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NOTE: I’ve got another post this week here. I’ve been working on this white silk quilt for some time, maybe a year on-and-off? I recently restarted it and I’m doing fills around the feather tips. This is a great example of how much impact dense quilting can have on what it surrounds. Those feathers are looking pretty blah, like they are going to fade into the background. But I’m not done! BTW, those dots are trapunto’d. Filling in those tiny areas really makes an impact. See how those feathers tips pop with dense quilting next to them? That is a…
If you are of a certain age, you may remember the book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance“. It was first published in 1974, just as I ran out of money for college and entered my hippie chick years. At the time I remember feeling influenced by the book, yet I don’t think I really did much with it other than think I was cool because I read it, I had a motorcycle and I maintained my own motorcycle. The young 20’s mind is soooo deep. A little bit of background to understand how this all fits into…
I took a great class this week from South African quilter, Telene Jeffries, aka Lady Jane Quilting. Telene is a superb and delightful instructor and patient with inept students, which I was in this class. The class was live on-line “Couched Applique as you Quilt“. I have not previously been successful with couching despite repeated tries. Yes, I know you need just the right kind of yarn/cord/thread and I have tried many. So I was excited about this class! Telene is primarily a long-armer (Handi Quilter) and oh by the way, one of her quilts will hang at Houston this…
NOTE: I have two posts today. My other post is about my Really Big News! Be sure to read!! I finally made a SAQA Auction Donation Quilt that survived my abuse! You may want to review previous fails here and here. So here it ’tis in all its glory: Its title is to be determined. It is a very dimensional quilt, I hope these photos give you a feel: The dark/light areas switch places as you walk around the quilt. The air wash-out pen marks are still showing a bit in this photo. I hope these give you a feel…
UPDATE: IT’S LIVE! CLICK HERE to go directly to my course! You know that on-demand course I keep writing about? It’s going live this week! Here ya go: My on-demand class, Yes You CAN Free Motion Quilt! should roll out this week! It is a comprehensive beginning free motion quilting class on the Creative Spark platform of C&T Publishing, publisher of my book. I. Am. SOOO. Excited! It was a ton of work but something I have longed to do and I am truly so proud of my product. On-demand classes let you watch as many times as you…
I should have known better…it was red, it was next to white, it was silk, it was me. I really thought I had pre-washed it: And I even forgot to take a photo of it before I soaked out the blue wash out markings. It really was pretty; the pristine white cotton next to the glow of the flaming red silk. The quilting created a wonderful visual texture – line and shadow that sculpted the surface. All was well until the soak, sigh. I knew to use Vicki Walsh’s dye bleed removal technique. It is the gold standard in the…
It’s been quite a week. I just got in late Wed from my visit to El Paso, Texas to put my Mother-In-Law to rest. I am spent and at the moment, lacking inertia and passion. I think this will pass as I catch up on sleep and resume normal life. In some ways, I did enjoy my visit to El Paso. I think if I hadn’t been introduced to El Paso through my Husband and in-laws, I would have an entirely different feeling for the town. Hubby grew up there. It is a bit of an outpost, not close to…
Please read to the end. It was a great 6-day trip! I estimate I drove 1300 miles through 3 states and visited 3 areas. Each day held some rain, some days lots of rain. You will see lots of green in my photos – it was so lush! It was early enough in the season that it was cool and humidity was not bad. I saw no cicadas yet. The humidity made my hair go all Farrah Fawcett. I flew from Sacramento to Chicago, Midway, picked up my rental car and drove 7 hours in the pooooooring rain on…
Just today I finished the total mother lode of videos, handouts and more for my on-demand class with Creative Spark. I decided I needed to sit down and watch the whole thing in order, from the site. What interesting discoveries I made, like THREE missing videos! I needed to make 2 of them and just find the other one. I wrote a book for C&T and that was intense. I don’t know about you, but when I write, I need to edit it 4 – 5 times. Anne Lamott calls the first draft the S%#% First Draft, SFD for short.…
It’s a quick note today, but one with a major announcement: I reached a major milestone on Monday. I submitted all the videos, photos and handouts for my online course with Creative Spark – Yes You CAN Free Motion Quilt!. WHOOOOP! There have been many hours and months of hard work, new skill sets and time in front of my computer editing those videos. I’ve included some of the new “lifestyle” photography below: It’s so worth it though! I am proud of the product I’ve submitted. Now the Creative Spark people will wave their wand and make it all…