All of You Free Motion Machine Quilters Out There Need to Look at This Blog!

Last week I subscribed to the new  In Stitches  e-magazine from Interweave.  I have had a chance to look through it, but did not make time to actually sit down at the computer and read it until today.  All I can say is WOW!  It is full of some wonderful fiber artists, samples of their work, instructions and patterns.

Today I made time to look at the article entitled "9 Free Motion Designs"  As a free motion machine quilter I know that there is a lot for me to learn.  Well, the article is about Lea Day, who has this amazing blog entitled "365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs ". Yes, she is producing 365 days of filler designs, and all of them are amazing.  My regret about finding this blog is that I only found it this morning, and she is already on day 200!  Thank goodness past blog entries are retained, and there is a link on the right side (near the top) that will allow you to see all of the designs she has posted so far.

If you are a machine quilter, you owe it to yourself to check this blog out!  I hope you enjoy looking at it as much  as I did.

My African Wall Hanging is Finished!

Just want to share a newly finished project with all of you.  This started off as a handpainted wall hanging that was given to me by a very dear friend when I left South Africa.  It has been sitting in the "gotta do something wonderful with this"  pile since 1994.  Well, I have finally trimmed down the wall hanging, added borders and gotten it quilted.  It will hang in either our dining room or master bedroom, not sure which yet.

The birds are guinea fowl,and they are one of my favorite African animals (along with zebras and giraffes). The original wall hanging was 32" X 48" , and continued 4 " on each side of the present thin black border. But this area did not contain any design element, so it was cut off. The remaining original fabric is now the center of the quilt, and it is 24" X 40".  The total piece is 36" X52" with the addition of the 3 batik borders.

One of the hardest decisions was trying to figure out how to quilt this. My daughter looked at it and said, "Mom, they are African animals - that should be clue."  Brilliant!  The overall background quilting of the center is a meandering back and forth stripe - just like zebra stripes!  Among the guinea fowl and zebra stripes I also added a free motion elephant, and giraffe, and a rondavel - a traditional African hut. I am enclosing additional photos that show close -up images of these last 3 items. The first photo shows the elephant, the second shows the giraffe, and the last shows the rondavel.  You can click on any of the photos for a larger view.

As for the borders, the striped batik is quilted with a traditional African motif - triangles.  Geometric shapes are found in many African art forms, a good example is the art of the Ndebele people.  Their clothing and housing are all decorated in straight lined, geometric shapes.  You can see more of their work by clicking here and here.  I am especially enamored of the Ndebele style - I am fortunate to have brought back a beaded Ndebele apron and a beaded Ndebele doll from my time in South Africa.

The final border is quilted with straight lines, to mimic the shape of a frame around a piece of art.  Can't wait to get this hung.  And, I am happy to say, this has gotten me back to thinking about South Africa and my quilting friends there - it is time to reach out and contact them once again.  If you are interested in seeing some other quilts done by South African quilters , you can click here or else you can always mosey over to the links on the right side of this page and click on the link for the Quadrille Quilters under Other Blogs That I Read and Love For Inspiration.

Add This Quilt to the Finished Pile

Well, the quilt that was in my photos from my February 16th post - the entry about basting a quilt - is finally finished.  I so love the colors, although they do not appear to be as vibrant in this photo as in real life. Look at the post from February 16th to get a better idea as to the colors.  It only took a week to get this quilted and bound after it was basted.

The pattern is called Illuminata, and was purchased at The Pincushion Boutique quilt shop many years ago.  This is one of their Pressed for Time Patterns, which are designed specifically for use with their Sweet Treats.  I saw Pincushion Boutique at last week-end's quilt show (Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County) and spent some time looking at their latest Sweet Treats.  I am madly in love with Crocodile Hunter because it has a very African look to it.  Unfortunately, I am counting pennies right now and had to pass.

Overall, I was disappointed in the quilt show this year even thought I won a door prize from Sew Ewe Quilt in Brentwood.  Nothing really grabbed my attention and made me say WOW! at the show, but a few ideas were hatched for using up some of my batik stash.  I just need to find the patterns now. I was also disappointed in the vendors this year. Fewer vendors with fabric meant fewer fabrics to fantasize and drool over. But I think the most disappointing part of the show was learning that The Pincushion Boutique is no longer a brick and mortar store in Davis, although it can still be found online.

So, back to the quilt.  It was marked for quilting with my favorite stencils for machine quilting - Full Line Stencils. The stencil that was used on this quilt is Loopy Square.  The full stencil was used in all of the blocks, and 1/2 of the stencil was used in all of the triangles.  I then did a mimic of the design in the outside border - tall and short loops).  I love these stencils because they are so easy to mark onto the quilt top using  Pounce Pads.  And the designs will then either iron or wash right out after quilting, depending upon the type of Pounce that is used.

OK, that is it for now!  Hopefully I will stay healthy long enough to keep updating this blog on a more regular timeline.  The cold that I had 3 weeks ago just really took a lot out of me.  But I am feeling much better (except for the stupid cough which is still hanging around), so here's hoping you hear from me over the week-end!

Basting Does Not Mean That You Are Cooking a Turkey

Megan is away for the week, and so it is eerily quiet around the house.  The weather is warming up, my daffodils are starting to bloom, and Max is spending more time outside.  Brian is spending the days working in his office. THE HOUSE IS MINE!!!!!

So this means that it is time to do some of those tasks that require commandeering large amounts of space.  This week, that means that I will be sandwiching and basting all of my finished quilt tops, and then they will be ready to put on the trusty Bernina in order get them quilted this year.  Now, a little bit about quilting those carefully pieced and colorful quilt tops. My grandmother taught me how to sew and quilt in when I was 9, so I did get a few quilts made in my early days, but finishing them was a very daunting task for me. I kept sewing, but gave up quilting for a long time. I started quilting again in the mid 1980s and learned to machine quilt from Harriet Hargraves, the mother of modern day machine quilting, when she came to give a lecture and workshop at an East Bay Heritage Quilters Guild meeting in the late 1980s.  I loved the fact that I no longer had to do hand quilting, and that my quilt could be finished in days instead of weeks or months. Lots of people send their quilts out to established quilters who use special quilting machines (called longarm quilting machines) to complete the task.  But I have always been a "process" kinda gal, who wants to control the entire endeavor from start to finish.  Since I don't have a longarm quilting machine, I use my regular sewing machine (an old Bernina 1260) to complete my task.  It is not ideal, but it works for me.

Before I can put a quilt under the needle of my machine, the quilt top (the "fancy" part that is made up of colorful fabric pieces) needs to be layered together with batting (the soft middle part of the quilt) and a backing (fabric that is the underside of the quilt).  This is called "sandwiching" a quilt  - think of the fabric as bread and the batting as the filling.  Once you have the pieces layered up, you need to figure out how to hold all the layers together.  I used to pin the layers together with safety pins but have turned to basting since my good friend Dorothy shared Sharon Schamber's basting technique with me.  I find that basting takes a bit longer, but it is fine because the rhythm of basting is almost meditative.  Also, basting holds the layers together better for me and less slipping of layers means the back of the quilt does not have fabric bunching up or forming folds and pleats.

Basting takes up the entired dining room.  After putting all of the leaves in the dining room table I lay the backing fabric (wrong side facing up) on the table, and cover it with the batting.  Everything is smoothed out by hand as I line up the top edges of the backing and batting.  Then I dig out my "basting boards"  - two 8 foot long pieces of wall moulding that came from the local Yardbirds store before it was closed by Home Depot  (Boo! Hiss!!!). One of the boards is lined up even with the previously noted top edges, and the quilt backing and batting are wound tighlty and smoothly around the board with about a foot of the bottom edges left unwound.  The the same thing is done with the quilt top - the top edge is lined up with the basting board and the quilt top is wound tightly and smoothly around the board with approximately a foot of the bottom left unwound.

Next, the loose bottom edges of the quilt top, batting and backing are lined up and the layers are smoothed out against one another.  The boards are carefully unwound, ensuring that the layers remain straight and smooth, until the sandwich covers the width of the table. Using a fine milliner's needle and size 20 DMC cotton, the basting begins in the lower left hand corner and travels away from me toward the basting boards.  When I get as close as I can to the boards, I move the next row of basting over to the left,  and start basting toward me again.  This zig-zag pattern continues until all of the unwound sandwich is basted.  Then I unwind more of the fabrics and batting so that unbasted materials once again cover the table.    The quilt top you see in these photos is 60" X 70", and it took 2 1/2 hours to baste.

When I get this quilt onto my machine, I will share some machine quilting photos and tips with you.

It Is Not a Freddy Quilt, It Is a Pineapple Quilt

OK, one more of the quilts that was finished this last year.  The pattern is called the pineapple block, so I simply call this my Pineapple Quilt.  It was started (like a LOT of my projects, it seems) when I got back to California from South Africa.  I had always wanted to make a Pineapple Quilt, and there were lots of yummy bright-colored fabrics available to work with in 1994 and 1995.  Besides the bright fabrics in this quilt, there is a black fabric with white polka dots. The polka dotted fabric was a gift from Karen Matsumoto, and was just crying out to be used. Black is an obvious color to be used with brights, because it sets them off so nicely.  The polka dots were a direct contrast to the geometric lines of the block. I was happy with the materials, so what could be the problem?

The problem (at least in my mind) is that lots of people seem to think that I took my inspiration for this quilt from Freddy Moran.  Freddy is an amazing quilt artist and she makes wonderful quilts. She loves to mix bright fabrics with black and white fabrics, and I must say that she does have a knack for putting just the right fabrics together.  But I had not yet met or even heard of Freddy when I started my quilt.  So it kinda bothers me everytime somebody looks at my Pineapple Quilt and says "Oh, it's a Freddy quilt!" or "How lucky for you, you did a class with Freddy". Please take a look at this site to see more of Freddy Moran's work - you'll see that her work far surpasses mine.

Anyway, back to my Pineapple Quilt.  It was constructed using the Pineapple Rule from The Great American Quilt Factory. The finished size of this quilt is 62 X 52.  It was machine quilted on my trusty Bernina 1260 using a random running loop pattern with Warm and Natural Batting .

Tree Farm - Another Quilt From This Last Year

Here is another photo of a project that was finished this last year. This was a quick and fun quilt - quick because it was a kit and fun because it is came from Country Threads in Garner, Iowa.  The pattern is called Tree Farm, and can be found in the Country Threads book "We Made it Through the Winter". When I say quick I mean that the whole quilt took me 7 days from starting to cut and piece to completing the machine quilting and binding.  Like most projects, it just took me a while to get around to actually getting started.

I fell in love with the Country Threads "look" when I found the first Country Threads book (from the Quilt Shop Series) just before I left South Africa . After 4 years of African quilt overload, it reminded me of everything I loved about American quilts - the symmetry of traditional patterns, the subdued colors (well, subdued compared to African colors), and the appropriateness of the quilts for placing on a bed.  African quilts by comparison were more contemporary and "artsy", with free-form designs and use of lots of bright colors. They were not quilts that I would place on a bed, but that is probably my "quilt prejudice" creeping in.

During the remainder of the 1990s, my job afforded me lots of opportunities to travel.  Imagine my excitement to travel to see a vendor in Orange City, Iowa, knowing I was so danged close to Country Threads in Garner.  Orange City is in western Iowa, and Garner is way over there on the other side of the state.  No matter, it was a "short" 4 hour drive along perfectly flat countryside and lots of corn fields to cross the state, and I knew I could always fly home out of Mason City, which was another 30 minutes away. Parking next to the Country Threads barn was almost a religious experience, and I felt that I was trodding hallowed ground as I walked amongst the chickens, goats and dogs to the shop. I bought patterns, and kits, and yardage; I met Connie and Mary, the infamous proprietors.  And when I went back to my car with my treasures an hour later, I just KNEW that my suitcase was going to be over the weight restrictions.  But I was deleriously happy, and spent the night caressing the fabrics that were actually purchased at Country Threads, and they were ALL MINE!

The next morning I gladly paid the $10 for for overweight baggage (yep, it was only $10 back then) and flew home.  And I was able to visit Country Threads 3 more times, and each visit was just as wonderful as the first. I finally quit flying for business, and have not been back to Garner, Iowa since July, 1997. It is easy to remember this, not just because July in Iowa is miserably hot and humid, but because it was the day that Gianni Versace was killed.  Isn't it amazing what we remember?  Anyway, whether or not I ever get back there, Country Threads will always hold a special place in my heart as the first quilt shop that I truly fell in love with.

Edited to add:
Someone has asked me about the size of this quilt.  Thaks so much for taking the time to ask - because of this I will be adding relevant information for this and all future quilt postings.
Tree Farm is composed of 8" squares, so it is 72 1/2" X 56 1/2", including the binding.  It was machine quilted with a straight line pattern on my trusty Bernina, using Warm and Natural Batting.

What a Sweet Treat!

So last night I went to my Tuesday night quilting group (Karen's Kids)  and shared good times with my friends.  We were all working on different projects, and I was able to take pictures of 3 more of the quilts that I made last year.  Those will not be posted today, but will be seen here in the coming week.  Today I want to share the cutest bag pattern I have seen in a long time.

This is called a Sweet Treat, and was developed for use with Honey Bun strips of Moda  Fabrics.  Michele from Karen's Kids picked up the pattern and some strips as a kit at a local quilt shop, and brought the kit to class. The next thing you know, everyone is making Sweet Treat bags for themselves and for Christmas gifts.  Except for Sandi, who was still looking for just the right fabrics to go with THE BUTTON.  THE BUTTON was a birthday gift a few years ago from my good friend Karla.  I have been wanting to use THE BUTTON, but the pattern and fabrics had to be just right because I love THE BUTTON. 

So, I knew this would be the right pattern the minute I saw it - I just needed the right fabrics.  Of  course they  would have to be batiks, because those are my favorites.  And I knew that the teal and purple-y batiks would be in the purse.  But I needed a 5th fabric, and I just wasn't finding what I wanted. Yesterday I finally discovered the pale olive middle fabric in my stash, and knew that it was time to start my bag.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find my copy of the Sweet Treat Bag pattern this morning.  So I Googled the name and found that this is a free pattern on the Moda Fabrics web site.  You can find a copy of the pattern by clicking here.  The beauty of the bag is in the unique construction - the bag is automatically self-lined.

These are quite addictive to make, as they go together so quickly and are perfect for embellishing.  It would make a great make-up or toiletries bag to pack for a quick week-end qet away, then could double as an evening clutch if you went out for dinner.  I can see that there are going to be lots more of these in my future - now I just need to find additional perfect buttons to embellish them. Guess that means a trip to Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley!

This is what I am working on today

The rain is coming down and the wind is blowing hard.  I keep watching the three, 30 foot tall white birch trees in my backyard sway back and forth, hoping that their roots are firmly planted in the ground.  I can deal with the branches falling off, but do not EVEN want to think about one or more huge trees in my family room.

So, weather like this means that it is a quilting day.  My "Tuesday morning, once a month" quilting group did not meet this morning, and I would not have been able to join them even if they did.  So I have next week to look forward to sewing, gabbing and laughing with my friends.  But I still need to "touch fabric" today.  So I have decided to sandwich and baste one of my tops that needs to be quilted.  This is another one of those "long time in the making" tops - the red and blue stars on cream backgrounds were started after we returned from South Africa in 1994.  I was feeling happy about being back home, so I figured a red, "white" and blue quilt was just the thing to celebrate with. 

I love the Sawtooth Star pattern and so pulled fabrics and started to cut and sew.  The blocks were started in 1994 and finally finished in 2009.  Once they were finished, I had to hurry up and add the sashing, posts and borders before life got in the way once more.  You see, it is not that I don't want to finish a project once it is started, it is just that other things (i.e., life) get in the way.  And OK, I guess I AM kind of ADHD when it comes to my projects.  It is easy to get me interested in lots of things at the same time, so there are always 5 or 6 different projects going.  They will all get done, just not right away and not in the order in which they were started.  That's just the way it is......

So the quilt will be ready in a few hours to put on my trusty Bernina for quilting - maybe later today, maybe later this week, maybe in a couple of weeks.  But I feel that some sort of progress has been made, at least.  So now do you understand why the scarf of the handspun yarn is not finished yet?

Sharing Another Quilt From This Last Year

I am busy knitting a scarf from some gorgeous merino yarn that I finished spinning for myself in November.  But it is not finished yet, so I will just share another one of my projects from this last year.

This is another one of my favorite scrap quilts.  The pattern is called Autumn Leaves and the colors come from leaves that I once saw in friend's yard while visiting her in Pennsylvania.  I ended up making 2 identical quilts - she owns one and I own the other.  They were both started about 8 years ago, and hers was finished in a very timely manner. So to be honest, only the pieced leaves are identical on the quilts. My quilt took a bit longer because I did not buy enough border fabric for both quilts, and then could not find the border fabric that I wanted on mine.  I finally finished my quilt this last year, and I LOVE it.  The colors go with absolutely NOTHING in my house, and I think that is the beauty of a scrap quilt.

Scrap quilts are my favorites to make and to look at.  I think it is because I own so danged much fabric in small pieces, and it needs to be used up. I am trying very hard to not buy more fabric because I am drowning in my current stash.  You quilters our there know exactly what I am talking about, don't you?  Sometimes we want to use special fabrics (like plaids, florals or kid prints) in a quilt, so we just might have to buy more fabric, but sometimes we just let our quilting friends know that we will be more than happy to take their scraps off their hands. As my friend Marilyn always says - FRIENDS SHARE!

OK, so much for today's fun - I am off to clean up the Tuesday night kitchen mess.  This weekly mess comes from my darling family's need to cook for themselves on Tuesday night while I go off to quilt.  Cleaning it up is a small price to pay for the joy I get from hanging with my friends for a couple of hours.

Ciao for now!

It was a longer than expected "mental health" break...

Hey there, world – I am back! And I do promise to be better about this blogging thing.

After a longer than usual hiatus, I have been cajoled and convinced by my good friends to come back to my blog. So, I am hoping to be a bit more diligent about it this time, updating at least a few times a week with news of what The Paper Gypsy is creating.

I am going to start off giving you a bit of an update on what has happened since my last entry. I fried my brain and got crispy around the edges with rubber stamping. I eventually crashed and burned when I realized that it was no longer fun because it became something I HAD to do, not just something I WANTED to do. Most of my stamps and stamping supplies have been sold off, although I have kept a lot of my paper crafting supplies and embellishments.

So where is my time spent now? I have returned to quilting with a vengeance, and have completed 6 quilts. I continue to work on my projects once a week with my good buddies, Karen’s Kids, at Main Street Quilts in Martinez. Our fearless leader (Karen Matsumoto, AKA the Color Goddess) is one of the most innovative quilters around, with the greatest sense of putting just the right colors together. And one Tuesday morning every month I meet with my other good buddies – my mini-group from Diablo Valley Quilters. This is a very creative but small group (only 5 if us) that really enjoys each other’s creativity and company.

I have also been doing some more beading this year, because those silly beads sitting in the containers in the corner of my craft room still know my name and scream to me, asking me to come play. But the high point of the year is that I finally taught myself how to spin yarn on my drop spindle! THIS has been an 11 year process, and I finally ”got it” after watching Abby Franquemont on a couple of YouTube videos.

I look forward to sharing a variety of projects with you in the coming years, and hope that someone is inspired by a color combination or bit of serendipity found on this blog.

The photo at the top of this post is of one of my favorite quilts from this last year - The Floor of the Senate Chamber on Atlantis. (Think broken mosaic tile floor lying on the bottom of the ocean.) The finished quilt is 54" X 54" and was made as a wall quilt for my family room,  The design is a modification of Patricia Pepe's original Venetian Tiles pattern.  You can find the pattern and X-Block ruler used in making this quilt here.