Category Archives: Inspiration

Class With Cindy Grisdela

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When attending the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival this spring I took a class with Cindy Grisdela and attended her lecture about color. Both were worthwhile.

Cindy’s class was based on her Full Wild quilt, which she entered in QuiltCon. Here’s a picture of her with the quilt, taken from her blog:

When I got home I wanted to let most of the blocks I made in class rest for a while, but I did make a small wall hanging with one of them. It’s called Drip, and I’m not crazy about it but I just had to do something with one of those blocks!

The rest of the blocks I put away because I want to consider what other colors to add. My usual problem is using TOO MANY colors, so I tried to restrain myself. Now I want to add more colors. Here’s a picture of some of the blocks just before the blocks were put away–they aren’t joined yet.

To be continued.

In her color lecture, Cindy suggested making a color wheel, saying it would be interesting to see what you had in your stash. Here’s my snapshot of her color wheel.

When I recovered from the recent quilt show (Heart of the Triad, blog is here), I decided to make a more elaborate color wheel. I drew it in EQ8 and printed templates from my drawing.

This was a fun project, AND I had all of those fabrics right here in my stash! I couldn’t resist using the light grey Tula Pink fabric with all the fun colors as background. The color wheel finished about 18″ square.

Anyway, I enjoyed Cindy’s lecture and her class, and I recommend both if you have the opportunity to attend.

 

On to 2024!

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Having reviewed my faves from 2023, I’m looking at plans for 2024.

First: My MQG is having one of those UFO challenges where you pick one each month, so I’ve made a list and started that. The current project is cutting up some of the orphan blocks, shown here…

…and making them into different blocks. Some are on the design wall here:

Who knows where that will go!

Second, having enjoyed the Bloem pattern by Libs Elliott, I’m making her pattern La Fin Du Monde.

Next up will be some map quilts. I took Timna Tarr’s map class via Creative Spark in 2022 and have been enjoying my experiments since.

It’s time to actually finish some of those map quilts…

And speaking of map quilts, I’ve been facing these and hanging them as usual, but the Chief Consultant (AKA husband) thinks they need to be framed. I’m considering adding borders to frame them, or mounting them over stretched canvas (still without a frame). Or maybe a poster frame? Or maybe just stay with the facing.  Anybody have an opinion?

One more thing I’d like your help with: I’m on the program committee for one of my guilds. Has your guild had any outstanding programs you can recommend? We are in Greensboro, NC, and we need either someone nearby or someone who presents via Zoom in order to stay within our budget. I’d appreciate any ideas.

 

Dreamlines: A Year-Long Project Finished

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I learned of Brenda Gael Smith’s Dreamlines project from a fellow blogger and signed up early in 2023.  It’s a free monthly art project that has had international participation, and I’ve enjoyed it. Here are my pieces from all the months sitting on the design wall so I could think about what to do with them.

I accidentally made one month’s project in the larger size, but I figured that would be OK.

The plan for November was to finish the piece, and here’s mine.

I left out some of the pieces I’d done, cut one of the big pieces in half, and added some solid strips. I quilted it with horizontal lines in threads to match the various pieces.

You can go to the Dreamlines Gallery on Brenda’s site and look at the variety of finished pieces from around the world. It’s really fun to see the variety of compositions and all the different places where people participated.

I’ll be watching to see if Brenda offers a project for next year, because I enjoyed this one. She also offers some online classes and a friend who took them says they are good.

Asheville Quilt Show 2023

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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.

Hello, Holly!

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Holly Alloway’s work first came to my attention when Studio Stitch featured this quilt as the 2022-2023 Block of the Month (BOM).

Quilt (c) Holly Alloway, designed and made by her

You can see why I took notice! Holly recently agreed to talk with me and show me some of her quilts.

Holly designed this BOM several years ago using Deb Tucker’s rulers and techniques. Quilt design (c) Holly Alloway

Like many of us, Holly has been sewing all her life, though she started making quilts “only” about 40 years ago. She has lived various places around the country and has found both guilds and classes useful in her development as a quilter.

Another BOM using Deb Tucker rulers. Quilt design (c) Holly Alloway

Holly has a particular affinity for specialty rulers and a significant talent for designing with them.

This crate contains part of Holly’s collection of specialty rulers

She loves Deb Tucker’s rulers and has done several previous BOM designs using them.

More of Holly’s designs using Deb Tucker’s rulers

When I asked how she came to design the elaborate quilt shown at the top of this post, Holly said, “Well, Jaybird Quilts came out with those rulers.” She had already designed some modifications of English Paper Pieced (EPP) quilts so she could machine piece them.

Using the Jaybird Quilts rulers, Holly set about making many more EPP designs by machine.

Eventually she had re-designed enough EPP blocks for three quilts! The first is at the top of this post; here are two more.

And that’s not all! Holly is also a fan of strip piecing. I especially enjoyed seeing these two quilts.

And here’s the most unique thing: I originally asked to interview Holly because of her UFO management strategy. She allows herself only as many ongoing projects as she has years of life left! She has asked her family to give her a set of papier mache numbers each year representing how many projects she’s allowed to have!

I won’t tell you how many that is right now–I didn’t ask and she didn’t tell 😀  She does admit to being “over budget” presently due to several projects she has going. I just love this idea! We all need to get realistic with our quilting plans.

This bag is a current UFO for Holly.

Holly has made many more beautiful quilts than I could include here. I’m sorry to say she doesn’t publish her patterns, but we have enjoyed having her daughter teach some of her blocks in the BOM program at Studio Stitch.

Please note that all original blocks or quilts in this post are (c) Holly Alloway, various years.

 

Quilty Road Trip!

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I recently joined some friends for a visit to Ohio Amish Country. It was great being together, and we ate at some yummy restaurants. Of course we also visited a number of quilt shops! Here are a few of the highlights in case you’re over that way.

We stayed at a nice Air BnB in Berlin, within walking distance of downtown with good restaurants and shopping. We soon learned that the name of the town is pronounced BUR-lin, not like the Berlin in Germany.

Our best food probably was at Rebecca’s Bistro in Walnut Creek. They serve only breakfast and lunch, but it was delicious. Most of the rest of our meals were in restaurants with traditional Amish fare. One of our party had a plate of mashed potatoes with noodles, chicken, and gravy. A couple of us had a delicious salad with chicken and strawberries. Various roast meats with mashed potatoes and gravy looked good, too.

There were many nice quilts to view in the shops. Here’s one of my favorite panel quilts, but I don’t recall which shop it was in!

And look at this beautiful hand quilting done by some local Amish ladies!

We saw a group of these ladies working at a big quilt frame in one of the shops, but of course did not take a picture of them. One of our group who had been struggling with hand quilting sat with them for a while and they were generous about giving her some pointers!

There was some shopping for “antiques” as well, though I don’t think anyone bought anything. There were too many other ways to spend money!

Finally, there were wonderful bakeries everywhere, so we were “forced” to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

I would go back just for the cinnamon rolls.

 

Goodbye To My Favorite Quilt Festival

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I’ve just gotten word that the Vermont Quilt Festival (VQF) is cancelled. It has been my favorite quilt show for years, so I am especially sad to see another victim of the COVID pandemic. Here are a few photos of the wonderful quilts I’ve seen there and some of the many things I liked about the show.

VQF

Maine Coast, by Lynne Rainen at VQF in 2018

There were many wonderful things about VQF, including the fact that it was in Burlington, Vermont, a town we enjoy visiting. We especially liked the Shelburne Museum and Shelburne Farms, both just south of Burlington. The museum has a collection of antique quilts and had a show of Maria Shell’s quilts in their gallery during our visit.

Quilt building at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont

As for VQF itself, there were the usual prizes like “best in show”, but they had an award  system ensuring that almost nobody came away empty-handed. There was a relatively objective scoring system and quilts were awarded first, second, or third place ribbons based on points earned. There were three judges and their points were averaged for the final score. Best of all, each judge provided written feedback in addition to the points. I never got better than a second place, but I was well satisfied with that given the quality of quilts. I was especially happy with knowing exactly where I had done well and where I might improve.

traditional quilt VQF

Port Kent Beauty, by Alyce Fradenburg (who is from Port Kent, NY), at VQF in 2018

Another delightful part of VQF was the champagne and chocolate reception the night before the show opened! I was able to get a ticket for my husband so he could attend,  and he enjoyed seeing the quilts in that way. It was fun to visit the vendors and see the quilts in a festive atmosphere. My only mistake was taking most of my pictures while drinking champagne one year. I’m not sure those pictures were as straight as in other years 😀

Round quilt from VQF

This quilt, made from a pattern, got a 3rd place ribbonl. The circle is on a black background, so the quilt is square, VQF 2016

Finally, there was a significant children’s’ quilt contest and I believe each child who participated received a sewing machine. I am unable to uncover details of this by going back through information about the show, but it was a special part of VQF.

VQF

This quilt involved extensive work and I think it is very “artistic”. It got a 3rd place in 2016.

The show was 45 years old and had been New England’s oldest and largest quilt show. I enjoyed it and appreciate the years in which I was able to participate. I saw many wonderful quilts there and learned a lot. My thanks to all the volunteers who worked for years to make this possible. I will miss VQF and I know many others will, too.

applique quilt

These fish by Velda Newman were SO realistic! VQF 2014

My hope is that others will take some of the best aspects of this show and continue them.

Quiltfest in Greenville

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My husband and I recently went to Greenville, SC, for a few days including Mancuso Quiltfest. I didn’t take any classes, but here are a few of my favorite quilts from the show.

I was especially impressed with this cross section of a downed tree trunk:

Fallen Hero by Barbara Dahlberg

I was interested in this small crazy quilt shown above because I’m always wondering what to do with my vintage textiles, and a crazy quilt seems an appropriate use of them..

Crazy Patchwork by Denise Flynn.

I thought the following wall quilt was an especially effective use of color because it is so straightforward.

Hard Rain by Betty Colburn

And I enjoyed the way the quilting (scribbled lines) enhanced the appearance of this quilt, which I think most people would have quilted with the same old matchstick quilting:

Scribbled Lines by Sherri Lipman-McCauley

There was a special exhibit of “Fabulous Faces” by Jean Impey and Freddy Moran. I loved them ALL, but here are a couple:

And, lest you think I only admired the art quilts, here are some of my favorites among the quilts of a size to be used for warmth.

I enjoyed this scrappy variation on a design I know as Perkiomen Valley. The maker attributes this variation on the design to Bonnie Hunter, and it certainly has enough pieces to be one of hers!

Split Nine Patch, pieced and quilted by Jean Anderson

I love this unusual arrangement of colors, which the maker states is her variation on the Modern Mystery 2023 quilt hosted by Modern Quilt Studio:

New Day by Karen Foster

This one had wonderful colors, and I enjoyed the use of the “broken dishes” block for a quilt about (unbreakable) melamine:

Melted Melamine by Ben Millett

This gorgeous Celtic design quilt was large and I had trouble getting a good picture of it, but hopefully you can appreciate some of the work that went into it:

Celtic Dream by Elizabeth Ann Thackery

This quilt is made from a pattern, and I thought it was an especially effective design:

Starfield by Diane Poor. Pattern is Niagara Stars by Mara Quilt Designs.

Of course there were many more beautiful quilts! I would go to this show again, especially because there were other things we enjoyed in Greenville.

Classes With David Owen Hastings

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I read something about David Owen Hastings, a graphic designer who also quilts, and wanted to take a class with him. Luckily within a few months I saw that Mancuso Show Management was having him teach over Zoom as part of their Quiltfest Virtual Schoolhouse, and I quickly signed up.

I should mention that I didn’t just randomly find the Mancuso organization; I was familiar with Quiltfest from when we lived in Eastern Pennsylvania. They’ve produced top-notch quilt shows, so I trusted them enough to try their (sort of pricey) Zoom classes.

The classes did not disappoint. Communication with the Manucso organization was seamless from registration right through the classes. (Like most folks I’ve had some Zoom experience in the past few years, which helped.) Classes started on time and, surprisingly, there were no technical difficulties! Woo!

The first class I took was Indi-Go Modern, which focused on designs in blue and white. I had planned to use my indigo-dyed fabric from a class with Debbie Maddy, but my motifs were too big for the designs David was using. I enjoyed the exercise of designing with two colors and plan to continue the exploration. Here’s my design so far, obviously unfinished:

David’s comment was, “Wow! Really minimal!” or something similar…

The nice surprise at the end of this class was that David talked about how to work out the quilting design for a piece. He even suggested possible quilting designs for some of the student works. I’ve never had a teacher take the design process that far and it was quite helpful.

The second class I took was sewn paper collage, and it was fun, too. In fact, it was far easier to have immediate success. I pasted each collage onto a blank greeting card and put them away for when someone needs a unique card.

My husband’s comment when he saw them was something like, “That would be nice if you’d trim the threads!”

And after the class I decided to weave some of my remaining paper into a collage, so here it is, too.

I recommend classes with David Owen Hastings, as his approach is different and therefore extra useful. He managed to be encouraging to everyone.

I also recommend the Mancuso Schoolhouse platform. Yes, the classes were a little expensive, but still far less than if I’d had to travel for them, and the platform worked well.

 

A Chair Is A Chair

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This is coming to you a day early because part of this post is an entry in Kim Lapacek’s Project QUILTING. The current challenge is Sew Not A Square.

But first a little background. On Monday of this past week, I was happy to attend a workshop with Daisy Aschehoug, who calls her business Warm Folk. I didn’t realize until I got to the workshop that I had reviewed a book she wrote with Heather Black a few years ago.

Photo courtesy of C&T

Anyway, Daisy was presenting her Giant Nested Curves workshop and it was within easy driving distance, so a friend and I went for the day!

When Daisy says “giant” curves, she isn’t kidding! Her templates for this project make a circle that finishes 24″ in diameter!  Here are some pictures I took of her class samples; keep in mind that these are 24″ circles.

And here’s the quarter circle I got made during class.

Which leads me to the project for the Project QUILTING challenge: The assignment this time was to make a finished quilt with NO SQUARES! Since I had just been making circles, I started with the smallest template, which makes a quarter circle finishing 2″.

Making a curve that small was a “challenge”, as we like to call it 😀

So I made a second curve, on the end of a rectangle, and combined the two blocks into a chair. I thought it looked like a mid-mod chair, or maybe a Bauhaus chair, so I decided it could be a chair for Gertrude Stein. Which is why the quilting says over and over, “A CHAIR IS A CHAIR IS A CHAIR”. And taking a cue from a friend who recently sent me a quilted postcard, I zigzagged the edges rather than binding–much more practical for a postcard sized quilt.

Quilt Stats

Name: A Chair for Gertrude

Finished size: 3.5″ x 6″

Designed, made, and quilted by: me

Fabrics: cotton, front and back

Batting: Felt

Thread: Superior So Fine

Quarter circle template from Daisy Aschehoug