"The Quilting Answer Book" by Barbara Weiland Talbert

On a recent visit to the public library, I was rewarded with a surprize....a quilting book I had not seen!
It went home with me. I'm going to have a hard time giving this one back!

This is a small  volume, measuring 4.5" x 6.25" but 1" thick, and it packs a lot of information into the pages. The writing is friendly and the Q&A style makes it easy to find the topic you need.
It begins with Getting Started, which deals with the basic parts of a quilt,and proceeds to work through the many types and techniques of quilting. Making choices and problem solving along the way provides the info you need right where you want it. There are many good diagrams and illustrations, a necessity for quilters (we are all very visual learners!).
The book ends with some of those very handy charts like what size of square to cut to get a particular triangle, as well as lists of online resources for shows, quilt museums, supplies and education. It also has an index, which many books neglect to provide these days.
Author, Barbara Weiland Talbert, has been sewing,quilting and writing for many years. You've probably read her articles in magazines. Visit her website at http://www.joyofsewing.com
This is the sort of book I wish I had written!
If you are looking for a covers-all-bases reference, or a gift for a beginner, you can chose this book with confidence that it won't gather dust on the shelf.

River City Piecemakers...no quilting "Trouble" here!

There is no "Trouble in River City" now, despite the fine musical number from Meredith Wilson's musical The Music Man. This class was postponed from last month due to the A/C breakdown. It's impossible to have a class in Summmer without some cooled air!

Everyone got set up and right down to business for "Gifts By The Yard". This class is more on the crafty side, designed for when you need to churn out a load of little items as fast as possible. We're headed into the time of year when lots of gifts are needed, whether you're giving them yourself or filling baskets for the local craft sale or boutique.
You pre-quilt (or purchase, or drag from the depths of your stash) a yard of fabric and end up with about 7 tissue holders, 10 glasses cases, and 8 "privacy purses" (some may call that a coin purse, but I don't care what you put in it!). That's just the basic options. Once the tricks are learned, students start to change the cutting dimensions and create all sorts of great new accessories. This time we figured out some cell phone holders and a larger style glasses case to hold the over-size wrap-around black sunglasses that so many people like...or use during their post-op from cataract surgery.

The best part of class is seeing what fabrics everyone has.
Bright is always good for purse accessories, and by selecting a coordinating lining fabric (back of the quited yard) it's easy to make sets of items that go together (how Vera Bradley can you get???). Just make half the items with one side out, and half with the other!
One very clever lady (with a big sense of humor) made items with a cheerful red holiday print for the outside, and the lining was the logo of a state university . She gave some of those to her friends who are fans of the other state university!

It's a good thing that non-quilters didn't come in. They might have thought a sweat shop had been set up. Those sewing machines were going like crazy!
The most amazing part of the class was that I taught how to make continuous bias binding, starting with a square. That is pretty much like a Home Ec. nightmare! But the Piecemakers were ready to learn and stuck with it until they were successful.
Fortunately, there are several experienced seamstresses in that group who will be able to reveiw the process later, and I thank them in advance!
Cherry-Cherry came along with me. It's great to have someone to pick up on all the little details while I'm working my way around and around the room. And it's nice to have a travel companion, even if the class is only across town!

A quilt class is so much more than just learning how to do something. It's a social event, where friends get together for a good laugh or to share stories of joy or sorrow. You always come away with more than the class project, as so many tips are shared. This guild likes to have a covered dish lunch, and you just can't do better than quilters who cook!
All in all, you just can't do better than spending a day with quilters....period!

Quilting fun in Palm Beach County

The entire East Coast is in a heat wave, making Florida hotter than ever...but the quilting fun never ends!
Just crank up the A/C, get out the fabric, and roll on with that rotary cutter!

I just had a marvelous time with the Palm Beach County Quilters Guild. What a great guild! They are doing loads of good charity work while supporting their county fair, the big Mancuso show in November, and their own biennial show. In between, they have lots of well known teachers and a monthly meeting that is jam-packed with activities. I lost count of all the drawings! And every person who has a birthday that month gets to select a fat-quarter from a giant basket.

The quilts are mine, ready for the lecture...and that's my purse on the chair. Seems dangerously close to the basket of fat quarters!

But I did manage to control myself.

The time allotment for the program was shorter than my regular lectures, so we decided I'd show a number of my quilts, including family/vintage ones...quilters always seem to enjoy a trunk show.

Of course, I couldn't just leave it at that. There had to be some reason for the quilts I selected.

So I did a program I have been thinking about for quite awhile: The 7 Habits of Highly Collective Scrap Lovers (with thanks to Stephen R. Covey).

There was a quilt to illustrate each of the 7 Habits, which I changed from business jargon to quilt-speak, such as" #1: Be Proactive" became "It's a Scrap If I Say It Is!".

I had that great Double Wedding Ring with the red binding and the Big Baskets quilts to represent each side of my family. The others were mainly quilts and tops I have made, especially some Mystery Quilts.

Over on the right you see the three Quirky Bits samples, as that's the class we had following the lecture.

You may remember it's relationship to Perky Old Men, being made with the same endless batch of 3-inch nine patches. Cherry-Cherry's mono-chromatic blue one is on the far right, and in the center is the new top I just finished.

I got a Hoffman Bali-Pops selection of batik strips for my birthday ("Strawberry Fields"...did you know those things are collectibles now??? Put out in yearly collections, for our obsessive pleasure!).

Every time I teach this class there are a couple people who want to use a jelly roll or other pre-cut strips that are 2-1/2" instead of the 1-1/2" strips.
I have no problem with that! Why do any extra work (a great motto!).
Quirky Bits is cuter with the smaller strips, but looks great with the wider ones, too. So here's my version, which has some very quirky parts indeed. I enjoyed making it it to have as a sample for the class, and in the process firmed up how I want to write the pattern.
The class was wonderful, with lots of ladies trading strips and sewn units, plus making plans to shop for more additions to their strip collections.

Well, with such hot weather, there is nothing better for Summer than a Watermelon..... quilt, that is:

This was made a long time ago from an Eleanor Burns pattern called "Boston Commons". The large white area has watermelon leaves quilted all through it  in pink thread.

I searched online for a picture of a watermelon vine, copied it, traced two leaves, then blew them up to life size. By flipping each template from side to side, I had 4 leaf shapes to combine in many ways all around the white part.

This quilt was purchased at a fund-rasing auction and now resides in Washington state.

Until next time...stay cool!

Americana Quilt for the Fourth of July

You may recall a selection of blocks, united only in that they were red, white & blue:

When you have blocks of all different sizes, the first step is to lay them out to see how they'll balance. That means you're just looking for where each one will look best in relation to the others.

These blocks are in their suggested places for the quilt. You'll notice there are some spaces...those will need to be filled with plain fabric, pieced units, or a slight shuffling of the existing blocks. That where the fun is in making this sort of quilt!

Taking a picture comes in handy when there are not really any traditional rows. It was picked up and carefully given labels. 

It went home to my design wall:

    

This thing is huge...but doing a scrappy sampler is a puzzle made of parts, so it's fine to just worry about one section at a time. I tried to lay it out according to the photo of the blocks on the table. The center-to-bottom seemed to go well, though I thought it needed a lot of added peices.

  

Working on the top went a bit smoother, though the trick here is to get things centered, to match the "balance" of the original layout. The bottom section had established the width, so now the top had to be the same.
You might notice that the large Log Cabin Star is no longer surrounded by nine-patch blocks.

 Asymetrical is fine for some things, but the Flag Block needed to be right in the center of the Log Cabin star. Also, a directional block like that has now made this whole quilt have a definite top and bottom.

Well into the process, I actually stated to take blocks apart for several reasons:

1. I needed the units for filling in spaces.

2. The Rail Fence blocks looked like swastikas (they are now broken up, placed about half way down on the right side).

3.Some of the blocks just couldn't work. due to their construction. I was determined to have all the donated blocks in the quilt, and I even managed to get the double-knit one in (!!!).  

But the one that had no seam allownces to speak of...that one self-destructed during some reverse sewing and there was no saving even parts of it! At that point, I did not feel bad about sending it to the trash. It did, howvever, leave a 12" hole I needed to fill, which resulted in a complete re-design of the bottom section. This is why I am glad I did not write down or recall who had made any of the blocks.

After a simple border to "frame & contain", I patched a backing together from more donated yardage.

I am so pleased to tell you that there is a True Saint in my quilt guild!

DB took this mess and did a large meandering pattern with a nice red thread that pulls the whole thing together beautifully. I will be eternally grateful to her for relieving me of the quilting!

    

I did put the binding on and here it is finished....and handed over to the lady who wanted it for a fund-raiser for the church where my guild meets.
Happy Independence Day indeed!

Quilt show attractions

There are many attractions associated with any quilt show, and the Number One spot is definitely the Merchant Mall or vendors.
I have even known people to go to a show and never even look at the quilts!
The NQA show had about 80 vendors, a good amount for plenty of variety.

It gets too crowded in the shopping area to take pictures, and some of the vendors don't like you to photograph the quilts in their booths. They would prefer you buy the pattern, not copy....and rightfully so. They may also be displaying a borrowed quilt that is a copyrighted piece of art. Some vendors don't mind if you take a picture. It's considered polite to ask first.
The booth above is one of my favorites, the painter Rebecca Barker. She does scenes that have a quilt incorporated in different ways. Each year she aso paints a special picture for the NQA show to reflect the theme. Her artwork can be purchased in several forms, from originals to prints to notecards. You know I like to buy cards, and this year she added a Thank-You card! Now who cannot use a box of those?

Cherry-Cherry and I made up for our lapse of fabric buying in NC by handling every batik in sight at the show. How do you like this one that has a Passion Flower motif?

That came from the fabulous Batiks Etcetera & Sew What Fabrics of Wytheville, VA. 
Now, you know we must really have a batik habit, because shop owner Carol Britt actually recognized us from other shows! Especially our local show...she asked CC if we weren't from Jacksonville, and then wanted to know why we had not stopped at the shop, since we had to be traveling by there on our way to Ohio!
Well, I guess we cannot let that happen again! We promise to stop next time!
I was in class for two days, and that gave Cherry-Cherry time to work on a project in the hotel room...yes! she finished a couple fused pieces. But she also had time to buy these pretty batiks for me!

Thanks, CC...you said they were in return for the last of my 505 spray baste cans, but really...my basting spray is your basting spray!
Of course, if I'm not drooling over batiks, I'm pawing through any collection of Black & White fabrics. These came from The Quilting Connection...no website, but you can find Glenda Brady at many shows with a "field of fat quarters".

 
There were other attractions around the Convention Center, including many lovely plantings:

Does anyone know the name of that pink flowering vine? CC got one for Mother's Day and it did not have any identification.
I am always attracted to food, and this place, barely a block away, is the spot for lunch or dinner:   

The Old North Market has been in operation almost forever. It's like a farmer's market with food stands and other little shops...a total delight for the senses!

Who can resist a sign like this?
Maybe me, as I purchased a chicken salad sandwich one day, and Indian food another. The shops are ringed by an upstairs balcony area with tables and chairs so you can eat while enjoying the sights :

I did not get a shot of the coffee shop inside the Convention Center, but you can be sure that was a popular place. Some day the food vendors will realize that quilters like something after 3:00 in the afternoon, and they could do plenty enough business to afford extra hours.
The other attraction at a quilt show is People Watching...but you won't see any photos of that from me!

In the next post, I'll  share some comments about the class I took on judging a quilt show.

Around the NQA quilt show

Last seen from the top, this is the long escalator down to the quilt show:

Those who did not have to make the long trek through the building could come in right on the ground floor! But if you had a class upstairs, it was the same escalator ride in another location.
NQA members may register ahead of time, but everyone still has to go to check in:

I got my class info, show pin and a great bag with a water bottle holder on the outside, and special pockets for pens and business cards! Nice embroidery, too...

    

Going into the show, it's no secret who the big sponsors are:

   

There is no place like a large quilt show to be able to check out all the newest sewing machines. I have my eye on the new Janome 7700 Horizon. But it will require some major remodeling of my sewing area...using saws. That's a story for another day!
Inside the show is the NQA booth with lots of info about this great organization. They have a wonderful grants program, funded by the annual small quilts auction.

Around the side is a set up for demos, with the times posted so you can plan a sit-down. Some of these were quite crowded, but it's really a nice way to have a small class:

 

Really, I do try to be good and not show full pictures of other people's quilts without their permission. So if you see something here that you object to, let me know and I will take it down!
There are miniature quilts at almost every show. I look at them quickly, and run away before I get too crazy:

Much better are the rows of competition quilts and special exhibits, all well marked:

 There are NQA members as white glove ladies, but the clear plastic tape across the stanchions does a pretty good job of reminding people not to touch. This show's visitors seemed to have much better etiquette than the ones at the Mancuso show in West Palm Beach. I will have to do a little study...are attendees at volunteer organization shows better behaved than the ones at shows run as businesses?

 

The quilts were displayed well, too...I always think of that when I see the big-time-award-winning one I almost stepped on, while white gloving!..at the previously mentioned show. It was at this one, too. But safely displayed.
Cherry-Cherry says it has design issues, which she kindly pointed out to me, so I won't show it again . 
Quilted clothing seems to come and go in popularity. These entries are more "costumey" than some.
But I enjoy seeing them, whether or not I'd ever wear any!

Award ribbons are another way to make a show special. The NQA ribbons feature the black & yellow colors, although that did cause one viewer some distress. I guess she was accustomed to the blue ribbon system!

 

They all have a little golden bee pin (the NQA symbol) and each level from Honorable Mention (above) gets fancier as it goes all the way up to Best of Show:

  

You can see "Tribute to Tolkien" by Sue McCarty in many magazines...it is winning loads of well-deserved awards. Here's a little detail shot:

    

Even though the words are in Elven runes, please do not read them aloud or we will all be in trouble! (only amusing to those who know "Lord of the Rings").

This quilt is entered in the category "Other", meaning it uses special techniques. Everything on here is done with thread. There is some painting in the three figures in the quilt's center (not shown) but all the rest is done with thread on a solid background.

Each show sets categories and awards as they see fit. NQA likes to divide between "bed" and "wall" for sizes, then techniques used (pieced, applique, mixed and other). Here are some other winners...it is hard to get good pictures even when the crowds are thin!

   

There is a full list of winners on the NQA website, and sometime soon there will be pictures.

Coming next: around the Convention Center...and the judging class!

On the way to the NQA...quilt show, that is!

Last week it was into the QuiltMobile and heading north to Ohio for the National Quilting Association show!
Half the fun of going to a quilt show is the actual going. It was just Cherry-Cherry & me, but we managed to have a lot of laughs along the way.
The first stop was just to celebrate being out of Florida, our home state. Here's the QuiltMobile in Georgia:

  
June is a beautiful month to go almost anywhere. It's like the best of Spring and Summer. There were trees and flowers all along our route up I-95, I-26 and I-77 to Ohio Rt. 33.
But wait!
Doesn't that take a quilter close to MaryJo's in Gastonia, NC?
Why yes, it does...just a quick side trip, and well worth the time. Here's the QuiltMobile in the parking lot. You will know it's my van, as there is always a flag of Spanish moss hanging from the luggage rack somewhere.

I didn't recognize the place! The mall has been completely re-built around the original MaryJo's store, which has stayed open and unchanged inside. Let's take a look:

This is exactly like a fabric supermarket....if you want it, they have it. It's fun to see the swimsuit, decorator and bridal gown supplies.

This is an entire aisle of Food Fabrics. Besides the healthy & colorful fruit and veggies, there were plenty of ones like Potato Chips, too! And chocolates, of course.

In the quilting cottons there is a tremendous selection of theme fabrics, with signs suspended from the ceiling so you can find the animals, sports or any other item you want.

And notions...like spools of giant ric-rack!

The strange thing was that neither of us bought any fabric, even at the outstanding price of $6.49 for top quality batiks. What we really wanted was 505 for spray basting, and we found it in large cans for only a few dollars more than the small ones! So now we are all stocked up and ready to baste a pile of tops.

Our plan was to spend the night in Gastonia, but we decided to use these longer day-light hours and get some more miles done. We finally stopped in Jonesboro and Elkins, NC.

The next day we had to get to Columbus, OH in time for the Preveiw Party, so we hit the road and had a wonderful ride on the West Virginia Turnpike (aka I-77).

If you're going up that way, be sure to stop at Tamarack to see the crafts!

It's a beautiful big round building that is a showcase..and sales point...for West Virginian crafts people. It's good to see states promoting their artisans.

What lovely displays! The prices are set for people who cannot make any of these things themselves. I think that is absolutely correct. Good craftwork should not be cheap.

And though I may never be able to buy them, these shoes will always be a favorite fantasty:

You just have to love all that color!!!

We made it into Columbus in plenty of time to check into the Red Roof Inn (across the street from the Convention Center) and mosey over to the show. It was a short walk to the entrance, and then a longer distance inside the Convention Center! We had no idea where to go, so we adapted the Airport Mentatlity:

Keeping moving forward and look for signs!

Sure enough, it was almost a straight shot through. But we did have to go up some levels and back down...

This is a huge place, and there were several events going on at the same time as the quilt show, including a knitters' convention and one for CPAs!

Dinner was a nice plate of chicken, and the tables were formally set. After everyone ate, the doors to the exhibit hall were open and we strolled among the quilts for a few hours.

The vendors were open, too!

Ahhh....there is nothing like being in Quilt World for a couple of days.

Cherry-Cherry was free to roam, and I took the 2-Day Intro to Quilt Show Judging class.

Coming next: lots of quilts!