A quilt show, a finish and Spring eye candy
I’m spending a lot of time filming and editing for future on-demand classes. That is a major thing, just getting to that point with my equipment and editing skills. It will be a ton of work but I am so excited about this! I’ll be putting my classes on the Creative Spark platform, part of C&T Publishing, my book’s publisher.
There is already a lot of content up at Creative Spark, so go take a look. The quality is outstanding and I am proud to be a part of the team. I do have a lot of work to do to get there and I am doing this myself, I mean totally myself. So my blog posts may be a bit dry for awhile since “I got 30 minutes of edited taping done this week and it only took me 30 hours!” does not make for an exciting blog post.
I did have a finish this week, can I hear a “Whoooop”?
I finished my Kellie Willey‘s Little Modern Mini wall hanging and I am delighted at how it turned out. It took me about 5 hours to do that border and it’s only an 11″ x 21″ quilt! I made the scale way too small. I do like the way it looks but it probably was not worth the time I put into it. Piano key would have done this quilt justice in about 1/5th of the time. Live and learn, no?
I’m loving the back too! This was a fun romp. I may not become a dedicated mini-maker but I thoroughly enjoyed this. I’ll be making another one – can’t stop at one!
I’m done with the hand stitching on the Turtle Hand Batik panel, using Catherine Redford‘s book as inspiration. Oh I love those colors! I’ll layer it up and quilt the background. This will be lovely once it’s finished. It shouldn’t take too long. Could it be possible to finish this week???
It’s full-on Spring here and I have to share. The least pretty time of the year for a drought tolerant yard is Spring. But I have a few plantings outside of that drought tolerant mode, so here ya go:
Oh how I adore the purplish color of this guy! It’s so beautiful how it chose to drape down the terra cotta pot.
This guy is dense and going bananas. It sits on my front porch and makes me smile. It weighs a ton.
Screaming, happy, joyous color!!
These guys look like they’re at a party, all interacting with each other. Obviously they got their vaccine…. Such simple flowers but I love their centers with their little yellow anthers in there.
First blooms on the cherry – aren’t they gorgeous?
These are my neighbor’s cherry trees – they are stunning! They are blindingly bright and create a porous shadow that is intriguing.
None of these photos are color corrected!
And Big News, there was an in-person quilt show at Cali Quilts! The quilts were hung very high, above the fabric shelves so my photos are not great. These are the only ones that turned out half decent:
It was delightful to see a real quilt show! Thank you Cali Quilts for scratching that itch.
I have some Big announcements about new venues I’ll be teaching at; I’ll post in Saturday’s newsletter. The best way to follow me is through my newsletter – you’ll always get the link to my blog post plus lots of other interesting content. My readers say really nice things about it. Join up if you haven’t already!
I’ll be linking up:
Love , love, love your mini finish! Quilt on! Just curious…the Judy Scollay quilt…paper pieced? Pattern available? It’s intriguing and I would be interested in trying to make a variation. I look forward to you’re blog and newsletter …a highlight of my week!
Sorry Susan, I don’t know anything about that pattern. Maybe do a reverse image search? I would imagine it is paper pieced. Thank you for your kind words, it’s so encouraging to hear!
The quilt is “Dancing Ribbons” and you can download it for free from AmericanQuilter.com!
Thank you for doing that Donna!
May I politely disagree with you, Jenny? I love the way your Little Modern Mini turned out. I think that piano keys in the border might have been faster, but the contrast you created in the quilting is much better. You’ve “migrated” from circular in the center blocks to linear in the setting triangles and back to circular in the border. I don’t think piano keys would have been nearly as effective!
Oh you are so polite Sandy! I do like your analysis and I have to agree with you, the piano keys would have been expected. I was just feeling so stupid, spending 5 hrs on the border of a tiny quilt! I do love to quilt and enjoyed it of course, just have so much more else to do.
I know exactly what you mean about the time and gear that is required to do video classes and how sometimes that makes for lackluster blogs. I am glad you are doing them, though, and I found this blog really interesting and fun. I love your modern mini. I have found that small quilts can sometimes take more time than larger ones..odd isn’t it? Cheers.
Oh yes you do know what goes into videos!! I’ve always heard that a mini takes as long as the larger version, but Kellie’s patterns are not those exacting patterns and really can be done pretty quickly, hence its appeal to me.
The blue border on the mini is perfect. Seems to me a piano key border would have lessened the effect of the pieced blocks in the center. Awesome little piece.
Thank you Sue, it was a fun romp for me, not my normal thing. And I am seeing that the piano key would have been a bit boring. I just spent soooo much time on that teeny border!
Are you meaning a “pieced” piano key or the quilt design? I like it the way it is!
Sorry, meant a quilted piano. Yes, it’s growing on me!
Hi,
Beautiful flowers….really like the one on your pouch. All the quilts are really awesome. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day!
Aw thank you Sherrie! We really enjoy our yard.
Can’t wait to see how the Turtle Hand batik turns out! I own several adorable TH batiks with these printed motifs, but couldn’t really think what to do with them other than as blocks in pieced quilt, so ‘expected.’ But what you are going with the embroidery removes them from that. And I’m a fan of your mini, ditto what all others have said about your selected FMQ. I’d love to write a testimonial, but haven’t (yet) taken your classes. I WILL be there for a FMQ class after they are ‘live’ again, look forward to seeing your on-demand video content, and I’m eager to see what you are going to teach at Houston. I can say that you write the best newsletter of all those I subscribe to, full of real content to inspire and educate and AMUSE. Love that you share your life with us, and we get to see your process.
Wow Lynne, what a nice note! That is encouraging to me, sometimes I wonder if people enjoy the newsletter. I was inspired by Catherine Redford and her hand embroideries. I have a long way to go on the on-demand classes! I am excited about Houston and hope that our classes fill – there really may be a lower level of interest. Thank you for such an uplifting note!
Oh, I don’t know, Jenny — that border on the mini looks awesome and I think it contrasts so well with the straight geometrics of the center of the piece. Piano keys would have been faster for sure, but your nested shells/swirls add so much whimsy and interest to the piece. I love it. Also, it takes 30 hours of work to get 30 minutes of edited video? Uff da! I can only imagine the learning curve you’ve undertaken over the past year to be able to do all of that. I am so impressed by the way you’re able to embrace and master all of this so quickly!
I am coming around to the border. I was just kicking myself that I spent that much time on a tiny border. Yeah, 30 hrs for 30 min might not be too far off. Of course I don’t actually know yet but it is a tedious process for sure. I am proud that I can edit and I attribute that to a course I took from MJ Kinman – she is a master of taking the complex and making it simple.
I never thought about the gear you would need, or the time it takes to get that 30 minutes! interesting! Your mini is adorable.
and…. a real in person quilt show… that had to be fun!
Alycia it filled my heart to go to an actual quilt show. I am so hungry for them!
Your mini was absolutely worth the time you invested in it. Uber charming eye candy. Thanks for sharing your spring colors too. This change in season could not have come at a better time. We’re all so tired of dull colors.
Thank you Franki! I didn’t even think of it as “spring” but it really is. I am liking it better now that I’m not so annoyed with the time it took.
Love your adventures. About that mini quilt…you can “biggie size” it, you know…That’s what piecers do… ;-)
Love your succulents! Is the one that “weighs a ton” a pot of what we up here call “hens and chicks”? Or is it a cousin thereof?
P.S. watched you on TQS’ latest “Master Class” show. Wonderful as always!
Piecing, what’s that?? Yes, it is a type of hen and chicks and it’s just dense with foliage. Thank you for watching the Master Class. I was thrilled to be invcluded!
Thank you for ‘visiting’ my guild last week. While I have taken your YES class, I’d never heard your presentation. Loved getting to know you better & your exuberance! BTW, your YES class was the class that made me realize that I could do my own free motion work.
Oh that is music to my ears Janet! That is exactly what I hope for, that you begin to do your own work your own way. I do miss visiting in person and meeting people but it is also nice to be home more. Trade-off…