What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I would love to find discussions that address my current artistic quandary: at what point do you want to/should you defer to the opinions of others when they have a very different take on your work than your own? I refer specifically to work you feel much more positively about than others do. And you respect the opinions of these others.

Case in point, my current piece that I’ve named “The Left Coast.” It is based on my memories of Big Sur in California, though it’s meant to be evocative rather than representative. I chose to focus ...

Quilting has been pretty erratic for the past week or so. Lots of applique here and there whenever I have a free moment and so far I have about 60 of the grandma fan blocks stitched down. Been working on them for well over a month. Since I didn't use the proper pattern pieces, the sides of the fan will eventually have to be trimmed to square. It should only increase the wonkiness factor which of course is a big plus for me.

Always more hand work

Here we are, more than halfway through August and I've barely finished my 8th quilt this year! Just not getting as much done this year. You'll probably have a hard time believing this, but I have went almost two weeks now without any hand quilting. Can you sense how itchy my fingers are getting? It was totally worthwhile as we got to see a lot of family, but wowsers. It's always so lovely to come back home!

Glory Be is finished!

We have had more butterflies visit our flowers

this year than we can ever remember...

Enjoying the summer !

Last week we used a diagonal path for filling a grid. Let’s take off on a tangent and try a few new things with using diagonal quilting combined with grids.

I like to try to find a way to quilt a design that makes it easy to stitch AND gives me great looking results. Win-win! In the design I’m going to show you this week we use a square grid to create a diagonal style fill design. The square grid’s function is to keep our stitching nice and even and symmetrical. The path we use makes it ...

Last week we used a diagonal path for filling a grid. Let’s take off on a tangent and try a few new things with using diagonal quilting combined with grids.

I like to try to find a way to quilt a design that makes it easy to stitch AND gives me great looking results. Win-win! In the design I’m going to show you this week we use a square grid to create a diagonal style fill design. The square grid’s function is to keep our stitching nice and even and symmetrical. The path we use makes it ...

We are home from the hay fields

and it is time to get the flowers watered... 

I have long maintained that flowers have little to no place in my work. I love flowers in a garden or a vase, but haven’t been drawn to them as subjects for my work. So, I was surprised that I based a piece now under construction on flowers, rhododendrons specifically. Each May I see the bold magenta floral clusters of those plants in the yards of the older houses in my neighborhood. I don’t know if they’ve gone out of fashion, but I don’t see them in newer developments. Of course, that color would give one ...

I'm as cozy as a clam in my hotel this morning. I've got the AC off, so it's quiet and a beautiful temperature! I got a quilt on the bed, and I'm listening to my home radio station! How cool is that!!!!

There is an amazing, fabulous, HUGE quilt hanging at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Brisbane, Australia this weekend.  My Australia was created by our Handi Quilter Ambassador, Helen Godden.

She drew the design in 2018 but with her busy life of teaching, lecturing and traveling, she wondered when she would ever have time to actually make it into a quilt. Then along came 2020….

So, Helen gave herself a personal challenge, because she had the time. She began the quilt in July 2020 and finished in January 2021.

The Process

Helen generously shared the process of creating the quilt on ...

There is an amazing, fabulous, HUGE quilt hanging at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Brisbane, Australia this weekend.  My Australia was created by our Handi Quilter Ambassador, Helen Godden.

She drew the design in 2018 but with her busy life of teaching, lecturing and traveling, she wondered when she would ever have time to actually make it into a quilt. Then along came 2020….

So, Helen gave herself a personal challenge, because she had the time. She began the quilt in July 2020 and finished in January 2021.

The Process

Helen generously shared the process of creating the quilt on ...

Blacksmith Shop, John C. Campbell's Folk School

As my class date draws closer, it's got me thinking about how travel always seems to inspire my creative nature.  (Obviously, since we have traveled very little in the last two years and I feel all dried up inside.) It's the trips and the classes over the years that have been a driving force in keeping me sewing.  There is always something new to learn, places to explore, and people to meet.  

But right now I just have one little trip planned for this summer and it's located smack ...

Today’s topic came to me as I wandered the aisles of my local Village Discount thrift store looking for bargains. Once I got over my surprise that used bras were on offer, I checked out the men’s extra large shirts. There’s lots of material in a $2 cotton dress shirt.

I didn’t go home with any shirts, but I did remember Sue Benner’s piece made with shirt cuffs which I saw at Quilt National 2017.

Sue ...