Holiday Pines Quilt

... as a Quilter

It's tempting to just slap a gray border on this improvisational quilt and call it ready to quilt.  But wait ... I think it's better to take elements from the center of the quilt and place them in the borders. So, it will take a little more time now to complete.

I started out by making pine tree blocks ...

... in holiday colors. 

Then I laid the blocks out in a pleasing arrangement and added sashing with smaller pine trees inserted randomly.

I trimmed here and there as I went so I could sew a straight line.

Life ...

Boys will be boys.

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Fiber Tuesday with Mel

Lily Workshop in Corinth

What a marvelous job these ladies did in my “Lily” workshop in Corinth, MS.

Grandmother and Granddaughter worked well together. 

Quilting with the Possum Town Quilters

I prepared a red and green string quilt as a project for our Possum Town Quilters.
Using an old algebra book for foundations we placed a yellow strip diagonally in each block with
red on one side and green on the other side.

 

Carla, Lawana, and Carol sewed strings while …

 

… Brenda, Ebba, Karen, (Judy and CC not pictured) and I hand quilted.

Karen is a new member and brought along some of her fiber art for show and tell. I love her use of bright colors
and improvisational designing.

  

~~~~~ Parting Shot ~~~~~~

Paul’s mom had a birthday this week. We took supper to her and Daddy and enjoyed the evening. They have
lots and lots of purple martins.

A Glimpse Through the Lattice -- Cattails

A Glimpse Through the Lattice -- Cattails

Thanks to Amy's Creative Side for hosting another fine Quilt Festival.  

The process began by drawing a grid on the brown and gold background fabric. I fused “Heat and Bond” to the back of the printed fabric.

Then I cut squares from the printed fabric and fused them to the background.

Cutting and fusing only a few pieces at a time helped me keep the patches in order.

Quilted +/- 1/8”

Thinking of this quilt that I made back in 2014 …

 

… I positioned some sample chairs on the floor.

But then I decided to try a bouquet of cattails. Using paper I cut out a vase, reeds, and the cattail heads and auditioned placement.

 

 

 

Then I cut the cattail bouquet from dark brown fabric and

arranged it on the quilted background.

A Glimpse Through the Lattice – Cattails  

Cattails on the edge of a pond summon memories of simpler times, lazy summer days and the song of frogs croaking in chorus among the reeds. Birds alight atop the sturdy cattail stalks and herald the dawn. By bringing a bit of the country life indoors to create a cattail bouquet, one can catch a glimpse through the lattice of natural pleasures ad the cycle of life.

   

Size: 36” X 37”

Fabrics: Commercial Cottons

Techniques: Fused appliqué, heavily machine quilted

Finishing: Facing turned to back

This quilt will be in Little Rock, AR with The National Quilting Association’s (NQA) quilt show.


Linking to:

A Visit to Paducah and the Quilt Show

Some highlights of the annual quilt show for me was a visit with Lea McComas, the maker of “Bike Boys.” Lea received her inspiration from “a photograph and newspaper clipping from the Denver Post in the archives of the History Colorado Museum, Denver, Colorado.”

I like the simplicity of this quilt “Diamond Dust” by Doris Brunnette and Trina Kirkvold.

 

 

AQS fixed up such a nice display with my quilt “Family Circle – Farmer’s Delight” to promote their 2016 Quilt Art engagement calendar.

 

Hancock's of Paducah was a favorite spot for many quilters with 1000s of bolts of fabrics. This quilt was hanging from the ceiling of the store along with many others.

 

 

My niece, Holly and I visited the Yeiser Art Center to see the exhibit “Fantastic Fibers.” She fell in love with the 2nd place winner’s book made of fabric with hand embroidered words.

 

 

Shea Wilkinson’s fiber art reminded me of “The Body Song,” I fritter fratter frit … I’m the brain with the electric current … learning bit by bit …. and I fritter all the time.