Mostly I've been boring

I know you aren't supposed to admit this but the truth is my life has been quite boring to the last few weeks. There has been paperwork accounts and tax returns. House work and planning but not much of interest to quilter, well not unless the cleanliness of my toilet is interesting, sparkling ;) I am now back clearing some customer work before getting onto my next show quilt. The picture is one of those. This was an intersting quilt for me to do as it needed a cheaper version of the quilting I put on the last one I did. I was lucky enought to quilt a show quilt last year for Jenny at Patchwork Corner and this is the same as that. I am pleased that it has the feel of the original and I hope the customer will agree.

Tonight I am giving a talk to Amwell Quilters. I just hope the snow stays at a minimum and they make it there. I aught to get back to driving, but I thought it would be good to show I hadn't forgotten you all.

Sneaky peak

Here is a section of todays quilting on the applique. As you can see it is taking a lot of thread changes to blend properly, but it's fun. I think I might get all the applique quilted by the end of tomorrow, but who knows.

Round 2 threads

I've finally got the applique onto my new quilt. It's taken 2 weeks solid work to doit and my hand doesn't love me. Now I have to quilt it and that means another large selection of threads. These are actually a lot more grey than they look and as they are all I have in the range I just hope they are enough. I already suspect the pale is too pale which makes things tricky. I guess I will do what I can and if I have to resort to cunning tricks so be it.

Cutting out

I've spent most of my time this week cutting out. If you haven't made this type of quilt it's hard to believe how long cutting can take or how triring it is. I hope this picture will give you an idea. I need to cut along the line that is highlighted. This piece has taken me well over an hour so far. I use small scissors and plod along. Yes it's hard on your hand. Sprung scissors help a lot. I did try using a craft knife or scapel but I found the didn't cut the fabric reliably and did make a mess of my cutting board. So back to scissors I went. Is it worth it? Yes I think it is. i am getting really excited by the quilt now aand I can't wait to get back to quilting it.

Quilting the background

I wasn't sure how the background quilting was going to work. I wanted shading but I wanted that to be subtle and I needed the background to be interesting as there is a lot of it. This is the design I've settled on. Well the selection of designs actually. I don't see me ading many more different designs as I want this to be the background and not grab too much attention but at least it's got a bit of life to it. There will be seven different threads in the upper area of the background and I think eight different ones in the lower area. You know me though, this could change before I get that far.

New project

I've finally got my own project onto the frame. It's based on a piece of hand dyed sateen, by Heide Stoll-Weber. These are the threads I will be using (probably) for quilting the first background area. I have mostly picked threada that tone in with the background but for the look I am after I want to be able to do some shading hence lots of threads.

Cow head drying

I thought you might like to see the front of the finished cow head. This is it pinned out on a thick piece of polysyrene to keep it flat while it dries. As I mentioned before I didn't wash out all the stabiliser so it is going to be a little stiff, but I think that might also mean it hangs really well. It will be interesting to see. For now it's just going to stay where it is. It's quite safe there and I can get on with other things.

Back view of the front end of a cow

I thought you might like to see the quilting on the cow head. It's always easier to see from the back, but the washaway stabilizer makes it even clearer. The background quilting is black on black and will be very hard to see when it's finished.

The quilt has now had a bath and is pinned out drying. I deliberately didn't get all the stabilizer off. I thought being a bit stiff would help in class, both with me holding it up and with the amount of handling it will get. Of course it may also cause other problems but I won't know until I try.

Dusty's rulers

When I was in Houston I bought two sets of rulers from Dusty and folks asked if I would put up a review of them when I had tried them. I have now, so here goes.

Firstly the cute packaging is also useful. I can hang the bags from their drawstrings and keep a whole set on one hook, neat. I am also using them for storing my cunning pin catchers but more on those another day.

The set I have spent most time with are the radical rulers. Their first outing was a baby quilt for a regular customer. She doesn't mind if I play and a baby won't critique my quilting. I used the 4 way cross shaped ruler to do the borders, with the gothic arch look. It wasn't perfect, I don't use rulers much so that is to be expected but it was acceptable. If you look on you tube you will find some video of him demonstrating them and the border I tried was one he shows.

I did find the ruler a lot easier to hold than most I've tried. It's a really good size, big enough to be usefull small enough to he held stable easily. I then had to quilt Tet's Christmas present to his mum. It has a lot of applique on it that had to be stitched around. I grabbed my trusty straight ruler and the went hunting for something to use on the curves. Three of the radical rulers got pressed into service. The two arches and the 4 way. Between them they had something close to every arc I needed and were all easy to hold. It wasn't what they were designed for, but they are very very good at it. So much so I've done tons of stitch in the ditch (something I normally won't do) on two sampler quilts as well.

I still need more time to play with the rulers and the other set I bought, but so far I am a very happy camper. These have changed the way I look at ruler work completely. I've also started using my leader grip side clamps. They are much easier to open and close than I had expected, which is good and I love the way the hold the backing. The leader grips for loading quilts are waiting to go on the new frame when it arrives, which will be a while yet because I wanted it customising. I know, typical, but hey if you are going to spend that much you might as well get it right.

Cow on the frame

As you can see I am making good progress with the cow now. Yes this does mean the tracing is all done. I am so relieved, it was getting really boring. The cow has been about for nearly a year without quilting. It is one of the samples for my art quilts 3 class and is based on the photos I took for Herd Mentality. It is quilted very differently from Herd Mentality, and is also acting as a test for my next quilt. Fur goes much faster than I expected and is a lot of fun to quilt.

What's on the frame?

Well, two things actually. I know that's a bit odd bit when I need a long table I lay a piece of polystyrene on the rollers. At the moment I am using that to trace a pattern. The picture shows part of round 1, I'm on round 2 now, and for this project there will be a round 3, though 2 and 3 are only partial tracings so it's not as bad as it sounds.

Actually mounted on the frame I have my cow head sample quilt. I finally got fed up with the pins at a time when the frame was free so the pins are out and the stitching is going on. I made it from the exact requirements I give students which meant the backing was too small to mount so I mounted heavy weight washaway instead. I am not enjoying quilting a quilt with a lot of layers of fabric and the thick washaway front and back. I won't be making a habit of this.

Quilt finished

No I haven't been taking time off from quilting over the holiday. Did you really think I would? Yesterday I finished off a customer quilt the loaded this little one. It's a sample for one of my patterns so I will show you it when the patter comes out, but for now I can at least show you the back. It's not the most exciting quilting in the world. It needed to be quick and easy and done.

Loving having access to my blog again.

Am I back?

Hopefully this new phone will let me start blogging again. I can't get the new blogger software to do what I want and my handset got too old and shaky to deal with email or web access. So for my present to myself I got a replacement handset. 2 days to get things synced and I seem to be back up and running.

The quilt is a sample for a pattern. It's just keeping me out of trouble until I can start on a new art quilt. Just waiting to get the new printer up and running.

Quit done

When ill everything takes longer, even quilting. Why am I quilting when I feel ill? Well you might have noticed the date, Christmas is coming and my queue is full so I have to get a certain amount done every day no matter how I feel. I have been picking out the simpler projects though. There is no[chance of me doing complex work right now. Even this quilt took at least 4 times as long as it should have done, but it's finished now and hopefully can head home this week.

Houston? Nah, Florida

I was going to post some more pictures from the Houston quilt show, but actually I'm not in the mood. So here are some pictures from Florida instead. However, to keep my quilting fans happy lets start with some quilting. Some really really famous quilting.

I hope at least some of you guessed what the quilting in question might be on, given my background and the location :) All these panels are quilted. We got to see some samples in the VAB which showed the stitching much better but you can see it fairly well here. As you can see she isn't the easiest thing to get a picture of, you just can't get back far enough, but Tet did his best.

For me this has to be the ultimate patchwork quilt. It's a serious working quilt, although the colour scheme isn't the most imaginative I've seen.

We were very lucky to see Atlantis. There was just one week where they were allowing sneak peeks before she is built into a 'proper' display. Personally I would much rather see her grubby and on very functional stands. It suits who and what she is. I hope they don't tart her up too much.

 This is one of the launch pads used for shuttle launches. The gravel tracks you can see leading up to it are the roadway used by the crawler that carries the platform and whatever is being launched to the platform. I do mean both tracks are one road. the crawler has huge tracks and straddles the grass between the gravel.

We got even luckier on our visit. There is a platform on the pad and a crawler under it. Our guide said the crawler had just had a complete refurbishment and new engines so we were guessing it had come out here as a test run. Whatever the reason, I've always had a soft spot for the crawlers so it was great to see one.

From this angle you can see the fire trench and the massive water tower which dumps water at the base of a shuttle launch just before the engines fire. The water is there to damp (literally) the sound waves which would otherwise damage the orbiter. It's a neat and very clever solution to a potentially huge problem.

Lastly, for tonight at least, the rocket garden. Maybe if I have wifi on the train tomorrow I will try and post some more quilts :)

More quilts from Houston

 I don't know how much I am going to be able to say. The laptop thinks I have 20 minutes battery, so if I have to stop suddenly you will know what happened.

I've been looking through my photos from Houston and they seem to fall mostly into two groups, amazing quilting and medallion quilts. I guess that says something about my interests doesn't it.

I also notice that the quilts that really appealed to me often didn't get the big ribbons. I have far more pictures of non winning quilts than winners (well until I sent Tet to get a picture of every competition quilt for me :).


As ever you can click on the images for a bigger picture and the last image of each set is the description bard for the quilt.

Only one quilt made it into the photos just because I guessed who made it. Many I looked at fell in love with then read the board and either said, "should have guessed" or "well that figures". As I get more up you will see what I mean ;)

 This quilt grabbed me from the other end of it's aisle. In person it glows with sunlight, and you just can't wait to get a better look at the rocks. The pictures don't do it justice, but it did at least win an award. These pictures were taken during market which is before the awards are announced.

Do look at the close-ups there is so much detail in this quilt. Eeeep battery warning. Better type faster.

 This quilt is all about the quilting for me. Maybe that's wrong, but just take a look at it. I think we have 8 or 9 detail pictures of this one, there is just so much in it.

Please read the blurb the artists wrote I am going to get this uploaded quick.

TTFN!

I would share my Houston goodies

But the family says no. Under the 2 cats is half a suitcase. In which are threads. Lots or them, but they currently belong to the cats who are still using 2 weeks in a cattery as leverage. Sorry, I will unpack soon. Equally I'll have to get my laptop hooked up to the home network so I can share som,e more quilt photos, don't worry you will see them within a couple of hours of me getting a look at them.

Too tired to make sense but posting anyway

 I really should be going and getting some dinner but Tet has fallen asleep so I will try and do this instead. Be warned, I've been repeating myself for several days now and I'm tired so I may not make a lot of sense. I also haven't edited the images so they are huge. They should look good if you click on them to enlarge them though. I am also hoping you will be able to read the signs (and that I have put up the right ones for the quilts).

The first picture tonight is a random building in Houston :) Well not that random, it's the one we can see from the lift and we both rather like it. I like the whole Houston skyline actually and I think it may well become a quilt at some point. I know we have more pictures of it, but asleep person has the camera so I guess you'll have to wait for that.

This quilt is hanging next door but one to my quilt. That's a mixed blessing. I get to look at it a lot, which is great, but it is way too good and I'd rather is was further away from my quilt. It is called 'Adventure Awaits' and was quilted by Sue McCarty, it is stunning. The detail on it is just fantastic. How this quilt didn't get in the top 3 is just beyond me. If something this amazing only gets honourable mention I can totally understand how I didn't place. I have so many pictures of this quilt because every time I look at it I see another feature I love. I think that these gates are probably my favourite part of the quilt, but I reserve the right to change my mind.

 This quilt was one of the awards that really pleased me at the winners circle. It's not a big quilt and it's in a category with a lot of far larger pieces but it holds it's own very well. The photograph doesn't capture the amazing glow this quilt has. The fabrics have been chosen to capture the light hitting this tree. If I could take a show quilt home with me it would probably be this one, because not only do I love it but it's small enough I could hang it too. 'The Leprechaun's Tree' by Robin M. Haller.

Another award winner that I was pleased to see  was 'Departure' by Kiyomi Takayanagi (I hope I got all those letters right). This quilt ticks all my boxes. I love the colour, the shading, the piecing and the quilting. I do find Japanese quilts very intimidating, the workmanship is amazing. One day I will be brave enough to try submitting one of my quilts to a Japanese show, but I'm not sure I'm quite there yet.


Yes I know, I'm mean, these are nearly all detail pictures but come on, these details are worth studying :)

Great lunch buddies

 Between market and festival there is a two day break, where the visitors need to entertain themselves and the stall holders panic. We decided to give the Downtown Aquarium a try. It's not a huge place but it does let you pet rays so I was happy. The best display of rays though is in the restaurant. They are quite distracting which I thought was great. I love the way they fly in the water. I guess I now need to try a quilt of one as we have loads of pictures.

Right now though it's gone 10 so hopefully the queue at the show will be reducing. I need to go and catch the bus to play with the public. Wish me luck the aircon is playing havoc with my throat and I have almost no voice. I can see Tet doing a lot of talking today. Just as well he has heard the spiel so often and can sound pretty much like me :)

In the naughty corner

Although the quilt festival opened today last night was preview night and IQA members could get into the show from 5pm-10pm. I obviously had to take advantage of this to meet people and to shop. In doing so I discovered the show has a naughty corner. You know you've found it when you hit the Innova longarm booth. I've not worked out if they are in the corner or just out of it, I suspect it depends on who you talk to and when, but everything beyond them is certainly in the corner. To one side you find Akonye Kenya, who sell lots of fabrics beads and other objects sourced from Africa. He hasn't managed to sell me anything yet, having limited space makes you a lot pickier, but he has some lovely fabrics. However, I don't think I will ever forget him, and those of you who know me well know that has to bode :) He wears a kilt which would give him a fair chance of being remembered but his wicked sense of humour guarantees it. Never ever leave a computer guided longarm unattended with him around, really, just don't.

To the other side the two bad boy longarmers are lurking. I thought it would be nice to show you a picture of the two of them with their new products (which I may have had to buy :) but the more observant of you will see I only caught one of them. Their handlers are threatening to put shock collars on them so they can be kept closer to the stands in future. Dusty didn't run fast enough so we have a picture of him and the bag of goodies. In this bag you get a set of his rulers and the DVD to go with them. He assures me it makes him look really clever. I don't find that too hard to believe. Of course what I really want is the new book he is working on. He stitched out a couple of things from it and they look great. Why is it I always want the thing I can't have?

If you are at the show there is a special offer of the 5 rulers and the DVD for $105. They are booth number, 162 Country Stitchin. Failing that they do have a web site, www.cscountrystitchin.com where you can order the rulers, but I think it's going to cost more.

As most of you know I don't do a lot with rulers. I do however sometimes want to be able to repeat a curve. I liked the look of these partly for the wide range of curves you get but they also look like they will be easy shapes to handle. They aren't huge either so they should play nicely on the smaller frame. I suppose if I was really keen I could watch the DVD while I am here and see if Innova would let me play with my rulers on their machines, but then again that might just be the step too far. I am already getting though their fabric and thread at an alarming rate. Maybe I will leave the DVD safe in it's shrink wrap until I get home.