Wedding Wishes Signature Quilt

When our niece asked me how to make a signature quilt to use at her wedding, instead of a guest book, I knew I now had the perfect gift for her wedding.
 

Wedding Wishes 2013
56" x 64" 
 

Jennifer gave me her colors so I selected fabrics from my stash for the blocks.  Having the perfect Jinny Beyer border print in the closet was a lucky find.  She asked for a snuggle-size, not bed-size, quilt so this layout worked well.

Here is a quick tutorial if you want to make a signature quilt for an event:  showers, reunions, birthdays, farewell parties, etc.:



  White squares cut 3.5", color squares cut 4", then cut in half.



 After sewing on 2 opposing triangles, press away from center, and trim even with the white square. 



Sew on the 2 remaining color triangles, press away from center.

Finished block before trimming.

To make it easier to sign, I cut 3" squares of freezer paper for each block.

  Using a dry iron, press the freezer paper to the wrong side of the block, shiny side down.

 I found the Pigma Micron pen .05 worked well for signing, the Sharpie not so much.  Each person selected the block they wanted to sign from the stack I took to the wedding.  They were asked to sign as above, with the writing going across the square--some signed with the writing diagonally so their writing is sideways in the quilt--oh, well!

Once home from the wedding, I trimmed each block to 5".  This was easy to do with a square ruler and it allowed the blocks to "float" in the sashing, no need to have the points touch the sashing precisely.  I needed  the project to be quick,  but not sloppy.

 

 

 Here I am playing with the layout, trying to move the various colors around.  I placed the parents' blocks in the middle.  Everyone else went where their color decided they were going.  I received 40 blocks at the wedding and added 10 more for the set to work.  The sashing and cornerstones were cut 1.5".  The green perimeter triangles were cut from 8" squares, cut twice on the diagonals.  The green corner triangles were cut from 4.25" squares, cut once on the diagonal.  This was slightly oversized, and it allowed me to trim the edges square before adding the border print.

 

The border print was so perfect, I did not add any additional borders beyond  the quilt center.  The quilting was very  simple:  down the middle of the sashing strips, in both directions.  While it could have used more quilting, this was enough for the purpose of the quilt.

 

The bride and groom received the quilt yesterday and were very pleased with it.  They can now enjoy the well wishes of friends and family as they snuggle on the couch. 

 

Now I can move on to a few more projects that have deadlines--let's quilt!

 

Barbara

 

Studio Tour

Saturday my guild did a fund-raiser: an open house/studio tour.  The cost was $10 and there were 6 homes/gardens on the tour from noon-4.  Lessons learned:  fewer homes, another hour.  I had about 30 people here, of the 60 who paid to attend.  As the homes were all over the county, it was very difficult to make it to all 6 homes--one car-full did it!  And we had lots of rain the night before and all that morning--so the gardens at each home were not toured. 

I thought you might enjoy photos of my studio--it took some doing to get things looking this neat and tidy.  The closets were a big hit--18' x 9' tall, 4 rows of shelving, 3 lights.  What I really need to do is empty everything out of there and restock--I'm sure there are things in there I've "lost" that I really need to find.  But I'm just not up to that yet.  Here you go: 

 

It's 21' X 24' and it's all mine. Four sets of fluorescent lights, 2 sets of floor outlets for the sewing machine and iron station.  South and West facing windows--lots of natural light. 

Stuff accumulates to fill the space available--I really do need to empty those closets.  Several guests offered to come "shopping" when I do it.  The last time I had a sale for guild members  I was happy with the results and the shoppers were happy with their purchases.  Might have to have another sale later this year. 

Glad you could stop by--come back any time!

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Red and White Excitement

During 2012 I worked on the Just Takes 2 Block of the Month designed by Gay Bomers of Sentimental Stitches and Brenda Papadakis of Dear Jane.  They released patterns twice a month for all 12 months of the year.  The patterns were free for a month then could be purchased.  They are still available here. 

They decided to do this after attending the 2011 exhibit "Infinite Variety" in New York.  Knowing they could never make all the red and white quilts they saw there, they figured it would be fun to make a single block of many of those featured.  More info about that exhibit can be found here.

The Top, 104" x 110"

It was a long process but I kept up most of the time and then finished with a complex pieced border I designed.  I kept track of all the fabrics I used and the number of pieces:  59 different fabrics and 2770 pieces. 

This was one of those quilts that deserves a great quilter so I sent it to a wonderful longarm quilter in California:  Pamela Dransfeldt, the Joyful Quilter.  I found Pam when a Facebook friend posted a link to her work in 2009.  We collaborated on a quilt that year: 

Joyful Journey

She did a spectacular job on this quilt so I knew my Just Takes 2 was in good hands with her.  She's been working on it for almost 2 weeks now and has posted amazing photos.  I have been blown away with the interest that has been shown on Facebook by so many people.  Here are a few of her photos:

 

 

 

You can follow Pam's incredible work on Facebook--her page is Joyful Quilter.  She has quite a few more photos of this quilt as well as most of her customer's quilts  She's a terrific person with a terrific, supportive husband too.  I feel so fortunate to have found her--the internet has certainly made this a smaller world--or maybe it's a bigger world.  Either way, I'm glad I can introduce her to you.

 

Let's quilt!

 

 

Barbara



How to Make an Award-Winning Quilt

This is a recap of a lecture I gave April 18, 2013,  for the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville.  They have a show in October 2013, the 13th biannual judged quilt show, and so this is a timely topic for discussion.

Whether it's international or local competition, there are some elements of award-winning quilts that are the same. 

1.  Design:  Is the quilt interesting to look at?  Does it capture your attention and make you want to look closer? 



Harmony Within
Sue McCarty

2.  Color:  Are the colors appealing, appropriate, eye-catching, exciting?  Do they create a mood?  Sometimes,  the choice of color that is unexpected is what adds that "wow" factor:



Lynn Jones Droege pieced and appliqued
Quilted by Lisa Sipes
Sue Garman pattern Ruffled Roses

3.  Workmanship:  Is it well-done, with precise piecing, beautiful quilting, excellent finishing?





Scarlett Serenade
Sharon Schamber

4.  Quilting:  Does it grab you?  Does it make you look closer, does it enhance the overall effect of the quilt?

Sarah's Revival
Sue Garman
Hand Quilting

Georgann Wrinkle's Quilt
Sue Garman Longarm Quilting

5.  That Extra Special "Something":  Maybe it's a piped or curved binding.  Or embellishments that add the perfect sparkle.  Perhaps it's the statement the quilt makes, the emotion it evokes.  Maybe it's just such a spectacular quilt you have to give it all the glory it is due.  I feel that way about this quilt:

America, Let It Shine
Sherry Reynolds

The next time you go to a quilt show, think about these five things as you admire the quilts.  Whether you agree with the judges or not, perhaps you will understand their decisions more as you compare the quilts based on these elements.

Not every quilt has to be an award-winning quilt but that's a topic for another day.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

4 weeks to go

Today it's 4 weeks to the end of tax season--can you tell I'm ready?

This weekend we took a fast trip to the Gulf for a family wedding.  Not the best time for a trip but I've come to realize family trumps work every time. 

During the 7 hour trip down I finished the binding on this doll quilt--a gift for the last person I am swapping with--I've done that for a year and it's time to get back to the things I want to finish.

It's 23" x 20" and will be headed  to Logan, Utah later this week.

Also during the trip down, I got the great email news that both quilts I submitted for consideration for a Special Exhibit at the IQF Chicago show were accepted.  The exhibit is called Traditional Treasures 2013 and it will premiere at Chicago in June.  It may travel to Houston--I hope it does because I really want to see the quilts hanging in such great company.  Here's a quick look--I'll post more about these quilts in 4-5 weeks!

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Exciting News!

The Huntsville Museum of Art is doing a Showcase of quilts made by members of my guild, the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville.  It is a juried exhibit, selections were made by the museum folks.  They received over 100 entries from 26 of our members.

Today I got the happy letter--3 of my quilts will be exhibited, as part of the 31 selections.  I'm really excited!  It is terrific that a real art museum is willing to recognize local artists.  They recently did a photography exhibit of the work of local photographers.

Here are my 3 pieces:



Color Play #2

 

Simple Symmetry--Night

 

Teeny-Tiny-2-4-1

 

What's most odd to me is that I machine quilted all three of these myself--most definitely, not my strong suit.  Anyway, I'll be happy to have them in the exhibition.

 

We've been given permission by the Museum to display and sell tickets for our opportunity quilt at the special exhibition opening and demo days.  Here is that quilt--if you need tickets, I can hook you  up!

 

Fall Fanfare

 

Let's quilt!

 

Barbara



Tax Season

Ok, it's tax season, and you would think that after 33 years in this business I would know I cannot do it all from January-April.  Right?  But I still try.  Tax season is half over but I'm just getting really busy and it will only increase the next 7 weeks. 

The other night at the monthly guild meeting my friends said they missed my posts and I needed to get busy!  So here is a look at what I'm working on as time permits:

The first 26 blocks of Grandmothers' Choice.  I am keeping up with this project. 

I love these Antique Rose Star blocks!  Hand piecing can get done at night, in fact, it helps keep me awake after a long day at work.  There are 72 pieces in each star--cutting them out takes time even with the lovely little template.  In the morning, before leaving for work, I can cut out a few and eventually I have the whole set of 72 in a Ziploc bag. 

And here is one of the little Abundance quilts I got done--the other is ready for the binding to be turned back, tonight's Oscar project.

So, you see, I have been busy but haven't taken time to show you.  And I didn't take time to crop the photos either--sorry, maybe next time.

This week I'm at work all day Monday, off Tuesday which means I'll take the car for servicing, get a haircut, and teach my beginning class Tuesday night, getting home about 9 p.m.  Wednesday I work 9 am-8 pm.  Thursday I'm off until 4 pm when I go to the quilt shop to teach a new class: Tumbling Blocks the Easy Way--5-9 pm.  Friday and Saturday--9-6.  Sunday is my "do everything else" day. 

How about something just for fun?  Here is a shot of my photographer son, Joshua Black Wilkins, with someone you might know.  His caption was "I win" and I said "She wins too"!

He was working a photo shoot with her this past week. 

Let's quilt!

Barbara