Fun With Feathers--and a winner!

A week ago I spent my morning being entertained and instructed by Sue Patten.

This woman had me smiling and laughing so much my face hurt. She is a delightful teacher, and on top of that--she really knows her stuff!

She does extensive tests on all kinds of quilting products, under all kinds of conditions, before sharing her recommendations. And her reviews have caused some companies to change their products.







The focus of the class was feathers, and she whipped them out, with all kinds of embellishments, usually controlling the machine with one hand, while her coffee cup rested in the other.

 She could put feathers on or in anything, and dress them up so that you couldn't always tell she had started with a feather. Have I already said that she did it all really fast?!? Well, she said she had slowed way down, but you couldn't prove it by me!

She had a couple of quilts to show us how she covers the territory. She can do more things with feathers than you can begin to imagine.

And she can do it all with one hand. : )

It was a really good morning. I wish I'd been able to take some of her other classes, but I am grateful for the one opportunity I did have.

This was my parting shot and just before it was taken she asked, "Oh, is my hair sticking up?" And then she giggled.


I did choose the winner for my blog anniversary giveaway on Wednesday night. I notified her right away and sent the package off the next morning--I just haven't had a chance to blog about it until now. Congrats go out to Lori, of Humble Quilts blog. I was thrilled to see her win. Hers was one of the first blogs I began following 3 years ago and she has been so fun. I love her SALs, her adventures, and her quilts!

Until next time,
Janet O.

p.s. If you left a comment on my giveaway post and you didn't receive a reply from me, you have your profile set to "no reply" and maybe you don't know it. I had several such comments this time around and only a couple of you left your email address in your comment so that I could respond. Those of you that did not get a reply, if you would like to get replies (and chances to win giveaways--currently, no one can contact you if you win) click on the link above for Lori's blog. Right below her profile on her sidebar is a badge to click on if you are a no-reply blogger. It will take you to her post about how to change your settings.

The Show is Over, Folks!

And I survived!

I want to start off with the last few quilts I finished up. I started this Mariner's Compass soon after agreeing to do the show. The compass has a 3" diameter. I had tried to set it in a circle of flying geese, but in trying to combine the elements from two different patterns, I couldn't get them sized compatibly. So I ended up with the border from the original compass pattern. The original was in shades of blue, but I wanted Christmas colored batiks. I'm happy with how it turned out. I've been trying to decide whether or not to hand quilt it, or leave it unquilted and frame it. I'm not anxious to hand quilt on batiks. This piece is 9 1/2" square. I think I will name it "Sailing Home for the Holidays"

I got the little "Wandering Geese" quilted and bound. I did SITD around the geese and columns. The border and sashing are hand quilted. I don't usually bind in a lighter color than the border, but I liked this better than any of the other colors, and I didn't have enough of the border or sashing blue to do the job.

Ended up doing straight line quilting, in diamond formation, in the center of this, and kind of a half orange peel design in the border. Because of its diminutive size, this is named "Trip Around the Block" (rather than TATW).

If you look closely at this one you may be able to discern that the binding is only pinned down. Didn't quite have time to get the whole thing finished before the show. Since this was made from part of an "airport project kit" gifted to me by good friend Annie Miksch, before DH and I flew to visit DD#1 last fall, I have named this "Annie's Neighborhood". I hand quilted the houses and did the rest by machine.

Okay, here we go--show time. My apologies to those who asked for lots of pictures of the show. I didn't get any of the actual show. Though my friend took at least a couple dozen with my camera, something went wrong and when I tried to download them, nothing was there.
But I took a shot of my setup when it was all over.

 As I would tell about a quilt, I would take it from the little trunk (this was a mini trunk show, after all), and hang it with small clothespins to the lines strung between the poles. Many thanks to those who loaned back minis in their possession, that I had made. That helped so much, as I did not have time to complete everything that I had planned to make. In fact, four of the mini quilts are still flimsies.
Closer view of each display below.

Barb Vedder (Fun with Barb blog) made that sweet little flying geese quilt
in the upper left corner of this display. I used it with her permission.

I had another group of quilts that are small, but not mini. As they fit into the story of how I came to make miniature quilts, I would hold them up. Tonight I stuck them all up on my design wall and took a photo.

 You may recognize eight of them from SALs and QALs from Humble Quilts blog, Temecula Quilt Co. blog, quiltsbycheri blog, and Heartspun Quilts blog. Seven of these have not yet been quilted.

This is a re-creation of the display I had on a little table. Those are pincushions made of tiny quilt blocks in a bowl under the tree. To the far right is the trunk that held the mini quilts.

Click on this photo if you'd like a closer view of the tree ornaments (many of which were made by DD#1) and pincushions.

On the felt covered bulletin board I placed jewelry by Julie Letvin (Me & My Stitches blog), and two micro minis.

Which brings me to my final photo. Friday was the 3rd anniversary of my blog. Sometimes I think I have been blogging forever, and other times I feel like I am such a beginner. But however long it seems, I have met some incredible women who inspire me and support me and make me want to be better (not just in quilting, but in life). To thank those of you who are following along on my quilting journey, I offer this little anniversary giveaway.

There are 2 charm packs of new lines that I love, one of my micro minis (Baby Steps to Heaven), a 2" basket ornament, and a bag of my herbal soap. If you are interested, leave a comment and I will draw a name when I get around to it (that shows you how tired I am as I am typing this up--getting punchy). Let's say Wednesday is the cut off. I will draw at 9 p.m., or thereabouts. : )
Giveaway now closed.

Until next time,
Janet O.

p.s. Saturday morning I am attending a class by Sue Patten on quilting feathers. I am anxious to see what I can learn.

HMQS 2014 (Home Machine Quilting Show, Salt Lake City, UT)

Just a quick view of my visit to HMQS last week. I'm in the home stretch getting my mini trunk show put together for tomorrow night and I needed a break from sewing tiny things. : )
Only spent a few hours at the show this year with my quilting friend (DH's cousin). But I made the most of them.

Met up with a blogger from South Carolina! Marj (Eclectic Quilter blog) comes most every year after attending a retreat with a friend in Idaho. She is a very sweet and gracious lady and I was glad we finally got to meet up.

This year she entered a QOV and received an Honorable Mention ribbon. She designed this quilt herself. I was pretty impressed. Photos on her blog didn't do it justice!

Click on the photo to the left to read about Marj's quilt.

We met at the main stage and watched Judi Madsen (Green Fairy Quilts blog) do her trunk show. Marj had saved us great seats up close.

Judi was the featured artist this year and they also had a display of her quilts in the show hall. Her quilting is amazing. I never plan to quilt like that, but I get lots of inspiration from her designs.

Saw part of Sandra Starley's (Textile Time Travels blog) trunk show a little later, but I was too far back then to get good photos. Did catch her with her sister, Donna, in her booth afterward. Here they are perusing the fabrics in a charm pack I had just purchased. Look at all of those wonderful vintage textiles around her booth!




I won't try to show lots of quilts--just a few of the more traditional designs I actually found this year. Click on the smaller photos below the quilts to get the details.

I think this was my favorite, and my photo is blurry. Bummer. : )

I didn't photograph the "Best of Show" and I won't share photos of some of the other fancy quilts. They are amazing, but not what I am drawn to. There wasn't time to see everything. I ran into an old high school friend who had a couple of quilts in the show. I spent a while looking for them, but never did find them. I didn't spend much money (though I was tempted). I bought two patterns for wool projects, some Valdani floss in colors I can't find at home, a charm pack, and a yard of fabric.  That's it! There was a beautiful oak quilt ladder that wanted to come home with me, but I didn't let it.

Well, back to the minis.
Until next time,
Janet O.

More of the Same!

That means minis, of course.
Good news--the trunk show is in less than two weeks. Maybe then I can change the subject! : )
Not a lot of quilting time lately, but I have been able to completely finish two little quilts--right down to the labels! The smallest squares in these two quilts are 1/4".

Baby Steps to Heaven and Churn Dash & Chains

I've started the quilting on three of my other minis. I am doing a mix of SITD, FMQ and hand quilting.

 I got  the Spring-colored pineapple ornaments made. I love having little stitched seasonal items to hang from the pegs.

I finally finished the borders on my mini feathered star. You can see the shadow where I am having a hard time getting one of the seams on that center square to lay flat. I have graded the seam allowances and steamed the seam over and over. Maybe I just need to pin it in place and quilt it down! : )

I came across some leftover 4-patches and squares from the quilts I have made from Kansas Troubles fabrics. I trimmed them down so they finished at 1" and made this little quilt top.

We have enjoyed a wonderful 2 week visit from DD#1. She flew back to New Hampshire today. While she was here she wanted to try her hand at wool applique, making some of the  Primitive Gatherings Christmas Stockings. I had purchased the pattern while visiting her in NH last Fall. The last week she was here she got 4 of them made, but I only got photos of the first 3. I think she did a great job!

 She brought some things with her for me to use in my mini trunk show. She made these little ornaments using hexies that have 1/4" sides. I put a quarter in the photo so you could get a perspective on the size. Aren't they cute? I don't know how she does them that tiny!

Next week is the trunk show--finally! But it is also the 3rd anniversary of my blog. I'm sure a giveaway of some kind is in order. I haven't put my mind to it yet, but I'll bet I can come up with something. : )

Oh, I also wanted to pass along some Christmas scraps. When I was working on my Christmas version of the Barrister's SAL, Randy and Sio sent me Christmas scraps. Now that my blocks are finished, I would love to pass them along to someone else interested in making a Christmas sampler. Let me know in your comment if you would like them. If there are just a couple of you, I will split them. If there are more, I will draw a name.

I'll be at the HMQS in Salt Lake City this Friday. Will you be there? I'd love to meet you!

That's all for now,
Janet O.