Early Peek at the Fall Festival Quilts

Yesterday I arranged 35 of my quilts along the balcony at church in preparation for the Fall Festival Quilt Exhibit today. It looks so colorful and pretty. Here's a sneak peek above. I hope the hymnals keep the quilts from falling onto the viewers. I'll let you know how it goes.

 I made this quilt in memory of my two wonderful grandmothers. It has a pearl necklace, lots of vintage buttons, giant rick rack, fans, roses, and teacups with real tea tags attached.  

The Fall Festival is today 9 am-3 pm at the First Congregational Church, Litchfield, CT, located in the center of town on the green. All are welcome. 

See My Quilts on Saturday in Litchfield CT

I'll be exhibiting about 35 of my quilts on Saturday (tomorrow) at the First Congregational Church in Litchfield, CT. It will be part of the annual Fall Festival. You are invited! Come and say hi.

The foliage is beautiful now, and there's also a Garlic Festival in Bethlehem (at the fairgrounds) on Saturday, just 10 minutes away. (Come see the quilts first, haha!)

I'll take photos of the quilt exhibit to show you.

 I wish you could all be here.

Aren't these clouds fearsome? I took this photo last week. 

Yes, this is where I go to church. 

Dan Lee's Silk Bow Ties

Dan Lee in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England has nearly 200 silk bow ties in his Etsy shop: Vava.

 He makes them all himself. Not all are this colorful, but these are two of my favorites.

 Most are priced around $55. I'm thinking I'd like to wear something like this. 

Men don't wear ties so much anymore; maybe selling bow ties to women

 (especially fabric lovers) would be a good new market for Dan.

 Do you see the "Grandmother's Flower Garden" design in the tie below? 

Nice job, Dan!

Anne's Blue Fan Quilt Top Finished!

Yayy! I just finished my first King Size quilt top! (If you don't think King Size should be capitalized, just try making one; then you'll write it that way too. Haha.) This top measures 96" x 108" (plus a little to compensate for the shrinkage caused by quilting). The bottom photo is missing the outer 10" solid purple border because it wouldn't fit on my design wall. But the first photo shows the finished top.

Did you notice that the outer piano key border (appearing only on the right and left side) is darker than the inner border? That's to draw attention to the center and make the quilt more serene. And I love that little black sawtooth border "holding in" all the fans. Oh, I really like this quilt. And I'm really glad I don't have to quilt it! It will be shipped to Maika in Utah for machine quilting. She says she'll keep it simple because the piecing is so busy, and I agree. She uses a regular sewing machine, not a longarm. I'll show you the finished quilt. 

The outer solid border is Kona's Purple. The backing is Legacy's Purple Crocus. I used a gorgeous package of 22 shades of blues and purples (fat-quarters) called "Purple People Eater," but I held out a few of the "pinkish purples." There are 30+ different fabrics in this quilt! Anne and I decided to use turquoise too. We considered jade, but decided against it. I'm not sure about the binding yet, maybe one of the prominent purples, or black. The batting will be Warm and Natural cotton. 

Apparently I had a lot to say to you about this quilt. Thanks for letting me "talk it out." And thank you for your encouragement about making a large quilt (in the Sept. 22 post: "What's the biggest quilt you'll make?") 

My next commission quilt will be an orange wall quilt that will live in San Francisco. Can't wait!!

Plush Toys and Rag Dolls

This cute plush toy was made by Christina in Austin, TX. You can see this and more at Little Sidekick. 

Also, see my Rag Doll treasury here. Sixteen of the cutest rag dolls. Some patterns too.

How Batik is Made - Video

Take a look at this video on YouTube to see the process of making batiks by hand. The video was made by Moda. This is fascinating!

To see the fabric shown above, click here.

Butterfly Shoes

These hand-painted shoes caught my eye and won't let go! Great with a little black dress.

They're listed on Etsy from Jessica in Toronto, Canada at OCD Collection.

Priced at $75 for the ballet slippers and $145 for the heels, in case you were curious. I'm not in the market, but I can't stop looking. Aren't they well done? Nice job, Jessica!

Selvage Chair from Canada!

Another fabulous selvage chair, this time from Canada! Made by Judy Kelly, you can see more photos and read about it on the Canadian Quilting blog. Judy used her grandmother's chair for this project. It has a special place in her sewing studio. Aww. Great chair and a great story.

Gudi's Selvage Chair!

Gudi from Germany just finished this selvage chair! Don't you love the heart-shaped back? Nice job, Gudi!

You can see this on her blog too: Flohmarkt und Sticken. Scroll down; there are several posts showing the original condition of the chair and her inspiration. This makes me want to get back to my selvages. 

Progress on the Fan Quilt

This is the King Size quilt in-the-works. I've never made a quilt this big. I'm not sure what happens after this piano key border is finished. I hope my customer likes it; she has a similar smaller quilt that I made so I'm not too worried. All these blues and purples are so soothing. It's like sitting by a pond.

Turkey Neighbors

I was quilting this morning when I noticed these turkeys had come by for a visit. I was hoping they'd fan their feathers for a great photo, but they weren't in the mood. 

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird rather than the bald eagle. He praised the turkey as courageous, but said the eagle was of bad moral character, earning his living dishonestly. I saw no evidence of moral character or the lack of it. We just looked at each other for a little while. 

I'll show you my quilt tomorrow.

Food Themed Tile Quilt - BOM

This is Empire Quilters' BOM for October, a food-themed raw-edge applique tile quilt block. These are so much fun to make. Perfect for novelty fabric collectors. With so many quilters contributing blocks, there will be a huge variety of food fabrics. I'll show you all the blocks after the meeting on Oct. 13.

Want too see a Raw-Edge Tile Quilt pattern? 

What's the biggest quilt you'll make?

Now this is a big quilt! It's the AIDS quilt in Washington DC. You can see a huge zoomable image here.

But I mean, what's the biggest you'll make? I was asked to make a quilt measuring 100" x 108" and I'm beginning to realize that it's not going to work. I think the biggest I can manage comfortably is about 60" x 75." My favorite size is about 50" x 50" or 60" x 60." I use my regular sewing machine, a Juki 98Q for piecing and quilting. 

Lace Photo Mats

Here's a clever idea: using fabric and lace on photo mats! This assortment was made by Kelsey Wurtz of Chicago. Lace might make a nice addition to vintage wedding photos. I guess you'd need glass to protect the fabric from collecting dust. So many creative ideas out there.

Meet Cassandra Beth from Canada

You meet the nicest and most interesting people on Etsy. Today I met Cassandra Beth from Montreal, Quebec. Visit Studio Cassandra to see her paintings (above) and prints. Her blog The Cassandra Pages features watercolors, photos (below), poetry, and her observations about books and general goings-on. I enjoyed my "visit" with her today via email. 

UPDATE: Today is Cassandra Beth's birthday! Stop by and wish her a happy day.

First Prize Photo

My photo "Mojave Desert Sunrise" won first prize last night at the HV Camera Club in Southbury, CT. The theme was Nature, so there couldn't be anything "man made" showing in the photo. This fit the bill, haha.

Now back to quilting! I'm making a blue and purple fan quilt for a customer. Pretty.

Happy quilting!

Green Robot

This summer the Shelburne Museum in Vermont had a Steampunk exhibit. This is Robby the Robot.

If Robby decided to help you with your quilting, what tasks would you assign him?

 I think I'd ask him to baste the quilt layers together, maybe even do the quilting if he was up to it.

 He looks pretty smart! 

Scraps Harmony from Canada

This quilt called "Scraps Harmony" was made by Marina Segalovitch from Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC. 

It was on exhibit at the Vermont Quilt Festival this summer. Nice job, Marina!

Ann's Diamond Dish Block

This is Ann's Diamond Dish block. She's thinking about replacing the white fabric with a brighter color. I like the white; it's modern and the dishes will appear to float on the white. But a bright color is good too. 

Ann is Welsh and now lives in France. See her blog enbellefrance.Thanks for showing us your block, Ann! 

Treasury of Antique Quilts

Take a look at this antique string star quilt for sale on Etsy from Nancy Bee in California.

Also see this Treasury of 16 antique quilts. You'll be inspired. They're amazing!