off the wall fri

First & Last with Jenny Lyon on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Jenny

Because me making half square triangles for my Homeward Bound quilt is not very interesting, this week we will continue on with the First & Last Quilt series featuring Jenny Lyon. Let me preface this with I love Jenny so what follows is absolutely biased. Still, it's my blog, so I guess that's okay.

I have been reading Jenny's blog for years and love how she'll detail the true ins and outs of getting a piece done. With Jenny, she's always happy to give you a peek behind the curtain so you can really see ...

added by Nina Marie 4 months, 3 weeks ago. under first&last , free motion quilting , guest , off the wall fri

Carnegie Museum of Art on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Monday, May 1st was my 30th wedding anniversary. It seems like a big milestone, right? Really, though I don't think of it that way. Every day with my husband has been a blessing and I'm just glad it all turned out the way I thought it was going to back in 1993.

Every year we try to do something together that is a little different. This year we made a day trip to go down to Pittsburgh to revisit the Carnegie Museum of Art. The last time we were there was 2006ish and so much has changed. The ...

added by Nina Marie 5 months ago. under art history , inspiration , off the wall fri , vacations

First & Last Quilt on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Elizabeth Barton's Solo Show at the Georgia Botanical Gardens, Athens, GA

Okay, a show of hands, who out there had a subscription to Quilter's Newsletter Magazine? I must have started mine around 1992 and kept it through hmmmm at least 2010. Honestly, without that magazine, I don't know where I would be as a quilter. Really, those were pre-internet days when this was my one and only pipeline to the national quilting scene. Besides all the great articles, I even managed to do two of their Block of the Month patterns in consecutive years which taught me ...

added by Nina Marie 5 months, 1 week ago. under art quilt , first&last , guest , off the wall fri

A Quick Update! BOM Month 4 on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Attempt 1 - I just thought the petals were too BUSY!

Wow! Spring is crazy around here. It's like all the ladies across the country woke up and thought, "Gosh, it's spring. I need some new clothes!" So you'll forgive me if this is a short I did manage to get in a bit of applique this week and when I say a bit....I actually mean a bit!

I am working on the fourth month of the Homeward Bound Quilt from the Quilt Show website. It's the month when we finally get to put all the ...

added by Nina Marie 5 months, 1 week ago. under applique , bom , off the wall fri , traditional quilt

Do You Need a Website? on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Paul's latest coffee Table

Shhhhhhh, can you keep a secret? My husband, Paul is turning 58 this week and I decided it was

The man, the myth

high time he got his own website. You see he became a full-time artesian woodworker when he retired a couple of years ago and he really needs an online presence. So with a lot of help from my daughter, Tessa, we put together a portfolio site. A portfolio website is a site that is primarily there to showcase you and what you create. Not only can it include a gallery of your ...

added by Nina Marie 5 months, 3 weeks ago. under family , mentallystrong , off the wall fri , social media

Gallery Night on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

One thing that came out of the Pandemic of 2020, is the fact that I will NEVER take "Date Night" for granted ever again. This week's installment was one for the books! One night a month, the art scene in Erie comes alive to host a Gallery Night. Galleries and small business open their doors to show off what's new.

First stop, was the Grounded Print and Paper Shop. Ever since I've heard about this place, I've been dying to visit. It's a former machine shop warehouse located in a neighborhood where people have been ...

added by Nina Marie 5 months, 4 weeks ago. under art show , inspiration , off the wall fri

Back to the Pinwheels on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

So does everyone have that one big project that just seems to go on and on with no real end in sight? My English paper pieced pinwheels is that project. It's been going on for ...oh I don't know... 13 years now?? I know I started it in a weak moment. I had finished the 4,200-piece tumbling blocks quilt and thought "Gee I haven't EPP in a while". What happened if I did an improv EPP using just one shape but played with value. At that point I never saw an art quilt improvisationally English paper ...

added by Nina Marie 6 months ago. under epp , likedislike , off the wall fri , pinwheels , thread , wip

Where to Donate Fabric on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

So is anybody else doing their spring cleaning? Since this is my 30th year of quilting, I thought it would be a good time to downsize the stash that I've been collecting all this time. Recently we did over our dressing room/fabric closet and this is as far as we've gotten.

The Before

The So-Far

Notice what great shelves the upcycled church pews made?

AND I still have some more bins to fill for the bottom shelves and the small boxes are going into the closet. From the looks of it, you'd never know I donated ...

added by Nina Marie 6 months, 1 week ago. under gifts , off the wall fri , organizing

Quilting Trends for 2023 on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Me stitching in my studio watching the Mentalist...again

Okay, let's face it. I'm not one for following trends. I'm the type that decides what is good for me and mine and then goes in that direction. I do, however, keep track of trends, just because it's good to stay informed. I recently got Timna Tarr's latest newsletter and it mentioned that handwork is becoming more of a trend on the national scene. That I can see. You hear of handwork everywhere these days. First English paper piecing made a resurgence with the Millefiori Quilts ...

added by Nina Marie 6 months, 2 weeks ago. under applique , bom , likedislike , off the wall fri , stitching , traditional quilt

8 Not Sew Good Habits on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

All this back-to-basics sewing around here lately, has got me thinking about when I was a beginner quilter. I began quilting on a fluke, not because someone I loved taught me. So it was kinda doing whatever works at the moment kind of thing. Along that journey, bad habits were formed. So the first step to improvement is realizing there is a problem, right? Some of these are practical, some are mental, and some are just, "I should have known better". So if you recognize some of these, shhhhhh it's okay, your secret is safe with me!

8 Not ...

added by Nina Marie 6 months, 3 weeks ago. under mentallystrong , off the wall fri

Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

I had a productive week of hand quilting...but that does NOT make for interesting blogging...with that in mind I'll spare you the details and just host!!

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively Today?

added by Nina Marie 7 months ago. under off the wall fri , quotes

Woodcut Art & Quilting on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Houses, Mabel Hewit, 1936

This week I went down the rabbit hole they call Pinterest, only to rediscover my love of woodcut art. Woodcut is a relief printing process in which knives and other tools are used to carve a design into the surface of a wooden block. The raised areas that remain after the block has been cut are inked and printed, while the recessed areas that are cut away do not retain ink, and will remain blank in the final print. It is a very positive/negative area kind of printing! I always thought woodcut printing was interesting ...

added by Nina Marie 7 months, 1 week ago. under art history , bom , elements of design , inspiration , off the wall fri

Works in Progress on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Really I have no idea where the week has gone! I've been working all day and then stitching for a few hours every night. One thing I can say is that being this productive really doesn't make for really interesting blogging! (sorry!) So I thought I would just show you the progress I've made on my three main projects!

Project I - Homeward Bound BOM Quilt - Month 2

OMGoodness!! How could it take me this long to hand applique these little suckers?!? When I first started quilting (BT - before Tessa), I would do hand applique blocks in the ...

added by Nina Marie 7 months, 2 weeks ago. under applique , off the wall fri , quilting , stitching , traditional quilt , wip

Homeward Bound BOM Month 2 on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Ya know, even though I don't put much belief in astrology, I can totally see myself fitting nicely under

the sign Gemini. It's like two people living in my head. This week it was totally pointed out to me...again. For the last few years, I've been busy in my quilt studio designing original work and creating it with my Janome. This month, I've become totally obsessed with the exact opposite. I have two, yes count 'em two, pattern quilts going at once both mostly done by hand. Well to be fair, Rain, Rain started out ...

added by Nina Marie 7 months, 3 weeks ago. under applique , off the wall fri , stitching , traditional quilt , wip

Big Stitch Quilting on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

WoW! What a busy week. When I haven't been working at my day job, I've been working in my studio. I decided once and for all to get "Rain, Rain" onto my quilting frame. It all seemed a bit daunting because I haven't taken my frame out since the mid-2000's. Then out of every task in quilting, basting a quilt is the one that I hate the most! Plus I finally wanted to try out big stitch quilting. So needless to say, I've been putting this off.

I started with the basting. I watched a ...

added by Nina Marie 8 months ago. under off the wall fri , quilting , thread , traditional quilt

Rules of Homeward Bound Month 1 on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

When I first started quilting, I thought art quilting was beyond my reach. Through the years though I've taught myself how to make them. Now, with the Homeward Bound Block of the Month quilt, I'm revisiting my roots. When I decided to take on this project I gave myself some basic rules (yes, I'm a rules chick):

1. Follow the Pattern, No Adjusting

2. Use the techniques taught by the designer

3. Use a new, controlled palette

4. Finish each month on time

5. Participate in the Quilt's Forum

So today I looked at the calendar ...

added by Nina Marie 8 months, 1 week ago. under bom , off the wall fri , traditional quilt , wip

Stash Make Over Continues on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Why is it that an organizational project always looks worse before it gets better? I knew this would be a big job but WoW it's a really big job. I had no idea how much stuff I had stashed in that room over the years. I am taking it seriously though and as promised I'm documenting as I go. I decided that I'm going to have three piles....fabric that is organized by color.....fabric that is organized by collection .... fabric that is going to be donated to the sewing programs at the Erie City Mission. The ...

added by Nina Marie 8 months, 2 weeks ago. under fabric , off the wall fri , organizing

The Stash Straightening Begins on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

This blog has been a lot of things over the years. It's been a creative journal. It's been a way to connect with other quilters. It's been a way to give back to the quilting community who have shared so much free knowledge online. Through it all, I've tried to stay transparent. I mean it's so easy to go to big quilt shows or read magazines and say "WoW! They are so talented. I could never do that!" What we don't see are all the trials and failures that led to those masterpieces. So ...

added by Nina Marie 8 months, 3 weeks ago. under fabric , goals , off the wall fri , organizing

Back to Work on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Yes! I finally did it! Got into my studio to finish up the piecing of Rain, Rain. It's funny, once I was motivated it just took a good afternoon to put the finishing touches on the composition. I swear, this quick little project has gotten so out of hand! The more I worked on it, the more I wanted to work on it. Next thing you know it looked like this....

I'm not doing any borders because I personally hate borders (grin).

The only thing left to do is sew up the columns and layer the top for ...

added by Nina Marie 9 months ago. under bom , color , inspiration , likedislike , off the wall fri , traditional quilt , wip

My Next Big Idea on Off the Wall Friday from Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever by Nina-Marie Sayre

Homeward Bound, Sarah Fielke, The Quilt Show's BOM 2023

So did all of you in the northern states make it through last week's blizzard? For once, my part of Lake Erie missed the worse of it. I think hearing a week of the "Worst blizzard in 30 years" is going to hit on Christmas weekend was worst than the actual event. We stayed warm and safe and kept our traveling down to a minimum, but we still got to spend time with friends and family! Blessed!

I was also blessed by my husband who gave me a year ...

added by Nina Marie 9 months ago. under bom , off the wall fri , product review , traditional quilt

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