Quilting Studio Adventures
December, 2006 - I've been quilting since 1985. As my interest and commitment to quilting has grown, so has my need for space. That need became even more evident once I retired from teaching in Chicago and began to spend more time in my old studio. After a 4-month construction project, I now have the space of my dreams and my creative spirit is soaring.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Chaos vs. Productivity
Monday, October 26, 2009
For Edward
Edward is beginning his course of radiation and chemotherapy for lung cancer. He's a sharp dresser - nice coat, brimmed hat. But when he got in the car, he had an armful of various items. I'm driving him tomorrow, too, and giving him this bag. I think it looks manly.
Of course with each trip and patient, I think of Dodie and being her Week 5 driver for her radiation and chemotherapy. Perhaps that was the preparation for what I'm doing now.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A Favorite of Mine
The last few years I was at Kennedy High School I had my own small office, which had a big blank wall. This quilt was made in the fall of 2002 and gave me great joy. I love the green/black background of each Monkey Wrench block as well as the batiks. The crisp black and burgundy provide the perfect frame for these blocks. And setting these sashed blocks on point gives the quilt a great sense of drama. In June 2005 this quilt was given to Deb Ryder, the dynamic head of Kennedy's art department, in appreciation for all the fine work she does and how invaluable she was to the work that I did. 76" x 96"
Friday, October 23, 2009
Totes of Many Colors
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Amazing Technicolor Dream Tote
Question: What's the perfect sewing music for this pattern?
Answer: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!
Truly, when this bag is carried, it is a walking work of art.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A.D.D. Quilting
Newlyweds Tim and Kim Gibbons began the selection for their wedding quilt. Kim really liked Tumbling Blocks, and Tim is color-blind. He responds to values of a color rather than the color itself. So to create a 3-D effect, fabric selection is tricky. To see what I need I have to see what I have. Thus, the piles of various fabrics. These tumbling blocks will go on a black background.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
And now for something completely different...
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Let the Celebrating End!
It's nice to have birthdays, but it's also nice to have them over with and get back to normal!
Monday, October 5, 2009
A Simple Baby Quilt
One of the things I love about my quilt blog is that it's been a diary/record of what I have done. I know I should have been more diligent about keeping track of my work. Yesterday I was transferring a huge file of photos from my old laptop to a flash drive (lesson learned after losing all of my pictures from Turkey) and came across this quilt that I should have blogged about in March 2007. Cathy and I have been friends for over 50 years. Her daughters have married, and both have had 2 children. This quilt is for Cathy's only grandson Bradley. At the time I had just moved into my new quilting studio and was agog with projects and my college roommate's death. This quilt for Bradley is a simple one - horizontal stripes of varying widths of fabric - and simply quilted. This quilt may be simple, but the visual payoff is a big one. 44" x 60"Speaking of big payoffs, today is my husband John's 70th birthday. Huge in so many ways! His hands are barely visible at the top of Bradley's quilt.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
That Damned Elusive Free-Motion Quilting
I'm impressed by quilters who are able to do free-motion quilting. I've taken classes in free-motion quilting. I've practiced this technique without much success and have never felt confident or comfortable with it. And so I always resort to the safety of my walking foot when it's time to quilt.
Almost a year ago I met my quilting Doppelganger at a Fiber Arts show in Glencoe. Wayne is left-handed, has the same Husqvarna sewing machine, is drawn to geometric designs and modern fabrics, keeps a blog of his work, and quilts with the same passion I do. In our e-friendship we've discovered some amazing similarities. We have successfully incorporated his wife Wendy and my husband John into our friendship and have tried when we are with them to keep quilt talk and spousal eye-rolling to a minimum. One of the things Wayne does very very well is free-motion quilting.
Friday we got together for the first time as quilters and did our own workshop. Wayne coached me on the technique. And this bag is the result. I won't claim that I've mastered the technique, but the two sides of this oversized bag are a great start. I thank Wayne for helping me with the breakthrough of this technique!
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