'Tis the Season

It's that time of year! Quilt-y stuff, QuiltCon emails, and things to do. 

Tuesday evening Quilting Guild of The Villages hosted a modern maker, Cindy Grisdella, from Reston, Virginia. She gave a program about her quiltmaking journey. I found several similarities in our quiltmaking stories, including that she too began making traditional quilts 40+ years ago. Unlike me, she has evolved into a renown art/contemporary quilter whose style is improvisational. 

Wednesday I was fortunate to take Cindy's "Fearless Curved Piecing" workshop, in person! Locally! Haven't done that since September 2019. And yes, I've already made many quilts with improv-cut curves, but it's good to get reinforcement, and there's always a tidbit to pick up. While Cindy's project was squared blocks on a grid, she allowed us to do what we wanted.

My quilt shapes are rectangles that I plan to puzzle together, rather than set in a grid. My color palette was driven by the yard of Kona Crush recently gifted to me by my friend, Candi @candipursuits. Then I went into my bin of (dwindling) fat quarters, choosing several odd colors that seem to work. Most of these fat quarters are what remain from a box of 100 Benartex Superior Solid fat quarters I won in an Instagram giveaway in 2021. It's nice to again have improv on the design wall. Those darks are charcoal gray, and a deep grape purple. Skinny inserts are aqua.

It was a sad-happy Monday, December 4, when four emails arrived from the MQG. Two emails informed that quilts were NOT accepted into QuiltCon 2024 (Raleigh, NC), and two emails congratulated me on quilts that WERE accepted!

Compare:

QuiltCon 2024 had 2,342 entries; 470 quilts were accepted (20% acceptance)

QuiltCon 2023 had 2,089 entries; 444 quilts were accepted (21%) acceptance)

My two #QuiltConRejects (that Instagram hashtag is a great one to browse!) are Alternate Route and Balance Beam.

Alternate Route was NOT accepted.

Alternate Route, 57" X 67"

I've felt a little disappointed about this one because this quilt marks the first time that making an improv quilt "felt right." It was begun in April in a virtual "Dancing With the Wall" workshop with Irene Roderick who I credit for finally getting through my thick head (my words; not hers!) that to make improv I need to trust my instincts. 

I'm guessing Alternate Route wasn't accepted because: 1) there were too many entries in the Improv category, so competition was extra-stiff; and 2) it was identifiable as a two-color "Dancing With the Wall" workshop project, several of which have appeared at previous QuiltCons. In any case, I still love it. It's the only quilt I stated on my entry form as "Not for Sale."

Balance Beam was NOT accepted. I entered it in Modern Traditionalism.

Balance Beam, 65½" X 83"

A shock - because it was an, "Aw, what the heck" entry - was having Polka Dots and Moonbeams accepted in the Scrap Challenge category. It's a quilt I finished in 2021 for our Central Florida MQG "Chips and Charms" Challenge, using charm packs, mini charm packs, and yardage. I hand-appliqued those 98 circles (traced from a prescription bottle lid!) onto machine pieced blocks. Blog post about it here  and here (The latter post includes a life lesson learned when submitting a quilt for magazine publication).

Polka Dots and Moonbeams,  52½" X 60½"

My elation ran high when I learned Feelin' Groovy was accepted for display in the Maximalism Exhibit. It won't be judged, and since I will never win a QuiltCon award anyway, that's fine by me. Feelin' Groovy does have a "For Sale" price. 😀

Feelin' Groovy, 67½" X 84"

I'm already super-excited for QuiltCon which is February 22-25, 2024. But I mustn't get ahead of myself! I still have hanging sleeves to make and hand-stitch to the back of these quilts before packing and sending them to Austin, Texas by January 10!

While in Cindy Grisdela's workshop, she shared a quilt that she too just learned was accepted into the Maximalism Exhibit at QuiltCon 2024! It's fun knowing whose quilts will be shown alongside mine. 

Book Recommendations

The Last Remains is the latest book, published in February 2023, in the "Ruth Galloway" series by Elly Griffiths. It's also the last of 15 books - the final episode about Ruth's career as an archeologist, professor, and police liaison that began in 2009 with The Crossing Places. 

Working with DCI Harry Nelson, Ruth is called in on a case that turns out to be more recent; a missing college student. People who knew the missing girl are reinterviewed, including Ruth's druid friend, Cathbad, who is still recovering from a severe case of COVID. When Cathbad unexpectedly goes missing, and his partner Judy comes across his hand-written will, all of his friends and the police search for him. Even Ruth and 12 year-old Katie become involved. 

Elly Griffiths is an entertaining author whose writing I admire, and in this book, does an excellent job of wrapping up character storylines for this series. While I'm sad to leave behind these interesting people and their quaint villages and ancient histories, I'm happy with the outcomes. 

Linda's score, for the entire series: 4.4/5.0

Author Rhys Dylan was recommended to me by a British friend, so I decided to begin with The Engine House, the first book in the "DCI Evan Warlow Crime" series.

The story takes place on the west side of the UK, in Wales in the rugged landscape along the cliffs of the Irish Sea. Cliffside paths run through several villages, like Cardiff. I looked them up on Google maps, and was delight to find they're real places!

At the age of 50, and for unrevealed reasons, Evan Barlow has left a vibrant career as a DCI. Since inheriting his uncle's ramshackle fishing shack, he's spent the last 18 months doing home reno to turn the place into a charming, habitable home for himself and his black lab, Cadi. 

When two bodies are literally unearthed along a cliff path in Cardiff, Evan's eight year-old missing persons case is resurrected. He's is asked to return as a consultant, joining a team of four with newcomer DI Jess Allenby in the lead. Evan is reluctant to return, but remembers his promise to the daughter of the missing couple - that he'll find her parents. Now that their bodies have been identified, it's time to reopen the case. That means returning to the cliffside home of the deceased couple, where a young couple now lives; and revisit the Gower family who farm next door.

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0 

End of November

I've been fabric-tracking all year in a concentrated effort to reduce stash, and have been largely successful. Yet when I received a yard of fabric - unsolicited! - how could I not be happy about that?!

My friend, Candi @candipursuits bought an on-sale bolt of Kona Crush - the 2023 Kona Color of the Year, from Missouri Star. Since I never got around to buying any, she sent me a yard - really thoughtful, isn't she?

Fearful of the color running I washed it in Retayne, and I'm glad I did! The water was definitely pink!

This piece of Crush is now among a collection of solids I'm taking to a "Fearless Curved Piecing" in-person workshop with Cindy Grisdella who will be here December 5-6 at the invitation of Quilting Guild of The Villages.

Keeping Up/Catching Up

Keeping up with, and actually being slightly ahead of Amy Friend's @duringquiettime Satisfaction QAL, these are the blocks I made this week. All blocks are foundation paper pieced.

"Etching" is my favorite-looking block thus far. It's 18" X 18" block #9 of 12 blocks. Background fabric is Christina Camelli's "Moongate" which was released in 2020. 

Block #10 is "Spark," and it too is made with "Moongate" which is the blue background. The green tropical foreground print is the same fabric I used to make my ukulele case!

I put all the Satisfaction blocks on the design wall, so I'd have an idea what colors to choose for the last two blocks. 

Here's the finished 60" X 92½" quilt back I made for the MQG's "Use It: Quilt Back Challenge." With so many seams in the back and quilt front (which is the Summer Camp Modern Mystery QAL), I'm looking to sandwich this with the thinnest batting possible: either Quilter's Dream Request (lowest loft), or a wide flannel. 

Backing Challenge

I've added another project to my mix of WIPs. I joined the MQG's four week "Use It: Quilt Back Challenge." The idea is to make a quilt back using what you have on hand. The backing can be for a top you've already made, or a top you might make in the future.

This is the ideal project for using-up orphan blocks and leftover bits from finished projects... or, in my case, some tried-and-failed block ideas. In fact, I have so many such bits and bobs, I realized I can't use ALL of them in a backing, even one that's 60" X 93"! I have enough parts - a whole canvas bin full - to make several backings.

Initially, I put lots of parts on the design wall.

I rearranged. Took pictures. Sewed a few blocks together. After several days I thought I should cut back on the number of seams in the backing. Hundreds of seams are in the quilt top, so more seams in the backing hold the potential for making domestic machine quilting more challenging. So I scaled back on blocks, and added chunks of plain fabric. 

The backing is mostly sewn together: 60" wide, and 6" to 8" more need at the bottom, to get 93" in length. See how I tried to position larger pieces around the perimeter? I have only 2½" of excess on each side for centering the quilt top. Nope, I don't like to waste fabric.

Though Instagram commenters have said my backing looks like a quilt front, I'm definitely using it to back my 55" X 88" Summertime Modern Mystery QAL top, completed August 3. I'd really like to get this quilt finished before the end of 2023. 

It's Week 7 (of 12 weeks) of the Satisfaction QAL with Amy Friend @duringquiettime, and this time I was fussy-cutting to make the Diamond block. I opted to highlight this Florida-appropriate flamingo design. 

So far, this is the easiest 18" block we've made. 

Since December 1-10 has already been scheduled as the busiest time of the month - Christmas celebrations, and recognition occasions (gift-giving time) for volunteer leaders in my activity groups - I worked ahead to finish Week 8 of the Satisfaction QAL by making the Crystal block. I'm getting better at foundation paper piecing following Amy's method. That means fabrics are being pieced directionally, and with less fabric waste.  

Book Recommendations

A Noise Downstairs by Winwood Barclay captured me from the opening chapter when Paul Davis is driving home, and happens to see his work colleague driving somewhat erratically. Could his friend be drunk? Paul follows him to make sure he's okay, and watches him throw something odd-looking into a dumpster, then driving to a different, more remote location. When Paul steps out of his car to check on his friend, his world changes. 

The story picks up months later, when Paul is seeing a therapist to help with the nightmares he's been experiencing. Paul's wife, Charlotte, encourages him to fully recover and return to work. Charlotte surprised Pauls with an old typewriter - just what Paul envisions himself using to write about his experience, and perhaps cleanse himself of the whole thing. 

However, when Paul begins awakening in the middle of the night to the sound of the typewriter - that Charlotte doesn't hear - he questions whether he's getting better. When the typewriter begins leaving typed messages, he engages his therapist further to help him get through whatever is happening. 

This story has an unexpected, twisted ending that I didn't see coming.

By the way, last year I gave Linwood Barclay a 4.3 score for another title, Take Your Breath Away, so you might want to add him to your authors-to-read list. 

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

Her Family Secret by Melissa Weisner opens with June, the account for her husband's company, and an over-worked mother of two young girls. She's busy, and seemingly happy. 

When she receives a phone call while on the road, her shock at the news she hears - her father (a man she remembers only from her childhood) is dead and has left June and her two sisters all of his estate - causes a car accident. What' shocks them all is who he is - a famous artist. Their mother never told them! 

Needing to recover from the accident, and then learning about her husband's infidelity, June decides to visit her father's estate in Wishing Cove, Washington. There she meets Caleb, her father's apprentice, and begins to wonder whether it's time to revisit her own artistic interests - ones that were set aside so she could "parent" her two younger sisters. 

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett begins with high-schooler Lara, who helps guide auditions for the local community theater's performance of Our Town. Lara realizes she could perform "Emily" better than those auditioning, and so begins her journey as an actress. 

The remainder of the story is told from Lara's perspective, during the pandemic, as the 57 year-old mother of three young women. Lara and her husband own a cherry farm in upper Michigan, and the girls are home to help with picking. That's when the girls demand the story of Lara's brief career as "Emily" and the summer she spent on Tom Lake, doing Our Town and spending time with a man who would become a famous actor. 

This is a story that could be real -- about young love, family, and bonds that last a lifetime. 

I listened to the whole book, thinking how good the narrator was. Then, at the end I learned it was Meryl Streep! 

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

Florida wildlife often bring a smile to my face. This Great White Egret was in our neighbor's driveway, and gracefully strutted into our yard. 

Happy Thanksgiving! I am wishing all of you - blog-readers, blog-commenters, and friends - a lovely Thanksgiving with special people, and good food. Bless you, Linda

Feelin' Groovy

Last Saturday, at our Central Florida MQG (CFMQG) meeting, members shared their finished 2023 challenge quilts which you can see here. I've been keeping mine under wraps... until now. 

For our CFMQG challenge, we had four options to choose from. I selected "half-rectangle triangles" (HRTs) which I had never made before. I bought and used Latifah Saafir's HuRTy ruler (see what she did with the name? The letters HRT are capitalized), and I found it a great way to make uniform HRTs. By the way, Latifah has several HuRTy videos available for understanding her cutting logic and how to use the ruler.

I had such a great time making this quilt! It had me "feelin' groovy!" And yes, I still make big quilts. This one is 67½" X 84". 

Feelin' Groovy, 67½" X 84"

I was able to use set-aside blocks that I had thought to use in an entire quilt pieced with quarter-square Drunkards Path blocks, and Triangle-in-a-Square blocks. When I put those blocks on the design wall, and then began adding two sizes of HRTs - each pieced with a solid and a stripe (I had many more striped fabrics in my stash than I realized!) - I could almost feel maximalism coming together! 

QuiltCon 2024 (Raleigh, NC) will show a Maximalist Exhibit (for exhibit only; NOT judged). I thought, "This is the time to give maximalism a real go." 

For backing, this stashed yardage print was perfect. It's a Libs Elliot piece purchased a half dozen years ago.

Bonus: I was able to use more leftover blocks in the lower middle strip that I bordered with a black and white striped print.

Even after considering the busy design of the quilt top, I knew simple straight-line quilting wouldn't be considered maximal. So, I gave the quilt lots of customization with walking foot quilting, ruler quilting, and free motion quilting.

quilt back is a Libs Elliott print

A variety of 50-weight thread colors are on top, and all the bobbin thread is the same neutral color. Admittedly, it took longer to quilt this than it did to piece to the top. I'm so glad to own a Bernina 770QE with an 11" harp space to accommodate quilting such a large quilt. And yes, I buried hundreds of thread tails. Wouldn't do it any other way than with a Sench side-threading needle.

To finish the quilt - still thinking "more is more" - I made several sizes of circles, using only polkadot prints. Again, I was surprised - how many spotted prints I have in my ever-dwindling stash.

I used Appli-pops to make circles, and then cut a piece of batting to put behind each. Not only did I want to prevent shadowing through a circle, but I also wanted the dots to be trapuntoed/appear dimensional. Fifty-eight circles are hand-appliquéd to the quilt top, using 100-weight Aurifil thread. 

This particular area of the quilt gave me its name inspiration. I thought the Drunkards Path blocks and the circle dots looked like a record. Sing along: 🎶 Lookin' for fun, and feelin' groovy! 🎶

The final more came in the binding. As I was auditioning several black and white stripes, trying to decide which to use, it came to me: "Use two!" So with a little calculating, I determined how long to cut each strip, and then sewed them together. I love the effect!

Anyway, I'm extremely happy with this finish. Feelin' Groovy is one of four quilts I submitted to QuiltCon 2024. Entrants are supposed to hear, via email, about our entries by mid-December: "We're sorry... " or "Congratulations!..." 

Special thanks to my friend Donna and her husband, who were quilt-holders in front of the beautiful Senna tree next to their house. Those vivid yellow blooms are glorious!

🎶 Life I love you. All is groovy." 🎶 Linda

Still Goin'

It's been sort of a lazy sewing week as I made my FPP Tulip block in Amy's @duringquiettime Satisfaction QAL, and started to big stitch quilt 30 Days of Improv Quilt.

Here's the 18" Tulip block. I used Michael Miller "Dumb Dots" for the orange background, and all of a piece of "something" that came from my Mother's fabric stash, so is at least 30 years old. I'm pleased that the block came together much easier than last week's, as I am finding a rhythm to following Amy's FPP technique that uses a light box, and saves on fabric. Six blocks are done now; six more to go. 

Using Coron brand of Sashiko thread (for the first time) to quilt 30 Days of Improv, I'm learning that the thread is a little more difficult to tug through fabric and batting (my quilt batt is 100% cotton Quilter's Dream Select), and can sometimes tangle. Admittedly, pearl cotton glides through a quilt sandwich easier, but I like appearance of the slightly puffy Sashiko thread laying on the quilting cotton, and on linen pieces. 

I'm playing with a variety of stitches, adding fly stitches (center left), X's (center), and seed stitches (center right) alongside straight quilting. 

If you subscribe to the Australian digital quilting publication, Make Modern, in the current issue (November) you'll see my Log Jam quilt in the "Modern Log Cabins" gallery, on page 99. 

I'm honored to have my quilt shown alongside Log Cabin quilts made by:

Maria Shell

Debbie Krajowski

Hillary Goodwin

Brigitte Heitland

and Tara Faughan, among others.  

Log Jam, 68" X 70", sold at QuiltCon 2023 in Atlanta.

Some buyers, after purchasing a QuiltCon quilt get in touch with the maker, but my buyer did not. 😞 

Book Recommendations

Walking Shoes by Lynne Gentry takes place in Mount Hope, Texas, where DJ and his wife, Leona, have pastored a small church for 18 years. It's where they've raised their two children, David and Maddie, who now live elsewhere, pursuing education toward careers as a lawyer and doctor, respectively. 

They're called home when the unexpected happens, and Leona is faced with huge life changes. Just as she's hoping to restore closeness with her children, her cantankerous mother, Bertie, arrives testing everyone's patience. When Bertie falls and breaks a hip, that calamity on top of others challenges the faith of even the most faithful. This story is written with lighthearted humor, yet reaches into the depths of a person's heart. 

In Lynne Gentry's author notes, I learned that she's a pastor's wife, so has experience some of what she's written about. This book is #1 in the "Mt. Hope Southern Adventure" series, and reminds me somewhat of the Mitford series, by Jan Karon which I read in the mid-1990s, and adored. The first in that series is At Home in Mitford, which I recommend if you haven't read!

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0 

After a recommendation from Cindy @liveacolorfullife, I read Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. I'm glad I did.

Hello Stranger is an intriguing story about Sadie who has an unexpected seizure, needs surgery to remove a nodule on her brain, and suffers the consequences of acquired prosopagnosia - an inability to see faces. 

The timing for such a condition couldn't be worse because Sadie is a finalist in a prestigious portrait-painting competition, one her own mother entered but wasn't able to fulfill. Sadie deals with her condition, while seeing a therapist she adores. When her elderly dog, Peanut, needs care, Sadie meets the veterinarian she may just be in love with. Then she deals with a deceitful step-sister who has reentered her world. But painting a portrait when Sadie can't see faces?! How impossible is her life? 

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

These are the lovely creatures I saw during my four-mile power walk today. Sandhill cranes seem almost tame, pausing in their graceful movements, while I stopped walking to take their picture. They're wary, but seem to instinctively know we won't hurt them. They're a protected species here in Florida.

Linda