Category: Quilting in Maine

Quilting, mine and others

Turkey Tracks: A Modern Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  February 12, 2019

A Modern Quilt

Rebecca Hokkanen is one of our snow birds who winters in Florida.  She sent me this picture of a modern quilt, and I thought you all might like to see it as well.

Rebecca wrote “I attended an “Airing of the Quilts” in Venice. The quilts were all designed by members of the local modern quilt group.  This one brought you to my mind because of the use of the muted colors ( low value/low volume?).”

It’s a pretty quilt, don’t you think?  Cutting blocks with “sticks” is showing up more and more these days in modern quilts.

Thanks, Rebecca!

 

 

Turkey Tracks: “Star Bright” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  February 10, 2019

Star Bright Quilt

I love this lap-size quilt!

The blocks are all Katja Marek’s from THE NEW HEXAGON and all made with Cotton+Steel fabrics.

The border and text print “stars” around the blocks are not C+S, but everything else is.

For some reason I bought TWO of the 52-block packages from Paper Pieces, so I did feel compelled to make this set.  I am so happy I did.

I added my own templates to “square off” the quilt top, rather than floating the blocks on a border.  I also wanted the print-text fabric “stars” to be present at the top and bottom of the quilt.

I used the same “mouse” print for the back, only in a dusty salmon, as I used in the squaring off around the quilt top.

I quilted the “diamonds” that are present on the front of the quilt on my domestic sewing machine, using a walking foot.  And added some stabilizing cross lines.  But I put the quilt on the long arm to make the quilt package.  That works really well I’m finding.  It is much easier to pin with no issues on the long arm.  I like the quilting in the border as well. It’s all very geometric, like the hexies and star points.

Well!!  How cute is this?

 

I have SEVEN GRANDCHILDREN, and I want each of them to have a hand-piecedquilt from me.  I have six done now, and am working on the 7th—a wedding ring riff called “36-Ring Circus.”  I just completed the fourth “ring” last night.    It will have 6 by 6 rows/rings.

This one is hard I think.  One needs to use a flat-back stitch with the curves…  But I’m getting faster now.  And I’ve glued a lot of the templates.

 

Turkey Tracks: Anna Graham’s Noodlehead Pillows

Turkey Tracks:  February 4, 2019

Anna Graham’s Noodlehead Pillows

Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild has two new ongoing projects:  “Bee Inspired” and “Noodlehead,” inspired by Anna Graham’s projects, some of which can be seen in her book HANDMADE STYLE.  More on “Bee Inspired” in future posts.  At our January meeting, some of us shared our Noodlehead projects.  We don’t demand that projects by totally Anna Graham’s, but, rather, be handmade.  In February, we will bring our first “Bee Inspired” blocks for the quilter chosen for this first month.  She will walk away with the block makings for a quilt.  You can see info on that project on our Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild Facebook page, which is now public.

I really needed some low-back pillows in my two deep living room chairs, so I used Graham’s book measurements and invisible zipper closure to make long, narrow pillows.  I didn’t quilt the fronts as the fabric didn’t really want to be quilted.  I made my own strip of flying geese.  Graham’s instructions included muslin linings for both front and back of the pillows—and the zipper means the casings can be taken off and washed easily if need be.

It is a lovely pattern, and I have ordered a set of 4 square pillow forms to replace tired pillows on the downstairs couch.

 

I put the geese trips on opposite sides of the pillows.

And here is Graham’s book, which is full of “handmade style.”

Turkey Tracks: Friends’ Projects

Turkey Tracks:  January 31, 2019

Friends’ Projects

Becca has finished her traveling quilt top:  “The More I wonder, the More I love,” from as I recall Becca saying, THE COLOR PURPLE.  WOW!  Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild is going to show our Traveling Quilts to Coastal Quilters in February.  The Traveling Quilts were a two-year project where eight women worked on each quilt, and each finished quilt is amazing and wonderful.  Our next group project is “Bee Inspired” and EVERYONE in the group is participating.  You can read about that project on the Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild Facebook page.  The first blocks will be coming in at the Mt. Battie February meeting.

Becca, here, is backed by her developing selvage spider web quilt and is quilting her “Long Time Gone” quilt—a Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild project last year—designed by Jen Kingwell.

Lynn Vermeulen is making this strip-pieced quilt from solids, from a Timna Tarr quilt with which she fell in love.  If you have not looked at Timna’s gallery online, it’s a treat.  I love her use of saturated COLOR.

Karen Martin is workin gon the rail fence riff in batiks.  Yummy.

Karen gave me this gorgeous little pouch, and Lynn game me a glass she ETCHED (oh my) with Sip and Sew.

Tori Manzi, as always, has so many inspiring projects.  The top right is a Modern Quilt Guild mini-quilt swap, which will be finished and sent off soon.  The recipient wanted hand-dyed pink fabrics.  The foundation-pieced color-wheel circles are going to be so interesting.  And the pear block is as well.

This quilt is a gift for someone who is fond of the tv show “The Who.”  (I think I have that right.)  There is no end to Tori’s creativity.

Such fun projects!

Turkey Tracks: Recent Projects

Turkey Tracks:  January 30, 2019

Recent Projects

Good morning!

We had snow in the night and now…rain.  It’s also very warm for Maine in late January.

Here are some pics on my current projects.

This EPP project is HARD!  There is a real learning curve involved here, but I’m getting faster now.  This is “36-Ring Circus,” designed by JoAnne Lewis and available at Paper Pieces.  I did NOT buy the whole templates offered, just the ring kit, which includes the center “pointy” temlplate—shown in red on the first ring.

I am currently using Cotton+Steel fabrics for the centers and solids (pastels for the ring and darks for the ring centers and diamond shapes) for the rest.

 

Here’s the status of THE COLOR COLLECTIVES first project:  circles.  So far I’ve broken TWO of my machines with the invisible thread.  Probably, I did not release the needle tension enough.  I did release the foot pressure instead, which was clearly a mistake.  I don’t think anybody but ME is having these issues.  One machine is back—along with two spools of thread that the marvelous Marge Hallowell of Maine-ly Sewing donated to the cause and for me to experiment with and about which to get back to her.  I would love to make this quilt a bit bigger, to a lap size, but I may also use the second months’s block—a foundation pieced cross—to create a border.  I’m still movng around blocks on the design wall—which is kind of crazy as I need to fill in the holes first.  I could, also, use a matching thread for the circles if I have matching thread.  I do love these circles.

Recent intense weekend sewing produced this “Cool Sunday Morning Quilt” from SUNDAY MORNING QUILTS (Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison).  It’s all in blue/green/grey Cotton+Steel low volume fabrics.  And it’s meant to be a companion to the recently finished “warm” quilt below, also made from C+S warm low volume fabrics—using Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s herringbone method.

 

Of course I also have three or four other projects developing or simmering, especially when I get to “playing” with some ideas and fabrics.  More on those later.

Turkey Tracks: Linda Satkowski’s Recent Quilt Tops

Turkey Tracks:  January 18, 2019

Linda Satkowski’s Recent Quilt Tops

Well!!  Here is the SECOND improv quilt made from our “parts department” bin.  The pressure is on ME now as I have not even started mine.

To recap, Linda, Becca-Babb Brott, and I spent time two summers ago making blocks for each other, which we put into our “parts department” bins for a future improv quilt.  You can see Becca’s in an earlier post here.

Isn’t this a fun quilt?  Linda did a great job of putting these blocks together.  I am doubly daunted now.

Here’s LInda’s finished “Long Time Gone” quilt top, Jen KIngwell, designer.  Love her colors.  This quilt was a challenge for Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild last year.  You can see updates on what we are doing now on our Facebook page.

 

Here is Linda’s finished Traveling Quilt top.  Wow!!  As with mine, nine women have blocks in Linda’s quilt.  Her theme was “houses.”

Turkey Tracks: AC Slater LOVES No No Penny and Sewing Update

Turkey Tracks:  January 15, 2019

 

AC Slater LOVES No No Penny and Sewing Update

A common sight these days:

Very tired dog after a really good dog park day with lots of flat out running.  I finished another selvage placemat.  These are made with the “quiet” selvage, not the side with words, etc.

 

The dog park runs are made possible right now with boots loaded with spikes—as it is a sea of ice.  The good part is that balls thrown with the long thrower travel a long, long way.

 

Progress on the circles made with the fabric Tara Faughnan, from THE COLOR COLLECTIVE, at Sewtopia, sent.  I’m liking the scrappy nature—am still moving around blocks like crazy though.

I’m quilting the Katja Marek EPP blocks on the domestic.  Pics on that in a bit.

Turkey Tracks: My Traveling Quilt is DONE!

Turkey Tracks:  January 14, 2019

My Traveling Quilt is DONE!

“Love You To The Moon and Back”

How pleasant it is to finish what has been a two-year project of the Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild in Camden, Maine.

NINE women worked on this quilt.  I started it with the “Love You to the Moon and Back” block.  The quilt then “traveled” through the hands of eight other quilters, who added blocks and sewed blocks together when they could.   At the same time, I was making blocks and joining up sections when I could for each of the other eight quilters.

Here are the eight quilters who worked on my quilt:  Becca Babb-Brott, Lynn Vermeulen, Linda Satkowski, Tori Manzi, Megan Bruns, Margaret-Elaine Jinno, JoAnn Moore, and Nancy Wright.

I used Lizzy House’s new fabric line “Constellations” (Andover) for the backing and binding.  And used my Bishop Fan groovy boards to quilt with a light grey thread.  Four of the quilters made labels for me, and I wrote the names of the others into the side of the lable.

I like how the bright gold frames this quilt.  (The bottom border is straight, there is just a funny camera angle here.)

So now Mt. Battie Modern has started it’s new BIG project, and ALL the members are joining in the fun.  I will describe this project in future posts, or you can go to our Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild Facebook page to take a look.

Turkey Tracks: The Color Collective: Circles!

Turkey Tracks:  January 7, 2019

The Color Collective:  Circles!

I am taking a 6-month online “class” with Tara Faughnan, from Sewtopia.  The project is called “The Color Collective.”

This class is more “trouble” found by fellow quilters Becca Babb-Brott and Tori Manzi, who are also taking the class. We all signed up for 6 months and will decide on more or not at that time.

Tara Faughnan is known for her use of color—and solids.  Take a look at her quilt gallery—she is amazing:  https://www.tarafaughnan.com/home

And Sewtopia has its own web site and Instagram site:  Sewtopia.com, I think.

One gets a new block design and method each month and a selection of fabrics with which to make that project—all chosen by Tara Faughnan.  I signed up for getting half yards rather than fat quarters, and I’m already glad I did that as I have other solid-fabric projects in the works.

January’s block is these circles—and extensive instructions and on-line videos help one be successful.  While waiting for my fabrics to come, I practiced by making this little quilt out of my solid stash.  I am now totally obsessed with making these circles.  I particularly like the secondary pattern where the blocks come together.  I’ll bind in a soft grey, which I got Saturday in Belfast at Fiddlehead Artisan Supply.  I found the perfect color in Size 8 perle cotton to hand qulit a grid on the little quilt above—a soft, rose/almost salmon.  I am so happy they are carrying some of this lighter weight perle cotton.  And I’m marking lines with a Hera marker, which is working beautifully.  I just mark one line at a time.

Here are the fabrics Tara/Sewtopia chose and sent.  I’ve washed and ironed them, cut into them, and am now making circles with them.  Pics to follow in a bit.  I am champing at the bit to do more today, but also have the Traveling quilt on the long arm, so have to make myself spend time there as well.  There is a deadline for the Traveling quilt as Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild is going to show our Traveling quilts to Coastal Quilters in February.

But, aren’t these colors luscious!

Here is the block for January or February—I’m not sure which month since I just started—and the fabrics are in the mail now.  It’s foundation pieced.  Will I get obsessed with this one too?  Hard to tell yet, but at the very least I’ll make 4 and put them into my “parts department” bin.  (See earlier posts on the “parts department” project some of us started a few years back.)  Both Becca and Linda Satkowski are putting together their improv quilts from their “parts department” bins as I write.  In essence, we three made blocks enough to give the other two what we were making—and we had such fun just playing with blocks.  Making Jen Kingwell’s “Long Time Gone” quilt helped us understand how to group blocks into an improv quilt of this kind.

 

PS:  The Traveling Quilt is OFF THE LONGARM.  Now to bind it.