Yes, Metro Twist is finished! Hooray. It will go off to its new home after I show it at the guild meeting.
I am so thrilled with the fabrics. It was a good group to use. Someone asked me when I showed it at Sew Day if I had bought the pack of fabrics or if it came from the fabric closet. I was thrilled to tell them I made the choices myself.
Finished: Metro Twist back
Colleen did a great job on the quilting. You can see it really well on the back
It came out smaller than I remembered, but it will be a large wall hanging or a small lap quilt.
I only took a picture of the table runner as I didn’t have any assistance. As you can see I didn’t press it before I took the photo. The details are a little hard to see, so I have included a detail.
I received a few more blocks in the mail from Friend Julie the other day. I need to get back to making some more. I have four cards from which to make blocks.
I think now that I have some small bags out of my system, I’ll be able to get back to this project.
I started another Piebald as a gift for a friend I am seeing on Wednesday.
Aside from the fact that you need to cut exterior, lining, Shapeflex** and Soft & Stable**, this pouch can be cut out very quickly.
I felt like I needed to work on the front again, so I made another one. There is one more I want to make, but I haven’t found where I put the fabric, so it will have to wait.
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I am making a Sweetbay Crossbody Bag for the Pink Project. The Sweetbay is one of the patterns that Sara released in February. One of the reasons I am making it is because Sara is having a Sew-a-long and I thought that was a good reason to use one of the new patterns. I also wanted to try a smaller crossbody bag. The Daytrip Wallet is still on my to do list, so this will get me closer to that project.
Except for one piece of interfacing, I was able to cut out the whole project, so I am on time with the sew-a-long. Next up is sewing!
This looks like one of the Minikins, but is a separate pattern from the Minikins.
Well, Sew Day was fun. It was a Super Sew Day, which was great. Because the guild couldn’t afford the extra cost some of us met and slipped Mary C the money towards the cost. It was an intimate little crowd and we had a good time. The next day was regular Sew Day, so lots of people showed up, which was fun, too.
I have to say I was exhausted when I arrived home on Saturday night. Between the rain and wind, various errands, the art show and Super Sew Day, I was done even though I had fun and was excited.
Maria’s Carrie Bloomston quilt
Lots was going on at Sew Day. I only took a picture of one of Maria’s projects, but she was working on finishing quilts she started a long time ago.
This quilt, as you can see, is a medallion quilt using Carrie Bloomston fabrics. By the time we were done on Saturday, she had added a pink border with an arrow motif that looked great. I forgot to ask her if this was a pattern or if she was making it up as she went along. Regardless, it is a fun quilt that uses simple blocks to great effect.
Amy’s Ombre Christmas quilt
Amy is the Energizer Bunny of the guild. She brings one quilt to various Sew Days and retreats and keeps working on it until she is finished. She has a busy job and doesn’t have a lot of time to sew at home.
I love how this quilt does not scream Christmas, but definitely has ‘is it Christmas or winter’? vibe about it. I love the use of V&Co’s ombre fabrics. The trees are wonderful. I especially like the blue ones.
QST 16 in the wild
Roz was working on my QST 16 donation quilt. I was so happy to see it getting a binding. This is the first one I made and it is so close to getting out into the world even as I contemplate and work on blocks for number three.
I am always thrilled to see how many people work on donation quilts. I know I often say that, but it really does make me happy. They are really a group effort.
I was thrilled that Friend Julie was able to make it both days. Since the weather was bad (rain on and off, and wind), it is always a crapshoot whether she will be able to get off the mountain. She was working on her Gypsy Wife quilt, which looks great. Jen Kingwell is calling the Gypsy Wife something else now, but Julie is calling hers Bohemian Wife. She is using a lot of bright prints and I can’t wait to see it finished.
Chris’ stained glass quilt
Chris doesn’t often make it to Sew Day, but she was there both days and she was on fire, working on her blue Kaffe stained glass quilt.
I am not always a fan of stained glass quilts, because the black ‘lead’ lines ruin the design. Chris used blue and it looks much better than black would have. The Kaffe Collective, including my man, Phil’s, fabrics look really great. You can’t really fussy cut these types of quilts, but the large motifs really stand out and look great.
La Pass border #2,345
In addition to cutting out a number of projects, including the Hildegarde and finishing the Sweetbay cutting, I worked on La Pass and started to cut out another Piebald.
This is a really hard section, because I am trying to fill in the top where I refused cut off the giant and beautiful rosette. Now I have to add about a yard of border to that side.
I had to do taxes and vote on Sunday, so I didn’t get to follow-up on any of these projects, but I will soon.
This quilt is off to be quilted and, thereafter, to a new home.
The variety of blocks does not appeal to my desire for symmetry, but I feel like I need to be able to use the 16 patch blocks I make. I am thinking that I might change the color choices I make for donation blocks going forward. Still, I know someone will like it.
I would not be writing this post or showing you the art, if it weren’t for my friend Cyndi. She told me about this exhibition, she dropped off my quilt and also did some work for the hanging mechanism. I am not sure what I would do without her.
The Women’s View exhibit is installed in the County Center & Courthouse to celebrate Women’s History Month. This is the 18th year. I have never been before, but everything lined up really well. I took the day off work for an extra Sew Day and Cyndi and I left early to go to the artists reception.
Mike Callagi, County Executive
We arrived and only had a short chance to look around before there were presentations.
Mike Callagy, the County Executive gave the opening remarks. He was very complimentary about the quality of the art that was entered. He was also down to earth and funny.
Aimee Shapiro, Arts Commission
Aimee Shapiro followed him. She is brand new. She has had her job on the Arts Commission for 3 weeks! She thanked a lot of people who helped and also announced the winners, of which I was one! Yes, I won one of the Honorable Mention awards.
Nancy Riffle, Silent Grandeur
I think Women’s Work 1 fit into the theme, but I was super pleased that my QUILT (women’s work) got honorable mention up against paintings. I was further pleased that Nancy won honorable mention as well. Her piece was a scene from her trip to the Yukon and beautifully done. It was not only stitched, but she painted some of the motifs and embroidered bits as well. It is lovely.
Rebecca Archer, Mother to Son: don’t let them steal your sunshine
Some of the other pieces were wonderful. I saw Rebecca Archer’s piece soon after I arrived and I really like it. It is multimedia as well. She used fabric and paper along with paint.
The inside of the house is mostly strips of paper while the leaves on the tree are fabric. I don’t know how she decided, but the overall design is very cohesive. The imagery doesn’t look like she just added motifs or used materials just to do it. Rebecca won first place. I took this photo before we heard the results.
Dana Dillworth, Emerging from Repose: Eve of Eves
Andrea Kosmo, the Old Stem
Savitha Viswanathan, From Lucie, NY
Linda Maki, Red and White Chairs
Echo Lake Wodarczyk, Madness
Some other interesting images are above. I like Dana’s piece because of the washi tape she used. The Old Stem is interesting because it is a still life all in one color – or mostly one color with its compliment. I am a sucker for cake and dessert imagery, so Savitha’s piece is very appealing, especially since she added flowers. Linda’s chair remind me of wanting an Adirondack chair when the YM was a baby so I could sit with him in the backyard. I admire Echo’s technique and the way she used watercolor. Also, she won Third place and I wanted to get all the winners, but missed second place and the other two honorable mentions.
It was exciting, but I was exhausted by the end of the day and almost didn’t cook dinner.
We were talking, at Sew Day, about all the work that military wives do when their husbands get new assignments and I might have inspiration for the next quilt in the Women’s Work series. I have never been in that life, so the idea might be too presumptuous for me to make. We’ll see.
The San Mateo County Women’s View exhibit has a Gallery Guide that includes all of the artist statements. I am so pleased that I am a part of this exhibit and am thinking I will enter Who Am I? in next year’s exhibit.
The Minikins page is updated with new Bluestem pouches, a new Piebald pouch and new I Spy pouches.
The Quilt Class and Teaching page has also been updated. Get in touch if you want to learn a wide variety of techniques. I am hoping to start a class at the end of July.
My friend, Carrie, is always sending me different tutorials and pattern ideas, mostly for bags and pouches. She recently showed me the IG feed of AtelierCoraCaoEmRetalHos. She has some great bag shapes and some clever ways of putting them together. Very inspiring.
Tools, Books, Fabric, Notions & Supplies
The Quik Hang Magnetic Quilt Hanging System is the new product from Sew Tites. As I have said before, those women are on fire! The product enables quiltmakers to hang quilts and wallhangings using magnets. I haven’t tried it, but it does look interesting. “The system has 4 metal strips with pre-drilled holes to install permanently onto your wall and 6 super-strong SewTites magnets. You can leave the strips white or paint them to match your walls before installation. You may use all four strips, spaced however far apart you would like them, or just use two or three to accommodate all of the sizes of quilts you make.”
Media, Books and Articles
The MQG has a catalog of QuiltCon quilts for purchase. Pre-orders are available now. Note: I could only find the link to purchase on the MQG’s IG page. It was not on their website.
There is an interesting exhibit at the deYoung called Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care. It includes a part where the artist and/or his assistants will embellish torn clothes for you. The information about the exhibits is evocatively written in the article.
Other Artists
A friend of mine has become a master glass artist. Check out her website, Glass Art by Tracey, to see some beautiful pieces, such as bowls, cake stands (or footed bowls?) and wine racks.
None so far, but I am binding three projects, so stay tuned for the reveal.
Finished (for me!) Donation Quilts
As you know, I don’t quilt much. I really enjoy the collaborative effort of making a top and allowing someone else to quilt it. Thus, the quilts below are mostly tops, but I will include a finished quilt once someone else finishes it for the group.
WIPs are projects on which I am working. This means that I am past the cutting out of pieces stage, some sewing has taken place.
La Passacaglia – I am working on the border, but need to work more and harder.
Retreat Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list. I have started it, but stopped when I started thinking about whether to embellishing the straps.
EPPic Bag – I need to make a cover/ main exterior piece for this bag. I was thinking of a Pineapple block, but haven’t gotten back to it yet.
Still UFOs
I still have UFOs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled, it hasn’t been worked on in awhile or it is waiting its turn to be worked on. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
I am annoyed that some of these are still UFOs. I have to give myself credit for completing some of them last year.
Rose Petrillo bag – I found the pieces for this bag cut out, but not sewn.
Superbloom tote using Hindsight fabric – not started. I did pull the fabric, supplies and found a photo I plan to use as inspiration that others posted, so I am one step closer.
Handbag Sampler – this is still the forgotten project. I found one block in the not-too-distant past, but otherwise I don’t actually know exactly where the blocks are hiding. I crawled up in the far reaches of my fabric closet to see if I could find them and they weren’t where I thought. I am sort of mystified as to where they could be. I haven’t even found a picture of all the blocks. WTH?
I don’t know if I started off strong or not. I am diligently using 2.5 inch squares as leaders and enders, so I am slowly working up a nice stack of blocks.
This Pink Piebald went really quickly and I am pleased. There are a couple of techniques I need to practice and some other things I want to do differently to make this pattern more to my liking.
I am super pleased with the fussy cutting on the front. The flap is big enough for a whole spray of flowers, which I think adds a nice look to the pouch.
The front panel has less space, but I was able to center flowers on the whole piece.
Finished: Pink Piebald – back with strap
The back requires a much larger piece of fabric and I didn’t really fussy cut it. I didn’t think it needed the extra care since the back is partially covered by the strap. I did try to center one of the motifs, though the strap means you can’t really see it.
As mentioned, the strap is longer than the pattern shows. I tested it out as a wristlet and I think it will work. SIL#4 knits and I thought it might be a good project-on-the-go bag. I am going to ask her. The audience for this bag won’t really care or notice, I don’t think. I think they will be pleased they can use the pouch as a small purse.
Finished: Pink Piebald – lining
I ended up making the inside (lining) from the fabric I originally planned to use for the exterior. It is a little darker than I usually use, but I didn’t want to waste the pieces I had already cut. I think next time, I will see about fussy cutting a surprise onto the flap lining.
As a reminder, this pattern is from Sew Sweetness and is from Minikins Season 3.
If you ever watch the TV show Ghosts, you will know Flower. I watched the beginning episode of the season and decided that some Tula owl fabric would be good for this latest I Spy.
Flowl I Spy with Vervain templates
I know I always say that I don’t want animals looking at me from my quilts, but these I Spy pouches seem to be immune. Anyway, the owls will most be covered by the Vervain templates that now live in this pouch.
I know I have said this before, but these pouches make me really happy.
I started the fourth QST donation quilt. I wanted to use the pink 16 patches I had been making and this pattern is still interesting enough for me to want to make another top.
I am quite enamored of pink lately, for some reason. I am going with the flow and not trying to fight off the urge to use some pink.
Pink & Black QST #3 – testing more pink
I thought about using something other than white for the background, so I did a little testing. It didn’t really work out, so I ended up going with white.
I am glad I used my mantra “make visual decisions visually”. Even a solid (lower left hand corner) was a little too much pink for me. I could have tried other pinks, but decided just to get it done, so I cut up some white.
