Featuring Gail--pocket wallet and project

Winner Gail putting her pocket wallet to use! 

Gail, was the winner of the pocket wallet drawing I had back in July. You can read about the drawing here and here. It was a surprise to me that someone near by would win the pocket wallet!

Gail's palette

Gail and I try to get together every other month. We make a day out of it. We catch up with a visit, show and tell, lunch and we often collaborate on a project. On this day, she was inspired by Jean Well's improvisational curved piecing technique and purchased these lovely fabrics from FiddleSticks. Her goal was to create a wall hanging as a gift for a special couple celebrating a mile stone anniversary.

Fiddlesticks is such a cute quilt shop and Cheran Bee, the owner, is a gift to each of us. She really does support whatever project you are making.  She honors each finish with such enthusiasm that you can't wait to go back to her shop to pick supplies to start a new project!

Gail's vision was to stitch these fabrics into a background, add some appliqué, quilt/finish it for a friend's anniversary. She liked the look of  Jean's curved piecing technique; but, like most of us, making that first cut is the hardest.

Cutting a gentle curve. . .free form!

We cut a strip and started the process. A year ago, October, I had taken a class from Jean and had a blast creating. Jean is a wonderful teacher and so approachable. I was sharing Jean's technique with Gail. Sometimes seeing the technique makes more sense than trying to recreate that technique from the text in the book!

Gail also likes to pin. . .with Jean's technique, you don't need many. Line up the edges to get a start and stitch!

Lining up the fabrics for stitching

Gail will tell you that she is a technical expert when it comes to piecing. This "do what you want" approach was scary for her. In a couple of hours, after we had completed the background, she was so full of oohs, ahhhs and "I can't believe I created that! It is so beautiful" comments that I wished Jean would have been there to have heard them!


















She pressed after each addition, ooing and aahhing along the way. She kept saying, "I can't believe how pretty that is." And I also heard, "This is fun!"

I agree, fun is IMPORTANT in any part of the process!

Sometimes something old from the stash can be the perfect
back!

She was concerned about what she was going to do for a back. As I listened to Gail, I spied a calico in her stash that was begging to come out to play. I laid it with the other fabrics. I said, "What do you think about using this fabric for a back? It  comes from the era that you are honoring." She agreed!

Getting to this point took Gail less than hours!

She stitched some more. She pressed until she had enough fabrics stitched together for the size of top that she had in mind. Notice how wonky the sides are. This happens when there are sharper curves or multiple curves.

Holding the ruler next to the edge and
chalking the line is a quick squaring
technique. 

It wasn't a problem to share one way to square the sections. I often use the design wall to chalk a line and then I'll fold the fabric back on that line to see if that is the spot that improves the look of the top.

If the left overs are 3/4 of an inch or larger, I save them. One never knows where a little pop of interest might be needed in a quilt!

Using paper is an inexpensive
method to check scale and
proportion.

Gail used construction paper cut outs to play with the scale and portion of her trees and figures. I'm liking where she is going with this piece!

The couple that received this like to geocache and that was the activity that Gail wanted to create in this piece.

Trees appliquéd with a narrow
zig zag

This is a photo of the actual trees stitched to the background. I love the dark brown fabric, Gail chose. She made a freezer paper template of each tree and turned the edges of the fabric. Then she removed the template before anchoring it to the background.

A case of the template system not
working well when there are
a lot of tight curves.

That same technique wasn't working for her figures because there were too many sharp points or curved sections. So instead of trying to peel the paper off the fabric all at once, she did the paper removal in small sections and was able to remove the paper template.

All the appliqué is in place!

This is what her piece looked like after she removed the templates from the back of her two figures and flower. I sure encouraged Gail to quilt this piece on her domestic using her walking foot; but, she decided that she would rather do her tried and true method which is by checkbook.

Quilting is my favorite part of the process. Quilting is Gail's least favorite part of the process. She is wise because she recognized this and has a wonderful relationship with a longarm quilter. Gail trusts that the quilting will enhance her project. Quilting by check book allows her to do what she likes to do. . .piece!

So often, people will put the project aside and not finish thinking that they will wait to quilt it when their skills improve. Then, they don't make time to practice. It is hard to improve if you don't plan to practice and then don't follow through with the practice!

The quilted piece

Being realistic is important. Bottom line is that a finished quilt is going to be easier to display than an unfinished top or a package of blocks! I had a teacher who had many favorite sayings. One she said often was, "Finished, is better than perfect!" She had a point!

This is what the quilter did with the quilting. The gentle lines are a good accent for the piece.

Close up of the quilting

The quilting is a little different in each area. Note the quilting on the female figure as well as the dark brown area at the bottom of the piece.

Gail is detailed oriented. She even has some special quilting stitches with the male figure which is honing in on the "coordinates" with his GPS.

She told me that the "era" calico wasn't large enough for the back so she chose one of the fabrics that was left from the project.

Gail's label

She faced the piece because she wanted the wall hanging to be more art like.

I like her label!

Gail gave this to the couple and it was appreciated.

I am honored to have been a consultant on this project!

#FALQ4 Finish #4--A Skirt

Stitching the skirt--driving!!

Miss K did it with help from me. . .she finished her skirt! She thought using tape to baste the zipper in place was a great idea and she tried to baste a few other items with a piece of wonder tape. It is a cool product and sure saves some time and frustration with zipper insertion!

Providing the power to the machine

She added the top stitching. When we sew, her legs aren't long enough yet to touch the foot pedal so she gets to choose whether she wants to drive or whether she wants to provide the power. Some days, she is all about driving or guiding the fabric. . .other days, she is all about providing the power. On the "power" days, I set the foot pedal on the table and she pushes the "go" button with her hand. Let me tell you, on "power" days, I need to be quick because she runs pedal to the metal! :) She did a little of each with this project. Her driving is getting much better. . .although, her attention tends to wander. As does mine at times. . .I guess we really are related! :)

She chose buttons two pink buttons from the button box  that were the perfect size. Then we used the Bernina to sew the buttons to the decorative welts. She liked seeing the Bernina stitch back and forth!

The needle is sharp

K did a little hand work. I put the needle in the fabric and she pulled it through. Her first question was how do you knot the thread to end?

Wasn't that a great question? We estimated and then counted how many stitches it would take before we needed to answer that question. Even J climbed into my lap and watched the process up close and personal!

Then, K saw that we take three tiny stitches on top of each other and then hide the thread to make a knot. She was surprised at how sharp the needle was. Yes, she stuck herself so she needed a bandaid!

The big tahdah moment was putting on the skirt for the first time. Yes! It fits! Yes! It swirls! Ahhhh. . .now, may she wear it often and love it!

Her mama texted me the evening she took her skirt home. Mama said K was so excited to share the skirt with her daddy. She planned to wear it to her "school" the following day!

Miss J's skirt fabric is ready for me to cut out the pattern. I may get to that over the weekend. Because the two girls are about the same size around; I wanted to see how this skirt fit Miss J. I'll be need to make a smaller size as we needed to take up the waist a bit.

This is my fourth Finish-A-Long 2016 for quarter number 4. You can read my list here.

Oops--and a fix!

K stitching her skirt

Last week, while K and I were stitching her skirt, J, happened into the studio.

Now J is a total bundle of energy and joy. She is constantly in motion. (If she is still for more than a couple of minutes, she will go to sleep!) She LOVES tools. When K was the same age, she liked putting fabric pieces on the design wall and creating different looks. K has an excellent sense of design and value. She helps me often arrange blocks and her way IS better!

 J, on the other hand, is all about how tools work. These tools include but are not limited to: marking pencils, spools of thread, wound bobbins, pins, rulers, scissors, fabric and of course sewing machines.

When she has been in the studio, I might find spools inserted into other spools. I might find marking tools in a different place from where I put them. I might find scissors arranged differently. I might find material--loose on the term material--under the sewing machine foot. I've used these instances to tell her how the tool is used and its importance to a particular project.

How my scissors are stored--the Kai scissors are stored
in a drawer. . .most of the time!

Last week, her job was to help me put away my quilts from the Featured Artist Show and to pick out a quilt to hang on a special rack in the bedroom. Choosing the quilt is a big deal and this month it was J's turn to choose. She went through the options and instantly made her choice. K will look at several options several times in making her choice; but, not J! J sees it; that's the one and she's on to her next task. She waited until I hung it and nodded her approval.

What the machine looks like after a J visit

I picked up the stories that were hung with the quilts at the Featured Artist Show to file. When I walked the ten steps into the studio,  J was sitting in the sewing chair working away. She had taken the scissors out of the protective cover and was using them to cut fabric. The problem was her fabric choice. . .it was the quilt that I had just quilted the first line of quilting not two hours earlier!

My heart rate accelerated, my inner voice was screaming STOP!!! In a calm voice, I said, "Whoa, J. Stop." She continued to saw and close those scissors. In a loud voice, I said, "JOSETTE, STOP." She did stop. She dropped the scissors and looked at me with wide eyes. The scissors were entangled in the quilt.

Top: The sliced quilt. Bottom: J's fabric choice

I got in front of her and said, look in my eyes. She immediately started to cry. K was out the door telling Papa that Gran used a loud voice. My response to crying is, "Are you bleeding?" The next sentences I ask are, "Show me where the bleeding is. " If you aren't bleeding, use your words. I can't understand crying."

Instead, I said. "J, is this your fabric?" J was startled because I didn't ask about bleeding. She stopped crying and she shook her head no. "Are these your scissors?" She shook her head no. "Did I give you the scissors and this fabric to cut?" Again, she shook her head no. "This might look like fabric; but, now the fabric is stitched to become a quilt."  "This quilt is going on a bed and it can't have a hole in it."

She is starting to cry again at this point. I said, "No crying--there is no bleeding. You can cut your fabric. You don't cut my fabric unless I said you could. You don't get to use my scissors unless I said you could. So do you know what this means?" She shook her head no.

"It means, I can see how much you want to sew and I love that you do. It means, you need your own fabric and your own scissors. When you have your own scissors and your own fabric, you can cut what you want when you want. Let me think about some fabric choices for you. We will need to go to the store to get you a pair of scissors though. How about that?" She nodded her head yes. K immediately stepped up and said that she "needed" scissors too!

But, back to J. Our conversation continued. "So, can you cut my fabric?" She shook her head no. "Can you use my scissors to cut by yourself?" She shook her head no. At this point, Papa came into the room to survey the situation. I said, "Would you like to play with Papa and come back in a bit to pick out your fabric? She nodded yes and she was off.

The slices in the back of the quilt

I untangled the scissors. Luckily, she cut the back of the quilt and not the front. (Whew!) The back can have another patch which is no problem. The cuts are two small slices and are hardly visible. (Good!) I placed a little bonash on top of a scrap of the same fabric and slid this under the cuts. I ironed the section, melting the bonash. The cut is sealed. (Great!) The best news of all is that the repair will be under the sleeve so it won't even be seen! (Terrific!)

In reality, I've cut the top of a project. I've ripped a hole in the top of a quilt. I've snipped a hole in the back of a project. All done. .  not on purpose! I survived; the quilt survived. I learned a different solution in each case.

I hope J learned too. I hope I was calm enough and hugged her enough so that she still wants to stitch! After all, she's young. In about three weeks, she is going to be three years old! She did choose her fabric and she also chose how much she wanted. I got a kick out of where she wanted to "store" it.  She immediately put it on the design wall! I think I've a quilter in the making! How much more joyful could one be?

I hadn't named this quilt. . .but, now I'm thinking "MBJ--Marked by Josette" might be an option!  :)

#FALQ4--Terry Knott --Finish #3

Pillow case finish #3

Okay. . .the finish for this post isn't dramatic.

I finished the pillow case to go with my "42 Minis." This is finish #3 for the fourth quarter. I used about a yard of the left over fabrics which brings my total to 22 1/2 yards used from my stash so far this year. I'm almost half way to my goal for the year! All that is left for the "42 Minis" is to figure out where to place my name tag that I wore for the year. I think it should be on the front of the quilt somewhere; but, just where that is escapes me for now.

It is good to have some smaller projects on the list to diversify a bit. Big project after big project would become work which would not be fun!

Pinned and ready for quilting.

I did pin another large quilt for quilting. I am planning to finish a couple other small projects before I tackle another large quilting project. I'll take more breaks so that my shoulders, hands and other body parts fare better than they did quilting the "42 Minis." This is the guild block of the month (BOM) from last year. Most of this fabric came from my stash so I'll be adding a chunk toward using my stash goal when I finish it.

Keira squeezing the water after prewashing

Keira and I did cut out her skirt. She agrees with me, selecting the pattern and fabric was fun. Doing the prewash test and ironing was fun. Making the pattern to fit her size was sort of interesting; but, the cutting out and marking process was down right boring. She looks forward to sewing and anticipates wearing her skirt soon!

Getting ready to cut out the interfacing

The end of the year is coming way too fast. Of the seven projects I listed at the beginning of the year to finish, I have finished just one! Realistically, it is probable that I will finish two other projects on that list. It is possible that I could finish one more.  I did make progress on one other project and of the seventh--well, I practiced some lettering in embroidery. If those finishes happen, I will call it a great year. If they don't, I'll call is a good year!

Throughout the year, I started new projects, which is good. I expanded my original list. Participating in the Finish-A-Long 2016 (FAL) has been great. Even though I have finished so few projects, it has been terrific to set quarterly goals. For the last two months of the year, I'm setting weekly goals to see if that makes a difference in how quickly I finish a project. I did learn that I do better with being more specific about a goal and that I have more success if I break the goal into parts. I get to celebrate more wins this way!

For the fourth quarter of the FAL, I had 20 goals. I've completed three. No, I won't get them all finished; but, that just means that I'll have plenty to do in the new year! This is my third Finish-A-Long 2016 for quarter number 4. You can read my list here.

#FALQ4TerryKnott--Finish #2 Whale of a Tail/Tale

Batik triangles fused to wool batting.

I have a finish to report! I started with this background.  I thought that our book club was going to read "Moby Dick." So that was the initial inspiration behind this piece. I wanted to make a background that had a little orange in it to signify danger as well as use a lot of different fabrics to symbolize chaos.

I took a workshop last spring from Larkin VanHorn.  She was disappointed that I didn't use her technique to make a background. So a little later in the class, I did use her technique which was to fuse fabrics either to a background fabric or better yet, directly to batting.

To class, I brought some waste triangles that were gifted to me from making HST's. It was time consuming to apply fusible to the back of all those triangles; but, it was fun to place the fabric, and hit it with an iron! Yes, I missed a few places; so I just added a little more of those waste triangles!

The beaded tail and embellished propulsion

Our granddaughter was over one day and she had a mermaid doll with her that had the best shaped tail. I asked if I could copy it and she said yes. I think she thought it was crazy of me to draw the doll's tail because the best part of the toy was the part above the tail!

I cut out the tail and appliquéd it to the background that I had free motion quilted with a variegated thread around the triangle shapes. When I use raw edge appliqué, I use fusible; but, this piece had enough stabilizer; so I appliquéd it as it was. I got to thinking about the power of a whale's tale. I contemplated ways to represent that and I thought back to Larkin's class. She uses a lot of beads in her work. I thought about Abbie Dick's embellished work at the Featured Artist Show. I got inspired to get out the beads and I used some gold ones that were my husbands' grandmother's stash as well as some other beads that came from my grandmother's stash.

Facing on

I liked how the beading turned out although the background is really too busy to catch the propulsion reference; but, that power is what is creating the chaos. I added some hand stitching to add to the propulsion and moved on to finishing the piece with a facing. At this point, it was finished; but, it didn't excite me.

This sea green background was my favorite.

I've wanted to make a background quilt to use as a mount for a smaller piece. So I looked at fabrics in my stash.  I tried the orange; I tried a dark blue and then I found the winner--this sea blue! JoJo suggested adding a few skinny strips a la Jean Wells. I had taken a class from her a year ago this month!

I decided I could carry out that "danger" theme using three skinny orange curved strips. Besides, this piece of blue is two strips about 7" wide x 24" long. I've had this piece in my stash since about 1996! It was time to use it UP!

The top

Jean's technique is fun! Measuring isn't involved. You cut, stitch, press and repeat! It took no time at all to create this top.

The back

And then I needed a back. I used two pieces of orange and the scraps from the top that were left after I cut the top to the size I wanted.

Quilting lines with the walking foot

Then it was on to the quilting. I did free motion quilt in the ditch around the piecing; but, then I got out the walking foot and went to town stitching lines. That was fun and again I didn't have to think too much about what I was doing. I liked the texture. I used a sulky rayon thread and an 80/20 batting.

Finished back

Figuring out what to use for the facing was a challenge because I didn't think I had enough of that blue fabric to use as a facing; but, with some math calculations--I was thankful, the math worked--I could use that fabric after all! I used a piece of orange for the sleeve. So the back was finished.

My message

All that was left was to stitch the whale tail to the background quilt. I had a time thinking of how to do that stitching. In the end, I decided to leave three edges loose so I just stitched the top of the mini quilt. It was challenging getting it on the background. Leaving the three edges loose, one could look at the back of the mini quilt. . .which was fine. . .BUT, what if, I put a message there instead?? So that was what I did!!

This is going to hang in my studio. Just knowing that the message is there makes me smile. No pattern was followed with this project!

The finished quilt

This is the finished little quilt. It is my second finish of the quarter. It took me about 22 hours to make. I used about a yard of fabric from my stash which brings my total for the year to 21 1/2 yards stitched! I purchased NOTHING in terms of supplies for this project. All the supplies I used were left from other projects or gifted. You know where the beads originated!


This is my second Finish-A-Long 2016 for quarter number 4. You can read my list here.

Featured Artist Show

Cutting the ribbons is fast work with extra hands

Last weekend was the Featured Artist Show. It featured work of 21 past presidents!
A small group of us arrived early for set up because in the past the hall sported beautiful fall arrangements that we had to move and return which added about an hour to the set up and take down process. This year. . .the space was bare!
So while we waited for the equipment to arrive, we helped Karan cut the ribbons that divided the spaces.

Karan and the ribbons

To keep the ribbons organized, Karan just draped them around her neck . . .much like a measuring tape.

Then our equipment arrived and it was all hands on deck getting it put together! I had planned to take photos of the stages; but, honestly, I was just going from to level answering questions!

Miraculously, all the quilts that had stories fit. Some past presidents' used less space and some used more. There were a couple places that had much fewer quilts than was thought; but, with a little scooshing here and a little scooshing there as well as using someone's "extra" quilts, all the draped areas had quilts. Who could ask for more?

Phyllis' Yo-Yos

Of all the Featured Artist Shows I've attended, this one was my favorite because of the range of techniques. There was hand quilting, beading, paper piecing, micro quilting, intricate piecing, art quilts, painted quilts. . .well, you are getting the picture. Of course the colors were just as varied.

Diana's Bitty Quilt

Phyllis made this Yo-Yo coverlet. . .it was small. It also drew lots of comments! I like yo-yo's although I can't imagine myself making even half this many!!!

I heard people say that they liked the show because of the variety of types of quilts and fabrics used.  Diana used only fabrics from her scraps to make the blocks and sometimes, the piece she had to work with barely was large enough! I visited this quilt often! She said the quilt pattern came from a BOM through a quilt magazine last year.

Phyllis' small items display

Phyllis brought some unique small items to fill a seating area. She said that she loved making dolls and that the Raggedy dolls in the photo were two of 600 she had made and given away over the years! The crazy patch quilt in the background was her work in progress. She received lots of ideas of what kind of border it needed next.











I liked the story behind Jan's round robin quilt. The rules were that you couldn't move anything once the block or section was sewn!

Jan's Round Robin

Chris' Honeymoon Beach

Chris and I were in the same class for her Honeymoon Beach class. Her's is finished. . .mine . . .well, I haven't even completed the pattern!!! At any rate, she made this quilt from a photo she took when she was on her honeymoon! It was so fun to see it again!

Jan's Santa's Big Night Quilt

Jan's embroidered Christmas quilt garnered a lot of attention too. That tiny candy cane border was the perfect accent to this quilt!

I thought that I had taken more photos than I did so you will just have to take my word for it about the variety in each president's display!

All too soon it was time to take down the show. It took us about two and a half hours to hang the 173 quilts and about 50 small items. It only took an hour to take it all down!

First step in taking down the quilts. . .lowering them!

Our hanging system is really cool. The uprights collapse so that you don't have to stand on a ladder or step stool to take the quilts down. But, team work is involved because the whole section needs to be lowered at the same time! It can be done differently, but it is easier it is lowered at the same time.

Once the quilts are at a reachable height, they are removed from the hanging bars, folded and removed from the area.

The lanyards, hanging bars are removed and stacked in a central area. The drapes are removed, folded and stacked. Next the cross bars come off the uprights, then the uprights

Ross beginning to load the bases in a cart.

are removed from the bases. Once there are piles of like equipment, the pieces are boxed. Each box has a label on it that lets you know how many go into that container! The last item to be picked up are the bases. These are heavy!

It is a good idea to wear gloves and closed toe shoes so that you don't get your fingers pinched! Ross is Sandie's husband. Once the boxes are packed, a moving crew that we hire packs the boxes in a truck and drives them to the storage unit and puts them in the unit. It is worth the $400 that costs to not be lifting and carrying those heavy boxes!

One of my partners in organizing this show was Sandie. She was the president who followed me. Although we knew each other, this was the first time we had worked so closely together. We used to laugh because we tend to problem solve the same way. For example, we each had brought a kit of maybe needed items. We didn't tell the other that we packed the kit. . .ha! The kits were identical right down to the lint roller brush!

Sandie, who helped organize the show!

I so enjoyed working with her. If she heard of an issue before me she took care of it and then let me know what she did. Every time, if I had encountered it first, I would have solved it the same way! Isn't that a hoot?

She recruited all the volunteers for the show. . .the overnighters (they sit and sew because the building is open to its tenants 24/7), the hostesses, the set up and take down crew.

Lots of people attended the show. We brought in $1096 in donations which was almost $300 more than we estimated! (We asked for $3 to see the quilts. Some gave more, some gave less, a few not at all; but that is how donations work!) We spent less than our budget and will add about $400 to our general fund. Life is good.

Now, I can get back to sewing. I do have another guild commitment; but, I'm thinking I'll be able to make progress on that list I made at the beginning of the month!  Cheers!!!