs.  Harriet had developed a wonderful quilting design for one of the dark squares in the stripe but was unsure how to complete the triangle areas outside of the square.  Several ideas were offered.  We'll look forward to seeing this beautiful batik top quilted.  Don't forget to look out the doors to the view of Jamie's back yard.  Although rainy and gray, it's still a beautiful scene.

After lunch, it was upstairs for hands on play.  Jamie had drawn two different applique possibilities and we had several ideas for fill around the applique. 

Gloria working on one possibility for a fill around the applique.



Here's Harriet's idea for a fill - feathers around the applique on one side of the vine with piano keys on the opposite side.  What a great mix of texture and design.

Another possibility - outlining and adding a leafy shape around the applique and adding swirling ribbons in between the leaves.

We also experimented with embellishing the Terry Twist idea and discussed how to address issues if the block is actually made up of quarter triangles rather than a single piece of fabric.  You can also see the meandering feather that was started toward the bottom of the picture.

Another idea for a border fill - easy and fast, particularly if there are blocks that can be used as registration lines for starting new fern fronds.

 Driving home, we all were reenergized and ready to put ideas into practice.  As soon as I finish this, I'm off to quilt.

Cheers!
Margaret



Quilts for Kids

The local Quilts of Valor group has developed a special relationship with the mother and widow of one of our servicemen, Jeremy McQueary.  As we near the first anniversary of his death, we held a special ceremony during which two quilts were given to Jeremy's son and niece.  The quilt for his son, Hadley, was primarily blue and white while the quilt for his niece, Olivia, was red and white.  Both quilts incorporated pictures of Jeremy and other family members.

At a brief ceremony on Monday, the quilts were given to Hadley and Olivia.  During the ceremony, it was mentioned that Jeremy had received the quilt made for him after being injured while in Iraq.  We had even received a note from Jeremy thanking us for the quilt and letting us know how much it meant to him.

Hadley (left) and Olivia (right, holding her sister) with their quilts.

QOV members enjoyed the antics of the kids after they received their quilts.

A brief reception following the ceremony during which QOV members talked with family members.

Jeremy's sacrifice, and the efforts and sacrifices of all members of the services, will never be forgotten.  We are so appreciative of all they do for our country and citizens in the countries they serve.  May Hadley and Olivia always know how much Jeremy means to our nation.

Margaret   

New Year - New Tools

Well - it's really February but the fact is that I just got two cool new tools.

One of my favorite places to shop for quilting tools is the hardware store.  Fun to look and think about the different ways to use various tools there.  One of the critiques of my quilts from judges has been that my corners should be square.  I've gotten much better about cutting accurately and sewing accurately.  Once a quilt is quilted it sometimes has a tendency to not be quite as square as when it was put on the quilting frame - perhaps due to the density of quilting across the quilt and perhaps due to a quilt fairy playing tricks on me.  Anyway, blocking a quilt once quilted can be done to help pull the quilt back into shape.  To do this, you need a big expanse of floor or table on which to secure the quilt and a tool to make sure it is square.  Enter my new tool - a T-square!

Doesn't look like a T-square yet - but this makes it easy to store.

Useful not only for finished quilts but also to check how out of square a backing might be.  The length of the T-square is laying along a seam where two pieces of fabric are joined.

 My other cool tool came in the mail yesterday.  Red Snappers, developed by Renae Haddadin.  Renae is an award winning quilter and very inventive when it comes to developing tools to assist in quilting.

The small clamps are used to hold the material in place.  You can see that they are gripping the edge of a leader into which a small tube of plastic has been inserted.

Long snappers are then put in place, securely holding the fabric to the leader.  To attach these, you can lay the leader on the table and press the snapper in place but in my case, that means a long reach - hard on the back.  An alternative is to press the snapper while holding the leader against the belly bar - a somewhat slippery option requiring hands that are stronger than mine.  I've found that holding the fabric in place and pressing the snapper in place against my thumbs works best.  Won't need the painter's tape to protect me from the pins on the leaders!

 Loading quilts in preparation for quilting has taken anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour and a half.  The other watchout was all the pins used to pin fabric to the leaders.  And if I had to rotate quilts, it took quite a bit of time.  So these Red Snappers are not only great time savers but finger savers, too!

Cheers!

Margaret

Antique Malls

I love going to antique malls.  Over 20 years ago, a friend introduced me to estate sales, auctions and antique malls as places to purchase everything from a ricer (yes - that's one of my first purchases at an antique mall) to furniture.  I have become more selective in my purchases, concentrating on Depression Glass and quilts.

During our trip to St. Petersburg in December, Carol and I swooped through New Orleans - not the direct route but a fun one.  We stopped in Hartselle, Alabama, where Carol found her quilt top.  I bought a silver thimble there, too - it was pretty and inexpensive.

In St. Petersburg, we went to several antique malls.  One place was a glass repository - stacks of glass on racks.  That could have been dangerous but they didn't have anything in my pattern that I didn't already have.  On Christmas Eve, we managed to sneak into one of Carol's usual haunts right before it closed.  Guess what I found  - a quilt, of course!  It's in wonderful condition and I love the fabrics. 

It's been interesting to use Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns and Jinny Beyer's The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Pattern reference books to determine the official pattern names and to learn more about their derivation.

The Rainbow Tile Quilt pattern, introduced by Eveline Foland in the Kansas City Star, August 30, 1930.  This pattern is also known as either The Diamond Field, Field of Diamonds, Honeycomb, or Martha Washington's Flower Garden. 

The quilting is outline quilting in all of those little hexagons.  Whew!

 Well, yesterday I had a meeting in Brown County and on my way home, I stopped at the Brown County Antique Mall.  Look at the beautiful quilt I found there.  The center of the quilt is in pretty good shape but the binding is worn along the edges.  One reason I bought it is that it felt so soft and comforting - well loved. 

This pattern was introduced around the same time by Nancy Cabot in the Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1934. 

There is a lighter pink in the middle of the snail's trail - it has faded quite a bit but is still slightly visible.  If you look at the white below the pieced block you can see a slight difference in color along the block edge.

But the other reason I bought this quilt was the back had a name cross stitched on it.  As best I can make out, it says "Mrs. Marks, age 79."

The other interesting thing is that this was a single bed quilt and had been made to drape down the sides of the bed.  There is a flap of quilt that extends down the foot of the bed and it had definitely been made to go around the posters on a bed.  All in all a lovely quilt.  Although it doesn't quite fit on the double bed in my guest bedroom, it goes so well with the colors in that room.  I love it!

Cheers!
Margaret