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My American Sewing Guild garment group held an informal fashion show this week. My co-leader Anita hosted it at her lovely home and we enjoyed a delightful afternoon of fashion, food and friendship. It turned out to be like attending a high-end seminar-as each person showed her garment, she related what she learned about the fabric, pattern, particular technique, fitting, etc.-very instructive. . One member cut into DH’s ties to create the binding for her couture tank-a clever touch. Apparently she likes the technique so much that he doesn’t have many ties left, poor guy!This member used a Marfy pattern for this fabulous top.…
Since this was my first visit to IQF-Long Beach, I was focused on viewing the quilts more than spending time at vendors. Of course since DH was with me, I was careful not to come back to the room with arms full of new stuff (= “expensive” in DH’s mind). One of the first things I did was look at Ricky Tim’s Songe d’Automne , a spectacular quilt from 2002, considered by most to be his “breakthrough” quilt that vaulted him to fame.Look at the close up below and you will understand how he made the applique/trapunto literally stand out.…
I had a blast at Int’l Quilt Festival-Long Beach ! Now, I’m tired, excited and recovering. The photo shows my table at the Saturday Night Sampler, with DH manning the cash register. I gave away a quilted wholecloth table runner which you see on the right-more about that later. The Sampler was a resounding success! Apparently there is great interest in “Ordinary Objects That Make Fabulous Fills” as all the chairs were filled and people were standing much of the time. Many quilters want to create their own freemotion fillers for backgrounds, but just don’t know how to go about it. I created 15…
I thought I would have more time to post before I left, but I’m in a rush. I consistently underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a task. The table runner that will be the give away at IQF-Long Beach took way longer than I thought, but it was great fun to quilt. I went through 8 bobbins with skinny little Bottom Line thread if that’s any indication of how heavily quilted it is! I am very excited about being one of the teachers at the Saturday Night Sampler! DH will be handling the retail side of things and…
I really needed to take a break from all the prep work for Long Beach and NCQC, so I stole away and spent a fun afternoon at the California State Fair-I go every year. I love the Fair: it’s usually blazing hot, misters everywhere; I love the Creative Arts Building, the Fine Arts Building, the buildings full of vendors hawking stuff you never knew you needed before, horrific heart-stopping food, odd people, and yes, I actually visit the livestock too. I ran into these entertaining stick walkers right when I walked in. They were traveling all over the Fair, much to the amusement…
I was delighted to have the opportunity for a Play Day yesterday with Linda Waddle, a delightful artist/dyer/designer in Auburn, Ca. I spent most of the morning and early afternoon admiring and pawing her huge stash of hand dyed/stamped/screen-printed/painted/stenciled fabric collection. Linda lives where you can see a full view of the Sierras from her back deck-not bad inspiration, huh? I have admired her work since I first saw it. Linda created “Helleborus” in 2005 I think, after taking a class from Hollis Chatelain and it won first place in Houston that year. When I first saw it in person at her local guild’s show, I was just…
This is a departure from my normal post, but this subject keeps recurring and I am perplexed. I like to wear linen in the summer. I like linen because it is the most comfortable of all fibers when it’s hot and humid; it breathes. By comparison, cotton will suffocate you and stick when it’s hot and humid. I just walked the Basset-in-Chief in 103 degree heat and I was actually comfy in my linen dress. So this linen thing was fine until I moved to the west coast 11 years ago. Now, when I wear linen here, people seem compelled to comment directly…
Recently I’ve been working almost exclusively on my Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) annual Benefit Auction quilt-a mere 12″ square piece. How hard can that be and how long can such a tiny piece take? I discovered the hard way that it took a LOT longer than I thought. Each year SAQA asks for its members to donate a piece no larger than 12″ square to their fundraising auction. Design is not my forte-I have to work hard at it. Although I started playing with different ideas several months ago, none looked that promising. As the deadline approached, I realized I just…
I’ve finally found a decent foot for my Baby Lock Jane Straight Stitch Only machine-a Janome plastic open-toe darning foot-who knew? I’m not totally in love with it but I do think it’s the best possible solution currently available. It makes a huge difference in the ease of quilting on the Jane. At least I can see where my needle lands, I can see better for backtracking, and it’s open in the front-all those are huge improvements. BUT, the plastic foot wobbles even though it is securely attached to my machine and I wish it could be attached in a more svelte manner-there’s a big…
Sorry I’ve been gone so long-so much has happened. BRAG ALERT: Son #2 graduated from Univ of California-Santa Barbara and most importantly, HE HAS A REAL JOB! It’s even in the field he studied-Mechanical Engineering. He is off our payroll and he’ll have insurance, vacation, everything! While we were visiting, his girlfriend volunteered to take me to the Santa Barbara Zoo-I was thrilled to go. Because she volunteers at the zoo, she knows every animal, their story and odd little tidbits about each one of the animals. It was a delightful day spent in good company and gave me an intimate view of…