Book Review: Quilt National 2011 + Giveaway

Quilt National 2011: The Best of Contemporary QuiltsQuilt National 2011: The Best of Contemporary Quilts by Lark Books

I received this book to review from Lark Crafts. Thanks to Amanda at Lark Crafts for sending the book and for offering to host a giveaway! See below for details on winning.

I started reading right away fully expecting the regular depressing art quilt images that are so prevalent in modern art quiltmaking. While I did find a few of those, I also found exuberant color, wonderful stitching and great fabrics.

I have always appreciated the Quilt National books because: 1) the book is mostly about the photos; 2) the photos are large, high quality and it is often possible to see the detail; 3) looking through earlier editions allows the reader to see the evolution of art quiltmaking; and 4) it is really nice to have a catalog of art devoted to quilts. This edition is no exception. The quilts are the show in this book.

The foreword and introduction are great to read as they give the reader insight into the thoughts of the organizers. They also reiterate how the judges are selected, which I appreciate. This year there is emphasis on encouraging new and emerging artists to participate.

The information about the judges is interesting. This edition reminds readers that the judges change, so the selection process is different very year. This means that “the individual artist cannot target their work in any particular direction (pg.7).” What that says to me is that I have a chance to get in some day. 😉

The judges also have a chance to make a statement and show one of their works. In some of the statements, jurors talk about specific quilts, others reference historical quilts, women’s culture, and creativity

Then the book gets on to the quilts. 92 pages are taken up with photos of quilts (some span 2 pages). This is a book that forced me to look at the pictures. Words about the quilts are spare and the photos are large. The quilts span a variety of imagery including nature, portraits, geometric and abstract. I also recognize some names, but many are new to me. I wonder if I am not as in touch with art quiltmaking as I used to be?

Stitching is prominent and I was glad to be able to see the stitching whether it was hand or machine and created with a thick thread like Perl Cotton or excellent photos of the quilting stitches.

I was surprised and thrilled to see a quilt from Judith Plotner from Gloversville, NY. I don’t know Judith, but I know what a great place Gloversville is because of my friend, Kathy, so I looked at the quilt longer than others. Judith’s quilt, Soul of an Iris I has great stitching and writing on it.

One of my favorites is Judy Kirpich’s Circles #4 (detail as cover image). The circles depicted give the quilt life. Ellen Oppenheimer, from my own guild, has another quilt (her 3rd or 4th??) in this edition. Berlin’s Anke Kerstan has a quilt that is similar to my FOTY quilts in the way she washes color across the piece. She also uses more of a block technique than some of the other pieces. Lisa Call’s quilting on her piece, Structures, #113, is the showpiece of her work. She is doing a lot of tiny pieces, which you can buy on her site, so I was pleased to see that she is still producing some larger pieces as well.

Since I attended the Maker Faire, I have had Steampunk on my mind. Barbara Lange’s piece Interlocked reminds me of Steampunk, because of the gears, even though it isn’t as dark as Steampunk tends to be.

In addition to Circles #4, my favorite quilts were: Leslie Joan Riley’s Broken Fence (looks like confetti to me), Patty Hawkins’ Lingering Image, Japan, Jan Myers-Newbury’s Firebox and Kathleen Loomis’ Fault Lines 4. The colors and stitching held my attention and made me want to look at them again.

This book is worth purchasing. The images are high quality and there is a lots of imagery to inspire any quiltmaker.

View all my reviews, including non-quilt reviews

Update 7/30/2011: Giveaway is closed

In order to win one of two copies of this book, you must go to the Lark Crafts blog/site , then come back here and write a comment below (this post only) about what you found that was cool there. I will do the drawing on July 29. You must have left your comment by midnight on July 28. the books will be sent to you straight from Lark Crafts, so you need to make sure that I can get a hold of you based on your comment.

Creative Prompt #112: Heat

The heat is on in many parts of my area while we are socked in with fog. In an homage to the heat of summer, heat is the word.

The heat is on

race heat

Miami Heat

in the heat of the moment

Heat, a movie from 1995, directed by Michael Mann

sweat

Heat may be defined as energy in transit from a high temperature object to a lower temperature object. An object does not possess “heat”; the appropriate term for the microscopic energy in an object is internal energy. The internal energy may be increased by transferring energy to the object from a higher temperature (hotter) object – this is properly called heating.

extreme heat

heating and cooling systems

Lickin’ the Heat

turn up the heat

when the heat rises

put the heat on

Help Desk software

dry heat

“If it ain’t the heat; it’s the humilty” — Yogi Berra

heat safety

“Anger and hatred cannot bring harmony. The noble task of arms control and disarmament cannot be accomplished by confrontation and condemnation. Hostile attitudes only serve to heat up the situation, whereas a true sense of respect gradually cools down what otherwise could become explosive. We must recognize the frequent contradictions between short-term benefit and long-term harm.” – Dalai Lama

rising heat

feel the heat

“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” (widely attributed to Harry Truman)

summer heat

heat relief

heat transfers

commercial heat press

Beat the summer heat

desert heat

Havin’ a Heat Wave [a tropical heat wave] – Marilyn Monroe

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. Are you already a member? I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses. Please join and look at all of the great artwork that people have posted. Post yours and get kudos!

Various & Sundry 2011 #12

Hexagons
I saw a hexagon cushion pattern by Lori Holt after listening to one of Annie Smith’s podcasts. The fabric choices are appealing – lots of dots – but I also like the red plaid (gingham?). I am not sure about pompoms, though.

I also saw a lot of great hexagon quilts and tile designs on Flickr. BariJ is making one from the Lecien group I am using for my hexagon.

Be*mused has a lovely hexagon with a striking black path between the Grandmother’s Flower Garden arrangement of hexagons.

Making Blocks
There has been a lot of talk in my quilt circles recently about making blocks – challenge via BAMQG, Farmer’s Wife Sampler, Lovey blocks, etc. Last month at BAMQG we talked about our obsessions and I mentioned that blocks are my obsession. Frankly, I couldn’t think of what quilt obsession I had and that seemed to be a good one. That resulted in a number of people asking me about block dictionaries and other books about blocks. I am really surprised that more people don’t know about books like Around the Block or have EQ software. I guess I shouldn’t be, but Around the Block is my go to block book when I need to make some quilt blocks. It has a number of blocks and tells me, in clear instructions how to make each block in a number of different sizes. The publisher has compiled this book and its two sequels into one large book called 501 Rotary Cut Quilt Blocks. I would highly recommend this book (or the three that preceded it) for those of you who make blocks frequently.

Alternatively the Electric Quilt software is great. Yes, you will have to shell out some dollars, but the capabilities for this consumer software are great. You can take any of the included blocks, modify them and print out rotary or template directions. The capabilities are so vast. Plus, the technical support is really great. They are nice and friendly and will sometimes even draw blocks for you. 😉

I talked about the Farmer’s Wife Sampler that some at the BAMQG are doing. Pam, from Hip to Be a Square podcast, turned me on to the Farmer’s Wife Sampler Yahoogroup. I was giving her a bit of a hard time about paper piecing all those blocks and she said she couldn’t do it without that group. I am not a member of that group, but perhaps it is a group that will help you with your questions about the Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-Long.

And just so you are reminded that I am obsessed with blocks and Camille Roskelly’s life in my imagination, I have to say that I love LOVE love her color choices for the Farmer’s Wife Quilt-a-long.

In addition to Jinny Beyer’s new-ish book, The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, Piecemeal Quilts has a new post in their Skillbuilder series on block grids and drafting. they also include some info on copyright. I am suspicious of anyone posting copyright information who is not a lawyer, but I will reserve judgement as the explanation seems fairly basic and practical. Consult a lawyer (e.g. Lawyers for the Arts) if you get into trouble or have questions. Seriously. You can find the whole list of posts in the Skillbuilder Series on a separate tab. There are many ways to talk about learning quiltmaking and these women have a done a good job in explaining different skills.

PM/GC Quilts Skill Builder SeriesThe Skillbuilder ladies also have a button you can put in your sidebar. I thought I would spice things up on this text heavy post for you!

More on Market
Apparently Riley Blake designers did a paper doll quilt that was available for people visiting Market to win. There is a blog with block patterns at All Dolled Up. I have always loved paper dolls. I had a friend in grammar school who drew manga-like dolls before manga was even a word, which we made into paper dolls. I love the designs these designers have provided, but it is probably too much applique for me.

Doing Good
I guess I don’t get around the quilt world as much as I thought, because I didn’t see anything about this project over at Moda, Just One Star. They have just posted some process photos about receiving quilt blocks, squaring them up and sending the blocks back out to be made into quilts. The project is related to Quilts of Valor. They made their goal of 100 quilts in 100 days.

Fabric and Supplies
I saw this ‘color story‘ on a blog yesterday and thought I would share it. What do you think influences people’s color choices?

I was looking for the Fons & Porter Quilt Shop in Winterset, Iowa and found this cool quilt shop graphic of quilt shops in Iowa.

Lecien has an update to its Flower Sugar group, which I saw on the Hawthorne Threads site. I am not as fond of the colors as I was of the first group. They got rid of the bright blue I really liked.

I am really disappointed in the hardware available to use in making bags. Hardware on bags available to purchase is much nicer. I am particularly enamored of the hardware Sherpani uses. It is gorgeous. I want to be able to buy lovely hardware for my bags. Do you have a source?

Business
I have made a half-hearted attempt to make some money off of quiltmaking without selling my quilts or quitting my day job. Part of that was linking Amazon books and such that I liked. As you may have noticed, I removed that widget, because Amazon has kicked all Californians out of their Amazon Associates program. It has to do with collecting sales tax and reporting it to the state. You can read about it in the LA Times. I just don’t want to give them space on my blog, if they aren’t going to pay me for referrals. I may make a list of books I really like, but you can also click on the Book Reviews tag in the idea cloud and read all about exactly what I think of books I read.

 

Nota bene: I know I added a lot of links. Hope you have time to take a look. JL

FOTY Triangles

FOTY Triangles, early July
FOTY Triangles, early July

I have been making a big effort to press the fabric that I have washed recently. First it is really uncomfortable to sit and sew with a big pile of fabric poking me in the back. Also, I felt so guilty last time TFQ was down as she spent hours on her feet pressing my fabric. Of course, I greatly appreciate it, but I’d like to avoid the guilt this time.

I have been trying to press fabrics, in general, in groups based on how I am thinking of using them. I may not end up using these all together, but that is in my mind now. Most of these fabrics are from a Piece O’Cake group called Daisies and Dots. I am not liking it as much as I thought I would. I do like the dots, of course, but some of the designs make me realize I have to be more discriminating when I pick fabric. I am looking for a project for this group at the moment.

 

BAMQG Saturday

I went to the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild Meeting on Saturday. I really like that group. Do I say that every time I go? Everyone is really, genuinely nice and I don’t feel like people are judgmental. Also, everyone seems to have a good time. I don’t feel like I make particularly modern quilts, but everyone seems to like the quilts I bring to show and tell.

I brought the Stars for San Bruno #1 quilt, which is almost finished (stay tuned for the unveiling). I have about a foot of binding left to sew before it is finished. I usually like to only show finished quilts, though I do show finished tops sometimes, but this quilt might be off to Tim and Rose before the next meeting. I hope so anyway.

The Board is doing such a great job with the meetings. We talked about the retreat. People showed their Farmer’s Wife and Alphabet Guild Challenge blocks. I made neither, but would like to catch up and try to do the Alphabet Guild Challenge blocks.

Queen Street
Queen Street

It occurred to me on Sunday morning while I was doing my morning exercises (great time to think) that I could use the Queen Street fabrics for that project. I was looking for a project for that fabric. Not sure as the prints are quite large. I could also use Sugar and Spice. That would be cheerful where Queen Street would be elegant.

I want to get through some of the sewing I have on my immediate to do list before I start more Sampler blocks.

There was some frustration with the Farmer’s Wife Sampler blocks. There seem to be a couple of problems: 1) color selection and 2) lack of rotary cutting directions. I also see a related problem to #2, which is that the author seems to have renamed the blocks, which makes them difficult to find in a standard block dictionary or program. I did see an EQ companion software product with all of the blocks drawn out, but it seems like not many of the members have or know how to use EQ7. Adrianne was particularly discouraged, so I offered to draw the next blocks for her. It will give me the incentive to draw them for myself and help a peep!

There was a lot of discussion of fabrics and I felt a bit out of my element. TFQ has really helped me wrap my head around lines of fabric and I can hold my own, but a lot of the fabrics discussed I had never seen. I only had a vague notion of some of the designers as well. Some more study is required, I guess.

I brought a bunch of my block dictionaries for people to look at. A number of people had bought the 501 Rotary Cut Blocks by Judy Hopkins, which I was pleased to see. A number of people are struggling with the Farmer’s Wife because of the math and I think this book will help. I can see that I had a very good quilt education. I admire the Modern Quiltmakers for learning on their own, but also think that learning in a group has value.

Mug Rug Challenge
Mug Rug Challenge

There was also a mug rug challenge. I did not participate…mostly, because I didn’t have a spare second this past month to sew.

Fave Mug Rugs
Fave Mug Rugs

Love the aqua!

I spent some time on Sunday drawing or finding the blocks for the Farmer’s Wife in EQ. I was able to put a project together of about 20 blocks. I sent them on to Adrianne so she could focus on the fun rather than struggling with templates. Don’t get me wrong. Templates have their uses, but most of these blocks are easy to rotary cut. I haven’t done all of them, but will get to it later this week.

The question of the month was: what part of the quiltmaking process do you struggle with?

Block-a-long #12: Split 3 Rail Fence

Split 3 Rail Fence #12
Split 3 Rail Fence #12

This block is very similar to last week’s block, 3 Rail Fence. It is a good example of how easy it is to design blocks. I split the top rail and, voila’, a new block. Directions for Split 3 Rail Fence are available.

If you have made one of the blocks, put a link to a picture of your block in the comments section below. I would love to see them.

Sampler Quilt Update

Dutchman's Puzzle
Dutchman’s Puzzle

As you may have heard on The Off Kilter Quilt podcast, Frances and I are working on a Sampler together. Frances posted her version of the Dutchman’s Puzzle and it looks great. She is doing a wonderful job!

We have been on a bit of an unintentional hiatus, because I was out of town for 10 days, she had some things to take care of and went to the beach, the Young Man graduated and, generally, life got in the way of quiltmaking. I needed to get in gear for as much sewing as humanly possible this weekend, so I started in on the Dutchman’s Puzzle on Thursday night.

Doing one block doesn’t take very long. I thought I would just getting the cutting done, but I was able to piece the whole block together. I had enough time even after I sewed the four major sections together wrong and had to rip them out! Being more of a morning person, I don’t sew well at night (make lots of mistakes) and usually just hand sew bindings or something. I am glad I didn’t do worse damage!

Sampler Blocks, early July 2011
Sampler Blocks, early July 2011

Now I have a nice round 6 blocks. This reminds of the goals of the first ever quilt class I took. The goal was to make a 6 block sampler. The blocks are different, but this group of blocks provides me with some fond memories.

I also was able to look at the piece from a color and fabric stand point. I am not liking the Card Trick. I need to decide if I will make a new one or include the light background fabric in a couple of other blocks.

I can also see that I need to include the Big Plain Jane fabric, and a few other fabrics, in at least one more block. I am pondering whether or not there is a block scheduled that will showcase it.

All in all, I really like the way this is coming out.

Lovey Blocks

 

Lovey block #1
Lovey block #1

Kristen emailed me, and a few friends, to ask for Lovey blocks for a mutual friend who needed some quilty hugs. I spent an hour or so yesterday making these 6″ Sawtooth Stars for the quilt. Ever since I saw how many of these little stars TFQ could churn out, they are my go to pattern for donation blocks.

These blocks are small and I know it takes a lot to make even a lap/wrap around quilt, so I may make some more. As I was looking at the blocks on the design wall, I was also looking at my Sampler blocks and wondering how some small Double Four Patches would look in the same fabrics? Stay tuned.

Lovey block #2
Lovey block #2
Lovey block #3
Lovey block #3

 

 

 

 

 

This little project gave me the opportunity to work with orange. Not sure why orange popped into my head when Kristen said ‘bright’, but I think it works. I was really pleased that I stopped being lazy and pulled down my bin of orange. Orange isn’t associated with a gender, necessarily, and this was a good opportunity to get reacquainted with some really nice fabrics. The cool thing is that I also cut some pieces of the fabrics for the FOTY 2011, so I can see them in that piece when these blocks go off to be in the Lovey.

Yes, it was one more thing to do on my long list of things to do, but it was also a good little project to warm me up for some concentrated sewing this weekend.

 

Creative Prompt #111: Forward

Ok, gang, I am doing my part by posting prompts. Please do your part by responding to them.

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. Are you already a member? I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses. Please join and look at all of the great artwork that people have posted. Post yours and get kudos!

Pay it Forward

Moving forward

Forward motion

Acting forward

Forward motion

Leaning forward

Forward movement

Push forward

SF Forward

Forward thinking

Step forward

sports position “forward”

Case goes forward

looking forward

Fast forward

the opposite of backward

forward to a friend

email forward

forwarding address

Flash Forward (TV show)

Please Pull Forward
Please Pull Forward

Definition:

1 a : near, being at, or belonging to the forepart b : situated in advance
2 a : strongly inclined : ready b : lacking modesty or reserve : brash
3 : notably advanced or developed : precocious
4 : moving, tending, or leading toward a position in front; also : moving toward an opponent’s goal
5 a : advocating an advanced policy in the direction of what is considered progress b : extreme, radical
6: of, relating to, or getting ready for the future <forward buying of produce>
for·ward·ly adverb
for·ward·ness noun

CPP Vacation is Over

The CPP will return tomorrow. Today is the last day to enter for prizes. The prizes I have will further inspire your creativity. Did you do your responses so you can be in the drawing?

Rules: Anyone who posts a response to any of the prompts between May 27 and the post for prompt #111 will be entered for a prize. You can post in the Flickr group and/or on the post for the prompt to which you are responding. Yes, I know the end of school and vacation time have kicked your butts, but it is time for creativity. 5 minutes a week is all I ask. I reserve the right to change the rules if I feel I need to do so.

If you do a response to any prompt (there are 110), you will be entered into the drawing. Anyone who gets a friend to do a response will get two entries. You have some drawing friends, right? Poets? Mixed media artist friends? Thread painters? Photographers? No creative endeavor will be excluded. Sign them up. BTW, all rules are subject to change at my discretion.

As a reminder: these will not be quilt related prizes, but creativity related prizes.

 

Angela’s Kona Challenge

Angela's Kona Challenge Top
Angela's Kona Challenge Top

Angela is a new friend from the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild. I have mentioned her a couple of times in conjunction with those meetings. She is the one that turned me on to the New Handmade book.

Angela participated in the Kona Challenge. She agonized and really worked hard on her design. I love her quilt. It shows her hard work and came out really well.  Her agony paid off.

She wasn’t able to make this quilt from one charm pack. She bought extra fabric (don’t you think that is Robert Kaufman’s whole idea?). She played around with the pieces, drew designs, carried them around, cut and rearranged until she had something that was fabulous. It worked.

Angela's Kona Challenge Quilt Back
Angela's Kona Challenge Quilt Back

Even the back is fabulous.

I want this quilt.

Hexagon Clarification

Sandy was confused about a recent hexagon post that I wrote.

She asked “OK–you said sewing in a circle. What order do you do the seams, then? Sew piece 1 (center hexie) to piece 2, then piece 1 (center) to piece 3, then adjoining seams of 2 and 3?

I’m not positive I’d be able to keep track of my design if I sew in circles/chunks rather than rows. It’s sort of a mosaic-y thing. Once I get everything laid out, I’ll be able to tell better. It’s not a problem with method, just me knowing how best to make sure I get pieces in the right place!”

My response, slightly edited for clarity, was: If I understand what you mean, remember that the goal is to have no hexagon edges raw. This means that each side of the hexagon will be sewn to another side of another hexagon. This may be different on the edge of the quilt, depending on what the designer (you!) decides to do about borders, but for the middle, you want each hexagon edge to be sewn to another hexagon edge.

Remember: no sewing into the seam allowances!

I am going to show you how to do this with 3 hexagons to start. Go get 3 hexagons, I’ll wait.

3 hexagons
3 hexagons

Put them on your design wall or on your floor and gaze at them. See the V formed by the top of the 2 bottom hexagons? Pay attention to that. You will need it later.

Start with 2 hexagons
Start with 2 hexagons

First, you sew two sides together. These will be two separate hexagons that you have already marked. Remember, you can mark with the Jinny Beyer Perfect Piecer and a Sewline pencil or with your favorite ruler and marking tools.

Put one Hexagon right sides together
Put one Hexagon right sides together

Put the first 2 hexagons right sides together and sew between the marks. Don’t sew into the seam allowance. If you did sew into the seam allowance, rip out the stitches outside of the marks.

2 hexagons sewn together
2 hexagons sewn together

When you open those pieces you will have 2 hexagons sewn together. YAY!

3 hexagons
3 hexagons

Second, for the third piece, you have to do a Y seam eventually (hope I explained clearly enough in the post how to do it). Remember that I told you to pay attention to the V? There will be a V where the two already sewn hexagons meet and that is where you will place the 3rd hexagon.

You will need to sew 3 seams total to completely add the third piece to the first 2 already sewn pieces.

Adding 3rd hexagon
Adding 3rd hexagon

Third, you line up the third piece with piece 1, right sides together, so that one side of piece three will be sewn to one side of piece 1. The side of piece one to which you sew should be one part of the V referenced above.

Fold over Hexagon 3 to hexagon 2
Fold over Hexagon 3 to hexagon 2

Fourth, once you have sewn one side of piece three to one side of piece one, you fold the neighboring side on piece three right sides together to the adjacent side of piece two. You will fold it on to the other side of the V.

Fifth, sew the second side of piece three to the second side of piece two.

3 hexagons sewn together
3 hexagons sewn together

Now you have 3 hexagons sewn together. AND you did a Y seam. That wasn’t scary, was it?

Hexagon Flower
Hexagon Flower

Sixth, press from the back so all of the seams twirl in the same direction.

In terms of keeping track of the pieces, because you want to sew them in a certain order, you need to lay the pieces out and look at them as you sew. I understand that many people don’t have a design wall. A design floor works just as well. You may need to pin your pieces together in the order you will sew them and take lots of photos. I also have pinned numbers to my patches or blocks so I know what order to sew in.

Let me know if you have further questions about the hexagons.

This is not a scary process. Just slow down a bit, follow the directions and you will be fine. You can do it!

Other:

Pam’s recent podcast about her hexagon project is posted on her site. she is very funny in calling this a Point and Laugh-a-long, which makes me laugh.

Sandy also posted a much more helpful and informative post that had actual content about how to do the project (not that Pam’s post was not helpful or informative, because it was) rather than just blathering on about process, which is what I tend to do. In Sandy’s most recent podcast she talks about the practical aspects of cutting hexagons and how she had success on the Kaye Wood method.

Here are a couple of different takes on hexagon quilts. This one from Random Thoughts do or di won’t work with the method we are using unless you figure out how to put the sashing in between the hexies. if you do figure that out, then you can use the directions all of us have posted to put the piece together. I don’t know if the sashing is more complicated than sewing a strip around the outside. This is a question I would ask TFQ about.

This photo from Sunset Sewing is a really nice variation of a hexagon quilt. I can’t tell whether it is a variation of the Spiderweb pattern.