A Very Pleasant Day

Even though it's just a few hours by car from my home, I've never been to the Mt. Pleasant Quilting Company in  York, New York. So when I was invited to do a trunk show and book signing at a special event, I was thrilled, but wasn't quite sure what to expect. Every year, Barb Miller, the owner of this amazing destination shop just outside of Rochester, New York, hosts a review of some of the newest, coolest quilty stuff she unearthed at Quilt Market.

I knew I was headed in the right direction, when a quick glance down the road showed me where all the cars were.

The tent just a few steps away from the shop was all abuzz with quilters waiting to see and sample the latest gadgets on this beautiful early summer Saturday.

Then, just before lunch, it was my turn. Barb, our emcee introduced me . . .

And I turned to face this sea of happy quilters! (I told you when I took this picture I would put you on my blog!)

Well, we had a good chat. Looked at some quilts. And it was wonderful to meet so many quilters who purchased the book and waited patiently for me to sign it.

Then, I just had to take a peek inside the shop.

Of course, I visited the powder room and found some treasures on the wall there. This plaque . . .

And this one . . .

And another on a shelf.

Turns out, there were a lot of distractions in there.

As I headed back down the road, this series of grain storage buildings was at the end of the road. So, you see, I really was smack in the middle of farm land.

(I bet this would make a cool quilt!)

Happy Stitching!
Joan

So Many Choices, So Little Time!

Last summer I challenged all my readers to use their orphan quilt blocks in a quick summer project. We had a competition, a judge, and a really amazing prize package! It was a lot of fun, and it really helped me clear out some of those orphan blocks in my own stash as I created some of the projects I wrote about.

This summer, I'm challenging myself to finish up a few things--and start a few things too. Sorry, no prizes this year, just some plain old-fashioned quilting motivation.

Earlier this year, I started working on this project. The pattern is inspired by a single quilt block from a book full of modern quilt blocks--the book is Modern Blocks from Stash Books, compiled by Suzanne Woods--and this block is the only triangle block in the bunch. I honestly can't say I'm in love with the project. I had to alter the instructions to be able to hand-sew the block. And create the sashing templates--it needed something between the blocks. I love the fabric selection--something from my stash that I purchased year or two ago. Needless to say, this project has some challenges. So, it made me think. . . .

If I'm going to work on a hand sewing project, several years ago, before hexagons hit their current state of hyper-rage, I started making this hexie quilt from a bunch of scraps. The 3/4" hexagons are hand sewn--no paper piecing--English or otherwise. These are done with template plastic, pencil markings, pins and thread. All the hexagons are prepped and ready to sew. And all the diamond-shaped blocks are assembled. I only need to complete the quilt top, come up with some sort of border treatment, and quilt it. "Only"  . . .Ha!

This one is actually a really fun project. I bet it's the first one to get completed this summer! As much as I'm enjoying stitching this project, it serves as a good reminder that Inklingo might be the way to go next time I have an urge to hand-sew hexies together!






With all the summer graduation party invitations, it's good to have a fast and fun project ready to roll. My good friends Susan and Christine, The Swirly Girls, have a new book out, and I'm just itching to make something from it! Four fat quarters and some yardage. Let's see what happens next . .

Every quilter should have a quilt on their own bed, right? Well here's a close up of the quilt on my bed. It has seen better days.

Maybe this summer, I'll create something new and scrappy. These fat quarters and a couple of pretty blue solids seem to want to become something. We'll see. . . .

And these Half-Square Triangles are part of an online HST exchange. Before summer began, each group member (including me!) made a pile of half-square triangles. All were sent to one coordinator, and they were swapped. Now I have a pile of HSTs and a deadline. Will my project be complete by Labor Day? Is the suspense killing you? Yeah, me too!

Karen and Josh welcomed Faye to the family in May. That means, she needs a baby quilt. Let's see if we can get that finished up this summer with our Quilting 101 lesson plan!

Plus one more! I'd like to spend some time showing you some of the projects in the new book in more detail as the summer progressed. There is some great stuff in here!

What about you? Do you have any quilty goals for the summer?

Or . . . maybe it's best to let the quilts decide.

Happy Stitching!


A Great Escape!

I made a last-minute decision to accept an invitation to vend at the Wings Falls Quilters Guild Quilt show this past weekend. The group meets regularly in Glens Falls, New York.

Glens Falls is at the very eastern edge of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. In the summertime, that means it's time for some fun!

Although summer hasn't officially arrived yet. The temperature on the last day of May when I arrived in the area, was hot and steamy. How fortunate that Martha's Dandee Creme was located directly across the street from my hotel!

Not just your average ice cream stand, Martha's has an interesting history. Seems Martha lived in New York City in the 1930s, she came to the Lake George area (just a few miles north of Glens Falls) and fell in love with it. She convinced her family to help her finance the purchase of some land--a popular restaurant and ice cream stand soon followed. "Charlie" the rooster portrayed on the huge sign in front of the ice cream stand, likely was inspired by one of the residents in the chicken coop located behind the original restaurant and residence! 

Directly across the street from Martha's (and next door to my hotel) is the The Great Escape theme park.

Complete with a huge gut-releasing ride at it's entrance, the park is surrounded with lush green, shady trees.

And a couple of roller coasters!

The park looked like it would be a fabulous good time, but back at the quilt show I had a booth to prepare!

The Wings Falls Quilters Guild holds their biennial show in The Dome at the Adirondack Sports Complex in Queensbury, New York. The Dome is a huge athletic arena with a vinyl roof that is supported by air pressure.

After passing through a couple of garage doors that kept the pressure-ized air in, I was able to drive right up to my booth space, unload the car and get started. Here we are, ready to roll! My booth was located right at 'home plate!'

As luck would have it, the booth right next to mine was my good friends at Loose Threads Quilt Shop from Plattsburgh. They had lots of tempting quilty treats, including some Snap Sack kits. So did the folks at Adirondack Quilts in a booth on the opposite side of the arena.

And here's another collection of tempting wool treats available from a vendor at the show.

And then there were the quilts. This one, made from a pattern by Edyta Sitar, was made by Pam Schafer using primarily Daiwabo Taupe fabrics. Lovely!

And this one also made by Pam Schafer from a pattern by Mary Ross and Barbara Shea was a real beauty.

With so many quilts on display, leave it to me to find the hummingbird! (A detail from the quilt above)

As a vendor, I was asked to select a "Vendor's Choice" quilt. I just loved all the birds appliqued into these quilt blocks. And the quilt looks so scrappy, too. I couldn't resist! It was made by Nancy Swezey after she took a workshop with Becky Goldsmith.

It seems like I was drawn to applique quilts as I took some quick photos, but all the quilts were just fabulous! All the entries were really amazing!

By the end of the show, it was time to head back to the hotel. Martha's was hoppin'!

But still time to find a quiet spot by the hotel swimming pool next to a beautiful clematis in full bloom.

Happy Stitching!

Beads and Bling for Faye

First, I have some news! I'm headed to Alaska next summer! I have teamed up with Quilt Retreats at Sea for a quilt cruise that will whet your appetite for breakfast! The theme for our cruise is "Breakfast at Sea" so be on the lookout for an original quilty project that involves fabulous batik "Snaps," "Crackers," and "Pops" from Hoffman California Fabrics. We launch from Seattle on July 11, 2014, and I simply can't wait! I hope you'll join me. Registration for the trip is officially open, and space is limited. Go sign up! It's something to look forward to for 2014! It'll be here before you know it!

Back here in 2013, are you interested in winning a copy of ScrapTherapy, Scraps Plus One!? To celebrate all the blogging we did on the road to Portland, Oregon for Spring Quilt Market, The Taunton Press is giving away three copies of the book on the CraftStylish blog. You have to comment on this blog entry to win. Don't miss out  . . . you just have a few more days to comment.

And yet another big event happened this last week. My niece Karen--she's the one who is making her very first quilt over on the Quilting101 Blog--and her husband Josh welcomed a new baby girl on May 21st! Their first!

Everyone is doing great, including beautiful Faye Eloise (Isn't she a sweetie-pie!). I couldn't help making a little project for her--more on that below. Spoiler alert: Karen, if you are reading this, read no further until a package arrives in the mail from (your favorite) Aunt Joan!


On our trip across the country, from Syracuse to Portland a few weeks ago, you may recall that we stopped at several quilt shops along the way. On one of the stops I saw this little pattern from Macadoodles made up as a shop sample. Knowing my niece's baby was due some time in May, I just had to have it!

As soon as I received a call from my sister telling me that Faye had arrived, I started stitching. I made a few small modifications to the embroidery pattern. And, instead of placing the embroidery in a wooden frame, I decided to add some fabric borders and create a small quilt. Layered and quilted it simply.

Well one decision led to another, and before I knew it I added some fun lacy stitches to the border with pearl cotton, stitched through all layers of the quilt.

Then I started digging in my bead box and found some crystal beads that matched the fabrics and threads perfectly. Have you ever added beads to a quilt? It's very easy, here's how I did it . . .

First, I threaded an applique needle with beading thread (find this at beading specialty stores--it's a little sturdier for beads than cotton thread). To sew from one bead to the next, you can travel through the batting, or, I just traveled the thread along the back of the quilt, keeping my stitches somewhat tidy. Since this is a small wall-hanging, those travel threads won't catch on any toes like they might on a bigger quilt (Do you really want beads on anything but a wall-hanging?) Knot the beading thread, bury the knot in the quilt layers and pull the needle up from the back just to one side of where the bead will go (circled in red).

Pick up a single bead on the needle. . .

Then insert the needle straight down through the quilt layers on the other side of the bead. You can't see it because of my fingers, but the needle point is headed downward. I'm holding the needle eye.

Pull the needle up from the back at the same spot where you started (two photos ago with the red circle). This time my fingers are holding the pointy end of the needle.

Then thread the bead a second time, and insert the needle back into quilt on the other side of the bead. Travel through the batting or across the back to the next bead location and add the next bead.

I liked adding the crystal beads so much, that I decided to add some pearl-like beads along the binding. First I added the double-fold binding to the front of the quilt, as usual. But before sewing the folded edge of the binding to the back of the quilt, I added the pearl beads at even intervals on the quilt front along the binding seam. The travel threads on the back were all covered up when I secured the binding to the back.

Instead of a sleeve for hanging, I added two miniature buttons at the top edge of the quilt, then tied a delicate ribbon from button to button for hanging.

Cute-Cute!

Since Karen is a knitter (as well as a new quilter!) I thought a book of knitted Shawlettes (from The Taunton Press, of course!) would be a nice personal present for 'mom' for those small bits of personal project time (now more rare then ever!) that may come up from time to time. I know. . . she probably won't make any of the projects for about 21 years--there are so many cute baby things to make--but one can dream while flipping the pages!

Happy Stitching . . . and Beading!


joan

Photos for the Scrapbook

As you may have heard, Carol McLeod (Aunties Two) and I recently traveled from Coast to Coast to participate in Spring Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon. Carol is still en route on the return trip, with her husband sharing the navigator/driver responsibilities. I returned by plane. You can review our journey across the country and our many stops along the way on The Taunton Press CraftStylish blog. The final entry just posted here.

To celebrate a successful and busy Quilt Market for the Hummingbird Highway, Taunton is doing a book give-away! You have to comment on Taunton's blog entry to win. I'm crossing my fingers for you!

For a little luck, my blog post this week is dedicated to a few favorite photos from the trip. And from my return home to Syracuse.

One of my favorite stops along the way to Portland was in Kankakee County, Illinois to see 8' barn quilts displayed on several of the barns and farm buildings throughout the county. Each year, new barns are added to the tour and get their own quilt blocks. The blocks stay on the barn year-round, available to see any time on a self-guided tour.

Of the barn quilt blocks that we saw, this one was my favorite. The fresh clean look of the double wedding ring block offset by the rugged, weathered old barn was simply beautiful!

Violets bloomed in the tall grass right at our feet in front of the rustic barn.

Portland is known as the city of roses. This pretty pink bloom covered with rain droplets looks so alive and fresh.

Of course, the main event was Quilt Market itself. My booth was chock full of Scrappy Quilts from ScrapTherapy, Scraps Plus One!

Tempting visitors to snuggle into the quilts on the fluffy bed, books just begged to be opened and read.

My all-time favorite flower is the lilac. Back in Syracuse, we have a huge bush in our yard. While I was away in Portland, I was afraid I'd miss this year's blooms. Fortunately, the flowers were ready to be snipped and placed in a vase while the heavenly scent filled my kitchen and office space!

And these tiny blossoms are a new addition to this year's garden. They look like Forget-Me-Nots to me, but my gardener-guy husband says no. No matter, they are too sweet not to include!

Enjoy a safe, relaxing long weekend!

Happy Stitching!
joan