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Many years ago I was given a big pile of upholstery fabric samples, and I found a pattern online for walker bags that are super easy to make. I made quite a few of them at that time for nearby nursing homes and assisted living facilities. I also demonstrated it for my quilt guild, Patched Lives, and it ended up being a very successful charity project. I wish I knew who originated the pattern so I could thank them.

Recently my mom’s been on a medication that makes her lightheaded at times, so she often uses a walker because she doesn’t want to fall (she’s very wise). While at the Evergreen Quilt Show in Green Bay I saw a scrap of upholstery fabric in the “free box” of their rummage corner ~ and I realized it was just what mom needed. I couldn’t find the pattern after looking in all the usual places, but it was easy enough to remember, so here’s the quick version:

I began by folding the fabric, right sides together, in the size and shape I wanted. It was 15″ across and 42″ long when folded (30″ x 42″ when opened up). I cut off the excess, sewed the three open edges with a 1/2″ seam allowance, left a 5″ space for turning along one edge, and trimmed off the corners.

Next it was turned right side out and pressed.

Both long ends were folded up towards the center leaving about a 6″ gap, and the edges were pinned. I chose to make one of the pockets a bit deeper than the other.

The entire length of the sides were sewn with a 1/4″ seam allowance, backstitching at the tops of the pockets, and additional lines were stitched to divide the pockets into usable sections.

I added the “pocket dividing seams” in white on the photo above so they were more easily seen. The smaller pocket on the upper right is the perfect size for mom’s cell phone. Now she won’t have to dig around for it in the big pocket.

If the bag was draped over the walker at this point, and something heavy was placed in a pocket, the whole bag would drop to the floor. Thus the need for two 2″ pieces of Velcro™. They were stitched to the back of the bag, parallel to the folds at the tops of the pockets, and about 1/4″ from the pockets (white dots mark this).

I used a zig-zag stitch to secure the Velcro™, and then it was ready to be placed on the walker.

She’s using and enjoying it!

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This week I also wanted to share a few photos with you from Barb in Florida. She was in my Repliqué class at the Southwest Florida Quilt Guild meetings this past January (my most recent book ~ Modular Memory Quilts ~ includes instructions for Repliqué. Click here to read about it). Everyone made a small house block, and I was thrilled to learn about what Barb has done with my technique:

“I finished my house and it was on display at the 2024 SWFQG show – Linda Lacko used it on the education table.  I then made a replique for a friend who is terminally ill – we are creating a memory book and I got a picture of her backyard pond.  It was much harder to do and there are some mistakes, but still everyone says it is really good. I will be working on my 1948 red truck next. 

Loved your class and am thinking about a quilt using your method for the 2026 SWFQG show “every quilt has a story”.”

I think her pond is delightful, and I’m so glad Barb perservered when the technique seemed a bit tedious. I emailed her back after receiving her photos and asked if I could share them on the blog. This was her response:

“Of course you can use my photos.  Am glad that you believe them to be useful and encouragimg for others.  After really trying the method, it is easy.  I have shown the Pond picture to other guild members, and they ask, “how did you figure out where to start?”  I truly tried to follow your method of what is the furthest back in the picture and work out from there.”

Great advice. I can’t wait to see Barb’s next repliqué quilt.

Have you used repliqué in a recent project? Please send photos!

A huge part of the fun of traveling to quilt events is who you travel with. I’ve had so many wonderful travel companions over the 35 years I’ve been attending the AQS show in Paducah, and this year was no exception. Lori and Janis are good friends whom I’ve known for a while, and we meshed well on this trip. They both enjoyed sewing in our kitchen when we weren’t “doing the show”. I brought Aletta (my beige featherweight) for Janis to sew on, and they got along well.

Lori was designing a new quilt, and when she taped the blocks to the window it looked like stained glass.

I set up Irma (my machine) on my usual corner of the table and realized I really do love the color orange (pic on the left 😊). I decided I’d work on a new One Block Wonder top, and had so much fun playing with all the kaleidoscope-like designs.

Sometimes we even ate in the kitchen, and other times we checked out a few of my favorite restaurants ~ like Flamingo Row!

Lori is also a quilting teacher and an expert on scrap quilts. She has a wonderful online presence, and a great website: https://quiltingwithlori.com/. Lori has loads of free patterns available, and she does live and zoom meetings and classes. This year she had two quilts in the AQS calendar, and was part of the “Meet and Greet” autograph party!

Please do check out her site. What a blessing quilting friends are!

And then there are the new friends you meet at the show. I had so many lovely quilters sign up for my classes. Yes ~ I was blessed with the opportunity to teach at this year’s show! I taught two free-motion quilting classes, as well as my “Seminole Sampler” and a new class I call “Silhouettes and Shadows”. All of them went “sew” well.

It was very exciting to have Katelynn in my Seminole class. She lives in Florida and is of Seminole Indian heritage! She had such interesting information to share, and even had beads in authentic colors.

One of the other fascinating people I met on this visit to Paducah was Karen Nyberg ~ the astronaut. Some of you may not know that she actually made a quilt block while on the Space Station.

The National Quilt Museum had an exhibit about her during Quilt Week.

She was scheduled to do two talks in the museum during the week, and I was so glad to have been able to hear her speak. IQA in Houston held a star block challenge in her honor while she was on the Space Station, and some of those quilts were on display in the museum. The one with her block was behind her during her talk.

She shared about how difficult it was to sew a quilt block together in outer space, and many other fascinating things involved in living on the Space Station. She’s designed two lines of fabric from the photos she took while in space, and a few of her quilts were on display. This one showcases her first fabric line:

This was my favorite.

The quilt of her husband, fellow astronaut Doug Hurley, was also well done.

At the end of her talk we were able to have our photos taken with her. I met up with my friend Judy in line and we now have proof that we met Karen 😁.

The last group of people I’d like to tell you about in this post have become very dear to me. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been helping to hang the quilts in Paducah since 1989, and many of the people at AQS have become good friends. I think it’s about time I thanked them on this blog for all the kindness and encouragement they’ve shown me over the years.

From the first day I helped with the show Bill and Meredith Schroeder and their family were welcoming and appreciative to everyone. They never put on airs, and actually worked right along with the rest of us. Meredith and her daughter Lynn Lloyd continue to help hang quilts to this day. I’m so grateful for their friendship.

From the very beginning there has been one man that seems to have his finger on the pulse of most all of the important details involved in actually running the show ~ from hanging the quilts to keeping the classes running smoothly. His name is Terry Guill and he has been a good friend and great blessing to me over the years. Here we are rolling the art quilts to be shipped home after the show.

And then there’s Bonnie Browning. She came on board as the Executive Show Director a few years after I began to attend, and she was the perfect person for the job. A fine quilter in her own right, Bonnie did it all with her good organizational skills, and great sense of humor. This was her last show before retiring, and she will be missed. Congratulations Bonnie!

So many dear friends, and so much fun!

But Quilt Week 2024 had to eventually come to an end. After Lori, Janis and I did our best to support the vendors, the stores, and the artists, we still had some room left in the van. We are praising God for a wonderful adventure and safe travels home.

Can’t wait for next year!

Who would have thought that tripping on an uneven sidewalk in lower town Paducah would lead me to meet 3 very talented artists? But it did. As I walked past a building on Madison Street I tripped and Diana Fox, who was sitting in the shade at the side of the building, asked if I was ok. Then she asked if I was a quilter ~ and invited me in 😊. She told me she was an “Artist in Residence” at A.I.R. Studio Paducah. We entered the gallery space of the studio and I was stopped in my tracks. Just look at this wonderful work of fiber art.

Diana calls this piece “Tree Rings”, and you can read all about her art and life by clicking here! She lives in Colorado and does workshops and trunk shows. She is also friendly and fun to talk with. She led me to the studio area where I met Donalee. Donalee used her creative talents as a jeweler in her pre-retirement life, but now she creates beautiful abstract fiber art, and she teaches too. Click here to visit her website.

As we were all talking and laughing, Beth Shillig entered the studio. I have been intrigued by her work for years, but never knew anything about her. Beth’s interlocking ovals and fascinating quilting designs really speak to me. She owned a Bernina dealership in her previous life, but now she’s a full time artist. It was wonderful to meet her too ~ and buy a pair of her hand dyed bamboo socks. I love bamboo socks and hers are so pretty! Click here for her website.

What a joy to meet all three of these friendly, delightful and talented quilters. I know you’ll enjoy visiting their sites!

Then…

Over the past few years at the AQS show I’ve been captivated by the work of an artist from the Ukraine. Natalia Lashko has a fascinating style of quilt making, and I’ve posted photos of her work numerous times. This year was even more interesting because AQS had an exhibit of quilts from the Ukraine and there were many of Natalia’s quilts there. Here are two of my favorites: “Snow Apples. Where Does Childhood Go?”

Milky Way. Heavenly Guides. Chumaks:

My photo of the story card from this quilt was of poor quality, so here’s what Natalia has to say about it:

“In the old days, Chumaks (Ukrainian merchants) went to Crimea for stuff and, at night, they navigated along the light stripe in the sky, which is why the most popular name for our galaxy in Ukraine appeared – the Chumaksky Way (literally). Traditionally the Chumaks delivered salt, fish, and various goods to Podolia (the area where my family lives) and sold them in a nearby city. In hot weather, warm air often moves in the evenings or at night, as if touching us. In calm silence, we dream, looking at the night starry sky. And it seems to me that it is at this time that the souls of the Chumaks descend to earth, like angels from the Milky Way, touch us with a warm touch of air, gently hug and continue their hard work, caring for our well-being.”

And here’s a close-up of the pieced 3-D stars in the sky, the “straws”, and prairie points too:

Lori commented in my last post with a question about the straw technique of the Ukrainian exhibit, so I did a bit of investigating and found some information that causes me to love these quilts even more. Natalia started out doing straw embroidery with real straw, and she has a website that explains it beautifully. It is a traditional technique that has become a lost art in the Ukraine, and I know you will find her work as amazing as I do. This first one I chose from her site is called “Noel”:

I love what she said about her work on “Noel”:

“There was difficulty with portraits, because they have to be graceful and beautiful. I had a lot of experimenting. Imagine the face of Jesus just two millimeters and centimeters, in which I must depict the eyes, nose, lips, and that it was a child, with plump cheeks that he was beautiful. From all that I have embroidered, and this many characters, Jesus was for me a pleasure.” Amazing!

She’s done straw work on garments too:

And isn’t her straw embroidery on fabric stunning?!?

Click here to visit her site and read all about this fascinating form of art ~ and her amazing skill in doing it.

Next I decided to search for information about how she’s adapted her straw technique to make quilts. I found an episode of the Quilt Show in which Ricky Tims interviews Natalia after she’d won her first award in the USA at the IQA show in Houston. To watch the entire interview (and I recommend watching it all) click here!

Natalia creates her straw tubes and stitches her quilts completely by hand. She is truly an amazing, improvisational artist. There are so many talented artists with work on display in Paducah, and I hope you’ve enjoyed “meeting” a few of them.

As I completed this week’s post I realized I have more about our Quilt Week adventure that I want to share. So please stay tuned for next week’s conclusion, and enjoy a closing photo I took along the river.

This past week I had the great privilege of judging a quilt show in Green Bay, WI. These ladies put on a wonderful show, with some extra touches I hope you’ll find fun and interesting. Like the “quilter” who stands at the entrance to the show (a great reminder that quilt shows should be positive, encouraging and fun!)

My partner in the judging was Alison Rainboth. Alison is a certified judge and appraiser ~ and a delight to work with.

We arrived at the venue at 10:30 Thursday morning, and the quilts were already hung. This is a different way to judge compared to most of the shows I’ve worked on. It’s a great way to really see each quilt. Everything was well organized and our scribes were very helpful. One of the special things this group does is to hold a “Judges Tour” before the show opens the next morning. Everyone who enters a quilt is invited to come in before the crowds, and Allison and I have the wonderful opportunity to walk through the show with everyone and share our thoughts about the quilts.

The quilt behind me in the photo was the Best of Show winner. Every aspect of Lorraine’s quilt was done well and she was one of my scribes. She didn’t let on that this was her quilt while it was being judged – amazing. Congrats Lorraine!

All of the organizers of the show were wonderful. Lindi Kuritz is the talented quilter who has invited me to judge this show this year, as well as many times in the past. It’s always wonderful to spend time with her, and I was happy to see that one of her quilts won a ribbon in a category I judged. “In My Mind” is a lovely rendering of a fantasy destination of hers. I’m glad I got a photo, but sad I missed having her in it.

I hadn’t previously met the quilter who was the show chairperson, and I’m so happy to now call Birgit my friend. Two of my favorite quilts in the show were made by her and hanging near each other.

The following piece by Birgit is definitely not one of your grandmother’s quilts. She challenged herself to do a small piece of stitching each day for a year. She arranged her strips of beautiful needlework by month, and each area was more interesting than the last. I had to pull myself away from gawking at the details, or I wouldn’t have finished the judging of the show on time ~ LOL! It was an easy pick for the show’s Creativity ribbon (she confided in me that a group of hand stitchers in the guild made the ribbons, and this was one she made 😁).

The next piece is entitled “You’ve Got a Friend”. This is a whole cloth piece Birgit sketched and stitched of her sister Margit as a child. She is now with her Lord. Birgit’s talent for evoking emotions through her work is outstanding.

I was pleased to get to know a number of the members who entered quilts in the show, and discovered that the quilter who won my Judge’s Choice ribbon is someone I’d met before. I’ll be teaching a brand new class in Paducah this week entitled Silhouettes and Shadows, so when I saw Joan Pierner’s quilt: “Bird Watching” I knew I’d found my ribbon winner. What a delight to be able to talk with her about it, and to have her remind me that she knows my cousin Cindy. It’s a small world.

Then a “white glove lady” said hi and began to tell me about one of her quilts. She said she doesn’t usually enter because she knows the problem areas in her quilts (don’t we all?), but this year she decided to just do it ~ and Joann’s sampler quilt was so deserving of a ribbon.

The variety of the quilts in the show was fascinating. Here’s just a little whirlwind tour of a few of my favorites (as usual, I loved them all – but there’s only so much space on this page). And I need to start with an apology to some of the makers. Usually I’m able to take photos in which I can read the name of the quilt and maker on the sign. For some reason I couldn’t do that on a number of the following quilts. I still wanted to share them with you, and I hope quilters reading this who know the maker and/or quilt name will share it in a comment to this post. Thanks in advance for your help with the missing information 😔.

There were 2 modern Christmas quilts that caught my eye ~ this one entitled Ho Ho Ho Ho by Kathi Jensen, in which the “O”s were quilted in:

And Starry Night. What an interesting version of a nativity quilt!

Then there was “Tea Cups”, the winner of the Best Hand Quilting ribbon (so sweet, don’t miss the “saucers” quilted in the border)!

This “Twinkly Star” runner by Wanda Bauer was made from leftover blocks. I love the assymetry!

The award for best custom longarm quilting went to Ombré Flower Garden. The use of ombré fabrics always catches my eye.

There was only one entry in the Clothing category, but “Half Squares Gone Mad” was made from a vintage quilt, and so deserving of the blue ribbon!

There were two quilts entered in the show that had a similar style, but a unique difference. This beautiful quilt has an appliqué center with pieced blocks surrounding it.

This equally lovely piece looks like the same general layout of appliqué surrounded by piecing, but upon closer examination the center is not appliquéd, but rather it’s a printed panel!

There are so many clever ways to do things in the quilt world today.

And the last of the contest quilts I want to share was from the guild’s 2024 challenge. The theme was the board game Clue. Each participant drew a room, a suspect, and a weapon, and had to make a quilt in which the viewer got to guess “who dun it”. The Fiberistas did a similar challenge a few years ago and it was great fun (click here to read about it). Oh how I wish you could see them all! I can show you the blue ribbon winner here (perhaps I can talk the guild into allowing me to post them all in a future post 😊):

Besides the competition quilts, the Evergreen show had a number of special exhibits and my favorite was a challenge by Women Who Run With Scissors (don’t you just love that name?) entitled “Curves and Grids”.

Down by the Shore was also lovely, but I’ve forgotten the name of the group responsible for this challenge (sorry – someone please add it in the comments if you know it).

In the entrance there were quilts for sale along with a silent auction:

A huge rummage area with great bargains:

And as you entered the show there was a charming exhibit of quilts made by the guild’s featured quilter this year, Nancy Wakefield. What a nice idea to honor a member each year.

It was a wonderful show and I was so happy to be a part of it!

A year or two ago my mom started going through her jewelry. She organized everything and then invited her kids, grandkids and great grandkids to take whatever they wanted. Once everyone had their turn we talked about making something with the leftovers. Some of you may remember the jewelry wreath I made in 2013, after inheriting some of my mother-in-law’s jewelry. I added more from my side of the family, and it was a fun project ~ and a lovely addition to our home (click here for that post).

I agreed with mom that we should do something ~ and then got busy with other things. After returning from teaching in Florida in January I realized that jewelry playtime had come. Mom was pleased. She wanted to make something for each of her grandchildren, and one for my brother and his wife too (I didn’t need one since I have the wreath 😁). That makes seven projects. Should we make wreathes? I did a bit of web surfing and was reminded of the jewelry tree my friend Julie made.

I posted about it last June, at the end of the story about my “paper quilt”. Click here to read all about it. Mom loved the idea of the trees. So, how would we make our own version?

Frames were collected from local thrift shops and it was time to begin. I told mom I’d quilt some solid color background pieces and, while looking for just the right fabrics, I found my collection of old family hankies. Would they work instead?

Once again ~ Mom loved the idea (she’s easy to please 😁). I cut foam core to fit each frame and took everything over to her home. We started laying things out. Background fabric and hankies were fused onto the foam core. Necklaces and bracelets were used to frame the trees.

The next time we got together we used hot glue to secure the tree outlines. We tried other glues, but the hot glue seemed to work the best. It did take a while for me to get over the “hot glue learning curve”, but then the fun really began. We worked together to place pieces, cut off earring backs, share opinions, and then secure it all. Here is one tree done ~ and two others well on the way!

After just one more afternoon of tree making ~ they were all complete!

Next I asked Mom to make a list of who’s jewelry was in each tree. I printed that list along with a photo of the tree and the makers (plus their encourager), to be attached to the back of the frames.

I’m wondering if any local quilters would be interested in a class on making jewelry trees or wreathes. It might be fun to make memory trees together. Let me know!

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And to leave you with a smile… my friend Eileen sent me this joke and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

“Two Sewing Machines walked into a Karaoke bar. The 1st Sewing Machine said to the 2nd Sewing Machine, “Are you a Singer?”. The 2nd Sewing Machine replied, “Don’t Janome?”. The Bartender replied, “Oh, Brother!”.” 🤣

Thanks Eileen!

On my last two retreats I chose to empty my fish bowls full of scraps, press them, and cut them into strips to be used in charity quilts. You may remember the story of my fishbowls. It began as a good use for an old fish bowl, and became something my grandkids looked forward to playing with (click here for that post).

Over the years my fishbowl has overflowed into two additional fishbowls. The strips I cut recently were then thrown into a plastic bag and 2 lapsized tops resulted:

One thing that bothered me as I began working with the bag ‘o scraps was that I’d thrown a lot of stuff in those bowls: chunks, orphan blocks, and loads of half-square triangles. They needed to be sorted – and that’s what I did. I labeled my bowls,

and realized I need one more for the remaining long strips.

I also found leftovers from projects that really needed to be put together. There were some greens from a memory quilt we made after our trip to Ireland in 2010:

The embroidered pieces never made it into that quilt, and I don’t remember why I made the circle block.

After a bit of cutting, arranging, and stitching I ended up with a delightful little quilt.

Then I grabbed leftovers from two different projects that looked pretty together. The blue/white/yellow half-square triangles were made in a class I took in Paducah last year, and I have no idea where the curved floral pieces came from (I may have pulled them out of someone else’s trash during a class).

I trimmed and played, and finally decided on a small table runner arrangement that used almost all the pieces.

It feels Springlike (see photo at the top of this page) – and the pieces are out of the fishbowl!!!

The half square triangle blocks (hst) from the previous project were made in a class with Beth Helfter in which we also made hst blocks with contrasting flanges in the seams. While in Hamilton, MO last year I bought a “Spring Sling” purse pattern, and during a recent shop hop I found a gorgeous bright fabric on a sale rack. These all were unearthed as I dug through my scraps, and the piles on my studio counter, and I had the purse done in time for Easter.

Ooh. It’s such fun to use up the things that are sitting around as PIMMs (projects in my mind). Have I inspired you to play with your previous purchases, leftovers, and scraps???

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And one more thing…

My granddaughter Sommer (on the far right in the kids photo above 😊) loves to draw and make bracelets, but has had no interest in sewing for a number of years. Well, a few weeks ago I showed her some snap bags I was making for a charity boutique (thanks for the idea Deb!). Sommer really liked them and when I told her I’d teach her how to make one, she was all for it. She had fun choosing fabrics from my “chunky” scraps, and was a natural at the machine.

She had it sewn together in under an hour.

Simply search for “snap bag tutorials” to find instructions online to make your own.

A quick note before I get to this week’s topic ~

I met with my friend Kristi for lunch this week, and she mentioned that there is a quilter who wants to go on the trip to England and Wales for the Birmingham Quilt Festival, but she doesn’t have a roommate. If you’ve been dreaming of this trip, but don’t have someone to go with, please contact Kristi to talk about it. Click here for her contact information and all the details. Thanks!

This post is sort of a “mixed bag” on the topic of gradations. Recently Kelly sent me a photo of a quilt she’d completed. Here’s her comment:

“Hi Chris, I took your gradation class at the guild meeting at Cranberry Country Quilters in Eagle River and sat and looked at my piece for over a year until I finally figured out what to do with it. I’m including a picture of the wall hanging I made it into.”

I call this class Gradation Play. In it the students create a bargello style background using only one yard of a gradation fabric. It’s up to them to decide what to do next. Kelly’s trees and spectacular quilting are perfect on her background.

I absolutely love it, and knew I had to share it with you all.

It reminded me of photos sent to me by my son’s best friend Jesse (who is like a second son). He moved to Alaska a few years ago and got into photography. Here’s just one of his wonderful photographs of the northern lights:

I think Kelly nailed it 😁! And isn’t Jesse’s photo amazing! I might have to share more of his work in the future.

Then I found the following post from the Great Wisconsin Quilt show on Facebook:

To link to my lecture click here and ENJOY!

If you’ve made a quilt using gradations please send me a photograph and I’ll share it in a future post!

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And one more thing! You may have noticed the block at the top of this post had many of the same colors as were found in Karen’s quilt and Jesse’s photograph.

I recently made it using the On-Point ruler by Donna Lynn Thomas. I purchased her ruler in Paducah quite a few years ago and finally decided to sit down and figure it out. I used a leftover piece of a beautiful gradation plaid, and really enjoyed the process while stitching this single block. After making it I decided I wanted to know more about Donna Lynn and maybe take a class from her. I did an internet search and found no recent information about her.

I did however find a site that had a great explanation of the ruler and how to use it:

Click here if you’d like to read about it. Actually, I’ve found the entire Generations Quilt Patterns site to be chock full of great patterns and inspiration. You can visit their home page here.

But that doesn’t tell me what happened to Donna Lynn. Does anyone have anything they could share about Donna Lynn Thomas? I’d still like to take a class from her. Thanks in advance if you do!