A compromise of peace

A few years back I wanted to enter a quilt contest, and I was convinced that my entry should reflect the color wheel - in a really grand way.

Within the first few days of hearing about the contest and deciding to enter it, I changed my mind and decided the quilt should actually be based on that simple but groovy - universally recognizable - peace sign.

Over the span of about six days I teetered back and forth between these two design choices, driving myself (and my sons) nuts trying to decide.

Before long I then began to desire that my quilt should incorporate both elements, but how was I going to do that?  Then, one morning I woke with a start.  A cosmic two-by-four smacked me between the eyes and provided me with the perfect marriage of both artistic desires.

I spent a couple of days graphing out a very large peace sign, then colored in a wheel to lay under my image in order to decide where each section of the spectrum should fall.  I even sent several choices to friends for their input as to how to position the color portion.  A few days later that decision was made, and I set about collecting the materials it would require to migrate gradually from one color to the next.

This aspect would prove to be more difficult than anything else.  The company sponsoring this particular contest stipulated you could only use materials purchased from their store, and you had to have receipts to prove it!  Well, since this chain store was touting the contest as an 'annual event', I didn't even blink twice as I began to amass my collection.  MANY fat quarters (and eighth yard cuts) later I could begin cutting!  More than 170 different materials were used overall.

Long story short -

Sadly, the store discontinued their yearly quilt contest after only two years, but PQ1 is a joyous celebration of color...and of my determination to see it through.  If I could have known sooner into the assembly process  that my hands were't tied to such rigid obligations, I would have had a broader palette to select my fabric from, but I truly believe I managed to make the best out of it anyway.

PQ1: Let it Begin with Me took over 880 hours to assemble and quilt  (4,225 1.5" cut squares for the top and another 30 pieces for the back and binding; measuring 65"x 65"), and it was worth all of the effort because now I have the chance to share it with all of you visiting from  

The hardest decisions I have to make any more regarding this quilt have to do with categorizing it for shows and contests.  For Blogger's Quilt Festival I had a tough time narrowing it down from five category possibilities to two, but I think I settled on Original Design (OR ROYGBIV).  [Coin toss]

I am proud to say that EVERY portion of this quilt is original; even the templates I created by hand for the three large peace doves, right

down to the smallest four - are my work (with a little divine inspiration from Picasso).  And because I went a little crazy while cutting out the 1.5" pieces for the color gradation, I still have bags of usable pieces leftover.  To date, I have made several variations of my original design - including exact miniatures, and quad designs with varied color placement.  I love them all!

Thank you, Amy, for the chance to enter your festival.  And thanks to everyone who took the time to view my quilt blog.  Enjoy the festival....you'll find me there, somewhere, wandering and enjoying the work of others!

My sons - bless them - thought there should be a photo of the back, too. It's very windy ~

Today is the day!

I wanted to make a quilt that people would remember in some way, and to represent the groovy flowerchild in me -- I think it's a pretty good attempt!

Currently finishing the quilting on a miniature version, and multiple color studies of (this) my original pattern/design and altered original pattern/design.

Peace and thanks for looking in!

By the way...this is my first entry into an AQS quilt show/competition, too!

My bad

I was very happy with the final product - this string quilt (which was a wedding gift). 

String: "Blue Moon Wedding" (Scrap) - 66.5" x 66.5"

The person commissioning it (Aunt Betsy) chose fabrics matching her niece's (and new nephew's) favorite colors, which were abundant in their wedding planning; and I'm understanding, they have now painted some of their home in these same colors! Would love to add a sleeve so the newlyweds can incorporate it into their decorating.

Truly loved the psychedelic/mod quilting I ended up creating; the flower power and grooviness of it all!  I even managed to please myself with the pieced block letters and (ultimately) the quilted portions of the bible verse, too. [Proverbs 3: 5-6]  If there had been more time, more available capital, and LESS HUMIDITY, I would have encased the entire border verse in the quilting motif (I had a hard time stopping myself from quilting all the way around).

As it is, it's still a nice bit of inventive quilting, and I am quite proud of it.  Thank you, Betsy, for the opportunity to help you celebrate your family's history.  I'm honored to leave a mark in this way.

[on the flip side]

Meant to post a photo of the final product weeks ago, but I was angry with myself for not having taken my usual snaps before leaving the house.  I was forced (I forced myself) to take this unflattering shot in a quilt store, under fluorescent lights; so not only did I not get a nice, square image, I also shot it upside down!

You'll notice, if you look closely, a bit of skewing to try and make the proportions and corners true up for the frame. Gotta love PhotoShop.

~ If you don't look too hard, it's a good representation of a perfectly square, not-warped-in-any-way, lovely lap robe.

Great day to be a quilter

It was a great day to be a quilter! Had a busy day - and a fun one to boot.

Jean and I had errands to run (missions to complete), and since they were in pretty much the same area of Michigan (within a twenty mile radius, or so) we made up our minds to mix the business with a little pleasure....and what pleasure it was, too!

My "business" consisted of delivering the commissioned lap robe to the proud aunt who requested it. The honeymooning couple is off in Mexico, but will be returning this weekend, and she wanted to present it to them personally - hoping to see the looks on their faces as they open the package and see the quilt for the first time.

I do hope they love it.

Aunt Betsy said it was exactly the right set of colors for the most part - yea! - always a plus. We did the initial shopping together, but I ended up having to fill in with more when I found myself 'shy' while piecing the central portion of the top. Clever Aunt B also managed to finagle the young couples' favorite Bible verse from the bride (months ago) in such a way that the newlyweds will be surprised to find it pieced and stitched within the quilt border. Brilliant Aunt B!

While I had fun making that quilt....creating an alphabet and sewing words together for the first time - experimenting the whole while - and then the creative free-form quilting around the border (very mod and 60s-70s-ish 'flower power'), I am glad to have it done and in the hands of the owner(s). The weather was horrid and humid for easily the last month and a half, making it impossible some days to move the quilt on the machine bed in order to stitch. It put me days behind and was quite frustrating.

But now that it's all said and done, I am happy it's going home and I can move on to new (and older) projects. Phwew!

As for the pleasure portion of our day, well....

Jean mapped out a driving curriculum for us to follow which included four new quilt shops! OK, new to us, but well-established and known to others.

And while we were only able to make it in to three of the four, we do know that our new favorite shop is only a stone's thrown from the last little gem yet to explore. So, on to the reviews:

Our first stop was in Howell, MI, at a store right on Grand River Avenue called The Stitchery. Bright and roomy, and stocked with more modern and less homespun (or calico-y) materials to browse through and take home - and that is not a complaint! The space was overwhelming, and it seems to have been two different storefronts at one time which are now connected by a wide doorway created through the adjoining wall between, with a step or two down. The extra space is classroom/showroom (for the machines they deal in and some sewing gadgets and needful items). There is an additional enclosed classroom in the back of the original shop which is also quite roomy.

In addition to their 'modest' fabric stock, there's a nice selection of quilting books to purchase as well, and they managed to introduce me to a new marking tool I will be trying out in the near future.

The staff was friendly, but not overly attentive, and I was encouraged to join them at the next GAAQG meeting later this month. That was cool.

Oh, and before I forget, they also have "20% off Tuesdays" applicable to their wonderful selection of fat quarters! That will get me in the door again s-o-m-e-d-a-y, after I have a job and some extra cash to spend.

Jennifer's Quilt Shop in Pinckney was our next stop. It is a deceptively quaint little house re-worked to serve as a charming, kitschy little quilt nook. They've crammed a good deal of material into several rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves, and they carry a nice selection of quality fabrics; but it is a small shop, so be prepared to rub albows, shoulders, and hips with your fellow quilters as you look high and low to scout out some new prints you haven't found anywhere online.

Yes, the selection is limited, but the shop thinks BIG, so you hardly notice you're through looking a little more quickly than you'd like to be.

The staff has fun with their customers, and Jean and I were laughing and kibbutzing the entire time. If you're a regular they greet you by name, and then the conversations veer into what's new, what's up with your kids, and "how'd that *thing* with the *thing* end?" Always nice to be recognized and treated like a friend!

There's a 'freebie' basket if you're willing to get down and dirty to paw through the goods (I was, and always will be, one of those shmoes on the floor).

My favorite finds, though, were a selection of FQ black-n-white prints of materials I had seen online but never purchased - and there they were in Pinckney! We were even directed to a healthy selection of discounted (A.K.A. "sale") FQs towards the back of the store, so there are plenty of reasons to get yourself in to Jennifer's and say "hello" before the end of the month. Why wait?

It's a charming little shop with a big heart, and you won't be sorry you made the country drive to their door!

Our last destination proved to be the best discovery of the bunch. It's safe to say we will be heading back more often than once to Creative Quilt Kits (formerly All Ways Unique) in Brighton, MI - and it won't take much for me to make that drive!

Holy cow, what a store!

They have everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you've ever found online and wanted to see in person before buying. It's like going to Hancock's of Paducah without the drive (or the hotel bill)! It's Quilt Mecca for Michigan, and so much more.

Several large rooms of fabric greet you the moment you step through the door, and that was after perusing the offerings of EOBs outside on their doorstep! I found two I brought home. And the happiness didn't stop there.

One of their showrooms was nothing but Kona solids - in fact, MOST of the Kona line lives there, and by the time I got that far into the store, it was time to leave! But, that's OK, because I will be back. They have my newest love - In the Beginning fabrics - and have also begun to carry those lovely linen-esque Japanese materials, too.

That's not all; their materials are sorted by manufacturer in some cases, but more often than not you will find all of your cowboys and wild west together; everything Christmas, juveniles and unique beauties in delicious groupings or rooms of their own; Eric Carle prints, and impossibly hard to choose from dragons and princess goods grouped together near animal prints and butterflies. Good luck trying to take it all in without gathering armfuls of bolts to carry around!

The only thing that could improve the experience at Creative Quilt Kits is if they would have mini shopping carts to use for moving through the store with all of the fun things there are to grab.

OK, carts and getting there hours before would have been good, too. But that last one is totally on me.

If you can't get to Brighton to visit this shop, do yourself a huge favor and shop with them online. But you're doing yourself no favors by not walking through their door, trust me. This place is worth the drive!

Here's something!

Here is a quilt I made back in 2008 for a fellow student at Specs. An aunt of hers had made the Sun Bonnet Sue blocks decades before, and Denise had them stored, just waiting for an opportunity to have them turned into a quilt.
Then I happened along.

The majority of the work was in making them evenly (equally) squared and true, and in figuring how to assemble them - to do the adorable vintage blocks justice.
I think the resulting quilt was appropriate and perfect.

Please ignore the quality of the photos, as I was in a hurry to get them taken that day to get out the door.

The aunt who made the original blocks had appliqued the Sun Bonnet Sues onto muslin, and that was how Denise handed them to me. I added the window pane frames from material I had in my stash, and then selected the lovely green material that was used for the sashing and border.

The backside shows the integration of one SBS block that wouldn't work in to the configuration on the front. The goal with that touch was to make certain to center it with another SBS facing the right direction, so that when I finished the quilting, the stippling worked around the character as well as could be working blind from the top side of the quilt. As you can see, I was pretty darned close when working with the imperfections of the handmade SBS blocks.

At long last, it is done!

Reading Rainbow - Log Cabin: 34.5 x 52"

I finished quilting this wall hanging several days ago, but decided to apply a sleeve after the fact, since that's the only good way for it to hang, really...on a wall...as a "wallhanging." It has had a long ride from inception to completion; from Hadley to Clarkston; from here to there.

The boys and I have also come a long way during that same time. They have grown so much - in fact, they completed their own journeys from boyhood into men, and I learned a lot about myself and the world around me while that quilt lay waiting for attention. I learned to stop letting things wait, and to stop waiting for what it is I want. We all still have a long way to go, but the journeys seem less daunting.

There are still a lot of quilting projects to complete before beginning something new, and as much as I daydream about what is to come and what I want to start next, I know there are things I must finish first. Some of those projects are meant to clean out the corners and widen my path and field of vision, some to make room, others just to finish for the sake of not letting it hang in limbo any more. If I want to use it, I am going to have to finish it!

Hey, I get to add this quilt to the "finished" category!

Happy Birthday to me - I can add this quilt to the 'finished column.'

Ocean Waves: Baby Boy Schaffer (Scrap) - 33.5" x 47"

Reverse

I rinsed the lovely little thing today to eliminate the marker lines, but the residual quilting pencil marks will have to eventually wear off with use over time - no big deal. I am looking forward to delivering it to the new owner some day....soon.

What's next?

My quilting stash - tucked into my sewing corner, under the stairs.

I admit to being scattered (some days more than others). Currently, I am having a hard time committing to my next project, although I have committed myself to finishing something already begun and not starting something new.

There are no new babies on the way, so I think I can safely stick to that commitment. [smacking self on forehead]

I have far more projects in the throes of quilting stages, and many tops that have yet to be stretched - but it is probably safer for them to be awaiting the rack and pins than to have already been pinned and folded. I have two large quilts (double or queen-size) in this predicament (the already-pinned-and-going-nowhere-fast type), and I am not doing them any good this way. Still, my mind races with ideas, and my storage shelves bulge with future projects already stacked and taunting me.

This is one project I have been itching to get started on for quite a while, now. I am calling it "From Sea to Shining Sea," as it is based on the song (in its color selection) and a picture I have drawn to create/quilt. It would be my first applique quilt, and while I am not crazy enough to make it large and unmanageable, I do want it large enough so that the overall picture/design makes sense. Too small and I fear the message would be lost, but too large, and I definitely would lose momentum over time. As I said, it would be my first applique style quilt, so I want it to be fun, but I want it to be do-able and look like something when it is finished (preferably so that people would be able to see my intent - my message - when they look at it) without having to struggle to interpret the way it was delivered.

I would also like to begin and finish quilts for each of my sons, and perhaps one for each of my brothers... and something for my friends (maybe those will have to be Christmas stockings just to keep it realistic).

I did finish a lap quilt for my mom earlier this year (although, to be honest, it was one of those things that I had begun a l-o-n-g time ago and just never finished until I challenged myself this year), so I was feeling pretty good about sticking to my goal for the year.

We'll cover the dearth of other quilt tops 'assembled and waiting' another time, for now let me leave you with just two more shots.

These are two quilt tops under construction.

This orange and brown Snail's Trail was something I began at the tail end of 2009, after coming home from the Grayling production. I found a few of the orange prints that were used at a quilt shop I had always heard great reviews of (but found their material selection had been greatly exaggerated). I still have one more border to sew on to the top, then I can get busy stretching and quilting. It was simply a neat color study for me.

The pink and brown group of squares is still not officially a quilt top yet, since I haven't even finished assembling the blocks. I believe I am four squares shy of a load - LOL - but I wanted to make a scrappy quilt way back when; this project began as my marriage was ending, and the boys and I were looking for a new home of our own. The comfort of the pinks and browns together helped ease me into what was a bleak spring - but with the promise of a new beginning.

That was ten years ago, so I believe it would be a fitting anniversary for us all if I applied some of my energy toward completing this Ohio Star beauty in 2010.