Pat Sloan, the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston, and more!

 

January 2014 is just about history... and my area south of Houston is experiencing some very inclement weather.  It's not often that we hit 24 to 28 degrees!   Schools are closed, businesses are closed, and roads are closed.  To me, this sounds like the PERFECT day to hide out in the sewing room!  First of all, I want to do a big shout-out to Pat Sloan, one of my favorite people.  At the end of this blog (because if I give you a link now, you may not get back here to finish reading it!), I'll share a link where you can go and listen to Pat interviewing me on her online "radio" show.  She interviews lots and lots of quilters - you may find yourself sewing while listening to the stories of a whole lot of them.

 

If you read my December 31 post, it started off with a picture of the quilt that my youngest grand daughter had quilted.  Daisy has not lost her enthusiasm for learning about quilting.  Daisy calls me GiGi (the acronym for Grandma Garman) in the "story card" below that she gave me, telling about my trip to Tampa last year to teach several workshops.  Of note:  the bottom square has Daisy's polka dot quilt!  We should all be working to inspire the youngest generation, so that they can experience the same joys that we do as they grow. 

I want to show you a nifty little trick that you all may want to use in the future.  My friend, Jerrianne, had finished making her modified Mary Mannakee quilt, which will have nine blocks and a border of flowers and vines.  When she finished assembling the blocks, she started working on the borders... and read my last blog post.  Here was her quilt, at that point, when she showed it to one of the bees we go to:

And here was a picture of the quilt, shown in my last blog post:

And what did she see when she saw that blog?  She saw that the top right and center right blocks fought for attention with the similar cheddar flowers.  Hmmm... she hadn't seen that until she saw a photo.  We might all learn from that:  if we take photos of our quilts and look at them, we might notice something that we want to change.  Jerrianne printed out the picture from the blog...

And she cut the photo apart and rearranged the blocks, as shown below.

Then she "made" a new photo of the rearranged blocks and was much more pleased with the results.  She only had to undo a few seams, but it saved her from being disappointed if she had not noticed those blocks together until after the quilt was completely finished.  I think I may start taking more pictures of blocks, laid out, to see how they look.  I don't generally use a design wall when I make my quilts; my walls are all full of paintings and windows and furniture!  So here's the "rearranged" photo.  Can you see how the orange flowers are more balanced with this arrangement?  It's a great way to test the layout of an assortment of blocks.

The next bunch of photos are all quilts that hung in the 2013 Quilt Guild of Greater Houston.  I had the pleasure of judging this show and the quilts were fabulous; I showed some of them last year, but here's some more of the quilts.  In preparing these photos for the blog, that happiness that comes when you see a bunch of pretty quilts... came rolling back!  The QG of Greater Houston is 500 members strong, so they have a wonderful base of quilters who submitted quilts for their shows.

This quilt, Pineapple Madness (102 by 102 inches) was made by Karen King and quilted by Hannah Lee.  The design was based on Gyleen Fitzgerald's Trash to Treasure ruler.  The quilt took many hours and careful planning -- and surely Karen's sister, who was gifted with the quilt, can appreciate how much Karen cares about her.  It has such wonderfully vibrant colors in it!

In this close-up picture, you can see the quilt has wonderfully vibrant colors in it!  This was among my favorite quilts in the show.

Cabin in Blue Light (76 by 76 inches) was made by Barbara Jensen and quilted by Kathy Colvin.  It was Barbara's first large quilt, and was based on a quilt she saw on the cover of a Quilter's Newsletter magazine.  With no pattern, Barbara had to do some math to make her version.

Barbara's use of a central blue square in each log cabin is perfect, to me; the traditional red square would have been lost in all of these fall colors.  Barbara gives Kathy credit for making this quilt "shine."  The quilting certainly adds a wonderful softness to the hard lines of the cabin logs.

In another "blue" titled quilt, Blues in the Night (84 x 108 inches), geometric shapes reign!  Tim Nash made and quilted this, his fourth quilt.  His three previous quilts were all charm pack quilts, so he said he was getting bored with squares.  In his own words, "Yikes!  Was I in for a surprise."  His piecing is wonderful - as is the use of different fabrics in each block.  I love scrappy quilts with many different fabrics, and this quilt had a challenge:  it is often difficult to make blues "cooperate."  It is often said that all reds go together, but it's not so with the blues... unless you are Tim, who mastered them in this quilt.

Doris Fleming made Rose Garden for Wendy (82 by 104 inches) for her grand daughter as a gift and tribute recognizing her accomplishments and high school graduation.  I love when quilts have personal meaning to them; it makes them extra special and I'm sure Wendy will more than love this quilt.  The design is from Marti Mitchell's American Beauty; the quilt was quilted by Cathy King.

The soft colors of the fabrics used in this quilt are given life with the addition of a rich pink and a sweet green fabric.  When Doris made this quilt, she liked the fact that each block was different, making it more interesting.  Look at the close-up of two of the blocks.

Pineapple Swirl (63 by 63 inches) was made by Pam Tedeschi, Teresa Darr, and Connie Brown.  Teresa quilted it.  The design is a pattern from a Trash to Treasure workshop by Gyleen Fitzgerald.  The three gals shared fabric scraps in the workshop, creating one quilt.  This is an unusual setting for pineapple/log cabin blocks; it's really nice.

Betty Rivers made and quilted Right Direction (50 by 50 inches).  The design came from a Judy Mathieson class at the International Quilters Association show in Houston each Fall, and from some "rejected" Snail's Trail Scrapaholic Trade blocks.  Together, the blocks seemed to, "point in the Right Direction," according to Betty.  I believe that the genius in this quilt is combining those blocks.  It certainly is not an intuitive combination (to me), but it works so well, as does the choice of colors. 

Teresa Darr's Perspective - No Glasses Required (24 by 24 inches) is small... but the choice of such boldly contrasting solid fabrics made a big, dramatic statement.  The piecing on this quilt was perfection-plus.  Teresa's design was inspired by a wallpaper design.  She experimented in creating "the illusion of depth with a minimum of color and shape." 

Teresa quilted the quilt herself - and the back of the quilt is a treat with its knife-edged facing that includes mitered corners - all in the same contrasting colors used in the face of the quilt. 

Oh my - there were so many favorites in this quilt show!  Here as another one, Cherry Pie (51 by 56 inches), made and quilted by Jackie Hillman.  I had a delightful conversation with Jackie about her quilt.  She developed a unique method for making flying geese -- and then discovered that she could make pies with this "split flying geese technique."  She found a cherry pie panel that she used in this quilt..... and then knew that she had to make this cherry pie quilt.

The "1950s" shade of red and green together made this quilt so pretty.  Here are some close-ups of various parts of this quilt; it was one of those quilts that simply put a smile on everyone's face.  Look at Jackie's use of rick-rack for the top of the pie crust.  That was absolutely a genius touch!

In fact, the whole quilt was genius - from designing the pies to stacking an assortment of pies, to the fabrics chosen for all of the pieces, .  Check out the border in this photo; Jackie's husband helped her design them.

But there was yet more to see - this is a quilt that "kept on giving."  Once me and my friends started studying the quilt, we noticed much more.  Here, you can see that the quilt has a knife-edge binding.  Those are not always the easiest bindings to put on a quilt, and this one was very well done. 

 

But wait! Wait!  There's more!  When we flipped the top back to see what other surprises there might be, we found...  more surprises!  Jackie used her scraps and leftover blocks in the quilt backing.  This quilt was just a beautiful experience to see.

Gerry Bosworth both made and quilted Fractalled Pinwheels (48 by 48 inches), below -- as well as designed it.  This was the fifth quilt Gerry ever made; I'd say she deserves applause for everything about it:  the design, the fabric choices, the piecing... it was a fun quilt to see.  Gerry made the quilt with her old Kenmore sewing machine, which has since been retired.  She says she will eventually come back to this theme.  I like the idea!

Betty Rivers created Circles of Life  (55 by 56 inches) using the Heartland Wedding Ring Templates.  The center blocks were from some old class samples made in 1997.  With a knack for creativity, Betty finished this old UFO by adding new rings with less contrast and fewer parts - and she then added interesting and complex textures to the space left: the open areas are all quilted with different quilting patterns.  It's a quilt that requires a second look; that's the kind of quilt I enjoy seeing; it's as if a quiet surprise sneaks up on you as you look at it.  To top it off, Betty used a neutral plaid for the binding, that served to add to the overall look of the quilt.

Paisley Pinwheels (23 by 23 inches) was made and quilted by Debbie Ingram.  The design came from the Jo Morton Little Women Club.  Would you believe that there are 38 different fabrics in this quilt?  The pinwheel stars are each made of a scrappy assortment of different reds and tans.  When Debbie got to the border of this quilt, she had barely enough for it.  Luckily, she had just enough!

Do you remember the old granny square afghans that were made back in the 50s and 60s?  I do - and this quilt, Modern Granny Square (68.5 by 68.5 inches), reminds me of them.  Susanne Purvis made it as a "quilt along project" led by Jennifer Jenkinson.  The oversized Granny Square quilt has a modern feel to it, per Susanne.  Linda Beiswanter added to that feel by machine quilting oversized flowers in the blocks, and a large feathered vine in the border.

Sharing Squares (30.5 by 30.5 inches) was made by Susan Penny and Barbara Barrett, and quilted by Susan.  The design came from a simple block exchange between friends.  I love the bright vibrancy of this quilt!

Martha Matiuk created First Stop Paris! (60 by 60 inches) using a Trip Around the World design.  The quilt was part of a challenge issued by her bee:  make a black and white quilt... and you can add only one other color.  Obviously, Martha chose red as her additional color - and it works well in this quilt.

In this close-up, you can see that there are, indeed, a wide variety of fabrics that went into making this quilt.  Her choices were grand.

Pam Tedeschi made Love, Love Red (38 by 38 inches), using the book Simple Contemporary Quilts by Valerie VanArsdale Schrader.  I love the wonky look of this quilt.  Doesn't it make you want to do something fun?!

Marsha Hennigan made Fiesta Lone Star (47.5 by 47.5 inches) and quilted it herself.  This quilt was started during a class with Jan Krentz.  The colors she used were chosen to celebrate her time in the Texas Hill Country. 

The name of this quilt was a surprise to me:  The English Garden (56 by 56 inches).  Paper pieced by Alice Sadeghpour and quilted by Cathy King, the Judy Niemeyer design was given an entirely different look when Alice jumped at the opportunity to use Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  Alice's choice of fabrics and their placement is very well done.  Congrats to her on making this gorgeous quilt!

This quilt, unfortunately, did not photograph well - sometimes my little camera fails me because the quilt is too large or too far away or doesn't have enough light or has too much light.  In any case, the picture is still worth showing to you.  Yellowstone Revisited (85 by 76 inches) was made by Debbie Wolf and quilted by Debbie Kendall.  The applique designs are from Quilting the Great Outdoors by Debbie Field.  What I loved about this quilt was that the centers of the log cabins are all printed photos on fabric that were purchased on Debbie's trip to Yellowstone.  Debbie says, "The Log cabins were very busy and needed applique to tone them down."  I would say that Debbie made some great choices.  The use of photos in the log cabins was not something I'd seen before, and I love surprises like that!

Here's a close-up of one of the log cabin centers.  Think how many memories this quilt contains!

I would think that Janice Schindeler had a lot of fun making and quilting My Friend Ann Loves Cats and Tea (70 by 78 inches).  The inspiration for this quilt was a "hootchy story quilt class" taught by Mary Lou Weidman.  Every year, Janice's friend, Ann, visits and they take a quilt class.  This quilt was started in one of those classes to keep Janice company between visits with her friend.  Look how FUN this quilt is!!!

Speaking of friends and quilting... The Quilt Show, Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims' online quilt community, helped when Debbie Wolf decided to host an international exchange of half-square triangles.  With help from a lot of others, she managed, recorded, and redistributed over 250 thousand half-square triangles that 600 quilters mailed to her.  Phew - I'm worn out just thinking about how much time and effort went into that project!!  But look what Debbie did with her share of the half-square triangles; she made Oh, The Places They've Been! (80 by 100 inches) and had Jane Plisga quilt it for her.  The design was based on patterns by Mountain Top and Sweet Sixteen by Laundry Basket Quilts.

Rhonda Dort made and quilted Christmas Stars (60 by 74 inches).  The top was made in 2010... and quilted just a few days before the quilt show opened.  How is that for "in the nick of time" or finishing a UFO, finally?!  The quilt is an adaptation of the 54-40 or Fight block.  It's a favorite of mine and Rhonda did a beautiful job making the quilt - and quilting it.  She quilted the border with some wonderful swags, making them almost look like trapunto had been used.  The border print used between the center and the outer border was a great choice.

Timothy was made and quilted by Jane Plisga using a Wheel of Mystery kit from John Flynn.  She made it to honor her brother - and had fun doing curved piecing.  Not many would agree that curved piecing is fun - but once you master a couple of blocks, it gets so much easier!  I have always loved this block and scrappy quilts, so this quilt caught my eye.  The use of feathered vines and cables in the border was a nice touch - along with the tiny piping at the quilt's edge.



Here, you can see a close-up of some of the blocks in the quilt.  It's amazing, isn't it?!

Here is another quilt that was dramatic because of the color choices:  black, white, red, and gold.  Made and quilted by Teresa Darr, Cat's Game (48 by 48 inches) shows a game of Tic Tac Toe where nobody wins - a "cat's game."  There is no outer border on this quilt, by the way - that's just the black background I put behind photos so that the quilt stands out.  This quilt was very striking!

Texas Bluebonnets (26 by 26.5 inches) was made and quilted by Cheryl Moncrief.  She used a Melinda Bula pattern, and fused and thread painted the flowers onto a pieced background design.  To finish the quilt, Cheryl machine quilted the quilt with silk thread.  Silk is a very fine thread and seats itself quietly into the fabric when used to quilt a quilt.  Melinda is one of my favorite quilt designers - I keep trying to take a class from her at the Houston quilt festival, but they seem to fill instantly when registration begins.



Barb Paliatsos made this quilt because she wanted to piece some complex blocks.  The blocks in My 30's Sampler (69 by 85 inches) have between 53 and 152 pieces.  Barb designed the setting and borders to complete the theme - and Jodi Canter quilted the quilt.  I like these blocks - they are each basically a set of four blocks set inside of a bear paw block that is sashed.

Here's a close-up of the block - you can see the bear pay block here, along with the four mini-blocks in the "paw" portion of the block.  The edge-to-edge quilting was a nice choice for this quilt.

This quilt, entitled happiness (73-3/4 by 95-1/4 inches) is appropriately named!  Made by Susanne Purvis and quilted by Linda Beiswanger, the quilt was based on a design in Kaffe Fassett's Kaffe Quilts Again book.  The bright colors in the "S" block are definitely happy ones!

Zinnia (26.5 by 24 inches) was made and quilted by Kelley Bennett, in a class taught by Melinda Bula at the Houston quilt show.  The zinnia is raw-edge fused with lots of beautiful thread-painting to make it come alive.  Someday, I'll get into Melinda's class and then I'll be posting my own Zinnia!

Last but not least, here is a photo of one of the information pieces that the Greater Houston Quilt Guild had laid out for viewers to see, along with plenty of information and samples of their comforter or community service quilts.  I thought I would share it here because buried in the write-up are some good ideas that I might pass along to my own guild -- like tying some quilts instead of machine quilting all of them.  We are shy a few machine quilters when it comes to keeping up with the quilt tops that have been prepared in our guild - and some of the quilts would look quite nice, tied.  Also, I like the idea of suggesting that guild members donate a quilt in their own birth month.  After all, we each have much to be thankful for... and paying it forward is an honorable act.

Well... we're at the end of this month's post.  I didn't share anything about the projects that I've been working on, but I promise you:  I've been stitching like crazy, learning new techniques, designing new quilts, and more!  I'll have plenty to show you when I have TIME to show you!!!  so, before I close, two more things are in order.

First... do you remember that this blog post started with a reference to Pat Sloan and her "American Patchwork & Quilting Radio" show? 

Well, here's a link where you can click and go to her web page... look for our discussion on January 20, 2014.  Pat is a hoot and so much fun, as you'll see - she makes me laugh!
http://www.creativetalknetwork.com/
Once you're there, ignore the fact that my name is spelled wrong (it is Garman, not Garmen), scroll down to where you see me holding one of my granddaughters and click... and listen.  You can listen on your computer, subscribe by iTunes (search American Patchwork & Quilting), or download to a player.  Also, ignore the ads that show some of my patterns available from Quakertown through Amazon.com -- neither of them carry my patterns so don't waste your time or money there!

Second, and finally... thank you all so much for your kind words and support.  I work hard to design quilts, make patterns, inspire and educate quilt makers everywhere, and make all of you love quilting as much as I do.  I really appreciate each of you - those who read my blog, who buy my patterns, who send simple little notes of thanks... you're the best!

Until next month.... happy quilting!

Sue

 

www.comequilt.com

 

(c)2014 Susan H. Garman





September Update....

 

This past month has been a busy one -- family matters took precedence over everything, as well as projects with deadlines and starting up an online business, Come Quilt.  I have barely had time to put a needle in my hand -- or to pick up a pencil and draw out one of many designs that are in my head or sketched out and ready to develop into new patterns.  I miss quilting!  I still got my fair share, though.  This month I'll show you a potpourri of things I've done and will be doing.  Hang on!

 

First of all, below is my guild's 2014 raffle quilt, "First Love."  I designed the blocks and the setting, various guild members appliqued the twirly ball blocks, and my friend Jerrianne and I assembled the quilt top before handing it over to Cynthia C for quilting.  She is one of the top longarm quilters I know -- below you'll see some of the quilting she did on this beauty.

 

 
Take a look at the quilting in the blocks:  quarter-inch cross-hatching!  The setting triangles have 1/2-inch cross hatching.  Lots of longarm quilters avoid cross-hatching because it is hard to keep it straight and even and involves lots of stops and starts - but Cynthia is not afraid of cross-hatching.

 
In the outer border, Cynthia put in triple bead-board quilting.  It is a nice visual accent for this quilt.

 
One of the things my guild does is to make a small wall-hanging that they give to whomever sells the most raffle tickets.  I made this quilt for the winner -- the wall-hanging is always a small quilt (32 inches square in this case) that echoes the theme or blocks in the raffle quilt.  I like quilting and I like cross-hatching, but I didn't do Cynthia's quarter-inch cross-hatching!

 
At the same time, I made another small quilt using red and white twirly ball blocks.  This quilt will be used in a workshop that I'm teaching in Athens later this year.  Athens, Texas -- not Greece, darn it!  But I know the workshop will be great because I love being with other quilters.  I'm actually doing back-to-back quilts in this workshop.  On the first day (Thursday), I'll be teaching feathered star making... and on the second day, I'll be teaching the twirly balls... and doing a lecture in the evening.  This is fun stuff for me!

 
You might think by now that I should be sick to death of twirly balls.  If they were difficult, I might be... but they are easy, relaxing blocks to work on.  So here is yet another twirly ball quilt.  This one is a little wall-hanging that is going to be auctioned off at the International Quilters Association (IQA) Quilt Show in Houston this coming October.  If you want a "Sue Garman quilt," this could be your chance!  The IQA has silent auction bidding on quilts throughout the show.  This quilt is 24 inches square.

 
Here's a detail view of the quilting I did on this quilt.

 

The one quilt that I've really wanted to get done this past month was my 1930s style alphabet quilt.  Here was my inspiration -- an antique quilt that I saw at last year's Houston quilt show.  It's simple, sweet, and a delight.

 
I managed to finish all of the applique and embroidery, and pushed myself to find time to assemble the quilt.  Here are two of the blocks in my quilt:

 
And here is the quilt, on my longarm... ready for me to start quilting it.  I haven't decided how I'm going to quilt it yet, but I think, for sure, that the background of each block will be cross-hatched.  The nice thing about cross-hatching is that it is never a distraction in a quilt.  A quilt like this is too simple for distractions and busy quilting.  I'm going to be happy when I find the time to work on this quilt!

 
In the meantime... I have walked around my house and realized how many quilts I have that are waiting for me to finish them.  I'm not talking about block sets, I'm talking about quilt tops that are ready to be quilted.  I just need to set aside the time...  here is an antique double wedding ring quilt that I started hand quilting a few years ago.  It is still in the frame... and I probably only have about five more rings to be quilted.  I should move this up on the priority list.  It is soooo close to being finished.

 

 Here's a close-up of the quilt -- just so I can point out that part of its beauty (for me) is that it has pieces of cheddar-colored fabric here and there.  I love how cheddar fabrics bring a bright, happy touch to a quilt.

 
Here is another in-process quilt -- it's a combination of an oak leaf reel with cherries and a New York Beauty quilt.  I love this combination -- and have waited far too long to finish the quilt.  It's on my pole frame... I'm hand quilting it, which means there is a LOT of quilting to be done since I stitch in the ditch around every single piece in this quilt.  There's much to be done here!

 

 

Okay, so those quilts are half-started... and here is a rack full of quilt tops that holler at me all the time:  quilt me!  quilt me!  And I will.... some day....  Nearly all of these quilts are antique quilt tops. 

 



 

There are more quilt tops - and tons of blocks waiting to be assembled into quilt tops - in my house... and each will find their time to be worked on.  But first, here is part of what has really been keeping me hopping.  I'm teaching a week-long set of workshops in Tampa, Florida, next month.  I've been doing all the workshop preparations for the past two weeks, and probably have another week of preparations to be done.  The guild where I've been invited to teach and talk loves applique - so I'll be doing a Baltimore album block with lots of different special techniques in it...

 

 
And everyone will get a good start on a block that should look like this (or each person's version of this!):

 

 We'll also be working on this block...

 
And this block....

 
And that block can be made into a 4-block quilt if anyone wants to take it a step further.  All of these blocks are 15-inch squares (finished size).

 
Another project that I've spent quite a bit of time on is a set of blocks for a new Baltimore album quilt.  These blocks will be shown to the Baltimore on the Prairie classes meeting on the Platte River this month... and sign-ups will begin for next year's session, where I've been honored to be invited to teach!  Check out their website ( http://baltimoreontheprairie.tresajones.com/index.html ) in the next couple of weeks and you'll see what's planned for their 2014 line-up of quilt projects and instructors.  Tresa Jones is their administrator and she does an amazing and wonderful job of organizing this set of classes, teachers, and students.  So here is what I'll be teaching in 2014:

 
And I'm going to offer it as on on-point block (above) as well as a straight-set block (below).

 
Here's another on-point block that I've designed for this quilt:

 
And here is the same block (sort of) as a straight-set block, below.  I guess I must be a glutton for punishment, doing two Baltimore album quilts at the same time, and having to design similar but different blocks for each.  I already know exactly how I want to sash the blocks, which is what is driving me to get the blocks done -- but I'm keeping it a secret for now!

 
After the first of the year, I'll be teaching at the Applique Away on Galveston Bay retreat on Galveston Island (info can be found at http://www.appliqueawayongalvestonbay.com/).  I'll be teaching an eagle block (not the one above) as well as a solid workshop on basic applique skills with a papercut-applique block that can be made into the quilt below; there are a lot of skill-building techniques involved in making these blocks, so this is not just for a basic beginner's workshop.

 
Here's a close-up of the quilt, so that you can see the hand-quilting in it.

 
I hope you all don't think that I'm just hawking my workshops (oops - I guess I am, though...); as always, I really just like sharing the projects that I've been working on lately.  Now, though, I want to share a new project that I haven't started but that I really want to work on!  Those who have spent time with me know that I love applique... but I also really love intricately pieced quilts.  My friend Georgann sent me this picture from Judy Murrah's blog...

 
When I went to drop off my two quilts at the IQA offices for the Houston quilt show this year, I saw the same quilt as the one in the above picture, hanging in the office hallway:

 
Oh my gosh -- I'm in love, love, love!!!  This quilt reminds me of the woven blankets of earlier eras... probably because of the design and the indigo and white coloration.  But what makes this quilt ultra-special to me is the quilting in it.  Take a look...

 
Doesn't it just make you drool?  But now take another look and you'll see how tiny the pieces are... and the quilting... and the trapunto... oh my!  When can I start on it?!!!

 

 
The border, in particular, was just stunning.

 
And speaking of stunning... here is Fern H's "Ancient Stars" quilt.  She sent me a photo of this quilt, made from one of my patterns.  She said it took the better part of six months to make this quilt, which she made for one of her daughters.  It was voted best of show at her guild's annual show.  Hurrah for a beautiful rendition of "Ancient Stars!"  I love when quilters send me photos of their quilts; it inspires me to keep on designing!  (and just so you know, I won't ever publish your photos unless you give me permission, and I won't ever say your full name just because I'm a security freak -- unless you tell me it's okay or unless it's already "public information" such as when your name is published on a sign at a quilt show).  Fern made her quilt version queen-sized -- she did a wonderful job in choosing her colors and fabrics, too.

 

 
And now for some quilts from the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston's quilt show!  I was invited by the guild to be one of two judges (thank you, Barbara J and Barbara C and committee, for being such kind and gracious hosts!) -- and I love judging quilt shows!  This month's blog is already long, so I'll only show a few quilts this month and show more in another blog write-up in the future.

First of all, here is a grand quilt, "A Few of My Favorite Things," made by members of the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston.  The patterns for this quilt were all designed and kitted by Mona Follis -- and the finished quilt top was quilted by Linda Bieswanger.  It was a fun quilt to "study" and look at because there were so many really creative and heart-warming ideas incorporated into the blocks. 

 

 

Here are some close-ups of the blocks in that quilt.  They are all so delightful!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 
Aren't all those blocks just wonderful?  They are such fresh and unique designs!

The quilt below was the result of a round robin with Lori Barnes, Cindy Witt, Margie Lawrence, Renee Odem, Debbie Salinas, and Elizabeth Hurst -- with Debbie Salinas quilting it.  I love round robins; they force me to work with colors, motifs, and styles that I might not ordinarily choose.  They force me to be creative!  Can you imagine what you might have added if you had been part of this round robin?

 
One of the cool things about this quilt was the center block... some of the leaves in it were three-dimensional - adding to the uniqueness of the quilt.

 
This quilt, Chocolate Cherries, was made by a bee and was auctioned off at the guild's show; they have a live auction of quite a few quilts, which is very exciting!  Even though this is a simple quilt, I loved the color, the simplicity, the technical merit, and the quilting in it... so I chose it as my "Judge's Choice" quilt.  Not every quilt has to be a complex, intricate quilt to be appreciated and loved!

 
This quilt was called "A Garden in Red and White."  I don't have any other information about the quilt, unfortunately.  It caught my eye because of the beautiful applique combined with a great set of pieced blocks.  Sometimes we forget how well we can combine these two types of quilt styles.  The soft, gentle lines of the applique are a nice counter-balance to the sharp lines of the geometric shapes.

 
This quilt, "Blooming Baskets," is another where I don't have the details about who made it or quilted it.  I liked it a lot because the scrappy baskets were cheery, and the variation in the flowers in the different baskets was sweet.
 

 
Here is a close-up of that quilt.  I like the bird -- it's one of only two birds in the quilt!

 
This gorgeous beauty (below) was given the Best of Show award.  Debbie McHolick, its maker, purchased some hand-pieced antique blocks while visiting Indiana and used them to make "Indiana Transplant Treasure."  Per Debbie, "the thirty-five blocks sparkle on a rich brown (soil) background" with each "surrounded with blue (sky) and white (snow) to help them keep their cool in the hot and humid Texas."  The photos does not do this quilt justice -- it was a show-stopper; when your eyes lit on it, you just stopped and stared.  The brown fabric was so rich and the quilting was unbelievable.

 
The quilting was done by Mary Jo Yackley and was exceptional, adding to the quilt's overall beauty.  I also want to point out something on this quilt.  Do you see how, in the second and fourth blocks down, there are THREE little white squares on point on the left side of the block?  And two on the other blocks?  Debbie extended the "march" of squares out across the brown floater strip... by appliqueing these extra little squares in place!  That's just a genius idea in my book -- I certainly never would have thought of doing that.  Good work, Debbie!

 
Even the back of the quilt was beautiful....

 
This next quilt, "Morning Has Broken," has an interesting story connected to it.  Suzanna Foote began the quilt in a class on adding borders.  Suzanna said the quilt started out looking very dull.  She added more color and appliqued the sun motifs to the quilt...

 
And I found it simply amazing that she could just applique (!) these motifs onto the center of the quilt, making them look as if they were pieced in place.  That's a real trick!  Suzanna says the quilt "came into its own" with the addition of the color and sun motifs.  Yes, it did!

 
"Red Pots/Red Flowers" was made and quilted by Carolyn Hurst based on Jeana Kimball's thumbnail sketches in "Red and Green."  Carolyn made the pieced squares in a guild workshop; the redwork was inspired by a quilt with Baltimore Album style applique blocks done in redwork.  I find the outer border and its little red floater, all surrounding the blocks and the redwork, to be a great way to frame this quilt and focus your eye on the unique blocks. 

 
Here is a close-up of this quilt.  She used variegated red thread to do her redwork stitching.

 
What Texan can resist a good old-fashioned Texas quilt?  In "Texas Charm" (30 by 30 inches), Pam Heine found a place for a whole lot of Texas and western-themed fabrics and embellishments.  She made this quilt in a class taught by Catherine at Quiltworks.

 
I wish you could see all the detail that Pam put into this quilt.  Look at the "barbed wire" she used as an accent along the inside of the outer border.

 
And what Texan doesn't have a silver belt buckle? 

 
Part of what was so amazing about this quilt was that Pam put fabrics in designated spots that matched the geography or business interests of the area.  For example, she's got an oil well square in the Panhandle of Texas.  And an astronaut where Houston is located.  And an Alamo where San Antonio is located.  Is this fun or what?!!

 
Here is a close-up of more fabric in the quilt:

 
This next quilt, "Winter in the Garden," was made by Marsha Hennigan, based on on the Winter in the Garden pattern by Sheila Wintle.  Marsha found this pattern while touring the New England Quilt Museum; she loved the combination of colors and the opportunity to use back-basting applique.  Marsha, who used to be a member of the guild I belong to before she moved across town, did a great job on this quilt.

 
Last month I showed you this quilt by Jean C -- based on an antique quilt.  I was cleaning up my photos and found a picture on my computer of the original antique quilt.  Jean put tiny piping between all the blocks...

 
...which the original quiltmaker did, also.  But take a look at the difference between Jean's quilt and the original quilt.  I always find it interesting to see how quilters add their own unique touches to a quilt.  Here's the original quilt, shown to one of the guild's bees a couple years ago.  What a difference!

 
So now... where am I with my new online business (which, when it's "live" will be at www.comequilt.com )?  I wish I could say that it was up and running, but it isn't yet.  It is taking me much longer than I thought it would to get everything ready -- but I hope that the wait will be worth it.  I am "cleansing" all of my patterns by improving the quality of the photos, updating some of the text, and removing all references to another company.  I am filling all orders that come in, even though the website is not up and running yet, so feel free to send me an email if you need anything -- to suegarman (at) Comcast (dot) net -- I have to spell it out to prevent email-address harvesting programs from picking up my email address here and deluging me with spam).  Hopefully my website will be up and running in the next few weeks.  What I have found, though, is that there are a bunch of "forgotten" patterns that were not being made available -- like this one; it's one of my old favorites -- and has gotten a face-lift with a better cover photo and better instructions:

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So... hang in there with me.  I'll keep posting on or about the first of the month (I just looked at my watch and I missed posting on the first of September by about an hour, darn it... but a neighborhood event this evening stole a couple hours out of my work time today.  I'll be back in October with more pictures, more information, and hopefully more inspiration.  Until then...

Happy quilting!
Sue

(c)2013 Susan H. Garman