finishing another

I have missed posting on my blog this spring -- guess I was just too busy playing-err-working-&-teaching my Toddler class.  It was an awesome group of a dozen little ones with an amazing co-teacher!  Such a fun time spent every MWF with them this year .... and meanwhile, at home, I've still been stitching and sewing and creating.

So this is my official jump back into the blogging world. 

This quilt has been waiting for a binding to be stitched on to officially complete it for many years.  I do not understand why I struggle so with finishing projects (such as this one), but here it is -- the binding is being handstitched into place and I may stitch it once more by machine, just to add to the security of it staying stitched down, as I plan to gift this to a dear friend later this summer.  More on that in another post ....

Can you see the peekaboo of one furry critter who likes to be nearby when I am sewing?

I've missed the linky at the beginning of the month (as well as last month and perhaps the one before that ...) but this is for the final linky for May in "A Lovely Year of Finishes" even though I did not post my goal at the beginning of the month ... 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 #14 on the completion posts (almost got the prime number #13... but missed by seconds....sigh).

an idea begins ...

Sharing the beginnings of a new series ....

First, the germ of an idea is flushed out with the help of construction paper.

I am using the hamsa as the focal shape of this new series of quilts, small quilts (quiltlets) that will be given to three pairs of friends who have recently been married.  They are all faculty of the religious school where I teach Kindergarten.  Our theme this year is "Peace, Love and Music", hence the three shapes in yellow.  Question:  which way do the fingers of the hamsa point?  or does it matter?

          This is what I learned when looking for this answer:
The hamsa, meaning five fingers (or digits) of the hand, symbolizes luck and prosperity. The hamsa is sometimes referred to as the Hand of God and is also known as Hand of Fatima, or the Hand of Miriam.  One source stated that the hamsa hand conveys a message to the devil, so upwardly hamsa is good against the 'evil eye' and a downward hamsa is an auspicious sign of prosperity and success. However the hamsa is displayed in either direction.... I may have to look into this further.  

For my project, I have decided to place the fingers downward.  Next step is to select the backgrounds and the hamsa fabrics for three different quiltlets.

 

 

After appliqueing the hamsas onto each background, my next step was to use reverse applique to attach the Peace sign, the heart and the musical notes.

Stay tuned for further developments ....

Modern Rainbow Blog Tour

 

Becca Bryan's Modern Rainbow three week blog tour has begun.  Visit a few blogs and enter your chance to win a copy of her colorful book.

I met Becca through the Houston Modern Quilt Guild and tested a pattern for her last Fall, Trilobite Cats shown here.

Trilobite Cats

At the time I made my rainbow trilobite cats, I had no idea that Becca's new book being published by Stash Books was about using colors of the rainbow in quilts. 

 

Imagine my surprise when I saw her five quilts on display at QuiltCon (four were juried into the show and the fifth was on display in a booth) and learned that this is the theme of her book.

Rainbow Remix by Rebecca Bryan

Rainbow Remix was inspired by quilts made by the Quilters of Ghee's Bend.  Becca gives directions in how to make this quilt more wonky or less wonky, leaving it to your preference.  To get started,  gather 10" squares of fabric ... in fifty different solid colors.

detail of Huckleberry by Rebecca Bryan

Here is a detail view of Huckleberry to see the exquisite quilting, a true example that quilting makes the quilt. This is the quilt featured on her blog tour logo, showing the entire color wheel with 72 different solids.

Ducks in a Row by Rebecca Bryan, quilted by Angela Walters

I love this quilt from its' name to the scrappy low volume background to the colorful "ducks".  Becca says this quilt was inspired by a textile on display in a Houston restaurant.  Yes, inspiration to create comes from anywhere and everywhere.  One only needs to look ....

Which may explain why I love to wander among the quilts at quilt shows, looking and admiring and soaking up inspiration.  On the last morning of QuiltCon 2015, I bumped into Patty Sloniger, a friend and designer for Michael Miller fabrics and she mentioned that Becca was giving a free lecture in 10 minutes. Quickly, I finished snapping a few final photos and hurried to get a seat.  Becca's talk was all about color, of course. 

She shared guidelines to think about when playing color and showed early blocks that were reworked differently before going into her book - a good lesson that not every idea works perfectly on the first go-around.

I enjoyed her presentation and afterwards zoomed directly to Stash Books where I spied Wavelength, the quilt that graces the cover of her book. 

Wavelength by Rebecca Bryan, quilted by Angela Walters

 
Now back to her blog tour, yesterday's featured blog was Sally's Angel Works, my friend Sally Keller, the current President of the Houston Modern Quilt Guild.  Sally shared a quilt she made from Becca's book. 

Irish + by Sally Keller

This is Sally's version of Irish +.

 

Here are all the stops on the Modern Rainbow Blog Tour.

Stop by and visit as many as you can -- because each have been given a copy of this book to giveaway (International visitors will be sent an electronic copy).

March 23rd             C&T/ Stash Books

March 24th             Heidi Staples of Fabric Mutt

March 25th             Generation Q Magazine

March 26th             Jennifer Mathis of Ellison Lane 

March 27th  Sally Keller of Sally’s Angelworks

 

March 30th            Amy Garro of 13 Spools

March 31st            Angela Walters of Quilting is my Therapy

April 1st                Rebecca over at Craft Buds

April 2nd               Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness

April 3rd               Sarah Craig of Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 

April 6th                Janice Zeller Ryan of Better Off Thread

April 7th                Beth Vassalo of Plum and June

April 8th                Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft

April 9th                Giuseppe Ribaudo @giucy_giuce

April 9th                Shannon Brinkley of Bottle Tree Quilts

 

April 10th              Rebecca Bryan at Bryan House Quilts

I cannot decide which quilt I want to make first from this book.  Possibly this one ...

Flame by Rebecca Bryan

Flame, or The Impossible Rainbow, or Rainbow Remix, or MonStar, or Scattered, or Icarus Star, or .... Hmmm, how to decide?

Which quilt appeals to you? 

Inspired to make these

I have to share more of my favorite quilts from the recent quilt show by the West Houston Quilter's Guild earlier this month.  All of the quilts in this blog post are quilts that I want to make  .... eventually.  I guess I am adding them to my ever-growing "Quilt Bucket List," the list of quilts that I want to make, stitch, keep.

Feline Fantasy by Sheila Tweed, quilted by Donna Warnement

I love the graphic effect of the black and white in this colorful quilt names Feline Fantasy.  Sheila Tweed made this quilt in a class led by Debbie Caffrey at the International Quilt Show in Chicago, June 2014.  The pattern can be found in Caffrey's book Open a Can of Worms.

detail of Feline Fantasy by Sheila Tweed

Sheila dipped into her own Laurel Burch fabric stash to make this striking quilt.  The quilting by Donna Warnement used Sheila's favorite color, lime green.

In My Garden by Diane Balcerowicz, quilted by Brenda Marien

I have a huge stash of floral fabrics (including many featuring bluebonnets) and love the idea of using some of them to make my version of this quilt.  A friend of Diane's gave her scraps of the 50 state flower fabrics (lucky her!  I only have about 7 of them).  After searching for a few years, she found this pattern featured in Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and knew it was perfect.  She then added 22 more florals so that each of the 72 blocks features a different floral fabric.  I love the colorful simplicity of this quilt. 

Scrapper's Delight Variation by Summer King

This delightful quilt is adapted from Scrapper's Delight by Amanda Jean Nyberg in her book Sunday Morning Quilts.   Summer was playing with creating these blocks when the announcement of the String Quilt Challenge was announced by her guild, the West Houston Quilter's Guild.  She continued arranging and rearranging her blocks until she settled on this configuration, adding the scrappy string border last of all.  This quilt makes me happy and reminds me of the many many scraps of colorful fabrics that I own.  Surely this means that I can easily make my own version of this quilt, right?

Mama Said by Sue Garman

This quilt, Mama Said, has long been a favorite of mine.  It was a twelve month series (began as a Block of the Month) which "pulls at your heartstrings."  Sue designed this quilt years ago to honor her parents and has written about the creation of this quilt on her blog here.  Featuring nine key values with more familiar parental sayings embroidered around each block, this quilt is a true legacy of love. 

detail of Mama Said by Sue Garman

Why am I including this older quilt with others from the recent West Houston Quilter's Guild show?  Because it was in a special exhibit of quilts by Sue Garman as she was one of three judges for this show.  I had purchased patterns of a few of these blocks, but have yet to stitch any of them.  There is a redwork version too, which I've seen for the first time while browsing her blog and am very intrigued by it.  Be sure to look at Sue's blog http://suegarman.blogspot.com/ and/or her website, www.comequilt.com/.  Yes, one of these days, I must make at least one block from this quilt or something that is inspired by this quilt!

Tissue Box by Connie Bihner

This quilt has an easy-to-piece block that was inspired by the shape of a Kleenex tissue box.  I think I may try to make a scrappier version.... perhaps.  Connie's quilt Tissue Box won a third place ribbon in the large bed-sized pieced (one person) category.  She saw this quilt displayed at Quilt Works and after admiring it, she decided to make her own version using Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  

Christmas Boots by Suzanne Humble, quilted by Valerie DeRuiter

I've got to stitch some boots together one of these days.  Suzanne enlarged the popular "Boot Scoot'n" pattern by Martha Dzines to make her Christmas version.  She hangs it above her fireplace mantle for the holiday season where it coordinates nicely with her other holiday decor.  Perhaps I will stitch up Walking in the Wildflowers which is another boot pattern by Martha Dzines featuring bluebonnet fabrics that I already own. 

Tea in Central Park by Beverley Bennett

Here is a classic Modern Traditionalism quilt.  It is the "Spiced Chai" pattern by Katie Clark Blakesley from the Vintage Quilt Revival book by Katie Clark Blakesley, Lee Heinrich and Faith Jones.  Be sure to check out each of their individual blogs (Katie's is http://swimbikequilt.com/, Lee's blog is http://www.freshlypieced.com/, and Faith's blog is http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/). 

detail of Tea in Central Park by Beverley Bennett

Back to Beverley's quilt, she made this for the WHQGuild's Tuesday Morning Friends Bee's challenge which was to use 1/2 yard of a funky fabric, which is the yellow seen above.  Beverley used a bundle of New York fabrics that she had which echoed some of the same colors in the funky yellow fabric.  She designed an original border to complete her quilt.  This quilt earned a second place ribbon in the bed sized, pieced, small category.

Of these wonderful quilts posted here, I wonder which will be the first that I stitch up ....

My March finish

I've been busy this month and have finished my UFO of an ancient JoAnn's Block of the Month program.  Remember these blocks?

I cut 8 1/2" squares of some similar era (as in old, probably JoAnn's remnants) Christmas prints and pieced together this diagonal row-by-row top.

It is destined to be a charity quilt, as soon as I turn it into my traditional guild, the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston (QGGH), to be quilted (or tied) and bound.

I also finished not one, nor two but four blocks for this special hush-hush quilt for a friend in my modern guild, the Houston Modern Quilt Guild (HMQG).  Hopefully we have enough blocks collected now to finish this quilt for one of our members -- hush-hush.

This is called the Japanese x and + block and it was fast and easy to sew.  It finishes to a 12.5" size (or 13" unfinished).  Megan of CityStitches has posted excellent directions in case you wish to make your own Japanese x and + block on her blog here:

http://citystitches.blogspot.com/2012/03/japanese-x-and-tutorial.html

I did more stitching and pieced another charity top for my traditional quilt guild, QGGH.  So next month I will be turning in two quilt tops to our Comforters Corner (charity quilts we make and give away) in April.

Of these three projects, I like the Japanese x and + polka dot blocks the best.


This completes my month's "A Lovely Year of Quilt Finishes" challenge.  Join our monthly challenge group, or click here to see the others who have completed their March goals and posted links.  I am linky #29 (gotta love a prime number!).  On the Goals for March page where the Goal Setting Party is happening, I am linky #58 (my goal linky is twice my finish linky - more math fun).
 

Torah Stitch by Stitch

It was nearly one year ago that I first learned of this amazing project being pursued by a Canadian fiber artist Temma Gentles.  Temma is creating a Torah entirely by embroidery stitches, cross-stitches to be exact.  She has named this endeavor "Torah Stitch By Stitch" and is busily recruiting volunteers to stitch up four verses at a time.  As she explains on the website: "Torah Stitch By Stitch honours the Five Books of Moses (Pentateuch) through the timeless medium of cross-stitch, a basic textile tradition in many cultures.  Participants from numerous national, linguistic and spiritual backgrounds - regardless of gender or craft skill - are joining hands and hearts to stitch 1463 individual panels of the Torah in Hebrew, 4 verses at a time."

If the image above is difficult to read, go directly to the website:

http://torahstitchbystitch.temmagentles.com/

I was excited to learn about this project and knew immediately that I had to be a part of it.  So I eagerly filled out the online form, paid my $18.00 and waited patiently for my kit to arrive.

I waited .... and waited ..... and waited.  I contacted Temma to inquire about my status only to learn that my kit had been mailed months ago.  A replacement kit was sent out ... more waiting ... more emails .... to make a tediously long story much shorter, one week ago my kit turned up!  Hurray!

 

Mailed in a plain white legal sized envelope, my complete kit arrived.  As there was not a postmark on the envelope, we can only imagine where in the world it has been traveling to between leaving Canada and arriving at my home in Texas.  I contacted Temma who was as thrilled as I was and I began stitching immediately.  Here is the first word of my portion which is from the book of Genesis, chapter 50, verses 14-17.  I have officially begun!

This portion is about Joseph's return to Egypt after he had traveled to bury his father in the land of Canaan and about his brothers reaction to their father's death.  Here is a translation that I found on the Chabad.org website here (Hebrew is read right-to-left, opposite from English):
 

		יגוַיִּשְׂאוּ אֹתוֹ בָנָיו אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ בִּמְעָרַת שְׂדֵה הַמַּכְפֵּלָה אֲשֶׁר קָנָה אַבְרָהָם אֶת הַשָּׂדֶה לַאֲחֻזַּת קֶבֶר מֵאֵת עֶפְרֹן הַחִתִּי עַל פְּנֵי מַמְרֵא:
14  And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.		ידוַיָּשָׁב יוֹסֵף מִצְרַיְמָה הוּא וְאֶחָיו וְכָל הָעֹלִים אִתּוֹ לִקְבֹּר אֶת אָבִיו אַחֲרֵי קָבְרוֹ אֶת אָבִיו:
15  Now Joseph's brothers saw that their father had died, and they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us and return to us all the evil that we did to him."		טווַיִּרְאוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף כִּי מֵת אֲבִיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוּ יִשְׂטְמֵנוּ יוֹסֵף וְהָשֵׁב יָשִׁיב לָנוּ אֵת כָּל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר גָּמַלְנוּ אֹתוֹ:
16  So they commanded [messengers to go] to Joseph, to say, "Your father commanded [us] before his death, saying,		טזוַיְצַוּוּ אֶל יוֹסֵף לֵאמֹר אָבִיךָ צִוָּה לִפְנֵי מוֹתוֹ לֵאמֹר:
17  'So shall you say to Joseph, "Please, forgive now your brothers' transgression and their sin, for they did evil to you. Now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." ' " Joseph wept when they spoke to him.		יזכֹּה תֹאמְרוּ לְיוֹסֵף אָנָּא שָׂא נָא פֶּשַׁע אַחֶיךָ וְחַטָּאתָם כִּי רָעָה גְמָלוּךָ וְעַתָּה שָׂא נָא לְפֶשַׁע עַבְדֵי אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ וַיֵּבְךְּ יוֹסֵף בְּדַבְּרָם אֵלָיו:

I have been working steadily on my portion, sometimes as I relax and watch a little television at night or while I wait in the car for my teenage boys (I am still their favorite chauffeur).   Here is where I am as of today .... approximately half-way ....

If you are interested in learning more about this massive undertaking click here; or in making a donation to the Torah Stitch By Stitch click here; or in stitching your own contribution click here or here or contact directly via email:  torahstitchbystitch@gmail.com.  Buttons are being solicited  to help attach the panels of portions together.  Click here for more information on the buttons requested.  Last of all, click here to see an artist's rendition of the final display as well as an article that appeared in The Canadian Jewish News, October 2, 2014.

More quilts from WHQG's recent show

The quilts were great at the recent "Quilted Roads of Texas" quilt show put on by the West Houston Quilter's Guild.  Here are more favorites of mine ...

Christmas on the Fourth of July by Beverley Bennett

Beverley stated that this Christmas Flag pattern is by Tina Curran, and was published in the Quilter's Newsletter magazine in 2012 as a series.  Three blocks per week were published from the 4th of July to the 12th of November.  Beverley completed the quilt top in time for Christmas 2012 and had it quilted by the Quilt 'n Sew longarm machine service in time for Christmas in 2013.

detail of Christmas on the Fourth of July, by Beverley Bennett

I love the flag look of this quilt.  It is an innovative way of making a row quilt (making  a row quilt is one of the many on my "Quilt Bucket List").  Each stripe of the flag is a different repeated motif related to the holiday season.  Quite fun. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that this quilt won First Place for the Wall Quilt Pieced, 2 person.  Congrats to Beverley (who made many of my favorites in this show).

Postage Birds by Joy Denk, quilting by Jane Plisga

Joy stated that this quilt was originally intended as a gift for her Mom who has always been fascinated by birds as well as for her Father who worked for the post office (hence the postage stamps).  She made the original quilt larger so as to fit her Mom's nursing home bed, but after completing it, was concerned that it may disappear too easily so she decided to keep it herself as a lovely reminder of her parents.  So sad that her fear is a well-founded one (I made several replacement blankets and throws for my grandmother during her years in a nursing home).  I love that Joy kept it herself as it is a beautiful memento of her parents.

detail of Postage Birds, by Joy Denk

I can remember spying this fabric on the bolt in a shop, but had no idea what I would ever do with it.  Perhaps this is why I enjoy it so, plus I absolutely love the colors and the birds and the postage stamps and all.

detail Pretty Dresses by Marie Robinson, quilted by Barb Knoblock

This quilt won Honorable Mention in the Wall Quilt Applique, 2 person division.  The pattern is called Pretty Dresses from Black Mountain Quilts.  This quilt is a result of an applique class taught by Sylvi Sealy that Marie took shortly after arriving in Houston from Australia.  She used a freezer paper/hand stitch technique to applique the dresses made from Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  It is delightful, even though only a sliver of it shows in the photo above (my full image was too blurry to share).

Amish with a Twist by Debra North

Amish with a Twist began as a Block of the Month by Quilt 'n Sew quilt shop.  It is not your traditional sampler quilt ...... Debra added the pieced and appliqued border "just to make it more attractive". 

detail of Amish with a Twist by Debra North

I love the bright-brights, the appliqued flowers and most of all that her additional border has offset corner designs.

Bali Tiles I by Sharon Dixon

Sharon stitched this quilt from the book Tiles Play by Cozy Quilt Design.  The quilting pattern is Swirly Gig by Judy Allen.  Sharon won first place for the Bed Size Pieced, MQ, one person category.

Bali Tiles I with Sharon Dixon

Sharon has quilted many quilts for me over the years.  She also does t-shirt quilts and crown Royal quilts along with her longarm service.  Check out her website http://www.katytshirtquilts.com/.


Sharon also made the quilt below using more of her Bali Tiles.  Click here to order your own fabric Bali Tiles to own....

Bali Tiles II  by Sharon Dixon, quilted by Linda T. Minton

This quilt is adapted from Shadow Box online tutorial by Jean Madan.  Hmmm, I may need to make a variation of this pattern for myself too.  Sharon loved the Bali Tiles so much that she insisted on making two quilts!  Linda Teddlie Minton, a dear friend of Sharon's (and someone I know as well!) quilted this for Sharon.  Follow Linda's art on her blog http://fiberreflections.blogspot.com/.



The West Houston Quilters Guild had fun planning for this quilt show.  This is evident with the lovely wall decorations of classic quilt blocks, all drawn on point.

Isn't this a delightful way to line the outer walls of their quilt show?  I am not certain, but my guess is that there are no duplicate blocks appearing on this long banners.

I wonder how many worked diligently on creating this handcrafted wall borders?  Job well done to the WHQG quilt show planners and worker bees.