Vertical Quilting Curve

There is a quaint way to travel and enjoy the Appalachian countryside - just drive along the Appalachian Quilt Trail. The project of Tennessee was set up as a way to get people visit different parts of the state. The AQT website states:

The Appalachian Quilt Trails are a great way to experience the variety of rural life in one of the country’s most scenic areas. Along the way, stop as often or as little as you like. It’s easy to spot the locations along the trail: just look for the 8 x 8 painted wooden quilt squares that mark great places to enjoy the byways of Tennessee.

And you won’t have to stop with Tennessee. This knoxnews.com story reports that Kentucky and North Carolina is starting such trails as well. Kentucky Quilt Trail info

quilting, quilt trails, quilts, Appalachian Quilt Trail

The first line of the story reads:

If the prizes at this week’s Tri-Rivers Fair are any indication, teenage boys are making headway into that bastion of femininity: quilting.

Excuse me? “Bastion of femininity”? Evidently they haven’t heard of famous award winning male quilters before such as Ricky Tims, Phil Beaver or John Flynn. And how really is quilting feminine? Yes, quilting has traditionally been done by the females of the race but those women in our pioneering history did much more than sit around and stitch all day. Quilting was just as much a part of their jobs supporting the family as was doing the laundry or chopping wood of which neither was an easy task. Quilts were necessary items of the household to help keep everyone warm. Women were at lease able to use their creative sides when accomplishing this task and were able to socialize with others if they were lucky enough to get a few women together to make the quilting part a little less arduous.

Now after stating all that, I am not taking away from the accomplishments of these young men who were able to win prizes in the area of quiltmaking - Ryan Whelchel, 15, for the best large quilt and Joseph Bernhardt, 17, for best small quilt. In fact, it is very impressive that at their age they are able to use a sewing machine so well and turn this skill into a creative and utilitarian project. What was something that started out as teaching young men sewing survival skills has turned into a creative endeavor for them. Also, I did find a better reporting of this pretty cool story in the Salina Journal Online which is a little less sexist in its angle.

I encourage everyone to teach all their children to sew even if they don’t have a knack or great interest in it now. Everyone needs to learn how to sew on a button or repair an undone seam. It will help to reduce the need to just throw away a perfectly good shirt because of a missing button and just buy another one or at the very least keep the mending out of YOUR sewing pile.

quilting, winning quilts, quilts, kids quilting, Ricky Tims, Phil Beaver, John Flynn

I found this great story online about passing a quilted heirloom down at the Christian Science Monitor: A grandmother’s love lives on – through a quilt. I do have to warn you, though, if those old AT&T commercials used to make you shed tears you should probably grab a box of tissues when you read this.

Personally, I have a quilt that my mother made that I had on my bed as a child and I hope to give it to my daughter someday. I’m not as brave as the woman is in this story giving it to a 3 year old. Mine is worn but may not be able to be repaired to the point of having it on an active 6 year olds bed. I would really just like to reproduce the quilt. Of course that is easier said than done.

Question of the day: Do you have any family quilts you received or plan on handing down?

quilting, quilted heirlooms, quilts, vintage quilts

I love going over to Flickr and searching the groups for quilting and crafting related themes. You can view what other creative people are doing and you can also join in on a swap or challenge. I’ve linked to a few of the groups you may find interesting:

English paper piecing/foundation piecing caught my attention since I am working on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. I may have to join this group.

Doll Quilt Swap is the group for you if you like to make these little quilts and would like to exchange them or just to get some ideas. There are some cute little quilts here.

Quilted Barns is a young site where you can see and post photos of barns that have been decorated with quilt motifs on them. So, if you are out traveling and see a barn painted with a quilt design make sure you stop and take a photo to share with everyone.

Fabric Addicts Anonymous will let you admit your addiction but in no way encourages you to get rid of it. In fact, the more fabric you have the better and if you want you can take part in swaps so you can get more!

Use what you have is if you feel you have too much and need to stop purchasing all those supplies and actually use them. Vow to not buy supplies for a month and just “use what you have” then post pictures of what you make.

Quilted Teacup is just for fun and the only rule is that the item you make and post is about tea in some way.

Hope you enjoy these sites and if there are other interests besides quilting just go to flickr and search the groups. Warning: it can be addictive to see what is out there especially when you find others who love the same things you do. Oh, and of course you can have your own photo page. Here is mine although it is a variety of crafts and I haven’t uploaded many of my quilting projects yet.

Flickr, English paper piecing, doll quilts, quilted barns, fabric, quilting groups

Photo by Tracy Olson

It’s the new reader comment contest for all 451 Press blog readers. All you have to do is leave a comment on any 451 Press blog in August. To start off you can fill in the blank below. Just do a little dreaming about those few extra dollars that might come your way. My twist for you here reading the quilting blog would be make it quilt related. For example, I might say, “If I had $300 dollars I would buy the new needlepunch embellishment machine.” I could think of a few other things as well. Also, check out the other hobby/craft blogs and leave comments there.

If I had $300 dollars I would buy________.

What would you buy with $300? Or even $200 or $100? Now is your chance to find out! Comment on any 451 Press site during the month of August and you could win! Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. The more you comment the more chances you have to win. So start reading and let those fingers fly.

First I have to admit that many new fabric lines seem to become my favorite new fabric lines but I can’t stop thinking about this new collection called Cabana from Michael Miller Fabrics. It is so different and refreshing and the colors just pop out at you or at least they do to me.

The photo here shows the display of the collection at Quilters Harvest quilt shop. Since I couldn’t afford to buy every piece I took a photo. The shop had some really nice samples made up. There were some pillows and handbags made from various pieces. There was an ironing board cover and laundry bag made from the sewing machine/laundry print. Not in the photo was a quilt top made from just the damask prints.

The one thing about this collection is that it is a home dec type fabric. The fabric’s web page says it is 100% cotton oxford. It feels like a cotton twill which has a heavier hand than regular quilters’ cotton. It’s almost like a lightweight denim or canvas which would make some projects more durable like the laundry bag or an apron.

I bought a 1/2 yard piece of the pink called Sweet Home which has the cat, tv, shoe and vase print (shown at top of photo). I really don’t know what I will do with it. I might just have to buy some more of the other prints in the collection to make a final decision. Oh, well.

quilting, fabric, quilts, Michael Miller Fabrics

While traveling to Indiana this weekend I stopped by one of my favorite quaint shops. Besides all the great fabric and ideas inside, one of the most unique things about this shop is that it is an old church. Yes, this photo is the outside of Quilters Harvest. Doesn’t it look peaceful and inviting.

Once you step inside you know you have entered a special retreat for fabric lovers. They carry a broad assortment of different styles of fabric. They have flannels, reproduction fabrics, Christmas, batiks, Halloween, traditional and contempory prints. You will also find home dec fabrics in hip prints from Amy Butler and Michael Miller. I will show you a peek at the Michael Miller stuff I’m just loving tomorrow.

Also, as you can see in the last photo they have great samples of projects with the fabric they carry as well as class samples hung on the high walls of the former church. It is very hard to not walk out of there with something. I ended up with a fat quarter of a green batik, a pattern and a half yard piece of the Michael Miller home dec fabric.

quilting, quilt shop, quilts

After seeing an impressive quilt at a recent quilt show made by a 10 year old I was curious about teaching kids to quilt. I have a 6 year old who is very artistic but hasn’t shown much interest in my needlework pursuits yet. She doesn’t quite have the patience to sit still and learn a method that takes a lot of concentration even though she says she wants to learn. She is more interested in drawing and painting.

I did some searching to see what I could find to teach kids to quilt. Most sites said 8 years old is the age that you would start to teach to kids. Some of the projects included incorporating kids artwork into quilts either by them drawing/painting directly on the fabric or using a transfer method. I think my daughter would love to have her artwork made into a quilt and this would be a great way to preserve her early art experiences.

Here are some of the sites I found regarding kids and quilting:

HGTV.com had 2 articles - Leaf Quilting for Kids and Kids’ Quilting

The most extensive site I found was Quilting With Children by Heidi Craft. Here the site is broken down by age group including Kindergartners.

Also, Maria Peagler, on her blog, talks about teaching a couple of girls to make doll quilts and tips on teaching youngsters to use the sewing machine.

quilting, kids quilting, quilt education

Stitch with the Embroiderers’ Guild magazine is a magazine about embroidery and other stitching like no other I’ve found. It is a British publication started by the English Embroiderers’ Guild. It reminds me some of Quilting Arts but the emphasis is on embroidery instead of quilting.

The great thing is that if you like to embellish quilts or make embellished items you will love this magazine. The June/July issue that I have has instructions on how to embroider (not do smocking stitches) on smocked fabric, make designer fabric postcards, fusing fabrics, painting fabric and how to do faux chenille to make textured fabric. And of course, there is embroidery techniques and projects for framed pieces or pillows. One of the reasons I picked up this one yesterday was a pillow made out of burlap that has been embroidered with a darning stitch which makes it look woven. I could see using this in an art quilt.

quilting, embroidery, art quilting, crafts, quilt embellishing