Free - Virtual Quilt Show, November 9-15

From November 9 to 15 is the free Virtual Quilt Show. I'm mentioning this because: 

1) Who doesn't like to look at quilts?

2) I entered a modern quilt in the online show!

As with any quilt show, you can also take classes and visit the vendor mall too.

This is my entry in the Modern Quilting - Masters category: "Illusions of Victor" 

Illusions of Victor, 48" X 64"

It's my original design that I blogged about HERE in April. 

If you're inclined to view the quilts, and perhaps vote for Viewer's Choice, I'd appreciate your vote for my quilt.

Go to the website: www.virtualquiltshow.com

Choose Quilt Gallery or View the Quilt Gallery

From there, scroll down to click on Modern Quilting - Master on the right-hand side. 

By the way, "Master"means that's I've previously won an award at a quilt show. On the left side are "Aspiring" categories for newer quilt makers.

You'll find Illusions of Victor at the top center of the Modern Quilting- Master page. 

Thanks for your time, and vote! Linda

Virtual Lessons

On Friday night and Saturday afternoon, I attended two different virtual workshops. Friday evening was the much-anticipated Siddi workshop with Sujata Shah @therootconnection. If you'll recall, I attempted to make my own version of a Siddi quilt, following YouTube video instructions.

I had less than stellar results, though it being orange made it redeemable! 😃

After attending Sujata's 30-student workshop, some of what I learned is that Siddi is an ethnic group in India; "Kawandi" means "quilt." It was nice to learn about Indians' penchant for brightly-colored saris and bags, and those used items, including tailor's cut-offs, are what go into making a Siddi quilt. 

So with instruction that was pretty much anything goes (colorwise) - just use all the scraps that I think look good together - I've started another Siddi quilt. This one is 17" X 21".

Starting at a corner I began with "a pillar," which means placing the same fabrics on all four corners. And yes, a Kawandi is made from the outside toward the center. 

Quilting is with ecru-colored 12-weight Aurifil thread (generally, white and off-white thread colors are only used), and at each corner I'm adding the traditional "fula" which means flower. It's simply a folded square of fabric. 

This is all the further I've gotten, but it's good to know how to do it correctly!

Saturday afternoon was a three hour workshop with Malka Dubrawsky @astitchindye to make her Maze quilt, a free pattern if you're a member of the Modern Quilt Guild, though she's made some modifications to the instructions. She explained the process for making this quilt, which isn't as easy as it might seem. 

Of course, I had to change it. Whenever possible, I try to make useable-sized quilts, and her 40" X 45½" finish didn't work for me. So rather than cutting 2" strips as called for in the instructions, I cut 2½" strips. That decision forced me to do the math to change the size of half-square triangles, and lengths to add. 

This is the top half of the quilt that I finished this afternoon. The background fabric is really dark navy. Note that the maze is going clockwise. Next I'll make the bottom half with the maze going counter-clockwise. The top half is 34" high by 47" wide, so I'll end up with a nice lap-sized quilt when I'm finished.

I also finished cutting aqua-colored fabrics into 1½" strips that I then machine sewed end to end, ran through the bias tape maker, and wound into this 65 yard ball. I'll be peg loom weaving to turn this into another dining room chair pad. Then, only one more to make: yellow.

On Thursday evening, at about 6:30 pm we went outside to see the unmanned Falcon 9 fly overhead. It was launched from Cape Canaverall, about two hours away. It's pretty cool to see.

What's not so cool?

 II

Did you know that's the Greek letter Eta? And did you know that's the name of the latest tropical storm-hurricane to hit south Florida? Eta is the seventh letter in the Greek alphabet, so it's no joke that there have been way too many hurricanes this year!

Perhaps then, it wasn't an accident that this morning's sermon was about suffering. In 2020, suffering has been on many levels, and taken many forms. Consequently, the number of people experiencing depression has tripled in the past year. It's of such concern to mental health specialists that rather than taking an annual measurement of mental healthy, monthly studies are now being conducted. 

Jamie Richards, Lutheran Church of Hope, West Des Moines, Iowa

Jesus never promised we wouldn't suffer, but he did promise he'd be with us. Oh Lord, but need you to lead us. That's my prayer, for myself and our country. Linda

On the Design Wall

My design wall is full of bits and parts that I'm trying to work into a cohesive arrangement. Maria Shell calls this step "glom-ing" - when it's time to making bit interact with one another another. It's been looking like quite a mess!

Though I've been satisfied with how each of the Old Italian blocks came together... 

...and as a group, they look cohesive enough. 

But putting bits together has been very challenging. I think I've met my match! But I'll keep going.

It's been discouraging to see how many scraps I've generated through this process. When possible, I'm using trimmed pieces to create new fabric, but as the trimmings get smaller, they've become less usable. 

I've now added all of my October fabric purchases to my stash - 96 yards of Painter's Palette solids. After I washing and drying each piece, I wrote the color name in the selvage. 

Then, I did an overhaul of my storage cabinet. These shelves contain only solids that are ½ yard or more. 

This bin is solids that are in chunks of ½ yard or less. How will I use these?!

These two canvas bins are nothing but pieces. How in the world will I use these?!

These 18 solids are what I've chosen for Saturday afternoon's virtual workshop with South Florida MQG to make a "Maze" quilt with Malka Dubrawsky. It is nice to have a choices of an array of colors and values. 

I find that after several hours of sewing, by evening I'm ready for handwork. This flex case, from Aneela Hoey's book Stitch and Sew has been a fun finish.

I chose thread colors based on the canvas-weight fabric I selected for the flex case back. 

My latest audio book finish is Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult, but I found it difficult to get through. I don't know whether it was my mood, or general lack of interest, but I forced myself to listen. 

The story is about Oliver, a scientist who studies whales; Jane, his speech therapist wife; and Rebecca, their beautiful 15 year-old daughter who is wise beyond her years. After an argument with Oliver, Jane and Rebecca leave California and embark on a cross-country drive toward Massachusetts where Jane's brother Joley works in an apple orchard. Their experiences during their travels - including a stop in What Cheer, Iowa, to visit a cornfield that was the site of a 1978 plane crash - along with Oliver's introspection as he drives in pursuit, are the point of the story.

What I did not enjoy is the author's story format - jumping from present day to the past, to the future, and back to recent past. Specifically, one scene - Jane meeting Sam when he's shearing a sheep, is repeated three times from the perspectives of each of the three people present. Maybe it's me, but I found it difficult to keep track of when I was listening, and who was telling the story. 

Linda's score: 2.8/5.0

Well, this is where I ended today's piecing. It's 46" X 71", so it definitely needs to be made wider. I'll be considering options... perhaps more X's, or perpendicular short strips.  

Linda

Kawandi Quilt and Improv

After seeing on Instagram a few Kawandi quilts, I pursued learning about them. Only one YouTube tutorial somewhat inadequately explains how to make a Kawandi quilt. I also watched several videos about them, how they're made with old clothing by Siddi women in India. There's also a good YouTube interview between a Kawandi quilt collector/seller and Nancy Zieman.

Striking out on my own, I cut background fabric 16" X 26".

I sorted through and rough-cut these scraps, and discovered as I went along that I needed twice this amount.

Hand-stitching is size 8 perle cotton, and batting is Quilter's Dream Cotton Request.

It's interesting to work from the outside in. 

Nice texture is created by straight quilting lines. 

This is the finished piece, though it has its flaws. Several edges of turned-under scraps weren't caught by hand-stitches, so when I was finished, I used fabric glue to stick them in place. It turned out pretty enough, but I want to do better. 

On Friday, November 5, I'm taking a three-hour Kawandi quilt online workshop with Sujata Shah @therootconnection, to learn to do it properly. My supplies are gathered, cut, and ready to go.

The following afternoon, though the South Florida MQG, I'll take another three-hour online workshop with Malka Dubrawsky to make a "Maze" quilt, a free pattern from February 2019 available to MQG members. I figure it will be a way to begin to use some of the dozens of yards of Painter's Palette Solids I've bought in the past two month. 

"Maze" quilt by Malka Dubrawsky

Oh, didn't I mention? I found a great sale on Painter's Palette Solids ($5.96 a yard) at The Quilt Place (Orlando) that was too good to pass up. Another 50 yards (25 colors) are on the way. I know. "Yikes!"

As this pandemic goes on and on, I find myself looking for more virtual workshops. I have several projects and techniques that I'd like to have a go at so I'm taking advantage of every online opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. I've also discovered that, in general, it's less expensive to take a workshop directly from the instructor, versus taking the same workshop through an organization. 

Recent quilt-y days have been full of working on my latest Shell-inspired, patterned improv quilt. I plan to make six of these 20" X 20" blocks. Yep, the quilt will be large; around 60" x 80".

I'm naming it Italica because:

1) the main block is called "Old Italian" according to Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns (Did you know an updated version of this 1993 book will be available soon from Electric Quilt?)

2) when I Googled "old Italian," I learned about the 102 year-old woman from Italy who, in March, survived Coronavirus, and survived the 1918 Spanish Flu! Her name? Italica Grondona. Perfect.

My she-cave got a little brighter with the arrival of an aqua-colored Ecopeco cutting mat. Aqua decor is goin' on here, and I love it! What's out of view is my favorite piece of furniture in the house - my aqua swivel-glider that sits in the bay window.

Book Recommendation

Outsider by Linda Castillo is another series book I unknowingly selected, though it stands alone pretty well. Turns out it's #12 in the Kate Burkholder series.

Kate is the chief of police in a rural Ohio community that's mostly Amish. After ten years, Kate's once-closest friend, Gina, resurfaces with a gunshot wound in the home of a widowed Amish man and his three children. With a record-setting snowstorm hitting the area, Kate hunkers down with the family to await the storm's lessening and take Gina in for questioning. But Gina's pursuers who are cops themselves, aren't giving up on finding Gina and "taking care of their problem." This is a suspenseful story that includes dirty cops, and a glimpse into Amish life and values. 

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

If I still lived in Iowa, I would go to Lutheran Church of Hope to pick up one of these yard signs. I need this reminder and I'm pretty sure others do too! In good news, Beth Moore has rescheduled a Living Proof Ministries event in Des Moines for November 5-6, 2021. I hope to be there too!

This is the weekend our time changes. Does anyone feel happy about getting an extra hour of sleep?!

Linda

Making Improv Bits, and Snakes

My friend Elizabeth @occasionalpiece and I recently swapped emails discussing the merits of value, as it relates to fabric, and how each of us learned about the importance of it. She learned as a teaching assistant while working in a black and white photo lab (remember those the days of film?). I learned as a new quilt maker, but didn't embrace the importance of value until I began teaching beginner quiltmaking in 2002.

In the first lesson to new quilters, I explain that not only should they look for fabrics in pleasing-to-the-eye color combination, but also the roles played by different scales, contrast, and values. You probably already know this, but newer quilters are most often attracted to the color blue, and most quilters are attracted to and buy fabrics in the medium value range. 

All this leads me to a refresher about value, that was reiterated by Maria Shell during my September workshop, and in her book Improv Patchwork where she devotes several pages to color and value.

When I selected colors for my next improv quilt, I trialed values too. At least a half dozen color combinations and values were arranged and photographed before I settled on these. All fabrics are Painter's Palette solids except for the fifth one from the left. That's Kona Wabi Sabi.

I began stacking colors in value order. Once I was happy with them in a black and white picture, I mixed up the values to ensure that each one stands up well against the piece beside it. That's what settled this color combo for me. 

You'll see I have black (far left) there. I never use black in my quilts (except for black and white stripe, usually as binding), so I'm leaving that as an optional fabric in this quilt. 

I'm cutting everything without the use of a ruler. That is, except for the last squaring-up of each block. 

The first "bits" - Maria's term for different methods of piecing improv patterns - I made were "dots." Again, Maria's term. I followed her instructions to the letter to make 16-dot blocks. 

Then, I made more - 25-dot blocks. 

Next I made three sets of "ribbons," following suggested fabric width combinations from workshop hand-outs, and which also appeared in the October/November 2017 issue of Quilting Arts magazine, a copy of which was graciously mailed to me by my friend Deb in Iowa. 

Combining dots and ribbons make these. I think I'll make more of them because I like them so much!

Next came "short row stripes" that I intentionally cut wonky for greater interest.

I like this 16" X 16" Cornered Quilt Block from the latest issue of the MQG's "Modern Monthly."

Maybe it will work into this improv quilt.  

So, these are the improv bits now on my design wall. Those ribbons will need to be cut into a smaller size. I don't yet know how all these bits are going to go together, but I'm not ready to arrange them. Because I want this to be large, useable quilt, I'll make more bits before I start playing. The next piece(s) I'll make will be "plaid" fabric, again, according to the Improv Patchwork book. 

Because I've been using my last Sench needle to bury quilting threads, I have been on the hunt for where to buy more. Happily, I found them in my friend Lora's Etsy shop: Dragonfly Quiltworks. I stocked up! And also bought this wideback "Grunge Hits the Spot" fabric as backing for my postage stamp quilt. 

Our Florida skies have been especially pretty lately. This was taken Thursday afternoon. I could have looked skyward for way too long. 

Dan was startled this morning to step out the front door and find a snake crossing our entry sidewalk! In fact, there were two of them, each about 30" long, racing around our front landscaping! A service person at the neighbor's house saw us looking startled and came over to look and explained that the snakes - he'd never seen two of them together! - are Black Racers, and that though they bite humans, they aren't poisonous. Well, that's a relief. 

After briefly stepping outside to take pictures, the photo below was taken from the safety of my sewing room! Mr. Snake was literally winding its way up the center and through the branches of a Princess bush. I guess these snakes are good to have around because we've noticed a decrease in the gecko population. 

Book Recommendation

When we were gone, in Kansas City, book-listening time was limited so I didn't finish this one until we returned home. But oh boy, it's good!

Virgil Wander by Lief Enger is about Virgil Wander who lives in the once-thriving ore town of Greenstone, Minnesota, on the shore of Lake Superior. The story begins with Virgil's car flying off an icy road and plunging into the lake. He survives, but he isn't quite the same. Virgil lives sort of a plodding-along life as city clerk, while running a fading movie theater. He interacts with people we get to know - the widow and son of a locally famous baseball player; a renown, yet unusual movie producer; an enthusiastic town mayor; a couple with marital problems; the Pea family, two of whom are sturgeon fishermen; and Rune who visits Greenstone to town to learn about his missing son and fly kites.

Midwesterners will appreciate the infusion of a Minnesota accent as narrated by MacLeod Andrew. This would be an excellent book club book to review for understanding human character and life values.

Linda's score: 4.6/5.0

Linda