FABRICS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

To prepare for future class proposals I made a few new Class Samples using different styles of fabrics from the primary sample. 

I find people can't often picture a project made in very different fabrics from the published sample.

Here you can see how different a quilt can look when you change colors/fabrics.

WESTERN SUN:

1800's Reproduction Fabrics, 110" square

                                                         WILD WESTERN SUN:

Bright Contemporary Fabrics, 40" square

CHARMING SAMPLER:

Old timey Fabrics, 33" square

Kaffe Charming, 29" x 33"

DISAPPEARING PATCHWORK: 

Bright Sample Block

Neutral Quilt, 62" square

ANTIQUE ROSE STAR: 

1800's Reproduction Fabrics, 66" x 74"

Student work, Bright Contemporary Fabrics

HEXAGON DIAMOND STARS:

Bright Contemporary Fabrics, 13" x 14"

1800's Reproduction Fabrics, 39" x 41"

FEATHERED STARS: 

Holly R's finished quilt, Contemporary fabrics

Mine in progress, Old Timey feeling fabrics

Pam R's finished quilt, Fussy Cut centers of William Morris fabrics

If you see a quilt you like but don't love the colors or fabric choices, consider making a "test block" with different fabrics. Good design is good design, it just takes the right fabrics to make a quilt one you will love. 

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

A Little Bit of This

and a little bit of that.

Here is a small class sample of Secret Stars, a class I'll be teaching for the Lakeview Quilters of Houston in March 2019. This sample top will be turned over to them at Quilt Festival in Houston so their members can see the real quilt design, not just photos:

The 6 month Long Time Gone class is coming along--we have now had 4 sessions. A few of the students are getting those sections together:

Sandra is going Christmas--Navy Grunge is the perfect sashing

Donna is using what she has on hand

More from Donna--she found the perfect sashing--Navy Grunge

Carol loves purple

Terri is using luscious colors and soft yellow Grunge for sashing

More Terri--Sections 1, 2 and 3

There is much excitement about Sizzle--the 2019 Block of the Month from The Quilt Show--read more about it here and here--the Fabric Introduction. While I am making the Cool Kit version, I just might have to use my own fabrics for the Warm version. Here is my quick fabric pull for that one:

 For local people I will be helping you select your own palette if you like at Huntsville Sew and Vac, Saturday December 1, 9:30-12:30--print the Fabric Introduction for either the Cool or Warm Kit---whichever is closest to the fabrics you want to use. Bring fabrics you already have if you want to use them, and I will help you round out your palette so you are ready to go January 1 when the first block pattern appears. It will be a great year of learning lots of techniques while we make this very dynamic quilt, designed by Becky Goldsmith.

My friend Lori of  Humble Quilts did a quick, simple Quilt-a-long, Sajou, recently. Here is my top finished:

And the back, from a Layer Cake of French General's Rue Indienne fabrics from MODA:

And now finished:

Temecula Quilt Company just started one: Secret Santa Sew-A-Long--starting now and done by Thanksgiving. Here is my fabric pull for it:

Still a good bit to get done before I go to Houston--class supply lists for 2019 classes, locally and away from home, quite a few gifts to make, and planning for a brand new quilt.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

My Favorite Things

This week I finished this top, My Favorite Things:

66" x 74"

It's an original design I put together as a 6 month class, one two-hour class a month. I demo the various blocks taught that month and the students sew theirs at home. This group of about 13 students really likes this plan and they have already asked me to come up with something else for next year.

This one features my favorite blocks, from simple things like half square triangles to more complex blocks like Crown of Thorns that was partially paper pieced.

Since this is now done it's time to get back to one of my favorite UFOs--Ruffled Roses designed by Sue Garman as the 2011 Block of the Month for The Quilt Show:

The last time I worked on this was November 2015 when Sue and I were at a teachers' retreat in Virginia Beach. We had a wonderful week there and I learned as much as I could from her. Very special memories of that week together. So it is time to get this done--more basket blocks to make and a very elaborate piano key-style border to finish. With my guild quilt show in October 2019 as a target, I have to keep on this now to get it done.

It's also time to get some quilting done--been a while since I turned on my Q20. The stack of quilts basted and ready to quilt is growing.

And it's the time of year when I have to make two garments for Houston:

Road Trip and Kaleidoscope by Allison Glass for Andover Fabrics

Metropolis by MODA

I better come up with an idea or two soon so these can get made in the next month. It's always something.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Archie, Squiggy, Little Monkey and Temperature

It's been a productive week. I made class samples after prepping for my trip to California. Here is Little Monkey, an easy quilt for a baby or child, and it uses lots of scraps:

Eventually, this quilt will have 24 blocks and two borders. This is as much as I could get done this week. It's a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter, find it on her Blog. The class will be March 8, 2018, from 1-4 p.m. at Barb's Sewing Center, Huntsville, AL. 256-539-2414.

There are new rulers, better referred to as templates, for free-motion quilting with rulers on a domestic or longarm machine. Designed by Angela Walters for Creative Grids, they have the magic grippy stuff on the outside edge of the bottom of these rulers, it holds the ruler firmly in place as you stitch around it with a ruler foot:

I used two of them, Archie and Squiggy, to create a Ruler Work sample for demo sessions I'll be doing at Barb's Sewing Center, February 16, 2018, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. I'll be using the Bernina Q20 in the shop, showing several designs for ruler work. Instead of just "practice sandwiches" I am making placemats for my kitchen. The light side is just muslin, the dark side is a dark blue multi-print--that will be the side we eat on. I find I do better stitching if I know people will actually see how I stitched:

The other quilt project I started this year is a 2018 Temperature Quilt--Google it, it's a thing. It started in knitting and crocheting but I saw two quilts online that inspired me to make one. The idea is you assign a fabric to various temperature ranges and use the daily high (or low, I suppose) for the location you want to use and make a quilt with those fabrics, one piece for each day. Here is my first 2 weeks of 2018 for Huntsville, AL and the fabric chart I made:

The rectangles are cut 1.5" x 4.75", there are 7 in each row and there will be 52 rows. The quilt will be 29.75" x 52" before borders, a weird size. We'll see as the year goes on. You can do any size pieces you want. The other decision to make is do you use only one location, like where you live, or do you use the physical location you are at each day?  I'm sticking with Huntsville to keep it easy.

One of the fine women in the Sunday Sew and Sews class gave me a lovely gift she made for me:

The stitching is beautiful, she even used metallic thread to "stitch in the ditch". I hung it up immediately in a spot where I will see it every day. Thank you, Cindy! Those are the extras that make teaching quilting so rewarding. Students often become friends.

Time to pack my bags and get on the Road to California.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Summer Class Line-Up

It's just barely Spring, but the Summer class schedule is being prepared at my local shop, Patches & Stitches, Huntsville, AL.  Just a note:  "Patches" has been serving quilters and needleworkers in Huntsville continuously for 39 years, with the SAME owner.  I think that just might be a record.  I have taught there for 29 years, since moving here.

Here is my schedule of classes for Summer 2017:

SUMMER ROMANCE, June 27 and July 11, 5:30-8:30. Requested by several students who saw this on my living room wall when they came to my Sale last year.

Glad Creations pattern

LEARN TO QUILT THIS WEEKEND, June 23, 24, 9-4 and Sunday June 25, 12-4. For beginners, something entirely NEW, a "soup to nuts" class, the idea is they make the top Friday and Saturday and start the quilting on  Sunday. Fabric kits will be available if they choose:

My personal design, Italian Shoo Fly #2

QUILTMAKING 202--Feathered Star, June 10, 9-4. Continuation of QM 202 offered now, this is a 12" non-paper pieced Feathered Star. For those who want to improve their skills and aren't afraid of a bit of a challenge. The other 5 blocks shown here are taught in Quiltmaking 202--The Next Step, currently being offered in this Winter 2017 schedule:

SCRAP MONKEY, June 13, 5:30-8:30. A fun way to use up scraps and make Monkey Wrench blocks. This sample was made as a gift for me by my friend, Ellen, and is a favorite of mine:

TRAVELING PROJECT: Handwork Made Easy. night class June 20, 5:30-8:30 OR day class June 16, 9-noon. I always have handwork ready to go with me on trips or when I want to slow-stitch. This is English Paper Pieced with diamonds. Students can create these tumbling blocks OR star blocks. Options for the borders will be taught. Don't leave home without a project:

WORK FASTER, NOT HARDER: speedy ways to do LOTS of things in quilting. A brand new class based on the two hour Open Studios presentation I'm giving in Chicago next week:

BEAUTIFUL BORDERS AND BINDINGS. August 8, 5:30-8:30. Every two years, a few months before our guild quilt show, I offer this 3 hour lecture/demo class on how to improve your finished edges, an important step that really creates a top-notch quilt. Students are invited to bring works in progress for suggestions and learn lots of tips to finish their quilts beautifully:

Obviously, I love to teach and am always thinking of new classes or how to improve the much-loved classes.  I hope to see YOU in class.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Summer Samples

I love teaching quiltmaking to interested students.  And I'm always looking for good classes to offer, those that teach a skill or a particularly great quilt design.  Here are my Summer 2016 local classes at Patches & Stitches.   NOTE:  Sign-ups are not open yet--I'll let you know when that happens--some time in April probably.  This is so you can plan:

Strippy Stars, 44" square

This uses a great little Creative Grids ruler and makes those sharp points easy.  They also float which is a bonus when adding borders.  A great Quilt of Valor, baby quilt, or holiday quilt in your choice of fabrics.  Saturday June 25, 1-4 p.m.

Paper Piecing--Learn to Sew Upside Down and Backwards

Paper piecing is a skill set most quilters try and some find very difficult.  Learn how to make it easy. Saturday July 9, 1-4 p.m.

Hexie Stars

Learn to hand piece or English Paper Piece these cute 6" stars.  A great way to decide if you really want to make a bed-size  La Passacaglia quilt--which is quite a commitment of time and money.  Try this FIRST! Tuesday June 7, 5:30-8:30.   I'll be teaching this at Open Studios at Quilt Festival Chicago, next month.

Smitten

Nice big pieces make this fun quilt easy to sew by machine or hand or my favorite method:  hybrid, some of each.  Saturday June 25, 9-noon and July 9, 9-noon.  A much easier version of the La Pass or New Hexagon style quilts.  And with pieces cut it's the perfect take-along project for summer travels.

String Stars

Use those small leftover pieces, strings, to make a 12" Lemoyne Star block.  Learn to sew on paper foundations then learn the simple steps to Y-seam piecing that block.  It doesn't have to be hard. Tuesday July 12. 5:30-8:30.  Another Open Studios demo class in Chicago in April.

Here are two more I'm thinking of offering--if either of these are classes you would sign up for, please comment below and share this post with your friends--guessing which classes you want isn't as good as your feedback is:

Antique Rose Star--hand or machine piece, your choice

Scrappy Trips--very easy and a great stash-buster.

Now to get the supply lists ready.  It takes more than making a sample to prep for teaching classes--you might be surprised at the behind-the-scenes work involved.

Let's quilt!

Barbara