Old Man River Quilt Show 2016

Yesterday, a few of my quilt guild ladies and I went on a day trip to see the Old Man River Quilt Fest.

 The drive from Columbus to Vicksburg is about a 3.5 hour drive. Despite the downpour we encountered on our way home, I am really pleased how the day went.

There was a special showing of "The Supper" quilt. We met quilt maker Don Locke, DDS of Waxahachie, TX. His quilt was inspired by Leonardo DaVinci's "The Last Supper."

I believe I heard he pieced all 51,816 half-inch squares on a Featherweight. And took about two years. It measures 183" x 67".

"The Supper" was machine quilted by Linda Taylor of Melissa, TX on a long arm. The quilting cleverly adds the finer details-- eyes, hair, fingers,,, even fingernails!!! You can go to Mr. Don Locke's website to see more closeup pictures of "The Supper".

Then we looked at the entries. It took 2 hours to walk through. We tried to look at every one. It was incredible, so much talent!! Here are SOME of the quilts that caught my attention.

"O'My Feathers" by Diane Holden of Vicksburg MS

Hand appliquéd and hand quilted. Ruching on the flowers and rhinestones in the circle were beautiful embellishments.

"Scarlet's Daughter" by Polly Thomasson of Summit, MS.

"Hand quilt/machine piece" by Jimmie Carol Pete of Slides, MS.

"Home Sweet Home" by Isabel Adams of Vicksburg, MS.
Lyrics from a favorite song sewn into the border!

"Squiggles and Spirals" by Diane S. Hire of North Port, ME.

Touched my whimsical heart.

"Mad Men" by Teresa Pino
Of Herndon, MS

"Orange- Sherbet by Isabel Adams of Vicksburg, MS.
It reminds me a bit of the top I'm working on right now "Audaciously Scrappy"

"Pennsylvania Stars" by Barbara Deeper of Shreveport, MS
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Some of the quilts I shared won ribbons. I didn't keep track of that info. They all deserve recognition imo :). You can see a Winner's list on the Old Man River Quiltfest 2016 website.

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Quilt of one of the vendors - By the Inch.

Quilt of one of the vendors  - By the Inch. I purchased the acrylic templates for this block.

Perfect Timing... Productive Summer...

I did get a few projects done this summer. All were UFO's (UnFinished Objects).

The first was an crocheted baby afghan in lavenders, pinks, and light green. It was hand carried by my Heart and Sweetling all the way to England to his cousin that's expecting her second child. Why I don't have a picture of this project, I don't know. It was crocheted in granny square style, one square that kept growing and growing. I didn't use a pattern, but added texture and color as I pleased. 

I had actually started that afghan when she was expecting the first baby. Found out it was going to be a boy, so I tried adding blue embellishing stitches over the top. Lol, but to my dismay, it wasn't looking more boy than girl. (And before anyone tells me anything, I am aware that it's no longer PC to assign specific colors to either gender. But I do, sometimes *shrug*. And, lucky for me, she decided to have a baby girl two years later 😋.)

Anyway, I was saved when the expecting mom requested a specific baby quilt quilt for her first child...

Best picture I have of the quilt, but adorable baby easily outshines it ❤. I hope momma doesn't mind me posting this pic!)

She had seen it on Pinterest and I knew exactly the one she was talking about. Heres a screen shot of my pin 😃. Pinterest pin link. It's a simple idea and I was quite pleased with the results...

Not my quilt. Pinterest Pin

So, the Lavender Afghan was first UFO finished this summer. And then this multi-color knit baby afghan was finished with a flannel backing and given to my nephew and his girlfriend. They were also expecting a girl. The story about this blanket is that it was originally intended for charity years ago. I was using up leftover yarns and testing out a new stitch. But as it grew, I fell in love with it and just couldn't bear giving it away to an unknown person. Even when I found out an aquaintance was expecting, but I still find Icouldn't part with it. 

Fast forward to this summer, when I got the invitation to the baby shower, this magically surfaced from the piles in my sewing room and I knew with out any reservation it belonged to my soon-to-arrive grand-niece. 

Sewing the backing on with threads and needles given to me from my aunt in TX.

During my visit to Colorado my sister put me to work making lacy hairbows. She was in charge of making the centerpieces for each table at the baby shower. She accessorized Teddy Bears with the bows to make them "girls". I thought it was very cute idea. 

The next UFO was the first quilt I stitched using a friend's long arm machine. What a rush that was to have a top all quilted up in just ONE day when it would otherwise take months to hand-quilt!

I trimmed the edges and laid it out on my bed... And I knew I would never use it. It was too busy. So, it was folded up without a binding and put into storage for a couple of years.

I came across it again looking for something else. I figured "it just needs binding, it'll be another finished item." And put it in the back of my car where it stayed without another thought... And went with me on my summer trip...

The first stop was visiting my Aunt in TX. She had made up her room for me. and had two beautiful vintage quilts on the bed. As I was packing my car to head to CO, I spotted my quilt and thought to show it to her.

I tell you!! The moment she saw it, it became beautiful. Lol, I'd swear it began to sparkle and dance in front of my eyes. And so i spontaneously gifted it to her. I think she cried.

I took it home and attached the binding. As fate would have it, my third trip this summer was back to her house for the funeral of her husband. I was grateful for my attachment to this quilt because i felt like I was able to leave a tangible piece of my heart with her for whenever she needed comfort. (Rest in peace, Kenny. Love you Aunty)

I love binding mitered corners 😊

And lastly, even though it's not a UFO, I'm going to mention that I entered my magnolia quilt into the quilt show in Hattiesburg next month! I don't expect any ribbons but I had to see it displayed at least one more time.

Pieced and parts..

Yesterday I emerged from my sewing room. My Heart asks me, "so what have you been up to?"

I say, "I just made 48 half square triangles for my quilt top."

He looks impressed.

I'm thinking 48 HSTs (half square triangle) does sound more impressive than the 8 pieced blocks they will make. And 8 pieced blocks is definitely not that impressive when the top requires 90 to be made! Lol. It's really just a fun little numbers game I play in my head :)...

Actually, almost half of the blocks are pieced now and on the design board. My sewing room has a warm light and I can't seem to get a good representation using my phone camera. But I am so pleased with the way the scrappy is coming together. I am still considering replacing the light green squares..

So as I'm looking at it last night. I am tickled at my niece's comment in FB that she likes it because it's "messy" looking. LOL, tickled because that's exactly what I wanted! The addition of scrappies is Audacious! (Definition #3: recklessly bold in defiance to convention..) It reminds me of the free-spirit gypsy dancers with all their colors and pride and unapologetic love for life. And I think, "I'll title it The Audacious Gypsy". (Also, keeping in mind who might receive this when it's finished IF I can part with it. I really should keep some of my quilts for myself! 😋)

But did you know, where most of us think gypsy = happy free-spirit, it's a term that has been tainted by use as a racial slur or used as indication that an individual uses shifty business practices? Wikipedia's definition of gypsy.

A few years ago, I read a fashion article written by a Romani gypsy. I remember the flavor of the article was filled with indignation that Americans have trivialized "Gypsies" to a costume of tambourines, peasant shirts, big colorful skirts, and more often than not, barefoot.
(Edit: lol, my Heart said, " ya, it was a big thing when I was little. When us kids misbehaved, it was either "we must have bought you from the gypsies" or it was "I'm gonna sell you to the gypsies." !!! )
Aww.. I was heart-broken! I love my definition of gypsy = free-spirt, happy, rhythmic, lively, and untethered... Part of my soul is all of these things! What other single word can capture all these attributes of MY beloved carefree-inner-wild-child-self so well? But, alas, I haven't been able to find such a word...

I must have pushed all these thoughts to the back of my brain. Today, when I mentioned my idea for naming the quilt, my daughter timidly tells me, "but mom. Gypsy is a slur. It's kind of an insult." She and I discussed it for a few minutes. OhMyWord, how did this 14 year old child become so aware of so many things?!?

And so, the part of me that is PC conscience and the mom part that wants her to learn that her voice can make a difference no matter what her age... These parts are renaming my quilt...
And you know what??... "Audaciously Scrappy" seems even more appropriate for this piecework 😊.

A second set of eyes...

Alright. sometimes I think I've come up with a perfect design for the quilting. Then I get in place and find out that I am not as crazy about it as I thought I would be.... And think I've got to scrap it all and start from the beginning again...

Let me tell you what has happened recently.

I am quilting on the Red and Green top (still unnamed) that was given to me from my Heart's Aunt's Sister-in-law's late mother. (lol, follow that if you can!) All that to give you the background that I did not piece the top myself. It was pieced by Hellen Johnson of WA sometime before 2013. 

I   

I believe Ms. Hellen handpieced most of the blocks herself. As I was giving it a closer examination, I found that three of the blocks were pieced in reverse. And even closer examination revealed that these three reversed blocks had actually been machine pieced. Putting 2 and 2 together, I imagined an inexperienced quilter was attempting to finish the top for Hellen and wasn't aware that the mirror image would happen if not careful. 

The blue border was also added by machine. Again, some inexperience shows here too. The border was wavy from extra fabric in the border. But to me these imperfections are part of the quilt's story so I chose not to correct the mistakes. 

Instead, I trimmed the blue border to 3" and added a 9" red outside border fabric. Then used the leftover blue to applique in the bigger negative spaces in the top. I was pleased with my cleverness to bring some interest to those blank white squares yet still retain the character of the quilttop. 

Since Ms. Hellen Johnson enjoyed handpiecing the top, I figured it deserved to be hand quilted as well. I chose the 1/4" outline for the pieced blocks and "in the ditch" and outline around the appliques and concentric circles in the centers. 

I couldn't decide how to quilt the border. I considered straight lines like rail or lattice style. But couldn't settle for so simple. I've been wanting to use Baptist fan design in a quilt so I started marking the border with a stencil. Immediately I knew I wasn't liking it...

I finally settled with echoing the applique outline and made a plastic template and marked all around the border. It was looking good to me... 

Then I looked at the back side.... here's the back of the applique...

the whimsy of it makes me smile :)

....and back of border... so bland compared to the previous... 

nope, no smile here...

I wasn't sure how I was going to make it more elaborate without adding new elements. An inner outline made sense, that's the in-the-ditch line on the applique, but what about the center??

I was thinking I would have to unstitch a couple hrs of work to replace the scalloped center for a circle. Not a fun idea.

So here is the part that I have been leading up to. My daughter is a 14 year old artist. She has proven her artist eye since a very young age, with proportions and colors and design. 

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have another set of eyes to look at my piece and explain what I'm stuggling with. I asked her if she thinks I should change the scalloped center to the concentric circles... 

She suggests, "how about outline the scallops?"

Omg! She's brilliant!! Such a simple addition but the result makes it kind of lacy looking but not overly elaborate. LOL why didn't I think of it?!? 

NOW, the border is completely marked. The only decision left on this quilt is what to use for the binding. I am so stoked to work on it. If it weren't for the soreness from needle pricks on the under hand finger, I'd be quilting 6 hours every day to get it done! But soon enough!

and in my opinion, that settles everything... My Sweetling is just going to have to live with me forever, so I can run to her when I have a stumbling block and can't continue. She saves me everytime <3.  LOL, but since I know she won't agree to such a thing, I know I'll be turning to technology and cell phones and cameras and texting so I can still get her input when I need a second set of eyes... 

Summer vacation over

Just a quick post to get myself back on track. This summer was busy with traveling for me... Mississippi to Texas to Colorado to Oklahoma. 

I got a little side tracked. Row by Row had started by the time I went to CO the second time. So, of course, I wanted to join the fun of collecting some rows. I had the silly notion that I might to put together a quilt with 8 rows and be the first to turn it into my local participating fabric shop for a prize of a fat-quarter bundle... but by the end (almost) of the 4th row I knew this wasn't going to happen. Every store seemed to have designed their row using one of my least favorite applique techniques --- fusible webbing... 😏. Mind you, I'm not completely opposed to fusible applique. I can appreciate the speed it provides and ease of using tiny pieces for detail. But it just doesn't appeal to me as much as needle-turn or piecing (by hand or machine). 

.... And of course I had a mishap with the iron and the webbing...

Yes, that is paper backed fusible web stuck to my hot iron. The dark spot on the iron is a reflection of one of my daughter's paintings hanging on the wall.

Row from It's a Stitch in Humble, TX.
 I still need to stitch in the clothes line and add embellishment to the house window. 

Row from Down Home Quilts in Dumas, TX. Nice little shop. Last year she stayed open 1/2 hour later because I was driving thru from CO back to MS.  I had to stop by again this year (and happened to be driving thru during regular store hours)

row from OKC, OK. I love the name of the quilt shop The Savage Quilter, LOL! 

Row from Pacific Fabrics and Crafts - Sodo in Seattle, WA.
My friend Mable picked up a kit for me.
 Still needs boat embellishments and a few other things on the water.
Actually, as I'm looking at this pic, i realize it still needs a lot :p.

After stitching the skyline in the row from Seattle, I was ready for a break from fusible applique and I needed to clean up my sewing room a bit. 

As I was picking up some loose papers on the desk, I found a picture I had printed out from one of my FB groups Celebrate Hand Quilting that I had fallen in love with.

Quilt made by Shelly McAlindin. She calls it the Charlie Brown quilt.
Pattern is from the Merry Mayhems Mystery Quilt 136 from New Years Day 2014.

And this is what it has inpired. I'm a bit timid to go all scrappy. I can't imagine my fabrics would blend as beautifully as Shelly's did. So I made the big blocks with a focus fabric and scrappy on the little triangles. The light green squares seem to be very prominent in this photo. It's not quite as obnoxious to the naked eye. But I'm thinking I'm going to find something a little darker to take its place. I'm still playing with the colors and having fun.

I giggle at myself sometimes. Because I find that I really do enjoy the "process". Catching myself so pleased with the pinwheel corners that intersections make on the wrong side of the piecing... It seems like a trivial thing, but the realization that I am taking the time to iron these points down flat (and that they work every time!) and the fact that no one else is ever going to see them makes it a not-so-trivial thing 😁.

But starting a brand new project (even if it's using fabric already in my stash and hardly any new fabric purchased 😉) doesn't blind me to unfinished projects that I've put on my goal list this year.

So between all my regularly scheduled responsibilities, I was able to dedicate a good 5 to 6 hours marking the borders on the red and green quilt yesterday!! And I love this craft table that was gifted to me from MIL. Being able to spread out on a big flat surface is wonderful! Thanks, Mom :)!!

First I thought I wanted to use the Baptist fan circles in the border. The quilting stencil I was using was 5" wide and not filling the space enough. So I designed a template to echo the quilting in the appique blocks. I'm very pleased with the result. 

I saw a tip in the FB group Celebrate Hand Quilting that mentioned using washable markers  for marking quilting lines. I jumped in with both feet and used a washable marker without testing to make sure it will come out of my fabric first. But the tip is from a very accomplished quilter, Tim Latimer, so I'm pretty sure it will work just fine. Plus, the colors washed off my fingers without much scrubbing. That's got to be a good sign, right? I'll be sure to post another picture of complete and washed red and green quilt.

Alright! the school year has started. There's no big traveling trips in the near future. I can refocus goals of getting some UFO's completed. And adding some Row by Row's to the list :). And blog about it all! Until then happy quilting or whatever it is you enjoy doing :).