Quilting, mine and others
Turkey Tracks: May 8, 2021
Aurifil’s blog, Auribuzz.com, posts a “Five For Friday” posting each week. This week this post features bags.
Wendy Chow’s (A Weekend Quilter) little gift/treat bag caught my eye—and her complete tutorial for it is on the blog post.
https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/c/article/quilted-treat-bags
And here is the whole Auribuzz post if you want to see the other featured bags.
https://auribuzz.com/2021/05/07/five-for-friday-bag-tutorials/
Turkey Tracks: May 7, 2021
How did it get to be Friday already?
It’s another beautiful day, so I’ll spend at least one hour weeding. Of course, when I get outside in the garden, I usually stay longer. It’s always, “just finish this bed,” or something like that. But the birds are singing, AC is delighted we are “working” at something, and the fresh air is so delightful.
Here’s a fun project—which comes via A Quilter’s Table blog.
https://mailchi.mp/aquilterstable/issue-101-more-from-a-quilters-table
Turkey Tracks: May 6, 2021
Well!
Somehow my post I thought I published May 1, didn’t get posted. In part because wordpress now puts all drafts in a separate place, not on my main listing of all my posts.
I can now say that along the way of all my clean-up/clean-out projects I pulled a muscle in my upper back that has been REALLY painful. AND, I used a water bottle for heat, wrapped it in a towel, and it felt so, so good. But it blistered my upper back. Who knew?
Today is the first day I haven’t been in a lot of pain, and that feels really great.
So, I mailed the big log cabin, “Peaceful,” and I’ll post final pics when it arrives at my niece’s home next Monday—hopefully, God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise.
BUT, I did get “Bokey” quilted on the longarm, and here it is, getting its binding installed:
I was going to quilt with an interesting geometric pantograph, but my longarm wouldn’t hold to the line and kept jumping off in really ugly ways, so I stopped, took out those stitches, went to the front of the machine and quilted freehand, which I actually like to do. This episode is one of the reasons I am trading this machine and getting a new one—which has a hopping foot that will move upwards when it encounters fabric thickness.
But, I really like how my quilting came out, so it’s all good:
You will see why I chose this warm gold colored thread when I show you the quilt with its backing.
Everything is so green and lush outside! The lettuce in my cold frame is ready to be eaten now:
The daffodils have just been beyond glorious this year. And this is the time of year when I vow to plant more, and I chuckle as I always wonder why I ordered more bulbs when fall and planting time rolls around. Down in the meadow, there are hundreds and hundreds of daffodils now. I planted them the first fall—in 2004–so it’s been 17 years as of June.
The raspberries I planted last spring are THRIVING. They have sent up shoots all over the place. And I’m spending time today getting the weeds out of the strawberries—to the left of the raspberries. They just run loose in that space, and last year I filled two gallon bags for the freezer.
And I’ve mowed twice.
I need to do massive weeding—but the black flies are in full force at the moment. So, I wait for a breeze rather than slavering myself with something natural (peppermint essential oil, for one thing) that will repel them.
Interesting Information: April 18, 2021
Cassandra Beaver of The (not so) Dramatic Life! blog is featured in this Aurifil blog post. Her subject is creating texture and drama in your quilt projects with your thread choices. Her blog link is below, along with the Aurifil blog article.
notsodramaticlife.com
https://auribuzz.com/2021/04/09/thread-matters-2021-creating-definition-in-quilting-stitches/
Turkey Tracks: April 12, 2021
This very-fun-to-make quilt was inspired by a larger block made by Amanda Jean Nyberg (Crazy Mom Quilts) “Trees” block. My blocks finish at 7 1/2 inches. (There is an earlier blog post here on how I made this block: https://louisaenright.com/?s=How+to+make+a+tree+block. )
The backing is “Art Theory Overall Day” by Allison Glass for Andover. It comes in “night” and “charcoal” as well.
I quilted with Signature 40-weight, “Rose,” with the “Check and Chase” pantograph by Lorien Quilting. Using a darker warm thread and the burgundy border “knocked back” the neon brightness of this quilt, and I am liking the finished product.
Here’s a nice close-up picture.
Turkey Tracks: April 5, 2021
It’s Monday again!
And so the wheel of time turns, as it has a habit of doing.
I got the big long cabin, “Peaceful,” on the long arm. Naming credit goes to Linda McKinney, who told me on day when this quilt was still on the design wall that it made her feel peaceful. And, I’ve started quilting it. I’ll take it easy—a few passes each day. It is a big quilt.
There is so much promise when the design wall is empty.
I pulled out the gifted blocks made by those in the Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild group who are participating in our “Bee Sewcial” challenge. My prompt was “Shapes,” and I specified solids and very clear, bright colors. I included a selection of example bright solid colors in my prompt information. Not all of the received blocks are on the board as I ran out of room. And the long arm head is blocking the bottom of the design wall so you can’t see those. To begin, I’ll start combining blocks into bigger blocks—so everything will shrink down somewhat. But aren’t these blocks beautiful! I am loving all the motion that so many of the blocks have—motion from shapes and from color choices.
How fun!
”Trees” now has a name: “Bright Birches.” It is so funny to me how a quilt will name itself at some point. This one didn’t like being called just “Trees.”. Sewing down the binding is coming along.
LOCAL PEEPS: I am replacing the 2012 Toyota Sienna minivan with a smaller car. I love the van. I especially love to drive it on the highway. It is so easy to steer and has a great turning radius. But it is too much car for me for everyday use. So, if you know someone who wants this pristine, one-owner, garaged, VERY low mileage (just under 34K) car at a very reasonable price, let me know. (I did my research and am selling it for $14.2K—which is lower than you’d buy it from a used car dealer, but a bit more than the dealership is offering for it. Dealers make their money on trade resells, not on the new cars.) It can go to a new home when the new car arrives some time this month—which I hope will not be delayed due to the recent Suez Canal blockage of 400+ ships.
The “boyfriend” is not for sale.
Turkey Tracks: April 3, 2021
This neon-bright quilt is off the long arm and has its binding installed—and I now have some hand-sewing for night tv watching. I quilted with a medium dark rose color that helped “knock back” some of the neon brightness and chose a similar binding color, a solid that I had in my stash.
I love having this machine set up with a walking foot installed and where there is plenty of couch and an extra table to handle the weight of a quilt that is getting its binding installed or, even, being grid quilted in some way.
We have had some rainy days, sure, but spring is…springing forth. The woods are clear of snow and ice now, and AC and I have been out these past two weeks enjoying long rambles through the woods. The early spring air is so energizing.
AC has remembered that he loves water and what he calls “swimming.”
And I don’t know who enjoys these outings more: AC who is delirious to be outside in the woods or me watching AC being delirious.
The ground cover is “greening up,” and the early bulbs are “up,” but there are no leaves emerging from trees or plants yet. Soon. My cold frame, seeded last fall, has lettuce plants showing they are sprouting.
Water is pouring off the hills, and though I have shared this particular stream’s activity in most years, I will so so again, as it is both joyful and peaceful.
This particular stream has water most of the year, which probably means there are springs involved further up the mountain.
AC turned 3 in late March. He has settled a lot, but he will always have a lot of energy. If not for AC, I would not be getting the kind of extended exercise that clears my head, restores my soul, and just puts everything in my day into a really good perspective.
Interesting Information and Quilts: April 2, 2021
I forget now how this information about this exhibit and history of Nancy Crow’s “Riff” quilts came into my social media, but I was immediately drawn to these quilts for several reasons. One is that while I knew Nancy Crow was an early creator of the turn quilting took toward art quilts and innovative “riffs” on traditional quilting back in the day, I had not connected her work to either what we now see often in “modern” quilting or to more recent quilters like Maria Shell, the Alaskan quilter who won a major prize at this year’s Modern Quilt Guild show, Quilt Con. Or, to Tara Faughnan, who is the featured designer in Sewtopia’s online class The Color Collective. Or, to Timna Tarr. And I’m sure there are many more current quilters Nancy Crow has influenced—including all the students working with these clever teachers.
Crow’s “Riff” quilts were on display at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, until the end of March 2021.
Crow’s originating idea was started with remembering some railroad tracks from her childhood. Then she went deep with her explorations of those images, and her progression is seen in the way these “Riff” quilts were hung.
Maria Shell has been a student with Nancy Crow. Here is the quilt that made her a top winner at the 2021 Modern Quilt Guild’s Quilt-Con show this year: “Mosh Pit @the Golden” quilt. So you can see where Nancy Crow’s work has influenced and inspired other quilters.
And here’s a link to Maria Shell’s blog where she talks about creating “Mosh Pit”:
https://talesofastitcher.com/2018/02/17/mosh-pit-quilt-riot-stitched-anarchy/
Enjoy!
Turkey Tracks: March 31, 2021
“Trees” is on the longarm—mostly because I need another night time hand-sewing project. Though, I should confess, I can fall back on the EPP project that has been underway for several years now. But, it is a hard project. Sewing binding is more soothing.
This quilt is SUPER BRIGHT, for sure.
But…cheerful.
And I have finished and hung “My Splice,” a project from this year’s Color Collective class with Tara Faughnan—hosted by Amy Newbold’s Sewtopia. I wanted something I’ve made for this spot in the living room, so I made a wall hanging rather than a larger quilt.
I quilted with 12-weight Sulky cotton, with a Tulip Sashiko needle AND had a lot of fun using different color threads.
The corner where I hung it had an old opera poster—Turandot—that was looking faded and stodgy. “My Splice” has certainly brightened up that corner of the living room.
Here’s one more:
The April project will arrive online tomorrow.
Ah, anticipation unfolds strongly today. The fabric is already here and is very pretty.
Interesting Information: March 30, 2021
Here’s a fun post from the Aurifil Blog for which I recently signed up and am enjoying.
Louisa Enright's Blog 