Someone asked about resources for finding teachers and shows on QuiltNet. A few links were provided. I thought this would be useful, so I am providing the clips here.
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Famous Last Words
Craft Night was last night. Although I was hostessing I was able to finish another block. A little at a time.
Here is the block I finished last night. I am trying to make sure that the backgrounds are all different, especially since I have enough now. When I started the project in March I only had a few of the black-on-white backgrounds, so some of the early blocks have more than one of the same in the same block. I think that once there are many blocks, that nobody will notice.
I am also trying to ensure that all the foregrounds are not only different colors, but also different values and different motifs. The motifs piece is a little tricky, because you have to worry about size, shape, relationship to other motifs in the same block as well as color. Still the tricky bits are the fun parts.
I am finding that almost every block has some turquoise in it. I have to watch that. Perhaps it could be a unifying element?
I need to work on rooting out more fun prints that I probably wouldn’t use for any other project out of my stash so that they see the light of day at least once. I have a little stack of the corner/foreground pieces that I am working with now, but will root out some others when that stack gets smaller.
I now have 8 blocks, shown above, and the pattern is starting to emerge. I wanted to see them all together and think that they look great. The secondary patterns that are developing are interesting. The colored corner pieces coming together are what you would expect. What I didn’t expect was the secondary pattern from the black-on-white background pieces. They look a bit like petals, which is wonderful. I think when I have four more blocks completed you will really be able to see them well. I am finding that working with these patterned fabrics and bright colors is really fun. I feel like I can use the conversationals and patterned fabrics effectively, which I normally wouldn’t use.
I originally thought I wouldn’t use black in this piece, except for the centers. Never say never. I found a piece of some fun beach fabric with pails on it. Unfortunately, it had a black background. I put one piece in to see how it looks. The pail makes it work, but I don’t think I will be including anymore pieces with black backgrounds. Famous last words.
One of the Craft Chicks started her own blog. It is primarily about knitting, but she talks about various events and other crafts as well. You can check it out at: http://craftchicks.blogspot.com/.
A Little New Work
Wayne Thiebaud said in a City Arts and Lectures * show, and I am totally paraphrasing, that he did his work and he would let history judge whether he was an artist or not. I have decided to take that tact as it makes me uncomfortable to say that I am an artist. As a librarian I know I am creating a library with library services. With quiltmaking, I can’t say if I am creating art. It is one of the types of work I do and one which I enjoy. That is it. If it is art, great. If not, that is ok, too.
To that end, as I mentioned in a previous post, I haven’t done much work lately, but I keep reading and trying to put a few stitches into various projects. Craft Night will be here tomorrow, so I will have a bit of time to make a few more stitches.
Here is my latest Cross Block (Flowering Snowball). I was pleased to receive a request from CamillaKnits for the templates. She has become enamored with the pattern, which is great. I love these old blocks that are not quick pieced blocks and am glad I am spreading the joy. If you don’t have a copy of Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, go buy one as soon as you stop reading this post. It is great for inspiration (tiling your bathroom?) even if you do not love piecing or blocks.
I also realized that I had not taken a photo of the entire Pineapple recently, if ever. Well, here it is in all of its glory PRE-border. Yes, I have decided to make that maniacal pieced border using the self-bordering technique. I am already lamenting my carefree-ness and all of that lost free time (HA! As if I ever had any). I am gearing up for the long piecing road ahead and the glory of it being finished.
Here, in the annotated picture, you can see blocks blocks 18 and 19, which still have three rows to go. I thought I would put them up there so they would feel like part of the crowd. Block 20 is in the machine and had a stand-in. See that Cross block? The poor block behind the sewing machine doesn’t get to shine at all. I’ll have to haul it out and take a photo of it.
*I adore City Arts and Lectures, but they claim not to record their lectures and you can’t get a copy, much less a transcript to save your life. I even know one of the directors who I begged to ask for a copy of the Wayne Thiebaud lecture. They wouldn’t even give him one. I know they are lying, because I have heard rebroadcasts of previous lectures. Ergh!
Inspiration and Some Work
I have spent a lot of time working lately and no time on the Pineapple. Bleah! Still, I am trying to keep up and keep you all entertained.
First the inspiration:
This sun can be found in the sidewalk on 30th near Church and I have been admiring it for years. I was finally carrying my camera around this week trying to get a photo of a really stupid bus ad (not successful), so I took the opportunity to snap a pic of this sun. One thing I like about it is the detail in the rays.
I saw this flower on 2nd Ave near Cabrillo, which looks much better in the photo than in person. I like the way the composition came out. I also thing those little lines (stamen???) are cool. This flower looked flat, but was very 3D when I looked at it.
Now on to the work. Just to warn you the following work is only indirectly mine.
As some of you may remember, I have been teaching a beginning quilt class for the past ~2+ years. We had been on extended hiatus and I finally forced the class to meet in order to see where they were in the process so we could either move forward or agree to give up on the class. Fortunately, they agreed to go on, because I would have been a bit depressed if they just wanted to bag it.
We looked at each of the sets of blocks and agreed to work on machine quilting next. I had another type of machine applique’ on the agenda, but I think the students are done with making blocks.
Above are the blocks that Beth has done. She started out making two color blocks, which posed different issues during class. It was good, because we had to discuss issues of contrast and placement of color in the blocks. That is the kind of look that she wanted and her blocks turned out very well. She needs to make one more block and we had a long discussion about the color of sashing. The problem is that a number of the patches in each block will drop out if she uses the fabric she has used. We discussed muslin, navy and black. My advice was to go to the quilt store and lay the blocks on top of a lot of different colors to see what look was best for her.
All of the blocks are supposed to be 12″ finished. One problem both students reported is that their blocks are wildly different sizes, ranging from 10 1/2″ – 13″. I gave them all of the templates, so something happened between then and the sewing. There is a lot of margin for error, but I didn’t have a pat answer for them. I’ll need to refer them to Sally Collins’ book. I’ll have to think about that problem, though, so I can address it in my next class, if I ever teach again. The solution for this class is that they will have to add frames to their blocks to make them a uniform size.
These are Alice’s blocks. Alice is Indonesian and does beading and Indonesian dancing. These blocks really reflect her personality: friendly, bubbly and very creative.
The two photos above are details.
Alice had a lot of fabric with her so we were able to discuss how to pick out the fabric for the sashing.
For various reasons, only some of which are related to quiltmaking, I have been thinking about commitment lately. I know that people are busy, but it seems odd to me that people give up on activities they enjoy so easily. I have not been able to sew a lot lately, but I have been reading magazines and working a little bit on my hand piecing (photos to follow). I understand that people are busy; I am the queen of juggling. I understand that people have to prioritize and that life intervenes. Still, it is annoying that people will just give up on something and not care if another has spent a lot of time organizing. I wonder if people really value time.
Piece O’ Cake Polka Dots
I saw this on a blog I have never read before. I like this pattern from Piece O’ Cake and the polka dots are a winner for sure.
Snowball Wreath
Per a conversation on the AQSG list, I am posting a couple of photos of an old Laura Wheeler block called Snowball Wreath.
Notice the crazy shapes the newspaper printed for piecing (lower right). Could anyone actually make a quilt from those kinds of pieces? I would really love to see a 1930s or 1940s (or whenever this pattern was printed) quilt from this pattern.This is my attempt. I appliqued the circles on after piecing them.
I issued an informal challenge on a list and Julie made the one above.
The challenge required people to draft their own templates and I found that to be quite a challenge, because 1) I only had the information on the newspaper clipping image. I don’t have the actual newspaper; 2) the block is not made from a grid that I could figure out; and 3) the circles did not exactly line up.
It was a fun and challenging puzzle, one in which I am still interested.
Additional Quick Bytes
Work has intervened and I have not had much time to finish blogging my trip to Denver or sew. 🙁 There may be a little time this weekend, but we will see.
Although I haven’t worked on the Pineapple blocks much lately, I have been looking at them a lot. I decided that I really like these fabrics. St. JCN says that they are from Timeless Treasures, but they are from at least a year ago and, it seems, nearly impossible to find again. I wish companies wouldn’t get so excited about discontinuing fabric. Alternatively, I need to use my fabric up quicker.
St. JCN has decided to use a bit of each of the fabric she buys in blocks right away. This allows her to see how it works in block, so she can go and get more right away if she really likes it. I think this is a fantastic idea! Another reason it is great is because after awhile she will have a wonderful collection of scrap blocks or a nice scrap quilt.
Another fabric avalanche in the closet. Sigh. I am working on rearranging my dots and it has yielded some fabrics that I had run out of in the Pineapple strip piles and forgotten about. This is nice. It is like buying new fabric without actually buying new fabric.
Other inadequacies… the fabric from Denver is still not completely washed. What is washed (warm colors) is not pressed. 
The Kaffe Fassett dots have arrived and they are completely fantastic, not only because the colors, etc are fantastic, but primarily because St. JCN sent them WASHED and PRESSED and in beautiful symmetrical little folded packets and I can start using them right away. I will gladly welcome into my life anyone else who wants to act like this. Actually what I need is someone who can be a personal assistant, who will do anything I ask perfectly and without complaining including sending out the invoices to my clients for a very inexpensive price. Dream on, I know.
Please keep reading. I’ll post more meat soon. I have a number of magazine articles I would like to review.
Gift Bags Spreading
Jenny Wren Paperie has launched a line of gift bags/gift wrap using fabric. I like the way mine are built better, but the fabric she uses is lucious. I am also thrilled that people are thinking about buying gift wrap that is reusable.
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Quilt Show Ribbons (Rosettes)
Here are some directions for making rosettes for quilt show prizes.
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Long Walk Part of Gift
This is a fantastic post by Tanya. I think everyone who receives a handmade gift should read this. It makes me think of the gifts that children give us.
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Contemplating the Completion of the Pineapple
I am not done with the Pineapple blocks yet, but I am within sight of the end. At this point, I find myself contemplating the finishing of the quilt:
- How will I put it together?
- How will I quilt it?
- What color binding?
- Will I enter it somewhere?
And inevitably, my mind strays to the borders:
- Should I have a border? Plain or pieced?
My original idea was to put the 20 blocks together and a striped binding and move on to the other ideas flittering around in my mind. If I did that the quilt would look something like:
I can’t help asking myself what the quilt would look like if I used my self bordering technique. The Pineapple blocks would all be complete, for one. There would be no stray, hanging centers. I used EQ6 to test out what it would look like:
I like it. It looks really good. It looks finished. It looks framed.
It means much more cutting and piecing. It means 20 more blocks (double what I will have when I complete blocks 17-20). But it looks finished. I will have to think about it… hard. Now that it is has entered my mind, I don’t know how I will not be able to run with this idea.
I am sure you realize, also, that this quilt, if I had 20 more blocks, will be another monster close to 70″x 90″. The piecing so far has taken me about 5 months, so I can look forward to another 5 months of piecing – not an altogether unpleasant thought, but somewhat daunting however you look at it.
So, dear readers, your opinions are most welcome.
More Quick Bytes
The fabric from Quilt Expressions. St.JCN and I split an order and these are my pieces. They were fabrics which we saw in other colorways at the shops in Denver. We decided to fill out our collections with different colorways. I found some different whites as well.
Fabrics from Quilting Adventures. The three along the bottom right and the one right above the three (with the squares) look like Christmas fabrics to me in person, so I think I will make some gift bags out of them.
Two new Cross Blocks (Flowering Snowball). I finished one and started another in Denver and, then, finished it last night.
Now I have a total of 5 Cross Blocks (Flowering Snowball). I like the way the circle appears when you put the blocks together. I don’t know if I want these particular blocks together, but I am tempted to sew them together in sets of four as I make them. We’ll see after I make a few more.
Finally, these are the last two Pineapple scrap babies. I don’t have anymore scraps and I am almost all done with the blocks I need for a quilt. These are also blocks #18 & 19. Numbers 17 and 20 are in process as well. I feel sad that I am almost finished with the blocks. I am tempted to do a Pineapple border as well. Wasn’t I waxing nostalgic about getting these blocks done and moving on to something else recently? We’ll see.
Podcasting
My foray into podcasting.
More Denver Travelogue
Any time I can get inspiration off of a floor, I take a photo. I am fascinated by mosaics and tile patterns. 
Above is a detail and you can see the border of 4patches.
I like the way the small green border frames the piece. I think the greens and the reds could be all different.
This was a block that I saw in a quilt in the shop of the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. I like the different blues that the maker used on the top of the piece.
What I like about these baskets are the little things that make them unusual. In the top photo, the basket has a slight curve from the rim to base. In the second photo, notice the handles added to a fairly usual basket pattern. I also like, what I assume, are the border blocks.
Please note that these were not any of the exhibits. These were items in the shop.
On Saturday, we headed south to see the famed Great American Quilt Factory
I have noticed a trend of quilts shops being in strip malls. I guess it makes sense: go to the grocery store, pick up the dry cleaning, stop at the quilt shop. This was a particularly ugly strip mall, but it did have a great big parking lot, which was good because there were 200 women in the shop when we got there at 10am. GAQF has a block of the month meeting each Saturday. They make up the pattern and the kits and test it on the people who do the Block of the Month. This is how the Welcome to my Cabin became a book and a pattern. The meeting had ended, but all the ladies were in line to pay. We started looking at the fabric around the perimeter and stayed out of their way pretty much. It was no problem because they, apparently, have over 5000 bolts of fabric. The store made up for the ugliness of the strip mall. There were lots of all differenty types of quilts hanging on the walls. Many of them were Possibilities patterns.
After the Great American Quilt Factory, we went to Holly’s Quilt Cabin. St. JCN didn’t really want to go, I don’t think, but she didn’t fight too hard. ;-). Holly’s had more REALLY nice fabric. I bought a lot of FQs and more dots. They had a nice selection of Creative Grid rulers (still need to do that review!) and I bought a 2.5″x12″ model. It will be good for cutting squares for those 4patches I plan to make someday. 😉 The people there were really chatty.
Right, 3rd from the bottom was a fabric that just caught my eye. I don’t usually buy this fabric, but I decided to buy an FQ and put a piece or two in the Cross Block quilt.
Left 3rd from the bottom is a really interesting fabric. It is cotton, but it shimmers. I got it in a couple of colors. I may put it into the silk quilt just to see how it works.
Above are the fabrics that we bought at GAQF and Holly’s.
This is a bear peeking in the glass wall of the convention center. I thought it was really clever. How can I not like the bear anyway? It reminds me of Oski.
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On Sunday we ate breakfast at LePeep’s near the City Park and then went up to the Denver Botanic Garden. I am not much of a gardener, but I can appreciate a beautiful garden just as well as the next person. This place was fantastic. I liked the way the garden was laid out in rooms. It was so relaxing. If I had not had to go to a meeting, I would have liked to have sat there and read or worked on writing projects. St. JCN loves gardening and is working very hard on her garden. She is also working on my garden a bit: helping me pick out plants that won’t be a burden or take a lot of work.
I thought that this would make a good quilting pattern. I particularly like the wavy, vertical sort of look.
The top photo is a picture of a giant poppy, but the others are all peonies. I have never seen peonies growing in my area, but St. JCN said that she would look into it. She did warn me that these would need coddling if they would grow. In any case, I really took the photos as inspiration for quilts. The colors, the graphic quality are all really great. Inspiring.
The garden had an exhibit called Big Bugs. They had placed large wooden (not sure if all were wooden) insects all over the garden. I saw some grasshoppers, ants, a praying mantis, a dragonfly, and some others. My favorite was this spider on the spiderweb. We walked by and I didn’t see it, then we walked by again and I saw something out of the corner of my eye. When I looked. I saw the spiderweb. It is partially hidden and it looks like it could be real.
Mosaic bench they were selling in the gift shop.
Be*mused’s Whirligigs
The writer of Be*mused is off on her adventure, but before she left she posted some of her Whirligig blocks. I love these! I think the previous photos are better, though. I may have to try this block, once I get some of the other projects out of my system.
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