Earthquake and Houston International Quilt Festival Part 1

Hello friends,

I am feeling great.  Last week I was in Houston for my annual trip to the Houston International Quilt Festival.  If you are a quilter or if you enjoy looking at the work of the world's best textile artists then the Houston IQF is the place to be.  It is always held around the first week in November. 

For the next few posts I will be showing some of my favorite quilts from the show.  I hope you enjoy them.

Weeds Are Flowers Too by Terry Grant of Portland Oregon

I LOVE bees so this little quilt was a favorite.  It is 12 inches x 12 inches.  It is one of the quilts from the Twelve by Twelve project: The International Art Quilt Challenge.  There were 12 quilters involved in this project.  They have published a book about the challenge.  You can read more about it here if you are interested.  All of the quilts from the challenge were on display at the show.

Rare Birds by Rachel Wetzler from St. Charles Illinois

Close up of Rare Birds

Isn't this just the cutest whimsical quilt you have ever seen?  It won 3rd place in the Art Whimsical category.

Gossip Garden by Debra Martinez of Hobart Indiana

You can click on this picture to see more of the detail.  What a clever woman to dream this quilt up and then be able to execute it so beautifully.

My husband drove me down to Houston.  We didn't know if I would be able to do that much walking or if I would lose my hair while I was there BUT I felt great and again, I still have hair.  This not knowing how I will feel from day to day is driving me crazy.

We got home Saturday afternoon.  That evening, around 10:50pm, we had one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in Oklahoma.  It was a 5.6.  We were both sound asleep when it hit.  It was scary, scary, scary.  No damage because we don't live that close to the epicenter.  The quake was felt all over the state.  Friends were posting to Facebook like crazy. 

Today we are having a light rain with a little thunder.  My husband heard the thunder and said "is that another tremor"?  We are getting a little jumpy around here.  Thunder used to be a normal occurrence, now we are listening for earthquakes!!

Until next time,

It's Melting, Melting

Good morning.  How is everyone today?  Here the sun is out and we are hoping the snow will melt a little.  Tomorrow we are going to receive another 1-2 inches of snow.  I have not left the house since February 1.  I could get out but I don't have to, it is a good time to just hibernate, sit by the fire, read, sew, and play with the cats.   

Melting, Melting

This is a quilt top I finished several months ago but never shared a picture.  The pattern is called Jelly Beans and In Betweens.  It is made with 1 jelly roll and 1 charm pack.  The fabric is "Happy Campers" by Moda, part of the American Jane series.  This will be a picnic quilt, something me and the grandkids can throw on the grass outside and have a picnic. 

Until next time,

Stars over Sweden

On Tuesday Oklahoma received 12 inches of snow. For us, who rarely receive snow, this is a big deal. So guess what? I had an excuse to stay in and finish my Star Crazy Quilt...woohoo!! 

During 2010 I was part of an on-line quilt group with ladies from all over the globe.  We were each making this quilt.  During the year I formed a friendship with Elisabeth who lives in Sweden.  In honor of my new found friend I am calling this quilt "Stars over Sweden".   It is the first quilt I have made that I have named. 

Here it is laying on the queen size bed in our guest room. I am going to hire someone to machine quilt it. The quilt will end up on this bed. I will be redecorating the room, painting the walls, new curtains, new bed skirt, etc using this quilt as my design inspiration.

Until next time,

Europe, Fabric and Quilts

While I was in France and England I tried to visit a few quilt shops. 

Here I am standing in front of LeRouvray quilt shop in Paris.  It was 10:00am and the shop didn't open until 1:00pm so I didn't get to go inside but I did window shop and hopefully I will get it visit it the next time....if there is a next time.

In York England I visited the Viking Loom. 

While I was in the shop there was a lady talking to the store clerk about Tilda.  I had never heard of Tilda so I listened in on the conversation.  They told me it was a very popular fabric line, designed by Tone Finnanger.  They were sold out except for this one piece.   I bought a meter which was about half of what they had left.  What is great about British fabric is that it is 59" wide. 

I also bought 2 fat quarters of Moda.  2.90 lbs is about $4.25 per fat quarter.  Fabric is so expensive in Europe but I had to have some souvenirs.

In London I insisted that I have time to go to Liberty of London and make a few purchases.

I bought a meter of each of the fabrics above.  At 19 lbs per meter that is $30 per meter.  This will probably be the only Liberty of London fabric I ever own. 

The store is absolutely beautiful inside.

Me making my purchases. 

I had no idea there was a quilt show starting at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  The last day of our vacation was kind of a free for all, everyone did their own thing.  I took 2 hours and went to the quilt show.  The quilts were from 1700 thru 2010.  There were some absolutely beautiful quilts, very well preserved, 300 years old and they looked like they could have been made last year.  Photography was not allowed but here is a link to a BBC News story that shows many of the quilts.

In the gift shop they were selling FABRIC.  I bought 2 fat quarters and a 1/2 meter piece.

The back of the label tells about the fabric pattern.  The fabric is 100% cotton but it states it cannot be tumble dried, it can be dry cleaned.  I tell you what, I'm washing and drying these pieces!!

Until next time,

Snowy Update

The snow has stopped and the sun is trying to peak out.  I think we received around 6 inches of snow with 1/2 inch of ice underneath. 

Yesterday I worked on my Ricky Tims Convergence experiment.  I watched Ricky demonstrate this technique on the Quilt Show but I cannot remember which episode it was.  It used to be the free show but it looks like they have changed it.

This was my first attempt at semi curved piecing and also my first attempt at free motion stippling.  Today I will bind it to get some practice.  I love the dotted fabric.  I bought it several years ago at a quilt store that was in Perkins, OK.  That store has now closed.  The fabric was with the batiks but I think it is hand dyed. 

I am looking forward to Monday when I will get the pattern for the February Star Crazy BOM.

Until next time,

Mosaic Monday - Quilt Top Finished

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, hosted by Mary at Little Red House.   Please take a moment to visit Mary's blog to see mosaics that fellow bloggers have also created. 

This week I purchased 4- 1/2 yard pieces of fabric at Oklahoma Quiltworks.  The fabric designer is Jane Sassaman.  I love her bright bold patterns and just had to start a stash of her fabric line.  This will be used in a "future" quilting project. 

   

This week I finished piecing my Springtime in Oklahoma quilt top made using Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  I will be using my Bernina to machine quilt it in sections using the Linda Milligan/Nancy Smith Divide and Conquer method. I saw them demonstrate this method on the HGTV show Simply Quilts several years ago.  I recorded the segment and have it on DVD.  I have used this method on 1 other quilt and it worked very well.  Wish me luck!

I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Let us all give thanks for the many blessings we have received this year. 

Sewing Again

Today there has been a light rain all day long.  This means I get to sew a little.  At a recent quilt show in Oklahoma City I bought a jelly roll of Moda's Tula Pink Neptune fabric.  I had been inspired by Old Red Barns quilt along and thought the jelly roll strips would make for quick piecing of a scrappy rail fence. 

So you can see I pieced a few blocks today.

I am cutting the strips 8 1/2 inches long, 4 strips per block. I put 4 various strips together then criss-crossed them for each block.  I have 33 more blocks to piece.

Well, I better get back to piecing before the sun comes out and I have to start pulling weeds again.

Until next time,

Kclily

Baseball Quilt for BFFL

I finished this quilt 3 weeks ago.  I made it for my best friend who lives in Indiana.  She is a big Chicago Cubs fan who married a big Cincinnati Reds fan this past May.  I made this quilt as a wedding gift for them.  I had to add a little St. Louis Cardinals and a lot of Texas Rangers since those are my teams.

The pattern I used is called Charming Log Cabin by the Threaded Pear Studio.  It is a good pattern for using those large prints you might have in your stash. 

The quilt is 66"x88".

I used fleece on the back so the quilt would be very warm and soft.  The primary fleece on the back is Cincinnati Reds with a little Cubs running along each edge.

I gave them the quilt last week and they both loved it.  It will get to stay at their lake house and keep them warm during those cold Indiana nights this winter. 










Bye for now,

Kclily