Blog
I had a wee bit of down time during my visit to Denver in April and visited the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, CO. My sister sits on the Board of the museum and had some great insight into the two exhibits that were showing: “No Girls Allowed: 13th Biennial Exhibit of Quilts Made By Men” and a collection of story quilts of the Wa Shonaji quilt guild. I was thrilled that the timing of my visit coincided with the men’s exhibit as I’ve seen a previous show and really enjoyed it. It was a dreary day, perfect for viewing…
I’m kind of on a roll here with some quilting basics so I thought I’d focus on fabric this week. Your fabric makes a difference! I learned this early in my quilting days: This is a portion of a well-loved quilt that I made for my now 30 year old son. See how all the other fabrics around the pink print are intact? All over the quilt, the pink print gave way long before the other fabrics. I do remember where I bought that fabric, I do—at a big box store. You have to be vigilant when buying fabric at…
I continue to read articles and blog posts about the “perfect” stitch length for free motion quilting, as though it were a singular number. All that I have read and heard refers to the standard 2.5mm stitch length we would get with the default setting on our machines for feed-dogs-up quilting. Nope! It depends. This is a good example of my point. I hope it’s clear from the photo-the stitch length on the background with thin blue thread is much shorter than that of the thicker white thread. I hope my less-than-excellent photos can convey my message. Stitch length really…
It’s been an intense week as I frantically worked to finish a new quilt to submit tothe World of Beauty show in Houston. I have been 100% accurate in my previous predictions of whether I’d jury in or not, but this time I am not feeling confident. But it doesn’t matter what I think, it’s the Juror’s job to decide. The way I typically work is to quilt LOTS of ideas “offline” to see if I like them, if they work, if they are true to my vision. This is just a bit of my offline work. Here’s a…
It was a fun week! I visited with my Sister and Brother-in-law in Morrison for a few days before spending time with the Colorado Quilting Council. CQC is not a guild, but state-wide organization that focuses on “preserving the heritage of quilting, to be a source of information and inspiration, and to encourage a high standard of excellence in quilting and related arts”. They meet in different locations around the state and bring in top-notch teachers so I was thrilled to be invited. Because of the nature of their organization, there was an abundance of talent in the room and the…
I’m packing for my trip to Denver this week. I get to mix business with pleasure as I will visit my Sister and Brother-in-Law on Wed-Fri followed by a lecture and workshop for the Colorado Quilting Council on Sat and Sun. The weather is a little iffy but I’m stoked. Someone is a little less excited about my visit. Poor neglected Basset Boy fell asleep guarding my suitcases. I had an interesting problem this week. I am working a whole cloth quilt and have been quilting the background all week. It has been fabulous to do mostly quilting all day…
The most recent regional meeting of Studio Art Quilt Associates was held at the Crocker Art Museum, where an exhibit of the work of Faith Ringgold was showing. I had previously only seen photos of her work and it was wonderful to see it in person. It is hard to capture in words the diversity of the exhibit, how it was both whimsical and profound and explored some deeply disturbing history. It was thought provoking. There is much rich detail in each piece which my photos do not capture. The Crocker described the exhibit better than I can: Best known…
I’m trying to hit a deadline. I had my idea all firm in my head, sketches were done confirming my idea. I did some preliminary stitching “off-line” just to make sure. Then I started stitching. Ack, the thread color was wrong. On the bobbin side it looks like a spider just laid a web. Didn’t I just try that thread off-line? But it really was not right. Rip. Try again. Oh, but those motifs were the wrong scale. Really? Didn’t I just check them too? Ack. Rip. Now I’ve got it right. Oh dear, there is some funky thing going…
Every once in awhile I travel to a new and intriguing destination. Gualala is about 115 miles north of San Francisco and to me, it’s a rocky, windswept and dramatic place. Nature is right in your face-the cliffs are steep, the wind strong and the sweeping views are stunning. The Pacific Piecemakers brought me in for a 2-day workshop and lecture. The guild is small and very talented, as Gualala seems to attract artists and craftspeople. My hosts completely spoiled me and showed me a fabulous time. This was my view from the studio where I stayed and I was…
One of the highlights of this year’s conference was an exhibition of work by the Texas Region of Studio Art Quilt Associates. The theme was “Everything Texas”. I not sure how many pieces were in the exhibit, I’m guessing about 25? I got scooted out before I got a second pass through, as I was viewing at the end of the day and they needed to close up. There were no statements included with each quilt so I will show them without much comment. Here’s what I did get to see: Can’t you feel the heat of the sun and…