PIQF 2008 Day 1


PICT2528
Originally uploaded by jlapac

TFQ and I went to the PIQF Preview tonight and it was wonderful. Apparently, most people who attend, attend to shop. I saw two ladies leaving with Jem Platinums! We have started to attend the preview in order to take photos. I barely looked at the quilts, but just shot photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/artquiltmaker/sets/72157608068541986/) so I wouldn’t have to worry about the crowds. It was great! And I know I will be much less cranky tomorrow when I can just look at quilts.

I am thrilled to say that people entered cheerful quilts. Not exclusively, but my overall impression is cheerful. I am so happy, because after EBHQ and APNQ, I was getting worried about the state of quiltmakers’ psyches. There are also a lot of quilts with a ton of details on them, so I think people have just been sititng in their studios for the past four years waiting for Nov.4. I didn’t look much at the vendors, but will work on that tomorrow as well.

Eddie’s Quilting Bee is about 2 miles away. We went there before the show opened and looked around. I bought an 8.5″x4.5″ Creative Grid ruler and a pattern for a tote bag from Gail Abeloe for Tracey Brookshier Design Studio. It is similar to the Eco Market tote, but has a square bottom and no side panels. It will be interesting to try it out.

The tree quilt above is called Leaves on a Tree and it is, coincidentally, by Gail Abeloe. Gail is the owner of Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove. Nice work!

More “Gift Bags”

I notice a gift bag theme starting. I got the Janome newsletter and they have a pattern for Bottle Caddy. It is a gift bag with a bit of dressing up.

Bottles seem to be popular items to wrap in gift bags. he shape definitely lends itself to wrapping in fabric. Weed whackers: not so much.

The one pictured is beautiful. It seems to be fairly complex as well – too complex for me to make by the dozens, but I may expand my theme to actually trying these patterns. Let me know if you make one.

clipped from www.janome.com
Christmas Stocking Bottle Caddy Pattern
pattern available
Christmas Stocking Bottle Caddy Pattern
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DJ Crazy

I have to admit I am losing my mind a bit over these Dear Jane blocks. Not so much that I have run upstairs and started sewing, but enough to keep posting here about them. I can’t stop being in awe of what the makers have accomplished.

Page 10 of the Dear Baby Jane pool (http://www.flickr.com/groups/dearbabyjane/pool/page10/) blew me away. The blocks on that page all looked like they were made out of batiks and hand-dyes. They were almost all brightly colored and caught my attention. I guess I am like a bird – attracted to brightly colored and shiny patchwork.

I have posted a few of the blocks, but go take a look at the page.

clipped from www.flickr.com
b2 by gould_christy
b12 by gould_christy
i8 by gould_christy
k8 by gould_christy
h11 by gould_christy
h13 by gould_christy
f2 by gould_christy
m11 by gould_christy
b6-2 by gould_christy
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Gift Bags Spreading Some More

Deirdre, who finds everything and then sends it on to me, pointed out these gift bags on Lazy Girl Designs. WOW! They are amazing and definitely not as quick to make as mine, but they are gorgeous!! I would love to see one up close and personal and hope someone has made one that I can look at at PIQF.

Lazies, Just in time for your holiday sewing, Shelly Stokes of Cedar Canyon Textiles shares her new Bosa Nova Bags pattern with us. Shelly’s decision to say goodbye to paper gift wrap led to creation these beauties. 

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Dinnerbel’s E1 Aunt Exie’s Phlox


E1 Aunt Exie’s Phlox
Originally uploaded by dinnerbel

One of the things I notice as I go through the DJ blocks people have made is how the white stands out. TFQ and I have discussions about white all the time and how it can really detract from the rest of the block – or not allow a person to see the rest of the block. In the case of the DJ blocks, I think the white, in many of the blocks, really makes you see the design. I think the block patterns are so detailed that they need something to show off the intricate piecing. In the case of this block, the white does the trick.

I am really impressed by he great fabric combinations that the makers are using.

Fissiett’s F-10 Potholder Block


F-10 Potholder
Originally uploaded by fissiett

There are thousands of Dear Jane blocks posted on the two Flickr groups I have found. I think the choice of fabric and artistry of these blocks is amazing. Not to mention the dedication!

This one, initially, caught my attention because of the dots (of course!). After I got over the dots I noticed how what interesting patches the block has. Notice how the rectangles are not quite rectangles? They seem to be trapezoids. As a result, there is a lot of movement in this block.

Picking Fabric

Avoiding work, I was browsing the blogs. I clicked on Pink Chalk Studio and came across this photo of, what looks like, fabric selection during the design phase. I admit, I didn’t read the post…yet. What struck me about this photo is that it is my ideal way of picking fabric. I would like to have the space (physical and brain) to heap up fabrics and look at them kind of jumbled together. This photo of these jumbled together fabrics give me an idea of how they would look in a project.

The problem comes in the actual execution. Sigh. I know that if I take these fabrics out of the closet and jumble them, I will most certainly have to refold and put at least half of them away.

I know I have to do something like this (make visual decisions visually), but I seem to have a brain block. Perhaps I need a studio assistant? HAH! Or just continue to work on cultivating enjoyment of the entire process.

clipped from pinkchalkstudio.com
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Ode to Mother

My mother once told me, when asked how old she was, that she was 29 . I don’t know if she actually was 29 at that time. Ever since then, when asked, I start to tell people she is 29 and then I have to remember that I am older than 29 so she can’t possibly be 29! The 29 effect means that I always have to do the math to figure out how old she is.

Today is her birthday and she is once again, 29. In honor of her birthday, I thought I would show some of the quilts she is working on.


This is a quilt for a friend who took care of the dog when my mom was running back and forth to hospitals and the nursing home earlier this year. The print is a dog print and, as you can see, she is clearly influenced by my dot habit.

This is the back and I think the way she highlighted the Very Hungry Caterpillar motifs is a good use of the Eric Carle fabric.

This quilt also uses pet fabric as the background for the hearts. The hearts are a pack from Keepsake Quilting and are raw edge applique’d to the background. I like way the placement of the hearts creates movement.

My mother is quite prolific and willing to try anything. As a result, she is a great inspiration to me.

Dear Jane by Minka

I have been, as I may have mentioned looking through the Dear Jane blocks various groups of Janiacs have posted on Flickr. The two largest groups are the Dear Janes and Dear Baby Jane (http://www.flickr.com/groups/dearbabyjane/). It is amazing how many blocks these ladies have created.I am in awe of them. I admired one particular member and found her blog. She has some history of her Dear Jane work, a link to which is below.

Trip ‘Round the World — Or Not?

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Weird and Wonderful Wearables

Deirdre sent me a link to these weird and wonderful “wearables”. They are really creative and inventive, but I don’t think that they are truly wearable. I really admire people who think outside of the box in such a way that they can come up with an outfit for a sumo wrestler type. Enjoy the inspiration!

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Another Mosaic to Influence Quiltmaking

Borders have been on my mind lately,especially as I work through my Crazy Test quilt. I think about the value of borders when the self bordering technique does not work.

Here is another Ferry Building mosaic. The thing that struck me about this mosaic was the two different (large) borders. They are distinctly separate, but close enough in value to go together and look like they were planned. I don’t actually like the peachy hue, but it works on this mosaic. I think a couple of aquas or an aqua and turquoise would look great on a watery quilt.

County Fair Quilts

I love going to see quilts at the various county fairs in our state. I have been to a number of them, but I would still, someday, like to say that I have been to all the county fairs in the state. One thing I like about visiting county fairs is that I am reminded of how much creativity is going on nearby.

Not only do I enjoy the quilts, but I also enjoy seeing the tatting, the crochet, the tole painting, etc. I am really inspired by seeing the preserves, artistic cakes and the table setting displays.

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the Los Angeles County Fair. As I have mentioned previously, I dislike the way they display the needlework. They are all behind glass cases and they often have dress dummies placed right in front of the quilts, which makes the work really hard to photograph. Most of the photos I took are more fragments of quilts rather than the entire thing. Enjoy anyway!

Last New Fabrics???


I have to gear down my fabric purchases, but I bought at few at a really nice shop last weekend in the LA area called Loving Stitches. It is within walking distance of my grandmother’s house. Each time I have tried to go there, it has been closed. I was pleased to catch them when they are open and glad to find that it is a really nice shop. They have LOTS of fabric and the people were really friendly.

I was pleased to see that they had a wide variety of fabric for all tastes. They didn’t seem to focus on only one type of fabric.

They also had a great collection of Hawaiian shirt fabrics. I was tempted to buy some for a tote bag, but refrained for now. I want to use up some of the tote bag fabrics I have already purchased.

I’ll look forward to visiting them again.

Diana Leone Quilt Collection Sale

For those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area…

Friday October 17th 11-8
Saturday October 18 10 -7
Eddie’s Quilting Bee
480 S. Mathilda Ave
Sunnyvale, 94986
1 888 784 5837
http://www.dianaleone.com
Diana Leone presents her lifetime collection of quilts
350++Quilt,s 100’s of items from her eclectic collections.
Antique Quilts, 1840-1970 Amish, African American, Doll/Baby quilts, Textiles, Many of Diana’s personal items, Blocks, cutters, thimbles, doo-dads & 14k Gold Sewing charm & 3-4 mint Singer Featherweights, Great Prices, collectors & everyone will find a treasure:
View the 1847 chintz, appliques, Canadian Amish, 1700’s Palampore, etc. valued at $7-$12k++ each.
Tickets to own Diana’s quilts, all proceeds gifted to our local Quilt Museum, AQMRA.(not a donation)

All from Diana’s collections! Pre-sale and Meet Diana

Auction of 2 $12,000 quilts from 1847 for Serious buyers/collectors.

This will be the last public sale of Diana’s collection of antique quilts, tops, linens, and Singer Feather Weight sewing machines. Many other items will be for sale including Diana’s newest Painted Art Quilts and Giclees.

Contact Diana at info@dianaleone.com for more information, to preview quilts and art and reserve your purchases.

Bullseye Back (Purple)

I am waiting to get an appointment to deliver my quilts – YES, quilts plural!!! – to my quilter. I have to call her and get a date. Last time I tried she was out of town on all the days that would have been convenient for me. I almost finished a third top last night, so I may wait to add the last two borders, and get the back done before I make the appointment.

Above is the back of the purple Bullseye. I was really pleased with how well this back went together. The whole quilt really went together well, but the back was especially easy. The fabrics I used are much lighter than the front. I wanted to use some fabrics that I owned and liked and had also been around for awhile yet hadn’t yet made it to the front of a quilt.

It is really a thrill to have three quilts (almost) ready to go to the quiltmaker. Sadly, two of them were not on my 2007 UFO list, so that list won’t be much smaller unless I get really busy.