Problems with Follow It

 If you follow this blog by email, you are using Follow It, an email subscription service. The prior email service Google used was great, but then, POOF!, last July it went away and I had to find a new way to accommodate the almost 1000 people who follow this blog by email. I chose Follow It based on discussion with other bloggers who thought it was the best of what was available.

Yesterday a friend who is also a teacher and writes her own blog, let me know a political ad was attached to the email she received, the email that lets followers know there is a new post on this blog.

Know FOR SURE--I did not add that link to my blog, Follow It did. 

I immediately checked with them and the only way I can remove any ads is to pay for their highest level of service. Which I do not want to do. 

My blog is not monetized--meaning I don't have ads running throughout the blog that pay me money. This is all free to you from me, it only costs my time to write, share and teach what I want to share.

Know FOR SURE--I will never add anything political to my blog--from any side of the fence. My blog is my journal about my quilting journey and how I reach out to share what I know with you. 

Your OPTIONS for following my blog (and any others you follow):

1. Continue on just as you have with Follow It, just ignore any links at the end of the email--almost 1000 of you follow this blog that way.

2. Follow with Bloglovin'--that is my preferred method. I follow about 30 blogs and get a daily email that shows me what is new on any I follow. Easy, no cost. There is a button on the right to use for this. Almost 900 of you follow this blog that way. Lately, they have had issues being overcapacity--I hope this is fixed soon.

3. Follow with Feedly.com, another blog following service--about 100 people use that and I haven't gotten any complaints about that service. 

4. If you have a Google account, follow with that. Currently, 366 people currently use that method. There is a Follow button over there on the right. 

5. Simply remember I post every Wednesday and Sunday--come to the blog each of those days to see the current post.

6. Many see my reminder on Facebook each Wednesday and Sunday and go to the blog from that post.

As the political season heats up ads will only appear more and more everywhere. We can't avoid them but we don't have to engage with them either. Just ignore links you don't want to see. I rarely click on ANY link on social media or the Internet I did not go to specifically. 

Have a good day and Let's quilt!

Barbara

COME CRUISE WITH ME

 Having just returned from a 5 day Celebration gathering with the Virginia Consortium of Quilters (VCQ) I can tell you how happy quilters are to get back together. That event had been scheduled for March 2020 so was postponed two years. I will share much more about that trip in an upcoming post.

Don 't YOU need a getaway? Wouldn't you LOVE to be on a 7-day, all-inclusive vacation on one of the most beautiful ships at sea? Yes, you would! 

Watch this ONE MINUTE video to get just a taste of what a fabulous quilters' cruise is all about:

Get Excited!

What fun we will have:

In the Bahamas, on a private island

Enjoy Miami for a day or two

St Thomas is so beautiful

When you register, it is MOST IMPORTANT that you indicate you were referred by me, Barbara Black, in the box that says "How did you learn about this cruise?" You REALLY want to do that, really!

Go to Stitchin Heaven 2023 Harmony of Quilting Cruise for ALL the information you need to make the decision to join us. You won't regret it. 

If you have any questions I can answer, just contact me and I'll fill you in. 

You can take a non-sewing guest for a discount fare if  you have a friend or partner who just wants to enjoy ALL the many things there are to do on such a wonderful cruise. My husband is coming along.

Let's quilt. 

Barbara

GPDU -- MONTH 5 Two Applique Blocks

 Garden Party Down Under is the Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show. The patterns are FREE all of 2022 for STAR Members.  Well worth being a Star Member, if just for these patterns.

This month we make TWO Applique Blocks. And when those are done you can sew BOTH the top and bottom rows to the center of the quilt, seeing progress!  BOTH of these blocks are RECTANGLES--they finish at 13" W x 12" H, so you will trim them to 13.5" x 12.5" after the applique is done.

My Month 5 Block 6

My Month 5 Block 7

There is a VIDEO showing a variety of tips and suggestions for making these blocks. Be sure to watch the video before you start these blocks. 

BLOCK 6: 

The petals for Flower E are fairly close together, leaving little fabric to turn to the back, either for needle turn or prepared turned edge applique, hand or machine. 

There is no reason you can't narrow the pattern a little, providing more fabric for turning. The tool in this photo shows where I could have redrawn the pattern--it's too late once the Print & Piece Fuse Lite is fused to the fabric: 

We don't need to worry about the "cleavage" areas, where there is really NO fabric to turn under, as that area will be covered by single or double circles:

The vase has a small LID on the top of it. The STEMS go under the LID. Remember to check the pattern carefully before you begin--leaves # 1,2, 3, and 4 get placed before the stems that cover the bottom edge of each of those leaves. Then small stems, then longer stems, and then the vase and lid can be added. Flowers can go on before or after the vase, whichever you prefer:

BLOCK 7:

This Vase has HANDLES--they are stitched before the vase is added. If tracing the pattern onto a fusible product, be sure to to create  Left and Right handles--mirror images of each other. 

I printed only pages 9 and 12 onto Print & Piece Fuse Lite (PNPFL). That was enough to give me most of the pieces needed. To cut the additional pieces, I layered more PNPFL, cutting more than one shape at a time. The VIDEO shows this clearly:

Page 12 provides all the ovals

Page 9 provides most of the leaves/flowers, a few extra pieces stapled in place make it easy to cut those pieces out 

All the pieces ready for fabric selection

I love using a "Window Template" to audition fabrics for the Vase. My friend, Amanda, reminded me of this method and it sure helps. I just trace the vase shape on newsprint and cut it out. Here are a few fabrics I am playing with for the vase: 

I remove some of the PNPFL from the vase before fusing it to the fabric--I don't need all that fusible on the back of the vase. The handles were cut from two layers of PNPFL, having the fusible sides facing each other to create mirror image handles. I used a staple to hold the two layers together as I cut them out:

This block has some 1/8" stems and some 1/4" stems. The small stems are placed first, then the wider stems. Remember to add the handles to the background before stitching the vase in place. The leaves, flowers, and ovals can be added before or after the vase, your choice.

Remember to trim to 13.5" W x 12.5" H. 

My recent Blocks 6 and 7, from Kit fabrics:

Block 6

Block 7

UPDATE: I decided the Block 7 vase above was not to my liking and needed to be replaced. Here is the alternative vase--I like it MUCH better. I should have listened to my little voice before I completed the block the first time: 

My new Block 7 

Irene's Block 6

Irene's Block 7

Now you can create the top and bottom rows, using the blocks from Months 3, 4 and 5. The CENTER of your quilt after Month 2 should be 38.5" square, including seam allowances. The top and bottom rows will also be 38.5" wide x 12.5" high. Check seam allowances if yours are not the same size. 

Once the top and bottom rows are added, the quilt should be 38 5" W x 62.5" H. Quilts have a tendency to "grow" as parts get added, usually because of seam allowances. If there is no more than 1/2" difference in yours, I wouldn't worry too much:

You should feel quite accomplished after Month 5, with the center of your quilt growing. Please post your photos on the Forum and use the hashtag  #gardenparty2022bom on your social media posts.

It's not a race, so don't worry if  you are not this far along. I recommend you start each month so you know what the issues are for that month, then return to unfinished blocks as you have time. Eventually, it will get done, if you work on it when you have time. 

Next month we will make ONE applique block and introduce the other pieced block, the Shoo Fly. You may choose to put the Dresden Plate in the center of the pieced block, or make the quilt your own with alternate ideas. More on that next month.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Virginia Consortium of Quilters Celebration!

 As you read this, I am traveling to the Skelton 4-H Center in Wirtz, VA for Celebration! with the Virginia Consortium of Quilters aka VCQ.  Celebration! 2022

This is a Homecoming for me. When I was a "baby quilter" in the mid-late 1980's, VCQ was a brand-new statewide guild that held meetings around the state of Virginia a few times a year. The first Celebration was held at a 4-H Center in Front Royal, VA and I was thrilled to attend it.

It was my first "Retreat" as a quilter and it was amazing! To be enveloped in all things QUILT for several days, away from home and my two little boys, and to be FED 3 meals a day--what a huge treat! My passion for quiltmaking was firmly established by then and it was the beginning of my lifelong love affair with the art.

Sadly, I moved from Virginia to Alabama in 1988. BUT--quilters have built-in friends wherever they go and I was welcomed here to a large guild, the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville. Soon, I was teaching lots of classes at a local shop, Patches & Stitches. A new passion was born--sharing what I knew with those who wanted to learn too.

I returned to the second Celebration! after I had moved to Alabama--it was so good to see old friends again. It never occurred to me one day I would return again--as FACULTY. Of course, that was supposed to happen in 2020--but was postponed two years so it is happening NOW.

The workshops I am excited to teach are 5 Easy Pieces, based on an antique top I bought at a yard sale 5 days after arriving in Alabama. The first one I made is an exact replica of the original, with a LOT of Set-In Piecing. That was too hard for most students so I adapted the quilt pattern to a much easier project. 

My replica of the original, machine pieced and hand quilted by me:

The easier adaptation, machine pieced by me, hand quilted by a friend:

The antique top. This rarely comes out of deep storage but will make this trip so the students can see all these amazing old fabrics. It was dated Circa 1875 by Merikay Waldvogel, a quilt historian/author who really knows her stuff:

As you can see, the outer border is totally shot. And there are weak spots in some of the blocks. It is hand-pieced, which makes all those set-in blocks easier to do.

Silly me, as a baby quilter I thought every top was supposed to get quilted so I bought it with the plan to hand quilt it, after replacing the outer border. When I found out how old it was I decided to replicate it and preserve it in its current condition. 

There is a long, informative story about this top and the quilts it inspired. Read it HERE if you want to know the lessons we can learn from old quilts/tops.

The second workshop is Kisses + Hugs, a great scrapbuster quilt. It has the added benefit of helping quilters improve their piecing skills:

I am going to have a grand time and will have much to report, I'm sure, when I get home. 

I wonder if there will be any of my first guild members there. The VA Star Quilters of Fredericksburg, VA taught me to quilt. I often say I am so fortunate that they didn't look at my early work and say "My dear, you should find another hobby." Instead, they said "Let me show you how..."  And so began my Joyful Journey.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

A NEUTRAL QUILT

 Ever since Alex Anderson talked about Neutral quilts, almost two years ago, I have been thinking about making one. I have her book om Neutral Quilts and it helped me look at fabrics in a new way.

My plan was to use a variety of "Disappearing" Blocks---nine patches and four patches--to create a type of sampler quilt with all neutral fabrics. 

The problem? Getting the overall block sizes the same. The more you cut up larger squares to create the pieced blocks, the more seam allowances so the math is different for each block.

Here are the first two blocks BUT they are not the same size:

When working with neutrals, you still need CONTRAST. Remember, color gets all the credit, but contrast does all the work. Just a few of my working pile of neutrals:

Since most quilters are drawn first to color, with a neutral quilt the design is all important. You have to LOVE the design. 

Here are a couple of the ideas I was working on:

 Since neither thrills me, I'll go back to the drawing board and start over.

Stay tuned...

Let's quilt.

Barbara

My Personal Garden Party

 It's that time of year, Spring, when my garden looks the best.

Here are a few photos as the garden comes back to life.

And just so this is a little bit quilt-y: in the past few days I have made both of the Month 5 blocks for Garden Party Down Under:

Block 6

Block 7

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Washing Quilts

 After writing about the large number of quilts I am storing, I decided to give a few away. Non-quilter friends asked for these two and I was happy to pass them on:

Hot Summer Nights, original design, 84" x 84"

Faceted Jewels a Glad Creation pattern,
52" x 84"

Thank goodness for labels. Hot Summer Nights, made in 2000 "to use up some of my huge fabric stash"! I  had no idea then what my stash would grow into. And "Faceted Jewels" was made in 2001. Both longarm quilted by Terry Owens, when I was just starting to have a few quilts machine quilted:

November 2000

2001

Both of these were class samples way back when. And I knew they wouldn't be classes ever again. Faceted Jewels has been hanging on a guest room wall for almost 20 years. Hot Summer Nights has been taking up space on the bookshelf for many years too. 

Before I gave them away, I decided to wash them. It seems likely they had not been washed ever before, seeing how nice and crinkly they came out of the dyer.

Color Catchers are mandatory when I wash quilts. Here you can clearly see how much dye was released from these two quilts, washed in separate loads. The white one on the left is a Color Catcher new out of the box. The green one came from Faceted Jewels and the really dark one from Hot Summer Nights:

It is likely there is still plenty of color in both of these quilts judging by how much color is in these sheets. I will include a few new Color Catcher sheets and the box lid when I give these quilts to my friends--so they know to use them at least during the next washing. Eventually, there will be almost no dye lost and I wouldn't use them going forward.

Every kid going off on their own should be taught about these Color Catchers--so new blue jeans don't turn new white t-shirts a lovely shade of gray. 

I don't wash my quilts very often, only when first complete, if they get dirty during use or when giving them away. These were put in a front load washer on Express Wash (30 minutes) with half a teaspoon of Orvus Paste as the detergent. And one Color Catcher. Water temps were warm/cool. The dryer setting was high. If I didn't love the crinkled look, I would air-dry flat.  

For a better look at the colors, here are "glamour shots" of these after washing/drying, laying on a spare bed:

How do I decide which quilts I can part with? When I am happier at the thought of a specific quilt being with a friend, then I am having it in my possession. Unfortunately, I have a lot I can't consider parting with at the moment.

Let's quilt.

Barbara