ART QUILT GUILD

It has been quite a while since I have had the time to attend my Art Quilt Guild called GreatFul Threads.  I made it to the meeting this month.  For the programs and projects this year we were presented with a basket filled with various techniques.  Each month the member chooses from the basket and makes a project to share at the next meeting.
My "draw" this month was Ruching.  I have seen Ruched Flowers on many embellished quilt pieces.  As I started to decide what I would do, I went to the internet and did a google search.  Lots of videos and tutorials popped up.  
Once I was sure that I knew what I was doing, I began my project.
Ruching is a French word meaning pleated or gathered.  I decided to do Ruching on some strips of fabric and then join them together to make a pillow.

This was easy enough.  I inserted this strata into more strips and created the pillow front.  
I decided to make a Ruched Flower to embellish my little pillow.

Here is how I did the ruching for the little flower.

I cut a strip 1.5 inches wide by WOF.  Then I folded it in half and pressed it.

Mark it with a ruler using the 45 degree line to form a "v" shape that looks  a little like rickrack.

Thread a needle and use two strands to sew with.

Starting at one end and, following the drawn lines, do a running stitch all the way to the other end.  

At about every 5 inches draw up the thread and the ruffle will begin to emerge.

When the entire strip has been stitched and gathered, then simply shape it into a circle and build the flower in layers.  I tacked it together as I went along.

I attached it to my finished pillow top and inserted my pillow form.
Voila!!!

                                 Well, I think I like it!! 


                                     Too cute for words!

                                     -sandi

GETTING BACK ON TRACK

Hard to believe it has been about a month since I last posted to my blog.  What a month it has been!

Made one last trip to AQS Quiltweek Charlotte to promote the upcoming AQS show in Chattanooga.

Hung out with some neat quilters and shot a video for the Convention and Visitors Bureau Annual Meeting.

Travelled around the area highway yard sales with hubster while he was "picking" for his upcoming sales.

LilBit helping Papa with the Longest Yard Sale!!  What a great weekend that was!

Enjoyed a visit with my grandson, Nick, before school started!!  Hard to believe that he is in Middle School now.

Saw my first grandson, Preston, head off to Auburn University for his freshman year!

More promotion for Quiltweek!


FINALLY, it is here!!!





 Chattanooga was host to its first ever AQS Quiltweek September 10-13!! What an exciting time for all the quilters in our area.  There were so many wonderful quilts on display in the show area.  One of the special exhibits was the BAQS exhibit curated by our very own Maddie Kertay from Spool. I was privileged to have a quilt hanging in that exhibit.

I did get a little sewing done this month.

Added my "round" to Karen's Round Robin piece this month.  Loved working with the crazy log cabin blocks.  It will be interesting to see the final round and completion of this project!

Working on a quilt for a customer.

This month has been exciting and busy.  I am looking forward to getting back into my usual routine and finishing the quilting on several projects.  The travelling is over and the AQS show was a success so now I can go back to quilting.


                                    -sandi

DOINGS IN JULY

It has been a while since I have posted.  

July was indeed a very busy month for me.  I worked on lots of projects and completed a few.

Chattanooga is a host city for AQS Quiltweek September 10-13, 2014.  I have had the pleasure of working on many of the venues throughout the city where quilts will be showcased during this event.  I will be posting more about AQS Quiltweek in a few weeks.
I spent time putting sleeves on five quilts to be hung as part of an exhibit at our local mall.
I also had two quilts accepted for the BAQS exhibit.  One of the quilts will be shown in Chattanooga and the other one in Des Moines. Both of these had to be prepped and mailed.
I will show pictures of these quilts later after they are in place.

I was able to finish the top for my Pineapple Blocks quilt.

This quilt is now ready for quilting on my domestic sewing machine.  Maybe next month???

Some other projects that I have ready to quilt:

A fun project from a SewIn at Chattanooga Modern Quilt Guild:

And I read a good little book in some of my spare time.

August is in full swing now and I have been busy with so much paperwork and preparations for our AQS Show that I have not spent a lot of time sewing.

-sandi

PORCH CHATTER: THROWBACK THURSDAY

This Throwback Thursday is not about quilting.  It is about summertime living.

When I buy green beans in the summertime, I follow a certain ritual when I prepare them.  Sometimes I am going to have only one meal from what I bought at the Open Air Market and other times I buy enough to freeze some for later.

No matter how much I have, I still follow the ritual of sitting on my back porch in my swing and breaking the beans.  This is how I remember the way we did it when I was growing up.

This morning was that morning this week for me to break beans.  I had enough for this evening's supper and more for later that I put in my freezer.

When I am doing this my mind wanders back to the days when we played outside, usually barefoot, until it was dark.  Since we had no air conditioning, we simply found a shady spot for cooling off.

Just thinkin' about "Summertime and the livin' is easy . . . "

This was LilBit's contribution to the morning's  activity.

She just "sunbathed" on the rug by the door!

Do you have "rituals" like this?  Things you do because they bring back great memories of a "time gone by"?


                           -sandi

THROWBACK THURSDAY 2

Throwback Thursday 2 is another post about one of my very first quilts.

 

My daughter's heritage from her paternal side of the family is Irish.  When I first started quilting I decided to make an Irish Chain quilt for her.  I used Eleanor Burns pattern.

 

This label says the quilt was made in 1998.  I had just started quilting and was still stumbling along.

 

The fabrics are definitely examples of a tentative quilter.  One light, one medium light, and one medium.  Not much contrast.  Just enough to see the pattern.

This quilt is queen size and was quilted on my domestic sewing machine.  The pictures are current.  She still uses that quilt.

Yes, that is LilBit resting on the pillow!

So many of my quilts live with my daughter and her family.  I am trying to photograph all of them and get them into albums on my computer.  I have some hard copy pictures, but they have not been journaled well at all.


                                               -sandi

THROW BACK THURSDAY

When I started quilting I was self-taught.  Having been a sewist for most of my life (made my first pillow at age 10), I thought I could teach myself to quilt.  It worked out fine.  As time went by I decided to take classes and improve my skills.

I was like most quilters when I started.  I thought everyone would want a quilt!  Oh my, found out that was not totally the case!

One of the first quilts I ever made was a gift for someone.  I took into consideration that this person was a craftsman and I chose some fabrics that looked like wood grains and stones and decided to make a simple Stack and Whack called Pointless Wonder.  Not sure I remember who wrote this pattern. 

I thought it was perfect and I called the finish, "Stars for Construction".  I was thanked properly for it, but with little enthusiasm.  After all, it was totally machine made and not "hand quilted".  You know the story - not a real quilt if done by machine.

I gave the finished quilt (really small size) for a Christmas gift.  When I would visit I would see it lying on the back of the couch.  Not sure it was big enough to ever be used much. 

This is a really ugly quilt!!  It is very dull and boring.  The only thing I find interesting is the way I put the sashing in and did not use cornerstones!

The quilt has now come back to me since the recipient has passed away.  I look at this little quilt and remember how proud I was when I completed it in  2002.

So, I look at it now and wonder "What was I thinking?"  That little jewel is so pitiful!!  It is loosely quilted and I used some kind of poly batting that has not behaved well at all.

I simply did what I knew at the time. As I review my quilts over the years I see myself improving.  My quilts have continued to evolve. 

                                           -sandi

WHAT HAPPENED IN JUNE

June has been a very busy month for my family and me.  We have had a high school graduation

The Birmingham Boys Choir Spring Concert

Fifth Grade Awards Day

And several days of visiting with our grandchildren.  Whew!! How wonderful and busy.

I have not accomplished very much in the way of quilting this month, but I will show what I have worked on and/or completed.

I completed the Auburn quilt for my grandson to take to college with him.  The pattern came from "Skip the Borders" written by Julie Herman.

My contribution to Sharon's block from our SLKS quilting buddies Round Robin.

This is a small (9" x 11") sketch piece for Modern Quilt Guild.  It is called "Roy G. Biv #1).  A larger piece will develop from this practice sketch piece.  All Kona Cottons.

The back of "Roy G. Biv #1". 

Another block finished in my Starry,
Starry Night BOM from scrappy Batiks.

Chattanooga Modern Quilt
Guild Sew-In Project for this
quarter was this cute little carry-
all pouch bag.




I always keep some practice pieces sandwiched together so I can check my quilting stitches, etc. before I use them on the "real" project.  When I finish, I make them into placemats.  This is a nice Maple Leaf orphan block worked into a mat.

 

This is Linda showing what she did for her row on my SLKS Round Robin this month.

It did not seem to me that I accomplished very much when I thought about the month, but when I look at this post, I feel better about what I have achieved.

Thanks for stopping by!!

                                -sandi

 

 

GOING TO COLLEGE!

My family has been a part of my quilting hobby turned part-time business with passion for many years now.  They have endured hearing me chatter on and on about a project; they have been the recipients of some of my best work and some of my "learning curve" work; and they have even offered me suggestions for patterns to try for quilts.

My older grandson, Preston, became a senior in high school this year.  His ambition is to become a vet, so he started talking about college choices.  He decided Auburn University, with its reputation for having an outstanding Veterinary Medicine program would be his choice.

Of course, I began thinking about THE QUILT to celebrate his high school graduation and to send him off for his college career.  I had been talking about "the modern movement" in quilting that I see emerging.  Preston and I had been looking at a couple of the "modern" books I was reviewing.  He said, "Gram, I want you to make me a modern quilt." 

That launched the idea of a school quilt using the school colors in the style of the modern aesthetic.

First, I found the pattern in "Skip the Borders" by Jaybird Quilts that I wanted to use. 

I chose three shades of orange to use for the Courthouse Square and Half Log Cabin blocks.  The center square is Kona Flame, followed by Kona Carrot and the outer log is Kona Mango.  This gradation forces the design to stand out.

 

The other fabric I chose was a Marine Blue from Kona.

 

 

I loved it when it was completed.  The no-borders and the use of the Kona solids in the innovative layout of the "traditional" blocks made this a "Modern Quilt".

 

My college-bound grandson loves it!!!  What more can I ask for???

He said, "I love it!  I will use it all the time!"

"WAR EAGLE!!!!"

 

-sandi

 

 

PORCH CHATTER: SUMMER VACATION BEGINS

This month got kicked off with my trip to Birmingham to have a week long play date with my younger grandson.  Of course, he is 11 years old and I am not babysitting.  We are just playing together this week.

The first thing he told me when I arrived was that he got an ENO for making straight As on his report card this year.  I must admit that, at first, I did not know what he was talking about!  Then he invited me to come watch him set it up and then to get in and enjoy it with him.  We spent over an hour looking up through the tree canopy and watching clouds and talking.  Wowee!!! How much fun!

I have to admit this does look like a canoe we are in.  It is the most comfortable hammock I have ever been in!

Of course we had early morning swim team practice every
morning.

We came back to Chattanooga to enjoy a fun Staycation Day in Chatty with Papa.

We spent the day enjoying Point Park on Lookout Mountain.

Then we helped Papa sell at the Dixie Highway Yard Sale on Saturday.

Nick went home on Sunday and today was his first swim meet.  I am so sorry we missed being there.  He will be coming back soon.

Nick with his friends, Maria and Elizabeth Rae.

 

 

So this is the start of my summer vacation!!!

 

 

-sandi