It probably looks like I’ve been wandering around the country taking classes instead of making quilts, and of course that’s partly true. However, here are a couple of finishes.

This first one was made because I love-love-love some of the Tim Holtz fabrics, so the blue-green one is featured here. Also, I really like the movement triangles give to a quilt top, so I chose this Jaybird Quilts pattern called ChopSticks. A few of the blocks are made with some Fossil Fern fabric I found; I thought I had given it all away, but I guess not! Anyway it fit right in and provided a bit of variety.

Quilt Stats

Name: Chopsticks

Finished size; 64″ x 74″

Pattern: ChopSticks by Jaybird Quilts

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

The second quilt was made to use up some of the many dotted fabrics in my stash! I have enjoyed collecting the dots, especially the ones that aren’t quite what you’d expect from a dotted fabric. There are jelly beans, cat heads, and more complex designs as well as the dots you might expect. There are even two-tone dots in the “solid” fabrics. It was fun.

And the back used up some orphan blocks!

Quilt Stats

Name: Triangles at Play

Finished size: 49″ x 61″

Pattern: Triangles at Play by Sarah Ruiz Quilts

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

I’m happy to say I was able to attend the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival (MAQF) in Virginia recently. I took two classes and will write more about them later. For now, here are some of the quilts I especially enjoyed.

There were many traditional quilts and art quilts, but of course my favorites were mostly modern. And BTW, I’m sure some of them came directly from QuiltCon.

Simply Luxury by Susan Bravereman

Holding Space by Sharon M Carrier

Modern Garden by Andrea Barrett

Orange Sherbet, by Sana R. Moulder, was made from a pattern.

I would have liked to know the name of the pattern! And look at this really fun quilting on the “orange slice”:

Detail of Orange Sherbet by Sana R. Moulder

House of the Incas by Jen Sorenson

Grody to the Max! by Candi Lennox

Sliced by Amy Kerkemeyer

Taking Notes by Debbie Grifka was part of a special art quilt exhibit with a botany theme

And finally, there were these two amazing dresses in the “full ensemble” category of the wearable art competition. No quilting, but the dresses were amazing. As you can see, both won ribbons.

1957 Vogue Featuring MacNeil of Barra Tartan, by Christine Streenan

18th Century Robe a la Francaise by Christine Streenan

MAQF is a Mancuso show, meaning it is run by a commercial outfit rather than a quilting organization like AQS. I’ve always found the Mancuso shows to be well organized. The variety of quilts is broader than at either AQS or MQG shows in my opinion. Both the style and quality vary within the show, but that’s part of the point of a quilt show!

I’ve heard for years that I should label my quilts, and I get it, especially because I have inherited some quilts without labels. However, since I donate most of my quilts, I have spent a good bit of time lately removing those labels I worked so hard to make and attach. I suppose I could leave the labels on, but it seems inappropriate to have my name on a quilt that I donate. 

Here’s my current compromise.

After finishing a quilt with binding, I use my sewing machine’s lettering function to stitch my initials and the year in a corner of the quilt, as inconspicuously as possible. This fulfills my need to sign my work without putting my name out there in a way that might cause recipients to feel they need to find me and thank me. My husband points out that I may also want to know when I made a particular quilt and this meets that need as well.

It turns out several of my friends didn’t even know their machines would do this. I know nothing about any machine except my Bernina, but it does have programmable letters and numbers. It is not an embroidery machine. So if you’re interested in this idea, check your machine to see what it might do for you.

And of course there’s always the trusty Pigma pen for signing!

When I asked for suggestions recently about how to display some of my map quilts, the majority suggested mounting over canvas or on the front of canvas. This one was already faced, so it’s staying as is.

However, I researched online to find out what others are doing, and here’s what I found.

• Cindy Grisdela, whose work I admire, has a tutorial on her method for attaching art quilts to canvas. Here’s the link. Her method is way complicated but does leave the option of removing the piece without (much) damage in the future.
• A tutorial on another site suggests using heavy duty velcro attached to both the quilt back and the canvas. There’s more to it than that, but velcro is the basic idea. She also glues other stuff to the canvas around the quilt in some cases. Here’s that link.
• Finally, Susan Carlson has a more sophisticated velcro option or instructions on mounting the whole thing over stretcher bars. She discusses other options as well, and this link was my favorite of ideas I found on the internet.

Of course there are lots of YouTube videos as well, but I haven’t the patience for those.

So, with the help of my husband, I mounted this floor plan over stretched canvas.

It’s not as neat as I would like–I may try to tuck and glue the corners a bit more–but I’m satisfied with it for a first try.

This is the floor plan of the house our daughter’s family just left after 9 years. Of course they have many fond memories there, so I made this “map” of the floor plan for them.

Have you tried mounting quilts on stretchers? Over canvas? Suggestions?