Quilt Reflections by QuiltMommy

Phew! I've been sewing up a storm

I kept busy over the last quarter of last year.  I shelved my quilting projects for some last minute gift projects. I made the Amy Butler lap top cover for my mother, aprons and skirts from Sew It Up for my nieces and daughter, matching headbands, an Amy Butler Madison purse for myself, and a little stow it bag for my son (for all of the guns and pieces that came with his new Star Wars figures).

Now I'm really excited about the Sew Sweet Shoppe Scrap program at Wish Upon A Quilt. Since I'll be sewing the sample quilts for the club I'll be finishing a quilta month! Wow. This is definitely going to be a fun year. All the quilts in the program are sweet and fun. I can't wait to get to them. I think I'm even going to have to make the optional "What's Up Cup Cakee " - it's just too cute.

I've also been gearing up to teach a hand piecing workshop at Wish. I love hand piecing and still can't believe how much progress I make on my hand projects compared to my machine projects. There are just more opportunities to sew by hand.   I finished the class sample this week and dropped it off at the store.  

Now I'm on to designing a hand quilting sampler - I've had one in the works for a couple of years but now I'm thinking about how it could be turned into an opportunity to teach hand quilting. The original sampler had been inspired by a Laini Lady I saw in a Signals catalog. Revisiting the project had me looking for the lady and I fell in love with Laini's ladiesagain. I love quotes and words- especially by Austen and Louisa May Alcott. Each Lady has some phrase our quote written on her garments. The vintage pictures just have such attitude and their clothing is rich in texture and color. So now I'm planning some sort of applique quilt featuring 12-20 of the ladies, _limited_ to my favorites. I have a lot of favorites. So I imported some of the images and started playing with them in EQ6. I don't know what colorway I want to make the quilt yet. I was really just playing around with the photo library in EQ6. As I played with the photos Irealized this isn't going to be a quick project. I think I'm going to savor the collecting and searching for the right fabric for each ladies dress. I'll probably end up hand painting their faces onto cloth and applique the rest of the pieces down. Yes, this is definitely a project to be savored. Laini uses beads in her artwork. It's tempting but I like my quilts to be washable and serviceable. So I may have to resist the temptation to put ribbons and beads on the surface.  

A few current projects

I've been playing with purse patterns recently because they tend to be smaller projects than a quilt. Here are a few purses I've finished recently. This is Amy Butler's Sophia Carry All  made with flower Show fabric from Benartex.

Back after long hiatus

Well it's been a long time since my last post. A move from VA to NC, a missplaced camera, lost power cord, shorter and fewer naps, increased busy toddler schedules, and lack of time for sewing and space for sewing have all contributed to my lack of posts. I've started sewing again, even added over 7 new projects to my sewing project pile! But my biggest and most exciting news is that I've started working part time at a local quilt shop. It is called Wish Upon A Quilt and has an online store front at http://wishuponaquilt.com I'm excited to be a part of the team at Wish and find the time there very inspiring. I will also be helping them get a blog setup over there so hopefully you'll be hearing more from me here as well.

Scraps From the Past

This month we are doing  "Scraps From the Past" for the River Countyr Quilters' Guild(RCQG) Block of the Month (BOM). We are using left over fabric from previous BOM's and previous direction sets to make up the kits. Participants will get to randomly draw their kits from the basket so there is no telling what you get. Sounds like so much! Below is a set of directions that will be in the kits.

RCQ Snowflake (November 2006 Block)Download rcq_christmasSnowflake.doc

Heart of Hearts (January 2007 Block)Download rcq_valentine.doc

Remember, the copyrights of all RCQG BOM directions belong to the guild. We don't mind sharing but please give credit where appropriate.

Teresa, let me know if you would like the Maple Leaf, Jacob's Ladder, Dipped Chicks (basket block), and/or Waves of the Sea directions. I have copies of all the directions we did together.

Thanks! and Enjoy!

RCQ BOM for June

For almost a year now I've been working with my friend Teresa designing the BOM for our quild, River Country Quilters (RCQ). I've had lots of fun searching for appropriate blocks in EQ6,designing blocks, trying out different fabric combinations, writing directions, and seeing the actual blocks during the raffle. I've left Virginia so I'm helping Teresa with the blocks from long distance. As a result you may see some of our BOM directions posted here as a means of passing them on to Teresa. Below is the June BOM for the guild. It was inspired by the summer season and the Fourth of July holiday coming up. The block is called Summer Winds. Copyrights belong to the guild I suppose. I'm sure they wouldn't mind you downloading and using the instructions for your personal purposes as long as you give the guild credit.  Download rcq_summerwind.doc

Three Little Girls

My brother just had a new little girl and her birth has inspired me to design a series of quilts for her, her sister, and my daughter.I tried to use the colors of their various birthstones and limited my fabric pallette to Jinny Beyer's new collection, County Clare. I'm rather pleased with the results.

Hand Dyed Fabric is Fun

Here are some pictures of my results at hand dying. These are the fat quarters that came out of my taking the class from Joyce Hartley, owner of Quilting Adventures, at the VCQ meeting.

I've picked a few of my favorites to show closer details below.

                       

These pieces were painted with a brush.

I used rubberbands to create the cool texture in this one.

This one was created by folding the fabric and binding it with clothespins.

I brought home my leftover dyes from the class and tried a technique my instructor called "parfait" dyeing where you layer dyes and fabric in a jar and let them sit for a while. The process is also detailed in the book I picked up this weekend on dying with fiber reactive dyes, Color by Accident by Ann Johnston.

I dyed some more fabric on Sunday using the parfait technique.

Here are fat quarters that resulted from Sunday's Parfait dying.

I wrapped several fat quarters around some dowels my hubbie cut for me and put them in "Parfait" jars. The effects were interesting.

 

These are details of some of my favorites from Sunday's dyeing.

On Tuesday I went over to my sister-in-law's house. I showed her and my mother-in-law my new fabrics and we played some more with the leftover dyes. J-, my sister-in-law, is a spinner and dyes wool often. I knew she would want to experiment with my leftover dyes. I can't wait to see how her wool comes out. I tried a piece of silk I had bought for sun painting earlier.

My kids couldn't resist helping me with the process. A- "helped" me rinse out the fat quarters from the class on Sunday. She had a ball playing in the water and kept trying to get into my half of the sink.

M- saw me dying on Tuesday and immediately said "Mommy paint" and wanted to get involved right away. Aunt J- gave him one of her "fingers", aka rubber glove, and he stirred my soda water for me. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of him with his "fingers" becasue the glove had fallen off into the water.

I'll by washing out the silk piece and Tuesday's fabrics tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to see what they look like. All in all I've dyed about 11 yards of fabric in less than a week! This is addictive and fun. I'm now thinking about what type of quilt I'll use the fabrics in.

I'm currently entertaing the idea of a combination Mariner's compass and Lonestar quilt. Like I'd ever get either one done! But I can dream and imagine. :)

Back from VCQ Quarterly Meeting

My husband and I just got back from my Virginia Consortium of Quilters, VCQ, quarterly meeting.This was the first event I've attended since my Mother-In-law gave me the membership as a present. I had a ball there. I enjoyed meeting new people and spending time with my husband outside of class. I can't wait to show you the fabric I brought back from my class on hand dyeing. The teacher was Joyce Hartley. She owns a shop in Richmond called Quilting Adventures. I can't wait to visit her shop, it sounds very exciting.

I finished my name tag/badge for the group a few days before leaving but haven't gotten around to posting the pictures till tonight. I appliqued a character from a quilter panel fabric to the front. (She does look a lot like me in a fabric shop.)

The back was cut from fabric I sun painted a few months earlier. I used  a few of my favorite sewing images to create the prints. I also made a clear plastic pocket on the back so that I could store my membership cards and anything else I might need for a meeting or outing.

My husband drove up with me for the meeting. It was nice to get away from the kids for a day and night. I felt guilty making him bum around Charlottesville for a few hours but he kept telling me he was "a big boy" and could take care of himself. It was nice spending some alone time with him because it was our "Anniversary Weekend". We've been together for 7 years already! I thought it was rather romantic and sweet of him to be willing to sacrifice a whole weekend to my hobby and interests by tagging along. He was great company. As much as I enjoyed dyeing fabric and visiting with other quilters I'd have to say my highlight of the day was sharing a pecan waffle with him at breakfast and dining out at a fine restaurant for dinner on the way home. I also enjoyed coming home to a smiling M- just before he went to bed. M- and A- had a ball with their Grandma and Great-grandparents while we were away.

Well off to bed with me, if I can't find anything tempting on TV. Look forward to some posts on my hand dyed fabrics soon. I should also post some more of my BOM ideas from EQ5. Can you believe I have over 80 quilts designed from my brainstorming these last two weeks! I'm going to need to cull that project down soon or I may have "technical difficulties".

BOM Ideas

I was intrigued by a couple of fabric families in my latest catalog form Hancocks of Paducah. In particular, the Black and White prints, and the toiles on Nell's Flower Shop. I've been playing with them in several blocks I thought would be appropriate for a BOM for my guild. The following pictures showcase these fabrics.

Baskets

I was intrigued with the Pumpkin toile in Nell's Flower Shop. I tried several different blocks to see which showcased it the best.

Weathervane

Christmas Applique

I like the idea of offering participants the chance to do an applique block. The key would be to design the applique and pieced blocks to use the same amount of fabrics so we would need only one kit. This quilt uses a Christmas Cactus for the applique block.

New Years BOM

I thought it would be fun to do an Album Block for January where everyone wrote a New Year's resolution in the center. I used several of the Black and White prints from Hancocks of Paducah.

Kaleidoscope

I also played with a kaleidoscope block with the same set of fabrics.

My Experience with Quilt Guilds

I went hunting through my previous posts because I remembered discussing my desire to join a quilt guild earlier. I finally found the entry, Online Quilt Guilds posted two years ago! It was weird going back through the posts. They had been written several years ago but they are still relevant today! Many of the projects are still ongoing, waiting for borders to be finished, piecing to be started, or quilting to be done. The pictures of my stash show fabrics that I know are still there and that haven't been used yet. I was surprised to realize that so much time has passed but so little has changed.

In my previous post, , I mentioned several online quilt guilds I was exploring because I was hesitant to join a local guild. I enjoyed the online guilds for a while but lost touch when I became pregnant with my daughter. I lost the energy and the time. I keep telling myself that I will catch up eventually but that just may be a fib to assuage my conscience. I always hope that I'll get around to catching up. :>

My sister-in-law, L-, had envisioned a guild in her county because there were a lot of talented quilters in her area. She finally realized her vision when she helped get the River Country Quilters Guild started last year. I believe they had over 50 founding mothers sign their charter and they have been meeting for a year now. I joined them 2 months ago because I finally felt free to attend meetings now that my daughter, A-, is one. I really enjoy attending the meetings and participating in the raffles and Block of the Month. Sadly, L- is leaving the area. She's moving to Rhode Island within a month. I've volunteered to help with the Block of the Month for the guild. I've been working with EQ5 for the past few days playing with potential block and fabric combinations I've designed over 50 quilts in that time. I'll post a few in the next week.

At L-'s suggestion, my mother-in-law bought me a membership to the Virginia Consortium of Quilter's, VCQ. They are having a quarterly meeting in Charlottesville this month. I'll be attending to see what the group is all about. They will be offering courses at the quarterly meeting. I'm signed up to dye fabric. What fun! They ask new members to make a name tag for themselves. I've had fun designing mine. I used a panel from one of those quilter panel fabrics the stores have been selling recently. I found one image that looks a lot like me. The quilter pictured has the same glazed look that I get in a fabric store and is looking over her shoulder while waiting in a quilt shop line. Just like me, looking for anything I might have missed while waiting to checkout. I cut the image out and appliqued it to my name tag and sashed the tag with the red feathered background from another quilter panel. I intend to use some fabric I sun painted with a few of my favorite sewing things on the back of the name tag. I'll tell you more about that in another post.

While I was on a roll with joining quilter organizations I decided to go ahead and join the American Quilter's Society, AQS. I received a letter from them a week ago. My associations with VCQ and RCQ Guild have inspired and motivated me and I was curious what my membership in AQS might bring. Since joining RCQ Guild I've felt motivated to get projects done after seeing everyone else's show-and-tell projects.