I Took a Great Class

Back sometime in Jan or Feb, I signed up for a class with DeLoa Jones, a longarm quilt instructor from Michigan.  Here is her Bio: http://www.deloasquiltshop.com/bio/bio.html

She actually offered several classes on different subjects during her visit here in Florida, and it was the Borders class that I enrolled in.  DeLoa and her husband Dave had set up four longarm machines on two frames in the LQS classroom and there were only 8 people in the class so the instruction was very personal.  There were various levels of abilities in the room and l was lucky to be paired up with a relatively new longarmer (like me!) - we were 2 people to a longarm machine and that was nice.  The two on the machine next to us were very experienced quilters and their work was quite different from ours, but we got the most bang for our buck, so to speak.  It was great fun.

This was the classroom setup:

And these are some of the samples and what we practiced.  These are DeLoa’s works, not ours – lol…

And this is a row of ours – see the difference to DeLoa’s – I guess we need practice!  Of course, it didn’t help that we were on a new-to-us machine and it went w-a-y too fast for use to accurately control it.

Some more of DeLoa’s free motion work that I liked:

I will make up an easy strippy quilt to practice on and donate it to one of my charity groups.  These are DeLoa’s samples:

And this is a close-up of one of DeLoa’s famous chickens – with free-hand thread painting: 

 

oops - he's sideways!  sorry ...

This one's right side up - and yes, those are crystals all over!

The entire quilt was these fancy chickens!  It was fabulous, but didn’t show up well on my goofy little camera.  Oh well.

Check out this YouTube on ideas Deloa had for easy Block designs.  I wish I’d have remembered some of these techniques when I did Beth’s quilts (in a previous post), but sometimes things go in one ear and out the other.  I’ll have to remember to get out of my rut and use some of my new found skills!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHnqsJxWrYU

Blog Catch-up – Back to February/Early March!

Way back in February, the Quilts of Valor Foundation held a National Sew-in Day and one of our local quilters graciously sponsored an event at her development’s Club House (a great facility!).  Lisa B brought fabrics and patterns for Carpenter’s Star quilt tops and we went to town putting them together.  My camera settings were goofy that day, but here are some photos of the group in action.  Each of our Carpenter Stars had a different panel print that was provided by Lisa:

 

Lisa giving an overview

First top almost finished

The group finished four tops, I think, and partially finished one more.  Lisa took them home to quilt for Quilts of Valor … they will be marvelous!

And Marilyn came to attend that event from all of the way over in Clermont.  She brought her most recent QOV for show-and-tell.  She regularly attends a QOV group in the Northeast!

center detail from Marilyn's quilt

And at the first of March, QOV coordinated a Mystery Quilt Event and I signed up.  Periodically, I received instructions and this is my result:

I love that flag fabric!

Isn’t it gorgeous?!  Thanks go to Le Ann Weaver at Persimmon Quilts for her Mystery Pattern No. 16:  http://www.persimmonquilts.com/QOVMysteryHomePg.html

Blog Catch-up Going Backwards in Time!

Still playing catch-up for that in-between period when I wasn’t posting.  During my busy time, I went to a quilt show up in New Port Richey (northwest of Tampa).  It was sponsored by the West Pasco Quilt Guild and they put on a really nice (and BIG) show.  There were some fascinating appliqué quilts that I would never attempt, but love to look at, only a few patriotic quilts (that I look at for inspiration for my Quilts of Valor group), and some great simple/easy/adaptable quilts that I can potentially make for kids.  Enjoy this sampling ...

Here’s a cute appliqué, called Monkey Business, by quilter Avis Merritt from a pattern in Quiltmaker Magazine:

And a wonderful Dresden Plate with lace and yo-yo centers (sorry, I didn’t get the label – I apologize for not giving credit):

A quilt I loved for the rich colors called The Gathering Pattern by Cindy Stroud from a book called The Essential Sampler Quilt Book:

Some Patriotic quilts:

 

I Pledge Allegiance by Melissa Lamb, pattern by Blackbird Designs

Tales of the First Ladies, Proud Eagle, by Joyce Novak, blocks named after President's Wives

Patriotic Rose by Frances Oswald, designs by Janet Miller

Portals by Mary Ann Norfleet, inspired by book Successful Scrap Quilts from Simple Rectangles

A very special Heirloom quilt by Genie Betts from a BOM by Carol Stark – the photos, even the detail ones, don’t do this quilt justice!

detail

 

detail

And some easier quilts that I think I might be able to do:

by Marsha White

by Marge Lurz

by Deborah Hetman

Not a Ghost Blog!

You’ve seen those ghost blogs … you know, the ones where they just abruptly stop posting without any warning and you wonder what happened to them?  Some bloggers say they are going to take a siesta or may be away for awhile, but then there are those that just disappear for years!  Well, I really didn’t intend to become one of the ghost bloggers, but time just got away with me.

I’ve been collecting pictures for posts for what seems like a long time now and I’ll be playing catch-up for awhile here going backwards … and I’ll try to do better in the future!

This is the latest finish of the kiddie quilt tops - uses leftover 2 1/2 inch strips:

And these are the quilts that I quilted for a fellow Sunshine Quilt Guild member.  Beth has some of the cutest printed fabrics in these simple squares quilts.  I was busy admiring the brown and beige kangaroos, emus, koalas, etc. as I was quilting when I realized the dark square I was on had a kangaroo staring at me, too!  Too cute:

detail of two kangaroo squares

And this is the one on the frame now (from Beth also):

And these are the flowers that are in bloom that I wish were in my yard – don’t know what there are, but will go looking for some at the plant nursery!

B-r-r-r and Then ----- Not

Well, the polar vortex came down as far as Florida.  And we felt the need to join in with the other 49 States so they could report the weather event that all 50 States had below freezing temps somewhere within the state.  Don’t want to be left out of that one, for sure (NOT):

So I dutifully covered my plants – a big project since I had to hold down the covers with extra brick pavers due to the high winds that night.  And we sure were cold!

You’ll notice that my giant furball of a dog didn’t want to come in since she’s lovin’ this cold weather, hence the grumpy look.

But this is Florida after all, and we tend to warm back up quickly.  It was back up to 78 within a few days and we had to put those layers of clothing back into the closet.  It’s a bummer to wear those clothes only three days a year, but I’m sure they will be back before the season’s over.  It’s a very pleasant 68 out now so no excuse not to go for a walk …

BTW, the flowers appreciated my efforts (and the warm rain last night didn’t hurt):

I was able to finish up another Quilt of Valor top to take to the meeting this coming Friday.  We are trying to use up all of the 4-patches that the volunteers have made to transition to a new design for 2014.  Don’t know what the design is yet – it’s a secret until Friday!

I have selected the fabrics for and started cutting a Big Block children’s quilt.  Haven’t gotten far yet, so that’s for next post.

Sewing in the New Year

I’m still working on making kid’s tops this week.  This is my take on the “modern” quilt movement:

Since I don’t make crumb blocks or have any Chinese coin strips available, I just used a striped fabric.  It sure was fast and easy, but I hope to find a cute kid’s print to put on the back – maybe for an older child.

And I had these strippy gold/blue blocks made up to pair with our Quilts of Valor group’s leftover 4-patches.

The colors look better in person – it kind of looks western since the gold/tan is more of a saddle color.  And yes, the column on the left is laid out wrong … late in the evening does that to me!  I’ll fix it when I lay out more and sew the rows together tomorrow.

My Bernina goes to the shop tomorrow for annual cleaning.  I’ve been sewing today on my little Janome Gem that I got for Christmas.  It sews like a champ and will be great to take to classes.  I do miss the Bernie for the needle-down feature, but she’ll be back soon!

Happy New Year!