Layered Waves Workshop

I have enjoyed a lot of quilting activities in the last two days. On Thursday night, I met two friends from my bee for a Mexican dinner in Raleigh before we attended the Capital Quilters Guild meeting with Karen Eckmeier as guest speaker.

We had the largest Show-and-Tell that I can remember in my twenty-one years of guild membership. What talented quilters! Then, we presented Mike Dorman of Military Missions in Action with a check representing the proceeds of our Heritage Day quilt auction and raffle: a whopping twelve thousand dollars! I am so proud of our group for making this donation possible. MMIA exists to help disabled veterans make adjustments and renovations to their living space when they return home from the war. Every dollar goes to the actual cost of building materials and other necessities. And I can tell you, Mike Dorman is such a compelling personality that people seem to just go out of their way to help this worthy cause.

Finally it was time for our guest speaker, Karen Eckmeier of The Quilted Lizard. She is a pattern designer and quilt artist who gave a delightful slide show and trunk show of her quilts. You may be familiar with her Accidental Landscapes patterns. This photo is from her website.

Then, this morning, I got up at 6:30 AM, packed up Sweet Sue the Subaru, and headed to Raleigh for her Layered Waves workshop. I really, really, liked this technique. There is no drawing, no gluing, no stabilizer, just lots of fun cutting curves and top stitching them to each other. Loved it! Here is my creation, using hand-dyed, batik, and commercial print fabrics in teals, blues, purples, and some black and white prints to make it all "pop."

Not sure what this will become...maybe a jacket. Karen was wearing a layered waves jacket made from a sweatshirt...I loved it! Here she is holding up some of the class projects. She held each one in all four orientations to see how we liked each one. Sorry, some of these photos are a little out of focus.

I would say this piece goes to the head of the class...Susie had the over-under technique that looks like woven ribbons.

My friend Darlene from the Anything Art bee used a color palette similar to mine. This one was all blue...

This one used a theme print and then coordinated colors to go with it.

I like the colors in this piece, which remind me a western desert.

And Dorthy's fabrics had lots of movement and bright colors.

Karen showed us how to make the points, ripples, and crests.

Her own quilts were available to view for eye candy and inspiration.

I highly recommend Karen as a guest speaker and workshop instructor. Very pleasant, amusing, and genuinely nice!

Buried Treasure

Yesterday was my reunion with my good friend, Marcia, who was back in Raleigh for a few days. The weather has turned rainy here, but our leaves are still pretty. All these trees are near the State Employee Credit Union on Wake Forest Road.

Marcia had her mother's fabric stash, minus a car load that another quilter drove away with in Greensboro to donate to their guild charity. What was left were five or six of those plastic boxes that fit under the bed, all full of fabric. And a few baskets and tote bags...Marcia's mother was an excellent hand quilter who can no longer sew due to medical problems.

The main goal was to find the fabric that they bought in Paris and other places in Europe, so I could make a quilt for Marcia's daughter who is living in the Netherlands. These look like the colors and prints of Provence...

It looks like there is about eight yards of this paisley, which could make most of the back, although I took a lot of coordinated pale yellows to piece into a back if needed.Marcia gave me some things I was interested in...like this lovely selection of velvets, grosgrain, and a shiny lining fabric in red, blue, and green. And this lovely piece of lace.

My guess is that these were intended to become Christmas stockings. And here is a rabbit fur stole (feels like the real thing) with one section cut out that definitely was used for a stocking top!
Marcia found a beautiful embroidered linen tablecloth that she did not know existed, and pulled that out to take home. But here is the treasure of the day...
which she also did not know existed!

It is a beautifully pieced, completed Around the World quilt top, in lovely shades of rose, brown, and blue. Tiny, perfect little squares!

I have this home with me to quilt and finish for her. No deadline. :)

That is good, because I have several customer quilts waiting for me and projects galore to complete. And look what just arrived at my local library branch with my name on it:

It is the latest in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon. I was number 252 on the waiting list, and it arrived right when I am so busy! I am longing to get into it...all 832 pages! This is the seventh novel about a time-traveling British nurse who is transported into the 18th century when she visits a Celtic stone circle on the eve of an equinox. The love story of Claire and Jamie, a highland Scot, and their journeys through historic places and events is fascinating. In previous novels they have moved from Scotland to America, and end up in the mountains of North Carolina---which sounds like the general area where our cabin is located! If you read these, start with the first, Outlander, and read them in order. They are long, but well worth the effort. I might have to request the audio version of the latest if I can't get it read.

Our library branch in Wake Forest is barely adequate, but it is part of the larger Wake County library. You can go on the Internet and request the books or audiobooks you want, and they will send them to be picked up at your local branch when they are available. Listening to great novels while sewing is a way to double my pleasure! The latest book I "read" while sewing was Shannon, by Frank Delaney, about an Irish-American priest who is shell-shocked upon his return from battle in France during World War I. He is sent to Ireland to "trace his roots," and recover from his post-traumatic stress, a disorder that no one knew how to treat back then. His adventures through Ireland, the wonderful and odd cast of people he meets who help him, the corruption of the Catholic church in Boston, civil war in Ireland...all make this story memorable. I just checked out another Delaney novel, Tipperary, because I loved this one so much.

That's all...I have projects calling my name!

Wednesday Work-in-Progress: Flower Garden

Okay, back to quilty subjects. I did get all of last Wednesday's WIP blocks and sashings pieced together. I like the way the greens in the sashings blend the assortment of varied green fabrics used in these exchange blocks from the late eighties or early nineties. The blocks had every shade of green from mint to emerald to khaki.

I also like the crispness added to these old blocks through the use of the black "coping strips" and posts, and the bright new fabrics used in the outer borders of each block. I think I am still going to add another border of the Moda rose fabric, which will make this quilt large enough to be a bed topper or a nice-sized snuggle quilt.

Yesterday I made a fast trip to Fayetteville, NC, to visit the Loving Stitches quilt shop.

This delightful shop is also a Bernina and Gammill dealership. With 10,00 square feet, they have a large selection of fabrics, kits, threads, and other supplies that many local shops do not carry. There is a lot of eye candy on the walls and displays.

And I was able to purchase an entire 40-yard roll of Hobbs 80/20 batting without paying shipping charges. Of course, I found lots of other fun things while I was there.

Since I had to come through Raleigh on the way home, I did a little more shopping. I am happy to know that Jerry's Art-a-Rama has a whole section dedicated to fabric dyes and paints. They carry a good supply of Jacquard fabric paints, Procion dyes, iColor dyes, Shiva Paint Stiks, and best of all, they have Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons available on open stock.

I have a large tin with many pre-selected colors, but for some reason it did not include any yellows, oranges, or browns. I took care of that problem!

Today it is off to lunch with one of my former teaching buddies who now lives at the beach. Her mom was a quilter, and Marcia wants me to use some of her stash to make a quilt for her daughter. They have fabric purchased in several trips to Italy, Holland and other travels. I don't really need another project or fabric from someone else's stash to add to my crowded sewing room, but I would like to do this for her. Problem: she wants a double wedding ring, which I don't really know how to make. Maybe I can talk them into something with squares...

Golden Weekend

I was undecided all week about accompanying my hubby to our mountain place this weekend, partly because of the gloomy, rainy weather experienced during the time ex-Hurricane Ida was lingering in our area. It was still yucky and drizzly when we left Friday, but the sun came out and the temperatures warmed as we headed west. The forecast of a mild, sunny weekend turned out to be correct!It was the first day of black-powder gun deer season, so while Charlie hunted in the morning and late afternoon, I kept to the creek and pond areas and enjoyed the sparkling sun on the water. Did not hear any gun fire, which made me happy.

I like this knobby old tree that is just below the pond and sketched it in pencil.

In the background of the photo is a big hill with Frazier fir Christmas trees. I had to smile as I watched five deer work their way across the top of the field while the hunters were up on the mountain in the other direction.

Speaking of Christmas tree farms, it is a huge industry in Ashe County, NC. They have been cutting trees already for several weeks. It must be profitable...this huge house sits atop a tree farm in Laurel Springs.

We do not have a killer view like they do, but I like the view from our back yard.

It continued to stay sunny, mild and beautiful all weekend. What a blessing for November! Local mountain folklore has it that the woolly worm caterpillar can foretell the severity of the winter to come. The more bands of black, the colder the winter. Woolly worms, sometimes called woolly bears, can be seen crossing the roads in autumn as they search for a warm nook or cranny to spend the winter before they become tiger moths in the spring. Looks like a mild winter based on this little fella on our driveway!

There is even a woolly worm festival every October in Banner Elk, near Boone, where one of my brothers lives. Spectators can bring their own woolly worm, or buy one to compete in "heats" to race up three-foot tall strings. Collecting the caterpillars, given names like "Flash" and "Speedy," from the top of the strings is former N.C. State and NBA center Tommy Burleson. Lots of fun!

This will be my last mountain trip until after Christmas. Back to quilting!

Great Mail to Brighten the Day

It is still cold, rainy, and windy today...but I have lots of shiny pretty things that arrived yesterday to fondle and admire!

First was a big Priority Mail box that returned my little art quilt, Second-Hand Rose, who has been traveling with the Breaking Traditions 2008 art quilt exhibit. Rose still looks good despite all the little flowers and beads attached to her.

In the box with Rose were two door prizes that I won for participating in the 2009 Breaking Traditions exhibit with my quilt Mountain Home. One prize was this wonderful little piece of pottery. It is a teabag saucer, donated by the exhibit curator Lynn Krawczyk. I love original pottery, and this piece fits right in with my home decor.


In addition to the little plate, I received a funky hand-knitted pouch donated by Vickie Boteler. I had just e-mailed to my friend Cathie Recca that I would love to try freeform knitting and crochet...and that very day received this little purse made of many different fibers. It is so cute...reminds me of a little hanging bird's nest.


Here it is hanging on my dragonfly wall hooks, along with a treasured mountain fiber art piece that I purchased at the Grove Park Inn gallery years ago.

After posting this blog, I started to put away the prizes and discovered another little surprise that I had overlooked...a piece of hand-dyed fabric and a lovely fiber cord from Chris Daly at Dye Candy! Thank you, Chris!

In the same mail, I received this fabulous hand-dyed fabric that I ordered from Vicki Welsh's Etsy shop. It is one yard of a gradient from fuchsia to blue. I love the variations in the colors, and plan to use this piece in a Layered Waves workshop with Ginny Eckmieir next week.

And since I was fondling fabric, it was only right that my package from Hancock's of Paducah arrived shortly after that, with this lovely assortment of batiks in bright jewel tones. The fabrics have ferns, hummingbirds, butterflies, and leaves- all my favorites.

I also ordered some packaged battings by Quilters Dream. I had never tried the Puff batting before, but wanted to try it for some old and puckery quilt tops that I have promised to finish for my sister-in-law. I have been putting these off for a long time, but am ready to start the first one. The Puff batting is polyester with a nice loft to it, that I am hoping will disguise some of the fullness in the star quilt tops. But, even my husband agreed, this batting is delightfully, delectably soft! It is supposed to be light in weight but incredibly warm. I will let you know how well it works with my Gammill.

Work-in-Progress on Wet Windy Day

Gone are the golden, balmy autumn days with clear blue skies...thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ida, the trees are blowing, the wind chimes are clanging, and we have had buckets of rain the past few days.

I have taken advantage of the rainy weather to unearth one of my oldest UFO's- that's UnFinished Object for you non-quilters. I won thirteen of these nine-patch flowers in a Block Party drawing at Capital Quilters Guild, probably back in the late eighties or early nineties.

They are ten-inch squares. I always thought the flowers did not look right in proportion to the stem and leaves. The fabric in the block above was out-dated even when I won the blocks, but at the time I thought most of the others had beautiful new fabric unlike any I owned. But now, they all looked a little tired and sad. Wouldn't you be if you had been stowed away in a closet for fifteen or twenty years?

One of my favorite ways to perk up a boring quilt is to add a crisp black and white print. So, I started out adding "coping strips" to the flower blocks in black prints and batiks. Then I tried them out against a Moda floral print called Seaside Rose, which I have gobs of for some reason. (I think I was planning to make Dave and Emily's wedding quilt using these fabrics until she requested an all-white quilt...thus I have about ten yard of this floral, which I am still fond of!) The print echoes the color scheme of the blocks, which all include a yellow center and some sort of pinkish-purplish flower.

What is a "coping strip" you ask? When you get blocks made by many people, the chances of them all being exactly the right size are slim indeed. Coping strips help you even up the block sizes and tie together all the color combinations.

That looked okay, but I thought it needed some additional patchwork. I added a second coping strip next to the black, using new perky and whimsical fabric in more vivid colors than the original fabrics.

Now the blocks were getting more interesting and updated, but they still needed something to tie them together. I strip-pieced a variety of green fabrics, mostly botanical and of varying hues and values. Then I cut the strips into sashings the same width as the flower blocks. Here they are pinned to the design wall.

I needed a way to tie the black coping strips in with the quilt, so I added corner posts of black fabric. There were so many square and linear shapes in this quilt, that I looked for circular and floral shapes in my black and white fabrics and fussy-cut these for the posts. You should see my poor Mark Lipinski circular print- it looks like Swiss cheese!

Anyway, I like the updated look of these old blocks, and will try to finish the top today. Rainy days are good sewing days!

Lark Books Quilt It! Contest

I received an e-mail from Lark Books announcing a new Quilt It! contest. It will run from October 15 to January 5. To enter, just submit a photo of a quilt- but it must contain three of these five elements: birds, mountains, something silver, recycled materials, and beads. You can read more about the contest at Lark's website.

http://www.larkbooks.com/crafts/quilt-it-contest The contest is open to residents of the U.S. only.

One Grand Prize winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to www.hancocks-paducah.com and 11 quilting books from the Lark collection. Four Quilt Category winners will each receive 11 quilting books

The categories are:

Best Use of Beading or Beaded Elements:

In celebration of Creative Quilting With Beads, this prize will be awarded to the quilter who employs the best use of beading or beaded elements in his or her quilt entry.

Best Use of Hand-Dyed/Altered Fabrics

To celebrate the November 2009 release of Color Your Cloth, this prize will be awarded to the quilt that incorporates the most creative use of hand-dyed or altered fabrics.

Best Art Quilt

This prize will be awarded to the best art quilt. This category celebrates Masters: Art Quilts and the forthcoming 500 Art Quilts.

Best Use of Recycled Material

As beautifully illustrated in the January 2010 launch of Quilt It with Wool, this prize will be awarded to the quilt that represents a creative, original, or unexpected use of recycled or repurposed material.

Actually, I think I already have an art quilt that could be entered in this contest, but I might do another one since you know how much I love one of the required elements: mountains! How about a silvery frozen creek?