Northridge Quilt Show

So, 2 posts in one day...crazy, huh?

So, we went to the Orange County Quilters Show in Fullerton. These are the same ladies who brought us Camp Watch-A-Patcher, where I first met Judy Niemeyer, almost 2 years ago. Since Judy was just at Camp Watch-A-Patcher in 2010 there were a number of great examples of her patterns at the show, and that always makes it fun when I get to see new versions of quilts that I am working on.

Needless to say, it was a great show, with some absolutely fabulous quilts, and amazing ladies. But by far one of the best parts about the show is the proximity to home, and the opportunity to sleep in your own bed for the night.

 This one is Tropical Rainbow (Pattern by Judy Niemeyer), completed by the artist in residence for the show. I love the way she color washed the border on this one. And don't forget to check out the quilting, it was fantastic.

 The following two are a diamond wedding ring (again pattern is by Judy Niemeyer). This might be my all time favorite Judy pattern. It has all of the techniques (templates, rolling borders, curved piecing, applique, etc). This one was very Christmassy (is that a word?). I want mine in spring brights with a turquoise/green/blue/purple border......so pretty. Best of all was the custom feather quilting that was done on this quilt. I wish I could have gotten a good picture, but the lighting in the venue wasn't ideal for close ups, I did get one that was decent, which I added below for your review. Seriously, the quilting was FANTASTIC.

Here are some pics from the show.....

Insanity Abounds

Well folks, it's been 6 weeks since I posted...can't believe it has been that long. It has been really busy around here, but really there is no excuse, there are plenty of things to talk about. It's not like there was a shortage of topics, or even worse, those situations when there is something going on but it is super secret and you can't talk about it (those are the worst!). SO, I'll try to get you caught up....and if I am boring you all with things you already know, I'm sorry!

The Tehachapi Fibre Arts Show in Tehachapi California was a blast. We stopped at the Local BBQ joint and had the best (and largest) BBQ Salads imaginable. I almost thought that I was home in Memphis, it was that good. Here are some photos from that show....

All of those are a version of Jumping Jax Flash (Pattern by Judy Niemeyer). I coudn't get far enough away from the quilt to get a good overall picture...but you get the idea. Dark blue spiky pieced border, light blue/white/cream background, and Navy, Red and Peach Stars. It was really beautiful and read as very patriotic. Best Part -- this patterns is an early one, and has no curved seams. Worst part -- as it is an early pattern it has no printed templates included, so I had to make my own. It wasn't that bad, I just like to complain.....seriously, it took me about half an hour, and it was totally worth it.

Well, my big plan was to do a catch up blog, but blogger is being picky about pictures this evening, so I'll have to post some more tomorrow, until then, have a great week everybody!

Stash Management

How do you manage your stash? Your projects? Your UFOs? Are you a finisher? A starter? a middle of the roader? What is your least favorite component of quilting? Your favorite?

Where do you sew? Do you have your own room? or a little corner of the living room? Do you sew on the dining room table, or do you have your own reserved space?

I'm just wondering...I have lots of changes going on here at Queenie Quilts, and I am contemplating how I store all of my quilting stuff.....I use the containers from the Container Store to help me manage everything. From stash (items that don't have assigned projects) in sweater boxes, to projects (in flip top containers), to tools in jars and desk top containers. Give me a day at the container store and I could find a use for every item in that store (not to mention how much I love to wander the uber-organized aisles).

So, back to projects....How many do you have? Do you actively work on all of them, or do some just linger? Do you over analyze your projects? I DO. I have 40 project boxes in the top of my stash closet. So I can have 40 projects going at one time. Some time earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to get that number down to a more manageable number. I wanted to be a finisher (or a completionist), as I am a natural starter (one who loves to pick fabrics for a project and get all of the cutting done, before putting it away in a pretty box and promptly forgetting about it). I would really like to be down to about 10 in-process projects and no more.

I also want to reduce my stash, significantly, I've realized that as much as I like specific fabric lines (and have collected several of them), I'm not doing them justice by buying a fat quarter tower, borders, and background and then storing them for 5 years. My fabrics deserve to see the light of day, not be collected in beautiful containers. So, I'm really trying to decrease my stash....use the fabrics I have. Not that I plan to get rid of all of my fabric and only buy when I have a project (that would be just a little to confining for me). But, I need to balance what I buy and use some of the stuff that I already have before I go buy new stuff....will I still have a fairly large fabric stash. Definitely, I need it for applique projects. But only fat quarters, not yardage...I'd rather have 40 fat quarters than 10 yards of a single fabric, or a small set.

My other issue -- size. I take a class and instead of making the baby or lap, I commit to making the queen size, and really, how many people want a bed size quilt? Most people want a quilt for the couch or a wallhanging or a bed runner, not a huge quilt. Yet, still, I have made the large ones....so I'm changing my tune and working on smaller quilts....

And now that you have seen my resolutions, I really must get to work, I've committed to quite a bit, and must really get started.

The Farmer's Wife and Sylvia

So, have you heard about the Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long. You know, the one that everyone is doing. I mean everyone. Moda Lissa, Camille at Thimbleblossoms, and of course the creators of the quilt along, Angela and Amanda (http://fussycut.blogspot.com/p/shop.html and http://msmcporkchopquilts.com/?p=1138). I have been waiting to start my farmer's wife until I finished my Sylvia's bridal sampler quilt by Jennifer Chavarreni (not sure that is spelled correctly, and I am a bit too lazy to check on it at the moment).

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt is a collection of 130 - 6" blocks, about 80% traditional pieced, 10% applique and 10% paper pieced. So, in an effort to get Sylvia finished and the Farmer's Wife done, I'm going to try to get these done each week, and keep up. SO, wish me luck...

Here are the first 5 blocks from Sylvia's....now to get to work on the Farmer's Wife....oh, and work on a curriculum for EQ, and some supply lists....yeah, this never ends.

The other things I have been working on

So, a few of you know about my aversion to binding.....as in, I just don't like it. I'm not really sure why I don't like it, it's not like its hard, or time consuming. Its more that its the end of the journey, and I only really like to put the binding on when the quilt is leaving me, off to a new home to be used and loved by someone else. As a result, I have lots of quilts that have no binding on them, even though the binding in made (that is one of the rules, if you remember from an earlier post). There is just something so final about putting on the binding and pushing the bird out of the nest to another place. This propensity to not apply binding was no big deal when I was just quilting for fun, but now, my bad habit is a bit problematic, as in, I have a booth with 10 quilts in it, but only 3 of them have binding.....not exactly professional, so I'm trying to get better and get the binding on before I take any pics, and before I hang it in the booth.

So, this week, I put binding on several quilts, 3 to be exact. I haven't had a chance to get any decent pics of the quilts, but I did take some pics of the items I use for binding....specifically the thread that I insist upon using for binding. DMC 50 weight, manufactured in France in 180 colors, so you will have the EXACT color match, whether you are matching the border, binding or the backing. I'll do a tutorial on binding soon, and talk about preventing "snake belly" binding, but for now, just some pics of the tools that I love.

Yippee!!! This one is actually done and ready to head off to Colorado.

Celebration Tree Skirt -- My favorite quilt I have ever made

And it isn't even a quilt, according to my mother. She uses the following elements to indicate that it is not a quilt.

1. It does not fit on a bed.
2. It is round, which is not a quilty shape.
3. A quilt goes on top of a bed, this goes under a tree.
4. It can't qualify as a wallhanging, as you can't hang it because of its round shape.

As a result, she has indicated that it should really come it live with her, since it isn't a quilt. She is perfectly happy to give it a home, despite its "lack" of quiltiness.

Unfortunately, I think she will be disappointed, as I never want to let it go.....I dropped it off at a shop a couple of weeks ago, and I literally had separation anxiety. I LOVE IT that much. Seriously, my favorite non-quilt ever.

and here are some closeups of it, the quilting is absolutely fabulous (thanks to my very favorite longarmer, Shawn York of Rusty Crow). Shawn did a fantastic micro-stipple in the background, and changed threads and designs for each component....little christmas trees in the geese, snowflakes in the outer border spikes, and a huge poinsettia in the very middle. Absolutely STUNNING as usual! Seriously folks, a great long armer gives your quilt a whole new life.

So, I'll be teaching this one around town this fall, so if you are interested drop me a line at catherine@queeniequilts.com or check the schedule on the website.

See you soon,
Cat

Unexpected Absence

So, I have been away for a while, unintentionally away....nothing wrong, just crazy busy trying to get caught up and then trying to get started on the new patterns for market, finally making some progress and getting things under control, and finally starting to feel like it is all coming together. I have come to understand the word persistence, or perseverance. Head down and eyes on the road, and just keep going, and trust that it will all work out.

Thankfully, while it has been lots of work, it has been fun as well, so I can't really complain! So, here are the successes of the past few weeks.

Seasonal Tablerunner - Christmas of Course

  and the quick one.....

Dancing with the Stars Tablerunner

 I also got a couple of tops pieced and off to the quilter, hopefully I will get them back in the next few weeks and I'll post them.

Happy Sewing All -- I promise I'll stop in more often!