Blog

Which Rulers Rule?

10 Comments

Time for another true confession. I not only own every marking tool ever made, but I collect quilting rulers too. Some are essential, some are not worth the money I paid for them, and some are just really nice for special times. My choice for essential? If I could only own one ruler (how awful that would be!) it would be a 6″ x 24″. I’m partial to Omnigrid™, but would take any that don’t include that pesky added 1/2″ (6 1/2″ x 24 1/2″). I like to have the freedom to measure from both sides of the ruler and that extra 1/2″ really drives me crazy.

#2 would have to be a 6″ square. These are my bare bones choices and I’m really grateful I don’t have to stop there. Bigger squares and other rectangles just make quilting easier. What about you? Which is your #1 choice?

 My third choice, hands down, would have to be the June Tailor Shape Cut™. I find this ruler great for beginners as well as seasoned quilters. I use it often! The size of it holds the fabric stable and the slots make cutting multiple strips and shapes a breeze. For a number of years I was blessed with the opportunity to do consulting work for June Tailor™. I would travel around the country demonstrating their products. It always amazed me how many people owned this ruler and didn’t know all it could do….. and with great accuracy! Perhaps that’s a topic for another post.

We haven’t even touched the surface of the specialty ruler domain. These are rulers that are helpful for one particular pattern or technique. I have a favorite here too, but want to save it for my Thursday post. Do you have a favorite specialty ruler? Please share if you do!

Quilting in Alaska

8 Comments

What a wonderful adventure! Quiltina and I met Evelyn at the Madison airport on a Tuesday afternoon and we arrived in Anchorage after 10pm (it was still light out!). Evelyn’s sister, Hazel, met us there and drove us to her home in Soldatna – 3 hours away. Needless to say, it was a late night :-).
 Hazel and Eddie generously opened their beautiful cabin in the woods to us and made me feel like part of the family.  

My residence was in an “apartment” they’ve built over the garage which consisted of my bedroom, bath and the living room which is Hazel’s quilting studio. The three of us actually spent many happy hours there stitching :-). 

During the next 12 days we shared fun, fellowship, good food, beautiful sites and a lot of quilt related activities. It is so wonderful to visit a new area with friends who live there. 

I had the blessed opportunity to teach 4 different classes. My Mariner’s Compass class, held for a quilting group which meets at a church in Soldatna, went so well that they invited me back the following week to teach Free Motion Quilting. 

I taught 2 Replique classes. One at a friendly quilt shop in Seward called Sew ‘n Bee Cozy. A lovely shop and a great class!

The other Replique class was taught at the Eagle’s Roost Lodge. The owners, Ken and Patty, even treated us to a boat ride up the Kenai River. What fun!

Thanks to everyone who made these classes possible and to the students – who were not only fun, but taught me a lot.

I’m finally unpacked, so that I can begin to repack for 3 days of teaching at Nancy’s Notions Quilting Expo in Madison, WI. I hope to see many of you there!

PS I was able to spend 3 days at the end of the trip visiting my grandchildren in Washington. Hanna, Willy and I had so much fun that I couldn’t resist this final picture of our day at a children’s museum. What a blessing!

On the Road Again

2 Comments

This Tuesday Quiltina and I will be flying to Alaska with my dear friend Evelyn Link. Her sister, Hazel Robinson, has arranged for me to teach a few classes there. What a blessing these 2 quilters are to me! Hazel has graciously invited us to stay with her for almost 2 weeks. There’ll be time for sightseeing, stitching, giggling and really getting to know each other. What a delightful opportunity. I’m very excited :-). 

So, I’ll be unable to blog, but I’m hoping to come up with some good topics to share when I return.

By the way, if you’re wondering who Quiltina is I’d be happy to introduce her. You may have heard about “Flat Stanley”. He’s a cardboard cut out schoolkids take/send all over and then write about his adventures. Well, Wendy Rieves and I lead quilting tours in the US and Europe. Prior to our last trip I mentioned to Wendy that we needed a quilterly version of Flat Stanley to accompany us on our travels and her fruitful imagination created Quiltina:

Here we are beneath an olive tree in the South of France! This fall Quiltina will be joining us in Ireland. God is so good!

Inspiration Time

7 Comments

Quilters can be inspired by so many different things – nature, books, patterns and even blogs. The possibilities are just about limitless. Art quilters have many different sources of inspiration. Much of my fiber art is inspired by my relationship with Jesus. Last year the quilt I made for the Milwaukee Art Quilter’s challenge: “Portals” was an example of my faith being the inspiration for a quilt.

It is entitled “The Narrow Gate” and represents a portal to heaven through the cross. The leaves on the tree are printed with Scripture verses explaining this amazing gift. Portals won first place in the Ultimate Guild Challenge at the AQS show in Knoxville last year!

What inspires you? I believe many of you are often inspired by taking classes because that’s how we met. On Thursday I’ll touch on some of the exciting, new classes I’ve planned for the Fall. Until then I’d enjoy hearing about your inspirations! Please click on “comment” and share.

Time Eater II

3 Comments

This past Spring our local PBS station decided to have a judged quilt contest entitled “Quilting As Art”. Awards were given to the winning quilts and all of the entries were then put in the channel 10 Great TV Auction to raise funds to support the station. My quilt, Strange Brew (made for a “tea” challenge), won 3rd place – praise the Lord! I was thrilled, but so much more than the support of PBS and a bit of prize money came out of it.

My local newspaper did a very nice article about Strange Brew and my quiltmaking. A neighbor, whom I had only met once, saw the article and sent me a lovely letter commenting on the article and my website and adding that she was a beginner quilter. Well, we just had to get together for a cup of tea!

Diahann Lohr is a very talented graphic artist who has her own business, Adunate Word and Design. She creates blogs and websites for others. This led to a delightful, old fashioned barter. She guided me in the creation of this blog and I helped her make a lone star quilt. To see her beautiful quilt and read more about our successful bartar, please visit her blog at: Adunate Blog.

All this led to this week’s topic and I thank everyone who commented for their input and suggestions. I’m taming the “time eating beast” dilemma the same way Di is, by doing my “social networking” at night when I would otherwise be watching tv or puzzling over Sudoku. This way I feel I’m doing something constructive with my late night time (my husband’s already asleep by then) and I truly do enjoy it. If you need a website or blog and are not a night owl who enjoys being on the computer – you may want to contact my new and dear friend Diahann!

 

PS I belong to a very talented group called the Milwaukee Art Quilters. We just found out that 8 quilts from our latest challenge: “Connecting Thread – a Line of Design”, won first place in the Ultimate Guild Challenge at the AQS Quilt Show in Knoxville. This is the second year in a row we’ve won a blue ribbon there and we’re all very excited.

Briefly, the rules stated that each quilt had to have a red line enter on the left, do something in the middle and exit on the right with enough line left to attach to the next quilt. My quilt, “Risen”, was not one of the 8 that traveled to Knoxville, but is one of 17 in the challenge which we hope to exhibit often in the future. “Risen” is pictured above and the red “line” outlines the Celtic Knotwork. To see all the challenge quilts and read the rules, please visit our brand new blog: www.milwaukeeartquilters.wordpress.com.

Time Eater

8 Comments

Quilting has been my delight since 1987 and the joy of teaching entered my life shortly thereafter. About 8 years ago I discovered that the internet would be a great way to exchange information about the classes and lectures I offered. I decided I needed to hire someone to teach me how to be the keeper of my own website and, thanks to Peter Queen, www.chrisquilts.net was born. It has been a real blessing to me. Besides class/lecture info I have descriptions and supply lists posted that can easily be “copy and pasted”, which saves me time, printing and postage. With the passing of time I realized what an exciting opportunity my website provided in getting the word out about the “Sew We Go” adventures Wendy Rieves and I lead throughout the US and Europe. Thus I felt I was really on top of the quilt/web connection.

Since then a whirlwind of change and uses for the internet has occurred and I was left in its dust. I had no intention of blogging, but the Lord had other plans :-). I’ll share that story in my Thursday post.

The big downside I’ve discovered with the computer is that it quickly eats time out of my life!!! I do enjoy writing my blogs and reading those of others, but that’s time I could be spending with my Babylok! How do you deal with this dilemma??? Keeping them close to each other in the studio helps, but I really need more :-). Help!

Photographing Quilts II

6 Comments

I did it! I put bindings on both crib sized UFO and they’re ready to donate! But, before they go I’ve decided I had better take pictures for my records.

Here are my favorite tips using a simple, point & shoot digital camera:

1. The design wall in my studio is made from two 4′ x 6′ pieces of styrofoam insulation.  Many quilters cover their design walls with flannel because the fabric “sticks” to it, but so does every loose thread. Because I want to photograph on these boards as well as design, I covered them with the cheapest charcoal gray polyester I could find on the discount rack at Joann Fabrics. The colors of my quilts read true against the gray and the threads don’t cling to the polyester and show in my pictures. These walls are easy to move outside (my next favorite tip) and when they are next to each other there’s enough surface area to hang a bed sized quilt.

2. Photograph with natural light (outside) if possible. The ideal weather is bright overcast with very little wind. Avoid direct sunlight/high noon. My garage faces north and the doors are recessed about 6″, so I lean the board(s) inside the recess to protect it from wind and the lighting is good in the afternoon even on a sunny day.

3. The camera needs to be steady, so use a tripod or, if you don’t have one, place the camera (safely) on the appropriate height step of a ladder. One extra hint that can make a big difference is to remember that the design wall is leaning and by tipping the camera to match the angle (fairly easy with a tripod), the quilt will remain square in the picture.

4. I usually take a few snaps with the flash and few without. Then I can choose the best result.

This is certainly not a comprehensive coarse in photography and I’m no camera expert, but my quilts have been accepted into some big shows using these techniques. Even if you’re just shooting the quilts for your own inventory, its a blessing to have good quality pictures.

Photographing Quilts

2 Comments

Before I get to my new topic of the week, I have one more UFO comment. Cheryl Anderson and I were recently discussing Pam’s comment that she thinks of UFO as opportunities. Cheryl took this to another level and now calls her UFO – Utterly Fabulous Opportunities! I wish I’d thought of that! Please visit her blog for more of her insights (Cheryl’s Chatelaine in the Blogroll).

Now to something new: years ago my dear friend, Necia Wallace, gave me some excellent instructions for photographing my quilts. She had spent some time as a professional photographer  and her advice has been invaluable.

Some of you may say you don’t need to take pictures of your quilts, but I beg to differ. Taking pictures along the path of your quilting life is a great way to keep track of how many you’ve made and how much you’ve improved. My memory is not what it used to be and scanning through my pictures is a happy trip down memory lane.

Speaking of a trip down memory lane – this is the only picture I have of my very first quilt. It was made in 1987, in a beginner sampler class taught by Sharon Grieve (now Grinyer). I entered it in the Sun Prairie quilt show and, even though it didn’t win anything, I was so proud (can’t you tell). This was way before digital and took a bit of guts to share :-).

I still have this quilt, but it was made to be used and it’s been loved into a much shabbier condition.

Many of us also need to take pictures of our work in order to enter competitions. This is when quality photography is very important, but no matter what the reason, if you’re going to do something, I feel its worth doing it right.

I plan to share my tips and tricks for quilt photography with a simple “point and shoot” camera in my Thursday post. Until then I’d love to hear from anyone who wants to share. Do you have questions on how to make your pictures better? Do you have a simple/easy way to get good results? Please comment if you dare :-)!