Quiltcon 2017 -- part 1

Quiltcon in Savannah was quite a treat!  This was my first time to attend Quiltcon; I'm glad the event was within a day's drive for me this year.

I arrived Thursday afternoon and just had time to register and take a brief tour of the winning quilts.  Above is the Best of Show, "Bling" by Katherine Jones.  I was happy to see that my friend Elaine Poplin won a ribbon for her dizzying quilt, "Vertigo":

Driving through Georgia, I heard a forecast for morning fog in coastal areas, so I had visions of great photo ops in the historic area of Savannah.  I got up way too early Friday morning and drove downtown (my  hotel was near the airport), thinking sunrise was around 6:00 when it was actually 6:50.  There was no fog, but I had plenty of time to wander around town in the quiet darkness and attempt a few photos.  (I try to limit this blog to quilt-related images, but I might share just a few scenic shots from Savannah.)

I had breakfast at Clary's and made it to the convention center in time for a day-long quilting class with Kathleen Riggins.  We learned a lot of great fills which I am anxious to put to use in a quilt.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to get any photos of the class.

I was up early on Saturday morning for photos too, but not before sunrise.  My morning destination was Bonaventure Cemetery, which opened at 8:00 am.  I was concerned that the sun might be too high for good photos by that time, but fortunately the morning turned out to be partially cloudy, providing for good diffused light.

[You can see more of my photos of Savannah here.]

After an hour at the cemetery, I drove over to the convention center and was there when the main hall opened.  I spent much of the day wandering the show and photographing quilts, and also visiting the vendors.  It was fun to meet a few online friends, and also to see so many well-known faces.

I took a lot of photos of quilts in the show, and at first I was not sure if it would be worth sharing them, since plenty of other folks are sharing too.  But I've seen wonderful quilts online that I don't recall from the show, even after walking the exhibits multiple times.  It really is an overload of inspiring work.  There is a good chance I'll have captured something no one else has shared.

I'll share my photos across multiple posts.  I thought I'd start with some of the quilts that I have close-ups of quilting or other details.  I'll post the maker's identification underneath the photos.

 "Not Easy Being Green" by Mary Keasler; winner Best Machine Quilting (frameless, needle stationary)

 

 "Not Easy Being Green" quilting detail

"Madonna" by Brittany Bowen Burton; quilted by Natalia Bonner

Winner, Best Machine Quilting (framed, needle moves)

 

 "Madonna" detail

   "Madonna" detail

 "Madonna" label

"Ode de Yoshiko" by Marilyn Farquhar;

First place, Piecing

"Ode de Yoshiko" detail

 "Ode de Yoshiko"  detail

 "Ode de Yoshiko"  detail

 "Tartan Tattoo" by Linzi Upton

(Modern Traditionalism)

 "Tartan Tattoo" detail

 "Tartan Tattoo"

 "Organic Mid-Century Mod" by Laura Bennett et al.

(Group or Bee Quilts)

 "Organic Mid-Century Mod" detail

 "The Egg" by Hillary Goodwin; quilted by Rachael Dorr

(Improvisation)

"The Egg" detail

"The Egg" detail 

"The Egg" detail 

"Molly's Windows" by Hillary Goodwin

(Piecing)

 "Molly's Windows" detail

 "Molly's Windows" detail

"In Carrboro" by Chawne Kimber

(Small Quilts)

 "In Carrboro" detail

 "Folksy Fish" by Sarah Sharp; quilted by Karlee Porter

(Piecing)

 "Folksy Fish"

  "Folksy Fish" detail

  "Folksy Fish" detail

Another treat at Quiltcon was seeing the display of quilts by Angela Walters, and being able to see her amazing quilting up close.  While I'm sharing quilting close-ups, I thought I'd share these too:

Quilting by Angela Walters

Quilting by Angela Walters

 Quilting by Angela Walters

 Quilting by Angela Walters

More to come from my visit to Quiltcon 2017...

Gabled House -- a free paper piecing pattern

This past November, our circle of the online bee do.good.stitches (Believe circle) made house blocks of any design for the group's monthly project.  When I saw that the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild had put out a call to action to make house blocks in support of victims of the senseless attack on a mosque in Quebec City, I pulled out the pattern I had drafted last fall and made a #QuiltsforQC block:

I drafted the original pattern in pencil on freezer paper.  In the spirit of the MMQG's effort, I thought it would be worth sharing the pattern online, with the added advantage of providing for me the opportunity to learn Inkscape.  I've made the pattern available as a free PDF on Craftsy.  (EDIT 1/21/2019: Craftsy is no longer hosting my patterns.  I've added this pattern to my Etsy shop; however, due to Etsy's pricing structure, I'm charging a small fee for this pattern now.)

This is my first pattern to share, and it is untested.  If you try the pattern, I'd appreciate and feedback you might have.

I am glad to see there will be a collection point at Quiltcon for these blocks.  My block is ready to be packed, along with my other supplies.

I'm linking up with crazy mom quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Loominous Cabins

I purchased a fat-quarter bundle of Anna Maria Horner's brilliant Loominous yarn dyes about a year ago, and spent some time trying to decide what to make with them.  I settled on 9-inch quarter log cabin blocks set on point.

This quilt uses all but one of the fabrics in the bundle.  I worked out a way to cut each fat quarter so that 25 fat quarters yielded 50 blocks, with enough left over to form a scrappy border.  The inner border is from yardage of the yellow metallic fabric in the collection; this fabric is also used as an accent strip in some of the blocks.  I had a concept in mind in the arrangement of the accent strips, although it might not be evident.

 

For the setting triangles, I used Manchester Yarn Dyed in Charcoal from Robert Kaufman.  This was my first time setting a quilt on point; I had a few issues in squaring it up, but hopefully they are not too noticeable.

I chose an AMH print for the backing.  This was not my first, second, or even third choice, but this fabric was on sale and was very cost effective.  Still, I am very pleased with how well it coordinates with the front of the quilt.

Here is a full shot of the back:

I quilted it in a diagonal grid, using multiple colors of thread in an attempt to create a plaid-like design.  I really like the texture this created.

Here are some shots showing the different colors of quilting thread.  Most of the threads are 50-weight Aurifil; the blue and yellow are 50-weight Mettler, but these are 3-ply and thus slightly thicker than the Aurifil.

The binding uses the orange "Headlines" stripe cut on the bias:

The quilt measures 71 inches by 82 inches. 

I'm linking up with crazy mom quilts for Finish It Up Friday. 

Quilts for sale -- a PSA

I've opened up a shop on Etsy to sell a few of my quilts.  You can find the shop here, or click on the badge in the upper right of the blog page.

Here is a collage of the quilts currently available:

A "Hello World" Baby Quilt

I enjoy Cori Dantini's artwork, and had stashed away some pieces from her "Hello World" collection for a possible baby quilt.  Now that I have a new great-niece, it became time to put these fabrics to use.

I created the black and white border by cutting strips free-handed, sewing multiple strips together, then crosscutting them, again free-handed.

The animal prints are from a panel.  I free-motion quilted the outlines of the drawings with dark thread, then used a loopy fill with light thread in the background.  The animals are mostly unquilted, which makes them soft and puffy, especially after washing. (These photos are prior to washing.)

I added a row of wonky stars across the bottom...

 ... and I like a fabric that can tell me how it wants to be quilted (the scallops).

I originally had a different fabric in mind for the binding, but when I saw this Denyse Schmidt plaid next to the other fabrics, I knew it was a better choice.

Here's another shot showing the backing fabric:

More of the animals:

This is my attempt to photograph the puffiness after washing.  (It doesn't show as well as I'd like -- the lighting is too soft.)

I hope baby Rebecca enjoys her new quilt!

I'm linking up with crazy mom quilts for Finish It Up Friday. 

Log Cabin Carpenter's Star -- a memory quilt

My father passed away this past spring, at age 93.  As a memory tribute, I decided to make a quilt from his shirts.  My dad was a builder, so a Carpenter's Star design seemed appropriate.  It also seemed appropriate to use log cabin blocks.

I cut strips from his shirts at 1.5 inches, for blocks that finish at 9 inches.

The border fabric, which is also used in the center of the log cabins, is a Tim Holtz print which reminds me of my dad's wooden carpenter rules.

For quilting in the diamonds, I chose a peacock feather motif (we had peafowl on our farm when I was young).

In the background, I used swirls and a grid of orange peels for the quilting.

I pieced the back of the quilt using the backs of the shirts.  I cut them at an angle following the cut of the shirt to make maximum use of the fabric, although I still had to add some partial rows.  The label is from Spoonflower, and incorporates a photo of my father.

I sorted the shirts by lights, mediums, and darks for the star, using 7 or 8 shirts for each grouping.  The orange/red/white plaid which appears on the back, though, did not fit easily into any of the groups.  I did piece a few strips from this shirt into the "whole" light blocks, where they are less likely to detract from the contrast of the design.

For the binding, I wanted to use a yarn-dyed plaid.  I chose a Robert Kaufman Mammoth flannel for the colors.  It's a bit bulky for a binding, but I think it turned out OK.  I did cut my strips at 2.5 inches (rather than 2.25 as I usually do), and used a trick found here (step 5) to trim some bulk from the corners.

One of the shirts had some embroidery with a team logo above the chest pocket.  I didn't see a way to work this into the quilt, but I did save it to make a beanbag/pincushion, adding trim from a second shirt.  I gave this to my niece who also graduated from UNA.

The quilt itself is a gift for my dear sister, who lived next door to my dad and did so much for him.

I'm linking up with crazy mom quilts for Finish It Up Friday.