Times to Remember Quilt Show

Today, I found out what quilt heaven looks like!  

Attended a quilt show at the Wolcott Grist Mill.  

With you, my audience, in mind 

I took lots of pictures of the quilts for your enjoyment.

In a huge old barn,

there were a 

large number of quilts on display, 

big and small, encompassing 

a wide variety of techniques.  

But let me first show you 

the beautiful surroundings

 along the path that led 

to this old barn.

It was a beautiful first day of Fall

just cool enough for comfort.

There were 

wooden plaques for sale

And stars everywhere!

Little stars and big stars

among sunshine and shadows

Look at that
lovely braided quilt
on the right

Stars and more stars!

And a beautiful 

stained glass 

Mother and Child quilt

DH enjoyed reading about the history 

of the Grist Mill but was otherwise 

bored out of his mind!

A baby quilt

A Broken Arrows quilt?

A Red and White quilt

This quilt was layered 

and ready to be tied.  

If you look closely, 

you'll see this is a Crayon quilt.

A Jelly Roll quilt 

in the red, white and blue

Stars galore!

Here's our favorite Whirlygig 

or Twist and Turn 

table topper.

Turkey trying to escape 

from becoming the main dish 

for Thanksgiving Dinner

There were enough Star quilts 

to light up the night skies!

The atmosphere was warm 

and congenial

Some quilts were 

hard to decipher - 

me thinks this next one is 

a Pinwheel quilt

A Sampler quilt 

with a Jelly Roll quilt 

in rainbow colors 

in the background

Another Sampler quilt

flanked by the rainbow 

Jelly Roll quilt

A close up of 

the rainbow 

Jelly Roll quilt

 There were two 

Fabric Challenges on display

A Red & White embroidered quilt

 And a very old quilt

A modern quilt

A Hawaiian 

pineapple 

Welcome quilt

Another Pinwheel quilt

 More Star and 

Pinwheel quilts

Elaborate 

Irish Chain quilt

 Baby Boy quilts

A variety of
bags and totes 

on the far wall

A lovely 

Double Irish Chain quilt 

with Appliqued Hearts

An Alphabet quilt

Diamonds are 

a girl's best friend

An appliqued Sampler 

and Flying Geese quilt

 A girly Story Book quilt

Modern quilts

 Notice more 

bags and totes 

on the left wall

A traditional 

LoneStar quilt 

in modern colors

A Redwork quilt

 Another modern (?) quilt

A Patriotic quilt

A modern baby quilt

 I found the 

Owl fascinating 

because it's wearing 

eyeglasses!

 A modern 

Nine Patch quilt 

set on point

  A Charm quilt

Take a look at this 

miniature barn vignette 

flanked on the right 

by two very cute miniature quilts

A Birdhouse quilt

My favorite Overall Sam 

Juggling Clowns

There were rows and rows of quilts.  

Each hanger holds two quilts back to back!

 Here's another Blue & White quilt

And a Red & White quilt

and a hexagon I Spy quilt

 A Log Cabin quilt

 Appliqued quilts

I love this 

American Flag quilt 

with Whirlygigs!

An adorable 

appliqued Star quilt 

in earth tones

 Too cute! 

Halloween quilts

These witches 

are three dimensional!

 A quilt in 

primary colors

The tag reads:

Fidget Quilts

Made by Riverside Quilters

and donated to Memory Care 

and Alzheimer Units for restless

hands and therapy use 

 Beautiful quilting on 

a Purple, Black and White quilt

Sampler quilt

 This, I'm sure, 

qualifies as a modern quilt 

because there's no rhyme or reason to it

Love the 

Red and White quilt 

in the background

 Lovely yellow Medallion quilt!

A vignette of little quilts

My all-time favorite 

Kaleidescope quilt

Another vignette 

of little quilts

 A beautiful time 

in a beautiful place

surrounded by warm 

and wonderful quilts :)

  

 Hope you enjoyed this afternoon as much as I did!

Cheers!

Twisted Xmas Wreath Quilt Top Is Done!

Twisted Xmas Wreath Quilt Top

Finally got the quilt top done!  I'd started this in July as a Christmas in July project, but had to put it on hold because there was too much going on.

See the completed quilt here!

Cheers!

Navy Week at GM Renaissance Center in Detroit

Spent an altogether awesome day yesterday. Went downtown to see the Tall Ships on the Detroit River, demos by US Navy, and Search and Rescue by US Coast Guard, then had dinner at Moti Mahal in Royal Oak, which is unrecognizable from what I remember 27 years ago!

Pictures and narrative: http://chumkiestravels.blogspot.com/2012/09/navy-week-at-gm-renaissance-center-in.html

Traditional Cathedral Windows Mini Quilt

This is the finished piece for QAL #3 - Traditional Cathedral Windows.

Traditional Cathedral Windows Mini Quilt

This project took a while to complete, mainly because I had unexpected guests for most of July and August was very busy as we went on a cruise of the Inland Passage in Alaska.

I like the quilting on the back of this Cathedral Windows (CW) quilt which was accomplished while the frames were being sewn down over the window frames.

Quilting on back of mini quilt

I took a serpentine route, somewhat akin to continuous quilting, down the blocks of the quilt as I stitched the frames in place, folding down the bias sides as I went.  This added more interest to an otherwise mundane process.  The center of the quilt was sewn first in this way and then the top and side edges were sewn in one, continuous step.

There are several reasons why this quilt was so interesting to make, not the least of which is that no batting or backing is required.  It's a quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) project and is perfect for small segments of available time.  Even though I'm very proud of this little quilt as it now looks, it can be expanded to a full size quilt by adding on more CW blocks over time.

On the other hand, it can be converted into a cushion cover, used as a table topper or simply displayed as a mini quilt.

It's now time to pick up my most recent work-in-process (WIP) and finish my Twisted Christmas Wreath quilt.

Until then,

Cheers!

Inspiration - Twisted Xmas Wreath Quilt

It all started with an inspiration piece I found on the internet - a Christmas wreath wall hanging made with the Li'l Twister Tool.

It was the last week in July so I still had time to make a 'Christmas in July' quilt.  I ordered the tool from Quilted Works and read their tutorial to familiarize myself with the ruler.  Received it in the mail before the week was out and set to work with a Christmas themed Charm Pack, which had also just arrived.

Winterscapes Charm Pack

The Li'l Twister Tool makes pinwheels really easy to construct.  All I had to do was sew my 5" charm squares into the required configuration, line up the ruler the same way each time, and cut around each and every intersection.  Then it was a matter of taking that square from cutting table to design wall and placing it in the exact same location as it was in the sewing configuration.

Placement of Li'l Twister

The Li'l Twister is perfect for 5" charms and its sister the Big Twister is meant to be used with 10" layer cake squares.  These rulers are really easy to use because of the teeny tiny feet in the four corners.  They raise the ruler off the fabric so the rulers are steady and don't rock due to the bulk in the seams.

Here are a couple of more pictures of Xmas Wreath quilts made with the Li'l Twister.

See the completed quilt here.

Cheers!

Thursday's Tutorial

I've just published the third in a series of Quilt-ALongs on Cathedral Windows techniques.  Take a look and leave a comment or any questions you may have.  Any and all suggestions on how I can improve on the content are also welcome!

Cheers!

QAL #3 - Cathedral Windows

The Traditional Cathedral Windows
  

Finished Size of Quilt = 16”

Finished Size of Block = 4”

For the third technique in this series for constructing Cathedral Windows, we will be making a cushion cover or a small quilt, comprising 16 blocks arranged 4 blocks across by 4 blocks down.

Traditional Cathedral Windows - A Mini Quilt

The components of a Cathedral Window block are the foundation or background fabric, the frame and the window pane.  In this variation, the foundation and frame are made from the same fabric.  The window panes can be as varied as you wish.

Table for Cutting Instructions

 Note: 

1. The cutting instructions will make 1 CW block.

2. The numbers in parentheses in the column descriptions represent the number of squares required for each CW block. 

3. The window pane should be cut 1/4” smaller than the finished size of the frame.  Measure for and cut the window panes after the first frame is constructed.

Block Size	Foundation (1)	Pane (1) approx.
2”	4 ½“	1 ¼“
3”	6½ “	2”
4”	8 ½”	2 1/4”
5”	10 ½“	3”
6”	12 ½ “	4”

For 16 Cathedral Window blocks that will each finish at 4” square, refer to the table above for the 4” block and cut

16 foundations

16 window panes (not shown – cut after 1^st frame is constructed)

Cut 16 foundation squares

Make an 8” template from cardboard for pressing a ¼“ seam on 4 sides of each foundation square.

Use a box cutter to cut cardboard template

Place the template in the center of the foundation and press ¼“ seam using the template as a guide.

Press 1/4" seam on 4 sides of foundation around template 

Fold the foundation in half and press.  Fold in half again and press to crease a vertical and horizontal line on the foundation.

Create two folds on foundation 

Using the creases as a guide, fold the 4 corners to the center and press.

Fold 4 corners to center and press

Do this again.  Fold the 4 corners to the center and press.  This is your 4” Cathedral Window block.

4" Cathedral Window block

Repeat this process for all 16 foundation squares.  To join the foundations together, open a flap on two blocks and sew them together on the creases. 

Sew adjacent flaps on two blocks

The sewn flaps make 1 frame.  Measure 1 side of the frame and cut 16 window panes ½“smaller than the size of the frame.  My frame measured 2 ¾“, so my window panes were cut 2 ¼“ square.

Four 4 1/2 " fabric squares cut in 4 = 16 window panes

Join all 16 foundations in this way and there should be 8 pairs.  Join 2 pairs together by sewing the two flaps that are between the 2 sewn flaps. 

1 quadrant with 4 flaps sewn together

Join the 4 quadrants together and tack the corners of the frames down with a cross stitch.  Place a window pane in the center of a frame, roll the bias sides of the frame around it and pin in place.

Pin window panes in place

Sew the bias sides of the frame around each window pane and your 16” quilt is done!

Completed Mini Quilt 16" Square

This quilt does not require batting or a backing.  Sewing the frames down over the window panes serves as the quilting. 

Quilting on Back of Mini Quilt

Follow instructions for How to Assemble A Cushion Cover, keeping the following in mind:

There is no need to make a backing for the cushion cover because the back is already done!

Use a 16" pillow insert.

Cheers!

Wednesday's WIP

Cathedral Windows - A Quilt-Along

For the last two weeks, I've been conducting a Quilt-Along for members of Desi Quilters, a group of modern quilters of Indian descent, living in India and abroad.  My aim was to present modern variations of the traditional Cathedral Windows quilt, which is beautiful to behold but pretty tedious to construct.

I began with QAL #1 - an Orange Peel Quilt.

Made by a Desi Quilters member

Take a look at pictures of this QAL on Facebook.

QAL #2 using the 1-Seam Flying Geese technique, was presented last week and I presume is still being worked on by members of our quilt group.  Take a look at the pictures of this QAL currently posted on Facebook.

I begin QAL #3 - Traditional Cathedral Windows today.  I hope to be done with this QAL by the end of this week.

I will return to post pictures and the link to my blog for this QAL when it's complete.  Even though there have been major interruptions to this effort, I've managed to keep on track and schedule and am confident it will be completed successfully

Cheers!