Junk in my Trunk... Quilts that is!

Saturday, March 19, 2011 is National Quilting Day and to celebrate this, the JaM Patch is featuring Quilting Stars in Our Backyard. Apparently I'm a star and I just happen to live in their backyard -- isn't that so cool!

Make sure that you're there at 2:00pm as I'll be giving a trunk show featuring none other than "Oliver", "Clouds in My Latte" (my latest competition quilt), and many more of my quilts - both show and everyday. I'll even be bringing a couple of customer quilts that are just absolutely amazing. On top of all that I'll be bringing multiple samples, just small pieces of fabric that I use to play with new stitches and try out new threads. The best part is that it will be an open forum -- questions and talking are not only welcomed, but are appreciated -- we all learn from each other!

Don't forget to save the date -- Saturday, March 19, 2011 - 2:00 pm at the JaM Patch, 932 SE Central Parkway, Stuart, FL 34997

HOPE TO SEE YOU!!!

Quilt with no name...

hmm... this is a somewhat ADD prone story (just warning you ahead of time) - it all goes back to September. I quilted a quilt for Margy of the JaM Patch. It was made up of the most beautiful neutral batiks ever, okay, maybe not ever, but the most beautiful neutrals that I had seen in a very long time. Margy's quilt turned out beautiful (see the detail pic) and had me thinking about all those beautiful batiks... and thinking, and thinking, and then WHAM it hit me... a JaM Patch field trip!

So now it is October. I ran to the patch for a somewhat planned field trip... purchased a lovely "Vanilla Latte" Strip-tease bun by Island Batiks. Yes, I now had my fingers wrapped around these neutral beauties. Then, I decided on the border fabric... Khaki in the Gee's Bend fabric line by Windham Fabrics. Now they call it khaki, I call it the most wonderful light grey. It looks almost like suede. I can add in that since then I have purchased this same grey fabric two more times (three in total) -- at this point I should have just purchased an entire bolt. So I spent the day piecing away... the result - a finished quilt made from the strip bun and Gee's Bend solid. Looks like a simple, every-day quilt -- which is what I had intended for its use. Well, this quilt hung in my studio for a little over a month. In that time I had numerous compliments on it, so a little voice started humming in the back of my mind that perhaps this quilt should go on to bigger and better things. Yep, it did, it got folded up and put on the notorious back burner.

Well, last week rolled around -- I pulled it out and marked it up in preparation for quilting at the end of the month. I posted pictures of it on my facebook account hoping for some help with names, because as of right now this is the quilt with no name. So, it is all marked up and ready to be quilted as soon as I'm ready -- well, we all know the best laid plans often go awry, and they did! My favorite thread company, Fil-Tec, emailed me and asked if I had any quilts showcasing their threads that they could possibly use in their booth during shows. I told them they were more than welcome to use the same quilt from last year, and I was scheduling myself for quilting at the end of the month so I might be able to squeeze another quilt in there. Well, it just happened I had also left Friday, Saturday, and Sunday open for my own quilting. Now remember, I have already marked the no-name quilt up, and I already had a name request thrown out there on facebook. So what do I do... grab a piece of fabric and mark it up using a modified version of the mark-up on the no-name quilt. So I spent the weekend quilting what is now know as Fil-Tecian Feathers, a beautiful wholecloth for Fil-Tec to use for this years show season. Here are the front and back views of this awesome quilt (Glide Thread with magna-glide bobbins):

So... instead of loading my no-name quilt on the 24th, it went up yesterday. If it turns out as well as I see it in my head, life will be good and it will go on to show land. If not, it was an interesting story and will go on to live as an amazing every-day quilt! Oh, any and all name suggestions are more than welcome because quilt with no name just doesn't sound so great (hint hint)!

Feathered Floral Fun

It's all finished - even the binding! This was a super quick quilt I made for Fil-Tec using Glide Thread and Magna-Glide bobbins. I made it for use in their booth at shows to let people see how beautiful the thread is and how it helps quilting to pop. I had a great time with this quilt -- its about 51x54. I just wish I could have spent just a little more time on it! All these amazing ideas popped up into my brain after I've started quilting it. It's like oh, I should have done this and I should have added this here... oh well, they will have to wait until the next quilt!

I got my inspiration for this quilt from Mary's wall hanging -- Thanks Mary! I just changed the flower style and added some additional flowers in smaller sizes and then quilted away -- exactly the same, just different!

GUESS WHAT.... we have pictures of the altar cloth!! Mary just forwarded a couple of pictures of the altar cloth she constructed and I quilted for the wedding of Rachel and Jake. This project was a lot of fun -- Mary pretty much gave me creative license on this project, which I love. No restrictions at all, just a few specific requests -- it was a great project and I am still honored to have been a part of it. Check out the previous altar cloth posts here and here for some details and history of this piece.

Here are a couple of pictures -- congratulations Rachel and Jake!

Bargello Deux

Here is another bargello from a class held at the JaM Patch(http://jampatch.blogspot.com/ or http://jampatch.com/). The pattern is "Diamonds Jubilee" by Nancy A. Smith (QuiltnNana Creations). All I can say on this one is WOW! Well really, I could say I really hope that Rozann calls and tells me to just keep this one -lol- okay we know that isn't going to happen -- a girl can hope, right? Her color choices were awesome and so totally my colors!! Really, this quilt is going to Arizona so I guess it will blend really well there too -- great desert colors!

I know I've already said it, but here it is again... this quilt is AWESOME! Great job Rozann!!

Floral Fun

Here is yet another quilt belonging to Mary... wow, she has been a busy lady! I had a blast with this one... for those that know me well you know what this means... and for those that don't -- it means I quilted freehand feathers and in all over background fill -- FUN, FUN, FUN!!! One of my most favorite things to quilt -- no rules, no lines, loads of space! I could go on but here's the end result:

Black and White and Fantastic...

Here is Sally's Black and White Sampler. This was a Saturday Sampler class from the JaM Patch. This is an AWESOME quilt, I absolutely LOVE all the fabrics and the blocks are some great choices.

Here's the a close-up of the center medallion -- lots of open space for quilting... gotta love it! I had loads of fun with this quilt!!

And my most favorite part of the quilt -- the back! Yes, it is the machine quilter in me, but I love to see all the stitches -- it looks almost like a wholecloth!

Altar Cloth Update...

The altar cloth has been shipped and received by Mary! WooHoo... Mary stated "...it is beyond my wildest expectations... you did such a magnificent job and I can not thank you enough for your beautiful work... It is just magnificent..." Gotta love those words of praise! No really, this was such a special project and I was truly honored to be a part of it!


Here is the finished piece

and I can't wait until Mary sends a picture of it at the wedding -- yes, I will definitely post!

Here are a few detail shots of the back

Apparently, I am turning into a weekly blogger - it has been a full week since my last post. BUT, I have been super busy with a special project. It belongs to Mary and will be used as an altar cloth at a very special wedding next month. The parament was designed especially for the bride and groom by their friend Gary Anderson, a Seattle artist (photo of his original is on the left).

Mary did a fantastic job in "recreating" the piece in fabric. To the right you'll see a picture showing her choice of fabrics and oh so perfect layout. You couldn't ask for a closer interpretation of the original.

Here are some pictures so far of the quilting I've been working on -- some initials, wordage, and loads of background fills.

Lisa's Stars... done!

I must first say this is an amazingly beautiful quilt (Primarily Stars pattern by Jean Wells) -- Lisa gave me the perfect background for my art. I love the mottled hand-dyed stars on the black background -- one of my absolute favorites!

If you follow my facebook page you have already seen many detail photos of this quilt, but if not, here are a few...

This beautiful quilt belongs to Lisa from Missouri -- wow, what a fantastic quilt! I really love this one -- I'm doing a background fill with multi-style feathers. I'm not sure what I'll be quilting in the stars yet but I'm sure the quilt will tell me exactly what it wants!

Floral Embroideries....

Here is a lovely quilt belonging to Margy's Mom...

MCQ Guild Pillow Raffle

Here is my pillow for the MCQ Guild Pillow Raffle. My pillow will be raffled in April.

Detail of the quilting

"Park Ling" is DONE...

Here he is...

"Park Ling" panda turned out awesome!

"Park Ling" Panda takes shape....

Here is a peek into the "rebirth" of Park Ling Panda! I say rebirth because he was originally born when Pat P. created him during the week-long Sharon Schamber Design and Construction retreat back in September. WOW... he was amazing, but now he is unbelievably amazing... Pat created this great wall hanging and is allowing me to "draw" on it with some thread... or thread-paint, whichever you choose... anyway, here is the beginning...





This the original photo... Pat's inspiration









Here is a close up of the face before any thread work...







Step one of the thread work -- the first layers...








"Park Ling" so far.... there is still much work to be done. And lots of threads need to land. So far there are already 5 different colors in his face.

I just realized that I neglected to share with all my wonderful blog-followers, the pictures of my booth from the PSL Crazy Quilter show. Okay... there are only a few



So that was my booth for those of you that didn't get the opportunity to visit the show... as I mentioned before it was an absolutely fantastic show-- can't wait for 2012...

Wow, it has been a busy past three days... The PSL Crazy Quilters Show has wrapped up and today is a calm day of relaxing... hah... work on the website slide show of all the quilts, realize I'm missing some... call the other photo buds I know... then a quick trip to the airport to return Mom & Sis to the stormy-snowy north... then another quick trip to drive my son to his friends super bowl party... then another quick trip home so hubby could fit in some fishing before the super bowl! So when exactly is the relaxation going to happen? Apparently it is now, during my blog posting... LOL cause if not I'd be crying!

Anyway, I must send a shout out to my friend Natalie who took Best of Show at the show... woohoo (hopefully she's not tired of hearing that)... double woohoo!!! Okay, I walked away with eight ribbons myself -- not so bad if I say so myself!

I also won First Place for the Member Challenge with this -- "Beauty of the Sea" -- my own design utilizing a bunch of stuff I learned during the week long Sharon Schamber Design and Construction retreat that I attended back in September.

She is absolutely amazing and I had so much fun making her. The finished piece is only 20" square. I am planning to make a larger piece exactly the same, well close, nothing is ever exactly the same!

Back to the PSL Crazy Quilters Show... for a list of winners click here, the slideshow is still "in progess" so once it is posted to their site I'll let everyone know! This way you can see ALL the beautiful quilts.

Okay people... thanks for following and I truly need at least an hour of peace and quiet before the super bowl starts!!! Have fun, enjoy, stay safe and sane!!!