Selvage Quilt Workshop!

 These delightful and adventurous quilters made a silk cigar style selvage quilt on Saturday in Harwinton, CT. We took this photo before the end of the day, but you can see that there was a lot of progress being made!  This was their first selvage project, and it's the most challenging quilt in the  book: Quilts from the Selvage Edge. Lots of laughs, we had the best time, as quilters are known to do.  :)

This is a non-selvage, raw-edge version by Judi. Well, there is one selvage, and she asked me to sign it as a souvenir of the day. Isn't that sweet? This will be a hexagonal quilt for a table (under glass). Cool. I love how quilters see an idea and add their own twist to it! Thanks for a wonderful day!!

My Quilts in the Litchfield County Times!

Scroll down in the sidebar of this blog for the link to the Fandango quilt.

Silk Dupioni Wall Quilt is Finished

This silk improv quilt is my latest finish and newest addition to my Etsy store. It's hand-quilted with Pearle cotton (big stitch) in straight lines and curvy lines. It measures 33" x 35." Working with silk takes a little getting used to; you need to use a pinking blade on your rotary cutter so the fabric doesn't fray away. I don't use a stabilizer because it drags under the feed dogs. I love how rich the colors are, and how brilliant it looks in a spotlight or near a lamp. It's worth the trouble in my opinion.

 I've been collecting silk dupioni over the last 5 years when I visit the garment district in New York City. I especially love the shot silks; the warp is one color and the weave is another color. So when you use it in a quilt, placing it in various angles, the color looks a little different. And so beautiful!!

Do you use silk in quilts? Any tips?

Two Crazy Quilts at the American Folk Art Museum

These two star quilts are part of the "Super Star" Exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum. The quilt above was made by Mary Ann Crocker Hinman of New York State, 1880-1890. According to the info tag, this crazy quilt emphasizes piecing rather than embroidery. Well yes, but look at that embroidery below! This quilt is truly impressive in person.

This contained stars crazy quilt was made in Barnstead, New Hampshire (that's where my brother lives!) by a member of the McAllister family in 1885-1920. This quilt has a huge variety of fabrics and embroidery stitches. Notice how the 9 stars are not lined up like a Type-A person would do it? I like that; it adds charm. I also like the gold embroidery along the outer edge. I feel a crazy quilt coming on, don't you?

Bull's Eye Quilt

This stunning Bull's Eye quilt was made in Berk's County Pennsylvania in 1900-1920 by a member of the Alverda H. Hoffman Herb family. This is one of four similar quilts made around the same time in that vacinity. Imagine, after all that piecing, this quilter decided to add some applique and lots of hand-quilting too. I love this quilt and I'm glad it has found a good home, the American Folk Art Museum.

Improv Gee's Bend Star Quilt

This quilt was made by Leola Pettway of  Boykin (Gee's Bend), Alabama in 1990. It pulsates and glows on the periwinkle wall. An organized star on a random background. Two curved corners on the bottom mean that two stars are trimmed. Oh well! That's improvisation.

This quilt is part of the "Super Stars" exhibit currently at the American Folk Art Museum.

Tied Star Quilt at the American Folk Art Museum

Take a close look at the top photo. This is a whole cloth quilt, tied with pink and yellow yarn. There are star designs done in pink, and the background is done in yellow. The ties are approximately 1" apart. I've never seen a quilt where the main design element was made with tied yarn! The yarn is fuzzy from being washed. The maker is unknown. Dated 1900-1940. United States.

Cactus Rose Quilt Block

This framed Cactus Rose quilt block from Pennsylvania is on display at the American Folk Art Museum. The maker is unknown, dated 1855-1865. The block was a gift to the museum from Cyril Irwin Nelson in honor of Robert Bishop (director of the museum 1977-1991).

Isn't this a wonderful block? It's precise and relaxed at the same time. Classic 1800's colors too. This block is framed behind glass.

I went to the museum right after my guild meeting in NYC on Saturday. I had to walk from 28th Street to 66th Street! But it was worth it. More photos coming tomorrow.

Dan Teaches You How to Knit (Sort of!)

Take a look at this video. Hilarious!

Dan teaches you how to knit. He doesn't know how to knit, but how hard can it be?

The Secret Life of Mrs. Meatloaf

Take a look at the beautiful longarm machine quilting of Jan Hutchinson of Kansas. Jan also quilted Mayleen's amazing selvage spider web quilt that you saw here a few days ago. She isn't Mrs. Meatloaf; you'll have to visit her blog to see who that is: The Secret Life of Mrs. Meatloaf. Wow, I love her quilting.

Today is Corduroy Day! 11-11-11

                                      
Did you notice that today's date closely resembles corduroy? Yup, 11-11. But this year is the best: 11-11-11. The Corduroy Appreciation Club, which is dedicated to spreading corduroy awareness, is holding its annual meeting today in New York City. All whales welcome.

Here's the link to the Appreciation Club Store. They have (knit) tee shirts too.

Mayleen's Wonderful Selvage Spider Web Quilt!

Mayleen of the Q is for Quilt blog recently made this wonderful selvage spider web quilt! It measures 88" x 103!" The gorgeous quilting was done by Jan Hutchinson, using a pattern by Angela Walters. Mayleen was inspired by Jacqui's selvage spider web quilt. See it on her blog Tall Grass Prairie Studio. Are these ladies awesome or what?

Becci's Dresden Plate Selvage Creation

Vivian's friend Becci (both from northern Iowa) recently created this amazing Dresden Plate selvage table-topper. Isn't this incredible? She adapted Kay Buffington's pattern "Dresden Plate Candle Mat" to included selvages and made it larger, 20" in diameter. Vivian says that Becci is a prolific quilter known for adding selvages to many of her projects, even when it's her turn to work on a Round Robin quilt. Haha! I'd love to have Becci work on my Round Robin any day! Great job!

Dinah's Fabulous All-Stripe Selvage Quilt!

Dinah Snyder of Ohio just made this fantastic striped selvage quilt; yes it's all stripes. This quilt measures 80" x 80." That's a lot of striped selvages! Dinah says this is a comfortable quilt that she will use a lot. Isn't this quilt beautiful? I love it. (The pink and yellow photo is the back.)

Dinah was inspired by the striped quilts of Marianne Haak of The Quilting Edge blog. Take a look at these, especially if you have the rest of the day available for sewing! (see photo below)

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Zippers

Here is my quilt for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival: "Zippers." I've been thinking about making this for a long time. All the scraps are not the same size. They are all wider than 3," trimmed down to 3" strips. Scraps are about 1.5"-2" high. So you just make long strips. Some are dark, light, dark, light. Some are all darks, or all lights. The only thing to think about is: "Is it dark or light?" Lots of the scraps are novelty fabrics. This is lots of fun. I'm doing a whole series, playing with the placement of darks and lights.


Okay, so click on this link: Bloggers' Quilt Festival, and enter to win a prize and see hundreds of inspirational quilts. This ends tomorrow, so don't dilly-dally :)

October Blizzard!

What's wrong with the picture above? This isn't an evergreen tree; it's a maple tree with green leaves! We just had 18" of snow in October. Crazy. We just got our power back after 3 days, and Internet connection!

Would you like to come over for some tea on the patio? Here, let me brush off a chair for you. For those of us who are always too hot, this actually looks inviting.