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Spinning Stars

January 4, 2015 5 Comments

Fussy cutting motifs from fabric is a technique that has been around for generations. It was made incredibly popular about 20 years ago by Bethany Reynolds (click here for her website). At that time I was intrigued by Bethany’s quilts and started playing with my own style of cutting identical triangles from large print fabric. To begin, I chose a teapot fabric with a lot of thin lines and curves.

I found a traditional star block I liked, and devised a fun way to piece it.

Isn’t the variety of stars amazing? And the fun part is, if I had cut the triangles just an inch away from where I did, every star would be different from these. I must admit, it’s addicting. I showed this quilt to friends and students, and my Spin Star class was born. It has been extremely popular over the years and I think the appeal lies in the fact that each star is a surprise! The down side is that it makes “swiss cheese” out of your fabric:

My stars begin as four stacks with 8 identical triangles in each. Here’s a portion of a Jane Sassamann fabric that worked great, and just one triangle stack:

This one stack of triangles can be put together 2 different ways – with the top right point at center:

or with the lower left point there:

Here they are together so you can see how much variety there is in just one stack of triangles.

I think it’s time I sew those stars together!

These are the blocks I made from a Christmas poinsettia fabric:

Did I mention this is addictive?

During one class I decided to make stars from a fabric printed with adorable children.

These blocks have never been stitched together because, even though the star is pretty, it bothers me to see cut up kids swirling around:

If this type of play is of interest to you, I’ll be teaching my Spin Star class at WCTC on Saturday, January 17th, and we need 3 more students to sign up for the class to run. Please consider joining us! The deadline is this Wednesday.

Have you had fun with fussy cutting? Please send pictures. Oh, and those of you who have taken this class – I’d love to get photos of your star creations. Perhaps it would be fun to do a virtual quilt show on a future blog. Send pictures to me at:

Merry Christmas and Quilts

December 21, 2014 5 Comments

This week has been an exceptional blessing for me. I flew out to Washington on the 13th to bring my oldest grandkids back to Wisconsin for a Christmas visit. Hanna (8) and Willy (6) are a joy to be with and we are having so much fun! Just before they arrived I finished Sommer’s quilt – and it’s wrapped and ready for her. This is the front:

After last week’s post, I chose to quilt the rest of it with different sized circles and spiraled around all of them. Then I “wrote” her a special message in the borders. Here’s the back (the “I Spy” side):

Can’t wait to see her response.

Once Hanna and Willy arrived, Willy reminded me that it was his turn to make a quilt. He was definitely wigglier than his sister, and grandma had to pay close attention to where his fingers were when sewing, but he picked out all the fabrics himself and stitched every stitch. Boy – was he pleased, and grandma was too!

He wanted to show the back too!

Hanna and Willy helped Sharon and I “Ring and Sing” for the Salvation Army this year. We made a lot of people smile.

We’ve been reading the Christmas story with the kids every night – and Willy is quick to shout “Happy Birthday Jesus”. This is the real reason for the season. Knowing that our Savior lives and is preparing a place for us in heaven is the greatest gift of all!

Today (Sunday) is the day we celebrate Christmas with all the Wisconsin relatives and tomorrow I take the kids back to spend Christmas with their family in Washington. What a blessing (and a very busy time!)

Wishing you a blessed Christmas, from my family to yours!

Quilting a Sommer Quilt

December 14, 2014 2 Comments

As most of you know, Mike and I watch our granddaughter, Sommer, full time. She is a joy, and next year we’ll be doubly blessed because daddy and mommy are expecting her baby brother in February. During breakfast a few weeks ago, I asked her what we should name her baby brother and she responded “Minnie Mouse sticker”. We smile a lot around here 🙂 !

Sommer will be moving into a big girl bed after Christmas, so grandma Chris needed to make her a quilt – of course. Her bedroom colors are pink, gray, black, white and teal – and the decor is very modern. A “modern” quilt would be ideal, but Sommer really loved the I Spy quilts she helped me make for her cousins. What to do? Back the modern quilt with an I Spy quilt!

Once both sides were finished, the sandwich was layered and it was time to quilt. The modern side has one wide, vertical band of a pink gradation fabric, and 6 different, wide, horizontal bands. I quilted around each of these areas with a walking foot first, and then the fun began. I made a curved template from card-stock to mark lines in the vertical band.

I originally thought I would keep the curves lined up, but after a bit of experimenting, an hourglass shape seemed best. I marked the lines with a sliver of soap and continued to use the walking foot:

This design simply hollered for circles to be added. I cut a bunch out of freezer paper, keeping the circles and the holes they were cut from, and ironed them to the quilt top.

I free motion quilted around the outside of the paper circles, and filled the empty holes with posies.

And here’s the quilted vertical band:

You may have noticed that I personalized the simple “modern quilt” pattern. The owl is from a canvas Sommer’s Mommy painted for her room.

and her doggies, Nirshey and Mosely, just had to be a part of the fun!

Next, I’m quilting around a variety of freezer paper circles and filling in around them with spiral designs. Stay tuned for a photo of the finished quilt.

Virtual Quilt Show – A Danish/American Challenge

November 23, 2014 1 Comment

Often I share things in my blog posts that pertain to places and events in southeastern, Wisconsin. I’m well aware that many of you live in other States. While putting together this week’s post about our Baltic cruise challenge, it occurred to me to mention that both of our upcoming Sew We Go adventures are currently priced without airfare. Our travel planner, Kristi, will work with each traveler to find them the best airfare possible and… since we’re not doing a “group flight”, she can help you arrange for flights from wherever you live!!!

(click here for Sisters, Oregon, July 8-13, or here for Europe October 9-19).

And now the quilts!

While on our wonderful cruise of the Baltic Sea, Wendy and I passed out “fat eighths” of a lovely blue/green batik, and asked our travelers, as well as the quilters we met at Kirstin’s Quilt in Roskilde, Denmark, to make something with it.

These were the “rules”:

And these were the fabrics:

The shop owner in Roskilde, our hostess Kirsten, designed a placemat pattern for our group – and even translated it into English for us. It was a very thoughtful gift:

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Here is our Virtual Quilt Show!

Mary Beth Weeks SWG placemats — by Mary Beth Weeks – “Attached is the project I made using the fabric you passed out to us on our (great!) Baltic cruise in May. I also included a very similar piece of fabric that I already had. I’m sure you recognize the place mat pattern as the one Kirsten gave us. I had only enough fabric to make two sets but my husband and I are using them now and enjoy the bright spots on our table.”

by Louise Sundquist - "I made four placemats using the challenge fabric and three other fabrics I purchased in Kirsten's shop." — by Louise Sundquist – “I made four placemats using Kirsten’s pattern, the challenge fabric, and three other fabrics I purchased in Kirsten’s shop.”

Ilse Jessen-Denmark — by Ilse Jessen – “I have always wanted to try this block. Now I had a chance to do it. Looking forward to seeing the other quilting items.”

by Eileen Diercks - "From the Danish/American challenge fabric I made a zippered pouch for my Kindle and its charging cord. I used some of the “fancy” stitches on my machine, using a variegated green, blue and yellow thread which I had on hand, for the quilting. For the lining I used a lime green batik fabric which I had in my stash, and the green zipper was also from my sewing supplies. So it did not cost me anything extra for this handy pouch. Thanks for the challenge." — by Eileen Diercks – “From the Danish/American challenge fabric I made a zippered pouch for my Kindle and its charging cord. I used some of the “fancy” stitches on my machine, using a variegated green, blue and yellow thread which I had on hand, for the quilting. For the lining I used a lime green batik fabric which I had in my stash, and the green zipper was also from my sewing supplies. So it did not cost me anything extra for this handy pouch. Thanks for the challenge.”

Nancy Hansen challenge piece — by Nancy Hansen – “The first photo is a border detail at Rostock Cathedral. The second is my attempt to replicate it.”

Margie Abbott Umbrellas — by Margie Abbott – “I just finished my challenge quilt. It is 46″x55”. It’s called “Dancing Umbrella” and was designed by Edyta Sitar. I used a brown batik in all but four of the blocks, where I used the blue challenge fabric to showcase the blue fabric. I enjoyed participating in this challenge and am anxious to see all the other entrants’ works of art.”

by Christina Yun - "Attached is a picture of my fabric challenge. I used the challenge fabric for the top and the bottom of my smock cushion. And, the remainder of the fabric I used as a ribbon for the doll's hair. I had a lot of fun doing this challenge." — by Christina Yun – “Attached is a picture of my fabric challenge. I used the challenge fabric for the top and the bottom of my smock cushion. And, the remainder of the fabric I used as a ribbon for the doll’s hair. I had a lot of fun doing this challenge.”

by Karen Moore - A photo/Map memory quilt (note the addition of the pins she collected along the way) — by Karen Moore – A photo/map memory quilt (note the addition of the pins she collected along the way)

by Pam Merklein - "I used the fabric you gave us for the top portion of my “Oak Park Bag” and for the tabs and loop. The button was purchased in Tallinn, Estonia. I had a charm pack at home that provided the squares and the balance of the fabric was left from a senior HS gift quilt for my grandson. I look forward to using it and being reminded of our wonderful trip." — by Pam Merklein – “I used the fabric you gave us for the top portion of my “Oak Park Bag” and for the tabs and loop. The button was purchased in Tallinn, Estonia. I had a charm pack at home that provided the squares and the balance of the fabric was left from a senior HS gift quilt for my grandson. I look forward to using it and being reminded of our wonderful trip.”

Had a lot of fun making this table topper. Have fond memories of the cruise. Thanks, Jan Arndt — by Jan Arndt – “Had a lot of fun making this table topper. Have fond memories of the cruise.”

by Lisa Giesfeldt - Lisa made this small purse and said she "even used the ribbon that was wrapped around the fabric. It's my zipper pull. The color worked with my batik choices." — by Lisa Giesfeldt – Lisa made this purse and said she “even used the ribbon that was wrapped around the fabric. It’s my zipper pull. The color worked with my batik choices.”

by Chris Kirsch - "I also made a tote. The fabric was mixed with many others is a tote pattern designed by a mutual friend, Kathy Frye. I used Wendy’s faux batik method to create the words “Sew We Go” for the front pocket of the bag." — by Chris Kirsch – “I also made a tote. The fabric was mixed with many others in a tote pattern designed by a mutual friend, Kathy Frye. I used Wendy’s faux batik method to create the words “Sew We Go” for the front pocket of the bag.”

“I used the batik technique once again, to put our logo on the pocket on the back of the bag. Kathy’s pattern is meant for a travel bag and this pocket has Velcro at the bottom, so the bag can be placed over the handle of a wheeled suitcase!”

And one more “non-challenge” picture! While in Helsinki we were treated to a visit to Marimekko Fabric. Nancy Hansen found a beautiful polished cotton and made it into a lovely jacket. She wore it to Patched Lives Quilt Guild this past month and it was stunning. She was kind enough to pose for a picture:

Thanks Nancy!

Floss Update

October 12, 2014 4 Comments

Some time has passed since I shared the story of my good fortune at having received a box filled with DMC embroidery floss (if you don’t remember that story, you can read about it by clicking here). I so enjoyed reading all the comments made to that post. Since then, I’ve had many people ask me if I’ve decided what to do with it all. There were many comments recommending I give it to charitable organizations, and I’m definitely planning on doing some donating.

One of the most popular suggestions was to give a packet of floss to volunteers who like to embroider, and have them make blocks to be put into a thank you quilt for Rowland and Carol (the owners of the B&B who gave the floss to me). I think that’s a wonderful idea, and I’m searching out block patterns to share, along with the floss – eventually. I will fine tune these ideas and let you in on my plans in a future post. But I have enough floss to do a number of things and this week I’ve decided to present a Floss Frenzy Challenge !!!

In the comments to the Floss Frenzy post, Jan M. shared this quote – “From one fine thread a work of art is born”. With that in mind – here’s the challenge (with a tiny bit of pre-story 😀 ):

Last Spring I completed a project using embroidery floss (prior to acquiring the big box). I used the “Big Stitch” on a jacket, which I wear in my newest lecture: Gone to the Dark Side (for a post on the Big Stitch technique click here and for information about my “Dark Side” lecture, please click here)

I began thinking of many other things quilters could do with floss:

* Make “redwork” (or “bluework”, or “yellowwork”, or whatever color you like) blocks and stitch them into a quilt.

* Tie a quilt with the floss.

* Embellish a tote by couching the floss onto it.

* Quilt a table runner using the “Big Stitch”.

* Find some quilterly thing to do with counted cross-stitch.

* Use the floss as a closure on a quilted cover for your e-reader.

I’m sure there are many, many more. So here are the “rules”:

Floss Frenzy Challenge

The challenge will happen via the United States Post Office, and the internet.

If you would like to participate:

1. Email me your snail mail address (for your own privacy, please don’t put it in a comment to this post). My email is: .

2. I will then mail you 3 skeins of floss. If you want it to be a real challenge, I will randomly choose the colors. Or… you may give me a suggestion of which colors you prefer. My goal is to have many people participate.

Embroidery floss challenge — The Packer’s win today may have influenced the colors of floss chosen for this picture 🙂

3. Make something with it! Anything you choose! No size requirements! No real rules at all 🙂 ! Make something you can use, or try a technique you’ve been wanting to play with, or make your dear Mother-in-law a candle mat for Christmas. It’s up to you.

4. Email me a picture of your project by February 28, 2015! That should give you plenty of time and something to do on cold winter nights (if you live somewhere with cold winter nights).

5. I will put these pictures into a virtual quilt show on a page on my blog for all to enjoy!

And there will be prizes!

I’m hoping to get good participation, so please email me today!

Facing a Quilt

October 5, 2014 3 Comments

I’ve discovered a great way to face quilts – giving the look of no visible binding on the front. I found it in an article by Kathleen Loomis, in American Quilter magazine 7 years ago.

It’s not uncommon for a faced quilt to end up with bulky corners, but Kathleen’s way eliminates that problem with a slick trick for trimming out the excess. I’ve used her facing technique for many of my quilts and have always been pleased with the results. Here are a few of my faced quilts. All three of these quilts are clearly art quilts and I felt a binding would have detracted from the finished look of the quilt.

Risen - an experiment in celtic design using red rayon rat tail to outline all the elements. — Risen – an experiment in celtic design using red rayon rat tail to outline all the elements.

Interchange - made for a challenge called "Color Wheel Opposites" — Interchange – made for a challenge called “Color Wheel Opposites”

Vanishing Point - made for a challenge called "On-Point" — Vanishing Point – made for a challenge called “On-Point”

Kathleen has a great tutorial for facing quilts on her blog (with lots of clear pictures) . She’s refined her technique a bit since I first read about it, and she’s eliminated the curved corner pieces on the back, but the essence is the same. Rather than my having to redo the instructions, I think you’ll enjoy getting it from the originator. Please click on this link for the step by step instructions: http://artwithaneedle.blogspot.com/2011/03/perfect-faced-quilts-tutorial.html.

Give it a try and then remember to “bookmark” her site so you can find it again (although the link will always be on my blog and you can find it by typing “facing” in the search box on the upper right of my blog page).

Sommer Sews!

Sommer and I had a sewing adventure this past week and I just have to share. She came over wearing pants that were about 1 ½” too long. Grandma decided she needed to do a quick hem job and Sommer was fascinated watching me thread the needle. She climbed up in my lap and really examined each stitch I was taking. After a few she said “I do it” and tried to take the needle from me. I told her it was too sharp and she should just watch. My next thought was: “I wish I had an old fashioned sewing card for her”, then: “where can I buy them nearby”, and this was followed quickly by “you own a paper punch – go find some cardboard” 😀 ! In a short amount of time she had colored on her card, I wrote her name on it and then found an old rainbow colored shoe lace. I took a video as she stitched, and you may click here to watch it. Here are a few pictures of Sommer sewing!

She loved it, and sewed, and re-sewed the card three times. She sure is grandma’s girl!

Quilting in the Northwoods

September 28, 2014 6 Comments

This past week I had the delightful opportunity to teach for the Northeast Iowa Quilt Guild’s retreat, held at a camp in Minnesota. I saw many “quilt blocks” hanging on barns along the way and was so pleased to find a lone star block on the Camp’s barn upon my arrival.

A portion of the quilters at the retreat were already set up and ready for me to begin my first class – Beyond Meandering. The room was big and light and a wonderful place for a sewing class/retreat:

I recognized Sue and she told me she had taken this class previously and was now a long-arm quilter. Praise the Lord! She was loving it and still using some of the designs I share in the class. She then showed me this sweet crib quilt she had quilted using a pre-printed panel:

Here’s a detail shot:

I really liked the way she left the insides of the circles un-quilted. What a great effect! That night I presented my “Gone to the Dark Side” lecture to a laughing crowd (I hope they were laughing with me and not at me :-).

The next day I taught my beginning Fiber Art class, called Parallelisms, and discovered a very creative group of quilters. Here are just a few in action (Aurora, Sabrina and Valeria – all the students get new names for their creative muses):

Just look at some of the wonderful designs the class came up with:

And this is only the beginning! We also discussed embellishing and finishing techniques.

I stayed on an extra night and this generous group invited me to make thread catchers and microwave hot pads along with them in a class taught by Sandy. We stitched and sewed into the night and had so much fun.

Saturday morning I began my 3 1/2 hour drive home. Autumn is my favorite season and we’ve had very little color change in the leaves in southeastern Wisconsin so far this year. I was hoping this trip north would give me a peek at the autumn colors I so love, but I was surprised to find that it was a late year for color everywhere I went. I saw a lot of green, but I did spy this tree in Lansing, Iowa, right along the Mississippi River.

That wasn’t all I saw in Lansing. The ladies at the retreat had recommended I make a stop at Horsfall’s Lansing Variety on Main Street, 2 blocks off the river. Horsfall’s actually has 2 stores, the one on the corner and the one under the arrow.

Horsfall’s was every bit as unique as they had described. Here’s the front door:

It is a popular place, and I did quite a bit of squeezing by other shoppers due to the size of the aisles:

They are truly a variety store. From one spot you can pick out yarn for your next knitting project, while getting your grandson a basketball hoop, and stocking up on toilet paper. What a hoot!

They carry embroidery floss (I recognized it as floss right away, but have been traveling so much I still haven’t decided what will become of my box of floss 🙂 )

and quilt batting (if you can reach it).

I’m told they had fabric at one time, but the owner’s wife didn’t like cutting the yardage.

I did find a few treasures I needed and Jesse checked me out. Can you find him among all the stuff?

Horsfall’s is famous for being unique. Jesse handed me a copy of a newspaper clipping that appeared in the Chicago Sun Times. Thanks to the North Iowa Quilters for the site-seeing suggestion!

Next I drove up the hill a ways in order to get a good view of the very narrow bridge that would take me back to Wisconsin.

After driving back down Main Street (and a quick stop at a great Estate Sale), I drove over the bridge and headed south on the Wisconsin side of Old Man River.

Then, a short ways down the road, I came upon an Amish “Country Faire” in the park just south of Ferrysville, WI. The black raspberry pie was delicious!

The weather was great, the sites wonderful, but the time spent with quilters was the best part of the adventure!

How is the autumn color in your neck of the woods?

Hanna and Willy’s I Spy Quilts

September 14, 2014 5 Comments

My two older grandchildren are now 8 and 6. You may remember Hanna from the quilts she’s made with me when they’ve come to visit from Washington (to read those previous posts, click here).

This was the year I decided to make them both “I Spy” bed quilts. So, I brought all the cut up “I Spy” fabric squares, batting and backing to Paducah and quilted all the 6″ squares. I blogged about that in a post last April (to read that one, click here 🙂 ).

I’ve been working at these quilts steadily, using Sharon Pederson’s Reversible Quilts technique, and I highly recommend her book (her blog is:

http://sharonpederson.blogspot.com/).

Once all the blocks were quilted (with “W’s” on Willy’s and “H’s” on Hanna’s), I laid each of them out in a pleasing arrangement. The backs of the squares were laid out to form a checkerboard on the back of the quilt. I then separated them into rows, and began stitching the rows together, using narrow strips of fabric to cover the seam allowances. The strips for the top side were folded in half lengthwise and the strips for the back were left flat.

The first step was to stitch both strips to the top and back of a quilted block.

Next, the back strip was sewn to the adjacent block.

Then the blocks were opened up and the top strip acted as a flap which was folded over the seam allowances. This was stitched down with a decorative stitch (sorry the fabrics in the blocks has changed. I forgot to take a picture of this step for the blocks above).

Here’s a picture of Willy’s quilt laid out and in progress (my granddaughter Sommer loved this part and “helped” me by crawling all over the squares and telling me what she “spied”):

You may have noticed that I threw a few 12″ squares into the mix for fun. Actually, after putting all the 6″ squares together, I must admit that making both quilts just from 12″ squares sounds very appealing. But, they’re all together, bordered and bound. Here’s Hanna’s from the front:And from the back.

I often say in my classes that whenever I think I’m hot stuff, the Lord humbles me. I was clipping along on Hanna’s quilt and pretty pleased with myself. Then, after all the blocks were together, I flipped it over to find that my checkerboard had not turned out as well as planned. You can see that the 12″ blocks interrupt the pattern, but that doesn’t cover up for the fact that some of the rows are just plain wrong. Or are they? I’ve decided that this new pattern is pretty and I’m sure Hanna will love it!

Here’s Willy’s from the front:

And from the back.

His checkerboard is better, but still not perfect.

I quilted the borders with words – a special message for each child that came from my heart. I’m hoping this will guarantee they’ll have to learn to read cursive!

So, two weeks ago, I was able to fly out to Washington to deliver the quilts to the kids. What a joy – and they really did love their quilts. We stayed together in a motel, swimming and doing lots of fun things. Here they are with their quilts the first night:

and on their beds at home (Miss Kitty liked Hanna’s quilt too!)

Willy made me promise to teach him to make a quilt the next time they come to Wisconsin. I can’t wait!!!

Spinning Stars

Merry Christmas and Quilts

Quilting a Sommer Quilt

Virtual Quilt Show – A Danish/American Challenge

And now the quilts!

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Here is our Virtual Quilt Show!

Floss Update

Floss Frenzy Challenge

And there will be prizes!

Facing a Quilt

Sommer Sews!

Quilting in the Northwoods

Hanna and Willy’s I Spy Quilts

My Guide

Contact Chris!

Blog

And now the quilts!

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Here is our Virtual Quilt Show!

Floss Frenzy Challenge

And there will be prizes!

Sommer Sews!

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My Guide

Contact Chris!