MY JOURNEY: QUILT #20

 Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT # 20: Antique Rose Star: 73" x 73" Hand and  machine pieced, big stitch quilted, 2015 

The Story: First inspired by the work of friend, Barbara Chainey, of the UK, I drew the kite shape and just got started. Barbara gave me one of her kites so I would have the correct size as I waited for templates to be sent from Material Obsession in Australia, the only place I could find the kite template. After this quilt was done, I saw the pattern in the book Material Obession 2,  by Kathy Doughty, who owns Material Obesssion. There is a much easier way to assemble this than the way I did it--with lots of set-in seams. 

I love to teach this class, having learned a very quick way to make the blocks without Y seams. It is one of my most popular classes:

Let's Quilt.

Barbara

MY JOURNEY: QUILT #19

  Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT # 19: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: 64" x 72". hand appliqued, machine pieced and quilted, 2013-2017. An original design inspired by antique quilts:

The Story: An old, traditional block, this was my travel handwork quilt for quite a while. Eventually, the top was assembled and I took a stab at machine quilting it on my Bernina Q20 sit down longarm:

Let's quilt.

Barbara

MY JOURNEY: QUILT # 18

 Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT #18: RED AND WHITE--BY THE NUMBERS, 88" X 105". machine pieced, hand and  machine applique, longarm quilted by Pam Dransfeldt, 2013

The Story: The other quilt that changed everything and the one I am most known for. I worked on this quilt throughout 2012, a free block of the month from www.justtakes2.com. I kept  track of the number of pieces and fabrics. There are 2770 pieces, including those in my original pieced border design, and 59 different fabrics. I replaced two of the applique' blocks with two of my favorites from Elly Sienkiewicz. The smartest thing I did was have Pam Dransfeldt quilt it.

This quilt was selected as the Commemorative Quilt for the 2014 Ruby Jubilee, celebrating 40 years of International Quilt Festival in Houston. It was featured in all the advertising for the show, on banners throughout the George R Brown Convention Center and the entire downtown of Houston. Truly the highlight of my quilt life. It is in the Corporate Collection of Quilts Inc. 

I tell those who want to know about what this quilt meant to me to read this blog I wrote to try to explain it: Red and White Wrap Up

For lots more detail photos, see this blog written by the late Sue Garman--she stood in front of the quilt for a long time, taking many great photos that I am thrilled to have as I no longer own the quilt: Sue's Look at Houston 2014

Let's quilt.

Barbara

MY JOURNEY: QUILT # 17

 Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT # 17: Old Stars, New Day: 94" x 94". machine pieced, longarm quilted, 2013 Quilted by Rebecca McCarthy.

The Story: The 2009 Block of the Month pattern for The Quilt Show, designed by Sue Garman, this is a variation of Sue's Washington Medallion quilt. In this one, the pieces are smaller. I love the Feathered Star Center, which has become a trademark of a lot of my quilts. I used some of my favorite fabrics in this quilt.

It was featured as one of the best 500 Traditional Quilts in the book by that name, published in 2014. After seeing this quilt in several shows, one day I saw the "oops"--can you spot it?

Let's quilt.

Barbara

MY JOURNEY: QUILT # 16

 Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

Q UILT #16: A-Round With My Friends, 67" x 67", machine pieced, hand appliqued., hand quilted, 2011

The Story: Begun as a round robin with two friends in 2004 , I made the Feathered Star center. When I got it back I knew it deserved to be bigger so I created the applique border--an adaptation of a Nancy Pearson border design. I worked on this quilt for 7 years and was very pleased to have it receive Best of Show at its first quilt show. 

It was also juried into AQS Paducah, 2012 and included in the book 500 Traditional  Quilts, published in 2014. It was also included in the Special Exhibit in Houston, 2014, featuring some of the quilts from that book. I put my best hand quilting into this work on all original quilting designs. Collaboration with Ellen Anson and Sharon Suever. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara 

MY JOURNEY: QUILT # 15

 Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT # 15: JOYFUL JOURNEY, 87" X 87",  machine pieced, longarm quilted, 2009, quilted by Pamela Dransfeldt:

The Story: This might be my most important work--I call it the quilt that changed everything. I decided to put my best work into this quilt and use my most favorite fabrics. A long-term friendship with designer Sue Garman began with this quilt. It expands my love of center medallion quilts, especially those with feathered stars in the center. Most importantly, it represents my willingness to take myself seriously as a quiltmaker. 

It was juried into AQS Paducah, 2010, and featured as one of the best 500 Traditional Quilts in the book by that name, published in 2014. It was included in the Special Exhibit in Houston, 2014, featuring some of those 500 quilts. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

MY JOURNEY: QUILT # 14

  Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT # 14: Red, White and Blue Circle Stars, 57" x 73", machine pieced, longarm quilted, Quilted by Lisa Marshall. 2008

The Story: This old block, Carpenter's Wheel, looks fresh and contemporary in bright primary colors. The custom designed quilting really sets it off as does the pieced border. A more traditional design that started me back to my roots.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Recent Finishes

An unusual FRIDAY edition of My Joyful Journey.  I have gotten a lot of machine quilting done in recent months as I took a break from piecing all the time so I thought I would share. 

Patriotic Pineapples, a Quilt of Valor for my husband, that has been in the making for many years:

Detail of fan quilting, done by machine:

The  second Quilt of Valor is for a friend of my husband. There is more information about this quilt in a blog I wrote as I was piecing it: Red, White and Blue  I call it Broad Stripes and Bright Stars:

Detail shot: 

With these done, I jumped on Janet's Happy Village, a top I got from my friend's estate sale and have written about here: Quilters Estate Liquidation Sale  A wonky size, 45" x 76", I am working on finding it the right new home. The panel says HOME IS WHERE YOUR STORY BEGINS. I think Janet would be pleased to see this finished: 

This is the back--a Hoffman panel I didn't know what to do with but loved. I couldn't cut it so I enlarged the quilt top and added a border to this back to make them fit together:

I was only when I saw this PHOTO, just the other day, that I realized this is actually TWO panels. If I had  seen that months ago, I would have cut it in half and used them for different quilts:

Another quilt I finished, I'm not prepared to show in full just yet but here it is waiting for the binding to be sewn in place. It is my COVID quilt--aren't we all making one of those?

Another thing that keeps me busy is teaching a ZOOM class to 14 quilters in England and Spain. Some are part of the "Thursdays at Three" one hour gathering where we talk quilting and life with each other. Western Sun was my backdrop and I got talked into teaching it to them. About half of them are hand piecing the blocks so I feel sure they won't be making theirs king size like mine is. Here is their efforts after the first 3 hour class:

Since I am teaching both Color My World and Western Sun locally this Saturday, I had to take them off the design wall. It really bothers me to have an empty design wall, like maybe my brain is empty too, so I stuck up the various projects I am either working on or have finished--so I have happy things to greet me when I walk in the studio:

That's all that's new for now. Back to our regularly scheduled posts, Sundays and Wednesdays.

Let's quilt. 

Barbara

MY JOURNEY: QUILT # 13

 Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT # 13: A-Symmetrical Six-Pence, machine pieced, quilted by Lisa Marshall, 2005

The Story: Part of my Artsy Period, I spent a lot of time rearranging all the blocks on the design wall to create a sense of changing direction over the top. Block units were swapped with 12 other quilters. One of my most favorite pieces, it is used on my bed in the spring and summer. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara