Playing Catch-Up

When I made the scrappy placemats for Nann, I tried the whole-cloth approach (quilting a single large quilt sandwich and cutting the placemats from that).  This was the leftover section, which I bound with the same binding as the placemat set.

And this is where the bonus runner lives - on the riser shelf in my design studio under my hot water pot and tea drawer unit.

I did get the set of St. Patrick's Day utility mats bound and in place before the 17th - although now it is time to pack them away and pull out the Easter decor.

Here one is flipped over so you can see the backing fabric which makes them functionally reversible.

Again, I used the whole-cloth approach which resulted in this bonus runner which fits beautifully over the back of my recliner.

Now that I've done these two sets this way, I have a much better idea about the quilt sandwich measurements for future sets.  

June is the next one on the list - six placemats and a set of utility mats for living room.

Hooray!  Spikey is home and joyfully he did not lose any of his hair in the kiln.

(his back story is HERE)

This is the set up in my studio for this morning's Zoom presentation.

Mischief's job is to keep me on topic and out of the weeds.

I'll close with a few more bits from the Bookish journal.

True.

With both of our adult sons having been recently diagnosed with A1C issues, we've been reading a lot of nutrition labels while grocery shopping/planning our meals and family dinners.

So I couldn't resist including this nutrition label in my journal.

Quiltdivajulie

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"We are all mosaics, pieces of light, love, history, stars . . . glued together with magic and music and words."

Anita Krizzan

Getting Ready

This has been the main focus for the past few days . . . getting things set up to do a live Zoom presentation on my Dumpster Diving series and my book for a Pennsylvania quilt guild on Monday the 8th.  

DH and I have spent quite a bit of time tweaking the temporary technology set up in my sewing studio to keep things as streamlined  as possible.

While he fiddled with wires and connections, I cut additional sashing strips and corner stones to simulate the final layout for DD12.  Twelve blocks are finished with eight more to go for the 4 wide x 5 long layout.

Seeing this much of the WIP quilt top on the design wall is really making me want to sit and stitch those final eight blocks next week.

I've also been doing prep work for my January journal (playing along with Meg's Journals "Junk Journal January" but doing things my way, of course).

When DH finished this particular Sudoku book,  I nabbed it before he could throw it away.

I used scraps of papers like this one (packing paper for something DIL brought home after her trip to Asia last year) to partially cover each of roughly 70 page sides (31 days in the month x 2 page sides each).

Even Ikea instruction sheets found their way into the mix.

I tried using a no sew method shared by Roben-Marie Smith but my packing tape was self-adhesive instead of her water activated variety and my final assembly didn't work out at all the way I had hoped (as in half the signatures failed to adhere to the spine).

So what you don't see here is my use of bright rainbow colored cording to tie each of the five signatures into the cover of this 1937 copy of Heidi in order to make my altered book journal functional.  

It's a bit wonky to be sure but somehow that fits with the "junk" (as in rescued) journal aspect of the month long challenge.

I left the torn edges on the pages when I took them out of the original book because they add so much textural interest.  And I used stick on letters to spell out each daily prompt on the left-hand page of each two--page spread.  

I've gone ahead and collaged my ideas onto the pages with prompts I knew how I wanted to handle.  

I'll spend the rest of the month filling in the others my own way after (maybe) watching the daily videos that are part of the collaborative challenge. 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide."

D.W. Winnicott

What a Week !

This was the end-of-the-week student display 

for last week's quilting class at

John C. Campbell Folk School.

(this is roughly 1/3 of their total work)

I had four eager and able students

who jumped into making scrappy strata

with enthusiasm and laughter.

It was such fun to watch them grow their skills

and gain confidence working with color.

And we spent Tuesday evening visiting 

Bless My Stitches 

(Murphy NC's LQS)

in order for the students to update their choices

for corner and optional sashing fabrics.

(BIG thanks to DH for driving the school's borrowed Suburban)

L. plans to make a queen size quilt 

using these (and many more)

scrappy kaleidoscope blocks.

She will add soft blue sashing between the blocks

when it comes time to lay out her quilt top.

S. had 8 of her block centers completed

and strata made for the remaining four blocks

by the end of our week in the mountains.

(one was on the cutting table when this photo was taken)

The calligraphy print will be used for her block corners.

K. used a mix of vintage fabric, 

yardage from her late mother's stash,

and fabrics from a number of estate sales

to piece her kaleidoscope blocks.

She added the mottled gray print to one block

as a test to be sure she understood the process.

She has sewn for years but this will be

her first-ever quilt top.

D. worked with bright colors and completed these block centers

plus 3 more that were not on the wall when I took the photo.

She plans to use the bright on black print 

to corner all of her blocks.

(love the spinning design the print creates)

Fun to see how they found four new ways 

to interpret my inspiration quilt.

While they stitched and pressed, 

I did some intermittent scrappy sewing of my own.

This is the companion block to the one I made

for the Instructors' display case at JCCFS.

I'll use the same backing with blue binding.

Once quilted and finished, 

these will be used as mats on our round end tables.

L. passed all of her strata end cuts and leftovers to me.

I plan to use them to make a wall size version of

Moments in Time using background greens instead of blues.

Leftover strata from making the two sample blocks

and other step outs for the class was cut into wedges.

This set will become a long reversible runner.

This group is sewn together 

ready to become a wall quilt.  

(the Ghastlies from Bless My Stitches 

will be used for the backing) 

And the smallest leftover bits of strata

were crumb pieced into three long strips.

One is 6" wide, 

one is 7.5" wide,

and the third is 8" wide.

I have a coins-related plan for these

 after combining them with two other pending projects.

We'll see how it evolves.

* * *

And while we were busy in the quilting studio,

DH was busy in his class - click here to see what he made.

Quiltdivajulie

JCCFS Instructor Sample - Work Underway

When I teach at JCCFS  this fall,

I need to take a small quilt

that can be used in the Keith House

Instructor Showcase display

to let all the other students 

know something about my class.

So I've been slowly sewing scrappy slabs together

using odd bits and pieces from the crumb boxes

and sliced up orphan blocks.

I'll be teaching my Umbrellas Unfurled quilt

so I need 8 different color slabs from which 

I can cut a single wedge for my mini version.

Clearly I will have leftover slab pieces,

which is perfectly okay with me.

(also great as examples in the class)

This is one of my favorites.

This is the smallest of the slabs -

just big enough to cut a wedge

with a few very small leftover pieces.

Blue is always one of my overflowing crumb boxes

so the blue slab is quite a bit larger.

Surprisingly, I also had a lot of pink pieces.

* * *

If you've always wanted to visit The Folk School

and spend a week playing with colorful fabrics

while surrounded by beautiful NC mountains,

come spend September 8-14 in my class.

Click Here for registration information.

Quiltdivajulie

For the Birds - an update

Since I first shared this project in April

I've been slowly stitching HSTs together,

mostly as leader enders.

This past week I set up the ironing board

so I could sit down and press them open.

Then I trimmed away the tiny dog ears.

This stack has 35 HSTs in it.

Without counting each stack

15 x 35 = 525 HSTs.

Definitely enough to start playing with a layout.

(and there are at least that many more colorful triangles

waiting to be paired and stitched should the need arise)

I also unstitched the labels from all twelve bird blocks.

(they were there to prevent students from taking them home)

* * *

I need to stay focused on finishing up Summer Breeze

and then get started on the small quilt I need to make

for the Instructor Showcase at The Folk School

for my week long class in September.

(there are a few spaces still available)

But I can also play with these birds

 and the HSTs on the design wall

to test out some of my thoughts.

Quiltdivajulie

Gwen's Baskets

I'll be teaching a class featuring 

Gwen's liberated stars and baskets

at Fabric for the Flock in early June.

I had two quilts on hand to use as

shop samples for Gwen's liberated stars.

Amazingly, I had not made any of her liberated baskets.

This is the freshly-pressed back side

 of the top's central section.

Those stitched but invisible handles tickle me.

Here is the quilt top with its borders sewn on.

(I've had that blue-green batik in the stash

for at least ten years - feels so good to use it)

Quilted with multi-directional free motion fans

using Affinity (variegated) Turf in the center,

Marine (variegated) in the border, and

companion Glide (solid) threads in the bobbin.

31" wide x 35" long

* * *

When I started this quilt I had no idea 

Gwen was battling an aggressive cancer

or that she would pass away late last week.

What an amazing legacy she leaves behind

with her decades of teaching, her fabulous books, 

her excellent iQuilt classes, and

 the thousands of students who were blessed 

to spend time with her, many of whom 

now share her teachings with the rest of us.

I was never able to attend one of her classes

(the closest I came was in late 2016)

but Gwen's teachings and writings have

enlightened and influenced me so much.

I am and will be forever grateful to her.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Perfection is not a god to be worshipped, 
nor does it have anything to do with art."
Gwen Marston

March Goals

The quilt top of the month for March

will be Dumpster Diving 5 - Catharsis.

After two design changes, a third one is in process

and I'm finally ready to rock and roll

to get this to flimsy stage by 3/31.

My number one quilting project for March

will be the 70273 Project's Quilt No. 697

from last fall's Davies Manor quilt show.

The top currently measures 56" x 77"

and commemorates 86 lives.

I also need to put away all of the quilts

from the cancelled trunk shows.

They were heavy before and they're still heavy

so I'm dealing with them in very small groups

since my stamina is still recovering.

When I teach at John C. Campbell Folk School in September,

(class project photo pending on their website)

I want to take 12-14 journal covers to sell in their Craft Shop.

The outsides are assembled and linings have been chosen.

Next steps will be to assemble the covers and quilt them.

Hopefully they'll all be ready for the final steps

by the end of the month.

If not, these might spill over into April.

I'll be teaching Lynne's Liberated Birds

 at our local quilt shop on March 18 and 25.

(day and evening classes)

AND I need to prep enough quarter square triangles

 to assemble forty blocks for my RSC Mosaic project.

This month's color is GREEN - which should

look really good against the blue backgrounds.

* * *

And in my non-quilting world,

I need to prepare for and chair my first 

Davies Manor Association Board meeting,

and get things ready for our tax guy.

One thing at a time . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Set realistic goals, keep re-evaluating, and be consistent."

Venus Williams