Stella and BB

 We were fortunate to have granddaughter Stella visit for an overnight recently, before she went back to school as a rising second-grader. She is a delightful child, funny, smart, pleasant almost all of the time, and very eager to try new things. 

After lunch the first day I asked her if she wanted to make a quilt. She jumped from the table and went straight to the studio. I had gotten out a large box of 6" squares I have been saving. I used to cut a 6" square from every fabric I bought and sorted them by light, medium and dark. That box:

Stella declared picking the perfect fabrics was the MOST FUN part of the making a quilt. And she was going to make one for herself and one for her 3 year old brother, Sam. I thought we would be lucky to finish one but kept that thought to myself.

I trimmed the squares to 5.5" since most had the selvedge with writing on it still included. I showed her how to operate the Singer Featherweight that will someday be hers. She could even thread the needle--thank goodness! It didn't take too long for her to get the hang of the best speed and keeping the seam straight, more or less:

She listened to instructions and concentrated hard on each step:

Several times she said "Sewing is FUN!" 

She learned to press the seams to one side and that an iron is hot. 

After an hour and half, her six rows were sewn together. We were both tired and it was time to make dinner, another activity she is good at.  The first day progress:

She told me to "make a video, and send it to Sam". You can see her personality here--she has Spunk! I LOVE spunk:

After breakfast the next morning we had to get to work. I showed her how to sew the rows together, stopping to take out the pins, and trying to stay straight. Before long, her top was done. And she was eager to make Sam's quilt.

Each fabric she selected was because "Sam will love this one". Remember, picking fabrics is her favorite part. She decided his would be smaller, because he is 3 and she is 7. 

Once his fabrics were all selected, she got to work piecing his top. And this time she sewed more straight and really knew how to use the machine.

I gave her a few fabrics to choose from for the backs of both quilts. She spent a few minutes making a careful decision on each quilt. I cut the back and batting for hers while she finished piecing Sam's quilt.  The "pillow method" was required for speed--we were running out of time--stitch all around, leave an opening for turning, turn the quilt right side out and the edge is finished. 

Stella learned to tie double knots with yarn used to secure Sam's quilt top to the back. I started straight line quilting hers while she went out to work in the yard with PopPop. When she came in and saw me quilting hers on the Bernina Q20 she wanted to help. She sat in my lap, I pressed the pedal, and she took off happily making swirls and loops on a practice piece. 

We made it, two quilts completely done in less than 24 hours. I gave her a Sharpie and told her to sign them:

The back of Sam's

The front of Stella's, she signed her favorite square

Then she got to show off her work to PopPop:

Sam's quilt

Stella's quilt

She loved the back fabric she picked for her quilt

We had a grand time. I hope she will want to sew some more when she comes to visit again. Kids Can Sew, just let them try. I didn't fret about perfect seams, some are somewhat crooked. She was being creative, we were spending time together, and that's all that matters.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Kool Kaleidoscope and Kool Kid

 Ricky Tims is teaching a FREE online class on his Kool Kaleidoscope pattern:

A class you would pay at least $80 to attend at a Workshop, this is FREE for all and easy to access. Find everything you need to know right here: The Quilt Show Classroom

The first session is on making Strata--strips of fabric cut in various widths, sewn into "cloth". Next, we will learn how to create our templates.

This is not a project carefully thought out in advance. Whatever happens, happens, when we start to cut out the pieces. For those who agonize over every fabric choice, this is a challenge. And exactly why those people should try it. Follow Ricky's instructions and "trust the process". 

Here are my 5 strata "fabrics"--I still have to make an "identical twin" of each of these before Friday July 30, when Ricky shows in the second lesson how to create the templates.

    

All 5 Strata fabrics

You can find lots of examples of Kool Kaleidoscopes here on Google: Kool Kaleidoscope Images

While this class is available free to all, there are lots of great reasons to be a Star Member of The Quilt Show--17 years of shows at your fingertips, including show # 403 where Ricky taught this project, years ago. And so much more. There is a membership special on right now, a big discount of $10 off  for new or renewing Star Members, $39.95 for an entire year of membership. That's 77 cents/week--quite a deal. 

Go the homepage: The Quilt Show and use Code 2RENEW10 to snag your discount.

We had the pleasure of having super kid Stella visit us for the day recently. She will be a big first grader starting next week, when life gets busier. So we put in a request for a visit--her brother is at daycare so we had Stella all to ourselves. 

She picked blackberries (they are getting scarce), practiced riding her two-wheel bike, baked chocolate chip cookies, asked for pizza for lunch, and after lunch, during quiet time, she enjoyed a little iPad time--she is a great puzzle solver.  We love our Kool Kid!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Utility Sewing

I have been sewing by machine since I was 10. Garments, accessories, doll clothes, and lots and lots of quilts over these many years. Now I have to sew something I don't like making.

Masks. Ugh. I do not like making masks. But it is necessary, so I do it. There are thousands of patterns on the Internet. I combined a few, along with some suggestions from friends, so mow I have a workable process that doesn't take too long.

Stella, my 5 year old granddaughter, will be going to Kindergarten in a few weeks and masks are required. The couple I made her some weeks ago were too big. She came for a sleepover yesterday so I had her here for "custom fitting".

Here she is in her "Wonder Woman" mask--one I retro-fitted since the original was too wide and too loose. She says she isn't smiling but how can you tell?

The rest of the batch. In the lower right is a Mary Engelbright print that says "Princess of Quite A Lot".  The loops are made from hair ties I cut in half--saw that on some post on Facebook or Instagram so gave it a try. It works. Nine should keep her covered for a while:

When I was a little girl, I LOVED to play with old buttons we had in cigar boxes and cookie tins. I have saved them all these years and yesterday encouraged Stella to play with them. The two small tins once held bouillon cubes and the sticker on top of one says $.19. They were hard to open, so PopPop took care of that--filled with tiny buttons.

She sorted and poured and played and said "BB, look at this one!", lots of times. It kept her occupied while I worked on the masks and made my heart happy:

What happens when Daddy packs the overnight bag and there is nothing that looks like pajamas. BB finds the smallest T-shirt in her drawer for a nightshirt:

What I want to be sewing and will finish assembling today. A new class sample called "It's a Puzzle":

What are you working on? Making masks?  My secret sewing needs to get done--the quilting is about half done so that moves up the priority list. I will be making a trip with it in 4 weeks and was just told masks will be required for everyone, all day, every day. So a few more masks, in my most favorite fabrics, still need to be made.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Masks, Decks, Stella and a Winner!

Still making masks--it looks like we will be wearing them for a while. My sons said the two I made them recently were too tight--I used loops made from t-shirts. So when I was able to find elastic at my local quilt shop, I made a few new ones and retro-fitted their others:

My husband is a hardworking man who would rather do it himself. We are having our old deck replaced so he decided to take out the old deck himself so all the contractor has to do is build the new one. I know he is not 30 years old anymore, so I called in reinforcements--our two sons came to help with the labor. Here they are at the end of a long day, but the work is almost all done. The screws are all out  of those boards, they will just be lifted off when the workers arrive to build the new deck. As usual, it took much more effort than anticipated:

Andy, the youngest, brought Stella for me to play with. She is a delightful child, happy and funny and smart. It is very hard to get her to pose--she delights in making "goofy faces" rather than "good faces" so a bit of prompting finally got this., the new 5 year old:

She and her brother Sam are coming for a sleepover soon--so no sewing for me. It takes at least two full grown adults to keep up with a 5 and almost 2 year old. But we love seeing them and having them visit.

Drumroll Please!  The Giveaway winner, chosen by Random Number Generator from 66 comments is Kim W! An email has been sent, Kim, get me your mailing address and I'll send your package on the way:

I looked back to find out when I made this quilt--it was in 2017. I received the four-patches from someone who posted on a Facebook group that she made them from a charm pack but didn't like them and just wanted to give them away. I saw that post almost as soon as she wrote it and said "I'll take them". I put them into this doll-size quilt and had fun practicing free-motion quilting on it.

All the comments were interesting and  touching. Quilting ties so many of us together, making it a smaller world in some ways. Many find it a link to their past and a foot into the future.

By the way, the first 5 people selected did not have an email connected to their profile so were not able to be selected. Lucky for Kim!

Let's quilt,

Barbara

TEACHING--LET THE NEW YEAR BEGIN

It's probably no surprise that I love to teach quiltmaking. Today starts the 2018 Sunday Sew and Sews monthly class, where we will work on the Block of the Month from The Quilt Show:  The Patchwork Barn. Here are the excited students who are joining in:

While I've been teaching quilting for almost 30 years, mostly locally and regionally, once I retired from H&R Block in 2014 AND had my Red and White By the Numbers quilt front and center for the 40th anniversary of the International Quilt Festival in Houston, I began traveling more out of state to teach. 2018 finds me with 9 trips away from home, starting next week at Road to California, a big show on the West Coast, that has been in business for a long time. I am honored and excited to be among the 55 faculty members for this week-long Quilters Conference. And so pleased that both my one day classes are FULL and the two-day class only has room for a few more students--that amazes me! We are going to have a great time.

For almost 20 years my job at the Quilts Inc. shows has been Faculty Check-In. This has given me a great gift--I've developed both personal and professional relationships with the top quilt teachers in the world, most of whom are household names but all of whom are top-notch teachers. I thought I understood what they go through to get ready to teach at a big venue like Houston or Road. Not until I shipped two boxes of class supplies, totaling more than 35 pounds of patterns, templates, handouts and a few of my best quilts, did I really understand the terror that can come from a lost box. When FedEx notified me they could not deliver the boxes because the business was "closed" and I quickly found out the business was OPEN, and redelivery would be "attempted" four days later, due to Christmas, yes, that was a bit of panic-time. Fortunately, the boxes made it safely to their destination the day after Christmas and I learned a valuable lesson--ship EARLY, not the week before Christmas.

Here is what Faculty Freight looks like in Houston, and you can only see half of it here. This is BEFORE the faculty arrive, when I have it all neatly organized alphabetically:

This is AFTER, as the boxes start to be opened and used:

When I see a teacher entering the Education office for the first time, I have already checked my "freight list" so I can tell her/him, how many boxes have safely arrived for them. They are shipped to a show office and then transported to the Education office at these big shows--so just because the teacher knows the boxes made it to the place they were shipped, they aren't really "here" until you can lay your eyes and hands on them where you need them--at the show convention center.

And before you think it must be glamorous to be a traveling professional quilt teacher, think about the "travel" part of that title:

Add weather issues for all of us who fly to these shows and you can imagine a bit of the excitement and stress. Of course, going to Southern California in the dead of winter isn't a bad gig...

This week I'll prep all 3 of my class materials, review everything I plan to teach and how I plan to teach it, get the remaining supplies, tools and quilt samples all together, figure out what to wear each day for a week when time is of the essence, and get really excited to meet the many new students who are in my classes. I am also doing the Roundabout, a two hour demo session--mine is on top tricks and tips to make great bindings.  I need to get those samples ready too. Look for a report when I get back.

Also this week I will make two shop samples for upcoming classes, one on Ruler Work with a domestic sewing machine and one a small quilt. I want them done before I leave town for a week.

It's Stella time--my adorable two and a half year old grand-girl visited us for Christmas, for about two days, along with her mom and dad. Last Spring Lauren, my DIL, asked for "mother/daughter" aprons so for Christmas I made:

I was glad to see they fit--they are "cross-back" style, which means no buttons or ties and that head-hole on Stella's looked pretty small to me without being able to try it on her. She loves to help Mommy in the kitchen. And I did get her to sit still for a few minutes so she could show me her IPad:

I hope you have plans to make a quilt or two this year.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Pre-Houston Rush

Everyone who works at Market and/or Festival is in the pre-Houston rush stage. Just look at #quiltmarket on Instagram to see a bit of all the great stuff that will be revealed soon.

For me, it's getting clothes and paperwork ready for 13 days at the Hilton Americas, a great hotel I love staying at. The staff is wonderful and I really look forward to seeing so many of the same people year after year.

Yesterday I taught two classes, 3 hours each at two different shops, 21 total students. First, was a Creative Log Cabin class, using the Creative Grids 8" Log Cabin Trim Tool. It was a fast-paced class, helping all 8 students learn the basics and the easy but specific steps I've come up with to make these blocks fast, fun and accurate. Success!:

Class scenes:

Rhonda with her Featherweight and Quilts of Valor fabrics

Sharon's contemporary strips

My Class Sample:

At noon, 5 of these students and I hustled on to the next location for our Monthly Long Time Gone session. This was session 2 and I was thrilled to see the great blocks 13 students had made this month. Did I think to take a photo of the design wall covered with all those blocks? No... Next month. Here is my Section 1:

My Section 2:

We meet for 3 hours once a month for 6 months. I give tips and tricks for that month's section. The students take notes, ask questions and play with their fabrics--no need to bring a sewing machine for only 3 hours when I have so much to teach for each block. They are making wonderful quilts!

My Spellbound sample is now on the wall at Huntsville Sew and Vac.  Class is two sessions, Saturday November 11 and Saturday December 2. Any two Jelly Rolls, exactly the same, will work for this simple yet graphically dynamic quilt:

 Today I made the splendid little Stella a splendid little pillowcase for her Splendid Sampler quilt:

I'm eager to see her reaction--this makes a terrific I Spy quilt.

Have I mentioned how much this family LOVES Halloween?!

Lauren, Stella and Andy as Rick and Morty, whoever that might be...

I also quilted and bound the Palmateer Point mystery quilt I made a few weeks ago:

My stack of small quilts is growing by leaps and bounds--I think I'll add a dozen or so to my Etsy shop when I get back from Houston. Most are small, this one is about 25" square.

I probably won't get time to blog much while working in Houston but I'll add photos to Instagram and Facebook regularly. See you when I get back.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Bernina Q20: Ruler Work for Easy Quilting

I've made two quilts this week, both class samples for Fall classes.

The Creative Log Cabin was started about a week ago, using the 8" Log Cabin Trim Tool from Creative Grids:

It's about 55" square and is asymmetrical on purpose. I find that hard to do but really love other quilts that I see done that way so I forced myself to make this one off-center. My husband asked me when I was going to finish it when he saw it on the design wall--"It's crooked."

As I learn to do more ruler work I watch You Tube videos to see new designs and techniques. I came across an Angela Walters video while making the Log Cabin blocks that seemed to be the perfect way to quilt these blocks:

Square Spiral by Angela Walters. I liked how simple it was to execute, no marking at all, and my favorite ruler, The Line Tamer by Four Paws Quilting would work perfectly.

I did connect the X in the middle of the red square to the four sides of the red square when I noticed on the back that the X was just hanging there if  I didn't go around the red square. This involved backtracking on one line of stitching the red square and I did that pretty well most of the blocks--one start, one stop for each block:

The back:

I did a simple half circle Amish-style border design, one I enjoy hand quilting too. It was easy to stitch, using a 6" circle template--the only marking was a chalk line down the center of the border so I could place the template correctly. I took no time to figure out the corners so each is "unique":

I put the binding and sleeve on by machine then hand stitched it down on the back. It still needs a label, that is tomorrow's task.

Today I made another sample, a "Flip N Sew Throw", that is pieced and quilted at the same time:

Starting with one yard of back fabric and a crib size batt, I worked from the middle out, laying two strips right sides together, then sewing through all the layers: 2 strips, batt, and back. When both sides of the middle strip were sewn, I pressed them over onto the batt, then added the next two strips, on either side:

The Line Tamer ruler, placed so the needle is 1/4" from the raw edges

By using the Bernina Q20 sit down long arm machine, I had the speed of free motion and enjoyed the 78" of table space I have when both table extensions are in place. It only took a few hours to completely cover the batt/back. Fast and easy.

Working out from the white center strip

I only used pins to keep the strips in place until the ruler was put on top of that area 

This still needs a label--tomorrow. I applied the binding to the back, brought it around to the front, and stitched it in place by machine--fast and secure for a baby quilt:

These strips were cut 2" wide and no additional quilting is necessary--unless I want to add more. Some time ago I did a tutorial for this method, using wider strips because I needed a larger quilt for a relative going to chemo treatments:  Snuggly Cuddly Strippy Quilt. This project is great for charity quilts, baby quilts, wheelchair quilts, any time you need a simple, easy pattern. Just choose the batt size you want to cover, make a back that same size, and cut strips in your choice of width and length, to cover the batt/back.

The delightful Stella came to visit this weekend and we had fun with her. She is 26 months old and strings more words together than just 6 weeks ago when we saw her last, like "No, Pop Pop, no help, I do it!"  And she is a techno-baby:

She knows how to "swipe right", which icon is the Photos file, where she can find Instagram videos, it's scary-amazing. My husband erased 300 "photos" from his phone that she took, she's good with the Burst button. She rarely holds still for a photo with BB but I managed to grab one:

Now I'm on to a bed-size class sample, that's this week's job.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara