The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

A week of this n that

 

It has been a week of variety:  a guild visit, hand applique/trapunto and beginning to prep student kits for Houston.

My visit to the Amador Valley Quilters was so much fun! I stayed with my friend Jeanne and we solved all of the world’s problems over the kitchen table. The guild meets in Pleasanton, CA and what a beautiful city! They are in a unique location that delivers cool and breezy nights; such a delight! I walked Jeanne’s neighborhood in the wee hours so I don’t have any photos of the beauty but I did enjoy the fresh flowers Jeanne put in my room:

Barbara and Sandi did a great job getting everything set up and ready for me:

AVQ is a large guild and I was thrilled that my lecture was so well attended:

And I boy did I pull a doozie! I had it in my mind that I was doing my “Imperfect” lecture, but loaded my laptop with my “Top Tips” lecture. I was booked for the Top Tips lecture. I started in (on “imperfect”) and saw some puzzled faces during my intro. When I turned to show my Power Point, it was the Top Tips lecture; that was my first clue. Duh! It was pretty funny actually. So I did my Top Tips lecture without notes and it went well, but geez. Every next slide was a surprise! Sometimes I inadvertently create my own drama😊

This quilt during the charity quilt show ‘n tell caught my eye:

Great idea, pretty easy construction and easy to quilt. Oh those colors! I wished I had taken more photos. This guild is suuuper talented and prolific and you just felt the love in the room coming from the members.

After a good night’s sleep, I taught Fills n Frills to 15 enthusiastic students:

We played with a variety of fills, sashing and border designs that are useful in any genre of quilting, but a little on the less-seen side of things. There were several very experienced free motion quilters in class and I was relieved that they found the class useful. It was just a fun day!

Just before I left on my trip, I finished the hand applique on my Barbara Blanton workshop piece:

It is a beautifully designed block but not a particularly easy one! I used the Appliquick method and this block is a testament to its effectiveness. As a new hand appliquer (okay, did one other fun appliquick block with Kathie Wylie) could crank out some decent hand applique with this method. I was impressed.

I have a couple of oopsies to share. I share these not because I am unhappy with the piece, but to show that I am happy with this piece even with these imperfections:

I ran out of green and had to use two others from my stash. I am fine with this. You don’t have to look too closely to see the variance.

And I ran out of pre-pressed stems as well as the green fabric. Whadayagonnado? This fix is a little janky, but I didn’t have a better solution in mind. And yes, I could have lined up that right side joining a little better. “Done is better than perfect”. That “white” thread is actually water soluble thread and I don’t sweat it if it isn’t laid down perfectly at this stage, since it will eventually go away.

And then it was time to finish the piece. Oh that applique would look soooooo much better with trapunto, no? I couldn’t help myself:

Yessiree, I layered up two types of batting and stitched with water soluble thread.

And I caaaaarefully cut away the excess. Now I will simply layer this like any other piece and the trapuntoed parts will have lovely dimension!

Close up of the cut trapunto:

I will set this on point (it kinda has to be) and use some of my ridiculous silk stash for that. It will end up about 30″ square. I have no specific plans for it except it may eventually be used as an inspiration sample for a future trapunto class. I would love to do a trapunto class, but every time I’ve offered it in the past, the class does not make, not enough interest.

And it’s August, so it’s time to start in on making my class kits for Houston:

This is a long process but I hope to have them done and ready to ship in 2 weeks.

Next week is my seminar at Meissner Sacramento and I am soooooo excited! Prepping for that will take up most of this next week. I should have some kind of a blog post next week, but it may be short.

I’ll be linking up:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday

Comments

  2. I love that line, “Done is better than perfect.” If you hadn’t pointed out the slight variations I would have never noticed. I can imagine you boosting the trapunto even further with micro quilting between the motifs.

  3. Thank you for the article on repurposing clothing. When my father passed, I made pillows and Christmas ornaments from his Pendletons and mailed them to relatives. So meaningful.
    I’ve also made many tote bags from button up shirts. Fun to make and gift.
    Great post, as usual. Thanks!

    • I am amazed at the meaningful and clever ways that loved ones preserve clothing from those who have passed. What comfort! How thoughtful of you to create items from your father for those who loved him. Thank you for reading and for your comments!

  4. I most always use various shades of greens in my appliqués. Also in the flowers. It makes it more interesting.

    • THat is good to know! I don’t think it shows that much. I don’t mind using different greens, it’s just that all of the “new” green is all on one side. Meh, don’t really care. If you can do it, then I have permission to do it!

  5. I think that having to “make do” with another green from your stash makes this particular block even better, since it’s such a traditional design. I notice that a lot in antique quilts, that the maker came up short on a fabric and had to substitute with something else, and it’s just one of those little idiosyncrasies that makes an antique quilt even more fascinating. Trapunto quilting is going to make this even more gorgeous!! Suggestion: If you really want to teach trapunto but reaching minimum enrollment is a problem, I’d suggest making up multiple samples for promoting the class. One could be something like this block, the traditional style quilters usually associate with trapunto, but then the other sample should be very modern/contemporary and using trapunto in an unexpected way. Like a quilt that was mostly negative space with a couple floating pieced blocks, and then repeat the shapes from the pieced blocks as floating 3-D trapunto elements in the background. I find that quilters who identify as “modern” or “contemporary” can be quick to dismiss skill-builder classes on traditional techniques unless they are given a little inspiration and “fresh eyes” as to how the class techniques could be used in new ways.

    • Thank you! This piece will look veeeery “make do”! I love this piece, warts and all. I like scrappy. I think my only route to getting a full class is to do it live online. Trapunto is pretty niche-y and I have several samples that run the gamut from statement pieces to “pretty” to traditional. The statement pieces I made to appeal to the Moderns or younger quilter. I have to gear up to do this; realistically, not even starting on this until after Houston.