Tag Archives: quilter

Quilt Artist to Word Artist

What happens when your brain has “quilt overload?”

Sometimes a quilter just needs to take a break from quilting. A break from planning, cutting, and stitching. We need to get away from the sewing room, for just a bit. Completely away, no quilt meetings, no quilt magazines. What do we do when we need that break?

Read?

Now there are several authors who write books with quilts in them. They are good books, in fact I will be reviewing some of them later this summer. However, for something completely different, a book that is pure enjoyment, allow me to introduce Mariam Kobras, former quilt artist turned word artist.

I told someone the other day that my review could be short, sweet and simple, “It’s a good book, buy it and read it.”

Unfortunately, that doesn’t make for much of a blog post, or tell you anything about the book. Naomi Carlsson is a “poor little rich girl” in one sense, but she is so much more. Her parents own the world-famous Carlsson Hotels and she is expected to take over the running of them.

Yeah, right. Remember when you were eighteen? Did you have dreams? Did they coincide with what your parents, or society thought you should do? What did you do? WAITING FOR A SONG is Naomi’s story of growth, and independence.

Everyone expected her to become engaged today. After all, it is her eighteenth birthday and her soon-to-be fiance has been waiting years for her to be old enough. Except, she’s not sure she wants to marry him, and there is not a crown prince available for her. Which is a good thing, since she doesn’t want to marry a prince either.

Naomi isn’t the demure little thing her parents and future husband, Seth want to make her into. When Seth, knowing she loves to ride, gives her the gift of a horse, a pedigree Arabian, it reinforces Naomi’s idea that he isn’t the man for her. Especially since her favorite mount is a stallion Apollo. She thinks the Arabian looks like a puppy and has no interest in it. Shouldn’t the man she marries know her and understand her love of Apollo, and how she would view the difference between the two horses?

The horse issue is one more piece of evidence that those who profess to love her don’t know her and only view her as possession, something valuable and needing to be safe guarded at all costs. She feels as though she’s bound with golden shackles, and smothered in loving protection Naomi is her own person and knows her own mind. From riding Apollo and feeling the wind in her hair to following her dream of song writing Naomi begins to find her way out of the maze of concern and protection her parents have hidden her in.

WAITNG FOR A SONG, is Naomi’s story. It’s more than a romance, it’s more than a coming of life story. It is a story we are all know and have experienced to some degree. It is also a bit of a fantasy, imagine running away from home in style, aboard a jet plane and having the opportunity to see some of your fantasies come true.

Would you take that chance? Would you leave behind all that is familiar to you for the adventure of the unknown?

Unlike most books that are part of a series, WAITING FOR A SONG, which is Mariam’s fourth book (I think, I’ve lost track,) stands on its own and does not need the previous books to be understood, or enjoyed. Although, if you haven’t read the earlier books, now you will want to.

For a change of pace, take a break from quilting and read the entertaining works of quilt artist turned word artist, Mariam Kobras.

Norman Quilting – A to Z Challenge

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We’ve been everywhere.

Ok, not exactly. However, in the last few days we have visited, Kentucky, Texas, Iowa, Colorado, and there are still more faraway places to visit before the month is out.

Today though we’re going to stay a little closer to home.

Norman Oklahoma is just down the road from my house, a short ninety-minute drive (more or less.) Norman is also the home of that college (Oklahoma University), and my uncle was named after the town.

Most important though, Norman is the home of the Norman Area Quilters, a wonderful group of ladies.

This year two quilt shows will be held in Norman. The first is the Cleveland County Homemakers show on May 9-10 at the fairgrounds.

Later in the summer, June 20-21 at the Holiday Inn off of I-35.

It will be fun to visit both of those show this year, and share pictures of some of their beautiful work.

Does your quilt guild or group sponsor a quilt show?

How far do you have to travel to visit the quilt show nearest you?

Have you visited every quilt show in your state?

Join me on Facebook.

Joining the A to Z challenge. Check out the list of bloggers, we are blogging on every subject imaginable.

Quilting In Jackson – A to Z Challenge

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J – Jackson

The wonderful bloggers over at the A to Z challenge are responsible for today’s post about the letter J.

Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash weren’t talking about Jackson Wyoming when they sang the song, “Jackson.” At least I don’t thing so. If they were, they sure weren’t singing about the quilts available there.

However, for the J portion of my quilty travels, Jackson Hole Wyoming and the quilt festival is where I hope to be headed in October.

According to the website there will be classes, vendors and quilts, I’m hoping lots and lots of quilts. On the way too and from Jackson Hole I can stop off in Colorado, probably have to go through there anyway. And enjoy some of this scenery:

Lake in the hills of Colorado.

Once I get to Jackson Hole, I can soak up the beauty of the quilts on display and learn from some of the talented instructors available:

Natalia Bonner, author and free-motion quilter. Oh yeah, I hope to learn something from her. My free motion quilting is questionable to say the least.

Barbara Olson, fiber artist. Check out her work on her website. While I’m not an artistic quilter, she may change my mind.

Charlotte Warr-Anderson, quiltist. Her word. She is known for her portraits in fabric in which she uses intricate applique. She has also been featured on been The Quilt Show.

Carole Liebzeit is a local quilter and will be sharing her varied talents with those attending the festival. Susan Garrity designs floral, abstract, wildlife, and landscape art quilt often using fabric she dyed.

When I’m all filled up with gorgeous quilts and my brain is stuffed with new lessons another stop in Colorado to visit with a few of my grandsons will top off the trip.

Have you ever taken a class at a quilt show?

What would be your dream location to attend a quilt show?

Have you ever combined a quilt show visit with another fun activity?

I is for International Quilt Show

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I

is for the International Quilt Show in Houston Texas.

2nd Place Novice quilt by
Lilija Kostenko, Netherlands

The show runs for a week, and every day is needed. There is so much to see and absorb.

Pictures and memories from the 2012 show have had to sustain me, as I missed last year’s show. This year though, I plan to attend.

The show has everything; international quilts, like the winning quilt shown above, unusual displays, vendors, and more quilt.

Since the show is held the first of November, sometimes it runs into October and Halloween. That happened in 2012 and some of the vendors, to add a little more fun to the event wore “Halloween things.” Like this vendor with the spider on her head.

Spiders don’t stop us from quilting

I’m guessing they have fun and unusual displays every year. They certainly did in 2012. Ever seen a quilted Yurt? Goodness, I’d never even seen a Yurt except on television.

And another view

A quilted Yurt

The Quilted Yurt was the brain child, and work of Linzi Upton. If I didn’t live in windy Oklahoma I’d consider constructing one for myself.

One of the quilts on the inside of the yurt

Amid all the quilts is the opportunity to see live and in person a quilt mentioned, or shown on Facebook, or in a blog. Like this quilt, Anni in the Modern Quilt Showcase by Heather Jones, a quilter and blogger I follow.

In addition to seeing all the cool quilts, learning about new tools, and meeting new people is the opportunity to actually participate in the show. In 2012 they had a mug rug exchange. Quilters brought a mug rug to contribute, and took a mug rug home. Very fun to see even if I didn’t have a rug to exchange.

Aren’t they pretty. I especially like the egg shaped ones. The International Quilt Show in Houston is definitely on my list of quilty places to visit.

Have you ever been to the Houston Quilt show?

What would you enjoy most about going to the International Quilt Show?

What would scare you the most about going?

This month I am participating in the A to Z challenge. I hope you’ll visit some of the other bloggers following the alphabet with their posts.

Reading Break for Quilters

Introduction to Quilting 001

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Yes, I know, classes usually have a one in front of them, as in Quilting 101, not Quilting 001. But, we’re talking basic basics here. The simplest of simple.

Quilting 001 will walk the fearful quilter into the quilt world maize one step at a time. Before long you’ll be walking around, not getting lost, but trying new things. So come along. Let’s make a quilt.

First, the rules. Rules? What rules? We don’t need rules tangling us up. Right, we’re going to ignore most of the quilt rules. Shhh, don’t let the quilt police hear about this. However there are a few pointers that will make your foray into the quilt world more enjoyable.

Ready? Here we go:

1. Relax, this is your first quilt. Most likely it isn’t destined to become a heirloom quilt for your grandchild. No, this will be a simple wall hanging, lap quilt, or warm cover on your bed.

Basically you’re making a blanket, relax and enjoy the process.

2. Remember that acronym KISS, keep it super simple? That’s a good plan for a first quilt. Keep the pattern and quilt simple.

If you have to fight to get the curves right on a Drunkard’s Path, struggle to keep the points sharp on a star block, or spend more time unsewing than sewing, you’ll be tempted to throw the whole thing down in disgust and walk away from the joy of quilting. It’s your quilt, if you want to go with an intricate pattern, I’m certainly not going to stop you. For the rest of you, a quilt made with simple squares will work just fine.

3. No fancy equipment needed.

Scissors to cut the fabric, or a rotary cutter and mat if you have one. Either works well.
Pattern or instructions. You wouldn’t try driving in a strange town without a gps or map would you? Ok, I would and you might too. But, really, the gps, or quilt instructions make life much easier.
Fabric, you’ll need something for the backing, batting for the middle, and of course, fabric to make your top. We’ll discuss fabric choices and where to find your fabric in a later “class.”
Iron, and ironing board (or a folded towel on a cabinet works well too.) Nothing special, the iron you already own is perfect.
Needle and thread or sewing machine and thread, your choice. Whichever works for you, again, it’s your quilt.

Pins. Straight pins to hold your fabric together before you sew it and safety pins to hold all three layers together when you’re ready to quilt it.

4. Decide on your level of perfection. Some people (most) strive to have their quilt seams match up perfectly. They may have one “fault” in the quilt, one they purposely put in, but other than that their quilts look like works of perfection. I, on the other hand, am the Imperfect Improv quilter, I don’t care if my seams don’t match. Sometimes I go out of my way to make sure they don’t match by making a quilt with off-set seams. You may fall at either end of the spectrum, or somewhere in the middle. Decide what you can live with, and don’t worry about little mistakes that fall within your acceptability level.

5. Use fabric of similar weight and quality. This will help your quilt wears more evenly.

Five Components of a Quilt Show

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A few of the 103 quilt items on displ

“There’s nothing to having a quilt show. We just hang some quilts and people come look at them. ” Ever heard those words, or similar words when considering sponsoring a quilt, or craft show, or a book fair?

If you have, you can gently inform the speaker there are at least 5 items you must consider to help ensure you have have a good event.

1. Location, there must be some place to display all your beautiful work. A location that can be secured if the show is more than one day, and one that will protect the quilts from the whims of mother nature. Finding a location for the quilt show is paramount.

2. Date and Time. When will you have the show? A date and time that works best can take a lot of discussion and consideration. In Oklahoma, we don’t schedule a quilt show on the same weekend as the OU/Texas or OU/OSU football games. Attendance will be low. Figure out the dates that will work best for your group. After you have a date, you’ll need to have the open and closing times for your show. How early will you open and how late will you stay? These vary from show to show and area.

3. Display Method – How will you display your different sized, and types of quilt and quilty items? Poll your members, someone will have the perfect idea of a display method that works best for your group.

4. Workers – Ah yes, the backbone of any group endeavor, people to actually do the work. Luckily most groups have enough members that the workload can be shared with no one having to hang the quilts, work the guest book, monitor the guests (no touching the quilts), do the advertising, design the programs, and any other jobs necessary. More people participating makes for a better show for everyone, guests and hosts.

5. Advertising – No one will see all your hard work and beautiful projects if they don’t know about them. Advertising will draw new people to your show, and introduce them to your group. It is vital for even the smallest show.

Our quilt group, The Material Girlz, had our first annual show in June. We had 103 items on display. Too many for our small space, but we were so excited to have a full show and not a half-empty room with too-few quilts. We learned much about putting on a show, and over the next five Mondays, I’ll explore a little more in-depth each of the five major components of having a successful show.

Has your quilt group ever sponsored a show? Share your favorite tips in the comments.

Brave Enough

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Once again linking up with Lisa Jo Baker and others for Five Minute Friday.

I promised myself I’d start back up with the Five Minute Friday in May. Here is it Saturday, and the Five Minute Friday post for yesterday is just now going up. But, better late than not at all.

Brave

We often think and even say someone is brave, much braver than we’d be in the same circumstances.

But, here’s the thing, we’re as brave as we need to be at any given moment if we just allow ourselves to be.

When God called my husband home, several of my friends said, “Oh, I don’t know how you do it. I don’t know what I’d do if it was me.” And then later when I’d do something different, “You are so brave.”

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

First no one knows what we’d do in someone else’s shoes. We haven’t been there yet so how can we know? I certainly didn’t know what I’d do when left alone. Not completely alone of course, God was always with me, and my husband’s memory stays. But, physically, alone.

I just took one step at a time. Sometimes not even whole steps. Sometimes not even steps, I just stood still and let God hold me up. But, one day, one hour, one minute at a time, I muddle through.

It’s the same for everyone. Whatever their challenge, we all bravely face it a piece at a time.

The same way we make a quilt, even a difficult one. We do one row, one block, one patch at a time.

There are quilts I haven’t gotten brave enough to tackle yet, maybe I never will. Yet, there are others that I do with relish. Brave as I need to be for the project at hand.

We are as brave as we need to be at the moment. Don’t worry that you don’t have the bravery of someone else, you don’t need it yet. What are you bravely facing today?

Linking up with Lisa Jo Baker

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

and Boost your Blog.

Using Zig Zag in Quilts

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Applique, using zig zag stitching and pieced quilt for the grands.

Thanks to Calico Connections for reminding me that a zig-zag stitch is often used in quilting.

I’d planned to write about the Zig-Zag quilt which some call the Chevron, and can be made with half-square triangles. The problem is I don’t have my Zig-Zag quilt finished, which means no picture.

However, thanks to Calico, I remember that the zig-zag stitch can be used to piece batting together. By bunting two pieces of batting together and using a wide zig zag stitch we can make our batting dollars go further, and not have extra bulk in our quilt.

I also use the zig zag stitch when adding binding. Because, I often either leave my backing big enough to fold over the edges, then using a zig zag or decorative stitch, sew it to the top, or I add the binding backwards. By backwards I mean, most quilters sew their binding to the front of the quilt and fold it over to hand-stitch on the back, I do the opposite. I sew the binding to the back of the quilt, and fold it over to the front and once again zig zag or decorative stitch it down.

The zig zag stitch is also one of the ways to attach an applique. Since I seldom do applique, and when I do it’s for a project that will be used and washed, often, I want the applique to stay put. I usually call it a satin stitch because the zigs are so close to the zags. A satin stitch is, essentially, a zig zag.

The quilt at the top of this post is one made for one of my little grandsons, and his younger brother, and cousins have a similar quilt, they all have several applique blocks.

Not only was the zig zag stitched used to hold the appliques in place, but it was used a decorative, or defining stitch on the hats and the frog.

The frog block. The frog is one piece, the legs are defined with zig zag stitching. The swirling water around the frog is just my unusual quilting.

That’s it. We’ve come to the end of the month, and the end of the alphabet. I managed to post about every letter, although some times not exactly on the correct day. But, hey, I’m making progress.

I’ve enjoyed meeting some of the other bloggers in the challenge, and found a few new ones to follow. I hope you did too.

For next month, something different, but I’ll wait and tell you about them tomorrow.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this alphabet series. How often do you use zig zag in your quilts?

Are Yo-Yo Tops Really Quilts?

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All quilts are not created equal.

The first time I saw a picture of a Yo-Yo quilt I didn’t quite understand it. It didn’t look like any quilt I’d seen before. It had holes in it.

Okay. To be fair they weren’t “holes” they were spaces not filled in with fabric. Still, they looked like holes to me and I couldn’t imagine why anyone would make a quilt top that, when finished would have the batting sticking out.

A Yo-yo top is a collection of gathered circles sewn together. While they can be sewn into a pattern, most y0-yos are a lighter version of the patchwork quilt.

A completed YoYo quilt from 2 sisters quilting. The green showing through between the circles (yo-yos) is the background of whatever the quilt is on.

The description I read at the time said these “quilts” were for summer, and topped a colored sheet. At the time, it just looked like an unfinished quilt to me. I’ve since learned more about them and appreciate them for their time and beauty.

While they are not quilts, there is only the one layer, possibly two if the top is stitched to a backing. They are beautiful, and have their own stories just as their “real” quilt sisters.

I wonder if a yo-yo top wasn’t someone’s idea of a pretty, light weight top similar to a crocheted bedspread, or tablecloth. Maybe the first yo-yo maker couldn’t afford all the thread to crochet a pretty top. Maybe she didn’t know how to crochet, but she wanted something light-weight, and airy for summer.

Just imagine a woman looking at her pile of scraps and her naked table, or a heavy quilt on her bed in the heat of the summer. She could sew, but really didn’t want a “quilt” to dress her table, and she wanted/needed something lightweight for her bed.

She began to experiment, after all isn’t that how we get most of our patterns, experimenting? Maybe she had made the yo-yos before as a decoration.

Now, however, she sews them together and before long, viola! A pretty, airy table covering, or bed topper.

The sheet that served as cover for the hot Oklahoma nights could be made prettier by topping it with the yo-yo top.

Now, I don’t really know how a yo-yo top came into being, why or how they were first used. I do know they are beautiful, and perfect for someone who loves to do handwork. That wouldn’t be me. I’ll just enjoy the yo-yo tops others make.

What about you? Do you have a yo-yo top? Have you ever made one?

This post was for the letter Y in the A to Z blogging challenge. Tomorrow is the last day of the month and, of course, Z will be the letter of the day. Hope you’ve enjoyed some of the many blogs who joined the challenge.