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I decided to take a one week break from my series of posts about our trip to the United Kingdom. I still have some wonderful adventures to share from it, but a recent meeting here in Wisconsin was so much fun ~ I thought you might enjoy a short intermission.

Over the years I’ve created some unique pieces while playing with Shiva Paint Sticks™, and recently our Fiberistas group decided to revisit this fun product. We had a “play date” and created some interesting pieces of fabric. To read about it please click here.

The piece I worked on was inspired by a photo I found on Pinterest™ of a project made by Shelly Stokes. She overlapped squares of paint stick rubbings, and then embellished them with threads, etc. It was beautiful, but there were no instructions on the post where I found this photo.

So Lori and I chose to experiment using freezer paper to add boundaries, and to block previous painted areas. There was definitely a learning curve. The fabric I used for my background is a gradation piece I found in a “free bin” at On the Bias quilt shop in Whitewater, WI (A wonderful shop I must say ~ click here for their site). I began by tracing some oval templates in an overlapping style, and cutting out the first oval. I used a rubbing plate and made a design in blue. Then I cut out my second oval, and after this photo was taken I ironed the first oval back in place.

I continued in this fashion,

until all the ovals were filled in.

Then I removed the outer freezer paper. I had no idea how it would work, but I was pleased with the results. Everyone thought they looked like Easter eggs!

I think each area would look best if outlined, like the black thread used to surround areas when doing embroidery or cross stitch. I’m going to start by drawing the lines in with a fabric marker, but part of me feels embroidering it would be best. Things are a bit busy right now, so I’ll save that for a future “finishing” post.

As I was working on my ovals, Lori was experimenting with squares and rectangles.

It was a morning filled with friends and fun! Have you done something interesting with paint sticks? Please send me photos!

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And one more thing…

During retreats and workshops over the past few months I’ve become more aware of a safety issue, and I feel compelled to share it in the hope that it might prevent future injuries.

When rotary cutters first came out the had two positions: closed (left) and open (right).

When the blade was closed the cutter was safe, but when it was open it could be dangerous. As a teacher I often had to repeat during classes “close your blades”. I actually have a pertinent story from a student in one of my classes back in the 90s. She said she was cutting fabric on a table in her living room when the phone rang, and she went to the kitchen to answer it (the phone was hanging on the wall in the kitchen – so you know this is an old story 😀). This left her 4 year old daughter alone in the living room. The problem? She forgot to close the blade on her rotary cutter. When she returned to the living room there was no blood – praise God – but the couch was in shreds! Her daughter had used the cutter “just like mommy”.

So, you can imagine my joy when Olfa™ came out with their deluxe rotary cutter. For safety purposes, the blade would always close when not in use (left), and then it would open when the handle was squeezed (right) for accurate cutting.

The red lock button was very helpful when transporting the cutter, so the blade could be locked closed and it wouldn’t open accidentally. But here’s the important part – the blade should never be locked open! This defeats the safety feature! Please don’t lock your blades in the open position!

Be safe out there!!!

While at the Festival of Quilts I was able to take 2 workshops from British instructors. Bright and early on the first day there I took a class entitled Free Motion Leaves and Flowers with Molly Brown. It was only 1 1/2 hours long, and we learned a lot. What a blessing!

I stitched the flower above and a leaf, which will be quite lacy and fun once I’ve trimmed and washed away the stabilizer. Quiltina just begged to be photographed among all the lovely threads and sheer fabrics Molly brought for us to play with.

Molly was an excellent teacher!

That afternoon I took a class with another enthusiastic and talented instructor ~ Gini Armitage. This class was entitled Autumn Tree Dorset Button Brooch. Hmm. Sounded very interesting ~ and it was. Gini learned the art of Dorset buttons from a woman who’s family had passed down the art through generations, and she was thrilled that Gini wanted to continue the tradition and teach others to make Dorset buttons. These are a few of the traditional ones she’s made:

Please click here to go to Gini’s site and read the history of Dorset buttons, and about Gini too! In short, you begin with any ring and then wrap and knot pretty threads to make a brooch or button. Her enlarged demo was wonderful.

I absolutely loved the process. I stitched it to the hem of Quiltina’s dress after completing it, and I look forward to making more!

Plus ~ I loved getting to know the ladies I sat with in class. It was all delightful!

At this point I really want to share a few more photos from the “quilts” portion of the show. These are from the Quilt Creations category and they were quite artistic. Isn’t this a fascinating mask? “Masquerade” was made by Chitra Mandanna of India.

Our Enchanted Castle was a group project made by the Art Tarts in the UK (you gotta love that name).

Vendulka Battais of the UK decided to make her husband a jacket and shoes after making herself a number of garments. She said he’s French and has a “quirky” style. It’s entitled “Quirky Like Me”. I think I’d like to see him in it!

And my favorite creation was this sign by Jo Westfoot, also of the UK. “Quilting Leads to …” is a sign post she created after challenging her social media followers with the title statement. I love it!

The vendor mall was HUGE and amazing, with many patterns and items that I haven’t seen at shows in the States. Our group supported them well, and I want to share photos of my 2 favorite booths.

I’ve taken classes with Philippa Naylor in Paducah, and admired her work for years, so it was fun to catch up with her.

My friend Susan has signed up for her online classes and loves them (click here for her site). Philippa told me that she’s reached a point in her life when she doesn’t want to travel and teach as much any more, so she’s found this new niche. She also gave me lots of tips on quilty things to do while in the UK. What a delightful conversation we had!

I spent quite a bit of time (and a few pounds) at the MellyMadeDesigns booth. Her patterns are unique and fun!

Hopefully I’ll share a completed piece or two in the near future.

The show was big, exciting, inspiring, and so well done. But all good things must come to an end. Fortunately this didn’t mean an end to our trip. Next week I’ll share some fiber adventures in Wales!

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And one more thing. When I was in Paducah last Spring I “stumbled” upon a group of amazing fiber artists (click here to read that post). One of them, Diana Fox, recently contacted me because she’ s teaching at the Woodland Ridge Retreat Center in northern Wisconsin, and she still has openings in her upcoming event.

It looks like a wonderful class! For all the information click here.

Last week I shared some of the contemporary and art quilts from the show. This week’s quilt photos include quite a variety. I’ll begin with a few from the “Traditional” category.

If you like scrappy triangles, you’ll love “Cut Glass Rose Bowl” by Judith Caroline Lynch of the UK. The roses are in the quilting.

“365 Quilt Challenge” by Teresa Kelly Cuthbert of the UK is a delightful sampler quilt.

“Star of Wonder” is another spectacular sampler quilt. It was made by Brenda Clough of the UK. Just look at the variety of blocks ~ and half blocks ~ she’s used to make all the wonderful stars:

“Oh My Gosh” by Liz Merckel of the UK contains 14,531 pieces, some of them just 1/2″ finished!

And if you like traditional appliqué, these two quilts were stunning! “Spring Thing” by Claudia Scheja of Germany was a variation of a traditional pattern and the quilting design fit perfectly.

“Kentucky Rose” by Sandie Lush of the UK also has wonderful quilting, with a much more subdued color palette, and it’s oh so lovely.

As I was sorting my photos I found two monochromatic blue quilts that really intrigued me. “Every Quilt has a Voice” by Glenys Davies of the UK includes zippers and other bits from old jeans, along with lots of denim ~ in a landscape!

“Monochrome Sketch no. 1” by Grazyna Ryszawa of Poland was not made from jeans. She used what she called a “confetti” technique.

Here’s a close up:

There were also quite a few portrait style quilts, and the variety of styles was fascinating. The figure in “Peaky Blinders” by Amelia Hanratty of the UK was done raw edged.

Whereas the image in “Shadow” by Scott Culley of Germany was made with a pieced Greek key type of block.

“Forgotten Stories – Woman from Urzecze” by Magdalena Gasowska of Poland was made to preserve the heritage of her ancestors.

Dee Bushrod, a British quilter who made this quilt in Oklahoma, used a pixelated mosaic technique to make a lovely tribute quilt of Queen Elizabeth entitled “Thank you Ma’am For Everything”.

And then there were the hexagon quilts. I’m not sure if they all were made using English Paper Piecing, but this style is certainly popular there. Marion Goodrich of the UK used hexagons to make diamond tumbling blocks in “Baudelaire Blue”.

While Grit Kovaks of the UK used many colors to make “Grit’s Serendipity” with over 12,000 pieces.

Lesley Arber of the UK stitched over 17,200 pieces together to make “Perseverance”, and she also counted the hours it took ~ over 2000!

“Hope Flows” by Angela Southey of the UK used an intense color scheme and a very unique pattern for her hexagons. What a great effect!

This 2 person quilt made by Aitchbee and Helen Howes of the UK is named “Blue Moon” and uses hexagons in a very artistic way.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you may remember how intrigued I am by the One Block Wonder quilts made from printed panels. “In the Amazon” by Victoria Miller of the UK is another lovely example.

It was so interesting to discover that the “panel” used in “Jeju” was actually a photograph taken by Korean quilter Kyungjoo Kim, which was digitally printed onto fabric multiple times. Wow ~ what amazing creativity!

At this point I need to include a photo of a quilt that was not in the competition. There was a wonderful exhibit of antique British quilts at the show and this top, circa 1820, just had to be included here (did I mention the show had something for everyone?)

Oh my! So many different ways to use hexagons!

Well, it looks like I’ve gotten a bit long-winded again, and I haven’t even gotten to the “Quilt Creations” category or the classes I took. So I guess I need to do at least one more post about the Birmingham show. Please stay tuned ~ again 😁.

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And one more thing:

I’d love to have you sign up for my lecture and/or workshop. Click here for all the information. Hope to see you there!

I arrived home last Sunday from an 11 day adventure in the United Kingdom. I’ve done quite a few “quilt” tours in Europe and discovered there were very few quilt/fabric shops, and fiber related stops in most of the countries we visited. This was not true in the UK! I have so many things to share with you and I hope you’ll find my upcoming blog posts quite interesting. Today’s post is about the quilts!

Prior to the trip my friend Cindy told me she was going to enter a quilt in the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham along with her roommate Helen. She encouraged me to join them, and even offered to ship mine with theirs. This was an offer I couldn’t refuse. So I filled out the entry and lovingly packed up my Oak Leaf and Swirl quilt to be shipped prior to the show.

When I walked in the doors I headed straight for the quilts (my favorite part of any quilt show), and they did not disappoint. The FOQ in Birmingham is not a juried show, so each quilt entered was accepted. This meant that there was great variety in skill level, pattern and technique ~ and there were over 700 quilts! It made for a fascinating exhibit. As I walked through each category I noticed that the first place winners were moved to a seperate area (which I didn’t find until much later – it was a huge show!), and the other winners had their ribbons hung next to the quilt. Plus, every so often a quilt had a black circle on the name card with the word “shortlisted”. I wondered what it meant ~ and was especially curious when one of those stickers appeared next to my quilt:

A few moments later I ran into Cindy and Helen. They were with Amber from Handi Quilter who was interviewing them for the Handi Quilter Facebook page! It was such fun, and here we are right from their page:

 That’s when I found out what “shortlisted” meant. It’s best explained in this email I recieved from Ellen at the Festival of Quilts a few days after the show.

“Dear Chris Lynn, Thank you for entering your quilt into The Festival of Quilts competition 2024! It was a pleasure to have your work displayed at our event. We thought you might like to know how much the judges admired your work, and that your quilt Oak Leaf and Swirl was shortlisted in the Contemporary sponsored by Janome category. We appreciate all the hard work that goes into creating your quilt, and although your quilt didn’t win a prize on this occasion, please be assured that it was highlighted as a top contender by the judges.”

Praise the Lord! Thanks to Cindy for encouraging me to enter! Just having a quilt in this spectacular show was a joy.

Oak Leaf and Swirl is now safely back home and I’ve been very busy going through photos of the show. I’m going to share some of my favorite quilts and I’ve grouped them to make it a bit more organized. There were so many I’d like to include, but these were some of my top picks and I’ll share some more in next week’s post. This was the first place winner in the category my quilt was in ~ Contemporary Quilts, and I can see why it won ~ beautiful! The quilting is amazing. It’s entitled “High and Deep” by Kim Aeran of Korea:

The next few were also in the Contemporary category. I so enjoyed the buildings and scenery as we drove through the UK, so I was very attracted to “Black and White” by Greta Fitchett of the United Kingdom:

The next is “Pathways” by Chris Harvey of Australia. Her use of trapunto really added to the effect.

Another quilt from Korea was “Bed of Roses” by Jingook Yang. I just love the 3-dimensionality of it!

“Sunlight Through Stain Glass” was made from layer cakes and jelly rolls by Jill Johnston of the UK.

Kathy Unwin of the UK used a Japanese style of art called Notan to make “Leaves”.

Since the previous quilts were all quite artsy, the next ones fit into the Art Quilt category. “Doing the Rounds 2” by Dilys Fronks of the UK:

“Thimble – From All Over All Over the World” by Eva Have of Denmark contains images of some of the 2557 thimbles in her collection. The words on the bag are “thimble” in 20 different languages (click here to read my past post on thimbles).

“Here Comes the Sun” by Barbara Pieczynska of Poland is made with a very unique and effective technique.

Here’s a detail view:

“Shattered Dreams” by Ekaterina Bessarabova of Spain is a fascinating way to feature a traditional quilt.

“Echoes of the Ocean” was made by Chitra Mandanna of India. I love that it has “gaps” like the quilts in my Crossings series.

Linoquilt – the Whale was made by Johannon Davis of the UK.

And “St. Martha’s Arrival to MaSilia” by Moni/Hasmik Hovsepyan of Armenia is made with cotton fabric, paint and a leather frame.

The following Modern Quilts all appealed to me. I absolutely love this Christmas quilt entitled Geometree by Jo Westfoot and Joe Bennison of the UK.

Jenny Haynes of the UK truly has an eye for color and value. Her fabric choices and quilting really make “Hexabore Quilt – Four Petals” a treat for the eyes.

The flying geese in “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” by Lynne Hanson of the UK are a delight for the eyes. It reminded me of my quilt “Silly Goose”, but with a lot more intricate piecing (click here to read about it).

And I’ll end this weeks post with a smile. “Squirrel Chip” by Vera Srodka and Agnieszka Wietczak of the UK is possibly the most unique “modern” quilt I’ve seen so far.

Are you overwhelmed? I certainly was – and very inspired. It was so nice to have two full days at the show. I divided the quilts and vendors up over both days, and I even had time to take a few classes. If you prefer traditional quilts, I’ll post some of them next week. More to come 😃!

While we were in Vancouver, Washington for Hanna’s graduation I had an unexpected quilt adventure. Hanna’s Aunt DeeDee was kind enough to host the graduation party ~ and it was lovely. Towards the end I was talking with DeeDee and her husband Bert about the quilt I made for Hanna (click here to read that post), and they mentioned they had a number of quilts made by Bert’s grandmother. Bert then directed me to a lap quilt hanging in the hall. It was made from flannels and looked like it had been loved and washed – a lot! I began my “speech” about the importance of making a label for the back of the quilt (Mike always laughs because he know when this is coming), so future generations would know the quilts history. As I did this I checked the back for any type of signature. Wow ~ was I shocked to discover my label on it!!! That’s when I remembered making a quilt for Hanna’s grandma Bobbi, DeeDee’s mom, when she was going through chemo many years ago.

What a joy to know Bobbi had used and loved it so much! The conversation that followed was delightful, and once DeeDee knew the story she gave the quilt to Hanna.

Isn’t it a blessing to know that a work of our hands has been appreciated by the recipient? I’m so pleased that this quilt means something to Hanna, and that she will continue to love it as her grandma Bobbi did.

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And one more thing…

The AQS quilt show in Grand Rapids is only a month away – and the ThreadBenders Progressions quilts will be there!

Last Spring I was one of the judges for the Mukwonago Crazy Quilter’s show. The quilts that won Best Machine Workmanship and Best of Show blew me away. They actually amazed all of the judges. Later we discovered they were both made by the same quilter. The piecing, appliqué and quilting were all done equally well.

I was surprised to realize I’ve known their maker, Sandy, for years, but I’d never seen any of her quilts. So I emailed her to express my appreciation for her work, and to ask if I could share her quilts here. She agreed 😃! This is her Best of Show winner ~ Moonglow:

Her combination of the fussy cutting in the piecing, along with celtic appliqué is spectacular. And the geometric white/black print fabric makes my eyes dance across the quilt. Here’s a detail pic:

And, if you think the quilting in the blocks is great, wait until you see the background quilting:

Sandy commented about Moonglow: “This prize winning English Paper Pieced quilt (EPP) uses two of the block designs from Liz Oner’s Dawn to Dusk pattern. I added the celtic motifs and Yvonne Carrillo did the wonderful longarm quilting.”

The Best Machine Workmanship award went to Jardin a la Monet, and Sandy’s comments follow.

“Jardin a la Monet is my version of Liz Oner’s EPP Vignettes. It has won several ribbons and also best quilting done by my friend Mary Francis. Designer/quilter Liz teaches EPP at Blue Bar Quilts in MIddleton, Wisconsin, and offered this as a BOM. I enjoyed adding the hand appliquéd bias tube, celtic designs. I had purchased the theme fabric quite a few years ago in Colorado having no idea what I would use it for. All I have left of the 5 or so yards are schnibbles!”

These are two of her earlier pieces from the mid-90s. Poinsettia:

and Curvy Lines:

This next quilt is “an original wallhanging made for a Kaffe Challenge at the Keeping Up with the Jones Quilt Shop in Brodhead called Red Sky at Night“:

Don’t you just love how Sandy has come up with her own unique style, and the wonderful way she puts it all together?!? This was her final comment in our email chain:

“I love playing with celtic designs and appreciate the talents of Mary Francis and Yvonne Carrillo which complete and compliment my work. I want to give a shout out to Liz Oner (she’s on google and instagram) for introducing me to EPP. I have followed your blog for a long time and love your artistic creativity! Happy summer, Sandy”

Thanks Sandy! And a happy summer to all of you too!

I’m so excited about our upcoming trip to the Birmingham Quilt Show in England. We leave this week!!! As you may remember, I’m not one of the “leaders” of this trip, I’m just one of the lucky travelers, but Kristi was kind enough to invite me to come up with a small project to add to the fun (she knows I love to do that sort of thing). So I began noodling on what the group might like to do.

In a previous post I told you about my Liberty fabric from the 80s (click here to read that post).

I chose to use the smaller pieces that didn’t become part of my tote bag in a pre-trip friendship block exchange. This was the signature block we’ll be exchanging (the participants didn’t need to use fabric from Liberty):

And four of these squares make a fun “pinwheel” block:

These blocks come together with sashing between them to make a modern looking basket weave design:

I sent the instructions to Kristi, and she emailed them out prior to the trip. Anyone who wanted to participate could make the needed number of blocks, sign each one, and bring them along to exchange. After the trip they can then be made into a table runner, tote, small wallhanging, or ???.

I’ve done numerous friendship block exchanges in the past and here are photos of just a few of the resulting projects:

A table runner from our Baltic Cruise:

A tote bag from a riverboat cruise in France:

And an Irish lap quilt:

It will be fun to see what these blocks become. I love using my friendship quilts and reflecting back on fun trips and dear friends. I actually have a lecture all about my collection of signature/friendship quilts I call Friendship Quilts Then and Now. If your guild would find that interesting, please click here for all the information.

While I’m away I’ll still be posting by scheduling some “topics of the week” I’ve already written, and I think you’ll enjoy them. Hopefully I’ll figure out how to do it 😊. Please understand if it doesn’t go well, and you don’t hear from me for 2 weeks. I’m looking forward to writing the “post-Birmingham” posts I’ll share upon my return!

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Also…

A friend recently wrote to me asking for information about laundering a vintage quilt. A few years ago I did a post about my method for washing any quilt.

If this is something that interests you, please click here.

I love a good challenge or two. The project in this week’s post pulls together two challenges in a weird and interesting way. I hope you enjoy reading about it. Here’s the story:

Last summer my friend and fellow Fiberista Kay, helped with a moving sale for her mother-in-law. While shopping I was intrigued by a tower of vintage cigar boxes. After the sale I asked if they had all sold, and when she said “no”, I asked her to bring them to our next meeting (these are just a few of them).

Years ago at a quilt show in Oshkosh, I roomed with another teacher who does amazing bead work. At that time she was embellishing cigar boxes ~ and I was in awe. Lisa Binkley is an amazing beader and quilter. Here is the top of just one of her boxes:

She is into many other fiber adventures now and you can follow her on Facebook by clicking here.

So why not turn a cigar box into a piece of fiber art with fabric, quilting, or ??? I challenged the group, and they said they’d take the challenge, but wanted time – so it’s not due until November.

Then it was decided that the next small challenge in my other fiber art group, ThreadBenders, would be called “Repurpose”, and was defined as: “repurpose something non-quilting to make a piece of fiber art”. This one was due in June.

I’d been wanting a clock above my sewing machine, and had purchased a small “clock works” for that purpose. A cigar box was certainly “something non-quilting”, but could it be made into a clock? And what about all those old watches I’d set aside when mom and I were making her jewelry trees. Hmm…

A traditional mariners compass has 16 points. During the pandemic I figured out how to fold a circle in a way that allowed me to draft a compass with 12 points like a clock (to read the post about my tree skirt click here) Hmm…

So I drafted one small enough to fit in the box,

stitched it up in pretty fabrics, made a false back to allow for the clock works, and adorned the box with the broken watches. It fit perfectly above the window!

And now I know when it’s time to take a break while stitching. I even did a bit of beading on a piece of wool felt and glued it to the outside of the box, even though that will seldom be seen 🙂. The lid had broken off of the pocket watch hanging on the inside of the clock (with it’s gears showing). So I used the peyote stitch I learned when making cuff bracelets back in 2013 to attach it to the piece of wool, and glued it to the front of the box.

The lid had begun to fall off, so the finishing touch was to glue a piece of fabric in place as a sort of “hinge”.

What fun to repurpose something old to be something useful! I can’t wait to see what the other Fiberistas do with their cigar boxes.