Kaffe Lecture: Saratoga

As you know, I have been to a Kaffe Fassett lecture before. There elements of commonality between this lecture and the last one, but it was just different enough to keep my interest. Also, I did enjoy revisiting elements of the lecture that I had heard before.

Kaffe book and fabric
Kaffe book and fabric

Kaffe is a good lecturer. He is interesting, enthusiastic and funny. I wanted to be his best friend as I sat there and listened to him speak. As part of the lecture fee, I got his latest book. I love the colors and the fabrics (of course) and somehow some of the quilts in this book speak to me. I am not particularly enamoured, in general. I don’t dislike them; I just don’t really think about them. These quilts are all medallion quilts and many of them are wonderful. I think it has to be the fabric.

Moussaka
Moussaka

First, Friend Julie and I met up at a Mediterranean restaurant. We have been going Med instead of Mexican because of some allergy issues she is having. It is great to test out some new dishes. It expands my GF horizons beyond corn tortillas.

I was pretty excited when I found out that they made their Moussaka with rice flour. I was finally able to try it after reading about it The Shell Seekers for years. It wasn’t very spicy. In a way, it was like eating a lasagna with eggplant instead of pasta. I enjoyed it immensely.

After dinner, where I stuffed myself silly, we headed over to the venue and waited in a not-too-long line. Fortunately, they were well organized and we were in the hall with our books in no time. While we waited for Kaffe, we poured over the book. We spent time looking at the photos and ooohing and aaahing. The photos, fabrics and colors are fantastic.

Kaffe Fassett Color Lecture
Kaffe Fassett Color Lecture

The lecture started late with an introduction by Brandon Mably before Kaffe came out. He talked about their journey, where they were going and a few other things.

Kaffe’s lecture started with his childhood in Nepenthe near Big Sur. It isn’t very far from here and near where Friend Julie lives. Some of his lecture was similar to the last one we attended. It was, however, different enough that I wanted more. I couldn’t have listened to him for weeks.

I really need to find a class I want to take with him. I want a class that I can’t do without him as a teacher. I am not sure he teaches that way.

Freddy Moran Lecture

Freddy Moran -http://www.santabarbaraquilting.com/images/freddy-1.jpg
Freddy Moran -http://www.santabarbaraquilting.com/images/freddy-1.jpg

At the end of July, I went to a Freddy Moran lecture at the San Francisco Quilter’s Guild. I am not a member, but they do get good speakers, so I try and go once in a while.

End of July? I know. This post has been laying around for awhile.

I like Freddy’s work because it is bright and I like her work because of her collaborations with Gwen Marston. I have heard her speak a few times and have dozens of quilts from the books she has written on my “to make” list. Actually, I want to make quilts as bright as hers more than I want to make the actual patterns. She inspired me to use dots and colors as neutrals.

Freddy is getting quite old (approaching 90) and her husband died last year, which sent her into a tailspin. She talked about the changes in her life affecting her work and methods in the lecture.

Freddy started out her quiltmaking “career” with a sampler quilt, but didn’t feel she was very good at the technical aspects of quiltmaking. She didn’t start until she was over 60 and her kids were grown, which she thought was part of the issue. At some point she made a house block and that sent her off in the direction of multiple house blocks. She made a number of house quilts and found that bright colors were what she liked. She doesn’t think she is particularly good at technique and now doesn’t even sew much.

Freddy showed a number of quilts, which look different from her house quilts. I could still see the ‘Freddy touch’ when I looked at them as well as the influence of her collaboration with Gwen Marston. I especially like the basket quilt. I’d also love to make a row quilt like hers.

Freddy Moran's Applique'
Freddy Moran’s Applique’

She is doing a new collaboration with her quilter now where she glue sticks fabric and motifs to a background fabric and then her quilter “appli-quilts” the pieces to the background.

She has other new pieces which remind me of Mary Mashuta’s “Pushed Neutral” technique, which was so intriguing when I started making art quilts.

I really enjoyed the lecture. I wish I could go and spend time with the various quiltmakers I admire and see what they think of my work.

Kaffe Lecture

Last weekend, or sometime in the not too distant past, Julie and I went to the Kaffe Fassett lecture sponsored by the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. I have been to one of his lectures before and thought this might be a repeat. There were some repeats, but mostly not. I always enjoy being in the shadow of greatness.

The lecture last week (or whenever) was related to the one in 2009, but this lecture was much more about inspiration than last time, which was more about color. Of course, you can’t listen to Kaffe Fassett without getting immersed in color.

He gave some background, but not as much as last time. I had forgotten he is a native San Franciscan and that he is trying to forget his boring given name. He picked Kaffe from an Egyptian fairy tale he read. He talked, as I said, mostly about inspiration, but also about all of his crafts.

He showed a couple of his paintings, from way back in the day, and I loved them! The one I liked most was a still life of cups and a teapot mostly painted in white with a few other neutrals -greys, beige- thrown in. I thought it would be fantastic to try a quilt like that. It would be an interesting challenge, though I would probably get bored with the process in 5 minutes. I have a hangover from arranging FOTY 2015 and can’t even imagine colorwashing a bunch of whites.

His main message was that inspiration is everywhere. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I agree. As an example, he showed a photo of a sewer grate in London and pointed out what he saw. I remember that his eye gravitated mostly to the color. I really enjoy looking at a photo and hearing what other people see. I get a fresh view.

Kaffe gave numerous examples of scenes he had seen, what had inspired him about the scene and the quilt (or sweater or cushion) he had made from them. He didn’t just say “here is a scene I liked” and then show the quilt he made, he talked about what he liked about the imagery in the photo. In some cases, there was only a hint of color from the inspiration in the quilt. Still, I could see the remnants of the images in his work. This made me think that I get inspiration from pattern more than from scenes.

I had to ask about his association with Philip Jacobs (my main fabric man, Phil) and I was actually able to the question in at the Q/A section. He said that Philip does some of the most exquisite drawings, which is true, and when they first started working together, Kaffe would do the color for him. Philip would bring the drawings in black and white or neutrals and Kaffe would color them in. He was thrilled, because color was the best part for him. Recently Philip has been adding in color and Kaffe thinks he likes color now. They must have started working together around the time I was at the last lecture as I make an illusion to that in the post.

Kaffe talked without notes and was a very good speaker. He didn’t say ‘um’ a lot and didn’t have verbal tics. KF was a confident speaker, which I appreciate. I will make an effort to translate that to my own speaking engagements.

Color and texture was infused throughout the talk as well. He loves a lot of riotous, which do work, motifs put together.

He mentioned that he doesn’t do his own sewing. I thought that was interesting and my mind immediately went back to the Luke Haynes “controversy” that was brought up at QuiltCon.**

I felt energized after the talk, especially after a week of no sewing and not even being near my machine.

I didn’t bring books to sign this time as I had to rush off to a graduation party, so I was glad to see that I had 6 of them signed last time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**As an FYI, I subscribe to the “do what works for you” method of quilting. I can’t say anything derogatory about either of these guys as I send almost all of my quilts out to be quilted. I wonder if farming out the piecing is a guy thing?

Reno’s Premier Quiltmaking Event: Make it Modern

Make It Modern
Make It Modern

My friend Kathleen is organizing a great event in beautiful Reno: Make it Modern. This is the premier Reno event for modern quiltmakers. It is a great opportunity to work with a couple of QuiltCon 2016’s hottest designers.

What: Fun and fabulous days of creating, led by modern quilters Christina Cameli and Libs Elliott. Additional help, discussions, and general shenanigans each evening at the sewing salon, and a trunk show on Sunday morning.

Where: Peppermill Resort, Reno, Nevada

When: June 9-12, 2016

Who: Christina Cameli and Libs Elliot will be teaching

Why: Because it is fun to meet up with other like minded quiltmakers and have some fun sewing

How: easy access by car and plane

Find out more information and register on the Make It Modern Events website.

Make it Modern – Reno

Make It Modern
Make It Modern

My friend, Kathleen, is organizing a great event in beautiful Reno: Make it Modern.

What: Fun and fabulous days of creating, led by modern quilters Christina Cameli and Libs Elliott. Additional help, discussions, and general shenanigans each evening at the sewing salon, and a trunk show on Sunday morning.

Where: Peppermill Resort, Reno, Nevada

When: June 9-12, 2016

Who: Christina Cameli and Libs Elliot will be teaching

Why: Because it is fun to meet up with other like minded quiltmakers and have some fun sewing

How: easy access by car and plane

Find out more information and register on the Make It Modern Events website.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival 2015

I decided to enter the Blogger’s Quilt Festival put on by Amy’s Creative Side since, for once, I have a really great picture of a quilt that fits the criteria.

Russian Rubix was finished this year.

Materials

  • 100% cotton fabric
  • 100% cotton thread

Techniques

  • Machine pieced
  • Longarm quilted
Russian Rubix
Russian Rubix

Details:

  • Year: 2013-2015
  • Size: 85”x85.5”
  • Fabric: various

Quilted By:

  • Colleen Granger

 

Details

I saw this pattern at Always Quilting when I was visiting there with Susan, the History Quilter. After some back and forth via email, we decided to both make the quilts. I used a selection of fabrics I chose carefully, which I subsequently used for two other projects. I wanted to make the pattern, by April Rosenthal, my own, so I changed it up a little bit by dropping some of the octagons in the center and adding an octagon border. The octagons were a bit of a challenge, but I got into a routine and they went together with no problem.

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2015
Blogger’s Quilt Festival 2015

Black Friday Sew-in Info

Thanks to http://www.tullahomanews.com
Thanks to http://www.tullahomanews.com

If you haven’t heard, I wanted to let you know that there will be a Black Friday Sew-in on Friday 11/29. It is a way to sew with friends and stay in your pajamas. Many participants will be starting the latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice. Many people will be catching up on Scrapitude and others will be getting ready for the holidays or finishing up year end projects for Tanesha’s UFO challenge.

I am giving away several books, a bit of fabric and a DVD. Some podcasters are also giving away prizes. There will be some giveaways on Twitter (use hashtag #BFSI to find tweets). If you do not tweet, you can follow along on Tweetchat at www.tweetchat.com, then choose the #BFSI hashtag.

Check the following blogs for more info on Friday. This may not be a complete list.

If you want to join in, search for or just tweet using the #BFSI hashtag.

A BIG thank you to Lark Crafts for sending books to giveaway.

If you want to know what to expect, read about last year’s event.

See you there!

Aprons Doing Good

Apron Front
Apron Front

Jennifer at CraftSanity is running in a race for charity in May. She is part of a special training group called the Road Warriors. The Road Warrior team members get training mentors, have a blog and train together. She has been paired with a domestic violence shelter. In order to be part of the Road Warrior team, she needs to raise a certain amount of money for a charity. Instead of going door to door to gather donations, Jenifer is organizing an apron exhibit. To do that she needs aprons. I decided to make and send her one.

Apron Right (Tarty view)
Apron Right (Tarty view)

I had listened to the Patchwork and Pacifiers podcast just before listening to Jennifer’s newest CraftSanity podcast that mentioned the apron contest. The P&P podcast is one to which I just started to listen. On that day, I heard Jennifer Ruvalcaba (P&: host) briefly mention a petal skirt her daughter had. Then, when Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood (too many Jennifers doing podcasts??) mentioned the apron contest an image formed in my mind.  Then, I was looking the One Yard Wonders book. That combined with the various other sensory inputs and I was off and running.

The Kitschy Kitchen Apron from One Yard Wonders was a big help with sizing and length of the straps. I had a good time working on it as well, though I found it to be quite a solitary endeavor.

Apron Front (Supermodel view)
Apron Front (Supermodel view)

One of the requirements of the exhibit is to add a piece of tie fabric to the apron. I wanted to put a flower made from the tie fabric on the apron, so I had to go and find a pattern, which, through the power of the ‘craft’ web, I was able to do quite easily. I found a site, Tip Junkie, which had a number of different patterns. I ended up using Pink Paper Peppermints Rounded Petal Fabric Flower pattern to make my flower. The tie fabric frayed quite a bit, so it wasn’t a particularly fun process, but I learned how to make fabric flowers. I could have used Fray Check, but I was afraid it would stain the fabric.

Apron Side
Apron Side

I spent most of the weekend working on the apron. I had actually been thinking about making one for awhile for no particular reason.. This was the perfect opportunity. It isn’t a quilt, but it may have gotten that particular wish out of my system.

I didn’t take pictures of all the steps. It just didn’t seem right. I feel good making the things I have for charity lately. I feel like I am doing some good in some small way. I hope you will join in and send an apron to Jennifer at CraftSanity as well. If you can’t make an apron read the post to find out other ways to help.

Apron Bow
Apron Bow

Art Quilting Studio Signing

If you are an Orange County reader, then July 12 is your lucky day, because one of the artists from the Premier issue of Art Quilting Studio will be signing the issue. Stop if you can; I’d love to hear about it.
clipped from jennydoh.typepad.com

BARNES & NOBLE (HEARTS) ART QUILTING STUDIO

Mark your calendars! On Sunday, July 12th at the Orange Town & Country Barnes & Noble (791 South Main Street, Suite 100, Orange, CA 92868) …

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Cover artist Ruth Rae and I will be on hand to sign copies of the premier issue of Art Quilting Studio from 2:00 to 5:00 PM.

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  blog it

Gualala Arts Center Quilt Exhibit Catalog

I bought a slim volume from the Gualala Arts Center (707-884-1138) containing quilts from the Penny Nii collection. Sue Friedland wrote: “Title: 4 x 4 x 12 BY 3 X 3 X 9
The 4 x 4 x 12 refers to a collection of art quilts commissioned in the 1990s, from leading international artquilters, by Penny Nii of San Francisco. The twelve 48 inch square artquilts, by such luminaries as Michael James, Judith Larzelere, Libby Lehman, Theresa May and our own Sue Friedland, have never before being exhibited publicly. With them will be nine 36 inch square quilts by local artquilters — Mary Austin, Annie Beckett, Suzan Friedland, Kathye Hitt, Iris Lorenz-Fife, Janet Sears, Carol Tackett, Bonnie Toy, and yourself…”

I had a hard time actually getting a hold of someone at the arts center who would sell it to me, but eventually I received my copy. The quilts are great. Star by Leslie Gabrielse is interesting because of the incorporation of classical elements into this art quilts. Jane Sassaman’s Brocade in in her style, but looks very similar to a row quilt.

It is worth getting a copy of this little catalog. I hope it has success so that other quilt exhibits will be encouraged to print catalogs.