Super Simple Sampler in Blue

My final finish for 2019 is this Super Simple Sampler in Blue quilt.

 

I pieced it in early 2017 when this pattern Simple Sampler by Thangles was brand new.  I can indeed verify that this is a super simple pattern to stitch together, especially since it uses the Thangles method. The pattern and Thangles to make it are available for purchase by clicking here. As you can see by their sample, that I reversed the colors: using white in the blocks and a blue batik for the background. I love it!

While the piecing was fast and easy, it took another year (or year and a half!) to deliver it to a quilter. First I had to decide on a backing fabric, opting to stitch one made of a patchwork back of blues from my fabric collection (P. S. I am a quilter who loves to quilt-by-check any of the large bed size quilt tops that I stitch up).

In summer of 2018, I had this quilt quilted by one of the local long armers whom I frequent. Jenn Saxena did a wonderful job at quilting this top using a doodle flowers pattern.  .... then at long last in December of 2019, I stitched on the binding. Now it is complete!

Oh, wait, I may still need to add a label to it!  Guess it will be officially finished in 2020?

My quilt family

I love seeing my Quilt Family at our annual gathering in Houston for the International Quilt Market and Quilt Festival.  This blog post features a few favorite quilts made with Thangles, created by MB Hayes, who I met at Quilt Market maybe 1,000 years ago.  I plan to start one of these soon ....

I love this Orion Star quilt.  If you are familiar with Thangles, you may recognize this best selling pattern which is always on display in their booth at Quilt Shows and Markets -- but in a cooler color way (purples, blues and greens).  I plan to make it one day, possibly in reproduction prints ....  The project pack is available online (directions and Thangles included!) by clicking here.

This one is called "Gemini Stars" and is one of newer Thangles patterns.  You learn how to make the "tulip" block when stitching this one together.  It simply sparkles, don't you agree?

I love this StashBuster pattern!  It is very similar to the current 2014 StashBuster pattern that is the free bonus sent out with all online orders placed that year.  I hope they bring back the Stash Buster patterns one day....

This is a variation of a pattern called "Stash Balls" -- such a fun what to use up your colorful fabric stash! Thangles are so easy to use when stitching up patterns with half-square triangles. 

The blue and white quilt below is one of the older designs and possibly one of the first Thangles patterns that I ever made.  This one is similar to a pattern in the Dress Your Table collection. There are now two Dress Your Table patterns, both feature quick-to-sew small quilts (great for making and gifting to friends and family).  They are "Dress Your Table" and "Dress Your Table 2" (scroll down the page to see the second pattern).

To watch a demo on how to use Thangles, click here. 
To learn more about Thangles, explore their website https://thangles.com/
You can also connect to Thangles via a variety of social media links, including: Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook.... All links on the Thangles home page.

All dressed up

My sons are Seniors in high school .... so many memories being made this year, including the tradition of Prom!

Eli is ready and waiting ....

 

and then his date arrived -- I love her smile (& that she's the driver)

I believe they had a grand time.

Meanwhile, Isaac had spent the day at San Jacinto College, performing in Holy Day at the UIL One-Act Play Region level of competition -- two of the six plays performed this day advance to UIL State Competition.  The theatre team knew it could be a long wait for the awards to be announced, so they changed from thespians into prom-goers at the college as they waited to learn if their play would be advancing....

Here is Isaac with his date, a member of the Creative Team of Holy Day.

 

In case the medal he is wearing doesn't give it way, the grand news of the day:  Carnegie's production of "Holy Day" by Andrew Bovell took the top honors and is advancing to State!

The official cast photo for Carnegie's Holy Day.  

This attire is a bit dustier and dirtier than their prom outfits.

 Thrilled to be advancing to State, but more immediate is going to the Carnegie Prom to celebrate!

One last photo of many of the seniors -- aren't they gorgeous?

This production of this play has caused quite an uproar and dialogue.

Click this and read....

And these amazing thespians plan to perform this play at the International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh Scotland this August.  But they need help raising funds for this trip.  

Please support them.  

Click here to learn more and to make your donation.

(any amount large or small is hugely appreciated!).

Zentangling a Chamsa

Yesterday was the annual Yom Limmud in Houston.  One of my favorite sessions was an art class on how to zentangle a chamsa.  After a brief warm up using a pencil, most of us switched to the permanent Sharpies and went to task.  Here is my finished chamsa that I zentangled. 

Here is Darren's finished piece.

He used watercolor to brighten his lovely design.  I love it! 

Isn't the intricate detail in this one delightful?

I had a grand time learning how to zentangle and look forward to doing another one soon!

Tree of Life

The 2015 International Quilt Festival closed a week ago today and I am late in sharing photos and stories from this annual gathering.  I am starting this year's review with a post about the one class that I took this year, the Tree of Life taught by my good friend Sara Hochhauser.  This is a new pattern of a traditional pattern using Thangles. 

This is a new pattern of a traditional block that Sara is developing using Thangles.  Below are the pieces that will be growing into a full tree.

I enjoyed seeing the variety of colors and fabrics that others brought to make this quilt block. Here are a few (the last ones to pack up and leave the classroom -- I didn't think of getting photos until after others had left) of the trees that were started during our three-hour class.

This first one, a Yellow tree, is in the early stages of piecing the sections of leaves and branches for the block.

 

This Blue tree is ready to have the sides stitched together (they are only pinned at the moment this photograph was taken).

This is my Red tree.  It will be going into my growing stack of red-n-white blocks.  I am planning a red-n-white sampler quilt, inspired by last year's huge Red-n-White quilt exhibit to honor the International Quilt Festival's Fortieth Anniversary.

Most students in the class were able to piece the main components of this lovely block, and many actually finished their entire block in our three hour class.

This is another sample that Sara shared with us.  I love the quilting -- the vining leaves on the dark background.  I am also dreaming of making one quilt of four trees, each representing a different season.  Sara also shared her version of a Four Seasons quilt that she had made.  I can also picture my many quilt-pins being attached to the leaves and in the background of this quilt ... I have many plans for more of these tree blocks....


I must end with the tale of a lovely wedding that I attending in New Orleans this week-end.

The bride and groom exchanged their vows under the spreading branches of the spectacular "Tree of Life" located in Audubon Park.

Legend states that "the tree was first planted as a wedding gift for the bride of a New Orleans plantation owner many years ago. And the gift of love still stands today", over one hundred years later.

While many brides and grooms in New Orleans are married standing in front of this massive and impressive Tree of Life, not many of them exchange their vows in a rain storm!  This wedding happened in spite of the weather, and the party that followed was loud and festive.  Great food, drink, dancing and the live music was awesome!  If you're ever invited to a wedding in New Orleans, go!  You will be glad you did -- and check the weather before heading there so you arrive prepared with a rain coat (if needed).  Mazel Tov to Lizzy & Danny!  May your years together be filled with love, sweetness and good times, regardless of the weather outside.

Doll quilts finished

I reached my August goal - hurray!

I have finished Dots for Dolly, my circle dots doll quilt.  It was fun to quilt - probably because I did both hand-quilting and machine quilting on this small quilt.

Here is a view of the front side-by-side with the back.  These photos were taken during the hand quilting stage.  I so enjoyed making this little quilt.


I also made two monster-lizard pencil pouches.  This is a free pattern available from my friend Liz.  Click here to see the directions and pattern on her blog Fat Chick Quilts, http://www.fatchickquilts.com/.

I made the striped one first in a workshop Liz gave to our Houston Modern Quilt Guild and immediately knew that I had to make one for my friend Chela and her little man grandson Isaac.

 These are the three doll quilts that I made especially for Chela... well, specifically for her son's daughters and their American Girl dolls.  I hope they love these doll quilts as much as I do.

These two monster pencil pouches reminds me of chatty lizards and you can see the quilting of the circle dot quilt underneath them.


This completes my August goal in A Lovely Year of Finishes too.  Click here to find out more about this monthly "can you finish it?" challenge being run by Melissa at Sew BitterSweet Designs (http://blog.sewbittersweetdesigns.com/) or Shanna at Fiber of All Sorts  (http://fiberofallsorts.blogspot.com/).

I am Linky #66  in the Goal posting for August (click here to see all that posted goals) and I am Linky #57 in the Finishes posting for August (click here for all who posted finishes) 

A trio of Hamsa quiltlet gifts

Three weddings among our small religious school staff during our year with "Peace Love & Music" theme gave me the challenge to make something special for these friends.  The gifts were commissioned by our Religious School Director and would be given from the entire Religious School Staff.  Something alike yet different was needed as well as something incorporating the Judaic charms that Marna gave me.  My ideal goal was to create original pieces that would be well-loved by each of the three newly married couples.   Months of pondering lead to the idea that was shared in the post here and the finished pieces are below.

This first Hamsa quiltlet of Peace, Love and Music was made especially for Sarah and Michael, the first couple to marry of the three.  The fabric used for the hamsa is the same that I used to applique a dove on my block for their wedding chuppah.

 My dove block is on the farthest side of the chuppah - in other words, you can't really see it in this photo...

so here it is or click here.

 The beautiful bride Sarah and her Mom Cathy smile in anticipation.

One serious groom Michael is focused during the ketubah signing.

The second Hamsa quiltlet of Peace, Love and Music was gifted to a journalist Michael (another different Michael, of course) and his bride Rachael.

   

I loved using this newsprint fabric for this wonderful couple whose wedding was a lovely outdoor setting in Central Texas.  Purple was also a prominent color in their wedding and reception.

 Such beautiful smiles by newlyweds in love!

Cutting the cake is always a fun time at weddings, and moments captured on other's smart phones is the new normal.  Do you see the purple kippah?

The third Hamsa quiltlet of Peace, Love and Music is in orange, the favorite color of the groom Matt.  I hope his bride likes it as much as I do -- it may feature my favorite quilting too.  Note: I only quilt my smaller pieces, such as these which are approximately 15" x 18".

 Their wedding was small and intimate amidst the trees in the Houston Arboretum.  I do not have any photos of their small wedding and reception, so will share a favorite from last summer, when the groom Matt was traveling in Israel as a chaperone for a group of teens from our religious school (a group that included my sons).  I think he does like orange!

These three quilts were a joy to make for my friends.  They were finally completed and gifted to the couples in June, after the school year ended, though a sneak preview was shown during our closing school luncheon for the faculty.

I've missed the linky at the beginning of the month (again) but this is for the final linky for the month of June in "A Lovely Year of Finishes" ... sigh.  However, it's never too late to finish something!

Join this monthly challenge group "A Lovely Year of Quilt Finishes" at any time.  In the first few days of the month, you post your goal for the month, then in the closing days of that same month, you post your successful completion.  It's that simple.  To keep it fun, there are prizes awarded randomly - woo-hoo!  I am linky #64 on the completion posts.
(Is this a perfect number?   Eight-squared - I love playing with numbers, don't you?)

getting started

My friend Gracie has asked me to make three doll quilts for her granddaughters and I am especially pleased that they will go with the handcrafted doll beds made by Dennis, the proud grandpapa, for three American Girl dolls?  (hint: I'd love my own American Girl doll one day ....).  

Gracie and I selected fabrics for the quilts (she had told me to use any color scheme! yikes! far too many choices, so I made her narrow the field).  We combined our shopping trip in early December with an afternoon watching her granddaughters dancing in the Nutcracker Ballet - a marvelous performance!

 

Even with the fabrics to play with, I remained stumped for several weeks deciding on a design for the long narrow quilts.  I pieced one in diagonal rows, similar to the first step of the scrappy trip around the world method taught by Bonnie Hunter on Quiltville (be sure to look at her website: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/). Here is the first quilt top.

Even before I finished piecing this top, I realized I wanted to try a bargello pattern! Bargello directions are similar: piece strips together, stitch into a tube, then slice and restitch.  This was a spur of the moment decision made after the tube was stitched (which I like to call a tube-strata).  Here is my quasi-bargello quilt top:

Both quilts are long and skinny to match the dimensions given by Gracie, and neither really look or feel very bargello-y.  Stay tuned, I plan to try making a 'real' bargello quilt soon -- and I will take time to plan the fabric layout more carefully!

Susan's work

Tuesday before the opening of the 2014 International Quilt Festival, I visited the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) with a friend visiting from Chicago.  I was delighted to spy a quilt in the current exhibit CraftTexas 2014 that is a creation of a local friend of mine. 

Moon Drunk is an original work by Susan Fletcher King.

Susan used fabric, dye, thread, ink, and batting to create moonlight scene, stitching this piece in 2012.  (note: CraftTexas 2014 is open through December 24, 2014 at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft located at 4848 Main St, 77002.  Be sure to see it.)


Thursday was the first chance I had to view special exhibits at the huge festival.  Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison co-curated an exhibit titled Reflections (sponsored by Havel's Sewing, presented by the Dinner at Eight Artists).  It's description in the program reads: "A mirror image. A response to a thought or word. A memory. What glints back at us as we gaze upon the water? The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it. What will your reflection reveal about you?" Susan has a piece in this exhibit too.

The Parable of the Dragon and the Sheep by Susan Fletcher King

Susan explains her Reflection piece with this statement:  "Do you choose to stand out, be bold, and make a statement?  Or do you choose to be part of a flock, merely a reflection of your surroundings.  Every day the choice is yours."   She was inspired by a photograph of a South African Blue-headed Agama Lizard.

Then on Saturday as I was admiring the many quilts in the International Quilt Association's judged show, I spied a third quilt by Susan.

 

The Visitor by Susan Fletcher King

"Little miracles happen very occasionally, and if we are lucky, we might be in the right place at the right time to witness one.  Here, this heron is stepping from his world into ours, giving us a moment to always remember." reads Susan's statement.  Materials she used include prepared-for-dyeing (PDF) fabric, Tsukineko All-Purpose inks, acrylic paints, cotton batting, commercial fabric backing, numerous and various threads. Her original design was inspired by a photograph supplied by Thomas Wrublewski.  

All three quilts measure 24" x 60" in size.  All three quilts feature original designs that Susan drew, painted, inked, fused raw-edge applique pieces, stitched with many various threads and machine quilted.  To see more of her work, visit her website:

http://susanfletcherking.com/

Susan's work is also shown and sold through Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas:

http://coppershadetree.com/