I love whole cloths! There is something so elegant about just a piece of fabric and thread. The problem with whole cloths as I saw it was that there was a lot of measuring (which I totally dislik…
Black Medallion Made by Lisa Brothman This is a whole cloth quilt with cording couched to set off each section and the design elements quilted in. Pretty! Gary's Golf Memories Made by Wanda B. Harker and quilted by her as well. I don't know who Gary is, but this quilt is made from his 1996-1999 golf shirts! I thought my husband would enjoy seeing this quilt and since I am making a t-shirt quilt for my son, I was looking for some inspiration myself! Andrew Made by Kathi Carter and quilted by her as well. The quilting on this quilt is absolutely amazing, which is why it won "Best Machine Quilting"! It is machine appliquéd and she said it's a variation of two patterns from "More William Morrie" by Michele Hill of Australia. In her artist statement, Kathi said that the hardest part of this quilt was to find a continuous path to quilt the background. Take a look at the detail photos below - the quilting is incredible. I am going to keep practicing! All of those little triangles in the background are quilted!! Circle of a Beautiful Life Made by Carole Lifferth and quilted by her as well. Whole cloth with trapunto, and she said she added crystals (her first time doing so on a quilt). This quilt won "Best Whole Cloth Quilt" and very deserving of it! Asilomar Circles Made and quilted by Ruth Ewers. She began this quilt at an Empty Spools seminar in Asilomar, CA. The class was taught by Raynola Pakusich. She said Raynola stressed letting the fabulous fabrics speak by keeping the pattern simple. Good advice! In The Meadow You Can Build A Snowman Made by Pamela G. Pierce and quilted by Holly Williams-Sosa. Pamela did a lot of handwork in this quilt - buttonhole stitches, whip stitches, needle turn, back stitches, french knots and more! Very whimsical. My Pink Flower Baskets Made by Linda Williams and quilted by Kim Peterson. She made this quilt for her granddaughter's antique iron bed. It won Judge's Choice, picked by Cody Mazuran. Natures's Daintiness Made by Jane Mathis and quilted by Sue McCarty. She started this quilt in a class taught by Jeanna Kimball on needle turn appliqué. I learned my favorite method of hand appliqué from Jeanna - back basting!! Jane said it took her three years to complete this quilt. Shoe Boutique Made by Louise Lemon and quilted by Miriam Higgensen. This quilt was made as part of a block exchange in her guild "The Quiltaholoics". She asked for high class shoes with bling on the blocks made by her friends :) Sophie Grace's Garden Tour Made by Penney Huang and quilted by Charlotte Freeman. This quilt was also started at an Empty Spools seminar in Asilomar, but in a class taught by Laura Swartz Smith. The quilt is hand painted, hand embroidered, machine and hand pieced, hand appliquéd, and hand beaded! Emily Made by Kathi Carter and quilted by her as well. She also made "Andrew" above. Andrew is named after her grandson and Emily is named after her granddaughter. She said this is a variation of Conway (I'm not from Baltimore) Album. She added daffodils and it is machine quilted and machine appliquéd with hand ruched flowers. I need to take a machine quilting class from Kathi! This quilt won "Best of Show". I will have more detail photos of this quilt tomorrow as it is absolutely stunning. Have a GREAT day!!
The computer catalog of their quilts is a good place to start and we spent a long time looking up our friends and favorite quilters to see what works were there. We wrote down the catalog numbers and the next day, some of the quilts were presented on the tables in the viewing room you saw in the last post about the Quilt House. This is by one of my authors, M. Joan Lintault from NY. It is one that isn’t in her book so I was excited to see it. It is a printed design on the fabric and then quilted. Just spectacular detail in the leaf designs and the colors are beautiful. Here is the Libby Lehman they own. One of her ribbon play quilts with vibrant colors after all these years! Of course, Libby is on everyone’s mind in the Quilt world and we are hoping for a complete recovery so we can see more of her work! Goats by Ruth McDowell. ONe of my friends owns a large horse piece by her so I had to see what the museum had. I regret not taking a class with her! These beautiful full quilt shots were generously provided to me by the museum. Any that are odd or badly lit were ones that I took. I couldn’t get an angle to shoot some and of course didn’t have ideal lighting so it’s the best that I could do under the circumstances. Some of the quilts that are filed flat are ones that have embellishments so can’t be folded into boxes or are too delicate.For example, this is a crazy quilt made famous by being on the cover of a Penny Mc Morris book. This embroidered bedcover from 1710-1730 has lots of gold thread, very heavy and intricate. The center medallion is a bed of gold thread and I think the base fabric is silk. As a contrast, this white wholecloth quilt from 1750-1800, France, is just fantastic free motion quilting! It’s over 5 ft so just close ups here. This is a Mughal ‘floor’ quilt from the first half of the 18th century and is silk with silk embroidery, wood-block cotton print on the reverse side. The embroidery is tiny here and amazing! I wonder if it was truly for a floor or a repro of an image on a floor? The vibrant colors of this silk were a standout and I could study this for hours. It is one of the 3 quilts that I found inspirational because of the small pieces used in the quilts. I’d like to try creating with tiny pieces. Here are the other two below. Detail in the Gallery. Pieces were about half inch at the smallest center. Made by Bertha Neiden in Lincoln, NE about 1910 of wool and probably wool scraps from clothing! Wool and felt pieced by hand! It reminds me of many gameboards all together! More photos coming in future blog posts!
Cristina Arcenegui Bono discovered that she preferred the machine quilting to piecing quilts that opened a world of art to her.
I am putting the finishing touches on my new class for the 2011 International Machine Quilter’s Showcase (MQS), called “Doodle Art Fills for Quilters.” As a machine quilter, we do…
The issue has finally arrived!!!! It was so hard to NOT post pictures of this quilt in progress. I had the great pleasure of being asked to participate in a whole cloth challenge by…
Cristina Arcenegui Bono discovered that she preferred the machine quilting to piecing quilts that opened a world of art to her.
Front of quilt -This is the 2nd one I've done like this. She wanted it EXACTLY like the one that I did before for her friend, Pat Joyce
Instructions on how to make a whole cloth quilt- a quick and easy yet super satisfying project !
Today's post is all about Jane Ogren. Her piece is an ode to her husband a retired Geometry teacher. Rusted Geometry She wrote that this quilt was inspired by a store in Pittsburgh, PA, called "Construction Junction", which collects and resells recycled materials. When she needs inspiration she browses through the store...this time a bucket of rusty nails caught her eye and intrigued her. Jane is a native Pennsylvanian. She has lived the last forty years in the Pittsburgh area. Jane graduated from Edinboro University of PA with a B.S. in art education and an M.Ed from Indiana University of PA. She taught art in several suburban schools. Although retired from teaching Jane has stated, "A part of me feels alive when I work with young people and when I teach. And although teaching and stimulating other people's creativeness takes a tremendous amount of energy it is also very rewarding." Rusted Geometry Detail Whole-cloth quilt, cotton canvas, backed with felt, hand-quilted, rusted with old nails, embellished with those same nails and wire. Jane enjoys the evolution of her work as she problem solves through the entire process deciding on color, texture and design. Here is Jane's website: http://www.janeogren.com/index.html Be sure to look through the galleries. You will be glad you did!
I'm finally "back in the saddle" again and able to start quilting. Boy does it feel good!!! My first priority was to get back on our boutis challenge and I'm excited to share some great progress this week! Since this fragile linen is so wiggly I wanted to make sure my straight lines stayed straight so I stitched thes
"The Jump" by Cristina Arcenegui Bono is based on an illustration by Sveta Dorosheva.
This is a detail from the Tristan Quilt at the V&A, from about 1360-1400. The quilt shows episodes of the story of Tristan, one of the heroes of medieval literature, but I've chosen a decorative section of flowers, leaves, and buds. It's a timeless design that could be used on any quilt. I love making quilts, so this object makes me think of the quilt-makers who put it together and how they might have worked on it. V&A museum no. 1391-1904
Cristina Arcenegui Bono discovered that she preferred the machine quilting to piecing quilts that opened a world of art to her.
Are you overwhelmed with the simple elegance of a wholecloth quilt but are clueless on how make one yourself? Read for 5 tips on how to wholecloth quilt:
Some examples of my quilting and the category they come under. Not all quilting designs will fall neatly into once category; they can be tailored to suit your needs. For more pictures of my quilting, select any of the recent quilts (listed by year on the right hand side of my blog) to see individual posts with more detailed photos and descriptions. ----> (scroll down a little) Please click on any image for a larger view Allover quilting e.g. Feather meander Stipple Large swirls (Heart-shaped open feather meander; customer quilt) (Large-scale loops and wavy lines, on minky backing; 'Hoot') (Large sun allover pattern; 'Hushabye Stars') (Allover open feather meander, from back; customer quilt) Dense Allover quilting e.g. Freeform feathers Curlicues Feather/swirl Triple paisley/swirl/double feathers (Freehnd feather and swirl combination, flannel backing; 'Jindy') (Clamshells; 'Happiness') (Freehand feather and swirl combination; customer quilt) (Echo feather/paisley/swirl; 'Feathered Friends') (Lines of Figure-8s; 'Colour Play') (Freehand gumleaves and connecting loops; 'Whispers') (Small curlicues; customer quilt) Allover Plus quilting e.g. Some quilting in the ditch or echo quilting Small amounts of McTavishing, Pebbling Different border quilting (no marking) (Allover feather meander Plus echo/ditch quilting around applique; customer quilt) (Allover curlicues Plus single feather plume; customer quilt) (Allover freehand feather/swirl flowers Plus echo/ditch quilting and dense filler in centre; customer quilt) (Allover curlicues Plus small swag border - unmarked; 'In the Pink') (Allover heart feather meander Plus separate border; customer quilt) Any marking is custom quilting Light Custom quilting (Areas of large pebbling, plus detail quilting, combined with an allover in the background areas; customer quilt) (Freehand feathers, some ditch quilting, freehand border; 'Nectar') (Some marked motifs combined with freehand fillers; 'Reflections') (Ares of dense stippling combined with lots of ditch quilting; 'Sweetness') (Combination of custom feathers, ditch quilting and stippling; 'Soft as a Feather') Custom quilting (Above and below from back, custom feathers, McTavishing, marked motifs, ditch quilting, multiple borders; 'Hush in the Forest') (Extensive ditch quilting, custom feathers, piano-key border, dense fillers; 'Feathered Friends') (Custom feathers, separate borders, freehand motifs; 'Lilac Soda') (Custom freehand feather motifs; 'Hidden Star') (Above and detail below - extensive ditch quilting, many customised fillers, individual block treatment; customer quilt) (Above and detail below - custom marked feathers, centre motif and curved cross-hatching, pianokey borders; 'Pink Feathers') (Custom feathers, marked swag and pianokey borders; 'Stars of the Sea') (Freehand sky with cloud effect, separate sun treatment, detail quilting on trees...; 'Footsteps') (Feathers, second border, ditch quilting, freehand fillers..., 'Nurture') (Freehand fancy feathers; Adds' quilt - 'Flying Feather Filler') (Custom marked feather and individual swirl motifs; 'Cuggle') Other fancy quilting examples (Above and detail below - Wholecloth quilt featuring a large selection of dense filler patterns in different colour threads; 'May') (McTavishing, trapunto, dense fillers...; 'Crowing') (Small wholecloth quilt on black, marked feathers, freehand echoing; 'Feathered Flake') (Small wholecloth using silver metallic thread, McTavishing background fill; 'Snowcrystal') (Extensive ditch quilting and McTavishing; 'Bountiful Winter') (Different border treatments; 'Footsteps')
I am a week overdue for posting all the goodies from our September retreat which took place weekend-before-last. As crazy as things get on my home front I always look forward to these retreats. There is something so special about the setting and the building where these are held...everyone that comes, including myself, just takes a deep breath and relaxes. My day starts between 4:30-5:00 am when I get the coffee started, gifts on the tables, tidying up done...the cool part is that it is soooo quiet and I get to watch the sun rise over the mountains. I even wiggle in a little bit of sewing time before the "kids" arrive :) I couldn't run these retreats without lots of help...Beth, who is pictured on the right, comes with me to every single retreat and helps me with anything and everything. These simply wouldn't happen without her! She is pictured with another one of my favorite retreaters, Shirley Hagan :) Barbara Cavanagh is one of my "regulars"...I met her for the first time when she was one of my students at Empty Spools Seminars (Asilomar) and she has been coming to my retreats ever since. She is, of course, a special "Linen Lady" and brought a finished project to share...simply amazing! I love how she covered up a center design she didn't like with a beautiful ruched ribbon flower. I always encourage retreaters to bring guild opportunity quilts so they can sell tickets...this one was over the top! The Yuba City Quilt Guild created a wholecloth linen quilt for their opportunity quilt...breathtaking doesn't justify this quilt. It is trapunto'd, beaded, and quilted to death. The pictures just don't do it justice. ...sometimes there just isn't enuf wall space to lay out a large quilt...I love how this quilt was embellishing the bench by the window :) Beverly Mack was one of my students in Sisters last year and is doing AMAZING work...she came with the small wholecloth practice piece above and then started venturing into a small hankie sized piece to get her feet wet. I loved watching her work...:) I always give away one of my wholecloth framed miniatures at each retreat and this is the one for September. These only measure 5x5"...loved how this turned out :) And last, but not least, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. McCloud! One morning after announcements, one of my retreaters Linda Wilson, approached me with a gift and pulled this pink wool-sculptured head out of a bag...At the time he was "naked" and had about a foot long arm that was attached to the bottom of his head with a hand attached at the end. I couldn't stop laughing...almost had to change my pants. I always say "what happens in McCloud...stays in McCloud" and we had LOADS of fun with him! Later on another retreater presented him with a crocheted hat to keep his head warm...the next day the same retreater fashioned a silk shawl to wrap around his skinny neck/arm...and then Linda made him some ears. He made his way around the retreat room in various poses, performing different tasks and he now resides right here in my sewing room where he is constantly bringing a smile to my face! I will be featuring him from time to time in my travels....THANK YOU LINDA! I will be leaving tomorrow morning to teach my 5-day Designs Workshop in Rancho Cordova (outside of Sacramento) so will have more inspiration coming up for you. Hugs, Cindy :)
Customer Quilts Quilt by Noelle Powers Quilt by Noelle Powers Quilt by Heather Bostic Quilt by Jenny Redwig Quilt by Jenny Redwig Quilt by Julianna Gasiorowska Quilt by Julianna Gasiorowska Quilt by Michelle @Ilikeorangetoo Quilt by Penny Layman Quilt by Cindy Wiens Quilt by Cindy Wiens Customer Quilt Quilt by Angela Pingel Quilt by Katie Pedersen Quilt by Katie Pedersen Quilt by Krista Fleckenstein Quilt by Krista Fleckenstein Quilt by Sonja Callaghan Quilt by Sonja Callaghan Quilt by Jenny Redwig Quilt by Krista Fleckensten Quilt by Alison Robins Amanda's Value Quilt Personal Quilts
Learn how to make a wholecloth quilt with this step-by-step photo tutorial that includes tips for Kantha-style stitching!
Sue Heinz is the owner of Kismet Quilting LLC, and is the author of two Drawn to Mastery series workbooks, and Fill Harmonics, a background design workbook. Sue teaches quilting classes and sells her books and other tools on her website.
I am FINALLY able to post a progress report on my newest star quilt. I work best on a tight deadline and I desperately want this piece done before my engagement at Quilting in the Desert in less than two weeks. I also want it to accompany me to Dubai next month. I'm actually going to make that deadline! I was working on it for a couple hours this morning, took a break and came back to my room and was captivated by how pretty it looked sitting in my machine so I took photos from my point of view. I love the little circles. I put in some baby clamshells and have beaded them with little gold beads. There are four of these corners and I am filling them with tight echoing and baby feathers. I am just starting a round feather wreath that will go around the entire outside of the piece tucking underneath the linen corners. This is being done with a very heavy silk thread. Obviously this piece is still in it's awkward "puberty stage" but I am VERY happy with how she is turning out. When I was going thru the photo folder I came across these beginning pictures and wanted to share. This is when I was just getting The Ultimate Stencil project going and learning what it could do. I laid the stencil down in the middle of my piece.. marked the lines that I needed and drafted the center star pattern... and quilted the main outline. Very cool! By the way, the huge star going around is actually a commercially cut stencil thru Quilting Creations...It's NH131 and NH132. When I originally designed this large stencil medallion a few years ago, I used the very same grid system on my drafting table that has since become The Ultimate Stencil. Funny how things come around. And now you know why I've named this quilt "The Ultimate Star". Hugs, Cindy :)
Congrats! You took the plunge and now you are ready to quilt! (If you are just joining us here, you'll want to review yesterday's details to...
I have just had four incredible days at the NEC in Birmingham with so many adventures! Lots of coffee breaks and lunches and dinners every day with lots of different friends, as well as some very interesting night time escapades, with friends car's locked up behind barriers in the NEC carpark, boy racers and crashes on the road around the NEC and very little sleep! Coming to the festival is not just about seeing all the lovely quilts and shopping, but also a big social event, and as I have discovered, unexpected adventures too! As there will be lots of photos of the category winners on the internet, I thought I would just post a few photos of my absolute favourite quilts. If you do not see your quilt here, it is not that I did not like it, there were many more that were absolutely stunning, but I cannot possibly post them all here. In no particular order.... "Subtle Differences" by Kay Bell "Juno" by Sandie Chandler "Cappuccino - Perfect Bliss" by Lynda Jackson ""Jacobean Wonder" by Margaret Ede "Slow Growing Hybrids" by Ellen Seward and Sandie Chandler "Mandala" by Anna Williams "Purple Nights" by Marleen Jonkers "Fireglow" by Gillian Arkley - I loved her use of colour Philippa Naylor - The difference between 12" and 30cm meant this one was disqualified I have not been able to get a decent photo of the whole quilt, but here are some close ups of "Turtle Bay" by Claudia Pfeil: "Cordoba" by Claudia Pfeil "Celestial Fireworks" by Hilde van Schaardenburg and Sandra Marcum "Time" by Sue de Vanny "Dream Catcher" by Adriana Briones Calleja "Taking a new path" by Jane Falls - wonderful use of pattern in fabric "Harley" by Adrienne Quinlan - such a jolly fellow "Beyond the black hole" by Natalia Manley "Flight" by Margaret Fetterhoff "That scent!" (Que aroma!)" by Angelines Artero "Silence" by Jean McLean "Spring" by Zsofia Atkins "Blue Spring" by Zsofia Atkins "Eclipsed" by Brenda Wroe "Gold and silver waltz" by Nancy Smith "Zipped Zingy Blocks" by Sheena Norquay "Spin" by Diane Dixon "Alice Dreams" by Angelines Artero "Swift Moons" by Maggie Barber "Time waits for no onee" by Sue Reid "Merrill Hall, Asilomar, California" by Gloria Loughman "The Opera House, Vivid Festival" by Gloria Loughman "Australia My Way" by Cathy Jack Coupland "City by the sea" by Pauline Barnes "Ptolemy's Challenge" by Raita Sawyer "My lady of the grapes" by Laura Di Cera And this was my quilt for FoQ 2015: "The Awakening" by Annelize Littlefair The back of "The Awakening" by Annelize Littlefair British Patchwork and Quilting Magazine September issue Off course I knew that I will be featured in the "Meet a Quilter" feature of the magazine, Judi Mendelssohn came to do the interview in my studio and we had a lovely day. It just went by too quickly and we could have chatted for a lot longer. I was not expecting the September issue to be out yet, so was pleasantly surprised when it was on the stand at Traplet's booth. Then when I got home, another copy was waiting for me. This is the front cover and the page featuring me: It has been a very exciting week this week, I now have a few days at home to organise all my shopping from Festival, maybe even get a bit of sewing done, then, I am booked in to do a class with Angela Walters in Birmingham next week, but I should have a little bit longer to do some quilting before I go to Houston.
I'm finally "back in the saddle" again and able to start quilting. Boy does it feel good!!! My first priority was to get back on our boutis challenge and I'm excited to share some great progress this week! Since this fragile linen is so wiggly I wanted to make sure my straight lines stayed straight so I stitched thes
As it turns out I am not very motivated to clean my studio. I headed out there this weekend with all good intentions of getting my space clean and I honestly cleaned (or more accurately, contemplated cleaning) for a total of five minutes before I found myself distracted by a drawing I had started at Quiltcon in my Compositional Quilting/DRAWING class. I have to admit that after returning home from Quiltcon I have felt a little panicked. Panicked that I taught everything I had and that I was going to be out of ideas. I began looking through some of the pictures I had taken while teaching (admittedly way too few) and that beautiful quote by Leonard Nimoy came back to me again. "The Miracle is this, the more we share, the more we have." Some Brilliant student work Wow. Wow. Wow. and WOW. It was either the threat of cleaning or all of the energy and openness that I absorbed from my students that inspired me again....or maybe a little bit of both. I wasn't really out of ideas after all. Phew. I put away any thoughts about cleaning (which wasn't hard) and started drawing and then quilting something I am pretty sure will be a sample for another class. As a rule I don't generally mark on quilts. A whole cloth type quilt is obviously an exception to this rule. In my Compositional Quilting/DRAWING class we spend the class marking on mylar and then marking on a whole cloth. Many years ago I took a whole cloth design class from Karen McTavish. It was a full day spent designing a whole cloth quilt that we took home to quilt. If you ever find yourself with an opportunity to take a class with her or see her lecture, DO IT, I'm not kidding. Whole cloth quilts are traditional by nature and are generally designed using beautiful floral or feathered motifs, stencils and if you have the patience the quilting usually involves some trapunto. This was my finished Wholecloth quilt from Karens class. From class to quilt. In my Compositional Drawing-(expanded version) class it is my hope to merge the traditional with a more modern aesthetic. I don't know that a whole cloth will ever be considered "modern" but I do believe in my heart of hearts that there is a place for this type of quilting and design somewhere. This is the fundamental basis for Compositional Quilting Filling in the blanks I had to get rid of my free motion drawn swirls, I found I could not follow my own drawings. I managed to quilt in the areas of feathers I should have left unquilted Some new moon ideas This is as far as I got, not bad for a weekend. As you can see, cleaning is overrated and I am not out of ideas yet. I am hoping to be teaching this class and many others in the near future. I will keep you posted on the details here. For those of you who feel inspired by this post, awesome. For those of you who enjoyed this post but feel less inspired and more discouraged by this post this last picture is for you. While I openly admit I have skills, I know that those skills didn't come without a lot of failures, practice and flat out shitty quilting. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt, be ok with shit quilting, move on, take classes, learn as much as you can from yourself and others. You will never quilt exactly like me, just as I will never quilt exactly like Karen McTavish. And thank goodness for that, lord knows theres only room for one of her, and me and you. Be ok with that. You be You.
Appliqued medallion inscribed in cross stitch "Mary Somerville May 26, 1818". Mary also recorded her age: 17 years old. Collection of the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Gift of Dorothy Jewell Sanders. Early quilts in conventional applique often combined designs cut by the maker with florals and other images cut from chintz as in Mary Somerville's quilt. Her central design is what we would call a Princess Feather (or Prince's Feather---we have no idea what Mary called it) The design is actually cut from a chintz but Mary ignored the print in cutting the whirling pinwheel and simple flowers. In the borders she focused on the florals from the chintz, doing what we call Broderie Perse until she ran out of one design and then took up another. The final border is conventional applique, again a feathery frond. Mary's foresight in dating her quilt is evidence this rather complicated pattern was in use in the teens. A fact that helps us date other early examples of the pattern as in this picture from the Pioneer Museum in Troy, Alabama. We don't see any furnishing scale chintz in this quilt. It seems to be smaller scale prints in indigo and madder. Jerry Peak, the Museum's Director described this quilt in an interview. “The oldest quilt that we have in the exhibit is a ‘feather’ quilt that belongs to the museum and dates back to 1775. It belonged to the Passmore family of the Monticello community and was made by Mrs. Sam Passmore’s grandmother in South Carolina and brought to Pike County around 1820." Dating a quilt from a tiny photo is folly---but the family story could be accurate. There is no fabric evident later than 1800. The fan quilting looks very "Southern, late 19th-early 20th century," but it could have been quilted later. Here's another indigo version by Elizabeth Alexander, now in the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, estimated date ca. 1830. See more of their quilt collection here http://americanartmn.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/bonus-exploring-19th-century-quilts/ Another blue feather in a field of stars, this one from the Kentucky Quilt Project. See the Quilt Index file here: http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=1A-39-276 Here's an indigo feather thought to be made between 1820 and 1840 by Mary Hicks Stovall, born in Virginia in 1751, died south of Jackson, Mississippi in 1845. It's on display at the Old Mississippi State Capitol and Museum behind the silver. It has the same fan quilting as the Alabama quilt---it's probably after 1830 and not really an early quilt. After 1840 we find hundreds of similar quilts. See the pictures here: http://travelphotobase.com/v/USMS/MSJE031.HTM A medallion thought to be about 1820 from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. The fabrics look to be a madder orange with a chintz border. http://mesda.org/collections/mesda_textiles_sprite.html A similar quilt that Woman's Day showed fifty years ago at the Washington family house Kenmore. They also showed this one that became known as Washington's Plume from the collection of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The design sources aren't hard to find. Feathers are so abundant in fancy quilting. Here's a wholecloth quilt from the collection of the Museum of American Folk Art dated 1796. http://www.folkartmuseum.org/ And an embroidered bedcover from my files---the source or date quite mysterious to me, but you get my point. For more about Princess Feathers see Karen Alexander's post here. http://karenquilt.blogspot.com/2012/08/princessprincess-feather-hats-or-trees.html
During the course of getting ready for next week's engagement, I've managed to get LOTS done on my computer and at my sewing machine. One of those rewards includes finally finishing up another handbook, Basic Wholecloth Quilts. This ended up being a 22-page handbook which takes you through the basic steps of creating your own wholecloth quilt, overall vs. medallion styles of designing, straight basting, blocking and some basic background designs. This is now available for sale for $11. Click Here to go to my Classroom Collection of handbooks! I was also trying to figure out how to take my small miniature pieces with me which was next to impossible with lots of frames, etc. So I managed to put together a portfolio in a binder which turned out beautiful. Jenny came over today with those grandbabies and took pictures of each piece...if you scroll over the printed design the quilted design comes up. Click Here to check it out! It was a great way to end 2009 with two granddaughters in the kitchen making Rice Krispy treats with chocolate frosting (ages 2 & 3). You can only imagine the sticky marshmallow stuff and warm chocolate all over them...life doesn't get much better! Thanks to all of you who have stayed in touch via my website and I'm looking forward to providing you with some great stuff next year. Happy New Year!!! Hugs, Cindy
Explore mollystevens' 2750 photos on Flickr!
I'm finally "back in the saddle" again and able to start quilting. Boy does it feel good!!! My first priority was to get back on our boutis challenge and I'm excited to share some great progress this week! Since this fragile linen is so wiggly I wanted to make sure my straight lines stayed straight so I stitched thes
It has been an extremely hectic six weeks with four major back-to-back engagements. Each engagement has been special in it's own way and I've loved every moment in the classrooms with my students. I am putting my feet back in the air tomorrow for my longest trip yet...I'm going back "down under" to visit the Rose City Quilters in Palmerston North, NZ! I was in Adelaide, Australia last year which was my very first trip out of the United States...Australia and New Zealand have been on the top of my bucket list to visit in my lifetime and I feel very blessed to have received an invitation to visit both. The most stressful part of a long flight is keeping my hands busy...I can hardly imagine being in an airplane seat for that many hours without a needle in my hand. I have several pieces lined up to work on and wanted to share the progress of my projects. Since I just posted about my retreat in McCloud, I wanted to share my pillowcase quilt. Vicki Crooms, my "Nekkid Barbie" Alabama blog stalker, gifted me with this beautiful pillowcase at Road to California in January. I had been looking for a new pillowcase project and this was perfect. I FINALLY got it in the machine this weekend and am very pleased with the progress. A dear friend, Gloria, is facing very difficult health challenges at the moment and I am dedicating this piece to her. Several years ago I did this same design for her for a special glass tray insert...this piece is being done with her in my heart and will be named "Morning Glories for Gloria". I have posted many photos of my green star wholecloth and some of the challenges I've faced. I have had nothing but trouble with the middle...it just doesn't support all the amazing designs that surround it. I ended up ripping off the white tatted doily and the jewelry embellishments. I found a white doily that fit and quilted it with my logo, backgrounds, beaded it, and have quilted it down. Still not entirely happy but it will do. Do you ever have a project that you have high hopes for and it only comes out dim??? This is one of those for me but am hoping when it is all said and done it will be better. I also had a "quilt gone bad" last October where I cut off all the surrounding borders and was left with just the middle. The center design turned out badly and I had to cover everything up. I ended up selecting an old Irish piece that was gifted to me many years ago...quilted it...beaded it...and am in the process of attaching it to the center of the quilt. Soooo...I have plenty to keep my little hands busy coming and going on my latest adventure to New Zealand. There are oodles of hours in beadwork and binding to get these pieces finished. I will be sure to take loads of pictures while I'm there and will post when I get home. Hugs, Cindy :)
December is always my time to snug in and get my new quilts started, handbooks rewritten, and get ready for the new year. Fortunately for ...
After The Nun's Quilt won her award in Paducah this past week, there was a LOT of interest in her story. Many quilters felt how special this piece was and wanted to know more. I thought it was time to tell her story once again and add new chapters to her journey since this was last told. (I am adding close up shots of the quilt as the story is told). On Christmas Eve Day 2010 I was perusing around on Ebay to see if there were any fabulous linens for sale and I came across a picture of a linen that took my breath away. There was something about it that spoke to me and I absolutely had to have it...period. Fortunately there were no other bids and I acquired this piece for $75. When it arrived it came with 6 matching napkins and a small bit of history that stated this had been hand made by nuns in a French convent in the early 1940's. Wow. It also had a label attached that was written in French, had the size and the number but what intrigued me the most were the hand written letters and symbols that were on the other side of the label. These meant something but I wasn't sure what. From the moment I saw the picture of this piece on Ebay I knew this was special. I tell my students that sometimes there is an energy or a soul to some of these linens and you feel it. This one does. I became obsessed while working on this piece to do some research and find out where it came from...which convent...what were the circumstances under which it was made. I felt strongly that it needed to go back from where it came. I wrote letters all year to anyone I thought would be able to help me...pictures of the linen as well as the label with the symbols/numbers were sent and unfortunately I never heard back from anyone. It was very frustrating as I felt that this piece didn't really belong to me...I was only part of her journey. While teaching for a guild in Tucson, AZ towards the end of that year I had some "down time" and really started doing some research on the computer. I have to admit that I was very ashamed of myself...I had become so enthralled with the linen's history of being created by the French nuns I completely forgot about the war. This piece was created during WWII. While doing my computer research I also found out that very bad things had happened to the nuns...I was shocked (still am) and very upset that something tragic may have happened to the nuns that I had become so attached to. I spoke for the guild the next morning presenting my trunk show and ended my program with The Nun's Quilt. I was upset and emotional sharing what I had found out the previous evening and stated that I was "done" with my research..this was tearing me up...I just couldn't do it anymore. Fortunately a guild member stepped forward and stated that I had to continue my research and had to continue to tell her story. The Nun's Quilt had become a testament to those women that something so beautiful could be created during such a time of tragedy. Who ever had created it used this piece to get her thru a very difficult time. Another member stepped forward and said that the reason I hadn't heard back from anyone is that it wasn't time yet. I had to keep researching, I had to keep writing letters and had to keep telling her story. When it was time the right person would step forward with the right clue and we would all find out the "rest of the story". When I filmed my first class with Craftsy, Design It & Quilt It, I was asked to tell the story at the end of the feathers lesson. This enabled me to reach a world wide audience and I was hopeful that the right person would come forward to help...and she did! Chantal Cholin from Paris contacted me and she asked if she could continue the research for me. Several months went by...she worked with Sister Marie Emmanuel and to make a very long story short I would like to give a very abbreviated version of what Chantal wrote: "Sister Marie Emmanuel told me that this tablecloth was probably made before or during the war. The sisters had time to elaborate very beautiful crafts. Upper and middle class people were buying them...they were part of the French traditions and the French way of life. After the war the middle class people had no more money to spend on some of the finer things such as this linen. The religious communities needed money to survive so in 1950 the Monastic Shop of France, in Paris opened. I allow myself to tell you that The Nun's Quilt is now yours. You have been working on it so many hours. Now you know that this linen has been made in happiness and in the sweet protection of a monastery, you must keep it to bring luck". Chantal's letter brought tears to my eyes and touched me deeply. But I still felt there was more. I was invited to teach for the International Quilt Show in Dubai this past month and of course I brought The Nun's Quilt with me along with several other quilts. On my last evening there I presented a 2-hour program on threads but ended my evening telling the story of this amazing quilt. I was running short on time and had to catch my plane so I was in a hurry to leave. I invited my students to enjoy and touch all of the quilts while I ran to get changed. After I came back to the room one of my students was frantic to talk to me before I left. She explained that she was a psychic. When she held The Nun's Quilt she was overwhelmed with emotion and sadness. She explained that this piece was created as part of a grieving process...it was the nun's therapy getting her thru a very tragic time in her life. This was only part of Laura's message to me. She, too, felt that I was an important part of this quilt's journey. The honor that The Nun's Quilt received in Paducah this past week allowed her to be viewed and appreciated by thousands of quilters and I feel that this, too, has become an important part of her journey and her story. Thank you for allowing me to share her with you once again. God Bless, Cindy :)
I've been home 24 hours and what a whirlwind it has been! I am completely exhausted and to my friends overseas I have some incredible news to share - but that will be in "Part Two"! The Australasian Quilt Convention has been sensational for a number of reasons, not least of all that this year the event celebrated 10 fabulous years! Judy and Gary from Expertise Events have contributed enormously to quilting in Australia bringing overseas tutors 'down under' to share in their skills. We arrived Wednesday morning to deliver our quilts and then after a brief tutor meeting we discovered our lovely accommodation…… For copyright reasons I can't share many quilts as I haven't asked permission from the quilt makers. I do want to share these though as I am sure these friends will be okay with that! Each year a prestigious award is handed out - the Rajah Award (which you will hear more about in Part Two!!)…….anyway last year's recipient was the talented Jenny Bowker and a display of her incredible quilts was on display and sadly due to illness she was unable to be there.…… Amongst the many other displays were quilts from some of the tutors. There were 14 tutors from around the world with many and varied talents….. Again I have only shown images of those that I am able…….Gloria Loughman A very special friend and first time teacher at AQC Faye Packham…….. Julie Haddrick…….and the self portrait is incredibly lifelike!……. And yours truly!………. Between classes I popped down to see more including the "Best of the Best" quilts from each state of Australia and and I was glad to find one very proud quilter Michele (also spelt with one "L"!), from the Northern Territory. She was thrilled to bits that her quilt was selected and she informed me her beautiful quilt was made entirely of silk………..thanks Michele….. I also came across this quilt from my first book and beautifully made by Patricia also from NT……. One of our talented girls from home, Helen Campbell…….love it Helen……... Elizabeth Camping is also from home and creates very original and innovative pieces………. And South Australia shines again with Ming's intricately quilted work………... There is also the Best of Show winning quilts on display and this was the one from Janet Treen of New South Wales who eventually won Best of Australia. Well done Janet…your quilt is stunning…….. I met a very excited Pamela Brockwell with her "Best of Show" entry from Victoria…. Jenny Bowker was the winner from the Australian Capital Territory……. Jocelyn Leath represented Western Australia…..a clever portrait done in manipulated cheesecloth…... Pam Hill from Queensland and her entry……... I have been very lucky to represent South Australia on four occasions and my quilt was glad to be unfolded and off the shelf! It will travel until the end of the year so farewell my friend…… and for some reason I seem to be missing Tasmania and Northern Territory but you can see them here on the Bernina Australia site. Every year Expertise Events sets a challenge to quilters with a set criteria and size. This year the theme was TEN in recognition of the 10th year of AQC. Some of them can be seen here on the AQC website but I did take the liberty of photographing one of our very own quilters from home as her piece is just stunning. Ming's work is impeccable and there are 10 hidden cats in this whole cloth quilt made from a recycled tablecloth…….. The venue never disappoints …. it is the World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building and has a stunning interior…... Faye was so excited to be teaching for the very first time and her skill is in piecing especially encouraging beginners…………... and this is one of her shining stars who happened to turn sweet 16 on day three of four days with Faye! Well down Faye on nurturing another future quilter…….and to Skye and your beautiful Mum…it was so lovely to meet you both. We all hope this is the beginning of a long journey of quilt making (and thanks for my beautiful scarf too xxx). Skye managed to produce these two…yes TWO quilts tops at this one event - WOW!….. Well I didn't take too many photos in class but I did have to take this one of Anne……she read her instructions well as it told her to have everything labelled with her name….but glasses as well Anne??? Loved having you and everyone else……bless you all xxx So I will try to remain calm and gather my thoughts as I am about to type one of the the most incredible things that has ever happened to me in Part Two……...
I have a few exciting teaching announcements and a ton of planning, prepping, stitching, retreating, drawing, and scheming ahead of me. I will make this post picture heavy and hopefully brief. I have been invited to teach at some very exciting shows in 2016 and I couldn't be more excited! QUILTCON FEB 2016 To start the year I will be at Quiltcon in Pasadena teaching, all hands on classes. I had an amazing time in Austin and am really looking forward to February. MQX APRIL 2016 In April I will be teaching at MQX in New Hampshire. New England will be gorgeous in April and I am looking forward to returning as a teacher instead of a student. I am teaching two hands on classes as well as some lecture/demo classes. To sign up for my classes click here. MQS MAY 2016 In May I will be off to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to teach at MQS, registration is not open yet, but should be in the upcoming weeks! SMQG 2015 But hey! 2015 isn't over yet and I am thrilled to be hosted by the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild for a drawing/ modern whole cloth design workshop. Join me Sunday, November 15th, 2015 from 10:30-4:45 at Tukwila Sew and Vac Click here to register, there are 5 spots left and registration is open to the general public now. WORKSHOPS!! YAY! Shown below are a few examples of what my Compositional Drawing/Whole cloth design class will look like. I am teaching this class at Quiltcon, MQX and at Tukwila sew and vac with SMQG. The photos below are samples that I have been making for my Broken Wreath and Ghost Shapes lecture/demo classes at MQX and MQS. Here, I used contrasting blue thread, definitely out of my comfort zone but it's a great exercise and the designs can really pop out. Shown below is quilting on one of the samples that I marked out in my whole cloth design class, this technique quilts out pretty fast and has been a very liberating way for me to look at quilting. And Voila! I've said it before but making class samples always opens up new doors for me. This style of quilting has inspired me to start working on a whole cloth (type) design, that's really not a whole cloth at all. Here are a few photos of my latest project which I will go into more detail as I figure out what I'm actually doing. The design is inspired by the stitch and flip triangle which is sprinkled through a lot of Katie Pedersen's work. I took her magic numbers class and was amazed at the possibilities that exist within this format. I am approaching this project with the intentions of doing it entirely on the longarm so there will actually be no stitch and flip anything, all of the piecing will be raw edge appliqué but the design is certainly inspired by Katie's work, which you can find in her and Jacquie's fabulous book, Quilting Modern. Off to get my week going, thanks for taking the time to read and I look forward to meeting some of you in my classes in the months to follow!! xo
I am happy to have Cindy Needham, as our June FMQ Expert, for the 2012 Free Motion Quilting challenge. You may recall a previou...
In mid-March, we shot “Quilting Arts TV” Series 1800 at KS Productions in Solon, Ohio. It will start airing on about 400 public television stations across the U.S. in July. This is the fifth series I’ve hosted, and we had some fabulous guests. Here’s a sneak peek. (Note that some of these segments will be held until Series 1900, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer to see them.) Susan Carlson brought along Stevie, the life-sized salt-water crocodile. This piece measures 22 feet long, and it was quite amazing to have on set. Susan also shot a segment on creating a fabric collage spiral quilt to learn the basics of fabric collage. Esterita Austin shared tips for making portrait quilts; on transferring original imagery onto organza using acrylic and Lumiere metallic paints; and on using sheer colored organzas to create still lifes and landscapes. Melissa Averinos teaches how to make a yo-yo fabric brooch; a small piece of abstract wall art; and a hand-painted panel with fabric medium and Inktense color blocks. Quilting Arts magazine editor Vivika DeNegre joined me to talk about how to block a quilt so that it lies – or hangs – nice and flat. Wendy Butler Berns shot three segments: picture image machine appliqué; random pieced borders; and using Texture Magic. Here, she’s getting set up on the Bernina with the help of Andrea Goddard of Bernina: Here are some shots of the set and the equipment: Jane Davila shot segments on SolarFast sun printing with masks and printing with photographic negative designs on transparencies; on block printing; and on Citrasolv image transfers. Grace Errea’s segments are on explaining value, and the 8-value scale she uses; on her “heat-set” machine applique technique; and on randomly pieced backgrounds. Victoria Findlay Wolfe shot two segments: on how to cut precise pieces with a Sizzix machine, then Y-seam piecing on the Hex Flower; and how to beautifully piece free form curves. Here is the Green Room, where guests get their segments organized and wait until it is their turn on set: Rennae Haddidin used an Innova longarm machine in her two segments on creating a beautiful quilted drawstring bag; and on applying a binding to a quilt on the longarm. Joanne Sharpe demonstrates coloring book-style lettering quilts; quilts made from tone-on-tone white printed fabrics painted and colored with Inktense, Caran d'Ache, and Dye-na-Flow; and quilts painted and then free-motion quilted and embellished. Here I am with our fabulous make-up artist, Karen, who makes us all look great! Vivika and assistant editor Kristine Lundblad having a bit of fun on set: Nancy Wick taught how to thread paint and embellish on an Innova longarm quilting machine while creating a sculptured fabric poppy bowl; and how to make a scarf from fibers such as thread, ribbon, or roving. Cathy Vandiford Wiggins shot three segments on quilting leather, including how to use quilted leather panels in sewing projects such as vests, jackets, journal covers and bags; creating scraps of hides for wall art; and how to stabilize a larger piece of leather for quilting.
Ich zeige heute hier die Entstehung meines Weißquilts, aus alter Spitze, Bett- und Tischwäsche. Bereits im Januar habe ich damit gestartet, aber hier auf meinem Blog noch nie etwas dazu gezeigt. Das hole ich nun nach, daher warne ich Euch vor, es folgen eine Bilderflut... Erst einmal ein Bild des fertigen Quilts Zuerst habe ich die Bett- und Tischwäsche in Tee eingefärbt Dann wurde gedruckt mit Siebdruckschablonen und Textilfarbe Nachdem ich ein Konzept hatte, wurden die Blöcke genäht. Da die Blöcke später mit der "Quilt as you go" Technik zusammen genäht werden sollten, konnte ich sie direkt fertig quilten. Für den Quilt habe ich dann noch vier Trapuntoblöcke genäht Und so sahen dann alle fertigen Blöcke erstmalig zusammen aus. Nun mussten die einzelnen Blöcke zusammen genäht werden, wie schon erwähnt mit der "Quilt as you go" Technik. Nun noch eine Umrandung um dem Quilt einen Rahmen zu geben. Dann noch das Binding angenäht und fertig !!! Ich habe insgesamt neun Monate, mit langen Unterbrechungen, an diesem Quilt genäht. Nun bin ich froh und glücklich mit diesem Ergebnis. Viele liebe Grüße Alexandra Dieser Post geht auch zum Mustermittwoch , wegen der Teefärbung
