Vertical Quilting Curve

Oh, how I wished I lived near Sisters, Oregon. They are famous for their annual quilt show which is like no other. In its 32nd year it is held entirely outdoors. The quilts are hung on the sides and porches of the town’s buildings, clothes lines, and even draped over sculptures. Even if you can’t go you can take a peek at past shows on their gallery page. But, if you’re in the area or are able to up and take a trip it would be a most wonderful adventure.

Me, on the other hand, will hopefully make it to at least one quilt show this weekend. The first one is the Batavia Quilt and Textile Show in Batavia, IL held July 13-15. This year Lois Jarvis’ Ground Zero quilt will be on display which has pictures of about 700 of those who died in the September 11 attacks. That will probably be very emotional to view. View information about the show in an article from the Repbulican, Batavia’s newspaper.

Another show, about an hour away from me, is the 20th Annual ByronFest Quilt Show at the Byron Museum of History also held July 13-15. As you might guess it is part of the ByronFest, an annual family festival. Sounds like a great road trip depending on what we can fit in this weekend. After last weeks vacation I’m not sure we will be up for a lot of action but then again after a full week of work we might want to get away.

Question of the Day: Do you know of any quilt shows near you and are you going to attend?

quilting, quilt show, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

I have finished 4 more blocks to go with the very first one I made. I am really enjoying doing the English paper piecing technique and the fabrics I’ve chosen are making the blocks quite exciting and full or movement. I am working with mostly batiks but also throwing in some other abstract prints as well as a few solids. I think my next challenge is to add some more colors like some greens and yellows and probably some purples.

Question of the Day: What do you think?

quilting, English paper piecing, grandmother’s flower garden, quilt, batiks

No, it’s not about cooking or cleaning or having babies (although those are very important things). It is about what has always been traditionally thought of as belonging to women but only now is really being considered an art form: quiltmaking. Oh, I know there are some guys out there making quilts. I have even written about them here but this video explores the notion of is it art or is it a craft because it has been associated with women. Or, is it our special medium.

Women’s Work: Making Quilts - Creating Art, which I found a copy of at my local library, is made by one of the quilters from The Faultline Studio Artists group who took part in the film. The 10 women profiled in the film are all very different but share a passion inside them that keeps them busy expressing their art through fiber. Some come from a background of sewing while others were artists who were found by the fabric. Most of them dye their own fabrics but there is one who is a recycler who likes to take the abandoned fabrics not necessarily meant for traditional quilting and create unique pieces of quilted art.

Some of the women are very easy to be jealous of with their stacks of beautiful fabrics, large work spaces and long, uninterrupted art time. But, you will see also, women who have other full-time careers, exceptionally small spaces to work in and walls that just aren’t tall enough for design space. One woman I felt paralleled with had her daytime job, her family to take care of and then try to find that limited studio time in a busy week.

This is a superb look into the lives of quilt artists and how the ideas of what is quilt and what is art are being molded and changed. See if you can find a copy at the library like I did or go to the website to learn more and purchase a copy for yourself. One element of the DVD that I enjoyed was that when it was over I could go back and watch a slide show of all the artists’ works which was simply accompanied by soothing music. What a great way to end the day with a cup of tea especially when you are too tired to actually get any done yourself. Then, you can go to sleep and dream of beautiful quilts….I mean artworks.

Question of the Day: Do you craft or do you make art or do you do both?

quilting, art quilt, quilt video, quilts, quilt artist

I have been trying to organize my “studio” area but seem to get little accomplished especially when I keep finding things to do. Here is a little project from a class I took from Charlotte Warr Anderson at least 10 years ago. The workshop was called Pieced Pictures. In the class you got to choose from 2 pictures. You broke the picture down in pieces creating templates with joining points on each template. You would match these up and hand piece the pieces together. You could machine piece but it is easier to manipulate the fabrics with handwork.

I love horses which is why I chose that picture to learn on. I completed a majority of the piecing in class but then I got home and soon became busy and was on to a new technique. I did some more work on it before it finally went into a box of fabrics when I moved. When I found it again I was missing just one piece of the ground and just recently found it in another box. Who knows why it was separated from the project? But anyway, last night I finally put the last piece in and plan on making it into a wall hanging for my horse-loving daughter.

Here is a photo of the back.

Now, I just have to sit down and use this abstract piecing technique on one of my own drawings or photos. It is a unique way to piece and I really like doing the handwork. This piece could have been a little neater.

Question of the day: What is your oldest UFO and would you like to finish it?

quilting, quilt class, Charlotte Warr Anderson, quilts, quilt workshop

I love to travel and look for quilt shops I haven’t been to yet. This week while on vacation my family took a road trip to Rockford, Illinois which isn’t quite an hour to get to from my town, a suburb of Chicago. I visited 2 quilt stores but will share with you about the second one later.

Quilter’s Haven sits in the lower level of a retail building that looks more cottage than office. The address is 4616 E. State St. and is fairly easy to get to off of I-90 but I almost didn’t make it to the store because the entrance is in the back and the sign out front looked worn as if no-one occuppied the building. Luckily, we got out of the car and saw a sign that the quilt store downstairs was indeed still open. And I am so glad they were.

They were a very cute, cozy store with oodles of stuff I love. One of the best was their selection of batik fabric which fortunately for me meant there were a few discounted bolts in the sale section at the back of the store. Of course, I also bought some regular priced fabric. The other extensive collections of fabric they had were Asian fabrics and flannels. I started to get a little nervous that I might not be able to get out of there with any money to my name so I got my chosen fabrics cut and paid for and bravely left. I’m glad they’re not very far away. That made leaving easier, too.

If you are ever in the area, make sure you stop. You can look them up in the Quilter’s Travel Companion book that you should never leave on a vacation without because you will never know what treasures are on your journey.

Here is a photo of the fabrics I found. The only one that is not a batik is the green on bottom which is from the Earth, Wind & Fire collection from Maywood Studio.

quilting, quilt store, batik, quilts, fabric, Quilter’s Haven

This is a little wallhaning I started a few years back. I had it almost done except for the binding. There really is no reason I should not have completed it then but somehow it got thrown in a basket and then eventually a drawer and then a box when we moved.

I really would have liked this piece to be hung around for the patriotic holidays and I found myself thinking about it every time the 4th rolled around but soon the holiday was over and I found other things to do. But now I am finished and I can truly have a handcrafted wallhanging for the holiday. I’m proud of how it turned out.

The eagle is from Go Wild With Quilts by Margaret Rolfe which I paper pieced. I designed all of the borders. It was machine quilted using a walking foot and a spring darning foot. I made straight rows to shape a diamond around the eagle and then I free-motioned quilted stars in the outer border (see detail below).

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

quilting, 4th of July, patriotic quilt, quilts, holidays, paper piecing, Margaret Rolfe

Yesterday, my family and I spent the day down at Navy Pier in Chicago. One of our first stops thanks to my daughter was the Children’s Museum. While standing in line for admission I noticed a group of quilts on the opposite wall. They were made by Chicagland kids from schools, scout groups and community center groups.

They are a part of a larger exhibit called…En Route to Baghdad. It is a part of the Genesis at the Crossroads’ Children’s Humanitarian Peace Quilt program. The quilt squares were done by children from the ages of 8-17 and then were sewn together by local quilt artist. The exhibit will travel to different children’s and peace museums around the country and it will end in Baghdad.

Here are 2 of the quilts I saw. They were behind protective glass so I took the photos from an angle to avoid any reflection from my flash. I must say they were all very creative and exciting to look at while thought provoking.

quilting, kids quilt, quilt show, quilts, peace, community service

OK, I received Houston’s catalogue in the mail this weekend and I have been drooling over it and trying not to be jealous of everyone who will get to go. I have never been to the Houston show, although it is on the top of my wish list for quilt shows. The few people I know who have went had nothing but high praise for it and were happy to let me know I have to go at least once in my lifetime.

One upside is that I have attended the spring show in Chicago since I live in the suburbs which has me allowed me to view some of the things that will be in Houston. I have seen the Make It University (here is the link to Chicago’s event) which is more than just exhibits. There are also workshops, demos and vendors that work in various mediums that complement quilting. I have also seen the Journal Quilt project and the Bernina Fashion Showcase although it may not be the newer one they will be showing in Houston. One exhibit they will be having that wasn’t in the IQA Chicago show but was shown at another quilt show near Chicago last fall is the Alzheimer’s Quilts curated by Ami Simms who has a personal mission she is trying to accomplish with the exhibit and of which I wrote about earlier here.

Another upside is that I won’t have to decide on which classes to take. There are so many choices and I love to take classes and try new things. An aspect of the catalogue I noticed that is useful is an index showing classes by category so you will be able to search on what area you are interested in.

Although I won’t be able to go, I hope many of you will and please make sure that you share your experience. Those of us who can’t go still want to know what goes on.

Question of the day: Will you be attending the show in Houston?

quilting, International Quilt show, quilt show, quilts, Houston, quilt workshop, quilt class