Improv Quilt Finish

Last Tuesday morning I had the honor of sharing my What is Modern Quilting? program with 80-90 members of the Lake County Quilters' Guild that meets in Tavares, Florida. 

While I always enjoy sharing my love of quilting with others, it was their enthusiastic response to my program that truly made my day. Many women came up front afterward to look at my trunk show quilts; ask questions; let me know that they were interested in modern quiltmaking; and simply to say nice things. It was a very happy day. 

In my sewing room last week, I spent most of my time prepping four quilts to enter into QuiltCon. Entries opened September 1, and will remain open until October 31. But I'm anxious to get quilts photographed, named, written about and submitted.

So, I set up and rearranged my studio for picture-taking, using my Canon point-and-shoot camera to take photos, rather than my cell phone. I think colors are more true with the camera. 

Here are a few of the final pictures of Alternate Route, the 57" X 67" two-color quilt I started in April when I took a virtual, two-session improv workshop with Irene Roderick @hixsonir. 

Before quilting, I randomly added hand-appliqué circles where I thought they were appropriate. 

In addition to domestic machine quilting with a walking foot, and ruler work, I added big stitch hand quilting with lavender-colored Cosmos embroidery floss, and patriot blue-colored size 8 DMC perle cotton. 

For the backing, I pieced a design from Kelly Young's myquiltinfatuation book, Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs. I'm happy to say I used-up all the leftover parts, including a few un-used circles! The quilt has a faced finish. 

At the moment, the only thing keeping me from entering quilts online is naming two of them. Since watching the MQG video about entering QuiltCon quilts into their proper categories, and also learning that jurors and judges rarely, if ever, read written descriptions, I decided it's more important than ever to thoughtfully give a quilt the "right" name. I have yet to name my maximal quilt, and another quilt made two years ago with 98 hand-appliquéd circles. 

Funnily, I'm noting that three of my four entries have hand appliquéd circles. 

Alternate Route

Maximal category, No Name.

Modern Traditionalism, Jacob's Ladder block, No Name

Book Recommendations

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell was captivating.

Josie and Alix, who don't know one another, have a chance encounter at a pub, where they both happen to be celebrating their 45th birthdays. They're birthday twins. When Josie learns they were born in the same hospital, she takes more interest in Alix who is a famous podcaster. 

Intentionally drawing closer to Alix, Josie begins revealing parts of herself, and her odd family situation, including the fact that her husband is 27 years older than she is. He married her when she was a teenager. 

As Alix records Josie's story, she begins to wonder how much of it is true. And when Josie runs to Alix's home to get away from her supposedly abusive husband, both Alix and Alix's husband want her out. 

The audiobook presentation of this story was what made such an entertaining listen. Numerous narrators speak in character, and even the podcast recordings sound like listening to a podcast. For me, the best part was recognizing one of the voices - her pronunciations and inflections. I had to stop and Google one of my favorite PBS shows Unforgotten to identify the voice. It belongs to actress Nicola Walker, who played DCI Cassie Stuart in Unforgotten, and Annika, in Annika. She does a fantastic job as narrator!

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

Rick Mofina is an author one of my friends really likes (👋 Karen 😀). The first Mofina book I read felt "dark," but this one - Her Last Goodby - was less so. 

Jennifer attends a monthly book club and typically returns home to her husband Greg, and their son Jake, by 10:30 pm. Greg awakens in the wee hours of the morning, and Jenn isn't there. Eight year-old Jake is at an overnight with his pal, so after not getting responses to calls and texts to her, Greg spends hours driving along the route Jenn would have taken to return home. Later he calls 911 to report his wife is missing. 

Detectives are called in, and as circumstantial evidence begins to mount, it appears that Greg is the perpetrator (of course). Yet, other suspicions and suspects begin to arise. Jenn's past - 30 years ago, at age eight, Jenn was the only survivor in a house fire that claimed her parents - seems relevant. And what's the significance of the angel chimes candle? 

While listening, I was sure I knew who the perpetrator was. Not surprisingly, an unexpected twist at the end proved me wrong. 

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

Linda

Playin' Around

Back in April, in an Instagram giveaway I won a large box of fat quarters - all 100 colors of Benartex Superior Solids. When they arrived, I began cutting (using the Classic Curves Ruler) and piecing set-in circles. For months I've continued to play, somewhat listlessly, without any clear direction. 

The last time I share a picture of my design wall, blocks looked like this. 

For two reasons, I needed to get moving on this project! It's my entry in the South Florida MQG "Curve Around Challenge," and I want to enter this into QuiltCon (entry deadline is October 31). For those who don't know, QuiltCon is the Modern Quilt Guild's annual show (February 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona), and to have a quilt in the show it must be accepted first - juried in.

One morning last week I opened my print stash doors and stared inside, wondering if I could find inspiration. Then, voilá! A lightbulb turned on! I unearthed a leftover piece of a large black and white check. How would it look cut into strips as spacers between circle blocks? I liked it!

That fabric was just the inspiration I needed to re-ignite the design. 

I kept making circles, trying a variety of different styles - with stripes, plain, half circles, quarter circles - and made smaller circles using Applipops purchased from The Craft Table in Orlando.

I used my Bernina appliqué foot #20C; a size 60 Microtex needle, and Wonderfil Invisifil thread to zig-zag stitch circles into place. Last Monday I had my nails redone, and unintentionally, they looked pretty good with the circles I machine-appliquéd!

I dug out some yellowing Carol Doak Foundation Paper to cut into pieces that I positioned behind each circle, to help stabilize zig-zag stitches. Tearing it away was it bit of a bother.

A couple days later, the design started to come together. I worked from the top to the bottom, doing the math to make sure blocks fit together - a few had to be re-made larger - adding Applipop circles as I went. It took quite a bit of switching back and forth - from machine-appliqué to piecing - that required many foot and thread change-outs.

Here it was about one-third pieced together. 

Determined to finish the top by the end of September, I stayed up late Thursday night to complete it. Whoo-ee! I couldn't be happier! This weekend I'll prep parts for the quilt sandwich. The top is 61" X 70". This time I'm planning to use Quilter's Dream Puff batting to make the quilting pop.

Playin' Around is what I plan to call it because that's exactly what I did as I made it; I enjoyed playing with circles.

This week of intense sewing has meant a lot of pedal-to-the-metal, so today I gave my Bernina a thorough vacuum-out, wiping down, and oiling. She deserves it.

This is week 5 of the Finger Paints QAL, and these are blocks 7 and 8. I'm keeping up with weekly goals and posting pics to Instagram so as to be in the running for weekly prizes. 

Only block 9 remains to be pieced; it's due next Friday. 

After making the circle quilt top, my sewing room was mess! Just believe me when I say that there were lots of scraps, piled up and tossed here and there that I rooted through often to find parts and bits of this or that particular color. But it was very satisfying to clean up today! I added scraps to my shoebox bins of color-sorted scraps. 

When I have some uncommitted time, won't I will have a good play, piecing from several of these shoeboxes?

These past five days found me so focused on sewing that I didn't listen to a book, as I usually do. Instead, with lots of goals running through my mind, I've been ticking things off a mental check list. October will be a busier-than-usual month.

On Saturday and Sunday afternoons I'll be tuning in to the Global Quilt Connection virtual program: All Star Virtual Sampler Platter. 

Tuesday I'm giving a Big Stitch Quilting and More program and demo to members of my local Big Cypress Quilters. 

Next Saturday is the Central Florida MQG meeting from which I'll have to hurry home to attend Intriguing Interleaves, a virtual workshop with Mel Beach.

I'm playing hard these days... and lovin' every minute of it! Linda

Away and Back, Again

We're back home from another four day trip, and are settling back into a routine of "just us." 

Having seen an episode of Aerial America featuring Georgia  we decided to return Tay to a Montgomery, Alabama meet-up with his mother by way of Georgia's Providence Canyon State Park, also called the "little Grand Canyon." The site is a geological formation that started in the 1800s when farmers cleared and planted in this area without regard to soil management. Now, aided by rainfall, the area continues to erode at the rate of up to five feet a year. 

Different minerals in the canyon walls create a range of interesting colors. It was a nice change-of-pace to hike the trail to the bottom, squelch through the water trickling through the area, and check out several of the numerous canyons. 

While in Montgomery, we visited the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art. It's a beautiful facility on 175 acres of the Blount Cultural Park. I appreciated being able to see this portrait by John Singer Sergeant, one of 41 pieces (only this one was on display) in the museum's collection. 

After spending ten days as a threesome, saying good-bye to Tay wasn't easy. We enjoyed his visit very much! We miss him, and hope he made some good, long-lasting memories. 

Traveling by car is really challenging these days. Traffic is more congested than ever, with the Interstate being the last place we wanted be. Roadways are full of post-pandemic vacationers, and I'd estimate that 30 percent (or more) of vehicles are semi's. The odds of encountering an accident are higher than ever.

When driving to Kansas City earlier this month, we'd made reservations at a Paducah, Kentucky motel, and anticipated arriving in Paducah a half hour before Hancock's of Paducah closed. Yep, I thought I'd do a quick, 30-minute run-through of the quilt store! Twenty minutes from our exit, we came to a standstill on I-24. For more than an hour. Needless to say, shopping at Hancock's didn't happen. Motels are also full. Every one we stayed in was at capacity. I highly recommend booking ahead if you intend to travel. 

Getting away for a change of scenery and focus has proved restorative. My previously stalled sewing room activities have been reinvigorated. My enthusiasm for creating and making has been restored - a happy surprise!

Since being at home, I have:

1) gone as far as I can on my braided rag rug which is now 34" X 40". A thrift store visit is needed for more orange clothing or home dec items; 

2) begun to machine appliqué Applipop circles onto my Curve Around Challenge quilt. I'm using 100-weight Invisifil thread and my Bernina 20C appliqué foot to zig-zag stitch around circles; and,

3) cut, pieced, and basted a Quick Curve Ruler Mini Runner. In August, I'll be teaching a Quick Curve Ruler workshop to Kingsland (Georgia) Quilt Guild, and Jacksonville MQG. Students have the option of making this runner using the mini QCR, or Urban Abacus using the full-sized QCR. I've made my runner with Painter's Palette solids, and a Grunge background. Batting is Quilter's Dream Green (recycled), which gives the background a greenish hue.

I'm excited to quilt because... well, it's been ages since I've done any FMQ. I've missed it! 

Book Recommendation

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner is about Sophie, a young Irish immigrant living in New York City who answers an advertisement to become and wife to Martin, and mother to five year-old Kat, who live in San Francisco. Sophie is settling into her new life in a nice home, feeling well-fed and wearing new clothes, and warming to Kat, when an unknown woman, Belinda, comes to her door to make inquiries about Sophie's husband. Sophie's realizes that her uneasy concerns about Martin have been justified, so she prepares to leave. Just then, San Francisco is rocked by earthquakes and the city is on fire. When Belinda goes into premature labor, they're forced to flee for help, and everyone's intentions change. 

In the face of the unknown, fear, and possible exposure to law enforcement, Sophie, Kat, and Belinda find strength in one another - a family united by love. 

Linda's score: 4.4/5.0

Having a manicure and/or pedicure are treats I normally don't indulge in, unless I have a special friend visiting, (Patty P., you know it's you!) and we go together. But before my high school reunion, I indulged in both. What I realize is that I feel more confident with groomed toes and fingers. I had both redone yesterday.

These are "dipped" nails, a type of nail creation I was unfamiliar with. I've found they're very strong and durable! In fact, except for my left index fingernail which is fake because it completely tore off, these are my nails! I'm definitely sold on this luxury.

How do you indulge yourself?

FOLLOWING MY BLOG BY EMAIL

As of July 1, Google Blogger is discontinuing its Feedburner email auto-delivery of blog posts. This will affect all of the blogs you follow by email - mine, or anyone else's!

If you previously registered to receive email notifications of my posts, and would like to register to receive email notification of my blog posts, you'll need to re-register. Complete the Follow It form I have installed on my home page - upper right-hand menu. 

Thank you - every one of you! - who have registered to receive my posts by email! Linda

Friday Flaunt - More Snowflake Medallion

I'm making relatively steady progress on the Snowflake Medallion quilt. Most recently I've added four more rounds to this square quilt. It's now 56-1/2" X 56-1/2".

Using the no waste method (see tutorial at left), I made 56 flying geese, and appliqued eight purple flower blocks. Also, there are a total of 64 1 cm appliqued circles!

Three narrow fabric borders came next, with the last two being mitered. I took extra time - with much practicing of sewing and unsewing - to make the mitered stripes match-up.

I'm lovin' the looks of this.

Four more rounds, yet to be added - two of them pieced, one with additional applique. Stay tuned until 2010!

(Each Friday, bloggers who belong to Quilting Down Under chat group post a flaunt of their productivity. Visit Cinzia's blog to find links to all 19 Friday Flaunt-ers.)

Potpourri

A couple quilt-y things are attracting my attention these days:

• Stitchin' Mission #17 classes are underway, so weekly lessons need thoughtful preparation and prayer. 
• Hand-applique continues to call me, like a siren-song, and I'm steadily making progress on pieces for the Snowflake Medallion quilt. But those 1 cm circles are driving me crazy! I'm needleturn appliqueing them, and have only 72 of them to do! (There must be a better way...)

But what makes those ga-jillion 1 cm circles bearable is that I fondly recall Australia because I'm using the sweet hexagon pin cushion made for me by my Aussie blogger friend, Di.

Thank you, Di.  I miss you. 

Flower Stars

I've decided to make a vine-y, flowers and leaves border for the Periwinkle Stars quilt center. "Flowers" will be individual Periwinkle Stars to which I'm adding a center...to make the stars look more flower-like!

From one gold fabric, I've cut circles. Bits of batting were cut into circles too so each fabric circle has a batting circle inside it. This gives the flower a little dimension as well as preventing any shadowing from fabrics beneath the circle. I baste around the edge of a fabric circle so I can draw it up over a heat-resistant template plastic circle. After it's pressed, I remove the template plastic, making a nice round circle with a smooth edge to hand-applique to the center of each star.