Pat Wys Workshop

Last week my guild had a workshop and trunk show with Pat Wys, Silver Thimble Quilt Company.

She wrote two book on using Neutrals.  Now I'm usually a brights or reproduction fabric fan (I know two polar opposites) but I really liked Pat's quilts.  Definitely something I'll try - most likely when I have to make a "guy" quilt!

Pat demonstrated several different techniques during the day while folks sewed on the quilt pattern they selected.  So we had lots of different colorways (ya, purple can be a neutral to some folks!)

It was fun to see the different quilts coming together.

The trunk show was wonderful...she and her husband brought lots of quilts!

I loved her Christmas book...ya, she brought lots of patterns and books!  And it is never to early to start stitching for the holidays...my Grandmother started on New Years Day!

So I bought some neutrals at the Hancock's going out of business sale and added a couple from the stash that I will use on a quilt soon....

One week until Halloween!

I really like Halloween and though I don't go as overboard as some in my neighborhood I do like to get some decorations out!

This year I went the easy route and just used several pumpkins and lots of mums.  For the entryway I put out a small display of fun Halloween things - including my witches hat stitched up a few years ago using a  Crabapple Hill design.

So no surprise that this week I ordered the new Salem Quilt Guild Mystery row from Crabapple Design!

This design combines embroidery and crayon work on fabric.  It has been a long time since I tried that.  Anyway, it should be a great take-along/travel project!

I also succumbed to another book.  My friend Shannon sat at the same table as me at retreat and she was working on this quilt, Farm Girl Vintage,  by Lori Holt.  It is so stinkin' cute!  My rational?  I have so much 30's fabric in my stash and I really should just use it...(how does that one work?!)

On the "current quilting events" side...I am still working hard on getting things ready for the show.  Only 1-1/2 more bindings, a sleeve, three labels and half a quilt to quilt....getting close!!

While I am on a roll I may just slip this little quilt under the needle.

Was planning to hand quilt it but there are so many seams...

Bits and bobs...

I noticed there were lots of photos in my "for blog" file that just never made it into a post...hence my title - "bits and bobs."  (One of those British expressions that I love!)

A new cork board for my sewing room and a block I've been playing with...

My quilting buddies celebrated my birthday a few weeks late...I had a birth-month this year!

220 charm squares in a bowl!

Each of them cut 55 6-1/2 inch blocks for me!  I have quite a pile now!

My sister Mary Ellen sent me this precious wall hanging for my new sewing room...

and her husband Dave turned this bowl out of Maple.

 They also sent hot-dog rolls...the New England kind!  (flat on each side...)

Still working on my dragonfly "portraits"...

I may have to break down and get the baking pan from King Arthur Flour so I can just bake my own...for whatever reason you can't find this kind here in the South and lobster or chicken salad rolls just aren't the same if the roll isn't buttered and grilled!  Now I'm hungry!  

Vintage twice over...

a block made by me after tracing the blocks...

While emptying baskets I found yet another old project...twice old!

Back in the 1980's I bought this sunbonnet sue crib quilt at an estate sale.  I'm not generally a Sue fan but this one grabbed me.  The sue's held up well but the pink sashing is really faded and since there was only a little quilting the batting has all bunched and shifted.

A gardening and cleaning sue from the original quilt...

First I tried to trace off the design.  Not real happy with that.  So when I saw the pattern for the "days of the week towels" I was really excited!

By now it was the early to mid-90's.  I had just finished my first big applique quilt.  So I started again.

Not 100% sure why it went back into the UFO pile.  I'm going to spend a few hours kitting this up so I can use it as a take-along project.

Sewing Bee and vintage blocks

A member of my Quilt Guild was clearing out some vintage quilt pieces so we met up at the sewing bee today.

We "traded" a bundle of batiks for a bundle of vintage!  Works for both of us...

This is a partial quilt top.  The pattern is called Golden Wedding Ring.  It is very difficult pattern and not seen often.

The pale yellow in the star above is corduroy!

And this hand-pieced quilt top is made from double knit polyester!  (I will find a good home for this one!)

There were some embroidery pieces too, like this summer spread with a basket and flowers.  Most likely from a kit.

And these unfinished blocks that still have the blue marking showing where to do the quilting.

Some fun pieces.

Christmas Pillows

In addition to collecting quilts and quilt tops I also have a large collection of vintage and antique quilt blocks. Most of these I use for fabric study.  Like tops the fabric has seen little to no wear so it gives insight into what colors and styles quilters of that time period were using.

Occasionally I will use a block.  For instance I have a stack (about 24) of these Dresden plate blocks.  The center is really large.  The fabrics are typical of the the 1920-30's but nothing really significant.  So I felt it was ok to use a few to make some holiday pillows.

As I said the center part of the plate is very large so I decided to do some embroidery.  Fits with the time period of the original blocks.  I don't embroider as much as I used to and every time I pick it up again I am surprised how much I enjoy it!  The muslin was thin so I added another thin piece behind the block before I embroidered.  This helps the stitches lay flatter and hides the threadtails better.  I used some batting left over from other projects (bonus...cleared out  a bit of the extra batting bin!)  It is quilted with #8 perle cotton.

One of my quilting friends commented on my small embroidery stitches.  It reminded me of my sewing lessons in Girl Scouts.  I was about 8 or 9 years old and Mrs. Lynch warned us, "you don't want to have people in church whispering there goes the girl with the big stitches "  That must have made an impression because I still hear it in the back of my head every time I thread a needle!

More finds in the sewing room....

The things that you will find

if you open the boxes that have stayed shut for over 4 years...

thought this sampler was lost in the move....

thought this little altered tag with a photo of my Mom in Germany right after WWII was long gone...

never thought I'd see this set of ugly blocks again....maybe I should lose them again?!

These were the fungly blocks from Tonya's challenge...I definitely did the ugly part (they look even worse in person!  There is some "aloha from the Bahamas" fabric and another that has camels with two humps in front of the pyramids!  Wrong in just so many ways.....)

I am really tired from all the moving, folding, washing, sorting, and just making decisions.   I do however have a path and after another cup of tea I may have energy enough to tackle the closet shelf....who knows what I will uncover there!

Crazy Quilting

Dee Well, the Crazy Quilt Lady, showed us some of her quilts at our guild meeting this past weekend. She is a riot! She does beautiful work. If there was a liberated embroiderer then she is it!
I wanted to show some of her work and her thoughts on quilting.

Dee started embroidering when she was 6 years old...more than 70 years ago. She was born during the depression and needlework was her mom's idea of entertainment for the children. Except for the basic stitches she doesn't' try and memorize how to make them - that is what books are for. During and after the depression lots of people moved North to find jobs in factories. She was taught to piece a crazy quilt by a woman from Tennessee. She laughed when she said not making the seams match makes real quilters "crazy."

"It is the most personal of all quilts," Dee says about Crazy quilts, "you couldn't copy one exactly if you tried." She uses many of the old designs like spider webs and flower baskets. but also has some pretty unique ones - like a drawing of a doll designed by the same artist who did the Campbell Soup Kids. Sometimes she includes blocks made for her by friends in her works. She told one story of how she once put an embroidered block from a friend into this quilt but later the friend "did her a very bad turn." She didn't want to be reminded of it each time she looked at the quilt so she picked out the embroidery and replaced it with this peacock! Talk about taking charge of your environment! One of my favorite pieces is her sampler apron...the material is so soft you can tell it has been washed dozens of times but the colors in the threads are still bright and stable. Testament to her skill with a needle.
She also showed us some small projects she makes a like these little birds, cats, Christmas trees and the old lady doll..."always have an ornament on hand for trading," she advised me "you never know what nice little things someone in the crowd may have with them."

She tries to keep her crazy quilts away from sunlight but other than that tries to only make "useful" things now. "If it sits still though" she said, " it may get some stitches." Her presentation reminded me of all the crazy quilt and embroidery books sitting on the self at home..maybe just a few stitches could go on the apron I am making....