Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour and Giveaway

Today I am one of 10 lucky bloggers on the Volume 9 blog tour for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.

 

This is the third time I have had a block published in this magazine and this block is the one I am most excited about.  Why? Because I love riding my bike.  I named it "Go Wheels?"

It's on page 45. 

 

The flag is 3-D and the streamers are made from DMC floss.

What fun!

I like to use a shiny thread when I blanket stitch applique, either rayon or polyester.

It gives it a little pop. Wouldn't a dog look cute in that basket? (I have just the one.)

 

I loved this block so much when I made it, that I had to make a quilt using it.

I hand stitched all of the bicycle sayings with some help from a friend, using 3 strands of DMC floss

and a back stitch on a coarsely woven utility cloth.

 

Quiltmaker is giving away a copy of the magazine to one of my visitors.  Leave a comment telling me the last time you rode your bike along with your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win, with random.org.

 

For a second chance to win, Follow me on Bloglovin' and let me know, to receive a signed copy of the magazine from me. Remember to leave your e-mail address.  I will be choosing both winners at the end of the blog tour. To visit the other blogs. head over to Quiltmaker's blog to see the list by clicking HERE.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Curvalicious Quilt v.2

It's time for annuals. I splurged yesterday and bought 2 of these beautiful baskets.

Recently we had a speaker visit our guild who said that gray is just not catching on. Well, I beg to differ and I think many others would agree with me.

I made this quilt using my Curvalicious tool. It has to be the easiest quilt ever, with a one piece background. It was such a beautiful day today that I just wanted to be outside. Bailey and I had fun staging the quilt around the yard.

This is the pattern up close. The grey is the background.

I bought the backing fabric from a shop that was closing its doors. It was perfect for this quilt. I love those monkeys.

I am working on a how to video to go with my original one. I'll keep you posted. But I could use help with a name.
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Cathy Perlmutter, a very creative quilter, who owns Curvalicious. She designed a very unique quilt and wrote a blog post that made me laugh so hard that I almost wet my pants! I am so excited about what she did. Take a look: http://gefiltequilt.blogspot.com/2014/04/easy-modern-and-curvalicious-baby-quilt.html
Tell Cathy I sent you!

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Free Motion Quilt Book

I am always on the look out for more filler type patterns for free motion quilting. I saw the cover of this book and was intrigued. It looked like patterns that I could replicate on my home sewing machine and they were different than many I had seen in ither books.

The title says First Steps and presents the book for beginners, but I feel that any tips I can pick up to improve my machine quilting us always worth the money. The design that really caught my eye was this one made using leaves. It's quite unique and I haven't seen one like it. The way it branches will make it so versatile for me.

Christina takes the branching one step further and developed these other designs.

I love doing swirls and feel very comfortable filling in an area with them. The leaves and berry designs are just an extension of that. I can't wait to try them.

Christina includes a bunch of small projects that are perfect for practicing. If you would like to learn more from her about free motion quilting, visit her blog: www.afewscraps.blogspot.com

And as I promised, it's noon on the East Coast, so it's time to announce the winner of the one yard piece of Grand Central Station fabric. Drum roll please! It's jwchevan@umass.edu. Your comment made me think about how you must have felt as a 6 year old traveling on the train. Shoot me an email with your snail mail and I'll send it right out.

 

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A Spring Day in NYC

Today was a beautiful spring day in NY. I never thought it would warm up, but today people were walking around carrying their jackets. The sun was shining and the sky was blue.

I managed to set aside a bit of time to see a quilt exhibit celebrating the 100th birthday of Grand Central Station. The City Quilter designed special fabric to be used for the challenge and it is hanging at the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Station. It's there until July 6th, if you're passing through.

Grand Prize winner. Amy Krasnansky

 

Pamelia Paddock

Lisa Jenni

Laura Laslett

Charlotte Noll, who I met during a workshop in Coral Springs, Florida.

Nancy Gary

Margaret Caldwell

I made a pit stop at The City Quilter. It's a wonderful quilt shop and it is truly amazing that it has survived and thrived with what must be crazy rents. To celebrate the Grand Central Quilts, I picked up 1 yard of one of the fabrics that could be used for the challenge. It is exclusive to The City Quilter.

I want to share that fabric with one of my readers that resides in the United States. Leave me a comment, making sure that there is a way for me to email you. I'll pick the winner on Friday at noon EST, so make sure you come back to see if you are the winner.

 

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A Milestone

Not many people make it to their 90th birthday. This weekend we celebrated the 90th birthday of my father-in-law, Donald Lynch, somewhere in the middle of the state of Pennsylvania.

He is a wonderful guy who has treated me like a daughter from the day I met him. My favorite story that shows his kindness to me was way back right after I married his son. We were in school in Boston and went to Acadia National Park in Maine to spend a weekend camping with my in-laws. It was blueberry season, so I thought it would be fun to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I wasn't the greatest cook and cooking on a camp stove did not help to improve my skills in any way. The pancakes tuned out pretty badly. They were partially burnt and partially raw. I was quite mortified but my wonderful FIL told me they were the best pancakes he ever had.

We spent Saturday celebrating his birthday and Sunday was Easter dinner. I am from a teeny family, so to be together with my husband and his 5 siblings, spouses and their kids was a wonderful time. There were 35 of us who traveled from Pittsburgh, Philly, Florida, Charleston, Chicago and Tennesee. There were kids everywhere. I loved the Easter egg hunt.

Henry met tons of his cousins and he was passed around like a football. He's the youngest and they just loved him and he loved them. I am so thankful to my SIL, Annette, who hosted and fed us all until we burst.

During the car ride I finished a couple of mug rugs for our guild's swap next week. I can't wait to see everyone else's creations.

 

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Calico Cutters, You Rock!

Today was the monthly meeting of my quilt guild, Calico Cutters. Have I told you lately how important it is if you are a quilter to join a guild? It is a place for friendship and growth and inspiration. I wouldn't be doing what I am doing without the love and support of the ladies of my guild.

I was blown away today. 71soldiers quilts were donated to be delivered to the Chester County VA Hospital. 71quilts! That is going to be a happy day when they are delivered.

Then Joyce Hughes gave a wonderful presentation that was about her growth as a fiber artist, starting with her first quilt - a T-shirt quilt. It was inspiring from both an artistic point of view as well as from a human one. If you have the opportunity to hear her talk, don't miss it.

 

 

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Art Quilt Elements

A visit to the Wayne Art Center to see some wonderful quilts that you would never put on your bed. It's a local art center located in a suburb of Philadelphia and has become the centerpiece of FiberPhilly. The quilts are beautifully displayed in 2 galleries.

I apologize for not knowing all of the artists' names.

Kathy York

This really caught my eye. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

 

Close Up

 

 

Diane Savona

Hollis Chatelaine. Made from jeans. For those of us that know her art, it was a bit of a shock.

Kristin La Flamme

There was a direct view if this quilt from the doorway as you entered the room. It was eye catching. It grew on me and it became one of my favorites.

Betty Busby. "Dendrites"

Close up.

 

 

 

 

Close Up

Marianne Burr

Close Up.

One of the overall trends was the amount of hand stitching. It was not the hand quilting of the past. It was bold and big and had a purpose other than to hold the 3 layers together. I love hand stitching and I really think it connects the quilter with the art.

 

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