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I just finished making a gift for a friend (who loves vegetables and fruit) -- here is the block I designed, appliqued, and quilted (by machine) for her quilt:
I hope this turnip is suitably homely. (grin) Turnips (raw, fresh from the ground) are one of my favorites. :)
I forgot to include a photo of Maria's baby quilt that I promised to share. I do think this is a bright, happy quilt:
Snow flurries today at the store. They look so pretty (and they don't stick:). What great weather for staying inside and quilting! :)
I sent four of my quilts off to be hung in the Courthouse quilt show in Annapolis on Tuesday. I think the show opens on Feb 4th (more details when I get them) -- I must say I was honored to be asked to contribute. :)
I managed to get here to the store by 9:30 am this morning (my staff will tell you that is remarkable, in and of itself:) so that I could attend Mimi's Baltimore Basics class (missed the last session 'cause I was sick). I so enjoy taking Mim's classes! I am taking this one so I will actually make the blocks from her new book (I really like the clean lines and simplicity of these designs). I learned at least two new tips from Mimi today (about doing hand applique) -- always more great things to learn in this life. :)
We have a few new fabrics this week:
This one (above) is one of three colorways of the February Emporer's Collection II -- the other two are royal blue and deep rosy pink/red. I particularly like this print -- anything with cranes on it gets my attention. :)
This is a small scale background type print with tiny birds flocking. It came with two darkish 'shirt' prints that I could not get a decent photo of (sigh).
There are an entire flock of new books in stock this week:
This is the third book in a series of easy-to-make quilt designs called 'around the block'.
This one has some great ideas for quick book cover gifts -- notebooks, journals, checkbooks, etc. Even a sketchbook with pencil holders on the inside flap.
Anka's quilts are traditional style but quite charming -- just thumbing through the pages, there are several that say "I'm cozy, wrap up in me!" to me. :)
This is just plain cute! Lots of great ideas for working with even very young children to make quick but arty quilts that they can participate with -- an all-too-rare event in young children's education these days. This book has ideas for every month and holiday for using painted handprints to generate kids art. Great gifts and truly fun for a record of your child's youth.
Want to set a breath-taking sideboard for your next party? This is definitely the ticket -- what lovely table runners! Four designs in this book and very detailed instructions.
Here is an interesting new product from the Golden Threads quilting people -- motifs for machine quilting. Here is a closeup of one of them:
I have definitely got to try these patterns!
I took the time to scan through this book and I'm quite impressed. The author is Australian and clearly has quite a lot of experience with making landscape quilts that shimmer and capture the attention. It is chiefly a technique book (including some excellent, very detailed instructions for painting your own background skies) -- there are a few patterns included for you to try her ideas before you branch out into your own. I'm buying this one. :)
Ruth McDowell is dedicated to machine piecing -- she is a Master Piecer, without any doubt. This is a workbook, very like taking an in-depth class with Ruth, of her piecing techniques. Impressive.
This would be a good beginner's project (or a good way to feature novelty or speciality prints)!
Who knew there could be so many good ways to make what seems to me to be a fairly simple design? Great ideas for those of you who would like to tackle this subject. :)
What a chilly day today has been! The wind is roaring down from the north as if there was a race. :P Cold air and moving coldly. I'm soooo glad I could stay inside today!
I spent almost the entire day on administrative duties -- finding and charging out donations to various quilt guilds for coming shows (lots of things have to happen behind the scenes for all those great spring shows!:), working on the March schedule ... and trying to finish the design for a coupon book to sell to customers in March. I went off and did a little research to find out what various national 'holidays' there are, which didn't help me very much. (National Eye Care Month? Well, I guess that applies to quilters, too, but how do you focus a sale event on that?:).
One bright spot in our day -- Arlene was here sewing and made all the pieces for a very nice Nine Patch Pizzaz quilt using an Asian print:
Aside from the suddenly cold weather, this has been a rather pleasant week here in Catonsville/Columbia. Of course, this is just in comparison with last week when I spent three days in bed with the flu. :P I shared my progress on the Hollyhock quilt top during Lois Smith's Advanced Critique class on Tuesday afternoon -- I am actually planning to have that quilt finished by our meeting next month. (determined!)
We have oodles of new fabric in the shop that I want to share with you. I probably have missed a few bolts here and there since I've been out of 'it' for a while. :P
First (and my favorites), we have a whole set of Japanese neutral prints (think "Daiwabo" style). I don't think my photography really shows the colors very well - they are soft, appealing prints with very gentle lines ... and the quilts you can make with them are extremely elegant.
There are also some beautiful solid colored cotton brocades in six/seven luscious colors. These are true woven brocades (no tearing). I'm not sure you can really see the print in this photo:
Here are some lovely soft prints in the style of the early 19th century, called Alexandra:
A smaller-than-usual scale Oriental print of cherry tree boughs:
One elegant white-on-white print (backgrounds):
Speaking of elegant, here is an Alexander Henry print of very dressed up kitties (makes me giggle and be solemn at the same time:):
Here are two colorways of a very lovely background print from Ellie Sienkevitch of Baltimore Album fame. The inked motifs could be appliqued or pieced into any quilt and the script print in the middle is lovely:
Humerous and realistic all at once, for those of you who love them:
Evoking a Rare Day in early June, a pair of wild rose prints:
A pair of sweet juvenile train prints:
One of the special treats we get (all too rarely:) is show and tell -- Sue Vanvorhees came in today and shared with us her version of a Baltimore applique quilt. She used an oriental background print and some very bright fabrics -- took her five years but she finally finished this. Jan Carlson wrote the pattern and taught the class here at Seminole, but this is definitely Sue's quilt:
Several years ago (I'm not sure how many -- five? six?) I started a project. At the time, I think I had in mind that it would be a gift ... since I've forgotten for whom I had intended the quilt, it is now a gift for me. (sad smile) I did all the applique and pieced the body of this small wall hanging -- all that needs to be done is to piece and attach the border, quilt and bind the piece. This is one of the unusual pieces I've done that are from some one else's designs --- in this case, by Nancy Odham from a book named something like Spring Valley.
The flower shown is a hollyhock (they always remind me of my mother who loves hollyhocks and has had them growing in her garden as far back as I can remember). I think I may have chosen this design because it reminded me so of her. :)
I spent much of today piecing the little squares around the outside edges -- the design calls for a simple square-in-square design for the outside pieced border. I think there needs to be more flower color there, so I made a few blocks with little nine patches inside using the darker pink fabric. The rest of the border blocks will be made with the tiny calico print in a simple square, as the design calls for using.
It was a pleasure to work on this quilt today -- it has been calling to me from it's dark drawer ever since I put it away and stopped working on it. Maybe I'll have this one done before the real hollyhocks start blooming in early summer? :)
