Sweet Sixteen

No - I am not sweet sixteen. Keep reading.

How easily we are sidetracked! I stopped work on Tradition, the red and green applique quilt, while waiting to make sure I can get 3 more yards of the background fabric. A friend and I attended the NQA show for the first time this past June. While at the show, we attended the Little Quilt Auction. Afterwards I vowed to make a quilt for the auction in 2010. My friend emailed me about it on Saturday. I had a block selected and had reduced it to 4" finished size. I just hadn't started. Her email got me going!

I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I would make a quilt that I could enter in my local guild's miniature category. Then I would donate it to NQA. For the local show, the maximum block size is 4" and the maximum quilt size is 25" square. Last year the maximum Little Quilt size was 28" square. My first plan was to make nine of the 4" appliqued blocks, thinking that the quilt could be smaller than the maximum size. By the time I had made 5 blocks, I was addicted and decided to make 16 blocks...because they would fit and allow room for a border too. That was when I decided to name the quilt Sweet Sixteen.

I used assorted shirtings for the backgrounds of the blocks, just as I often do when making a bed quilt. The block is called Indiana Rose. There are 10 pieces to applique for each block. The leaves are all assorted greens. The flowers are varied. The flower in the middle has a tiny round center and those are varied too. I started by making a block with purple flowers and a blue center. I decided to blanket stitch the flowers, then the leaves, then the center. Because I had blue thread in the machine, I decided the next block would have blue flowers. I continued making blocks with the center determining the color for the next flower. Eventually I knew what color flower I wanted to do next so sometimes the flower for the next block determined the color for the center of the current block. This little game caused me to use some combinations that I might not have otherwise considered.

It would have been faster to fuse all the blocks, put a thread in my sewing machine, and blanket stitch all the blocks that had that color. But this is not about faster. I take delight in each block as I work on it. Sometimes people ask the question "Why do you quilt?" For a long time I thought it was because I bought fabric. Not true. I quilt because I feel joy in creating something that pleases me. If it brings someone else joy, that is a bonus.

Update on March 8, 2011. This quilt was the Viewers' Choice at the 2010 NQA show and did nicely at auction.

Where has the summer gone?

Amazing! Even though it isn't officially fall, it is time for school to start and that means fall to me.

To my surprise, I have accomplished some things since last spring. I FINALLY quilted the Paducah Nine-Patch top assembled quite a few years ago. It is quilted with simple straight line walking foot quilting, which is all it needed. It is happy to be finished!

I also quilted a Miss Rosie top that I made several years back. I think the pattern was called Pretty Maids. It is made in wonderfully murky eggplant, tan, gold, green fabrics, but I changed it to have a plainer, dark eggplant border so there would be spaces for some fancy quilting. The center is straight line walking foot. I called it "It Was a Dark and Murky Night." There were some blocks left over so they were assembled into a small table runner. The table runner will be donated to the Quilt Boutique at our local quilt show.

I made and quilted an appliqued quilt called Bird Haven. It has 9 appliqued blocks and is about 48" square. It was named in honor of Bird Haven Greenhouse and Conservatory in Joliet, IL. They will celebrate 80 years of continuous operation in 2010. I grew up in Joliet and have fond memories of visits to the greenhouse...but I was NOT there on opening day in 1930!

I made a lap size four-patch quilt to be donated through community projects of our local guild.

I joined a small group. Each of us plan to make a journal type quilt a month. This is meant to be a growth experience. I am planning to work on unmarked free motion quilting of objects like leaves, flowers, feathers, etc. I am using Dover Books for inspiration. The series will be called Without a Trace I, II, etc. I quilted a floral shape for the first one. It turned out well but I was not adventurous enough in my choice of thread.

But the main thing is that I have started my "big" project for the year. It is a red and green appliqued quilt based on my study of some antique quilts - pictures - I've not been able to see very many actual quilts. It will have nine 18" blocks in the center and a leafy border.

And...I had some excitement in June. A quilt that I entered in the NQA show placed second in the Bed Quilts, Mixed Techniques category.

My Visit to LLQA - A Trip Down Memory Lane

LLQA stands for Land of Lincoln Quilters Association. It is a statewide organization that meets in various locations throughout Illinois. Yesterday the meeting was in Lincoln. I was the guest speaker. It was a new experience for me - a good experience. What could be better than spending time in the company of quilters talking about quilts?

It was fun getting out the quilts made over the past 11 years and deciding which ones I would take along. (It has not been as much fun putting them away!) Even though I knew it would be the case, I was surprised to see how much my skill level had changed. I think all quilters should assess their own quilting growth from time to time in order to appreciate their own accomplishments.

I took 28 quilts of various sizes, including the first quilt I made in August of 1998. I wasn't able to take any of the Marula Designs quilts because they were all at the Rosemont IQA show.

Today I am working on the exact design for the Bird Haven applique blocks.

A New Quilting Year

I am a member of Hands All Around Quilt Guild in Bloomington, IL. Our annual quilt show was April 4-5. Every year as the date for the quilt show approaches, I find myself scrambling to finish quilts I optimistically entered. This year was no exception!

In March of 2008 I had taken a machine applique class from Sue Nickels. I started a 16" block in that class and finished it sometime that spring. I decided to add a border to it. Pretty soon there were two borders, then three. It grew into an 85x85 medallion quilt with both pieced and appliqued blocks. I named it Touch of Class because the center block was started in a class and because it had a classic sort of look. I started quilting it on my Bernina in January of 2009 and finished it about 2 weeks before the show. It turned out quite nice.

Then I quickly quilted the Bush Tea sample for the Marula Imports booth. This was also needed for our quilt show. There was no time to do the pattern. That can come later.

Now the show is over. This is the time of year that I think about what I'd like to accomplish in the next twelve months. Right now I am quilting a Paducah Nine-Patch top that I made several years ago. It's from one of the Nickel Quilt books. I am doing traditional straight line quilting with the walking foot. It is completely relaxing and does not take much concentration, which leaves me free to think about projects for the coming year.

The first thing I plan to start will be an approximately 45x45 wall quilt with nine 9" applique blocks. I am going to use two different blocks and alternate their placement, separating them with sashing. One of those blocks has a bird on it. I will call the quilt Bird Haven, which is the name of the greenhouse and conservatory at Pilcher Park in Joliet. It was built in the early 1900s and is an Italian Renaissance design. It was designed by the Lord and Burnham Company. My mother liked to visit the greenhouse. When she passed away in 2005, I had her name put on a brick in a walkway and also had it etched into a glass pane in the greenhouse. I have thought for a long time that I want to make a Bird Haven quilt too. The time has come! I came across the fabric for the border just recently. It is an interesting print with green, gold, red, orange, brown - great fall colors. I think I want the birds to be robins. The fabric is collected. (I am good at that part.) I will start it next week...I think.

This coming year I also want to make an old fashioned applique quilt. I have been looking at Rose of Sharon blocks. There are many variations. I am designing one of my own. The quilt will be red and green with some touches of gold. I want to leave areas for fancy quilting too.

I also want to develop the patterns for Bush Tea and Baby Elephant Walk, two recent Marula samples.

It's going to be another busy year!