Quilting in Maine – Page 51 – Louisa Enright's Blog

Turkey Tracks: Pine Tree Quilting Guild Annual Show

Turkey Tracks: August 20, 2013

Pine Tree Quilting Guild Annual Show

The grandsons and I visited the annual state quilt show together.

The boys like art shows pretty much.

But this was A LOT of art for them to take in, so we more or less whipped through many of the aisles at lightening speed.

They were interested in the judged quilts and who got what ribbons.

So was I–since the judging this year seemed more incoherent than ever before.

For instance, here’s a terrific quilt.

The piecing is awesome. The quilting was quite good as well.

But, it’s a third???

A third? Really?

Has any one of this year’s judges ever pieced a quilt like this one?

I wish I had taken more pictures of what disturbed me so much, but…

I do remember that there was one large bed quilt with a first place ribbon–yet it was copied from someone else’s pattern and it had been long-armed quilted with what was clearly a computer program. Why would someone get 25 points for someone else’s design? And a computer did the quilting. What about people who can’t afford to have a computerized long-arm quilter quilt their tops? Where’s the human error or serendipity of human art then? Left out, I can tell you.

I loved this quilt:

No ribbon. But this design is an original work of art. Look at those cow expressions. Aren’t they wonderful? Not even an honorable mention…

Pine Tree’s judging is supposed to be about NOT comparing the quilts–but about judging each quilt on its own merits. In that system, theoretically, everyone could get a blue ribbon if the work merited it. But I saw so many really special, glorious quilts with no ribbon at all. That’s so discouraging for quilters who submit to judging.

Here’s my favorite quilt:

And here’s a close-up:

It did not win “best of show,” but did win an “Exceptional Merit.”

My apologies to the winner of the “Best in Show” quilt, but it looked just like the winners of the past two or three years: a small quilt with a geometric design and really, really good long-arm quilting. Lots of intensive long-arm quilting. But nothing outstanding in the quilt design really,

Surely a quilt is about more than the quilting? This Japanese scene is about much more than long-arm quilting, for instance.

And this little quilt surely deserved something more than “honorable mention”:

How many people could do such great collage work and combine colors so effectively. The quilting was pretty great too.

Here’s the grandsons’ favorite quilt:

This quilt, as I recall, was made as a thank-you for someone. What a fabulous thing to do. I know this quilt will be treasured forever. And maybe that’s what quilting is really all about too. At least in part.

In recent years I have not made quilts that I felt should be judged. As you know if you read this blog, I’ve been working on “Louisa’s Scrappy Project” to try to get my stash into some sort of intelligent order and to try not to waste fabric I already own. I’ve been making big quilts for the most part–with the goal of giving each one I finish to family and friends.

I think that quilting has always been about BOTH making beautiful objects and making functional objects. Sometimes both desires blend in one quilt. So it hurts my heart when I see really outstanding works of beauty not getting the full credit they deserve.

Come on, Pine Tree. The judging is ruining the show for many members.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Watershed: Garden of Linda and John Shepard

Turkey Tracks: August 14, 2013

Gardens in the Watershed: Garden of LInda and John Shepard

The Shepard garden is spectacular–bursting with colorful beds, smooth green lawn paths, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. The fields leading to the garden are filled with wildflowers–which have been spectacular this summer.

Also important is the fact that Linda Shepard is a quilter with an established body of very fine work and a studio to showcase it. You can just see Giovanna inside Linda’s studio.

Linda’s quilts are featured and sold on her web site–and I encourage you to go there and take a look at her interesting, inventive body of work: www.linda-shepard.com.

Meanwhile, here are a few of her quilts–though my pictures of them are not great:

And one of my very favorites, a happy pig:

Linda and John started their garden in 1984–at which time the backyard was overgrown and wild except for four old apple trees. Artist LInda likes “the relaxed informality of country gardens” which includes contrasting heights and rampant color. Here are some views:

And this pic of a very pink hydrangea!

This garden is such a gift of beauty–it feels like the essence of summer with its riot of color, its buzzing bees, and its well-tended vegetables.

Turkey Tracks: Green Turtles Quilt

Turkey Tracks: August 13, 2013

“Green Turtles” Quilt

Just before Mike and my grandsons came in mid-July, I mailed my newest granddaughter, Cyanna Mel Enright, her baby quilt.

Called, “Green Turtles,” the pattern is from People, Places, and Quilts in Summerville, SC, which is just west of Charleston, SC. They call the pattern “Happy Turtles”–and they are.

I hand appliqued the turtles and used scrappy fabrics for the borders. I quilted with “Deb’s Swirls”–the medium version.

In choosing scraps from my stash, I was reminded of other quilting projects. Carrie and Fiona–you’ll see the pink plaid from Fiona’s baby quilt. The stripe is from a purse project with Karen Johnson of The Community School. Lucy Howser Stevens, one turtle is wearing the backing to your quilt of last year–the daisy floral on acid green. There’s a fabric in here from my very first quilt, which went to JJ Viarella, who is now entering high school!!! It’s the green on the bottom row, far right. There is a blueberry fabric from my oldest grandchild’s baby quilt–Bowen Enright, who will be 10 in a few weeks. And a green and pink floral/leaf that backed my niece’s quilt of last year–Mary Chandler Philpott. And on it goes…

Here are some of the blocks:

I love Bonnie Hunter’s method of putting on a label. If you haven’t yet found Bonnie’s web site and blog, it’s http://quiltville.com. She does a daily entry most days and highlights the work of her students all around the country–so sign up for her FB page as well.

The green turtle fabric came from People, Places, and Quilts on my April trip this year. It seemed really fitting to find this fabric at the store that made the pattern. The plain pink binding also came from my stash.

Here’s how the corner borders worked out. I love the green and blue polka dot border.

Here’s the backing and binding on the quilt top.

It’s a cute quilt, and I enjoyed the hand work.

Turkey Tracks: Green Camden Hills Beauty: Thanks Bonnie Hunter

Turkey Tracks: July 13, 2013

Green Camden Hills Beauty: Thanks Bonnie Hunter

Look at this beauty!

I think it’s one of the prettiest quilts I’ve ever made and its ALL from my green stash.

I saw Bonnie Hunter’s “Blue Ridge Beauty” in her ADVENTURES WITH LEADERS AND ENDERS and started piecing four-patch light and dark green patches as a “leader and ender” project fed into the machine when I needed to remove blocks from another project I was working on–that way, you never break your sewing thread and are working on two projects at once. (You can read more about this method on Bonnie’s web page, www.quiltville.com. You can get to her blog from the main site if you want to–and I have to say I love getting her posts.)

Of course, I had to piece some of the half-square triangles just to see how the block looked. And then I had to see how multiple blocks were going to look. Soon, I was piecing this quilt and NOT working on my original project. I became, quickly, obsessed with this quilt. And of course, I needed to sprinkle in some blocks that had green, yes, but also had some orange, some pink, and some blue. They effect is very pleasing, as if there are polka dots scattered across the top.

It’s a BIG quilt–easily king size–and I didn’t make it quite as long as Bonnie did. She took the pattern down one more row for the length. I could make the quilt this wide since son Bryan helped me put four more feet into my long-arm–so now I have the full 12 feet.

Here’s a close-up for you. I quilted it with “Deb’s Swirls” in the big version. (I smiled when I saw that Bonnie Hunter was also using this pantograph on her “Dancing Nines” project.) I’ve later also gotten the medium version for smaller quilts. It’s a very nice all-over swirling pattern. I used a dark teal thread, which is pleasing to the eye I think. We have such dark greens in our forests and on the hillsides in the spring–all mixed up with every shade of green imaginable.

Here’s a close-up of the border and a corner–that greenish stone-looking fabric has been hanging around my stash for years. It’s PERFECT in this spot–echoing all our granite and rocky ledges on the Camden Hills–which are very old mountains.

The back is all taken from my stash–which used up yards and yards of, again, green fabrics hanging around without a purpose. I mixed in some orphan blocks that were going nowhere–and it all works really well for a scrappy quilts. That saved me probably $80. Or, used $80 that I’d already spent–however you want to think about it. This backing works well for this scrappy quilt.

I pieced a line of the three-inch half-square triangle blocks to see what they might look like in a bar quilt. They’re nice–and I might have gone that direction a year ago. But after finding Bonnie Hunter’s work, I know there is a more complicated, complex way to use those blocks. I’m piecing more of them as a leader ender project now…

This project has been so much fun for me! And I really love this quilt.

Turkey Tracks: Play Quilting

Turkey Tracks: January 15, 2013

Play Quilting

I’ve been working really hard on sorting through my quilting stash–all the fabrics a quilter starts to accumulate–and cutting up all the smaller pieces into useable, accessible strips, blocks, or rectangles. Those of you who follow this blog know that getting my stash under control has been going on for over two years now. It’s just way too easy to keep buying new fabric for a new quilt without using up leftovers from previous quilts.

I am now using Bonnie Hunter’s coping strategy of keeping only large pieces for the stash and processing everything else. Out of the greens, I’ve already made a gorgeous green scrappy top and backing–using up a ton of fabric that was just sitting around. That top is ready to go on the long-arm, so I’ll return to it here when I’ve finished it. I LOVE it. It’s a green version of Bonnie Hunter’s “Blue Ridge Beauty” that I’m calling “Green Camden Hills Beauty.” You’ve seen pieces of this top in earlier posts, and Bonnie’s version is on her web site, quiltville.com.

So, the green part of the stash is under control–dare I say? And, I’m making good headway on the blue now. I had already been working at the blue fabrics over the past two years, but I’m astonished how much of it I still have. So many small pieces that are just lying around doing nothing but taking up space.

Yesterday, I could see that I was close to finishing cutting up the blues, so I let myself “play” at the machine for two hours–jointly working on two different types of projects. I made myself quit about 8 p.m. last night because I could have gone on and on…

First, in Bonnie Hunter’s system–which you can explore in her four books and on her excellent web site, quiltville.com–NOTHING gets wasted. The small bits of fabric she calls “crumbs.” She throws them into a basket and uses them to “make fabric.” Here’s an example:

These 2 1/2 by 8 1/2 strips will make really cute borders on a quilt when I have enough of them. Bonnie Hunter uses old paper–phone book paper is the best as its thin and easy to tear away–as a backing. It’s so much easier and lighter than the muslin I had been using for string-pieced blocks. You could also use used printed paper from your printer, though that is heavier.

This “making” of fabric is growing in popularity these days. In addition to Bonnie Hunter’s work, you can see the fun of making and using fabric in OUT OF THE BOX WITH EASY BLOCKS: FUN WITH FREE-FORM PIECING, Mary Lou Weidman and Melanie Bautista McFarland and 15 MINUTES OF PLAY: IMPROVISATIONAL QUILTS, Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Weidman and Wolfe both have blogs as well.

I had some string-pieced blocks left from projects last year and have been throwing strips into a basket for when I wanted to make more of them. I had only been throwing in strips that were at least 1 1/2 inches. BUT, after making the border strips above, I can see that strips just under 1 1/2 inches are useable in both the string-pieced blocks and with the crumbs. Really, the clear 1 1/2 strips should go into a separate box to be used for, say, nine-patches with one-inch blocks. Or, piano keys borders.

Here’s my string basket, which is getting alarmingly full:

Only there is a twist: I’ve been tearing away also selvages with writing or colored dots with a little extra fabric in the strip. I LOVE writing in a quilt and have become more and more intrigued with thinking how one might use selvage edges that are interesting. So, here are examples of the kind of strips sith writing and/or dots I’ve been saving:

Here are two blocks I made yesterday, hanging with one I already had. I was playing with using the strips with writing on them:

Here’s a close-up:

And what the blocks might look like if I put them on point with sashing between…

Bonnie Hunter has lots of ideas of how to combine blocks when you have enough of them.

Meanwhile, it was really fun to let myself have a little “play” time–even though I have a quilt loaded on to the long arm and the BIG green quilt ready to be long-arm quilted.

Turkey Tracks: June Days

Turkey Tracks: June 13, 2013

June Days

Today is one of those quintessential Maine spring days.

The air is clean, crystal clear, fresh, and smells of the lilac which is blooming everywhere.

It’s sunny, but a long-sleeve cotton shirt feels perfect.

By nightfall, the cool streams in and a sweater is nice. A blanket on the bed at night feels lovely, especially if you sleep with an open window at your head, as I do.

Sister Susan just spent a week here. We got a lot of rain while she was here, but on rainy days we went to movies and found indoor pursuits. (We loved the new Star Wars movie and the Robert Redford film, THE COMPANY WE KEEP.)

We had a glorious time up in Acadia viewing the view from the top of Cadillac Mountain. No camera shot can capture that 360 degree vision of lakes, mountains, ocean, islands, rocks, green trees, colorful mosses, blue sky, sailing ships, and on and on. I have renewed interest in taking the older grandchildren up there this summer.

We had a sunny lunch at the Waterfront one day, and you can see that the harbor is filling up with boats now:

In Belfast, Susan was fascinated with the lively window boxes that are just starting to plump out. Window boxes line the rows of shops in all our little towns and they are so beautiful.

Here’s a close-up of one of the above window boxes. Soon these flowers will spill and drape over the box’s sides.

I love the way these window boxes are enhancing the paintings in the store:

The striped yellow and white petunia in the middle of this window box is the “petunia of the year” this year. I think it’s called “lemon stripe.”

We were both amused at this Belfast visitor:

We visited Mainely Pottery, of course. And, had a late/lunch/tea at Fromviandoux, which is always so much fun.

The lupine is blooming, and I don’t have a single picture. Susan had never seen them and was fascinated. I have posted pictures in the past, so if you search on lupine at the search button on the right sidebar of this blog, you can see lupine pictures.

Susan loved the rock walls you see in Maine as much as I do. This time of year you can see them clearly. Later, perennial plants grow up and fill in the spaces in front of the rocks. Here are two rock walls from neighbor Sarah Rheault’s garden:

And:

The rock walls in my garden are embedded into the hills, so they function differently. Here’s the end of one, which “Sky Watcher” guards. I gave him some shade and a cairn of his own this year:

The garden is lush, lush. The strawberry plants are loaded with fruit:

Beedy Parker’s kale came back AND reseeded itself. It’s blooming now, and the bees love it.

You can get Beedy Parker’s kale seeds from FEDCO. (Their catalog is an amazing document–there is a wealth of information about growing all kinds of plants in it.)

The white violets are gone now, but weren’t they gorgeous! They’ve spread in the shady bed on the north south of the house.

The tomatoes are hanging in there with all the rain. The garlic is thriving. The zukes are up. Ditto the winter squash and many of the beans. The peas are thriving. The cukes are laggards so far, and the cold frame is full of radish and lettuce:

I’m pulling radish now and will transplant some of the lettuce to the radish side of the cold frame.

These summer days stretch before me, beckoning and teasing with all their pleasures. Life is full and rich with…life.

Turkey Tracks: Rainy Day!

Turkey Tracks: May 20, 2013

Rainy Day!

Finally, a rainy day!

My apologies for not posting sooner, but I have been OUTSIDE for days in this glorious spring, putting the garden back into order.

I’ve been in a planting frenzy, actually, and have really needed this rainy day. With the generous and kind help of David Hannan, many tasks have been completed: putting up the chicken fence and the vegetable garden fence, bringing out all the outdoor furniture from the top of the garage, putting away the boarding walk, rebuilding the rock wall on the drive where the snow plow folks couldn’t see where the rocks were, bringing out all of the container pots (I think there are at least 25) and filling them with dirt and planting them, mulching, mowing, weeding, pruning, edging, seeding, and planting a now-shady bed with shade plants and, in the sunny part, an herb garden that I hope will be more permanent.

Electrician David Dodge came and fixed the back outdoor plug and installed a new plug at the front door–which will make mowing with an electric mower and a LONG cord much easier. And once he showed me how to take out the prong-plug expensive halogen bulbs in an under-the-counter kitchen light, I got new bulbs and replaced them. I’m afraid I had to touch the bulbs though–the oils from your fingers can make them blow–but they were too tiny and slippery to grip and get into the two out of four right holes. Anyway, right now, it’s working.

I’ll take pictures soon. Meanwhile, here’s how the green scrappy quilt is coming along. I’ve been quilting in the late afternoon through the early evening, and that’s been so relaxing. This quilt is a green copy of Bonnie Hunter’s “Blue Ridge Beauty,” in her book LEADERS AND ENDERS. I’m calling my version “Camden Hills Beauty,” and right now, the trees on the Camden Hills are so fluffy and are so many greens that I know this quilt is well-named. The block is a traditional Jacob’s Ladder block, but I love Bonnie’s method of combining color with neutrals. I used light greens, but Bonnie uses true “neutrals” in her quilts and just mixes them all up. I LOVE this quilt!

Here’s a close-up of some of the blocks. You can see I’ve mixed in some color–bits of pink and orange. I like the way they are working in the quilt.

I started sewing together rows in the last few days–and realized I need 14 rows, not 12!!! So, it’s back to piecing more blocks. But that’s ok as I’m really enjoying this project. AND, my green stash is diminishing, diminishing–which is a lovely feeling of usefulness.

At night, in front of the tv, I’ve been appliqueing the “Green Turtles” quilt turtles for new granddaughter Cyanna. I am on the eighth turtle–of nine. So as soon as I get the Camden Hills quilt off the design wall, up will go the Green Turtles. You can see some of the blocks on the left side of the first picture.

The 14 rows will mean the quilt will have the DARK line predominant, which is better visually I think.

Turkey Tracks: “Blossom,” the wedding quilt

Turkey Tracks: May 13, 2013

“Blossom,” the wedding quilt

Daughter-in-law Tamara Kelly Enright and I wanted to make bride Ashley Malphrus (now White) a wedding quilt. The wedding was April 21, 2013, and it was gorgeous. The ceremony was held with one of the low country rivers as a backdrop–green lawns, big house, big white tent. It was lovely. Ashley and her mother, Allison Malphrus, had thought of so many thoughtful, sweet touches all during the wedding. I’m always in awe of that kind of thoughtfulness as I’m not good at it.

Last Thanksgiving, Tami and I picked out contemporary, colorful Kaffe Fasset fabrics–and Mainely Quilting shopowner Marge Hallowell cut us a big array of the Kaffe Fasset prints. With a “layer cake” design, one starts with a 10-inch square (in our case), cuts off four borders, which leaves a central square. Different borders are put onto different squares, and the result–after using these bright modern prints–is a very contemporary, colorful quilt.

I finished hand sewing the binding just before the wedding and mailed the quilt to Tami. It’s BIG, and I didn’t want to carry it on the plane. Tami and I delivered it the Friday before the wedding, as I didn’t want to have it at the wedding tent. I also wanted to explain that the quilt is an heirloom quilt, to be used and loved, but also to be cherished in the way of being a little careful with it.

Here’s “Blossom”–and it’s not a great picture of it. But you can see how big it is.

Here’s some blocks close up. I quilted it with a bright pink thread, and that is wonderful on both the back and the front. I used a “Sweet Pea” pantograph, but both sides are busy enough that you don’t really see the pattern. It will catch Ashley, some day, when the light falls just right on the quilt. I did the best job ever on the quilting.

Here’s the backing and binding–so you can see how they play with the blocks:

And here’s what “Blossom” might look like folded on the foot of a bed:

The name “Blossom” describes the quilt, yes, but it’s also meant to wish, for Ashley, that she blossoms with her marriage, that her marriage blossoms, that the blossoming creates fruit, that in turn, blossoms, and on and on and on…

Turkey Tracks: The Kiddos’ Quilts in Charleston

Hello Everyone!

I am back from Charleston, SC. I tried to post to the blog on the ipad from there, and the interface was just too clunky. Friend Giovanna McCarthy told me there was an app for “WordPress,” so I downloaded that a few days ago, but have not yet tried it out. I LOVE the ipad. It’s so easy and light when traveling. So, the blog below was written on April 23.

Turkey Tracks: April 23, 2013

The Kiddos’ Quilts in Charleston

I make them.

Than most of them I give away.

The grandchildren have quite a few of them. There were the baby quilts. Then the “big bed” quilts. And, in a few cases, a wall quilt.

Imagine my delight to see some of the quilts in use in a bedroom that can sleep four of the kiddos in bunks, freeing up a bedroom for a guest–like me!

I love both of those wall quilts and had such fun making them. Both came from now-famous patterns. The one on the left is called “Over By the Pond” if I’m not mistaken. The “jar” block is pretty standard, but I’m sure I bought this pattern as a kit that came with the buggy fabrics. I wanted my kiddos to be deeply connected to nature, and I love and am fascinated with bugs.

The little blue churn dash quilt was made for my first grandchild, Bowen. It has some Maine blueberry fabrics in it.

The red-bound quilt was also Bowen’s, his “big bed” quilt. All these children have special quilts, not just Bowen.

Here’s a better view of “Over By The Pond.”

Turkey Tracks: “Coastal Pleasures” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: March 27, 2013

“Coastal Pleasures” Quilt

There are many of my quilts in my oldest son’s home.

But, none were made especially for Mike.

Bryan, my younger son, has one–“The O’Bryan,” pictured elsewhere on this blog.

Both Tami and Corinne have one.

All the grandchildren have one. The older four have two as they got another when they graduated to big beds from cribs.

But, Mike had nary a one.

So, I made him “Coastal Pleasures” for his birthday this summer–made from my pre-cut blue squares and a lovely, swirling white on white fabric, “Ramblings” from P&B Textiles. (Both of my sons and their families live two blocks from each other on Isle of Palms, SC, just north of Charleston, and both are two blocks from the beach.)

Here is the backing:

Here is the backing with the binding and a bit of the front:

Here is a close-up of the quilting–a pantograph called Threadz from Urban Elementz, by Patricia E. Ritter (copyright 2012). I loved the swirling energy of this pattern; it felt like wind moving on water and was very fun to quilt.

Here’s a wider view, but still close up.

Here’s the binding from the front on a white spread:

Here’s the quilt at the foot of Mike and Tami’s bed:

The pattern idea, “Blue Lagoon,” was seen in JELLY ROLL QUILTS by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I pretty much used the same colors they did—and found a similar quilting pattern. However, this pattern is pretty basic and could lend itself to many variants. I’m going to try more blue squares in a low-impact variant. I found a big floral I’ll use as the white is used in this quilt. I can hardly wait!!!

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