New Classes at Gathering Stitches!

Queso, we have a couple of new classes added to the schedule at Gathering Stitches.

First, a one day, quick n easy class on Thursday August 16 from 9 to 1.  This is a technique, not an original pattern, but one that can be used in a wide variety of ways when you need to make a fast quilt.  There are a couple of tricks and things to be aware of that I will show you, but mostly we will just get to creating!

I love being able to edit photos, because this was the source photo for the close-up above.  Why do I look like I am yelling?  Maybe because my quilt has feet!  It's trying to run away!! oh, no, that's just Jane hiding behind.

Messenger Bag class on August 22.  5 to 8 pm.  I have scoured the internet and all my patterns for bags and instead I have decided to make my own pattern!  big surprise, I know. I will share my simple variation on the classic over-the-shoulder messenger style bag.  An alternative to a backpack, diaper bag or purse.  Pictures to follow as soon as I finish the sample.

Sneak Peek! Block 

Sneak Peek! Block

Fall In Stars is an original pattern comprised of 3 simple star blocks.  Strip and chain piecing and the use of a special ruler, the "Tri-Recs" ruler will have you on your way to completing this quilt in no time.  Super fun, high energy class.  Music, food, and extra goodies await!  Friday night, September 28, 7-late.

And we also have the 54-40 or fight quilt that I named "Oregon Stars."  Black and yellow stars; on point.  The special trick here is that we will cut out our quilt using the Accu-quilt dies!  Makes quick work of your cutting!  September 8 from 9 to 1.


Finally, remember our table runner of the month!  September 7 from 3-5 pm, the September runner will be revealed.  HINT:  the flower is morning glory.  HINT: the featured technique is paper piecing.  HINT:  it will be a lot simpler than August!

Here is the August table runner I designed for our flower of the month table runner at Gathering Stitches (the flower of the month is poppies), please ignore the fact that the binding is not finished on the right side.  Also, I intend to add some beads to the center of the open poppies:

Closer view of poppies

QUESO, it felt really cool to walk into the Bosque Farms Fair and see 3 quilts that I quilted for my friend and VVQ quilting buddy Valerie, hanging up with BLUE RIBBONS and A PURPLE BEST IN SHOW RIBBON!!  I love her work, and was honored to have worked on her masterpieces!  She has a great eye for design and color, and her inventive borders have inspired me in my piecing.

Oh, and as for me, I entered a different fair, the Valencia County Expo and got First Place Ribbons in Quilting and garment sewing.  Sew, Yay! for me.  (No pictures - Sweetie has them on his phone)

See ya!  Oh, and ABQ = Always Be Quilting.

Joys of Summer

 Sweetie and I are having a wonderful summer.  Brian was home from college (UC Santa Barbara) for a nice long 3 week stay, (of course, never long enough for me).  We relaxed, ate well, got trounced in scrabble by Sweetie, and went to a quilt show in Alamogordo where Brian learned how to use the longarm and schmooze the customers.  Thanks Brian for all your help!  He is now working at his uncle's restaurant in Northern California, and will be back for Labor Day week before the fall quarter begins.

Next, our best friend Kim came for a way too short visit.  One week was not enough time to sew all our our quilts, eat all the food we wanted and drink all of Sonic's Diet Cherry Limeade.  ALAS!  While she was here, she organized our Modern Quilt Guild charity sew-in, by getting all of our piles separated and aligned so that all the ladies had to do was sit n sew.  Pattern is by the husband and wife team of Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, and was published in a recent quilt magazine, but I can't recall which one.  Fabrics were selected by the group last month based on a magazine photo of a flower in partial bloom and this quilt was on its way.

Watermelon Patch

 Then a few of the members of our Modern Guild got together and pieced the top, in one day! And we still had time to eat yummy enchiladas made by Sweetie, and his beanless bean dip.  ha ha.  This will be quilted by me, bound by someone other than me ;-) and then auctioned off for charity in November.  Would you like a ticket?  Let me know. . .
We had originally thought the color pallete was a very nice fall into Christmas colorway, but after we had it pieced, Sweetie said it looked like a watermelon patch!  I think he is right.




Next, we have an in-progress quilt that I am working on.  I taught this class at Gathering Stitches and decided to make one along with the group.  Sweetie named this one, too.  He said, "it looks like a Koi Pond" so there you go, Koi Pond.

Koi Pond

I started with an Amy Butler print and went from there, varying lights and darks, small and medium prints, and a couple of "weirdos' to add interest.

Here are the participants' PhD's  (projects half done):

S's fabric choices, mild to wild!

Strata-fied.  Foreground is S's

First day playing, she wasn't sold on her quilt.  Hang in there!

T's color wheel selection

Beginning to work with pieces

Aha! Now it is coming together.  Love that circle reverse applique at bottom row

D's Quilt:

Selection process

Stratas completed

In progress

D's final layout, all stitched together because she is an over-achiever!

Next we have C's quilt:

Fabric Selection Process

Final Layout of quilt (?)

This is an upcoming class at Gathering Stitches.  August 16 I think.  Call me or Julie to confirm the date. This is made from 2 jelly rolls.  Fast and Easy.  Quick n Dirty.  I love the Robert Kaufman fabrics I picked for this one.  Got them in Napa at the former Quiltworks.  :-(  No longer there.

This quilt is all pieced, just need to get it on the Nolting!!

I am also teaching a new original pattern, "Fall In Stars" which features beautiful fall colors and just two different star blocks, but one of the blocks in two colorways to give an interesting effect.  Stay tuned.  Class sample coming.

Finally, We have our table runner of the month club coming up on Friday, August 3.  At 3 pm, we will unveil the August Poppy tablerunner.  Here is a hint:  It is southwestern in feel.  Includes an original paper-pieced center, some original traditionally pieced blocks, and some applique.  Hooray for poppies!

Who is this Dude?  Why is he yelling?  He is a drawing I am working on for a quilt guild challenge.  The VVQ are having a quilt show soon and we decided to make little quilted signs to remind visitors not to touch the quilts. Well, I recalled a story when the kids and I were in a museum in France, and Anthony was pretending to "shoot" a machine gun that was on display.  The guard got frantic and started screaming, "Ne pas toucher!" and running down the hall.  Now that is what we tell Punkin when she is trying to reach out and touch something in a store.  So, I decided to make a cartoon guard yelling at the folks.  I will be transferring this guy to fabric and he will "yell" to not touch the quilts.  I tried to print him on fabric last night with all the lettering done with cool wordart fonts and stuff, but I messed up and set the printer for t-shirt transfer and it printed out backwards!  Our guild is doing this as a challenge and the winner gets a free lunch.  Motivation to finish it!

I have so much more to tell, but I must go DO.

see u soon

Must Have Book!

As a quilter with more books in my personal library than my local quilt store (really, I have counted), it takes a very special book to get my attention.  Elizabeth Hartman’s “ModernPatchwork” has done that and more.  This book has all of the prerequisites to gain a spot on my shelf:  First, the quilts are artistic and photographed very well – this could be a coffee table book, valued for its artistic self.  (Photos by Christina Carty-Francis and Diane Pederson.)  Elizabeth (check out her blog) has captured the modern quilting look, and yet, as she states, her patterns are of a more challenging nature than other modern quilt patterns I have seen.  Second, the quilts are calling me to make them – each and every one of them.  Ordinarily, if there are 2 or 3 quilts per book that I would consider making, the book is a winner.  With this book, I want to make all of them.  Based on the names alone, who wouldn’t want to make “Roller Rink,” “Looptastic,” or “Fire Drill,” just to name 3 of the 12 quilts in this book.  Third, there is a unique aspect to the book.  Elizabeth not only shows different color options for making the quilt, and discusses her thought process for selecting fabrics, she also offers an assist on what to do with the backing.  Backings are rarely addressed in quilting books, and Elizabeth has done a fantastic job of creating beautiful yet simple backings to complement the quilt tops.  Finally, the directions are simple to read, simple to follow, and in full color with a lot of illustrations, and the back of the book contains tips on fabric, color, cutting, piecing and quilting from which beginners and advanced quilters alike will benefit.  Although I have granted a spot on my shelf for this book, I don’t intend for it to sit on that shelf – I expect it will be sitting right beside me on my worktable.

I am starting to work on "Glam Garlands" now that I have some goody goody scraps left over from my last project, a quilt for our bed!  what? crazy talk!!  That one will be seen on this very blog once it is quilted.  Stay tuned. .. . 

I also am going to talk to my LQS and see about teaching a project or two from this book.  LOVE THESE QUILTS!!

p.s. AFTER I posted this, I went over to see what Monica was up to.  Yes, Monica at The Happy Zombie always has the best blog posts!  (And the best patterns, best stories, best fabrics.)  You must go see her adorable quilt and the post that goes with it.  She started with alphabet letter pattern by Elizabeth Hartman (yes, the very same whose book I just reviewed - small world, huh?) and then spelled out "Treat Yo Self" from an episode of Parks and Recreation which I had to then place over here as a clip so I can watch it a lot.  I love Aziz Ansari.  I love his rant about thread counts and Cold Stone.  hilarious.  I think we all need a "treat yo self" day and mini quilt.

Let's get right to the show and tell, shall we?  First up is a baby quilt I made.  Awww!

An original pattern baby quilt for Amadea and Frank's little "cowboy or cowgirl?" which was the theme of the shower.

I really love the colors I chose for this quilt.  It is so hard when the dang parents won't find out the sex of their baby to help us quilters out.  But I think this strikes the right balance between boy brown and blue and girly yellow and flowers.

boot detailing, two are girl boots, two are boy boots.  (notice the heels)

An original pattern baby quilt for Amadea and Frank's little "cowboy or cowgirl?" which was the theme of the shower.

I stitched "cowboy or cowgirl?" in the top border, and their last name in the bottom border.  Each star got a "badge" saying, this one below says "Diaper Duty"

I quilted this beautiful purple and rosy pink quilt for a new customer whom I would love to work with again.  I was in a cheery mood throughout this one!  It was even more exuberant than my poor camera work would have you believe!

Here is the back of the quilt.  I free hand quilted a simple spiral roses pattern.

I have quilted 5 of the 6 tiger quilts that I was asked to quilt by members of our guild who participated in a workshop.  They were a lot of fun to do - #6 should be done by tomorrow. .. 

This is a customer's pineapple quilt, super queen size:

I quilted simple daisies and loops, and some flair for the corners!

I have been busy teaching classes and designing patterns for our table runner of the month program at Gathering Stitches.  Here is the June table runner I designed and made with Lakehouse fabrics.  (Kits are available if you are interested!! Just $15 plus shipping, contact me!)

Add caption

Simple satin stitch machine applique'

Here is the May runner I designed and made, hanging on my design wall, pre-quilting.  Can't figure out how to rotate it.  ha ha.  And I can't locate a picture of mine finished.  oh well.

 And here are some customer interpretations of the May table runner I designed:

Darlene added lovely foliage and metallic quilting to her lily of the valley.

close up of Darlene's

The bottom one is Connie's table runner

This is what "un-sewing" looks like on the longarm.  Yikes.

aww, this quilty blog is interrupted to bring you a bouquet from my sweetie, picked from our yard.  

This is going to be an awesome Strips n Curves quilt!!  I am teaching this class and making one along with the students. Here is my array of fabrics to go with that awesome amy bradley focus fabric.  stay tuned!

Ok, now the "tell" part of show and tell.  Come see us at the Southern New Mexico Festival of Quilts at the Otero County Fairgrounds in Alamagordo!  June 21-24 we will be there, representing Nolting longarm quilting machines, our own designs, and if we get our shipment in time, we are also a new distributor for Quilter's Rule products!!  Yay!!!

Off to finish July tablerunner and the last Tiger!!

See you soon!!

Kristin