A Quilt-centric Summer.....

Sometimes all deadlines seem to collide into one small window, right?   Usually, it seems to happen near the holidays but, for me, it happened in June.  Many deadlines came to a head, and a few unanticipated opportunities that I simply could not pass up.  So, what I am trying to say is that, at times, I am my own worst enemy.  It seems that a good deadline is often needed to propel me across the finish line with some of my art projects.
I will write a separate post about traveling to Cleveland to tape two segments for "Fresh Quilting", but I wanted to write about the studio activity surrounding that and other projects.

First, I wanted to show you our little "quilt-turning" while the San Antonio Modern guild 

had its retreat in Kerrville at the Creations retreat center.  Have you heard about it?

Creations is an amazing quilt shop:  so well-curated!  They purchased the house across their shop parking lot and renovated it into a fabulous retreat center.  We love driving up there twice a year!

The "camp counselors" organized this quilt turning and each attendee brought a quilt to discuss.  We toured each others' rooms to see the quilts.  Fun!

I was surprised and thrilled to see Urban Artifacts was being carried in the shop!

I reside on the same shelf as Marcia Derse, and that gives me a lot of joy...

I knew Marcia's fabric would play well with mine, and vice versa.

 Okay, so I probably didn't really have time to go on that retreat but I MADE time to go because I love my sister guild-members and I didn't want to miss out on the fun.  Our guild is the best, people.
There is such generosity of spirit, acceptance, and mutual support with very little "drama".  I am a happy member.

Hi from the studio!  I'm standing in front of part of my very-full design wall.

These UFO's are haunting me...

Now, here is what I worked on back in my home studio:

"Hedgehog Social" is a digitally-printed piece that is based on a quilt I constructed

last year.  I took the photo of the quilt and altered the colors in PicMonkey, 

then printed FQs on the Spoonflower site.

The beautiful graffiti quilting is done by Joanna Marsh.

The theme of the month was:  facing the quilts!!!

Joanna Marsh, of Kustom Kwilts and Designs did the marvelous quilting

that I denoted for this piece, as well as the beautiful graffiti-style work on the Hedgehog quilt

and all the obsessive matchstick quilting that I requested on the others below.

Her work is just amazing and I am grateful to be able to collaborate with her.

This is another digital piece, part of a series that has begun this summer.

It is called "Summer of Love: Psychedelic Produce" (I know... it is a bit crazy)

This is an altered image of a cross-cut Napa cabbage.

I improv-cut and re-pieced the central portions of all four cabbages.

If you look closely you will notice that there are two tones of pink and two tones of yellow, a "glowing" one and a "flat" one (hello Nancy Crow-language).

I love the way this little subtlety makes the quilt sparkle.

Isn't the quilting amazing?!

Here is the back, a custom-printed Tula Pink fabric.  Gorgeous!

I love to put facings on most quilts as I love the clean edge they create. 

My facing has a curved corner.

This piece was created with solids sent to me by the sponsor of my segment on Improv Piecing

for "Fresh Quilting" series 200.  The quilt was ruler-free cut with a rotary cutter and machine-pieced.

Joanna quilted it with narrow matchstick lines that are slightly organic.

By the way, my new and perfect batting combo for pieces that will go to shows is this:

Quilter's Dream Orient (a silk/cotton blend) as the base, topped with Quilter's Dream Wool.

This combo is lightweight, will quilt to a very low-loft, and the wool prevents creasing during shipping.  It is just what I have been searching for.  Most double-bats get so weighty! 

This is just great.

This quilt is another digitally printed image, altered in PicMonkey and printed FQs from Spoonflower.  The image was taken under the pier at Wrightsville Beach NC when I traveled there

to stay with a friend after Quiltcon Savannah.  I created the negative space borders to reference

the architectural details seen in the pier.  I love this quilt!

Same batting:  Quilter's Dream Orient topped with QD Wool.

Organically matchstick quilted by Joanna Marsh.

This quilt, called "Interchange I", is a ruler-free improv quilt I constructed 

as part of a Nancy Crow workshop called "Sets & Variables".  This had a specific 

set of parameters that I had to adhere to:  size and two blocks were high contrast value, 

the two others were to have colors that were of the same value.  It was

quite challenging!  The quilt was longarm quilted by the wonderful Gina Pina from Austin.

This quilt has a single wool batting and the quilting echoes the basic shapes of the 

composition in 1/2" lines.  

I need to get a full image shot of this quilt, another from the Improvisational exercises workshop,

an advanced workshop with Nancy Crow.  This may be one of my very favorite quilts ever made.

I love this quilt so much.  It is very special to me, and I am just teasing you with this "quilt pile"

on my sewing table.  I was frantically putting the facing on it before I went to tape the 

"Fresh Quilting" episodes.  You will see it hanging in that blog post....

Next up: a detail from  "Resist Tyranny", a curator-piece I constructed to be part of 

an exhibition called Threads of Resistance.  

and here I am in Lowell at the New England Quilt Museum, standing in front of the quilt.

At the reception held at the home of my friend Sue Bleiweiss, on the right.

L-R:  Judy Coates Perez, Michele Muska, myself, and Sue.

So.  That was a LOT of quilt finishing inside the month of June.  Plus, I went to Los Angeles for a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, flew to Cleveland for the taping of Fresh Quilting, and squeezed a quilt retreat into the mix.  Hey, it keeps me out of mischief.

Introducing "Quilting: The New Classics"! Woo Hoo! Let's hop!

All quilters draw inspiration from the past. But how do today's artisans put their personal stamp on classic patterns? Twenty influential quilters from across the stylistic spectrum present their unique creative vision of timeless designs. Each pattern, Double Wedding Ring, Crazy Quilt, Dresden Plate, Bear Paw, Log Cabin, Nine Patch, Hexagon, Yo-Yo, Flying Geese, and Rail Fence, comes with step-by-step instructions for two adaptations, one traditional, the other modern.

The book also includes a history of each pattern, images of heirloom or museum-quality quilts for inspiration, easy-to-use templates and essential quilting techniques.

Forwards by Meg Cox and Janneken Smucker.

I was thrilled and honored when my dear friend, Michele Muska, invited me to contribute to her book, "Quilting:  The New Classics".  I began my journey as a quilt maker in the early 80's, inspired by the work of a nurse-colleague.  My paternal grandmother, Maude Tucker, was the town seamstress and a quilt maker of considerable talent.  Participating in this book as a contributing artist makes me feel like my grandmother would be proud of me.

I love many things about the style of this book.  First, the paper feels so great!  I think we are weirdly tactile creatures, us artists.  The paper quality is exceptional.  I love that the book has folds on the front and back cover which makes it easy to place-hold a page.

The matte finish is wonderful and so is the photography and layout.  Each quilt "style" is represented by a traditional interpretation as well as a modern translation, and they are featured side-by-side in the book.  I have never seen this done before and I love it.

Since I adore hexagon quilts of any size and shape it was great to be asked to create a 'modern' version of this classic shape.   As much as I love paper piecing hexagons I wanted to see if I could construct them in a different way.
First, I constructed a long section of strip-pieced fabrics.

After drawing and cutting several graduated sizes of hexagons from paper, I used these to cut my hexagons using a 1/4 inch seam allowance around the paper shapes.  I cut two in each size, front and back.

Placing the right sides together, I stitched the front and back of each hexagon together leaving one side of each open (in order to turn the shape right-side-out).

Before turning, the corners need to be trimmed close to the seam to allow a crisp point.

After turning the hexagon right-side-out, I turned the raw edge opening in so it could be pressed into place, then stitched it closed.

After the hexagon is stitched it was placed onto the quilt top surface and stitched into place all around the perimeter.  

Just for fun, and because I am slightly nuts, I added four octagons for a little visual confusion.

I like the result!  Hexi and Octi go out for a date!

I continue to have an intense love affair with all shades of gray.  Fifty?  Why limit oneself to so few?!

(Side-note:  I was just in a class with a woman who told me she loved this shade of Kona gray so much that, if this color of fabric were a man, she would marry him.)  I sort of understand.

Apparently the book also functions as a hat.

Here is Michele, posing with our fellow Quilt Alliance board member, Mark Lipinski.

There is so much great stuff in this book, and you could WIN one by leaving a comment!  I will be doing a drawing to give away a copy of this gorgeous book from those who have written me a note here.   You must comment by November 1st to be eligible for the drawing.
Please use the following link to order your own copy of this gorgeous book:

http://www.amazon.com/Quilting-New-Classics-Inspired-Traditional/dp/1936096803

Stop by all these amazing artists for more inspiration:

Oct. 20th Michele Muska http://www.lolarae.com/blog.html

Oct. 21^st Leslie Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com

Oct. 22^nd Janneken Smucker   http://www.janneken.org/category/blog/

Oct. 23^rd Valerie Bothell http://pinkbunnykansas.blogspot.com

Oct. 24^th Kaari Meng www.frenchgeneral.blogspot.com

Oct. 25^th Elisa Sims Albury : www.stitchoutsidetheditch.com

Oct. 26^th Heather Jones www.oliveandollie.com

Oct. 27^th Victoria Findlay Wolfe http://www.bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com

Oct. 28^th Amy Smart http://www.diaryofaquilter.com

Oct. 29^th Jackie Kunkel http://cvquiltworks.com/blogs/blog\

Oct. 30^th Pat Sloan http://blog.patsloan.com/

Oct. 31^st Shelly Pagliai  http://prairiemoonquilts.com/?page_id=62

Nov. 1^st Allie Aller www.alliesinstitches.blogspot.com

Nov. 2^nd Kristin Omdahl www.styledbykristin.com

Nov. 3^rd Jacquie Gering http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/

Nov. 3^rd Pat Sloan 4:00pm eastern time http://toginet.com/shows/americanpatchworkandquiltingradio

“The Voice of Quilting” American Patchwork and Quilting radio show 

Also, stay tuned for some great inspiration and ideas from some of our contributors’ newsletters and social media platforms!
Meg Cox with Quilt Journalist Tells All
New York times Best Selling Author Marie BostwickMegan Frock of Downtown Housewife

And more from Marci Elmer Warren, Linda Pumphrey, Bonnie Bus and Darlene Zimmerman!