Saturday, April 21, 2012
I'm in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Recently my daughter asked if I had a quilted item I could
donate to my grandson’s band fundraiser. I thought I might have something in my
UFO box. Indeed I did. A small turquoise
and beige wall hanging about 30” X 30”. The top was complete and ready to sandwich,
I thought. It just needed something
special for the backing so that meant a trip to the store.
I sorted through my stencils and books for a design. I
wanted something more than ‘stitch in the ditch’ quilting. I found what I wanted and marked the
top. I basted the 3 layers together, as
there are always leftover scraps of batting around the sewing room. I thought I had the perfect color of thread,
I did but it was hand quilting thread not machine thread. So it was wait for
the next day for another trip to the store.
Now I was ready to quilt. I decided to try something different. Not
always a good idea when time and purpose is important but thought it would be
okay. If I am ‘stitching in the ditch’
quilting I use the walking foot on my sewing machine. If free motion quilting
is required I take it off the machine and put on the appropriate foot. The quilt design I chose was mostly straight
lines with some gentle curves. I thought I might try using the walking foot and
gently turn the quilt sandwich as I stitched along the lines. In a couple of
places I did have to stop and needle down the machine and pivot for a tighter
turn but it did work.
I have finished the project and taken a picture of the wall
hanging. I am pleased with the results. Tomorrow I will deliver it to the
chairperson for the fundraiser. I hope it brings a good price. Not just because
I put a lot of work into it but because I love my grandson!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Learning and Growing
A couple of days ago I attended my local quilt guild
meeting. Our program was by Shannon Shirley. It was a trunk show illustrating
her growth as a quilter over 25 years.
There were a lot of quilts!
One might think that her growth would be of perfecting her
sewing and quilting stitches , perhaps the complexity of design. It did all of that and more. She spoke of her
entry into the quilt world and how her personality affected her quilts. She is
not one to sit still! By now you are wondering what she did? She continued to
learn, not just for betterment of skills but learning new techniques.
Each time the opportunity arose to learn a new technique she
took the class. She said in learning she “would put that skill into her
toolbox.” Most of the time she would
make a small project so she would complete it and therefor have a record to
refer to. She may never use it again but she knew now how to do it. Actually
she did incorporate many into her quilts.
As it happens she has opened her mind to new to new
possibilities and created new twists on some of the techniques. She certainly
lite a fire in the minds of some of our members. The emails are appearing
quickly in response to her program. I expect that we will see some terrific
quilts in the near future by our guild members.
Shannon is currently writing a book and has two more in
line. We are looking forward to their release.
meeting. Our program was by Shannon Shirley. It was a trunk show illustrating
her growth as a quilter over 25 years.
There were a lot of quilts!
One might think that her growth would be of perfecting her
sewing and quilting stitches , perhaps the complexity of design. It did all of that and more. She spoke of her
entry into the quilt world and how her personality affected her quilts. She is
not one to sit still! By now you are wondering what she did? She continued to
learn, not just for betterment of skills but learning new techniques.
Each time the opportunity arose to learn a new technique she
took the class. She said in learning she “would put that skill into her
toolbox.” Most of the time she would
make a small project so she would complete it and therefor have a record to
refer to. She may never use it again but she knew now how to do it. Actually
she did incorporate many into her quilts.
As it happens she has opened her mind to new to new
possibilities and created new twists on some of the techniques. She certainly
lite a fire in the minds of some of our members. The emails are appearing
quickly in response to her program. I expect that we will see some terrific
quilts in the near future by our guild members.
Shannon is currently writing a book and has two more in
line. We are looking forward to their release.
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