Facing East

Every year, Machine Quilter's Showcase in Overland Park, Kansas holds a quilt auction to raise money for the IMQA.  

Last year I donated this quilt:

I was surprised with how cool the back turned out:

I filmed the quilting of this quilt, step-by-step.  Check out the tutorials.

I donated a quilt to the auction this year, too.  Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present 'Facing East':

You may have seen this quilt in progress.  The applique process went smoothly not-so-smoothly nearly killed me.  The quilting process presented a few challenges as well, but I persevered and am really pleased with the finished quilt!

Again, I was surprised by how cool the back looked:

The scrunchy-bunchy part on top of the quilt is the hanging sleeve.  I'm pleased that I got it sewn on at all and not too concerned that it isn't gorgeous.  Done is good, right?

A close-up of the applique:

A close-up of the background quilting:

Motif number one:

Motif number two:

The original design is inspired by my love of Eastern art.  I was tickled to visit the Freer and Sackler galleries when I was in Washington, D.C. this spring and at least one touch in the background quilting of the appliqued circle was inspired by a statue of Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi as the Goddess Parvati.  

I used Daiwabo Japanese taupe fabrics from Pinwheels Trading Company.  They are YUMMY!

The hand appliqué and machine quilting were both done with InvisiFil 100-weight polyester thread from WonderFil.

I quilted this on my new BFF, my Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen.  I never thought I would say this, but sit-down quilting ROCKS!  


Even though my quilt was not technically "in" the quilt show, it was hanging in the same room as the show so I had to get a photo of me with my quilt:

If you ever want to be humbled, ask someone to hang your quilt next to Claudia Pfeil's quilt.

No, I do not feel inadequate at all.  Why do you ask?

The auction was last night.  People were lined up at the door just waiting to get in.  So were geese:

I did not see the geese actually bid on any quilts.  They must have forgotten their wallets.

The auction was a lot of fun, and a lot of money was raised for the IMQA.  My quilt brought in $500, which is humbling but really cool too.

One-day reads

A friend of mine has a very full and busy life and does not get to read often.  She plans to have one day alone with a book, preferably a book that could be easily read in a day or two.

I recommended Lottery by Patricia Wood.  I read it a few years ago, loved it, remembered it and recommended it.

Do you have any one-day reads to recommend?

Living a Green Life

Today is a green, green day.

I am hard at work in my studio this morning finishing the sample for Saturday's Longarm Quilting Club at the Quilt Basket.  If you are free from 10-noon, check to see if there are still openings.

Here is a block from the pattern:

Simple block, but just wait until it is quilted!

I looked out my front window to see how the Robin family was doing.  Momma was in a tree:

She was yelling at me, but I was able to zoom in to get a photo of the nest.

Still three eggs!

This drizzly week has brought out the most beautiful shades of green in all the plants and trees.  It has also brought me some flowers!

I have gazed out my windows long enough.  Back to work!

Nest watch

I was not satisfied with the grainy photo taken through a window and a screen yesterday, so today I tried to take the robin's nest photo from outside.  The nest is about two feet from the front door and if I went outside Momma Robin would fly away so I slowly and quietly opened the door and stuck my arm out.  I hid inside and took some photos without being able to see what I was taking.

This is the one that turned out:

Poppa Robin was yelling at me from a nearby tree, so I pulled my arm back inside quickly.

Photographing this nest makes me want to buy a better camera!

UFO + orphan blocks = ???

In 2003 my guild invited Wendy Etzel to teach a workshop and speak at the guild.  I know this because I bought her book and she signed it "Wendy Etzel, May 2003." 

I made a Log Cabin block that day, and added 8 borders (top/bottom, all around, and top/bottom again).  This was all done from scrap and stash.

Today, I found this old (but not oldest) UFO.  I also found a bunch of abandoned blocks from two different scrap quilts I thought I wanted to make once upon a time.  I pieced four more borders from those blocks and added them to the quilt:

The quilt now measures 58"x66".  I think I might just add a simple brown border to finish this off.

These are not colors I even use any more (no lime green!).  I have no feelings toward this quilt, but I still think I should finish it.

Any other suggestions?  How would you quilt it?  Does anyone even like this quilt?

Design Wall Monday

I am still dreaming of scrap quilts from the class I took with Bonnie Hunter last week. In her book "Adventures with Leaders and Enders," the quilt Rick Rack Nines is calling to me.

My version of Bonnie's quilt:

The changes:

• I used 2 1/2" strips instead of 2" strips.  My blocks are 6" finished instead of 4 1/2" finished
• I am not making half-nine-patches.  I am replacing them with background triangles
• I am not planning on borders
• My quilt will be 102" x 102"

I think Bonnie will be OK with these changes.

Check out Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Waiting for babies

Lately, my husband and I have been living in a movie.  Specifically, "The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock.  

My husband's office window opens to the front porch and that window has lately been under assault by a large, determined robin.  The robin will sit on the porch railing, then fly to the window sill, then back to the railing.  It will repeat this a few times before it tries to fly through the window.  This has happened hundreds of times!  We are still startled by the banging on the window. Fortunately the glass has held and is only very dirty instead of broken.

When we go on the front porch to try and figure this out, the robin flies around, trying to chase us back inside.  I have watched out the window while this robin has chased chipmunks through the yard as well.

Yesterday, my husband found the nest.  

It is about a foot from my living room window and maybe three feet from my front door.  We have discussed cutting down this ragged holly bush, but we are definitely leaving it for this year.


We walk quietly through the living room to check on momma and her eggs.  This morning I got a picture of her sitting on her nest:

I took the photo through the window and screen from a few feet inside the window.  The photo is a bit blurry, but I didn't want to open the window and disturb them.

So, what shall I do while I wait for babies?  Should I work on some baby robin quilts?  They should not take too long to make, being at most three inches square.

Visiting Quiltville

I played hookie yesterday and visited Quiltville, USA.  Bonnie Hunter was in town and my friend Kim and I went to her Cathedral Stars class:

My favorite lawyer, Peggy, was also there:

I have a habit of buying fat quarters here and there, just because the fabric makes me happy.  I had very little time to prep for this class so I simply pulled out my collection of "happy" fabrics, added some black and some white fabrics, and I was ready for class.

I managed to piece one of each block during class today:

Bonnie's books also followed me home:

So many more quilts I want to make now.

I think every day is a great day in Quiltville, USA.  Thanks for a great class Bonnie!

Congratulations Lisa!

In our family, we have a broad definition of the word "family."  

My son's wife's brother's baby?  Family, and therefore received a quilt. 

My daughter's friend's sister's baby? Family, and therefore received a quilt.

My son's wife's sister's wedding?  Family, and therefore received a quilt:

Congratulations and Best Wishes to the happy couple!

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

Paducah is the place to be!

The quilt show in Paducah is apparently the place to be.  I was returning from lunch yesterday when I ran into Pat Sloan in the hallway.  

I have followed Pat's blog and radio show for years and last year I made a quilt from her free Lucky Charms pattern.

I filmed the quilting of this quilt, step-by-step.  Check out the tutorials.

I miss this quilt!  It was auctioned off last year to support the IMQA.  I met the person who bought the quilt and I know it is in good hands.

I've got a Sweet Tooth

Do you visit the Moda Bake Shop? I try and try and try to stay away, but they have so many wonderful patterns! I am desperately trying not to start new projects, but their patterns tempt me and before I know it, another UFO is born.

This Jumbo Coins quilt is no longer a UFO!

I decided against the applique because this quilt was cute enough without it. This quilt went to another one of my cousin's grandbabies. She has FOUR!!! And they are all marvelous!

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

Design Opportunity

So I am making a quilt this dark and rainy weekend.  The photos will show the truth of the "dark" part of my statement.

I started the applique part a while ago.  The story of the applique part goes something like this:

1. Design applique
2. Prep applique
3. Applique
4. Cut into a circle, incorrectly beyond repair
5. Re-prep applique
6. Applique
7. Cut into a circle, incorrectly yet repairable, but do not notice it at first
8. Piece into background sideways
9. Remove from background
10. Notice the incorrect circle-cutting
11. Un-applique a leaf
12. Re-applique the leaf so it is well inside the piecing
13. Re-piece circle into the background, correctly
14. Lie down in a darkened room to recover

Once I recovered, I was ready to quilt.  Have I mentioned how much I love my sweet  Sweet Sixteen?  I do,  I do, I do!  I am excited to quilt this quilt on my baby.

I quilted the background of the applique:

I quilted two fun circle patterns:

The it was time to add the background quilting.  I chose diamonds:

Problem.  I felt the diamonds were too big and puffy and distracted from the circle motifs.  Agree?:

I decided to add some quilting to the center of the diamonds.  

Choice #1 -- inner diamonds.

Rejected.

Choice #2 -- pumpkin seeds:

Rejected.

Choice #3 -- spiral diamonds:

Rejected.

Choice #4 -- concentric diamonds:

I decided to keep this design, for now at least.

I still have to un-quilt my rejected designs.  Words cannot express how excited I am to pick out 18 stitches to the inch in 100-weight thread.  Maybe chocolate will help?

Oh Baby!

Earlier this year, I made a quilt for Bumblebeans Basics. I liked the pattern so much that I made another one in bright colors for a baby:

I must confess I love to put scrappy backs on quilts:



The whole back:

I gave this to my first cousin, twice removed (aka my cousin's grandbaby). I hope I get to see all of her grandbabies again soon!

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

A new quilting friend!

I met another new quilting friend at MQX.

Linda won the class sample from my Look at What a Longarm Can Do! class:

Congratulations Linda! It was a pleasure having you in class!

More quilting friends

Today's post is about Vicki, another quilt friend. I feel like I have known her forever. She visits me at various quilt shows in the northeast United States and she just took a class from me at MQX. We were both thrilled when I pulled her little red ticket from the pile and she won the class sample:

Congratulations Vicki! I was thrilled to have you in class. See you at the next quilt show!

Congratulations!!!

I am blessed beyond measure to work in the quilting industry. Some of my biggest blessings are the students friends I meet.

I met Diane a few years ago when she first bought her longarm machine. I have had her as a student in some longarm classes and learned beside her as a student in some piecing classes. She is an amazing woman and a very talented quilter. My life is better for knowing her.

Recently, she pieced a quilt, quilted it, added sparkly bits to it and then she sent it to MQX. Last night it won a blue ribbon!!! See:

Congratulations Diane! You are amazing and now everybody knows it!

An unfaithful cat

I have mentioned before how my cat loves his broken-down pizza box. A reminder:

He has been faithful to that box for weeks and weeks.

Today, Kermit had a fling...

...with a newspaper. How common!

Mike, the sequel

Did any of you know that I am married to a rock star? My husband plays drum in a rock band and he's the cutest drummer that I know!

The band members pop in and out as life happens to them (job changes, back to school, new babies, coaching soccer, etc.)

The band always practices at my house and I love it! I even love it when the noise from the basement makes the glassware in the dining room rattle.

The original singer in the band, Mike, has had many life changes in the last few years and is not with the band any more. He has, however, changed the way I hear many songs. When I hear a song from an original artist and I am used to the way Mike sings it, it just sounds wrong on the radio somehow.

Not so many years ago, Mike got married. Then he had a little baby boy who received a little blue quilt. He recently had another little baby boy and that little boy will received this little green quilt:

With a scrappy green back:



I resumed work on this quilt last fall while living in a hotel room for a week and recently quilted and bound it.

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

I'll think about that tomorrow

Last night I was playing with my sweet Sweet Sixteen and wanted to make some progress on this quilt (scroll down to see the square quilt). I last posted when I was quilting the center, but I had no idea what to quilt in the border.

I do most of my thinking when I drive, and I have done a lot of driving in the last few weeks (New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey...). During those long drives, I finally figured out how I wanted to quilt the border.

Using my Handi Quilter Circle Templates, I stitched the spine for the feathers and then stitched the feathers. I used InvisiFil thread from WonderFil. It is a 100-weight polyester and quilts so beautifully!

I finished the border after 10pm last night and took a photo:

I wasn't sure if the quilt was done or not. There were a million questions running through my head:

• Was there enough visual interest in the border?
• Should I have used a contrasting thread?
• Should I restitch the spines and circles using a thicker contrasting thread?

My head was spinning with questions and I decided to imitate Scarlett O'Hara and think about it tomorrow.

Tomorrow is today.

This morning I woke up and hung the quilt outside on the laundry line to get a look at in in proper daylight.

Here is what the quilt looks like this morning:

Sometimes the proper light can make a world of difference.

I think the border is done. I am so glad I waited a day to make this decision. If I had added contrasting thread and didn't like it, it would have been a bear to un-stitch.

Now for the binding. Maybe I should add some piping? I'll think about that tomorrow.

Personal Challenge

In the last four months, I have visited the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg Florida, MOMA in New York City (sigh), the Sackler and Freer Galleries in Washington D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a separate visit to Van Gogh Up Close at the Philadelphia Museum. During that time I have also walked along beautiful beaches in The Bahamas, visited NASA in Florida, been a tourist in New York City (sigh), and visited Washington D.C. while the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I have taken nearly 1,000 photos and each one holds the promise of a quilt.

Tonight I decided that I needed to start working on a photo-to-quilt translation. Which photo did I choose? Kandinsky? Dali? Warhol? An exquisite Islamic tile pattern? Palm trees? Cherry blossoms?

No.

I chose a photo of a daffodil in my front yard.

Isn't that a sweet photo? It is a very lonely daffodil under the rock wall along my front steps. I obviously did not stage this photo; I just snapped a shot with my phone as I was walking up the driveway a few weeks ago.

If you want to see some gorgeous photographs by an amazing photographer, check out Nora Scarlett. I was introduced to her work a few months ago and had the pleasure of meeting her last week. Her work is so light and happy; I am enthralled by it. Her show of photographs from the Shawangunk Mountains is opening this weekend and I hope to attend.

Back to my lousy snapshot:

I spent an hour tonight listening to the end of a Lee Child novel and trying to make a fabric and thread photograph. My art skills are not smarter than a fifth grader. Do not expect great things. Seriously, lower your expectations before you scroll down to see the quilt.

Using supplies on hand, I grabbed some brown fabric, green fabric, cotton batting, and four colors of threads (black, multi-green, multi-yellow and multi-orange). I cozied up to my Sweet Sixteen made this 6x8-inch mini quilt:

If I remade this (which I most likely will not), I would use an additional layer of batting and do something different with the grass. And maybe hand-dye the fabrics for the rocks and grass.

It still has to be bound. Any volunteers?

When I showed my husband this little quilt, he gave a one-word comment: "small."

I would love to hear your one-word comment about my little quilt. "Small" has already been taken so choose another word.

_____

If some of you stopped short at my list of travels in the last few months, please know that I spent more time at home in the last four months than in the eight months before that. The next eight months are looking quite busy as well. The Florida/Bahamas trip was a true vacation. New York City and Washington DC were work related. So were New Jersey, Utah, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey (again). I travel A LOT and sometimes I get to see cool stuff. I am a very blessed woman, indeed.

Design Wall Monday

Dear April, I am glad to see you!

In March, I spent:

• 18 nights in
• 6 hotels in
• 5 states. I spent
• 6 more days traveling to and from
• 2 quilt shows,
• 1 training event and
• 3 events at quilt shops. I visited
• 3 more quilt shops while I was on the road. I quilted
• 3 customer quilts, including
• 1 for a magazine (more on this later). I ended my month wishing my son a happy
• 25 year-old birthday. This fact confuses me, since I am only
• 29 years old myself. That is my story; I am not changing it.

If you add all of those numbers together, they equal

• 1 very tired Debby!

One of the quilt shops I visited was Bits 'N Pieces in Pelham, NH. I love that shop! Liz is a wonderful shop owner and the students there are out-of-this-world fabulous! Since my last visit there was marked by a hurricane, followed by tornadoes, flooded roads, and three days stranded in a hotel waiting for the airport to reopen, this visit was 100% pleasure!

I picked up some fabric for my red and white memory quilt and just now had time to make my blocks (see explanation above):

It's gonna be a great quilt!

Check out Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

For my gal's pal

I give a lot of quilts away -- a LOT of quilts. What else are quilts for?

My daughter has made a very good friend at college and such a friend deserves a quilt!

I used Bonnie Hunter's scrappy trip around the world pattern for the front:

I used a bunch of 10 1/2-inch squares and 2 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch rectangles to make the back of the quilt:

By all accounts, my gal's pal loved the quilt!

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

Weekend Fun!

This weekend I am teaching at Cottonseed Glory in Annapolis, Maryland. On my drive down, I stopped by Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms. They were beautiful!

Here I am, rocking the wind-blown look, right across from the Jefferson Memorial.

I visited the Freer and Sackler Galleries, and my head blew up from all of the loveliness. So much inspiration! I really need a month at home to just quilt.

So now that you know what I'm doing this weekend, I have a suggestion for your weekend:

If you've ever wanted to check out QNNtv.com, it's free this weekend. (Hint: my episode of Quilt It! aired in January). I have subscribed to QNNtv.com for two years and find it a great value. They have so many quilt shows available, all for the cost of a single quilt book!

Have a great weekend!