Quilt Friendships

 

 

I love blogs.  I can get lost in them.  That's the problem... I can also waste a lot of time - but is learning, being inspired, and seeing what everyone else is doing a waste of time?  I think not.  Facebook?  Well, that's another story.  I haven't figured out their real value.  Yet.  I'm not in a hurry to learn, either.

 

So, this month, I am once again behind on all of my projects.  Nothing has gotten finished, little has gotten started, and yet the first of the month came rapping on my door.  Hello?  Anybody home?  I was out of town for most of the week (more on that, later), and when I got home, a blog post from a friend of mine popped up on my laptop:  Denise Green (an amazing friend and longarm quilter) had just posted photos from her trip over to see the quilt show in Kerrville, Texas. 

 

Here's what I found interesting about her post:  since she's a longarm quilter, her view of quilts is different than mine.  So are her photos and comments.  I emailed Denise and asked if I could use her blog for my blog.  Answer:  "I'd be honored!"  I'm actually the one that was honored by her quick and positive response.  What I thought I'd do is to show you all of her photos along with her comments... and then add my own comments.  It's interesting to see how we both view the same quilts.  If you want to catch up on Denise's blog directly, you can find it here:  http://hollydeequilts.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/its-a-quilt-show-kerrville-style/.  Let's get this conversation started, now.  Denise's words are in italics.  Mine are plain old straight up and down.

 

D:  We arrived at the show and my friend, Susie, met us there.  She is a member of the Hill Country Quilt Guild and had a few quilts in the show (with ribbons on them!).  One of Susie’s quilts – I quilted this for her – her quilts are a delight to quilt – she is very good piecer and I love her colors and pattern choices!

 

S:  I love how Denise quilts Judy Neimeyer quilts -- she honors the pattern but adds her own spin with feathers, spikes, swirls, and unique designs.  The color choices on this one are great.



 

D:  (This is) Susie’s Prairie Star (a quiltworx.com pattern) – yes there is a ribbon on the right side!

S:  Well deserved, I'd say!

 

D:  I quilted the quilt below for Susie earlier this year – I really enjoyed this one!  What I enjoyed almost as much was I sent her my king-size triple 4-patch to quilt and I just got it back.  That was a GREAT TRADE!

 

S:  I love the soft colors in Susie's "Love is in the Air" quilt.  It's from a Lori Smith pattern.  I especially love the use of all those golds and blues and browns in the sashing strips.  Are those are four-patch sashings?  Yes!

 

 

D:  (Susie) added the pieced sashings as well as the applique border. The pattern had plain sashing and border.

 

S:  I love those sashing strips.  I wish I could think of things like that!  This picture needs to go into my folder of "great ideas."  Susie machine appliqued the non-pieced blocks/borders.  She did a nice job with that.



 

D:  This quilt of Susie’s ("Sew Many Colors") was made as a block of the month from Pinwheels and Posies.  Each block is the same (except for fabric placement), Susie quilted this one!

S:  Pinwheels and Posies is a local quilt shop in Dickinson, Texas.  They did this block of the month a while back and it clearly turned out nice.  If Denise hadn't pointed it out to me, I don't think I would have noticed that the blocks are all identical.  There's a lesson in there for all of us about the importance of value (how light or dark a color is), as it can have a dramatic effect on what a block looks like when you are finished making it.

 
D:  Another student, Linda B, was also working at the show and had a ribbon (or 2) on her Glacier Star Quilt that was started in a class I taught at Pinwheels and Posies.  I love how she added to the main body of the quilt with her “tucked” border and this beautiful Jason Yenter print.
S:  If you have a chance to take a Judy Niemeyer class from Denise (her workshop schedule is posted on her blog), it's worth the trip.  Denise is an excellent teacher with endless patience for anyone and everyone.  In general, I'm not a fan of "cheater cloth" pre-printed borders and blocks.  The border on this quilt, though, is really wonderful and frames the quilt nicely!! 

 
D:  Kim’s quilting (her longarm business is called "A Busy Bobbin") was honored with the ribbon for Best Machine Quilting – WELL DESERVED!  Our local longarm bee is excited to have Kim as our speaker Monday night at our monthly meeting.  She and Linda B. will be joining us and talking about the rulers Kim uses and how she fills all that empty space with all of that gorgeous quilting.

S:  I am spoiled rotten by living in an area filled with quilters -- Denise started a longarm bee quite a while back, before it seemed that nearly everyone had some sort of quilting machine.  She schedules speakers every month for the members -- and I can't wait to go to hear from this speaker.  Look at the unique combination of quilting designs in this quilt....

 
D:  (Here is...) Linda's sweet mini!

S:  Sometimes it's the little things that count, right?  I want to point out that the Kerrville guild puts a wooden clothespin on every quilt.  Quilt show attendees can then grab the clothespin to see the back of any quilt without having to hunt down a white-glove lady.  What a great idea!

 
D:  I took several pictures of quilts that I enjoyed the setting of the blocks.  I love how (Holly Nelson) set these blocks.

S:  I love the wonderful quilt edge, too.  And setting those blocks inside a scalloped circle... wow.  Holly designed these blocks for an applique class she taught in Fredricksburg, Texas.

 
D:  Here's another great way to set blocks.

S:  Love the blocks.  I wondered where Holly Nelson planned to put this piece and was able to read the tag on her quilt, which said she designed this quilt for applique classes in Bandera, Texas - and the layout was an "experiment" as she's running of space for wall hangings. 

 
D:  This is a great setting for those hexie blocks.

S:  I love the rich reds against those deep gray-greens and yellow-greens.  The information on this quilt says that "Perseverence" was made by Merry Ann Rothe and quilted by Donna Scofield.  The pattern is from "Quilts from Grandmother's Garden" by Jaynette Huff.  This is a delightful quilt and the quilting makes it come alive.

 
D:  I love Stephanie Brandeburgs panels – I like how this quiltmaker broke up the panel.

S:  Carol Pope made "My Summer Garden" by using a 22 by 44" panel because she liked its shape and design.  Her quilt was quilted by Donna Scofield (I hope I read that right; the label was pretty blurry...).  I am always amazed when people can take something like this big panel and have the confidence to slice it up and add some long pieced and printed strips.  It's wonderful!

 
D:  Great bargello quilt – I love the addition of the leaves in the border.

S:   You're right Denise - this is a great combination of a contemporary bargello design and a set of classic pieced blocks.  Don't you love the little green piping between the outer border and the binding?  Little additions like that make the difference between a good quilt and a great quilt.  And the quilting is wonderful, with feathers ruffling their way across the bargello and a great leaf shape on the maple leaves.

 

D:  And the quilting ideas I find at shows!

S:  I have so much to learn!  Denise is right - the quilting is phenomenal and offers lots of unique ideas for quilting; it changes from feathers to pumpkin seeds to cross-hatching without missing a beat.  "Pottery II" was entered by Linda Humphrey, who says this was a "pass around" project of the Sew Bee It Bee.  Linda made the center block and then passed it to each bee member to add a border.  Other bee members include Helen Ridgway, Anita Crane, Holly Nelson, Marilyn Lampman, Ro Molder, Isabelle Tolliver, and Marvene Wallace.  The finished quilt is 38 by 21 inches.  And it won a Judge's Choice ribbon!

 
D:  Amazing quilting!

S:  Absolutely.  Great ideas here!

 
D:  Gorgeous quilting!

S:  Ditto!  This quilt, called "Walking Home," was made by Julie Schlichting.

 
D:  Awesome quilting!

S:  Tremendous!  This 16 by 18 inch quilt, called "Desert Hills," was made by Jane Kutach.  It was inspired by a workshop with Karen Eckmeier in 2012.

 
D:  More quilting to love!

S:  I do!

 

 
D:  Quilting!

S:  This is a great example of how to fill a square without just doing "doodling" in it!

 
D: And these were just fun quilts; the colors are probably what draws me in.  Love the colors for the Wild Goose Chase – a pattern by quiltworx.com. 

S:  I was attracted to the design (how did they do those flying geese -- I would assume paper piecing?).  And I love that diagonal border!

 


 

 

D:  Love the color in this one too!  Great block!

 

S:  Yes - this block is incredible, both in the body of the quilt and in the border.  My bucket list has a Lemoyne Star quilt in it.... hand pieced with 3 or 4 inch stars. 

 



 
D:  Isn't this little mini pretty?

S:  I love the rich reds and greens.  This quilt is another round robin quilt, with each person (Marvene Wallace - owner - and Anita Crane, Linda Humphrey, Marilyn Lampman, Ro Molder, Holly Nelson, Helen Ridgeway, and Isabella Tolliver) adding a border.  The entire process took 8 months to complete.  That's dedication!

 
D:  Bright and colorful...

S:  Yes - and a lot of work!

 
D:  I love the poppies on this grey scale quilt (that's hubby in the photo).

S:  This is another beauty!  Kerrville has some pretty wonderful quilters in its midst!

 
D:  This was a group quilt.  They started with a photo, cut it apart.  Each member of the group was given a section of the photo to reproduce in cloth - and now you see the quilt put back together.  I think this would be really fun to do - what do you think?

S:  These quilts have always intrigued me.  I see them all the time in the Group Quilt category at the Houston quilt show... and they are stunning!  This quilt is called "Infinity Interrupted" and was made by Wanna Bee members.

D:  See the seams?  This shows where each member's work was added!

 
D:  I am not usually a fan of T-shirt quilts - but this one I love!  This was a wonderful t-shirt quilt!

S:  I agree Denise -- I love the random way the t-shirts were added.

 
D:  And of course, I left the BEST for the last - Best of Show went to this beautiful quilt - this pattern is Ladies of the Sea by Sue Garman.  Sue is a friend of mine and she was working on this quilt when we travelled to Brigham City, Utah, a few years back.  If I remember correctly, the compass corner stones were inspired by some wall art in the facility where she was teaching (I went as her helper because I am originally from Utah).  It is a marvel to watch Sue work - she is AMAZING!  I hope Sue will enjoy the substitution this quilt maker made to the original quilt.  The submarine honors a family member if I remember correctly.

 
D:  (Here is a) substitution to the original quilt (which is all tall ships).

S:  What a gorgeous rendition of this pattern!  I love when people personalize quilts and make them speak to themselves or their families or their experiences.  It makes the quilt extra special -- and the USS Carbonero is a great substitute for another historic ship!

UPDATE!  Thanks go to Susan Longacre who Chaired the Quilts in Motion Quilt Show of the Hill Country Quilt Guild in Kerrville, Texas.  She sent me some additional information on this quilt.  The maker of this quilt is Barbara Woodman, a very accomplished quilter, formerly of Uvalde and now living in Kerrville.  She won ribbons for:  First Place in Category, Best of Show (large), and Viewer's Choice.  The most heartfelt information is that Barbara made this quilt for her husband who served on the USS Carbonero submarine but, unfortunately, he died before she finished the quilt.  This quilt is such a beautiful legacy for Barbara and her family - and I thank her for sharing it with other quilters.

 
D:  Scrumptious quilting!

S:  Boy, you've got that right!  I'm so sorry I don't know the maker and quilter's name for this quilt -- it is SO well done!

 
D:  I hope you enjoy my tour of the Kerrville Quilt Show and if you are in the area for Memorial Day weekend in 2015, you should add this show to your list of activities.

S:  Absolutely!  What a great set of quilts - and definitely a beautiful town to visit!


Thanks, Denise, for sharing -- I appreciate your friendship so much.  Isn't it great that quilters seem able to make friends with complete strangers in a heartbeat?  That's what happened with Mary Clendennen when I met her a few years ago.  We bumped into each other at the Houston quilt show and she was so excited that I had gone over to Austin to see their quilt show and her quilt had just won best of show and I featured it in my blog back then.  She is just the sweetest person you could ever hope to meet -- and we parted, saying we ought to get together some time. 

So here we are, a few years later... and we bumped into each other at two more quilt shows... and she again invited me to come visit her for a few days.  Below is her quilt, "Ruffled Roses," based on the pattern I wrote for Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims' on "The Quilt Show."  I just love the fabrics in it - all from an Elly Sienkiewicz line.  But most of what makes this quilt so wonderful is Mary's exquisite piecing.  I've never seen such precision!

 
 Here is a close-up of her quilt -- take a look at the piecing, but also the quilting (done by Angela McCorkle).  Quilting can make or break a quilt, and Mary is certainly fortunate to have found someone who knows the craft well.  By the way... Mary doesn't applique (yet), so she had a friend prepare the pieces for her and then appliqued the prepared units in place.  She's determined to learn applique in the future.

 

 

And so.....  last week, I headed over to Marble Falls.  Mary lives on her ranch along the Colorado River, which, when combined with the sweet blessings of Mary's warmth, hospitality, and friendship, gave me a piece of heaven on earth.  I spent several days with Mary and her friend Marcie Wendrock and some others -- sewing, learning, relaxing, and enjoying my first time away from home in several years.  It was a sweet breath of fresh air.

 



 
Watching Mary work was an inspiration, in itself.  Check out one of the blocks she had made:

 
Do you want to know why it was such a joy to see her work?  Because she is the QUEEN of precision piecing.  I learned that I need to pick up my pace if I want my blocks to be as good as Mary's.  But wait!  Wait!  There's more!  Check out the back of her block.  Look how she works to press the seams open!  It was a great "light bulb moment" for me to see her block from the underside.  It's perfection, plus!  No wonder her quilts look so great.

 
When I arrived, here is the quilt Mary was working on.  She finished adding the final two borders while I was there, and was on to other projects.  You can probably guess, by seeing the block above, why Mary's quilt lies perfectly flat.

 
Some of the gals were working on Jo Morton quilts....

 

And Marcie was designing and working on a brand new quilt based on an antique.  I fell in love with it and can't wait for the pattern to be done.  You'll have to wait to see it... but the wait will be worth it!!!!

  

One of the women there showed some quilts -- here is an antique spools quilt...

 
And a close-up of it...

 
 And Zell Cook's quilts were stunning - she does a lot of quilts using tsukineko inks and embroidery - here's one with very detailed embroidery work in it.

 
And a close-up of one of Zell's blocks...

 
 
Now that I've finished sharing all those photos, one of you might be asking... but what are YOU working on, Sue?  I've been working on lots of different things... and have no photos to share this month.  Hang in there - they will show up soon enough.  And I think you'll be glad I've kept busy, busy, busy, getting my next quilts ready.

Several of you asked how they could find out what my lecture/workshop schedule is.  Here is an incomplete list; where the location is undisclosed, it is because the group has asked that they be the first to announce me coming:

• June 15, 2013 - Lakeview Quilters Guild, Nassau Bay, Texas - precision piecing workshop
• June 29, 2013 - Sugarland Applique Society, Sugarland, Texas - applique workshop
• July 1, 2013 - Baytown Area Quilt Guild, Baytown, Texas - lecture
• July 15-16, 2013 - Hill Country Quilt Guild, Kerrville, Texas - lecture and feathered star workshop
• August 5, 2013 - Piecemaker Quilt Guild, Corsicana, Texas - lecture
• October 7-12, 2013 - location undisclosed; lecture and several days of applique workshops
• October 17-20, 2013 - Greenbriar retreat center, Athens, Texas - lecture, feathered star workshop, applique workshop
• Late October/early November - reserved for the International Quilters Association quilt show, Houston, Texas
• Winter, 2014 - 4-5 day personal workshop in my home, demonstrating design, process, etc.
• February 23-27, 2014 - Applique Away on Galveston Bay, Galveston, Texas - two 2-day applique workshops
• March 5, 2014 - Coastal Prairie Quilt Guild, Missouri City, Texas - lecture and workshop
• May 20-21, 2014 - Marble Falls Quilt Club, Marble Falls, Texas - lecture and workshop
• June 4, 2014 - Alvin Quilt Guild, Alvin, Texas - lecture
• June 24-25, 2014 - Ozark Piecemakers, Springfield, Missouri - lecture and workshop
• August 21, 2014 - Pride of Prairie Quilters, Naperville, Illinois - lecture and workshop
• September 17, 20, 2014 - West Houston Quilt Guild, Houston, Texas - lecture and workshop
• September 9-14, 2014 - location undisclosed; lecture and several days of applique workshops
• October 25+, 2014 - reserved for the International Quilters Association quilt show, Houston, Texas
• April or May, 2015 - Northwest Suburban Quilters Guild, northwest Chicago, Illinois - details to be determined
• June 18-20, 2015 - Trinity Valley Quilt Guild and Denton Quilt Guild, Dallas area, Texas - lectures and workshops
• Late October/early November - reserved for the International Quilters Association quilt show, Houston, Texas

Much of my time over the past two months has been spent preparing for these workshops.  I like to have plenty of examples of how to do things, including options for those who want a simpler or more unique option.  Perhaps we'll get to meet at one of these events in the future!

One more thing before I close.  I am struggling with a creativity block.  I want to start a new quilt - probably a block of the month - and cannot seem to focus on anything that really grabs me.  So... what have you been looking for, what is your favorite type of quilt to make, what would you like to see me design?  I'll listen to any ideas you have!

Happy stitching -
Sue

(c)2013 Susan H. Garman 



A Hex on Blog Time Sneaking Up on Me!

 

I don't know why, but it always seems that "blog time" comes around the corner so fast each month that it takes me by surprise.  I sweat over what to put in my blog... and this month I started sweating early because most of what I've been working on is not "photo ready."  I've been doing lots of paperwork and pattern-writing... nothing that I can take a picture of! 

 

This month, I've decided to share a bunch of hexagon quilts with you .  It seems that hexagons started showing up in only the last year or two.  I went back and looked at all my Houston quilt show pictures -- there were lots of hexagons last year, only a couple the year before, and I only found one picture from 2011.  Where did all these hexagons come from?  Well... it's not as if they didn't exist until a year or two ago.  Take a look...

 

The quilt below was part of the French Legendary Quilts exhibit at the International Quilters Association (IQA) show in Houston last year.  These quilts are totally hand-made (no machine work at all!) and are replicas of antique quilts.  This quilt, Mosaic quilt, was made by Isabelle Etienne-Bugnot of Soisy-sur-Seine, France.  It is based on a circa 1840 quilt in the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C.  (note:  please excuse the plastic band in front of the quilt at the bottom of the picture... sometimes I can't avoid those in my picture-taking...).

 

 
I love the quilt above with its diamonds made of hexagons... though I must admit that hexagons are NOT my unit of choice.  In fact, there were SO many hexagons in the quilt show and in the vendors' booths last year that everytime I saw one, I started humming Taylor Swift's "I.....i....iii....i... will never, ever, ever....  (and I changed the lyrics).... make a hexagon"!  Really - hexagons were everywhere I looked!!!

Here's another one at the show last year:  Honeycomb (Rayon de miel) by Liliane Verger of Royan, France.  Liliane's quilt was inspired by an English quilt made in the 1840s.  This quilt offers hexagon diamonds and hexagon stars.  The outer edge of the quilt offers a unique way of handling those persnickety hexagons, too.

 
Here's a closeup of Liliane's blocks.  She used the English paper piecing method - is there any other way?  In this method, fabric is stitched around a hexagonal template, then the hexagons are sewn together and the template paper is removed.

 

Hexagonal Star, below, was made by Renee Elie of Royan, France.  Here are the stars... and no hexagon diamonds.  Instead, Renee has hexagon flowers -- a common use for hexagons.  This quilt was inspired by an 1830 quilt.  With almost 10,000 three-quarter inch hexagons, I can only imagine how long it took to complete this quilt.  That's probably another reason hexagons hold little appeal to me.  I'm still open to the idea... but not excited at this point.  What a masterpiece of work, though!

 

 

Here are some close-ups of the Hexagonal Star quilt.

 

 
And another close-up.  Can you imagine making all of those hexagons... and fussy-cutting so many units?  It is another reason I'm not tempted.  Yet.

 
I have to admit they are pretty... and after all...

 
...by now you know that I do love intricacy!

 
Here's another hexagon quilt - with flowers and diamonds done as a strippy quilt!  This one, Diamonds with Flowers (Losanges de fleurs) was made by Dominique Husson of Arvert, France.  It was inspired by an 1840 American quilt.  The hexagons are each one inch in size. 

 
But wait... there's more!  Check out the fussy cutting in these flowers and diamonds.  It is simply amazing.

 
Dominique's choice of fabrics is simply wonderful.  It makes me think of fabric in an entirely different way.

 
You might not realize it, but "baby blocks" are actually a form of hexagon - made of three diamonds.  Cubes by Catherine Guy of Saint-heand, France, was based on a quilt made between 1855 and 1875.  With over 3,000 pieces, the quilt was jaw-dropping in its perfection.  The pattern for this quilt was published in American and British women's magazines circal 1850-1860.

 
The fabric used in the above quilt also made me think of fabric in a different way.  I think we all might be a bit too timid in our fabric choices:  can you see the red and white checked fabric that is used in one of the baby block rows?  Who would have imagined that it would melt right into the other fabrics?

Below is another quilt using hexagons as baby blocks.  At first, it looks like stars, but if you disect the larger hexagon shapes (the stars), you wil notice that there are three baby block hexagons in each larger hexagon. Stars or Baby Blocks was made by Marie-Paule Nedelec and Anne Helene Nedelec, from Chateaubriant, France.  It was inspired by a circa 1880 quilt from Kentucky. 

 
You can check out the "stars" or baby blocks in this close-up.  Notice the precision required to make all these blocks fit together so nicely.

 
Alice Springs, below, uses combinations of hexagons with piecing and applique.  Annick Tauzin of Floirac, France based her quilt on a "Persian applique," circa 1840, from Australia.  Persian applique is a more arcane term for what most of us call broderie perse.

 
Here are some close-ups of Annick's quilt.  The hand-quilting is incredible in this quilt.

 

 
Note, in the picture below, that there are elongated hexagons in the narrow border to the right of the flowers.

 

The quilt below was made by Keiko Hasegawa of Ikoma, Nara, Japan.  She made a series of hexagon quilts, then had a baby named Canon... and named this quilt Canon because this quilt is for her.  Keiko listened to music and canons, and sang along as she made this quilt.

 
Here are some close-ups of this amazing quilt.

 

Notice the hexagon border in this quilt.  It's a nice touch and makes for a certain unity across the face of the qiult.

 

And, as in many hexagone quilts, there was ample fussy-cutting of pieces.

 
Not all hexagon quilts are based on antique quilts or use reproduction fabric.  Here's a bright, cheery quilt by Lilija Kostenko fo Gouda, The Netherlands.  Lilija says this quilt reminded her of a summer day. 

 
You might notice that there are hexagons inside of hexagons in this quilt -- AND there are elongated hexagons.  I told you there were hexagons everywhere last year!  Look at those wild fabrics, too.

 
Celtic Summer Celebration by Jaynette Huff of Conway, Arkansas, is a wonderful exercise in detail.  With original basket designs, this quilt has over 690 quarter-inch hexagons (yes, quarter inch!), over 2,580 beads, buttons and charms, and includes "hidden treasures" such as a pig, frog, ladybug, armadillo, and squirrel.  What fun!

 
Looking at the above picture, you might not have found the hexagons.  Look at the center of this photo and you can see a basket of flowers.

 
Here's a closer look... notice the buttons and the beads in this picture. 

 
And in this picture, you can easily see more hexagon flowers -- but also, you can see the 1/8th inch bias tubes that Jaynette made for this quilt.  Wow!  Jaynette's quilt is an original design using Celtic applique designs modified from Everything Celtic by Mary Butler Shannon.

 
Hiromi Yokota of Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan, made Flower of 13,585 Pieces and Peace.  Hiromi says we cannot make peace or a quilt in a few days - so she wanted to make a flower quilt of hexagones using "1 centimeter paper liner method and a feeling of peace".  It is hand made and hand-quilted.

 
Here are two close-ups.  What an amazing amount of work. 

 
Notice the outer edge of the quilt:  Hiromi went to great pains to maintain the hexagon shapes when she backed and quilted her quilt with a knife-edge where no binding is visible from the top of the quilt.

 
Here are diamonds and flowers and a star - all in the same quilt - and all within a large, hexagonal shape.  Credit for this quitl, Flowers from Grandmother's Secret Garden, goes to Diana Perry of Hot Springs, Arkansas.  With one-quarter inch hexagons, Diana sewed approximately 2,000 hexagons to make this quilt.

 
The quilb below is an antique quilt.  I try really hard to provide attribution for each quilt I post on my blog, but I have lost the source information for this picture.  I do remember that it was in a special exhibit at the Houston quilt show.  It is an amazing piece of work -- and very folksy!  Check out all of the hexagons just appliqued at random, as well as in flowers.  Isn't it all fun?

 
Here's a close-up of the quilt.  Notice the charming baskets, the heart motifs, the butterfly... I bet the maker smiled her way through all of her stitching.

 
These baskets just tickled my fancy with their wild abandon and crazy use of fabrics.

 
The quilt below was also in a special antique quilt exhibit.  The quiltmaker is unknown, but it was made entirely of silk circa 1860.  Measuring 74 by 81 inches, this Grandmother's Flower Garden variation is unique.  It did not hang because of its delicate condition -- it laid on a slanted pallet to protect it from the stress of any stretching that hanging might cause.

 
Here's a close-up.  It reminds me of the Italian milleifiori ("thousand flowers") glass.

 
And if you had seen this quilt, you would have noticed the gorgeous quilting in the border. 

 
Seven Sisters is a classic pattern of stars - here was a quilt I saw in a class on dating fabrics.  Notice the hexagons!

 
It wasn't too hard to date the fabric, with the "Sail On, O Union" fabric in one of the hexagons.

 
While scouring the antique booths at the Houston quilt show, I found a most amazing quilt in John Saul's antique booth.  He has some incredible quilts, and this one certainly took the prize for amazing!  Made of one-inch silk hexagons, it was an unbelievable piece of work.

 
Here's a close-up.  Almost none of the silk had shattered, which made it all the more beautiful.

 
Here's another qult made of hexagons -- it looks quite different from some of the others seen here.  Made by Isako Wada of Kurokawa-Gun, Miyagi-Ken, Japan, Bolero 21609  was designed when Isako had a dream about making a hexagon quilt.  It is made of hexagon units - but notice that there are also many large and small hexagon motifs across the face of the quilt.  Isako named her quilt because she listened to Ravel's "Bolero" while she stitched - and my guess is that it has 21,609 pieces in it.

 
Here's another contemporary hexagon quilt.  Made by Cheryl See of Ashburn, Virginia, Star Struck has 12,256 hexagon units forming a rainbow-colored star which repeats in the background.  Cheryl notes that the otuer star is bordered by appliqued circles with complimentary-colored backgrounds that transition through the colors of the rainbow.  Appliqued flowers and Grandmother's flowers were placed throughout the quilt, forming secondary patterns and random surprises. 

 
Okay - so after seeing all these hexagons, was I tempted?  Even the least little bit?

Well... not so much.  Here's the closest I've gotten:  snowball blocks.  Of course, these are not hexagons; they're octagons!  But that's as close as I can get.

 
My friend Becky must have felt sorry for me, though.  After she heard me sing Taylor Swift's "I..I...I... will never, ever, ever..." so many times, she thought that I really needed a hexagon quilt.  She's an angel... and she did it, did it, did it for me....

 
So what have I been working on over the past month?  Like I said earlier, it's been computer work and home work and family matters.  I did finish binding my newest quilt, Twirly Balls and Pinwheels, and even put a sleeve on it.  When I finished it, it had some "waves" in it.  Those are sometimes to be expected when one deals with so many small pieces, such heavy quilting, and a wool batting.  I hesitated in trying to figure out how to make the quilt flat... and finally bit the bullet and blocked it.  It bled, despite the fact that I had pre-washed all my fabrics and the batting... and used no chemicals or pens that would cause bleeding.  Go figure.  I have a hunch it has to do with the pH level in water and will test that later with tap water, bottled water, and filtered water.  I'll keep you posted!

 
Quakertown Quilts (www.quakertownquilts.com) will be offering the pattern in the next couple of weeks -- I finished writing it this week and will get it over to them next week.  Writing the pattern took extra long, not because the quilt is hard to make, but because I invested a LOT of time into photos so that everyone who makes the quilt will have a good time making it and avoid problems.  It is a wonderful quilt to make!  Quakertown, at some point (and maybe your own local quilt shop) will be kitting it as a 6-month block-of-the-month quilt.  It's not your classic block-of-the-month, but having the fabric delivered to you over a period of time makes it a lot easier to make; there are a lot of different fabrics in this quilt.

In my last blog, I mentioned that I was going to start doing lectures and workshops and traveling a bit.  Whoa!  Stop the presses!  Within two weeks, my calendar fell into overload!  I'm totally booked for 2013 and for most of 2014.  I'ved accepted a couple of 2015 engagements, but I'm reluctant to accept many more.  So... hang in there and send me an email if you're interested, but I'm kind of booked solid right now.  Having said that, I've made a new quick-and-easy "Twirly Ball" quilt that I'm going to use in workshops.  It was so much fun and so easy to make this quilt!  Hopefully, someday I can come to your guild and teach a workshop!

 



Until we meet - and until next month -- happy quilting to everyone!

Sue
(c)2013 Susan H. Garman