Fabulous Finished Tile Quilt

I always tell my students to send me pictures but that doesn't happen very often.  And I understand that there are many reasons why that is so.  Therefore, I was really pleased this week when I received the photo of this quilt from Margaret Christensen. 

Margaret took the workshop on a very hot day last June at Mt. Tam Quilt Guild in San Rafael.  Here's what Margaret said about her quilt. 

" My plan was to make four blocks, but it became too much fun to stop!  This is by far the brightest, loudest wall hanging I've ever done.  Tonight I plan to share it at our Guild show-n-tell. Didn't even take a year. = ; ^ ).  Thanks for a great class. Want to revisit your book for the other projects."

That last part makes me happy.  I'm so glad that Margaret loved making a tile quilt.  And when I look at her quilt, I can see that she used some of the patterns from the book, but she also redesigned some of the blocks and designed her own!  Just what I want students to do -- make these quilts you own!

Margaret wanted me to be sure to say that Valerie Graf of Black Point Quilts, Novato, machine quilted her quilt.

Great work, Margaret!  Thanks for sending the picture.  I hope it will inspire others.

Recent happenings

A week or so ago I wrote a post about my visit to the South Bay Quilt Guild with pictures and then I accidentally did some keystroke and the whole thing disappeared and I couldn't retrieve it!  I was so mad I haven't wanted to post but think I'm over it and will try again!  This time I have more to talk about.

So, it was a beautiful day by the blue Pacific last month when I had the pleasure of visiting the South Bay group.  We had a fun class and here are the results of the class. 

 

The next event just a few days after my trip to beautiful Redondo Beach was the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association quilt show on April 20-21. I was so proud and pleased to have been chosen one of the Featured Artists this year.  It was so fun to talk to everyone about our books and about needle turn applique!  Here are some pictures of my booth at the show. All the quilts are from our books, except for the two bird quilts at the end but I do have a pattern for the quilt which is called, Birds in a Cherry Tree.  The Happy Houses quilt was a favorite along with the two Tile Quilts on the right.

One exhibit at the show was quilts produced in workshop and I had the pleasure of seeing two results from my workshop on tile quilts.

 This "chicken" quilt is one Lotus pattern block with a border and more applique.  Nice job, Joy!

 

And this one is a compilation of blocks from several quilts in Tile Quilt Revival.  Not the best photo but a great quilt, Mary!

And, last but not least, I was back in SoCal a week ago at the Santa Monica Quilt Guild, back by the blue Pacific and had some great Mexican food also!  Here's a link to their website showing the class in progress.  http://www.santamonicaquiltguild.org/page69/page69.html

And here are some of the blocks a little further along. Mostly Starry Orange Peel blocks this time and all wonderful!  I never cease to be amazed at the variety of fabrics that all seem to work! 

 

This last block is actually finished!  She chose to fuse her block rather than do needle turn applique.

Another antique tile quilt discovered

Here is a tile quilt found on Pinterest.  We know nothing about it except that it appears to be made in the USA in 1893, apparently by someone whose initials were CWB.

It's a very nice example.  I see hands, hearts, eyeglasses, scissors, stars, that very showy American flag, a house or maybe it is a schoolhouse or church, a horseshoe, a pitcher, more initials, "RAY" and "RW".  Are those initials in the second block down, second from left?  "DUO" or just shapes?  The more you look the more you find.

Oh, I wish we knew more about it.

Shower of Stars

The Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association, of which I am a member, is having their biennial Quilt Show on April 20 and 21 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.  Here is a link to find out all the information,  http://scvqaquiltshow.org/

I am pleased and proud that I have been selected to be one of the Featured Artists for this year's show.  I'll have lots of quilts from both of our books, Tile Quilt Revival and Fresh Perspectives to show in my booth and I will be demonstrating the Tile Quilt technique and the way I do needle-turn applique.  I'll have books for purchase and my pattern for Birds in a Cherry Tree. 

Birds in a Cherry Tree 

24.5'' x 24.5''

And my latest quilt,  Simple Graces, will be in the show.  I adapted a pattern in Kim Diehl's book, Simple Graces, and used a collection of Barbara Brackman's William Morris prints from Moda.  A little Broderie Perse in the center block.  Hand applique, hand quilted.  67'' x 67''  I was calling it William Morris Churn Dash, but Barbara named it Simple Graces, so the name stuck!
 

I hope to see you at the Show!

Citrus Belt Quilters

Yea, my first workshop of the year was at Citrus Belt Quilters in Redlands.  A city in the citrus belt  located near the San Bernardino mountains which were capped with snow while I was there.  I loved looking at the snowy mountains with the ubiquitous Southern California palm trees in the foreground!  I meant to take a picture but???

As usual, we had fun in the workshop with a variety of blocks produced. 

The Starry Orange Peel offerings:

And the Lotus blocks. 

Great work everyone!

The designer of the first Lotus block with the butterflies was so inspired she went home and designed and stitched a whole quilt top and brought it back to the guild meeting the next day to show me!

 

She did tell me in class that she didn't do needle turn applique and one reason she managed to accomplish this in one night is because she did fuze and machine applique the blocks.  That said, it is wonderful and I was so pleased and proud that she was so inspired with the tile quilt process.  And that she used the blocks in the book but also made them her own by the variations she made. 

And here are some of the participants showing their blocks at the meeting.

Quirky Star

Bobbi's Quirky Star
42.5'' x 42.5''

 When co-author, Carol Gilham Jones, and I were selecting quilts from the International Quilt Study Center collection for our book, Fresh Perspectives, we loved the star quilt which is simply called "Stars".   As Carol pointed out in the book,  the viewer's focus is constantly switching between the four-pointed stars and the bold diamonds with the green eyes.

Carol and I were both working on quilts from the selections we had made and she made up the Star quilt first, and then Kathe Dougherty made another interpretation.  Kathe developed a foundation machine piecing pattern which is published in the book.  

Here is Carol's quilt and then Kathe's.

Well, we didn't need three versions of this quilt and I'd already made my share of quilts for the book so I put the idea aside with the intent of making one "someday".  Finally in 2012, I found some time and wanted to get started on my version.  I found some fabrics in my stash that I thought would work though I knew there was not enough of any of them to make the more formal version Carol had made with just four fabrics.  I made about four blocks and then had to put it aside for another project but recently, finally found time and it is finished!

Mine turned out to be more like the original as I ran out of one fabric and improvised to find another.  In some cases I had to sew scraps together to make a large enough piece to fit the pattern.  I started with the old Pilgrim/Roy brown and gold woven look print, the pink and gold twiggy print that I'd purchased at Rosie's in San Diego in 2010, the raspberry print left from the a quilt of years ago and the maroon solid. When I ran out of the weave, I added the leafy print.  Soon I ran out of the twiggy print and substituted the pink botanical which I'd actually bought along with the twiggy print at Rosie's.  Then I ran out of the leafy print and really had to go looking in my stash.  I found the subdued paisley and decided it would work fine in the center blocks.  I barely made it with the raspberry print, having to sew leftover strips together to make it.  And, in the end, ran out of the maroon and had just enough of the raspberry print to substitute.  

I am quite pleased with the result, shown at top.  Here is a closeup to show the fabrics.

 It was a really fun pattern to work with and with Kathe's pattern for foundation paper piecing, it was a snap to piece.  I think it lends itself to all sorts of interpretations from Carol's orderly version to really scrappy and in many different types of fabric.  I'd love to see your version!

House Quilts

Check out Darra Williamson's blog, "See How We Sew". http://seehowwesew.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/housing-projects-part-2-a-free-block-pattern-and-more-wonderful-quilts/ 

Darra has included my Happy Houses quilt from our book, "Fresh Perspectives" along with some other wonderful house quilts.   It's a two part post so be sure to check both if you love house quilts as much as I do.

Happy Houses was so much fun to make.  Thanks, Darra for showing it on your blog!