ATC Follow-up

The CQFA meeting last Saturday went really well. We laughed a lot. Nancy, one of the members, is on a quest to improve her art. She took a long course (certificate program??) in Seattle that ended last year and is diligent. When she comes to the meeting she brings works that are very different from what the rest of bring. She often has interesting construction problems that make us think outside of the box. We were helping give her ideas about what she could use as a form and that led to extreme silliness as many great ideas were generated.

Everyone looked at the two Lark Books I received last Friday thoroughly and Terri said that she thinks Lark sold at least 10 copies by sending me those books. 😉

Maureen’s ATC exchange was a raging success. I showed mine last week in the Saturday post. I liked them, but they didn’t seem to be that popular. People made wonderful pieces, so perhaps it was just hard to choose.

March ATCs
March ATCs
The ATCS I Received
The ATCS I Received

Below are the others that members brought. The lower left is one of Sonja’s. Originally I picked a different one, but when I saw the chair, I switched!

Maureen's
Maureen’s

I didn’t get one of Maureen’s. I did get one of hers last time that I keep where I can see it all the time.

Bron's
Bron’s

Bron’s have a very New Zealand look to them. She doesn’t do a lot of fiber, so I was glad I chose one of hers.

Caroline's
Caroline’s

Caroline’s jacket was in these same colors. I think she works in them a lot.

Dolores'
Dolores’

I was also sorry not to get one of Dolores’. She did a great quilt at the retreat in January and I admire her dedication to her work. How do you like that one curved corner? Clever, don’t you think?

Sonja's
Sonja’s

Sonja’s are very subtle this time.

Diane's
Diane’s
Robin's
Robin’s
Sue's
Sue’s

I think this is the first time that Sue has participated. I didn’t get one of hers either. The flowers really attracted me.

Debbie's
Debbie’s

Debbie hasn’t been to a meeting in a long time, so I was pleased to see that she brought ATCs. I was also pleased to see that she used her signature style on them.

More on the Quilt Retreat

I have a lot of talented colleagues who also attended the quilt retreat. I realized, after I got home, that the pictures I thought I took only were taken in my head. Sigh.

Dolores 2010 #1
Dolores 2010 #1

Dolores, for whom I made the pencil roll, is really making progress in her work. She takes classes deliberately from well respected quiltmakers and works through the techniques and makes it her own. For the past several years, she has worked in neutrals. This year she decided that she was going to add color back into the equation. This piece is from a photograph (right) and some techniques she learned in a class with Caryl Bryer Fallert. Dolores reworked the photo on her computer and then blew up the pattern, transferred it to freezer paper and used Fallert’s method of piecing to create the top.

Sonja, a new CQFAer was working with FabMo fabrics and just playing. She did a fabulous wave piece that I was really sorry not to have taken a picture of.

Sue and I are kindred spirits in that we both like to make quick projects in between our larger quilt projects. She worked on totes, scarves AND basted two quilts!

FabMo also has wallpaper -high end wallpaper – and Jan has been experimenting with folded boxes and bags using pieces of the free wallpaper. They are fabulous. She is also working on a piece based on the view of Nebraska from a plane. She worked on embellishing the circles she was making. Jan was sitting next to me and we talked about color, because she is finding her piece too dull. We discussed colors that would fit with her nature theme.

Julie's Hearts
Julie's Hearts

Julie bought a pack of Moda turnovers and is making a fun and sweet Valentine’s Day quilt. She is trying to limit her need to cut and this was a great way to do it.

Julie's Hearts #1
Julie's Hearts #1

Here is Julie’s quilt before she started on the appliquéd hearts.

Julie's Heart Art
Julie's Heart Art

Above shows her machine applique’ pieces waiting for their turn under the needle as well as the tools that are required for excellent quilting (glasses, rulers and coffee!). 😉

Illuminated Manuscript Heart
Illuminated Manuscript Heart

I thought that the above block looked like one of the illustrations in an illuminated manuscript.

Good Color Combo Heart
Good Color Combo Heart

This is a nice color combination. I am not sure the computer intermediation shows the subtlety, but it s great.

Skull Heart
Skull Heart

We talked a lot about this block, because of the skull. It is the block that shows that relationships can be icky and rocky sometimes. Fun fabric, though.

Maureen tried the pencil roll pattern and came up with a nice piece using some of her hand dyes and some FabMo fabric.

Terri worked on getting some tops put together. One was an exchange top that included some really nice batiks.

Debbie was trying to finish her daughter’s college quilt. She was using some very jewel-y turquoise, purples and other blues. It was very rich looking.

Kathy is a member’s daughter. We haven’t seen any of her work before this weekend. It turns out that she does wonderful handwork. She is working on this Piece O’Cake design, do it mostly by hand. I like the color choices she made. They are a bit muted, but not murky.

Kathy's Piece O'Cake
Kathy's Piece O'Cake

She didn’t like the scallop border that came with the pattern, so she designed this leaf border on her own.

Kathy's Leaf Border
Kathy's Leaf Border

CQFA Retreat 2010

FOTY Top Complete
FOTY Top Complete

This past weekend was our annual CQFA retreat by the beach. I spent the weekend working on the FOTY 2009. I also relaxed a little even though I spent a lot of time hard at hard sewing. My body is rebelling a bit from sitting so much and standing so much.

Last few FOTY blocks
Last few FOTY blocks

First, I found the last few FOTY blocks on my design wall before I left and I wanted to post a picture of them. I didn’t think I would use the one with the earthy brown (middle row, middle block) on the front, but I ended up using it.

FOTY 2009 in progress
FOTY 2009 in progress

I really worked hard on the piece. As with last year’s piece, there is a lot of sewing and pressing. The process, after I figured out the size and laid the blocks out was to sew two Zanzibar blocks together, press, put back on the design wall, sew two Zanzibar blocks together, press, put back on the design wall and then repeat that process 133 times. Once I sewed sets of blocks together, then I sewed two sets of two blocks together to make a set of four. I did that approximately 67 times. Since I wasn’t in my own workroom I had to walk around my table, past another table and into the corner to get to the iron. The distance was inconvenient, but also good, because it forced me to stretch my body. Putting the top together was a lot of rote sewing, but it was the perfect project for the retreat.

I did a few things differently this year. One was to count up the blocks and try to make a plan as to how I would lay them out before I arrived at the retreat location and was standing in front of my design wall.  I knew I had 225 blocks, so I thought I would lay them out in a 15×15 format. What I didn’t take into the consideration was the size of the portable design wall. If I placed 15 blocks down, 3 of them were on the floor. I didn’t want to work with blocks on the floor even though I could have. It is hard to photograph the in progress piece. It is easy to forget some of the blocks, etc. I reconfigured the layout and ended up with, I believe, 12 down and 19 across. I prefer a rectangular layout anyway so it worked out. I needed another block, however, so the earthy brown one ended up on the front. In the grand scheme, it doesn’t scream brown out of the quilt.

Color Sorting
Color Sorting

I also sorted the blocks. Last year, I think I just put them up in general areas on the design wall and then I had to move them around a lot. This time I sorted the fabrics on the table, put them in Roy G. Biv + white and black order and then put them up on the design wall. This strategy was a lot easier. I didn’t have move such large groups of blocks over and over. I had to move some groups, but the whole process was much easier. Below is a progression of how the piece evolved as I worked on the color:

#1 Blocks on the design wall
#1 Blocks on the design wall
#2 Blocks on the design wall
#2 Blocks on the design wall
#3 Blocks on the design wall
#3 Blocks on the design wall
#4 Blocks on the design wall
#4 Blocks on the design wall

Another thing I did differently this year was ask some of the other retreaters if any blocks stood out to them in an “I am out of place in this quilt” kind of way. Many of the CQFAers are really skilled designers, others are skilled colorists. All of them have something wonderful to offer if I remember to ask and listen.

I was looking at FOTY 2008 last week and found that there were some rectangles I really should have moved. It is by no means a horrible quilt, but I should have played with the layout a bit more. Asking for help was a great strategy, because people mostly liked the color work I did and I got lots of kudos, but some of the blocks jumped out at them. Funnily enough the blocks they noticed, for the most part, did not jump out at me. Almost exclusively, these were blocks that were hard to place – multi-color fabrics, conversationals, light backgrounds almost completely covered by various colors, etc. The CQFA group is great, because they helped me place the problematic blocks to their best advantage. In this way, I also learned.

FOTY 2009 Upper left corner
FOTY 2009 Upper left corner
FOTY 2009 Lower left corner
FOTY 2009 Lower left corner
FOTY 2009 Upper right corner
FOTY 2009 Upper right corner
FOTY 2009 Lower right corner
FOTY 2009 Lower right corner

I spent a good portion of the retreat sewing the quilt top together. Open house at school was today, so I had to leave the retreat early and only got some straps for my next Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote done. I really wanted to stay, but am glad I was able to have a chat with various teachers at school as well. There is always so much to do!

Visiting a Guild

I visited the San Francisco Quilt Guild on Tuesday of last week because Mike McNamara was going to speak. I haven’t been a member of that guild for a long time, bu I recently started getting notices of upcoming speakers. I was pleased that they are now meeting closer to where I live and that the group seems to have lightened up a bit.

I was amazed at all they do. They gave over 100 quilts to the local public nursing home. They are having a Quiltaway next year and have lots of activities surrounding that.

I spent some time talking with Mike McNamara (called Mac) about his quilts and his working style. He lives in the City and also has a studio. I tried to question him closely about how he works that style of working. I have thought about getting a studio, but can’t quite figure out how I would have all the supplies I needed in the location I was working in at the time.

Scissor Quilt
Scissor Quilt

I saw one of Mac’s quilts at PIQF and it stuck in my mind, which was part of the reason I wanted to go to the meeting. I also just needed a jolt of some other quiltmakers. The holidays demand more of my time and that time usually gets taken away from my quiltmaking time. My mom came with me.

Scissor Quilt - detail 1
Scissor Quilt - detail 1

The scissors were added using a Thermofax machine.

Scissor Quilt - detail 2
Scissor Quilt - detail 2

Mac stepped in front of the quilt at one point and said that one thing he didn’t realize until he was giving a trunk show was that if he stood in front of the quilt it looked like it was raining scissors.

Double Wedding Ring
Double Wedding Ring

Mac has a series of Double Wedding Rings that he has been working on. He has made 13 or 14.

Double Wedding Ring - detail
Double Wedding Ring - detail

You can see the rings really well in this version of the DWR. Above is the detail of the gold rings and how he combines fabric.

Mike McNamara Quilt
Mike McNamara Quilt

I don’t remember the name of this quilt. He uses a block called the ‘Magic Block’ quite often. You can see it in the upper left hand corner. It has a black kind of cross in the center.

Mike McNamara Quilt - detail 1
Mike McNamara Quilt - detail 1

Love the coffee fabric. This is also a good example of the curved piecing techniques he uses frequently.

Mike McNamara Quilt - detail 2
Mike McNamara Quilt - detail 2

You can also see the cool bamboo fabric in the above detail.

Double Wedding Ring #2 - detail 1
Double Wedding Ring #2 - detail 1

This is another one of Mac’s DWRs. It is actually a straight block quilt. Some of the blocks were made from different fabrics then trimmed to make a block.

Double Wedding Ring - detail 3
Double Wedding Ring - detail 3

Elvis fabric in the DWR quilt.

Double Wedding Ring #2 - detail 2
Double Wedding Ring #2 - detail 2

Each of Mac’s quilts are made for a friend with the understanding that he gets to use the quilt for his trunk shows for 5 years. As a result of making quilts for friends, each of his quilts have stories associated with them. Because of the stories, he finds and uses a lot of interesting fabrics including the skull fabric above.

Ohio Star
Ohio Star

I liked this Ohio Star quilt. Actually l really liked the movement of the Ohio Star blocks. I also like that tree fabric he used.

Ohio Star - detail
Ohio Star - detail

I like the swirly fabric around the upper Ohio Star.

ATC Day at CQFA

Creative Prompt ATCs #1
Creative Prompt ATCs #1

The CQFA met at Always Quilting yesterday. The Always Quilting strip club was also meeting and somehow the space issue got mixed up so we crammed into one of their small rooms to do business, show and tell and swap ATCs. A few of us got in some project work also.

I am working on a deck of creative prompt cards using playing card blanks as the base. I decided that the ATC swap in CQFA would be another way of creating more prompt cards and expanding the Creative Prompt Project. The cards to the left are the ones I created for this month’s swap. They are ok. I did stitch words on them for the prompt and the words don’t stand out very well, which is disappointing. I should have used yellow thread to make the words stand out better. I will try and create more contrast next time.

In some ways this format is too small for me. In other ways, it is a good size, because it allows me to finish something and use up some scraps. I have been using scraps for all of the ATCs I have made so far. I am struggling with creating successful designs give the format and parameters. I am okay with not being as successful as I would have liked with this groupsince I only committed a little time to the project. I want to look at it as a learning experience. I have an ATC book, so I will look in there to get some ideas.

Maureen did a good job organizing the swap. She changed the guidelines a little this time. What I realized, after the change, is that I need to make my two sets of cards using different designs. Some people ended up with two of my cards. Since I used the same design for all they received duplicates. That is disappointing for them. I don’t know if it is better to do multiples of the same or if I should make each one different or somewhere in between? I’ll try something a little different next time.

ATC Back with Label
ATC Back with Label

One of the CQFA members made a little label for her pillows and bags. I saw it when she showed her oilcloth bags and pillows at the last meeting. Something sparked in my mind. I haven’t been putting any labels or anything on my tote bags. I thought this would be a great solution.

Making the labels had been on my mental to do list for awhile, but it was just this week that I was actually able to sit and do it. I used the table function in Word, bu any word processor will do. I inserted the picture, wrote the text, played with the spacing as well as the font size and tested it on a regular sheet of paper before I printed it on a sheet of paper backed fabric. I am pretty pleased with the way it came out.

One of the things that the grid (from the table) did was give me a cutting line. Since the 9K is in the shop again, I had to play around with where the zigzag stitched on the Jem.

The picture is a .jpg of my Avatar. I originally made it on Elouai.com. Their Avatar maker has some fun options as well as the ability to save as a .jpg file.

I think this mini-label will be a good option for bags and pillows and other little items that I seem to be working on at the moment. It might also work for small quilts where I don’t really want to take up half the back with a regular quilt type label a la the Pamela Allen quilts. I’ll have to see.

My new ATCs
My new ATCs

These are my new ATCs. I was really enamoured and inspired by the various techniques that people used. I especially liked the lower right (#3). Maureen made that and there is a wire on top of the red netting that says create! It is another creative prompt! I had to have it and was thrilled that it was available when it was my turn to pick.

CQFAers ATCs Group #1
CQFAers ATCs Group #1

A new person, Sonja, came to the meeting today. Her ATCs were fabulous. She made the ones with the sun and clouds. I really wanted a piece of the sun, but got a piece of the clouds with which I am happy. Dolores’ cards are on the top with the leaves. I’ll have to get one of those baseball card binders to keep all of these ATCs in.

CQFAers ATC Group #2
CQFAers ATC Group #2

Maureen’s ATCs are in the above picture underneath mine. I love the one with squares on the left, but it didn’t come home with me.

CQFAers ATC Group #3
CQFAers ATC Group #3

In the group above are ATCs made my JulieZS (top), Linda (left) and the famous, much loved writer Terri Thayer made some, which are pictured on the bottom right. One thing that I liked about Julie’s and Linda’s ATCs was that they both cut up pieces of projects that weren’t working and made them into successful ATCs.  Terri is playing with stamps and embellishments in this group as well as the ones she brought to the last meeting.

CQFA ATCS Round 2
CQFA ATCS Round 2

Above is the second group of ATCs for round 2 swapping.

I never wanted to collect ATCs. I am finding that I do enjoy seeing different techniques which people are using.

As an aside, someone directed me to Teesha Moore for art retreats. Her opening page looks like ATCs

ATCs at CQFA

First ATCs
First ATCs

While you were sipping your cappucinos this morning, I was finishing the edges of my very first ATCs – Artist Trading Cards – and dashing off to meet with my fellow CQFAers.

Maureen had suggested that we do a swap of ATCs. In the spirit of the Creative Prompt project, I decided that making them would be good for my creativity. And it was! I did them when I came home from work on Tuesday after one of the most grueling work days I think I have ever had. Immersing myself in some fiber took my mind off of the lunatics downtown. I didn’t have much brainpower and, thus, didn’t overthink the design. All of the fabrics came out of my scrap basket. I wasn’t sure what to use for the center so I used two layers of Pellon Stitch and Tear, which I use for stabilizing machine applique’. The ATCs felt right in terms of stiffness and I didn’t have any problems with sewing through the 4 layers. It all seemed to work just fine.

ATC backs
ATC backs

The ATCs are 2.5×3.5″ inches and I know that there are a zillion sources for instructions all over the web. Typical of me, I didn’t look at any of them. 😉

Sometimes I just need to do the work. I figured they were small enough and I could toss them if I didn’t like them.

I grabbed more fabric out of my scrap basket for the backs. The red dots and the Denyse Schmidt flowers are my favorites. One of my criteria was that I had to be able to write on the back, so my favorites weren’t ideal. The other plainer fabrics were better. I tried to use the stitch lettering that I used to use for labels on these ATCs, but my machine is starting to act up 🙁 and I couldn’t get it to work.

MPL's ATCs
MPL's ATCs

Maureen’s ATCs include the car in the group. Maureen is a quiltmaker I really admire, because she is constantly trying new things.

Her ATCs were a revelation, because they were all different! Mine are sort of different, but really the same. Maureen created different designs on each card. WOW! Not sure why I didn’t think of that, but perhaps I will do something similar next time.

Terri let me know that Diane and Nancy’s ATCs were mixed in with Maureen’s. I didn’t pay close enough attention to know whose are whose. Sorry ladies!

I thought I would make more of the same for next time, but after doing the swap, I think people will be looking for something new and exciting.

Terri's work
Terri's work

Terri is a mystery writer who incorporates quilts and quiltmaking into her stories. If you haven’t read Ocean Waves, Old Maid’s Puzzle, or Wild Goose Chase, get yourself to the Library or bookstore! Her ATCs had a mystery theme and were business card size. Terri used the business card sized advertisements as the backing! Clever!

In addition to paper and fabric, Terri also added 3D ribbon and rubber stamping to her cards. I have rubber stamps! Perhaps I will drag them out for the next round.

LC's Work
LC's Work

Linda‘s ATCs look marbled to me. She is a talented machine quilter. She produces lots of small works frequently by participating in such challenges as the Fast Friday Challenge. She has recently been doing succulents, which she says are too dark for her tastes. Most of her work is very bright – lime green, fuschia, bright blue, etc as Linda uses lots of hand dyes.

Linda talks about her ATCs on a blog post from a few days ago. It looks like she made a big piece and then cut it up. Another great idea!

Bron's ATCs
Bron's ATCs

I haven’t seen very much of Bron’s work and was really excited when she laid out her ATCs. Bron’s raven piece and her stamp piece both caught my eye. I couldn’t stop staring at them during the entire swap. I am not sure why. I guess Amy over at the Creative Mom podcast is on my mind both because of the ATCs and because of the birds.

Bron also chose to make different designs. Her media varied quite a lot as well. She used fabric, paint, paper, beads and different ephemera such as stamps.  I picked up the stamp card from Bron’s offerings.

Bron's Stamp ATC
Bron's Stamp ATC

The colors drew me to this piece. They were really vibrant and attractive. I am like a bee in spring, I guess. 😉 I really liked the textures on this card as well as the airmail stamps.

VS works
VS works

Virginia is a quiltmaker I really admire. She has a quiet presence that smolders. When she finishes a quilt or a set of placemats or something, they set the room on fire: excellent stitching, perfect corners, wonderful fabrics and a great design. I really wish she lived closer as I would try to spend more time learning with her.

Virginia did photo transfer with fabric, paper and stitching. I wasn’t as excited about them because of the black and white. I did love the stitching around the edge.

Diane brought some as well and somehow I missed photographing them. Perhaps next time.

While I am not particularly interested in ATCs, I found this to be a good exercise. Not so much in what I made, but in seeing what everyone else made and getting inspired by their work. I may have a chance to try out some of these ideas as Maureen suggested that he group make this activity a regular part of the meeting. Hhmm…

Quilting By the Sea #2

The second CQFA Retreat was the weekend of January 25, 2009 (read about the first retreat here). What a great weekend for sewing. You have already seen my completed top, FOTY 2008, but I thought I would share some of the highlights of the trip and other people’s projects with you. I highly recommend going on a weekend retreat once in a while, especially if you normally don’t get several hours of uninterrupted time to do your sewing.


On Saturday, I went out for a walk and to get some food and saw this flower, which I thought might make a nice sketch or a “Big Idea” for a quilt.


Terri, a talented writer whose books you should go out and buy right now, is also a talented quiltmaker. Above is her Kaleidoscope project. Since I had recently completed the Eye Spy top, I gave her some unsolicited advice on putting the top together. One of the things that I enjoy about the retreat is that I like seeing what people are making. Terri uses a very different color palette than I do, but it was great to see how she worked on the hexagons.

CQFA has a free fabric connection. Julie went and got some free fabric and made the above couch throw out of it. I love the cabbage rose feel that this top has, mostly because it is not too sickly sweet.

I didn’t crop the photo above, because I wanted you to see the set up. Julie and I were working at the table on the left side of the photo. You can see FOTY 2008 on my portable design wall in the background. Dolores was working on the right. We had nice big tables to work on.

Dolores, the organizer, had a goal of getting to know everyone better. Last year people did introductions and everyone talked about how they got into quiltmaking. This year she asked everyone to talk about what inspires them. Above is a picture of everyone gathering around one person’s work.

Debbie talked about taking a summer course at Cabrillo College with Richard Elliott. The class was called something like Frankenstein Fabric and they learned to manipulate fabric in new and interesting ways. The fabric above has been manipulated so that it has little puffs all over it.

The fabric has a high polyester content. Debbie does really interesting things with fiber and is very involved with SAQA.

All in all, the weekend was a big success. I certainly got a lot done and was pleased to be able to spend some extra time with Julie.

Longarm Demo


I went to the CQFA Meeting yesterday, which was held at Always Quilting in San Mateo. One of the reasons we went there was to get a demo of their longarm quilting machine and find out about learning to use it. I took the above video at the demo.

I tried out the machine as well and found it very easy to drive. Kit, one of the shop owners, had already loaded the machine with fabric for us to work on. She gave us a lecture on preparing the quilt for the machine and how their program of learning to load and use the machine worked. I thought she was a good lecturer and gave many good hints for preparing a quilt to be longarm quilted.

I have worked with a longarm quilter for awhile and know how she wants things prepared. I was surprised to hear that Always Quilting likes things a little differently done.

After the demo, we went to the back room, had lunch, worked on projects (see later post for pics of my work) and had our regular meeting.

I ended up signing up to take their their longarm quilting training in January. Their policy is to take the training and then you are allowed to rent the machine. I don’t expect that I will quilt all of my quilts myself, but I think it will be good to quilt some of them myself, and perhaps, less expensive. In any case, education is always a good thing.

All in all it was a fun day.