Monday, November 26, 2018

November Small Quilt- Another One Done

With the Thanksgiving holiday over,


it's time to get back to a "normal" routine.
Well, at least for a couple days.

My Florida daughter and son-in-law are coming

to celebrate Christmas, birthdays,
and just being together.
They come and freeze, these two born and raised Colorado kids,
but it's wonderful to have them here.

So it's time to share my November small quilt,
which is part of the monthly challenge
coordinated by Wendy, the Constant Quilter.


Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice
22" x 36"

This little quilt had it's beginning back in January, 2017.
It's when I started Primitive Gathering's Triangle Gatherings.

I made lots of  sets of triangle units,

even put together a few blocks, but

then staled out.
That ever happened to you?!
Of course it has!

Well, those little piles have stayed
together for almost 2 years.
Time to use 'em
move 'em, or loose 'em.


One of my favorite combos
is indigo blue with cheddar orange.
I had this fabulous cheddar strip and
it was telling me to use those blocks
in this simple pattern from
Jo Morton's book, Jo's Little Favorites III.

Most of the sewing was already done.
So it went together easily.

But look what I discovered when I set the
quilt up for its photo shoot.


Oh, well.
Such is life.

Don't sweat the small stuff.
You could be Humpty Dumpty.

I kept that fabulous color scheme going
on the back and


stretched a favorite remnant to make it work.

Thanks again, Wendy for
all this fun!
One more month and then another year?
Until Next Time-
Kyle

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Houston International Quilt Festival

How do you describe the "grandmother"
of all quilt shows?

Fabulous, Amazing, Incredible, Extraordinary....
I'm not sure you really can.
Each of the 50,000+ attendees would say something else 
to describe their experience.

I went to be inspired.







Daisy and Basket by Helm Hulsman

I went to learn some new things.

Redbird Quilt Co and Aurifil Thread

I went to do some shopping.



Each day as the doors opened
it was an organized frenzy of quilters


all seeking out their favorite venders to
discover what enticing products they had brought.


First stop for me
saying hi to Petra Prins and Judith Ebbelaar.

Judith and Me

I had my map labeled 1,2,3,...

There's never been so many 
beautiful temptations.

There is something for every style of quilter,
every skill level, and every credit card limit.

Equally important is seeing and meeting friends.

I finally had the privilege to meet 
Janet Olmstead from Calgary, Alberta Canada.
You might know her as Mrs Sew n' sew
Her applique work is exquisite and she
is so delightful to hangout with.
We had a great time shopping and
viewing the quilts.

It was exciting to see her Bird of Paradise quilt 
in person!


It was also exciting to say hi
to Rachael Daisy from Australia.


Her quilts are an explosion of color, pattern
and innovated techniques.  That's her 
Whiz Bang, prize winning quilt in the background.

The show couldn't happen or run 
so smoothly without the incredible crew of 
volunteers that work behind the scenes.
I caught up with Lori DeJarnatt


as she was getting things set up for the next
open studio demos.

My dear Virginia and Netherlands travelers
were all there 

with an outstanding exhibit 


Esther's Quilt, 1858 

Many quilters followed along and 
created their own masterpieces.

 Doreen Johnson's Quilt
made with French General fabrics.
You might know Doreen at


Patti Snyder's quilt
with extraordinary quilting


who you know as the Log Cabin Quilter
with her wonderful chocolate background


Wendy Reed's quilt
Don't you love the cheddar background!


Harolyn Klawan's,
"Playtime in the Valley", with her 
lovely small embroidered interpretation.


Susie Martin Corrao's 
lovely quilt with sashing.

Laurie Sanders took a different approach.


Laurie visualized the flowers that Esther might have
seen from her kitchen window.

There were so many quilts to enjoy and study,
about 1600.  Each one a work of art.

Just a couple more.
How about:


Barb Vedder's quilt
It was fabulous to see in person.  
The pink background is awesome with
the blue saw tooth border.  
She has a creative whimsical style.

There were so many hand quilted quilts this year
with the exhibit of Antique Quilts of the British Isles



Hexagon Quilt, 1810

and the French collection
Quilts de Legende


Marie-Henriette 
by Martine Crabe'-Lanux.

I know I didn't see everything in my two days,


but I gave it a good try.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Monday, November 5, 2018

Bubbling With Excitement

Last week was bubbly good.
I've had time to sew
and I've got some travel plans.


I was able to machine applique 
the final border of my Sutton Grange.

Again, I used the 100wt poly Invisafil by Wonderfil.
The thread is so thin that it disappears right into
the weave of the fabric.


I used a tiny Overlock stitch, which is
stitch, stitch, stitch, zig-zag.  

The straight stitches
go right along the side of the applique and
the zig-zag holds it to the background.

I use the mirror image feature on my Bernina,
which makes it easier for me to stitch
along the right side of the applique piece.

The whole top is now together.

It's a beautiful design by Di Ford.

The next step is to figure out the machine quilting.
I'm going to work on it myself...eventually.

But in order to do that I need inspiration.
And what better place to get that, 
than to head to Houston
and 



Besides doing lots of shopping, there will plenty of 
quilts to admire and study.  I'll be excited to
enjoy the beautiful quilts of many of my
blogging friends, Wendy, Janet, Karen, Barb,
I'm sure a few more.
Let me know if I've missed you.

And some of those friends will be there in person.
That will be extra treat!

It will be a whirlwind trip,
but a much needed one.
Running Man is coming to carry
the packages.
Isn't he a sweetheart!

Wish you were all coming too.

Until Next Time-
Kyle