Life is Good!

If you're not careful, every once in a while life can get you down! In my life, there is always such a struggle to balance competing priorities and address unplanned tasks. I find that sitting down and sorting out what MUST get done, SHOULD get done, CAN get done... and what I would LIKE to get done... helps me find a good balance in my personal and work worlds. And then, suddenly, it is so obvious: life is good!

In the meantime, here is something to think about when you are making your own quilts. Too often, when we are figuring out what to use for a "background" fabric, we rely on a trusted white-on-white or neutral pallet. Take a look at the quilt below - it's an older one, but I like to use it to demonstrate a principle of color and fabric choices. Notice the flying geese border.

"Shine on Harvest Moon"

Okay, now that you've looked at the quilt, take a closer look at the border. What do you see?

My "background" fabrics aren't just from the neutral pallet -- they include tans and off-whites, but they also include yellow, black, gold, green, rust. Are you surprised? The next time that you are making a quilt, think about using a scrappy set of background fabrics; dip into something besides a neutral set of colors -- and you may find that life (with lots of colors) is good!

Sue
(c) 1997-2008 Susan H. Garman

Twas the Night Before Christmas....

...and all through the house, I was stitching and trying to get these blocks all finished! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am making a "Night Before Christmas" block of the month. Alas, I have finished six of the twelve blocks. Here's the sneak peak preview of them, with more to follow. The remaining six are all designed, the fabric selected, and now I'm trying to find holes in my schedule so I can applique them and finish the quilt. The blocks have all been a real delight to work on.

Month One: 'Twas the night before Christmas...

Month Two: Not a creature was stirring....
(can you see the little mouse sleeping in his hole?)

Month Three: The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...
(and my grandkids' names are on those stockings!)

Month Four: The children were nestled all snug in their beds...

Month Five: When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter....

Month Six: When, what to my wondering eyes should appear...

Yes, these blocks took a lot of time to make; each block has a lot of pieces in it. My mind doesn't count pieces, though; it only looks at the finished product and decides if it was worth it - and in this case, I was pleased with the results. The Night Before Christmas is such an endearing poem; I think that many of us can recite most of the lines from memory.

Keep on checking and eventually, you'll see the rest of the blocks. I'm anxious to finish all of them because I already know how I want the quilt to be quilted, and that's exciting to me!

Happy sewing!
Sue
(c)2008 Susan H. Garman. All Rights Reserved

Introducing Lily Rosenberry

The last post brought you "La Diva" -- the 2007 raffle quilt that my guild made. This post brings you the next raffle quilt that my guild made, "Lily Rosenberry." I designed the quilt for the guild and then a dozen gals got together and mass-produced stems and over a thousand berries. That made the applique task much easy for each of the quilters who received a block to make. Within weeks, the quilt was assembled. Denise Green once again did a jaw-dropping job of quilting the quilt. I really wish I could buy up all the raffle tickets; I would love to own this quilt! Instead, I am busy making my own set of a thousand berries -- but my quilt is going to have pink flowers and soft green leaves set on a chocolate background. I can't wait to finish it!

Lily Rosenberry

This quilt is based on a traditional block, but it is set with an unusal swag border. Its name is no secret: the quilt is full of lilies, roses, and berries!

Happy stitching -
Sue

(c)2007-2008 Susan H. Garman

It's Rodeo Time!

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is in full gear, boots and all! I love the rodeo - and I love what the Houston rodeo does for kids. Aside from livestock, cowboys and cowgirls, boots and spurs, country-western music, and barbecue, since 1957 the rodeo has given over $120 million to educational programs and support in Texas. Yahoo!

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo also hosts an annual quilt show and contest. This year's "Best of Show" was made by my guild (www.lakeviewquiltersguild.org). I had the privilege of making one of the blocks, along with many other women. Georgann Wrinkle organized guild members, and Denise Green quilted the finished quilt top. I'm really pleased that our guild was honored with a "Best of Show" award (the third one in six years!) - and so here is the quilt that won:

La Diva, 2006 Lakeview Quilters Guild raffle quilt

As a quilter, I know that quilting means many things to many people, ranging from a creative outlet to the basis for a social network, an avenue for expressing joys and sorrows, a method for sharing oneself... the list goes on and on. And thanks to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, one of the things in that list is helping today's youth receive good educations. The "win" for us is a win-win: a student in our area will now get a substantial scholarship from the rodeo. Like I said before... yahoo!

Sue
(c)2006-2008 Susan H. Garman

What's New?

I do not post new messages as often as I would like to. I find that I am beset with too many colliding deadlines, and choosing what to do next is often done before I even get around to casting my own vote. Today I decided to take a moment and just tell you what I'm working on now -- it's a new block-of-the-month that Quakertown Quilts will be selling, starting in April. I'm designing and making a "Night Before Christmas" quilt based on Clement C. Moore's poem. All of the blocks are designed, though they remain in draft form until I actually make the blocks. I like to have the option of modifying things along the way, and there are generally quite a few changes - mostly to make the design easier for different skill levels. Below is a sneak-peak of the design for Block One, followed by a picture of the beginnings of the first block.

"Night Before Christmas" - pattern

Each of the blocks in this quilt will have a portion of the words from 'Twas the Night before Christmas on it. I have yet to embroider the words on the first block (below); I need to see what all the blocks look like before I decide what will be the best color of embroidery floss to use.

"Night Before Christmas" - Block One

Christmas may be eleven months way - but it will be here before we know it. Time has a way of sneaking up on us!

Happy stitching -
Sue
(c)2008 Susan H. Garman

Challenging Ourselves

I love a good challenge. One of my favorites is actually a simple one: take a traditional block and choose colors, sashings, and settings that make it look entirely different. I call it "taking the common and making it uncommon." So how do you do that? Well... it's not all that difficult. There are plenty of resources available to all of us. If you have ever made a sampler quilt, with twelve different blocks, choose one of those blocks. Then "audition" different ways to color and sash it so that it looks entirely different. Have I confused you yet? Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Below is a picture of a very traditional block, Old Maid's Puzzle. It's made from two large half-square triangles and two pairs of smaller half-square triangles, along with four small squares. What makes it special? Not much, really! Maybe you didn't know the name of the block, but you've probably seen several old quilts that used the block.

But what if you took this block and changed the colors and sashings so that the blocks were not quite so recognizable? What if they were set in a unique way? Take a look at the quilt below: you almost have to study it to find the Old Maid's Puzzle blocks within it.

"Star Puzzle"

So the challenge I set before you is: choose a traditional block. Figure out how to use it... in a new and interesting way! There are plenty of resources available to you. I like to play around with the Electric Quilt software program; it's wonderful for experimenting with settings and colorations. Another resource is one of the greatest books on the market today, Barbara Brackman's book, "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns." It contains thumbnail illustrations of hundreds of traditional blocks. Another great resource book is Judy Martin and Marsha McCloskey's "Pieced Borders." It contains dozens and dozens of border options; it is one of my most-used quilt books.

Alright - I've thrown down the gauntlet. Let me know if you come up with some unusual combinations of traditional blocks. It's fun stuff!

Sue

(c)2000-2008 Susan H. Garman

The Lady Quilts

I just returned from a quilt retreat with 15 friends. Aren't retreats great? In addition to making progress on a new applique quilt, learning new techniques, eating well in the daytime, and resting well at night, I was able to spend uninterrupted time with friends. That's the best part of a retreat for me.

The three quilts that I am posting today are all applique quilts -- one of my favorite venues. They are all what I call my "lady quilts" because they each feature a lady.

"The Quilt Lady"
This quilt is about 5 x 7 feet in size. I loved making the staggered star border. Many of the ideas for my borders from the Judy Martin and Marsha McCloskey book on borders: Pieced Borders: The Complete Resource. It is a wonderful book that provides innumerable examples of borders - checkerboards, squares, diamonds, stars, delectable mountain, dogtooth, flying geese, sawtooth, and more. I advise everyone to get this reference book before it goes out of print!

"The Garden Lady"
The idea for the borders on this quilt came from two different sources. The inner floral vine border was based on some wallpaper I saw while walking in a restaurant. The outer border was based on a round-robin quilt that I received with a similar border on it. When I like things, I generally keep them around, even if that means repeating them on a quilt!


"The Christmas Lady"

The inner star border on this quilt was chosen because I love stars; you see a lot of them in my quilts. The outer border was one that I had used a year or two earlier on a medallion quilt; I liked it and so it found itself repeated in this quilt.

More quilts will be posted soon. Until then - happy stitching!

Sue

(c)Susan H. Garman 1996-1999