February Always Flies By

Sid and Gwyn enjoying some long awaited snow

 It has been quite an eventful month for me.  I have been working away on several quilts for Kerry of Commaworkshop.  I also attended three quilt events/guilds which were all very fun.  I have been working on a quilt for my aunt for 2 years now.  It is all hand applique block-of-the-month and named Empress Ohashi.  It is the type of project that I enjoy doing on cold, snowy days when I don't want to move more than three feet from the wood stove. 

Gwyn helping arrange Empress Ohashi

I just finished all the applique and pieced together as a quilt top the other day.  As you can see in the photo, my master of balance was helping me arrangement.  It is too funny how she sits in chairs like humans or the cats.  Now, I have to quilt it. 
I am, of course, nervous about this last step.  It is such a gorgeous quilt top.  So, yesterday, I had a play day.  I loaded the machine with pretty tie-dyed fabric and just played.  I think I learn more on a play afternoon than I do in months.  It is truly important to take the time to play/practice. 
I also just started taking a Zentangle drawing course.  I think it will really improve my skills as an artist.  I have never been good on paper, just give me fabric or frosting!  So, I thought it was time to learn.  The Zentangles are great and the style really translates into quilting quite nicely.  It is fun, relaxing, and educationally skill-building all at the same time. 

Bogie under pile of blankets

It is dumping snow on us today (finally!).  So nice and pretty looking out.  Starting to wonder if we should move the car to the bottom of the driveway.  It's about time.  We were really overdue and fire season just stinks of fear and anxiety around here in drought years.  Thank you for the snow!
Well, I am going to try to clean my house up today. I've been ignoring it for the sake of work lately, but let's face it, I'd rather be quilting any day of the week versus cleaning.  Glad my hubby keeps on top of things and I just go for the deep clean every few weeks.
Keep Creating and Quilting!

The Steam Trunk Dresden

This is the Steam Trunk Dresden quilt.  I was recently given pieces of this quilt found by my client in her grandmother's steam trunk.  The blocks were already sewn into 4 rows and my challenge was to create a finished quilt that looked like it had been done in the 1930's.  This was my own personal challenge as the client admitted knowing nothing about quilts.  I felt a desire to be as true to the original quilter's vision as I could imagine.
I pieced the top only adding two small strips of muslin to make complete rows and not have to chop into two of the rows background.  I must mention here how the quilt was hand appliqued onto old sugar bags.  You can still see "C & H Sugar" print among others on the bags as well as the curved needle holes evident of the original bag structure.  For the quilt designs, I went old school.  I did free motion tear drops in each of the petals, did a feathered wreath in the center, and echoed the flower/plate itself.  To fill in the background, I choose and adapted a design from Quilting Designs from the Past, by Jenny Carr Kinney.  I found the most wonderful design and enlarged it and added a few scrolls.  After tracing this design with my laser from the back of the machine, I jumped to the front to fill in.  There were several open spaces that needed a flower or scroll added in order to achieve interwoven flow.  Quilting it like this left me with approximately 1800 threads to tuck when I was done.  It took me five hours to tuck those threads, but it was well worth it  for the incredible antique look I managed.
The best part is that the client loved it and can't wait to surprise her father with it when he visits this summer.  That is the most wonderful thing about quilts - their stories.  I'm sure this man can remember seeing his mother work on this quilt.  Now, he gets to hold his mother's work finished in his hands.  The grandchildren and future generations can feel the soul of their maternal creator in their hands.  To be able to help make this happen for people is what makes quilting so special for me. 
Keep quilting and Creating!

Christmas, Quilts, and Dogs

 A very Merry Christmas and tidings of a Happy New Year to all!
I just finished this quilt recently.  It is McKenna Ryan's At Home in the Woods pattern.  I worked on it for a client for 2 years, slowly doing the cutting of the pieces next to the fire when it is really cold up here.  The quilt came out quite nice but I have decided that I do not love the look of fusible applique.  It is just raw and unpolished for my taste.  The pattern was beautiful though and there was no way to create it using any other technique.  The fine details in the flowers, bumble-bees and hummingbirds could not have been achieved without using the fusible technique.  All in all, I am very happy and proud to have finished this quilt. 
The photo of the dogs is basically for my husband's mom.  She loves to see how her grand-dogs are doing.  This is Bo and Gwyn (who is growing up) sleeping on their favorite blanket (which has proceeded to the next life already) and the fireplace glove that Gwyn likes to have close by.  I love that they keep me company in the studio, yet lately I've been trying to explain to them that if they interrupt my too much - no Kibbles next month.    Also, they lack the knowledge (or faith) that I will be right back, they don't need to follow me everywhere.  Ah, it is good to be loved though.
Peace, Blessings, Love, and Hope to you all!

Quilted Christmas or Santa on the Blinds?

Christmas is coming and quilting is where it's at.  It is so nice to be home quilting away.  We have amazingly nice weather and I have been quite the busy quilting B.  I just fell in love with this fabric panel when I raided my Aunt's stash over the summer.  There were 2 panels and I made this quilt up to be on sale over the holidays on my Etsy site.  I will be using the other panel to create a gift quilt for my Aunt (probably for next year). 
When I get a really nice panel like this, my favorite thing to do is "faux-punto!"  That is what I call it when I slip extra batting layers into certain areas (such as under Santa and the animals) to give them a more puffed look.  I think it adds a little more life, character and dimension to a simple top.
Here is a photo of half of the family keeping me company while I work.  You would not believe how many photos of the dog-pile I am beginning to get.
Sid is just pretending to sleep in this one, but often times they are all sacked out and snoring in my studio. 

Beautiful Quilts, Beautiful Week

Nana's Hannah

 This is Nana's Hannah.  I quilted it quite heavily with all sorts of free motion designs.  I actually photographed them all and will be compiling them on my website at some point in the future.  I was really happy with how this quilt came out.  It was hand pieced by my  paternal grandmother and I got to quilt it.  How fun to be able to pass along such a treasure carrying the generations of a family working together.
I was also able to finally finish a quilted wall piece that has been around a while.  It was an inspired day when my husband handed me this piece of hand-dyed fabric.  I just saw the landscape.  Moonlit Mystery is the first in what I hope to be a long series of landscape quilts.  I find them so peaceful, tranquil and inspiring both to create and to gaze at almost in meditation.  I am not he only one who loves this quilt.  It was unfinished but on display at my open studio tour.  I had several offers for if I finished it.  It was on hold while I did all the other quilts recently and then I had a day to finish.  It was easy to decide who to call first with an offer.  I was struck by the last woman to visit my studio that weekend.  She had obviously been having some health issues and just wanted something new (she also wrote down that she wanted it with her phone number on my mailing list).
Years ago, I was told by an amazing woman that I should/needed to be making healing quilts.  It has been tickling my brain as to what these quilts would look like, not just the healing intentions sewn with the threads that hold the quilts together.  Maybe I have found them in the landscape quilts.  Healing is an ever going, ever changing process.   My one wish today is that all people have the strength, courage, and support to heal themselves and this beautiful earth we all call home.

Our Foxy visitor this week

6 Quilts in a Week

The sun rises on this beautiful day which is surprisingly still very fall-like.  I've been expecting snow for a while, not to worry though, it will catch up and I will be whining in January.  It is fun though to watch the snow blow around outside.  I have a lot of windows and the wind is fierce up here, often times I can look out and feel like I in a snowglobe.  Wow, it sounds like I miss winter, that's weird.  I have been working too hard.

Block from the Reversing Climate Change Quilt

Block from the Stopping Domestic Violence Quilt

I got 6 quilts done last week.  The first was the little dog quilt I blogged about last Sunday.  Then, I got a rush order to do 3 quilts dealing with big issues.  The blocks were created by a group of Methodist women and they were large banner type quilts each 55" wide.  The quilt that dealt with Immigration Reform was 120" long, Reversing Climate Change was 99", and Stopping Domestic Violence was 88".  There is fourth in the series, but lucky for me it still needed borders put on and was not dropped off with the others.  My client told me not to take the time with custom quilting.  I was too honored to be a part of these visual portrayals that I had to give my piece.  They were simply quilted, but I did more than just straight-ish lines that we discussed.  They looked great and I am happy.  That's part of being a quilt whisperer, always do justice to the quilt regardless of price and time.
 The next 2 quilts I did were for another client who does white quilts with poems and such written into them.  Some have great stories with them and this weeks were wonderful.  I do not share these stories here, as she has her own quilt business and I hate being the one spoils any surprises.  You can visit her website, www.commaworkshop.com if you are interested in these quilts.   
Today, I am going to load and begin the next one for my grandmother.  It is either a Dear Jane or Hannah, I've been referring to it at as Nana's Hannah cause it's fun to say.  She hand pieced this quilt and it is gorgeous!   Once again, I find myself nervous in beginning.  It is hard being a realist perfectionist (you know, wanting and striving for perfection yet truly knowing it is unattainable). 

Threadplay Breathes Life into Quilts

A dog named Bailey gets new life.

I was given this cute dog quilt to do something with.  It was already quilted with the binding firmly attached when I got this quilt.  The quilting was done well.  It was invisible thread holding down the edges of the applique pieces.  My client's desire was to have it look less flat.  It was a wonderful little quilt already (and this client happens to be my grandmother's), so I began with a little trepidation honestly.
It was such fun though and I quickly learned all the stitching looked great.  I kept changing thread colors and designs depending on where I was in the piece.  When I was finished, this dog had so much more character than before.  The texture of the hair was what was really missing on those fabrics.  The back of the quilt looks really cool now too!  I hope Nana loves it.

Here is a little food bit for you all.  Now that I am home again for the winter, there will probably be more postings of recipes.  This is just an idea that I know I can not have been the first to come up with.  So, I made a box of mac & cheese the other day and then while reaching for the parmesan cheese, I spied the leftover bacon.  Oh, what a delight!  I am so glad I sprinkled the cheese and the bacon crumbles onto the macaroni!  Delicious but Dangerous is the board I am creating on Pinterest for all these recipes.
I am blessed with work and would love to be doing the next quilt (I have 7 to do this week).  Sadly though, I woke up though with a seriously swollen thumb. (arthritis?)  Hopefully it will go away soon and I can get back to playing on my long arm.
 I wish you all a beautiful fall filled with inspirations!