Author Archives: zippyquilts

Unknown's avatar

About zippyquilts

I quilt for pleasure but I also teach and write about quilting.

Tamarack Center, West Virginia

Posted on by
11

We recently travelled to West Virginia on vacation, and I thought I would share some of the quilts displayed at Tamarack Marketplace, the state craft shop and travel center near Beckley.

Of course I was interested in the quilts displayed there. Here are a few pictures to give you the idea.

This is a large quilt, along with some hand-crafted tables in the foreground

I had to get between two sculptures, impinging on the sides here, to get a photo of this large quilt

This is one block of a quilt that was quilted by hand and had a 3-dimensional flower superimposed on a star in each block. It looked like a lot of work!

Most of the quilts were traditional in design. You can see a display of lamps in the background.

This quilt was especially well made, and was hand quilted. The price was $3000.

This lively quilt of Hawaiian themed fabrics was the closest I saw to a modern quilt at Tamarack

Of course there were many other arts and crafts, not just quilts. If you’re travelling through West Virginia on the toll portion of I-64, in the southern part of the state, the Tamarack center is worth a stop. Here’s the website so you can see for yourself.

 

More Quilts!

Posted on by
21

I just finished a quilt but then I cleaned up around the studio and found another stack of quilts I don’t think I have blogged about!

The good news is that three of these were for the magazine article, so I showed them last week! And the one on top I wrote about a few weeks ago. Here are the rest. First, the new quilt:

This little owl was made from a kit I found at Studio Stitch. I’m not saying for whom, because the holiday season approaches!

Quilt Stats

Name: Little Owl

Finished size: 39″ x 45″

Pieced and quilted by me

Pattern by: Bound Co.

Kit from: Studio Stitch

Then there’s this New York Beauty quilt I made in 2022 so I could try out various alternatives to piecing with paper that has to be torn out. I don’t think I ever presented the entire quilt. It started when my friend Elizabeth provided free patterns for NYB blocks, then I designed some with EQ, and so forth. Somewhere along the way I forgot to show the finished quilt.

Quilt Stats

Name: NYB

Finished size: 52″ x 52″

Blocks designed by Elizabeth Eastmond and currently available free in her PayHip shop

Setting designed by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

And finally, here’s a quilt I’m calling Valley of the Kings because of the Ancient-Egyptian themed metallic fabric that inspired it. I bought that fabric perhaps 10 years ago, so it was time!

Quilt Stats

Name: Valley of the Kings

Finished size: 60″ x 71″

Designed and made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

Whew! Now I’ll try to keep up 😀

 

Electric Quilt, and Why I Use It

Posted on by
14

I’ve been using the quilt design software Electric Quilt (EQ) since the EQ5 version. I’m now using EQ8, so it’s been a few years. OK, quite a few.

All the drawings in this post were done with various versions of EQ.

I love EQ for several reasons:

  • I like to design my own quilts. At first I didn’t have many ideas, so I just combined the blocks provided by EQ in various ways. There are almost endless possibilities. Here’s where I re-drew Arkansas Crossroads to see how it would look with a scrap slab center.
  • Once a quilt is designed, it can be exported as a JPEG to share with friends! That’s how I got the pictures in this post from EQ to the blog 😀 Here’s one from 2007:
  • I can fiddle endlessly with various layouts, block sizes, colors, etc, etc. before deciding how I want to do a quilt. Here are a few options I considered for a doll quilt for a friend.
  • When the instructions in a pattern don’t work out, or the size of the quilt doesn’t suit me, I can draw the quilt in EQ and try out various solutions. Here’s a block I re-drafted after the instructions in the pattern didn’t really work. And by the way, I was able to print templates straight from EQ in the desired size once I got it re-drafted.
  • AND on top of all that: the block above was colored with my actual fabric because I was able to scan the fabric into EQ, scale it, and then fussy cut the block center from it!
  • It’s possible to make everything from simple to elaborate designs.
  • EQ gives me an estimate of the yardage needed for a quilt. It does over-estimate a bit, but of course that’s waaaay better than underestimating! So, for example, I drew this quilt and then decided what size I could make it based on how much fabric I have. I can change the size of the blocks until the quilt fits my yardage!
  • I just like to draw things in EQ for fun. Here’s a tile floor I photographed in a restaurant and then drew in EQ. No way would I make this, but it was fun to draw. The asymmetry shown was indeed in the floor from which I copied the design.

There are sooo many other things I love about EQ! I’ve just taken the on-line classes to learn to use it better and they were very helpful.

And finally, the folks at EQ provide wonderful customer service. A friend and I both failed to figure out how to draw the quilt below in EQ. I emailed tech support about it and Heidi drew it for me! She also sent a link to a lesson on how it was done 😀 That’s great customer service!

I get so much use out of this program! Have you tried it?

PS: No, this is NOT a sponsored post! But here’s the link if you want to learn more about EQ8: ElectricQuilt.com  

The EQ folks have a video program for guilds, too. Don’t know about you, but we’re always looking for program ideas.

Woot! My Quilt Is Published!

Posted on by
26

Fons & Porter’s Quick + Easy Quilts for winter came out Oct 24, and that’s the issue with my quilt design in it! Here are some pictures provided by the publisher:

And here’s a link for buying a digital copy if you don’t want to go to the news stand.  Studio Stitch has ordered some copies, so you should be able to purchase an actual paper copy there.

I’ll be teaching the quilt at Studio Stitch for those of you who want a class, but it will be in January when we all have time to breathe! With that in mind, here’s the quilt in another colorway that I made to work out any “kinks” in the design.

Yes, it’s being held out a window by hand, so the picture isn’t as nice as the ones taken by the magazine folks!

And of course there are many other fun quilts in the issue. Here’s one I particularly like, even though I didn’t design it 😀

This quilt is called Joyful Gifts

Check it out!

 

Another Type of Circle Quilt

Posted on by
16

This is a finish from some fabric I bought a little over a year ago at a nice shop in St. Agatha, Maine. I’ve since seen the Robert Kaufman Venice fabrics elsewhere, and they are all just beautiful. In addition to the lovely colors, the fabric weave is sateen, so it feels exceptionally smooth. Here are pictures of a couple of the fabrics in the line:

I puzzled for months over how to make the perfect quilt from these fabrics and finally settled on this pattern.

I’ve never used patterns from this company before and, whether the problem was with me or with the template, my first attempt did not produce a round circle!

OK, not a great photo, and the block isn’t even lying flat, but you can see that those side arcs aren’t quite what they should be.

After arguing with the pattern for a while, I just re-drew the block in EQ8, printed templates from EQ , and used those. The re-drawn block turned out just fine.

So here is the quilt, and I’m happy to say I like it a lot!

Quit Stats

Name: St. Agatha in Venice

Finished size: 58″ x 69″

Pattern: Circle Time, with several changes by me

Made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

And here’s one last picture, because I recently read in Meg Cox‘s newsletter that I should take a picture of the quilt top twisted up. Not sure why, but it is kind of a fun picture in this case.

 

Asheville Quilt Show 2023

Posted on by
14

I always enjoy the Asheville Quilt Show. There are so many excellent quilters in the Asheville guild, and I always find inspiration at the show. Here are a few of my favorites from 2023.

Sizzle by Kathryn Zimmerman won an award for Outstanding Machine Workmanship

Detail of Tiny Houses by Janet L. Ervin. There were many of these little houses, hand appliquéd and embroidered!

Stripes Rule by Diana Ramsay caught my eye

I thought Lightning, by Tricia Vinson, was a clever use of an ombre fabric. Please note my photo is crooked; the quilt isn’t!

Tierra Nirvana, by Stephanie Wilds, particularly appealed to me because I’m making map quilts this year and have a similar one in mind

Sedona Spectrum by Judy Grebe had an appealing mix of vibrant colors

I loved the geometric shapes in Orange Sherbert by Sana R. Moulder

Our Song, Your Reflection by Audrey Pantas was a gorgeous variation on a traditional design

It Was A Puzzle, by Jane Butckovitz, interested me because I’ve been struggling with how to use this beautiful Wild Blossoms fabric from Moda.

The fabrics chosen for Haze Kilim by Mary Ellen Simmons positively glowed

Tropic of Capricorn, an original design by Catherine S. Beemer, was spectacular in both design and workmanship

There are so many wonderful quilts at the show that I’m sure it’s difficult for the judges to select the winners. As usual, it’s hard for me to see why some won and others didn’t, but I enjoyed them all.

Bloem–My Way

Posted on by
18

The Bloem (pronounced “bloom”) quilt by Libs Elliott caught my eye on a visit to Five Little Monkeys, and I promptly went home and made it–with a few variations.

First, of course, I drew it in EQ8 so I could make some changes and try various color schemes.

This is my modification of the Bloem pattern by Zen Chic

I changed a few of the blocks as well.

And finally, here it is!

And here’s a detail of the quilting.

Quilt Stats

Name: Bloem

Pattern by: Libs Elliott, slightly modified by me

Finished size: 65″ x 65″

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

I think I’ll hang this one up to look at it for a while 😀

Another Batch for Ronald McDonald House

Posted on by
22

When the quilt closet gets too full, it’s time to send some to various organizations that use them as comfort quilts. Ronald McDonald House of Cincinnati has been a favorite over the years, in part because they are so appreciative when the lady from our group brings the quilts to them. Therefore, these 8 are going to them.

This first quilt was made in 2009. It hasn’t been given away yet in part because I love all those floral fabrics and in part because it was pulled a bit out of shape by an inexperienced quilter who will remain nameless. The pattern is called Crumbs, notwithstanding that the name has been used for a very different quilt since that time.

Second is this quilt made last year and entitled Bright Scraps. No pattern; I made it up as I went along.

Bright Scraps, one of many scrap quilts made last year. And no, the scrap pile has NOT diminished!

Splendid Stars, 2021, is one of several quilts I’ve made from star blocks left from other projects.

Splendid Stars, 51″ x 53″, was made from orphan blocks left from numerous projects

And here is another quilt made in 2022 from my sizeable stash of floral fabrics.

This quilt, called Summer Night, was made in 2005 and includes fabrics with stars that glow in the dark!

The quilt below is one of my favorite “rescue” quilts. The circles were cut from blocks that had failed two or three other arrangements. I cut them out and sewed them onto a background I had already quilted.

 

The following quilt was made from a free pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. Thanks to my friend Gwen, the “Textile Ranger”, who identified the source.

And finally, this quilt is called Candy Cubes. It was made in 2020 from the book New Patchwork and Quilting Basics by Jo Avery.

And if this seems like a lot of quilts to donate, consider that I’ve now made over 500 and they need to go to folks who can use them. As some other quilters have noted, I don’t want to leave a lot of “stuff” for my daughter to have to dispose of–when I die many  years from now!

 

A Quilt, and Sending Quilts

Posted on by
13

First, here’s the latest donation quilt, made to use up 5″ squares in floral fabrics. I just added the strips as “leaders and enders” while working on other projects, and here it is.

Quilt Stats

Name: Floral Crumbs

Design: Variation of the “crumbs” pattern from The Quilt Police

Finished size: 60″ x 73″

Made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

Sending Quilts–solved!

I occasionally enter quilt shows where I’m not able to physically deliver and/or retrieve my quilt, and this has presented a problem.

Last year I took the packed quilts to UPS, FedEx, and USPS asking to purchase a pre-paid return label to include with them. The first two flatly refused. The lady at USPS finally explained that I could purchase stamps and include them with my own return label inside the package.

This year I researched online and figured out that I could purchase a prepaid return label by going through a third party, such as GoShippo.com. The GoShippo service is intended for businesses needing to offer pre-paid return for merchandise, but I was able to set up an account as a non-business individual.

So this year, I packed my quilts, measured and weighed the box, and entered the information at the GoShippo site. I was immediately given prices for UPS, FedEx, and USPS, including the various levels of service for each and transit time for each. Much easier than running around to all the various shippers and being turned down!

Here are the quilts I’ve entered in the Asheville show. I’ll be attending but won’t be able to pick them up, so they’ll use that return label 😀

Improv 2022, 42" x 57"

Improv 2022, 42″ x 57″

Circular Reasoning, 56″ x 68″

How do you manage shipping to shows when you need a paid return label?

 

Eeeek! Another Start!

Posted on by
18

OK, so the Bloem quilt is off to be quilted and I thought of the other pattern I got at Five Little Monkeys. It’s on the right below. (That’s Bloem on the left.)

I had some strips of Kaffe [2.5″ strips of fabric by the designer Kaffe Fassett] and no intention of following most of the instructions on the pattern, so I just started.

I usually reserve Kaffe fabrics for quilts designed by him, or at least for modern quilts. I did think this design modern enough for them to work, but then…

Those are interesting blocks, but they don’t much hang together. It might have been a good idea to follow some of the pattern’s instructions about color placement. And maybe cut back a little on the Kaffe.

To be continued 😀

And not to worry; if there aren’t a few mistakes I’m not stretching my skills enough!

What’s your latest experiment?