New Info: Paperweights is a pattern by Aardvark Quilts. That's the same designer as the bright orange wuilt I made in May...great stuff!
This is the fat quarter of fabric for the 2008 IMQA challenge. I have some ideas for it, but right now it's just decoration on my design wall!
Day three - Karla Alexander, "Aurora Aura" from her book "New Cuts for New Quilts"
Karla is a fantastic teacher! Very friendly and patient, and what a fun technique. She designed this pattern to look like the Aurora Borealis over the waters of Alaska. You basically stack rectangles of fabric, make some freehand cuts, then shuffle and sew. This is my progress so far...the light fabric gives it an icy feel, which is a nice fantasy in the desert summer heat!
A local group submitted their black and white challenge quilts:
On the quilting side, I pieced the back for the Row Quilt from some fat quarters in my stash. I made a big label with details about the photos that are on the front. It's important to document your quilts, and there is extra security in sewing them into the backing.
Here is some detail of the quilting. These are two of my favorite freehand designs. An all-over scroll and a "flame flower." I used the flame flower on the bright orange and yellow quilt earlier this week. The scroll is an easier background fill for me to do than meandering.
B's first pair of handknit socks. Pattern: Basic socks from Cat Bhordi's "Socks Soar on Circular Needles." Yarn: Socks that Rock (lightweight) in Obsidian. Do not adjust your monitor...the left toe is squared off due to knitter error. B said he could live with it!Baby K's new toy is a string of Hawaiian beads that I made on a cruise years ago. She can take them on and off herself and they make great noises on the tile floor.
2) a baseball game...the Saint Paul Saints versus the Pensacola Pelicans. It was so much fun! Think "Bull Durham" - the between-inning games were hilarious. The Saints won, too.
4) a delightful surprise was the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary, where they have an observation deck and feed black bears every night. We saw 4 babies in a tree, and about 6 adults at the various feeding troughs.
5) Of course, I did feed my fiber habit too. I added some Christmas fabric and batiks to my collection from the Quilter's Courtyard, and the yarn is Yarni, handpainted in St. Paul, purchased at the Yarnery. Both stores were charming.
6) Uncle Ty and Aunt Jean gathered some entertainment for the baby. Their next-door neighbor had this train toy for her grandchildren. Baby K loved it, and it has really enhanced her walking skills.
Sock update tomorrow!
Colorway - Firebird. Luscious as always!
We couldn't let her play with it very long, because it is holding a silk bamboo shoot, which Baby K bit and started to shred. She does this with all her stuffed animals...takes a big bite and pulls off a mouthful of fuzz. I hope this phase ends soon! She is also chewing the bindings off most of her books :-(
13 ways Baby K tries to avoid a nap...It was a 40 minute process this morning...
In this shot of the backing, you can see my feather border:
Here you can see the "fuzzy" fabric, which was a challenge to quilt around so I kept it simple. In the pinwheel blocks, I used a continuous curve in the smaller triangles and you can barely see the small feathers in the pink triangles.
If you are intimidated by quilting feathers, there are many books that you can look at. Then practice on paper! There are some tricks to getting the flow and where to backtrack, that's why I suggest a book or class. Kim Brunner and Cindy Roth were the instructors in the classes I took, and they both recommended the book "Infinite Feathers" by Anita Shackleford.
More quilts from the show. This is "Plain Ol' Nine Patch," by Kathy Ellzey. It's a small quilt, probably 10 by 20 inches, and it was in the thread challenge. Yep, all that color is thread and quilting designs!!
The picture I took of this whole quilt is pretty blurry...I need to take a deep breath and hold still when I take pictures I guess! You're just trying to hurry and stay out of people's way. All the animals were paper-pieced and the quilting was different in each block, very complementary to whichever animal it was.
I loved this art quilt so much that I've been dreaming about it! It's called "St. George's Trophy," quilted by Helen Baczynski. The background is a dragon pantograph, and the front is a dragon pelt. The tag hanging off reads "1 dragon slain, 1 maiden saved." I thought this was the most creative piece I've ever seen!
And for Amy..."Neferkitti," quilted by Janet Fogg. Love those cats!!
MQS Report:
This quilt is called "Sugar and Spice," by Renae Haddadin, a winner in the category "Innovative Custom." The detail is breath-taking. Here you see the quilted cable/feathers in different color thread on a black background. Then, you see the other side of the quilt which is done on white fabric. It was spectacular.
Next is "Northern Lights," by Janet Fogg, first place in the Theme category (theme was Timeless Stars, and the block patterns had to have been published in the Kansas City Star newspaper.) You can almost see the quilted snowflakes in the sky. The piecing to create the magnificent wolf was incredible.
Finally, here is the Viewer's Choice winner: "Turnabout" by Claudia Pfeil, a quilter from Germany. As you can see, many of the winners are quilting intricate feathers in metallic threads on black backgrounds. I love the color gradients in this piece!
Baby K woke up at 4am with a temperature of 102.5! We took her in to the doctor, even though she has no other symptoms - first child syndrome ;-) Diagnosis: fever. Treatment: alternate tylenol and motrin every four hours. Of course, she only wants to be held, and even then she will cry for thirty minutes at a time...which is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but until now, she has been the happiest baby you've ever met, so this is a challenge for mom and dad!