Cindy's Rebel Show & Tell, February 24, 2010

Cindy G. with Judy Robertson fabrics. (To put in an endorsement for Judy, she has a club that sends you one yard of her beautiful and special hand dyed fabric every month, and to which Cindy belongs) We did our QA Guild Raffle quilt with Judy's fabric this year. I was happy to meet such a talented and famous person in our neighborhood. I guess the art quilters have known her for years. Cindy did a great job of piecing and showing off this fabric.

OHMIGOSH...

I miss one day and look what you guys have been up to!! I just spent 10 minutes trying to comment on your posts, but it won't let me, so here goes. Loved Sujata's flower power and the B&W view, Sally's precision continues to amaze me (me--a sloppy seamstress at best.) Applique is gorgeous (and so I'm a little thinking of trying the wonky version...??) Nifty honestly, working so hard and creating so hard--phew. (I loved the cards and am delighted to know there is a reason I saved the tiniest of scraps!) That huge garish floral just knocks me totally out--where did you ever get it?? Well you're spurring me on. Just finished quilting the tablecloth quilt inspired by some Indian quilts I saw in an English decorating magazine.



I've come to believe EVERYTHING must be used and since I had leftover squares from the shirt quilt




and a Hawaiian shirt that's been around awhile I decided to make another shirt quilt with a different look--think this will use almost all of the little squares. Haven't sewn it together yet--no borders to crowd it--comments?

A Daring Scrap Rescue

What about this! LeeAnn in Seattle sent this:

I'm one of your blog followers--"Nifty Quilts."  I wanted you to know that your latest post sent me straight to my trash bin to salvage the goods and sew up some greeting cards.  Fun project!  I just sewed directly onto the card stock.

Thank you for an enjoyable evening!

Tessellating Batiks II

Barbara spent 8 hours picking blocks apart. The stitch length was very short, because it was paper pieced. She then rearranged them on her design wall for a week, before resetting them.

I love the transparency, which is more obvious in this version, than the first.

Tessellating Batiks I

"No scrap too small" greeting cards

Spring Baskets 35 x 35

Butterfly, 20"x20"

Machine applique done in 2006. Sent to AR guild for small quilt auction in 2007. Pattern by friend of Ellie Sienkiewicz, and published in her book: Spoken Without a Word. The original block was 12". My first experience with appliqueing silk. See the dots.

Flower Power

I just realized how nice it is to have this blog for us! It is helpful to be able to post things when I am not ready to go public but still have questions and want feedback from friends!

So, Here is that quilt once again! Blocks, I mean! I finished appliqueing the centers. I was going to piece it together but decided to take the picture first. After all the talk we had about borders, now I am wondering on this one... border or not! The top is 64"x64" I would love to see more of that plaid shirt in this quilt!

I also learned something very valuable today. By taking the picture and turning that into black and white, I realized that I might need to move my plaid block around just a bit! A great tool when you go to assemble your blocks. I was reading the bumble bean blog about the value. She talked about the value selection by taking a black and white picture.

I think it is also very helpful in arranging a quilt blocks when they are scrappy! It gives a whole another perspective on textures and makes it so easy to spot the unwanted boo boos..  After looking at this black and white picture, I decided to switch the plaid block to it's upper right corner.

I intend to cut away the backs of the applique. There are too many seams in the center and I would like some really nice pearl cotton hand stitching with contrasting colors.
Would really love to hear back from you!

Porcella Workshop, August 08

Yvonne Porcella Workshop, August 08, APNQ

Last day of APNQ, and I was very tired, as was instructor, who had also judged the show, and done multiple workshops. I took bag of old scraps. There is a philosophy of not taking your best fabrics to workshops, and messing them up. Especially, if you are one of those who don't do that great in the noisy workshop environment. Everyone else had beautiful fabrics, and attractive photos of what they intended to do. Looks like I didn't feel piece was worth finishing. Must get it out, for practice stitching.

Yvonne Porcella Quilt, about 20"x26"

Frogs Smile for the Camera

... the frog quilt was made for Judy VanderHam who helped me learn how to use my digital camera last August when I got it. The frog image is from a favorite calendar photo and the quilt includes eight different frog fabrics. I hand quilted and beaded the center. The pink cornerstones are suggestive of lily pads for the frog to leap onto in the next moment. I named this quilt "Frogs Smile for the Camera! I had fun doing it and can't wait to give it to Judy.

Another Ripple in the quilting pool....

I love how it works...LeeAnn encourages me, Sally shows me her beautiful quilts, LeeAnn shows me Sujata's beautiful quilts, Kay sees my quilts and--voila! Here's Kay's first quilt, hand quilted. She's nicely obsessed and has one about to be quilted, one all ready to put together, and three more in a basket to think about. Fascinating.

My new string quilt in the early stages!

 

Finally I am starting a string project! You all got me really excited about this! So far I am enjoying  'making of the fabric' process! Only scraps from the bin are being used.. I am sure I will cheat at some point.

 

Quilted at last!

Quilted with the Walking Foot

Used inspiration from Mary Mashuta's book, Foolproof Quilting, which is all about quilting with the walking foot. Just can't get myself to sit down and practice free-motion work.

Buffy's Biases

Ruth B McDowell in her book, FABRIC JOURNEY: I don't want a border that traps my quilt in a tight box. The design must be accessible and it must be able to breath.

I like areas of bright white in a quilt... to keep the design from becoming too dense and to add a feeling of airiness; in fact, I make an effort to search out fabrics with a fair amount of bright white.

One reason to accumulate a stash is to acquire fabrics from other eras... You give your quilt a richer surface.

Rose and Wheel

My daughter's 8 year old bulldog, Rose, trying her paw at quilting. That is my wheel block looking for a setting fabric. Still undecided. Stuck between busy and quiet. Kaffe used big florals to set the antique blocks he found in Houston. See PASSIONATE PATCHWORK for inspiration, page 6.

Stash management...

You rebels have gotten me sewing more these days, but the sewing room-gad what a mess. This weekend I folded and labeled all the fabric bins (except for red) and put all the scraps in a big basket which is making me just want to sit down and sew them all togther a la Rosie Lee Tompkins!

More of Barbara Olson's demo quilts

These are lighter and easier to read.

Barbara Olson's Wild Child, workshop, QA, 2/11/10

Background is all threadwork! A great way to use those huge florals we have been collecting for years. Fun to do, and an exciting workshop. I wasn't too keen on the repositional glue, she uses. It gums up the machine. Back to old fashioned paste for me. The paste is like starch. It relaxes the fabric and makes it easier to turn the edges. The repositional stuff is like plastic and doesn't do that. Also not sure I like the Sulky Totally Stable interfacing (fusible like freezer paper with iron), any better than freezer paper. She removes it at the end of the stitching.

The Ugly Fabric Quilt, chapter 2

So a couple of years ago LeeAnn, Sally, Cynthia and I had an "ugly fabric moment." Sally and I divided the fabric and each did our own thing. LeeAnn and Cynthia collaborated on 6 squares, sewed them in two rows of three and then LA brought them to my house and left them anonymously in the sewing room. In my quest to finish all half-completed projects I got them out recently. I discovered one of the squares was just too ugly for me so I replaced it, and made 6 more. Now I have a wild jumble, but felt like a Gee's Bend quilter while it was underway. I felt China Pettway standing at my back exhorting me to just sew stuff together. Total fun. I have plans for a little more edging which might calm things slightly...

Reynola Pakusich Workshop, January 2010

All I have to show from workshop. I have picture and am posting it to remind me to get back to project. I plan to use the theme fabric for color inspiration, and maybe do the rest in solids. The fabric was a gift from my mentor, Lorene Chaffee. She also gifted me with a whole pile of Japanese scraps. Oh my!!

House/Corduroy Medallion, 42"x40"

Correction!

http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/

My blog: The Root Connection

http:/therootconnection.blogspot.com/

I started another blog for myself! Just thought it would give me a chance to stay in touch with all of you and other old friends as well as make some new ones! I will also continue posting on this blog! I miss being there and seeing these beautiful quilts in person!

Squiggles and Stacks

ANOTHER reason...

Otis Olsen on a stack and whack