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A few months back I got the idea that it would be fun to go to the AQS show in Branson. I’ve never been there and seeing Branson plus a quilt show struck me as a golden opportunity. I asked Mike if he wanted to go and he responded “no thanks” (ever since he retired from flying all over he doesn’t want to go anywhere – and I get it). So I asked if he’d mind my going with a friend and got a sweet – “no problem”. So I texted Cathy and we made plans. After looking at the map I realized that Hamilton, MO was sort of on the way, so this past week we loaded up the car and headed south.

It was a lovely day for a road trip and we arrived right at 5pm.

We checked into our lovely Air B&B, just a block off the main street, and went for a walk.

The stores had all just closed, so we took an obligatory selfie, peeked in a bunch of windows, and had a quick dinner at a local shop. We were even privileged to see the biggest spool of thread. I only wish I’d had some thread with me to add to it.

That night we found a puzzle in the B&B and had it together before going to bed. Cathy and I both have puzzling brains.

The next morning we hit the shops of Missouri Star with enthusiasm and oh what fun we had! The fabric was gorgeous and plentiful, and the people were so friendly.

Each of the buildings housed a different type of fabric (solids, kids, batiks, seasonal, etc.) and most of them were connected. Everything was delightfully neat and organized, with oodles of encouraging and funny quilting phrases and signs painted everywhere.

I was so impressed that I had to give Jenny a high five:

We have plenty of purchases to remember her “buy” 😁.

Then it was time for lunch. Mrs. Littles Tea and Toys looked intriguing:

The decor couldn’t have been more charming.

Our soup, sandwiches and all the special extras were served on tiered plates, and every bite was delicious.

After lunch Mrs. Little came out to see how everything was ~ and we told her how much we enjoyed it. I asked her if I could take photos and include them in my blog post about our visit to Hamilton and she was thrilled. So thrilled that she told me to tell all of you that if you travel to Hamilton and visit Mrs. Little’s Tea and Toys, simply mention you heard about her here and she’ll have a little treat for you.

What a wonderful time we had in Hamilton! And that was only the beginning of our trip! Next week come back to hear all about the 100th AQS show and our adventures in Branson.

And if you haven’t been stitching on any quilts recently, remember what it says on the side of a building there:

I think they forgot the word “quilts”, but you get the idea.

This was the “big” challenge theme in our ThreadBenders group this year, and here are the rules:

“Each participant may use any technique they desire to construct a 36″ x 36″ square quilt with abstract curves and NO straight lines. The quilting may include straight lines, and striped fabrics are ok.

Quilt shouldn’t represent an object or scene – strictly abstract.

Any fabrics/colors may be used. Plus – we will each purchase a yard of the same green fabric. This fabric must be used as a 1/2″ finished binding on the front of the quilt. Some of the lime green fabric must be used in the quilt itself also. The amount is up to the artist.“

We had our big reveal meeting recently and the quilts are delightful! I’m so impressed with this group. We are fairly new and most of those who joined 7 years ago were not even sure if they were art quilters. But, with our big win at AQS Grand Rapids last year, we’ve come a long way – and we’re having fun too!

To visit our site and see all the Curves Ahead quilts please click here.

As usual, I’d like to share my quilt, and the journey it took me on. I started by coming up with a color palette ~ Citrus Splash seemed like a good choice considering the binding had to be lime green. So I dug through my stash for oranges and yellows to join the fun.

Next, I did a web search and found an image that was very curvy, and very joyful. I purchased the rights to use the image as my inspiration, and I was off and running:

I simplified a few of the curves and knew I was going to remove a bunch of circles. Then I had the entire pattern printed out at 36″ x 36″.

As I often do, I chose my repliqué technique to do the hard work. I pinned the white background fabric to the back of my pattern and stitched down the center of a few of the heavy black curves to anchor the background to the pattern. Then I placed the wrong side of the appropriate citrus colored fabric in place on the right side of the background, pinned it in place, and straight stitched along both sides of that black area.

Next I flipped it over and trimmed away the excess fabric.

And satin stitched over the raw edges.

That was fun. But how to make all those circles? I certainly wasn’t going to satin stitch around each one. Time to pull out the Scan and Cut™ and fuse some fabric pieces, wrong sides together. My circles ranged from 3/8″ to 3″, and it was a blast playing with this great tool.

Since the circles were backed, it would be pretty simple to stitch them onto a finished base quilt. So I quilted the whole thing in the background with long curving lines. I like to do what I call “airplane” quilting on these types of lines. Please let me explain. I prefer to do long lines like these with a walking foot and feed dogs. The problem is I tend to want to position my hands close to the needle and try to show the machine how to do it. This seldom works well and puckers are the result. Instead I’ve discovered that if I sit back and grasp the quilt out and to the sides, allowing the feed dogs to do what they’re good at, I get much better results.

Once quilted the required green binding went on.

Now, what design would be best for anchoring all 86 circles in place? I made a small sample and tried out an asterisk, a spiral, and a 5 petaled posey. My granddaughter Hanna said the posey made it look like a citrus fruit cut in half. It was also the most fun to stitch (even the 3/8″ ones), so that design won.

I pinned the circles wherever I felt like it, and finally decided when enough was enough.

Once they were stitched in place ~ the quilt was done!

The entire challenge is a delight for the eyes. If you haven’t visited the ThreadBenders site yet, I’ll repeat the link: click here.

Plus… our curvy quilts will be exhibited at the Crazy Quilters Quilt Guild Show on April 1st & 2nd in Mukwonago, WI. For all the details click here!

I had a wonderful time arranging the triangles from last week’s post into hexagons. Each block could be arranged 3 different ways. So there were a lot of decisions to be made. Here are the options for just one set of triangles.

I chose the third one, but they were all interesting.

Once the blocks were made I began to lay them out. At this point I want to share a personal opinion with you. I’ve seen many One Block Wonder quilts and find them fascinating, but there’s a part of me that thinks placing all those lovely blocks right up against one another can take away from the beauty of each block.

I started to arrange my blocks and just couldn’t get into it.

Then I remembered seeing hexagon blocks set with additional contrasting 60 degree triangles between them. I did a quick internet search, but couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I decided to choose a coordinating yet contrasting fabric and cut lots more triangles. I sewed them to opposite sides of each hexagon turning them into diamonds.

And arranged them on the design wall at our last retreat.

WOW! This resulted in each hexagon turning into a six pointed star. I loved it! The separation made the pattern in each block stand out. To sew them together I spaced out the diagonal rows,

added filler triangles to the ends of the strips, and sewed them all together. I was pleased with the results.

I found some buttery yellow minkie at Sandy Creek Quilts in Lodi while on our retreat, and decided to put it on the back. I layered it all with a thin, 80 cotton/20 poly blend batt, quilted everything through the centers of the diamonds ~ and then folded the backing to the front to create a very soft binding.

Thanks to Ruth for showing us how to make these delightful blocks. Stay tuned for photos of baby girl Walters receiving her quilt sometime soon.

Last week I shared Ruth’s One Block Wonder quilts from our December Sew Day. At our January Sew Day we all brought fun fabrics to try it for ourselves. Ruth began by showing us how to cut six identical strips from the fabric, then we cross~cut these strips into triangles. That’s when the real fun began!

Eileen picked a lovely poinsettia print and got a little one~on~one instruction from Ruth:

Her fabric made fascinating blocks and we all enjoyed offering our opinions as she laid them out.

As she put the triangles together it became apparent that this fabric caused the resulting hexagons to look like they had a lot more piecing in them then they did.

And here are some of her blocks:

I layered my 6 large strips of the fabric, cut 3 1/2″ strips, and then crosscut piles of triangles:

Don’t you just love the variety!

We had a great time deciding which way to lay out our blocks and everyone got into it, including the teacher.

A few of us started stitching that day, but we didn’t get very far. I got to work on mine at retreat and will share the results next week. I can’t wait to see what my friends are doing with theirs. Stay tuned for all the fun!

Our Fiberistas group had a sew day in December and our newest member brought along some fun show and tell. Ruth loves to make One Block Wonder quilts based on the book by Maxine Rosenthal. 

I’ve made many “Stack and Whack” style quilts over the years, and even came up with my own way of making a block I call Spin Star.

It’s such fun to see all the different blocks that come from one multicolored print! I typically look for a large print with a swirly feel, as in the border fabric above. Another example is this fabric designed by Jane Sassaman:

It worked great! To make my spin star blocks I needed to find 8 repeats in the fabric, so I could cut 8 identical triangles:

Then the fun comes in laying out the triangles to see the different patterns that result. If I put the green corner in the center I get this:

but if the yellow goes central it’s a completely different look:

The hard part is deciding which is the best. And each stack of these triangles could make two different blocks. Too much fun! It’s especially delightful to teach this class because everyone gets to see the amazing variety of blocks the others make.

My technique makes “swiss cheese” out of the fabric, but the blocks make it all worthwhile.

The One Block Wonder variation of Stack and Whack Ruth shared uses strips of the fabric repeat and doesn’t result in “holey” fabric. It makes a much busier quilt because the hexagons all butt up to one another. It’s a different, yet exciting look.

Ruth showed us the back of her quilt which was made from her original chosen fabric.

This is a print I wouldn’t have thought of using in a Spin Star because the pattern repeat is quite large with a lot of open space. Ruth said it still worked for the One Block pattern – and then she showed us! She said she ended up with a large number of hexagonal, kaleidoscope type blocks, but she found the variety of color and design was overwhelming in one large quilt. She chose to divide them into three smaller quilts. The first contained the more multi-colored, busier blocks:

She then chose to put the blue/white blocks in quilt number two.

And the last quilt used the greenish blocks. This one’s my favorite.

I think the large amount of white background in her original fabric calmed down the busy-ness of her quilts and made them so interesting. Her choice of fabrics for the “borders” in each was spot on. Great job Ruth!

We were all intrigued and asked her to show us how it’s done. She did just that at our January Sew Day, but you’ll have to wait until next week to see how that went.

Have you made a Stack and Whack style quilt you’d like to share? Please email me photos!

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And one more thing!

Nancy sent me a photo of a quilt she recently completed with this note:

“Attached is a picture of a quilt I recently finished, “From the Farm:  Ken’s Story”, which was inspired by a quilt I saw at the 2022 Quilt Show in Madison and then featured on one of your blogs a couple of months ago.  Making this quilt was quite an “adventure” but definitely worth it.  More importantly, the recipient really loves it.  Definitely worth all the effort.“

Great job Nancy! Thanks for sending the photo!

Time goes by so fast and I’m thrilled that it’s winter retreat time at Cattail once again. Before I share a bit of the fun, I’d like to answer a few questions I received on last week’s post about my new studio. My first comment is to thank everyone for their kind words and especially Ginny for telling me that it was time for me to “get sewing and have fun messing it up” 🤣!

I’m always afraid I’m being too repetitive in my weekly posts, and for some of you long time followers I probably am. But I do have some new readers too and I hope to find a balance. That being said, in last week’s post Rene commented with a request for more information on my “magic box”. I blogged about that in 2016 and anyone who is interested can click here to read more about it.

Then Sue commented with a question about my Handi Quilter Sweet 16 mid-arm machine. Please click here for a post on that topic from 2012. The metal contraption hanging at the back of the machine table is an invention of my own I call the Quilt Float System.

It can be made rather inexpensively from supplies at your local hardware store, and I would not quilt a crib size or larger quilt without it! The Quilt Float lifts the weight of the quilt off of the table and makes it so much easier to maneuver, especially with bed-sized quilts. I’ve been using this system for many years and you can click here to find the most recent and comprehensive post I’ve written about it. And ~ as you can see from this photo ~ it works for domestic machines too!

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Now that we covered that 😊… I’m at at a wonderful snowy retreat in Poynette, WI!

Don’t you love going on a quilt retreat? Spending time with other quilters doing what you love is just about the most fun a person can have. If you’ve never had the opportunity ~ I highly recommend you searching one out, or grab a few friends and find a place to sew together. I know your friends will thank you 😊. I’m blessed to eat with these dear ladies:

and sing along to 70s music, laugh ~ and sew much more. We get a lot of stitching done too!

We’re supposed to head home today. I just hope we can get there in spite of all the snow that fell overnight. Or maybe we should just continue to sew today away and worry about driving home tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day 🤣.

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And one more thing…

Last week I signed up for classes at the AQS show in Paducah and ended up posting about my love for Paducah and the show on their FaceBook page. In case you missed it, here it is:

“I just registered to take classes in Paducah, and the thought of Spring at the AQS show is helping me to get through this cold Wisconsin winter. This will be the 32^nd time I’ve attended the show and I can’t wait. I’ve been blessed to help to hang the quilts every year and they never disappoint ~ they’re the best in the world; and then there’s the vendors ~ amazing!

I called Bonnie Browning today to talk to her about hanging and taking down the show in April and I got so excited sharing with her all the things I love about Paducah and the quilt show, that she suggested I share my thoughts on their FaceBook page.

Being there so often has allowed me to really get to know this wonderful city. The convention center is walking distance to a very charming downtown (although trollies and buses are available). There are lovely shops and restaurants, and the murals on the flood wall shouldn’t be missed! Then there’s the National Quilt Museum – I recommend going there at least once, but I usually find myself there two or three times.

Member registration is now open, so this is the time to join AQS – just do it! Click here to link to their website. I’m really looking forward to it and maybe I’ll see you there.

Oh, and don’t forget bubble tea at Etcetera in downtown Paducah” 

My husband and John put the finishing touch on my now complete studio by hanging my “magic box” this past Wednesday! I’ve been finding every moment I can to stitch and smile since then.

The magic box is where I store the art quilts that shouldn’t be folded. It is an engineering marvel constructed by another wonderful carpenter when we moved into our last home. Fortunately Mike was willing to take it down and move it here, and I’m so grateful he and John were able to put it all together. Here it is in progress:

And here it is installed:

My portable design walls live in front of it, so it’s compact and out of the way, yet provides amazing storage. I’m very blessed.

My new closet has storage for bins and completed quilts:

Tall, hanging space:

And there’s even a little extra room that I’m going to try very hard not to fill too fast (and no ~ I’m not renting out space 🤣):

The counter area (on the left) shelters my cutting table so it doesn’t get piled with stuff when not in use.

The area under the counter to the right is perfect for my fabric carts.

I was going to have John put doors on it, but he said they might just be in the way. Then I had a light bulb moment. I purchased a beautiful hand painted “shawl” on our Sew We Go cruise in Hawaii, but I really don’t know where I’ll ever wear it. So I folded it over, stitched a sleeve, and sheered it onto a curtain rod.

It protects my fabric from light and I love looking at it. Plus ~ it’s easy to move out of the way.

Now I’m trying out the sewing area and having fun tweaking and rearranging as I’m working.

I still have plenty of stuff, but at least it’s organized and I know where everything is. Now it’s time to finish my latest challenge quilt and a crib quilt for a baby girl who’s on the way! It feels so good to be quilting again!!!

I had a problem with one of my featherweight sewing machines while at the quilt show in Michigan a few weeks ago. It was completely my fault, and although it’s a bit embarrassing, I want to share it here to hopefully be of some help to others.

I own two Singer Featherweights: one beige and one green ~ and I love them.

My grandkids have learned to sew on them, and I enjoy taking them on retreats. But I actually don’t sew on either of them very often ~ and that’s a big part of the problem.

I use my Bernina all the time, clean and oil it regularly, and take it in for maintenance when needed. When I bought my featherweights I had them immediately cleaned and checked. Since then, because I don’t use them often, they haven’t been back. I’ve known for years that machines that aren’t used regularly need to be maintained and taken in more often because they just sit, but I’m ashamed to say I completely failed to do this.

So, Cathy and I were sewing away on our sweet little machines

and she mentioned that she’s named all six of hers. Lucy was the one she’d brought along. I realized mine needed a name too and decided to name her Lettie Belle, after my husband’s grandmother Aletta Belle.

Things were going along well when suddenly Lettie Belle let out an unnerving screech. Cathy asked when the last time was I oiled her and I blushed with shame. Fortunately Cathy brought her travel pack of oil along. I had my manual and I turned to the proper page:

and oiled the top and bobbin area. Then I took off the face plate to the left on the head of the machine and oiled all the spots there too.

But the screech continued. Cathy asked if I’d oiled the bottom. The bottom? Oh – that would be on the next page. Duh.

I unscrewed the bottom plate:

and once again I followed the diagram to oil properly.

Well, at least I was now up to speed. We turned her over and ~ that screech again! Ugh.

We determined the sound was coming from the head and took the faceplate off once again.

Now I need to let you know how grateful I am for Cathy. She’s a featherweight whiz. She’s taken all the classes and has even bought a number of machines in pieces and rebuilt them. She waxes their outsides and lubricates their insides. And yet she was kind to me in spite of my foolishness. So, she sat in front of Lettie and was able to add some additional oil where she determined something was still rubbing. It worked! What a blessing!

Lettie hummed along beautifully for the rest of the trip. She’s now visiting Brad at Sew Much More and getting the tender loving care she deserves. I also took in her sister Ardis Mildred ~ named after my grandma. I guess I need to purchase two more featherweights so that our remaining grandmother’s names, Irma and Selma, can be immortalized 😊.

The moral of the story: clean and oil all your machines, and take them in for their needed spa treatments regularly.