Kept In Stitches

Antelope Valley Quilt Association Workshop 2015

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February 15, 2015

I was invited to Lancaster, CA this past week to lecture and do a workshop for the Antelope Valley Quilt Association. A great group of people turned out for the meeting and the workshop on Saturday was a lot of fun. The workshop was the ‘Dresden Garden’ quilt. It showcases an easy dresden plate technique along with bias tape making and several different appliqué methods. My students’ work always impresses me with all the different color variations. A huge thank you to AVQA for their hospitality. I’m looking forward to seeing their guild again in the future.

Ventura Modern Quilt Guild, 2015 Opportunity Quilt

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February 1, 2015

Photos by G. Palmer

At some point last year, I suggested to my guild that we make an opportunity quilt as a fund-raising project. Since it was my idea, it became my baby. For our first ‘raffle’ quilt we decided to keep it simple. But, simple sounds much more simple than it is. I asked the guild members to create blocks within blocks…any size and shape would be fine. The Ventura Modern Quilt Guild members came to the rescue and turned in many blocks. Then, we designated a day to get together and work on a possible layout. With so many set-in seams our work was cut out for us. We managed to get about one third of the quilt pieced and at the end of the day the quilt was showing promise. I took it home with me and continued working on it a few days later. Somehow the quilt would not lay flat, and I had to take the finished portion back apart and start over. I spent 2 days piecing the top and it was ready to go to our longarm quilter. Georganna Hawley is our longarm quilter extraodinare. She took a great looking quilt top and added so much beautiful quilting and visual interest to the quilt. I already have a spot for the quilt in my home. Next, buying enough tickets to win it!

2015 Road to California Quilt Show

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January 24, 2015

Greg and I had a great time at Road to California this year…in fact, we went both Saturday AND Sunday! I finally purchased my new Innova long-arm quilter…3-weeks and it’s in my home! So many great quilts and incredible inspiration at the show. I wanted to say “congratulations” to Carl Hentsch (from Men Who Quilt on Facebook) for his entry in the “Wicked Challenge” sponsored by Cherrywood Hand-Dyed Fabrics…it was outstanding! There was a wonderful exhibition of quilts by Sheila Frampton Cooper…such a talented and beautiful woman!

I can’t wait to start using my new long-arm machine, and I’m looking forward to next years show!

Welcome to Road to California, 2015

My new Innova long-arm machine!

Eleanor Burns!

Congratulation, Carl Hentsch!

Wicked Challenge

Fantasyland, Sheila Frampton Cooper

Kelp, Sheila Frampton Cooper

A View From Above, Sheila Frampton Cooper

Stonecrop Tapestry, Susan Bianchi

Stonecrop Tapestry, Detail

Stonecrop Tapestry Detail

Amazed, Claire Victor

Dazzling Dahlia, Andrea Brokenshire

Dazzling Dahlia, Detail

Greater Than, Alissa Haight Carlton

Wailing Wall of Krakow, Sandra E. Lauterbach

Wailing Wall of Krakow, Detail

Live Oaks 6: Sun & Shadow, Lou Ann Smith

Ohio Wedding, Christy Merritt

Low Key Ring, Colleen Molen

Ms MacDonald and the Old Goat, Lynn Czaban and Bonnie Keller

Modern X, Christa Watson

Rural Ragtime, Jennifer Emry

Sea Breeze, Pat Kuhns

Shards of Teal and Fuchsia, Gerrie Kennedy and Tessa Atwood

End of the Spin, Melissa Sobotka

Gina’s Starflowers, Marie K. O’Kelley

UFO #2

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January 21, 2015

As of bedtime last night the green HST quilt top is done. Sorry the pictures are so poor…but, the quilt top is done! UFO #3 is calling to me. I will take some pics of #3 and get them posted soon.

Keeping Life Colorful and Controlled

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January 19, 2015

I don’t know about everyone else, but I seem to start twice as many projects as I finish. What is my motivation to finish these UFO’s? The obvious would be a restraining order from all quilt shops. But, that’s not reasonable. Therefore, I will restrict myself to “no more” fabric until at least 4 of my UFO’s are done. No…I haven’t been drinking! It’s been almost 2 weeks now since I’ve bought new fabric, but I have to admit, the urge is still there…

Project #1
I decided to go with an easy project before diving into the abyss. I was making a few pincushions and ran out of crushed walnut shells so I just put the project away. Made sense to me! Well, the pincushions are now done. The problem with that is it has been so long that I can no longer remember whom I was making the pincushions. Once again, NOT drunk…maybe a little dementia.

Project #2
I found a shoe box in the bottom of the tote that was bursting with green and neutral print fabrics. Three completed blocks, my hand written directions, and sketches of the block be made. The blocks are made of half square triangles(HST) and was supposed to be another quick project…Wrong! I made HST’s for a couple of days before I realized why I put the project away. Now, I’ve started making these blocks again, and I SWEAR, I’m going to finish this quilt top!

Crayola Challenge Mini Quilt

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December 16, 2014

As part of being Vice President of the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild, I come up with a monthly quilt challenge. Some of the challenges have been demanding, while others have been very simple. Recently, we had the “Crayola Challenge”, and it was pretty straight forward…use the two colors you blindly choose and “screens” of those colors to create a small quilt. The crayons I chose were “Yellow” and “Blue” (no fancy colors here!) The project was to be no larger than 24 inches on any side. It’s kind of hard for me to get out of my comfort zone with traditional piecing and begin to improvise with some curves. I wouldn’t classify this piece as my “style” but it was fun to piece and I really enjoyed quilting it. I want a long arm!

Red and White Mini Quilt

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December 16, 2014

Trying to keep up with all the holiday demands I did find some time to finish my mini quilt. It was fun to practice some free motion quilting on a smaller project. I’m looking forward to the day when I’m working on a longarm to complete my quilting projects.

Marsala

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December 4, 2014

Pantone has released it’s color of the year for 2015, Marsala. I can’t help but love the clever names people come up with for colors that have been around for ages. I’ve used this color in my quilts for many years now and will continue to do so. I’m loving the deep tones during the holiday season. There’s just something about Fall colors that makes me want to work on a hand project by the fireplace. And a nap!

Failed attempt at cleaning

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November 24, 2014

So, occasionally my lack of fabric organization gets to me. Picture this, Thursday afternoon and an ambitious thought rings in…”I should do some cleaning”. The first 30 minutes were filled with revelations like “why am I keeping this and I doubt I will ever get around to finishing this”. I’m so proud of myself for making a pile of stuff to be donated. But wait there is a tote that needs to be gone through. The spiral begins….Christmas fabric…hmmmm! I can’t get rid of it and yet I know there is very little chance I will use it. And there is a huge tote of all this seasonal fabric. What is a quilter to do? Yes, I’ve got, I will stop cleaning and start a new project. That is my way of getting rid of Christmas fabric. Hours later I still have to work around the beginning of my cleaning project. After all I do have my priorities. I’m lost in cutting fabric and I keep finding even more Christmas fabric.

Long-Arm Weekend

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November 11, 2014

This last weekend I had the opportunity to play with a longarm quilting machine for the very first time. I am sold….I loved it! My friend Georganna Hawley invited a few people over to her house to work on philanthropy quilts for the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild. I had many questions and my progress was slow. Overall I was very pleased with my quilting and I’m now looking forward to the next time I get to work on a longarm machine.