Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Quilts to Inspire

 A couple of weeks ago I headed
to Golden, Colorado to visit the 
and was totally captivated by 
the exhibit,
"In the British Tradition:
Hand-Stitched Reproduction Quilts
by Carolyn König.

 Aunt Green's Quilt
 (in person)


Carolyn is a well recognized quilter and designer
both in Australia and internationally. 

Hertfordshire Quilt or
Mrs. Billings Quilt


I think what intrigues me the most
is Carolyn's use of fabrics.

 1860 Marriage quilt

Each block is different and so intricate.
She uses so many different fabrics
to reproduce the original complex antique quilts.

 Nineteenth Century Folk Art

 When I look at her meticulous hand piecing
and applique, I'm in awe.


I was the only one at the museum that day
and spent a long time studying and enjoying
these elaborate quilts.
It was a very special treat.
Charleston Rhapsody

I had to purchase her book
 carolyns new book

 if for nothing more than 
to enjoy the photos over and over again
and be inspired by her talent.
There's always the hope that one day
I'll stitch one of those patterns.

Until Next Time-

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Sometimes Bigger is Better

 We've always been told that
bigger is better.
But that isn't always necessarily true.

A bigger house, 
a bigger car,
equals bigger payments.

A big Gulp,
a big Mac,
equals big calories.

But sometimes bigger is better.

I just finished my quilt
Basket and Stars.
 I had
Big stitched


using Barb's Big Baptist Fan Stencil


You can find this incredible stencil
on her Esty shop here.

In this case, bigger was better.


I had finished the top of Baskets and Stars
in the fall.
It was a Moda kit I had purchased in the spring and
was part of the Collection of a Cause where
the proceeds were going to the Texas Quilt Museum.

 
"Baskets and Stars"
70" X 70"
2016

The quilting went so fast
and was so fun using
Barb's fabulous stencil and 
stitching with Aurifil #12 thread.

 Look at the amount of
space the stencil covered.
If you haven't tried quilting using
big stitches and some kind
of embroidery cotton for thread,
 you definitely must do it.

I'm pretty conservative when it comes
to marking a quilt.
In this case I used a Sewline

Mechanical Marking Pencil
with white lead.

I usually don't wash my quilts when
I'm done so I wanted the lines to be very faint
and not use some thing that would
add any chemicals to the fibers.

I even had one block leftover that I could
use for the label.
I had hoped to have this done in December,
but the binding just had to wait until January.
It's a wonderful quilt to have finished in 2016.



Until Next Time-

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Spoolies

 I remember using these.
 If you're old enough 
you know them as Spoolies.

They were newest and best way to 
curl your hair in the 50's and 60's.

No more pin curls with bobbin pins
or sleeping on brush rollers. 
They were ingenious, flexible, and 
comfortable to sleep in.
They definitely made your
hair very curly.

 

And yes, I used them.
I was a Spoolie girl.

Today, I guess I'm still a spoolie girl,
only in another way.

About 20+ years ago I went to 
a sale and bought this wonderful old
painted box.

I've kept it in my sewing room ever since.

A box is meant for storing things in it,
and I had the perfect idea.

Each time I emptied a spool of thread I 
tossed the spool into the box.
Slowly over the years the box has been filling up
with a wide variety of empty spools.


This year I decided to wait until the end of the year
to see exactly how many spools 
I emptied in 2015.

It was a very good sewing year.

So I guess I'll continue being a spoolie girl
and see how many spools I can empty in 2016,
but I'll skip using them in my hair.


Until Next Time-

Thursday, January 7, 2016

2015: A Very Good Year

 2015 was a very productive year.
I crossed off  lots of fun and 
some complicated quilting projects
off my list.
Of course,
added many others.
I've tried new techniques and
hopefully, improved on old ones.
I continue to learn new things
and I hope you do too.

I've made a Smilebox
to help me remember all 
that I've completed, and
I thought you might enjoy seeing it too.



Click to play this Smilebox slideshow
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox
This photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

 Until Next Year-

Sunday, January 3, 2016

White Snow and A Red Quilt

Combine some fresh snow,
a new year
and a red and white quilt 

and it made a great day to 
take some photos.

This ocean wave quilt 
had been my leader and enders project
starting in January, 2012.

And this fall I had decided I had had enough.
75" x 75"
It was time to stop making half square triangles
and sew all the pieces together.

I had my friend, Kathy, do the machine quilting for me.
I decided on an overall feathered pattern.
I thought it needed some curved lines
to soften all those angles.

The quilt is made up of hundreds of different reds and white fabrics
all sewn together 
while I sewed on lots of other projects.

This toile by Jo Morton
 made the perfect backing 
along with a variety of leftover strips for the binding.

I think this was the perfect way to end 2015,
and start 2016
 don't you?

With lots of quilts finished this past year
it leaves the door wide open for new things!
I'm ready for 2016.

 Until Next Time-