Quilted Jackets- to sew or buy?

Just when I have purchased fabric to make a quilted jacket, I got a Chico's catalog and found this one, already made. Isn't the quilting pretty good for store-bought? I have ripped out this page to refer to for quilting ideas. By the way, I never order from Chico's because I can't figure out their sizes. What's up with size 1, 2, and 3?

When I was at Machine Quilters Expo last April, I wore my Coldwater Creek embroidered jacket. (Seen here while freezing in Central Park in October.) I was thinking how smart I was to have a quilty-looking jacket that I didn't even have to make! I was stopped by a lady who admired it while I was walking around, and I recognized that she was the lovely quilt teacher Pam Clarke. She is the instructor on one of my quilt videos and author of the Designs With Lines books and stencils. I was really feeling pleased with myself then! But the problem was, there were three or four of us walking around MQX in the same exact jacket! LOL!

But, Pam gave me a great line to use when people ask, "Did you make it?" She popped into the class I was taking with Sally Terry, and was wearing an exquisite embroidered and beaded jacket. When Sally asked if she had made it, Pam just smiled mysteriously and said, "I could have!"

Silky New Stuff

Still working on secret stuff...but I thought I would show you some of my recent quilt-related purchases.

I am so lucky that we have a local quilt shop in Wake Forest- Quilts Like Crazy and Knit, Too!-owned by my friend Nancy Pease. My little town is growing, but there are still so many items that require a drive into Raleigh to purchase. Nancy and her daughters have been successfully running this business for years, including their long-arm quilting service. Anyway, I was just getting ready to run errands last Thursday when I got an e-mail about an additional sale on her half-price yarns. I am not a big knitter although I learned how back in the seventies. I am always searching for pretty fibers to use for postcards and art quilts. I got these beauties for sixty percent off!

I mentioned my visit to Waechter's Silk Shop while I was in Asheville over Thanksgiving. Here is the length of fabric I got for fifty percent off- enough for a jacket. And look at these yummy yummy hand-dyed silk ribbons! Even their names are delicious: Mango, Green Apple, Wild Berry. You can purchase these online from their shop.

I hope to make one of these two jackets which are perfect for long-arm quilters to pre-quilt the fabric before assembly. I like both of them!

Watch Nichole Quilt

I am working on a project on my long-arm quilting machine and simultaneously writing a tutorial about it. But...very hush-hush, since the project is for a gift! I can't wait to see how it turns out- it's one of those creations that surprises even its maker! Please stay tuned...



Many of you know that I really admire the quilting of Nichole Webb. I took a class with her last December when she traveled to Henderson, NC. She was cute, fun, and amazingly talented. I have almost all of her books and have used her designs many times, especially the freehand flowers and "garden branching." Nichole has recently moved to Arizona from Seattle, and has redone her website. Apparently I was lucky to take her class last year, because I don't think she is doing traveling classes any more. I love looking at photos of her work, and also love to gaze at videos of her quilting on her longarm. An artist with a sewing machine! She is the one who inspired me to use paint on my quilted designs. So, I looked forward eagerly to her first podcast on December 6. Maybe a lot of other people had the same desire, because it took me four tries over several days to connect to the podcast. To my disappointment, it was only an audio podcast. I understand that now people are downloading podcasts to their ipods and listening to them while they do other things. But for just sitting at the computer and watching the white screen while listening, it is a step backwards. And it was kind of long. And it is meant to be "personal coaching," to encourage one to overcome fears and accomplish goals. I really admire Nichole for putting herself out there, revealing her personal struggles. She shares her philosophies and how to plan for success. I, for one, would rather watch her quilt. But I'll keep listening...

Happy Birthday, Miranda!

I meant to have this finished in time to mail it for your birthday...but here is a sneak preview of your birthday present! I hope you like this fellow.
"Change of Season"
28 x 26
Horse pattern by Sharon Malek
in my original setting
100% commercial and hand-dyed cotton fabric. Leaves and horse details embellished with Tsukineko inks. Embroidery floss stems.

I first saw this quilt made up at a shop in Richmond, Quilting Adventures, on one of my trips last year. I immediately thought of making it for my daughter-in-law, who loves horses. They showed it with a simple border made of batik fabric. I decided to try to make it look like the horse was peering out of a stable or barn window. The leaves help fill in the negative space and balance the composition. Plus, they bring some zing to all the brown tones. And, they bring this quilt into the same color combinations as the wedding quilt I made for Miranda and Bryson. And, finally, this is my art quilt for the Cyberbee Autumn Leaves Challenge!

This cool leaf I made for the label is made of Angelina fiber in a rosy color, adhered to a dryer sheet painted with Lumiere paint in copper and other fall colors.


After I finished piecing the quilt, I searched Webshots for images of a horse head to help me with the details of the face. I was struck by this photo- doesn't life imitate art?

More Christmas Quilts

Here are a few more Christmas quilts.
The first one is made from blocks received in two separate block exchanges: Santas and Snowmen. It took awhile to figure out how to set all these dissimilar-sized blocks.
The next one is the one-and-only quilt that someone else has made for me! My dear sister-in-law Lee made this wall-hanging from a magazine. I taught her how to do the applique stitch while she was making it. I never dreamed she would give it to me! I love her fabric choices, which look like Hoffmans.









The big one is a scrappy quilt I made to use up my stash of Christmas fabrics. The block was from my guild's block party one year. I made the block but did not make it to the meeting. This thing just kept growing! I keep it on the bed on our third floor bedroom (the one that is becoming my paint studio!) year-round. It is very warm, with a Thimbleberries flannel on the back.

The label is from a book I frequently use. I use Pigma Micron pens, felt-tip fabric markers, Tsukineko inks, whatever to color them.

Here are a few pictures of our weekend efforts to decorate our house for Christmas. (Yes, I found the little adaptor that lets me stick the memory card into the laptop.)

Yesterday, a cold front came through and brought very blustery winds, and all of the deer were laying on their sides when DSH got home. Oops, he had forgotten to nail down the anchors. They are now back upright doing the perpetual graze-thing on the same spot of lawn.

We are hosting a Christmas gathering for my family, the Turners, on December 15. It will include four of my five brothers, my sister, my father, two aunts, a cousin from Alaska, and all the assorted spouses, children, grandchildren, girlfriends, boyfriends, and this year even a foster child. I am thinking maybe fifty people? So, we try to make the place as festive as possible. We have been doing this every year for about the last eleven or twelve years, I think. We have a huge yard and an open floor plan that sort of accommodates the crowd. It's a lot of work, but we look forward to seeing everyone! And we always miss the missing brother and his family who live in southern Florida. They always make the trip for family weddings, and sometimes come to the North Carolina mountains for the summer, but we sure miss them .

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

We spent most of the weekend getting our house transformed with Christmas lights and decorations inside and out. My DSH has done a beautiful job with a candle in each window, pine roping and white lights around the porch railing and columns and front door, and of course the tree. He selected the tree while he was at deer camp the week before Thanksgiving. Of course, Ashe County is one of the premier Christmas tree producers in the country. Did you know that the White House Christmas tree has come from our own little Laurel Springs for the past two years? Anyway, he rode around with this tree on the top of his car when we went to Asheville for Thanksgiving and all the way back to Raleigh. It really is a beauty! I think it is the biggest one we have ever had. He had to saw off at least a foot from the trunk to get it in the living room, and then had to cut off the top about a foot to get the angel on top. He bought new LED colored lights, which are really nice with vivid colors. I spent a couple hours decorating it with ornaments, which I have been collecting for the thirty-six years we have been married.

After it was all finished, DSH decided he should have anchored the tree in place with some wires attached to the wall. So, he pulls some fishing line off one of the poles in the garage, and tries to get his big self between the tree and the wall. Bad idea....over the tree goes and lands on the floor with ornaments flying in all directions! Worthy of a Chevy Chase movie! As he clambered out and over the tree he stepped on one of my grandmother's hand-blown glass ornaments, which did not stand a chance. Anyway, the tree is now back up and anchored. I took pictures, which I will post as soon as I locate the little adaptor piece that allows the memory card to be inserted in the computer. That may mean a trip to Best Buy to get a new one. I have had so many boxes in and out of the rooms downstairs...there is no telling where that thing may have ended up!

I still have boxes to bring downstairs with more Christmas stuff. The Christmas quilts are all hung, and it looks pretty Christmasy at the McBrayer house!

Since I can't post any new pictures, here are a few of my Christmas quilts.

The little Santa at the top was from a kit that I got back in the 70's or 80's from a Craft-of-the-Month club. I had no idea what I was doing, and didn't even quilt it until years later. I think he adds a little old-fashioned charm to my kitchen.

The Christmas trees are from a block swap of my bee during our first year together, back in the mid-nineties. I made a few extra trees. All these quilts are Pre-Gammill, meaning I quilted them on my domestic sewing machine. At the time, that was probably a no-name clunker.


The Gingerbread Houses quilt is also a group effort. I won the December block of the month at the Capital Quilters Guild one year. I surrounded the houses with gingerbread men from a Debbie Mumm pattern. Many of the gingerbread figures are embellished with charms, buttons, and fabric that illustrate family interests. Shown here are a pilot for Charlie and a gardener for me.