Quilting is SEW MUCH FUN!

Oh my goodness - it was such FUN to find out that I had won first place in the Group Quilts category of the International Quilt Association (IQA) show in Houston this month!  The suspense just gave me butterflies in my tummy on the night that the awards were announced.... they started out with an Honorable Mention (not mine), then Third Place (not mine... tension rising!), then Second Place (not mine... oh my goodness - I GOT FIRST...), then FIRST PLACE.  Many thanks go to the IQA for hosting such a wonderful quilt show, to the judges for their hard work in choosing from amongst so many beautiful quilts, to the sponsors (APQS Sponsored Group Quilts -- these sponsors put their profits into promoting quilting!), and of course to my friends.  Some of you already know, but 5 blocks were made by dear friends who asked if they could each applique a block for me in order to help me meet a deadline.  They are Jerrianne Evans, Cynthia Clark, Pat Cotter, Georgann Wrinkle, and Marsha Fuller.  I have long said that the growth of quilting is founded in the fact that quilters form much-needed supportive communities - and this quilt is a small example of that.

And here is another of my quilts that was juried into the show:  Lily Rosenberry.  It did not win a ribbon, but that did not bother me one iota.  It is an honor to be juried into this show, and the judges have a difficult time selecting the winners from a select set of quilts -- I have no argument over any of their decisions, nor should others. 

In future blogs, I will be showing pictures of other quilts from the quilt show -- but here were two of my favorites.  The first, below, was made by Melinda Bula and is called And Our Flag Was Still There.  It brought tears to my eyes --  in her words:  "Attending my son's graduation from Marine Boot Camp in August, 2010, I was moved by the young men who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms.  I consider myself patriotic, but nothing prepared me for that day.  This is for all the families like mine, who raised proud and devoted young Americans who have and will continue to protect the United States and what it represents, with their lives."  The quilt is phenomenal!

And the quilt below caught my eye -- the wooly bear was so realistic!  I make it a practice to take a photo of the page identifying the quilt, its maker, and the caption about the quilt but in this instance, I somehow failed to take that picture... so I cannot identify this quilt's maker.  Nonetheless, I love this quilt - and the fact that it has a very uneven border on it.  That takes skill!

As I said, I'll post more photos later - right now I'm in a rush to get back to the convention center to pick up my quilts!  Before I close though, here is just a quick breezy trip through what I've been working on this month.  First, I am continuing with the great block-of-the-week program offered by Homestead Hearth - but I'm making SEVEN of each block.  That means that at year's end, I will have over 350 blocks!  What am I going to do with them?  Two of them are being exchanged with a friend in the program, one will go to my guild's auction... and the remaining four... I will figure out how to set them all differently!  Here's the stack so far -- 38 weeks times seven...

and here are the past week's blocks.  They are easy and fun to make!

I'm also working on some 3-inch basket blocks.  They are so very fast to make.  I don't know what I'll do with these yet -- either set them in some nice array, or perhaps use them as sashing strips, or perhaps use them as a border around a set of basket blocks.  Time will tell me what to do with them, but they are mostly just a nice "take along" project that I can stuff in my purse and work on at my leisure.

Finally, I want to show you what I finished this morning.  You may recall that I showed a challenge that one of my bees decided to take on -- I drew a tulip vase design (12" square block), and the group agreed to each take the design and change it, colorize it, modify it, etc., in whatever way they wished.  When everyone is finished, I'll share the set - but so far I've seen it enlarged as a 24" block with a border, shrunk to an 8" block and paired with 3 others to make a wall quilt, set on point as a 12" block... and someone is even making pieced basket blocks and just using the tulips in the border.  Quilters are so creative!  My choice was to enlarge the block to a humongous 36 inches... And then to make four of them!!  So here's the quilt; it measures a hefty 84 inches square...

It's certainly different - but I love it's obnoxious colors!  One might wonder how I got all those blocks to be cut square and more-or-less "centered" in the 36 inches.  Well... my little pea brain had this idea!  Just take my 20-1/2" ruler and mark the vase on it with a dry-erase marker! 

I then marked the corner point with a pencil (don't forget to include the quarter-inch seam allowance!) so that if the ruler slipped, I'd know it. 

And for each block, I just laid the ruler onto the block, lined up the dry-erase vase marked on the ruler, and cut the block out.  Easy enough, I'd say!  I love it when a plan comes together!

Okay, friends - that's all for now.  I will be back in just a couple days... Quiltmaker's One Hundred Blocks Blog Tour begins in just a day or two and you'll be hearing from me again then!

Happy quilting...

Sue Garman

(c)Susan H. Garman 2011 

Finishing Up!

This month has been a month of “finishing” – I’ve been working on finishing various projects. Of course, make no mistake… I have made progress… but I still haven’t finished a quilt this month!
The first one, below, shows the progress I have made on my new “Borrowed Roses” quilt. The block is based on a traditional block called Prairie Flower, Missouri Rose, or Rose Tree. The border and use of the blocks is based on an old late 1920s Rose Kretsinger quilt called “New Rose Tree.” So far, I have finished four of the planned nine blocks and five of twelve border units. There will eventually be ribbons and tassels between all of the border units. The unfinished blocks are all basted, so they are easy to take along and work on at bees, meetings, doctor appointments, etc. – so hopefully, next month you will see the quilt top assembled… but don’t hold your breath!

The next photos, below, shows another old project that I started on well over a year ago. My friend Cynthia and I exchanged 4-1/2 inch (finished size) star blocks which used civil war reproduction fabrics and shirtings – a favorite combination of mine. Together, we both have quite a stack of little star blocks – and I really love Sawtooth Stars.

I’m going to use those star blocks in combination with some 4-1/2 inch (finished size) double nine-patch blocks that I finished making this month – all 175 of them! The little squares in the nine-patches are each 1/2 inch in size, so it took a while to get them all sewn.

Now that those blocks are all finished, I’m ready to assemble the quilt top. In the photo below, you can get an idea of how the blocks will be set together. When it is finished, this quilt will be twin-sized, with the blocks extending edge-to-edge – and no border. Naturally, an antique quilt that I saw at the Houston quilt show many years ago inspired this quilt. Doing block exchanges with a friend is a great way to keep me on schedule – Cynthia and I set deadlines for swapping blocks every two weeks, and we met nearly all the deadlines! I can’t wait to sew these blocks together – hopefully you’ll see the quilt top when I post an update at the beginning of April.

In between other projects, I have also been working on doing the last bit of touch-up quilting on a project that my friend Denise Green and I started ages ago. It was interrupted with a family illness, and I am just now getting back to working on this quilt. Denise and I collaborated on this quilt from start to finish – I did most of the applique, she did a ton of machine quilting, and I did a bunch of hand-quilting. We both helped each other a ton, along the way. This quilt is based on my “Lily Rosenberry” pattern and, finally, I will have my very own Lily Rosenberry quilt – I’m excited about that! Many thanks go to Denise –for her friendship and our teamwork on this quilt!

Last but certainly not least, I have been doing more hand quilting on my Friends of Baltimore quilt. So far, 7 blocks have been quilted. These are 15 inch blocks, and I am quilting in the ditch around every appliqued piece, and cross-hatch quilting the background in each block. My goal is to finish the quilting in June (of this year). This is another quilt that excites me every time I work on it – I can’t wait to finish it! Below are pictures of two of the blocks, so you can see how the quilting is turning out on them.

Finally, since spring is on its way, I’ll give you a peak at another project that I’m working on. It’s the center block of a medallion quilt; I haven’t figured out what sort of borders I am going to add to the medallion – but I want to finish the quilt by April. Ha! That will be a trick, but setting a goal is a way for me to finish projects.

Until next month, enjoy the Spring! Check out my Yahoo group if you get a chance (see last month's posting for the link) – folks are starting to work on their own Friends of Baltimore (and other quilts) and one gal has already posted two finished blocks. Go Marian! You'll also find plenty of tips in that group - hopefully, they will help all of us finish more quilts!

Happy sewing --

Sue Garman
(c)2010 Susan H. Garman

Thanksgiving and Quilting

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is a wonderful time to celebrate and give thanks for all of the blessings that fill our lives: loving families, good health, deep friendships, freedom and happiness... the list is endless. And somewhere on my list is quilting! Quilting offers all of us something. For some of us, it offers us creativity and art. For others, it offers friendship with fellow quilters. For others, it offers an opportunity to share one's talent with friends and strangers alike. No matter what your reason is for quilting, I hope that it gives you great satisfaction.

Over the past couple of weeks I have had the chance to work on finishing up several projects. Here is a sampling - enjoy!

Lily Rosenberry, 83 x 83 inches

This quilt was originally done in red and green on a warm off-white background. This version was done in bubble gum pink and soft green on a rich chocolate background. Denise Green and I collaborated on this quilt and made it together.

The Walkaway Star Quilt, 60 x 74 inches

I am going to teach participants how to make this quilt at the annual February 2009 Quakertown Quilts retreat on Galveston Island (and yes, the island recovery is going great -- lots of work ahead, but the retreat site is in great condition!). The block is one that I designed, based on an antique block. I call the quilt the "walk away" star quilt because the quilt really CAN be done in a day, if one stays focused. That pleases me; I do not think that I am alone in saying that I don't like coming home from classes and retreats with more UFOs!

The Walkaway Star Quilt (#2), 60 x 74 inches

Okay... I liked the first Walkaway Star Quilt so much that I made another one. This time, the blocks are made from a dozen different blue prints and a dozen different shirting fabrics. I like "scrappy" quilts.

The Walkaway Star Quilt (#3), 60-1/2 by 75-1/2 inches

In fact, I liked this block so much that I made a pint-size version of it (7" blocks) with 1/2-inch sashing between each block. I used a variety of civil war reproduction fabrics; the scrappiness of this quilt makes one's eyes dance across its surface. I also like making quilts that don not contain any "background" fabrics -- no white, off-white, taupe, or neutral fabrics, only colored print fabrics. As long as the fabrics contain a good balance of light, medium, and dark prints, the scrappiness adds a wonderful richness to the finished quilt.

So what else am I working on? There are a lot of ideas floating around in my head, following the great Houston quilt show -- I saw a lot of antique quilts that inspired me, and so I'm sure you'll be seeing some of those ideas reformulated into new quilt patterns. I met with the wonderful folks from P&B Textiles and I'm working on a new fabric line for them. Once again, it will have a juvenile flavor to it -- think nursery songs!

Until next time... happy sewing!
Sue
(c)2008 Susan H. Garman

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