Among Other Things, QuiltCon Prep

I don't know how a week managed to get away from me, but it sure did! I've had my eyes on the looming date of Quiltcon, figuring out which projects to can get organized, and which ones I can make a little progress on.

A paint chip quilt challenge, organized by Big Cypress Quilters, a chapter of Quilting Guild of The Villages is due April 15. After selecting two paint chip cards (no swapping allowed) we can make anything we want. I wasn't overly pleased with my color combination, but I'm giving it a go anyway. 

My inspiration was this design, found online when I Googled "mid-century modern." I like the deep, narrow curves. But how to create those echoing shapes on a quilt is challenging. That's the point, isn't it? 

I weighed my options - piece those narrow curves? Impossible. Or make bias tape to appliqué by machine or by hand?

I decided to go with Misty Fuse appliqué. I'll apply two to three layers of Misty Fuse to the back of fabric, cut the skinny curves, and then fuse those curves to a background. To prepare, I've drawn (erased, re-drawn, erased and re-drawn) deep curves on a piece of freezer paper. 

I'll wait to being fusing. I'll tackle this approximately 62" X 72", attention-consuming project until after QuiltCon. My design wall will wait. 

I've progressed on quilting Party Time! The 43" square improv-pieced center is filled with half-inch wide straight-line triangles.

Now I'm free motion quilting every confetti dot on the four 13-wide sides, and giving each corner some custom-quilting. The top thread color matches each fabric, so I've had a few thread color changes. All are 50-weight Aurifil.  

In random places, I'm taping a square of masking tape (on the right) to the quilt top, and quilting around it twice to make ghost "confetti" (left).

When not quilting, I'm making Inner City blocks. Mostly from my shoeboxes of solid scraps (I've gotten into stash to give me a few more color combinations) I've cut out more shapes to continue hand-piecing. This little stack, to be added to the other big pile, means I've now made more than 100 blocks - 100+ more needed.

I will take this 5" X 7" pouch of supplies along to QuiltCon, for airport and down-time piecing. 

I've been distracted by Instagram this week, looking at quilters' posts about past QuiltCons, the quilts they've had in those shows, and sharing my own quilts. I was surprised to count and realize I've had a total of 17 quilts appear in 8 QuiltCons. None have earned an award. I think I'm understanding a little of how Susan Lucci felt for so many years.

😊 Are you familiar with my reference to her? 🤣

I've also arranged a few QuiltCon meet-ups with people I see only at this (extremely social) event, and have dinner plans for two evenings. Also, I'm part of two group quilts. Photos will be taken alongside quilts made by: 1) Central Florida MQG members, for the QuiltCon Charity Challenge; and, 2) 16 of us who made Pot Luck. Of the 16 of us, 8 will attend QuiltCon.

Saturday afternoon and evening I'll be taking my six hour QuiltCon workshop - Chaos With a Twist with Libs Elliott (90 minute break for dinner). Lib's supply list includes colored pencils, a couple rulers, rotary tools, and fabric - 8 to 12 fat quarters. Having at least a yard of all these colors, and not wanting to chop yardage into fat quarters, I selected and cut eight half-yard pieces to take along. I'm documenting them here, for future reference because...

...you know I won't be satisfied making a small quilt! I'll return home to make it bigger.

Speaking of "bigger," have you noticed that I enlarged the font on these blog posts? My vision has gotten worse in the past year. Bigger is better. This past week, I finally saw (ha, ha) an ophthalmologist (after cancelling my January appointment due to contracting COVID). I learned that my eyeglass prescription is incorrect. And - not really a surprise - I am a candidate for cataract surgery. For months, I've been seeing a glare when in bright sunshine, and in buildings with overhead lights. An April consultation is when I'll learn more about the procedure. Honestly though, many of my friends have already gone through this, so I have an insider's understanding as to what happens, and what can be problematic. I began wearing glasses in third grade, then wore contacts for 48 years, and then returned to glasses for the past eight years. I am looking forward to experiencing what it's like to not needing vision correction, except in particular situations. Happy days ahead!

Happy QuiltCon ahead! 😄 Linda

Round Loom Knitting

In the past half dozen years, I've become interested in weaving. How makers create on various looms fascinates me. 

During the pandemic I tried braiding which doesn't require any equipment except a crochet hook. I learned to make round and oval rugs, upcycling fabrics from old clothing and home dec leftovers. 

Then, peg loom weaving caught my attention. I ended up buying a 24-peg loom which is simply a long, skinny board with 24 removable pegs; it doesn't take up much space. That's the loom I've used to make three "rag rugs" with selvedges...

and four dining room chair pads using fabric strips.

Most recently, my friend Peggy was creating with a round loom, which I learned, is knitting and purling on pegs. She showed me some of the things she's made, like this blue single layer headband that can be used to hold back hair for face-washing, or to cover ears in cold weather.

Peggy sent me home with her 24-peg round loom and some yarn so I could make a scrubby. I'm using it for face-washing.

I was intrigued enough to buy, from Michael's, my own set of four round looms. I promptly followed a YouTube video to make a scrubby.

Mine is a little larger than the one Peggy taught me to make 

Then, I followed another YouTube video to make a knitted headband. It's definitely not the pattern Peggy followed to make hers. Mine is two thicknesses. Made with wool yarn, it's unlikely I'll ever need to wear it here in Florida. It's thick! And soft and squishy. I'll give this to someone who lives further north than me. But it was a satisfying make.

So, round loom weaving has become a new fascination. (You've heard the exclamation, "Squirrel!" right?)

As if that isn't enough, I've been watching Instagram as @hermader makes four-inch fabric squares from scraps, and hand-stitches circles. I watched her Going Round in Circles YouTube video to give it a try. I used some of my new Kitchen Window wovens (plaid) fabric.

I love stitching like this - in circles. I used Aurifil #12 wool thread, for the first time, sent to me by Jo Avery. I really like stitching with it! And that woven fabric is like needling through butter.

I'm just not fond of the methodology. I don't care for circling a button in the center (How can blocks ever be used, except for decorative purposes?). Nor do I like the exposed, ravelly raw edges of the fabric scraps. I will try this again, but will machine piece scraps, and use appli-pops to make tiny fabric circles that I'll hand-appliqué to the center. 

At the Bernina, I've been quilting Party Time, walking foot quilting in the quilt center.

So, small progress on several things. 

QuiltCon is coming soon! In the next week I need to pull supplies for the six-hour improv workshop I'll take from Libs Elliott - Chaos With a Twist.

I have a few things to keep me occupied. Linda

End of January

This year marks year three of fabric-tracking. For those who may be new readers to my blog, I'll remind you that I did NOT inventory my fabric stash when I started this. I'm only taking note of the quantity of fabric that goes out - made into something such as quilt blocks, bags, scrap projects, and even fabric twining, and tuffed into pet beds (measured by weight) - and fabric I've bought or that has been given to me. 

In two years:

• 103.36 yards of fabric came IN to my stash
• 210.63 yards of fabric went OUT of my stash

That means I have 107.27 yards LESS fabric in my stash than I did at the start of 2023. 

January Incoming Fabric

I didn't set out to buy fabric in January, but when KC Maker Studio, a quilt shop I follow on Instagram, announced that their shop would be closing for a snowstorm and extremely frigid (for Kansas City) temperatures, and that everything in the shop was 25 percent off, I decided to restash!

Several fabric pieces were needed for upcoming projects. Only a few pieces were "just because." It's likely they'll be used during 2025. 

In this haul from KC Maker Studio you see:

• at the top, five colors of Painter's Palette solids (Lipstick, Daffodil, Crocus, Aruba, Amber)
• at the bottom, four Kona solids that include the Kona Color of the Year - Nocturne (purple)
• a black and white stripe (aren't those always needed?)
• and a the self-indulgent purchase of a bundle of 12 fat quarters of a woven/linen collection called Kitchen Window (I have a project in mind for them.)
• This amounts to 16 yards of fabric. 

At last weekend's local quilt show, I bought four yards of fabric for a paint chip challenge that Big Cypress Quilters is hosting. Two of these fabrics are Ruby and Bee solids - colors Ink and Salvia. For those who like to pre-wash fabrics as I do, I'm happy to report that neither Ruby and Bee solid bled.

For the paint chip challenge, we're to use at least ONE color from each paint card (prints may also be used), and ONE additional color. Using our colors we can make anything we want. No surprise, if you know me, I intend to make a large quilt. I'm having second thoughts about using that Ink color, and will swap it out for Painter's Palette Oyster.

January Outgoing Fabric

Yardage was used making this 65" X 70" Party Time quilt top.

And 4.27 yards was used to piece the backing for it that includes orphan blocks and discarded quilt design ideas. If this picture looks like a pin-basted quilt on my design wall, it is! I forgot to take a picture of the backing before I'd made the quilt sandwich. 

This month I also hand-pieced 40 more Inner City blocks from my solid scrap bins. In fact, it seemed timely to make an assessment. How many blocks do I need to make a decent-sized quilt? This is 88 blocks.

To determine how many blocks I need, I arranged the perimeter and made some calculations. 

For a quilt that's 66" wide X 75" high, I'll need 218 units! Only 130 more units needed! Ha! 

If I want a quilt with a design that "bleeds off the edge" (no border), I need to make additional partial blocks to fill-in depressions on all four sides. Most Internet photos I've seen of finished Inner City quilts have blocks floating on a background, often black. I'm not sure I want that look. 

So my January tally is... 

20 yards of fabric came in

9.75 yards of fabric went out

for a net gain of 10.25 yards of fabric

Ugh. I know that's not the way I want to go, but I have big plans to use-up! I will persevere!

Linda

Book Scores

As I mentioned in my January 21 blog post, starting in 2025, I'm suggesting book titles you might be interested in reading, but I'll no longer follow my Book Recommendations format with a written review of each title. After five years of writing reviews for 446 books, I was over it. 

So today - and near the end of each month - I'll give you the title, author's name, and the score I've given each book, out of a possible 5.0.

No more written reviews.

This is my list, in score order, of eight books listened to in January. 

I'll just mention that the book I gave the lowest score - Same as it Ever Was - was a hard slog of 18 hours and 22 minutes. I thought it would get better... then I thought I needed to hear it all the way to the end. It wasn't worth that much listening!

Books that I gave 4.0 and higher.

If you don't listen to any other book, I recommend the Music of the Bees, by Eileen Garvin. For some reason, I haven't gotten that one out of my mind. Linda 

Quilt Show Awards

Quilting Guild of The Villages (QGOTV) with more than 1,200 members in 29 chapters, held its biannual “Showcase of Quilts” on Friday and Saturday. A member could enter two quilts; three if they participated in the challenge; and four if they completed a quilt started in a workshop with a visiting artist. 

399 quilts were displayed.

I showed two quilts; the same two quilts that appeared in Jacksonville (Florida) Quiltfest last September. Neither quilt earned an award.

This quilt show was much different!

I learned via email on Thursday that both quilts received awards, but I didn’t know until late Friday morning, when I went to the show, what those were.

In the Modern Category, Feelin’ Groovy, a maximalist-style quilt that was exhibited at QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh, won first place.

As if that wasn’t enough of a surprise, it also received an award I was not familiar with: National Association of Certified Quilt Judges (NACQJ) “Award of Merit” for “Outstanding Achievement in Quiltmaking.”

Wow!

Apparently, a certified quilt judge (or judges who concur) can give this award, one per quilt show, if they desire. No one in Quilting Guild of The Villages has ever received this award. 

On the NACQJ website, in the Award of Merit Gallery, you can see the quilts and quiltmakers who have received this award since its 2016 inception.

In 2024, 78 makers earned this award;

in 2023, 70 makers;

in 2022, 54 makers;

in 2021, 21 makers;

in 2020, 25 makers;

… and so on.

It's fun to scroll through and see all the names, locations, and huge variety of quilts that have earned this award. 

I found the names and quilts of several modern-makers such as Veruschka Zarate @prideandjoyquilting, Sarah Ruiz @bysarahruiz, Kate Gawler @buttermilk_hill, and Maria Shell @mariashellquilts

I am honored. It's been an extremely meaningful recognition and experience for me.

My second quilt entry was Alternate Route, a two-color improv quilt started in a virtual workshop - "Dancing With the Wall" - with Irene Roderick @hixsonir. I machine quilted and big stitch hand quilted this quilt. It was a 2024 QuiltCon reject. #quiltconreject

I expected to see Alternate Route hanging with the other modern quilts on the floor of the auditorium. But it was moved...Ha, ha! It took an "alternate route!" 😂

You might imagine my shock at seeing it displayed on the stage! The quilt on the far left received a Judge's Choice award from Judge Karen Roberts. The quilt in the middle received the Viewer's Choice Award at the 2023 Showcase of Quilts.

Alternate Route on the right received Honorable Mention in the Modern Category and received a Judge’s Choice Award, from Judge Beverly Fine.

More shock and awe!

Such a turn-around in recognition, for both quilts, can only be explained by the subjectivity of quilt show judges. It’s apparent that as much as each judge strives for objectivity, different personalities come to different conclusions.

While Showcase recognition doesn’t offer any financial rewards, some beautiful ribbons and wearable pins are awarded! 

With the show theme of “Blossoming Arts,” flower ribbons were appropriate. This year, a color-coordinated felt flower pin was attached to each quilt, alongside its ribbon. When the maker arrived at the show, she was expected to detach the flower pin and wear it. I proudly wore my three flower pins on both show days.

Ribbons were made by members of Mamie Chapter of QGOTV, and flowers (about 125 of them!) were made by one lady, Terri. The center of each flower pin matched the color of the awarded ribbon. They're beautiful! 

(In case you’re wondering why I didn’t receive a fourth flower pin… no pin was made for the NACQJ award because it’s a national award, unanticipated by QGOTV volunteers who administer Showcase. )

A much-anticipated aspect of Showcase was seeing quilts made by members of the Sumter County 4-H Club. I am one of several volunteers who helped 8 to 14 year-olds make their quilts.

I assisted this eight year-old boy.

And this 11 year-old girl... is adorable. Her quilt was awarded third place! We hugged. 😊

Two longarm quilters volunteered their time and machines to quilt each child’s quilt, and give each of them an opportunity to use the longarm themselves. These kids had a wonderful experience with the entire quiltmaking process, didn't they? 

This is the club (missing three member in this photo) and their two leaders who work hard to give these kids well-rounded experiences in an assortment of crafts.

 

As if all that wasn't enough to celebrate, TODAY is my 16th Blogiversary! I began blogging on January 26, 2009 and have continued to do so regularly ever since. I have written 1,346 posts these past 16 years! Lots of words! Blog-readers and blog-commenters... thank you! I wouldn't keep doing this without your responsiveness.

If you run into me somewhere this week, you’ll see a dazed but happy look on my face. It’s not only that I’m happy to no longer have residual effects of COVID, but I remain in gobsmacked awe about Showcase. What a weekend! Linda

Slow-Going, and Books

I'm on day 11 of the onset of COVID, and I'm not yet feeling 100 percent of myself.

At my lowest, I was in bed for about five days, unable to smell or taste anything. Those senses returned last Friday, but recovery has continued extremely slowly. My head feels tight. My throat feels "chunky." I'm coughing, and my energy is low. I'm not contagious though. On Monday I exercised, and then went to ukulele club, feeling listless and unable to sing all the songs. Today I decided not to take my usual power walk, and went only to Big Cypress Quilters. I'll feel better eventually.

I've hand pieced 77 Inner City blocks now, and don't know when I'll stop. At some point I have to figure out how big this quilt will be. Then I'll have to start joining blocks!

It's been wonderful to cut nearly all these units from solid scraps stored in my plastic shoeboxes. Such a satisfying feeling of using-up. 

I've also spent some quiet, productive time with my sewing machine. This is the quilt top made from blocks pieced during two different workshops with Cindy Grisdella. It's about 65" X 70". 

Most of the confetti dots around the perimeter are pieced into blocks. However, when I had completed that stage, I decided more dots were needed. So, I brushed-up on how to use Misty Fuse, reviewing an MQG webinar/video called Fabulously Fused Modern Quilts by Sue Bleiweiss. It's free to watch here, if you're a member of The Modern Quilt Guild.

The video refreshed my memory about how best to fuse and appliqué. I did just that, adding more confetti dots to blank spaces. Now I think it looks like a party! 

From a distance, pieced and fused dots don't look different, but I'm sure you can see them up-close. 

I'm anticipating that quilting will meld any visible differences in techniques.

Book Recommendations

If you're wondering whether I've been reading books in January, let me say, I have. At the moment, I'm listening to my eighth audiobook this month. 

However, I've decided to discontinue written reviews of each title. The reason is that reviews are my least favorite part of writing a blog post.

Since 2020, I have posted written reviews of 446 books!

Although some of you may be disappointed about my decision, I hope I won't lose you completely. Instead of a review for each book, somewhere near the end of each month, I'll post a list of titles, authors, and scores I've given to that month's books.

Good Food

When my taste buds returned, hubs made a much-appreciated homemade pizza. Each one he makes is impressive - visually. 

Every morsel tasted delicious.

Quilt Show

This coming Friday and Saturday, January 24-25 is the biannual Showcase of Quilts put on by Quilting Guild of The Villages. With more than 1200 members in the guild (in 29 chapters), you can be sure quilt styles cover the spectrum. Members are limited to showing two quilts, unless they've made a challenge quilt, or have completed a quilt started during a guild workshop. 

If you're near the Villages, Florida, Showcase is at Rohan and Seabreeze Recreation Centers. Friday: 9 AM to 5 PM

Saturday 9AM to 4 PM

Admission to both locations is $15, and good for both days. 

If you'd like to see quilts in the Modern Category, they'll be shown at Seabreeze Rec Center, in the large auditorium room. Two of my quilts will be displayed there. Linda