Spring Paducah

What fun I had in Paducah. There was inspiration in so many places. These quilts at the quilt show were breathtaking.

 

The exhibit of quilts by Victoria Finley Wolfe was wonderful.

I even got to sit and chat a bit with Victoria and then ...

... she so graciously posed for a picture with me.

Lunch at Max's Brick Oven Cafe ...

... in the courtyard was delicious and an inviting place to relax.

The volunteer at the Yieser Art Center made the exhibit of 'Fantastic Fibers' very interesting for me.

My friend Eva Marie tried out a long-arm quilting machine.

I made this quilt, "A Plate of Pineapples" in 2007.

Kayoka Hata from Japan took inspiration from my quilt and made this quilt "Motherly Affection."

Life and Patches Workshops

Life ...

The box of Dustin's forgotten boots was returned to me because the 'send' label came off. I quick took it back to the post office and they shipped it out again at no extra charge. How nice is that?

While Evie helped clean for an elderly lady from church, I got to take care of Teryn and Rusty.

I'm ready to go buy a new washing machine. The clothes wrapping around the agitator is quite bothersome.

... as a Quilter

My sister Polly gifted me with lots and lots of basting pins. I was so glad for them today getting Josiah's quilt ready for machine quilting.

Recently I have taught my "Patches" class in Virginia ...

... and Mississippi.

I just love the creativity of the students and ...

... their choices for the silhouettes.

Great Fishing for SAQA

This is my 2017 donation piece for the SAQA Benefit Auction.

I'm calling it "Great Fishing." See how that fish has been enticed by the lure?

It measures 12"X12".

Here's a detail shot for you to see the quilting stitches up close.

The back is signed and has a 2" hanging sleeve.

So, how did I make this piece? Here are some of the steps I took. I marked a grid on the background fabric on the left and cut out patches from the fused fabric on the right.

Next I cut out square patches from the fused fabric and laid them onto the background fabric.

More patches cut out and laid onto the background fabric a little at a time.

Now the patches can be pressed down and ...

... the piece is trimmed and ready to be layered with batting and a backing.

I chose Superior's Fantastico thread ...

... for the horizontal quilting.

This is the fun part.

Just about finished with quilting the background.

I cut out pieces of black Kona Cotton with fusible on it and arranged the pieces to form the fish.

After some modifications; I quilted the black with an orange thread.

And then I decided to add more and more orange thread. My black fish turned into a gold fish.

Linking to "Off the Wall Friday."

A Visit With Mother in Virginia

Life ...

It's been so nice to have Dustin & Gina with us for a little while. And Tina, Talya, and Georgi think so too.

We had a Sunday lunch invitation to Darren & Becky Knepp's place. The children sure enjoyed the battery operated car. "Come on Ashton, give us a push!"

Becky fixed us a Belizean meal and made her own soft tacos. Delicious!

And now I get to spend some time in Virginia with Mother. She loves working with her flowers. I can tell by the whistle/hum of "Do Not Pass Me By" that she is happy.

She has a beautiful view of North River out her living room windows and loves to feed the birds and watch the ducks, geese, and wildlife. Today she saw 5 deer crossing the river down at the ripples.

I took her up the river to see the tree house that my nephew Josh Helmuth is building. It's going to be an Airbnb and is quite cozy and will be a beautiful place to stay.

"Patches" Workshop

I just love these small pieces of fiber art that were made by my students in my "Patches" workshop.