Quilts and Thoughts…

margaret | April 30, 2011

This giveaway hits just in time for you to complete this fused and pieced top to celebrate the 4th!

This top is 20.5″x13.75″. Use your creativity to complete it!

If you love the top but don’t want to wait…it’s available at www.patterns2quilt.com

The pattern looks slightly different. This is the prototype for the pattern.

The rules are easy.
1. The contest begins today, May 1, 2011 and ends at midnight (central time zone) May 31, 2011. Winner announced on June 1, 2011.

2. Post a comment

3. If you post to your blog, on your Facebook (please share), or Twitter account about the giveaway (& notify me), you will be entered a second time.

4. Winner will be chosen by random generator

5. Good luck!

 

Category: Contest, General, Giveaway | 19 Comments »
Tags: contest, giveaway

margaret | April 24, 2011

Take a look at these photographs of first time portrait quilters!

The Bush Family Affair long arm quilt shop in Chickasha, Oklahoma hosted a portrait quilt class yesterday. What a fun day!
I made 14 custom patterns for the group of quilters.Whew!
Each had emailed their photos to me and I, in turn, emailed back the pattern.
They enlarged it to the size they preferred, selected fabrics and were off and running!

Some worked on their dogs, others on photos of loved ones
from an early age to loved ones lost.

The photos are all as they worked in the class and I’m hoping
they will share the completed quilts so we can enjoy them even more.

This one is Susan’s. She made her own pattern.
She bought my book and made it just a day or two before the class!
Didn’t she do a wonderful job!

 

Didn’t Carolyn’s turn out cute! When the pieces were pressed and it was safe to hold them, each quilter auditioned fabric before the group. It was so much fun. We would all say, no…not that one. Then another background was held behind the subject and we would all agree or disagree to that background until we reached a consensus. The subject was then placed on the background, pressed and on to the next step.

I snapped the photo and moved a bit, but you can still see what a great job Glee did
putting all those small pieces together!

Kenna’s went together so quickly she did a second one! She’s a pro!
Shhh…don’t tell… some of these may be surprise gifts.

Blue Boy is her second one.

 

Bonnie was one of the early ones to begin stitching! She even had a photo with glasses!

 

Jean was the first to sew.
She and Bonnie sat beside each other and at first they stitched very slowly
going around the tiny pieces, after a few minutes they were zooming around them!

In the background is Gina, a master tatter (is that a word?)!
She took time to help me with a tatting problem,
and I didn’t get a shot of her quilt top! Visit her website to see marvelous tatting.

Yay! Gina sent a photo to share!
She will probably tat edging to go on the dress of this cutie!

Lahree put her dog in fabric and he will “sit” on the wall! He has one blue eye and the other one is dark, so she had to
be certain to get that one eye blue!

 

Look closely and you will see Wendy’s dog! Her fabric selections were super.
The dog was all white, but you can only have so much white and then
shading must be either gray or beige. She selected beige and it looks wonderful!

 

Connie and Shirley were so quiet and did so much work!
Shirley even decided to use a small striped t-shirt for her quilt
rather than fabric. Can’t wait to see them completed.

See the t-shirt and hat? They are the real thing!
Shirley is auditioning background fabric.

Carol and Meleah were busy cutting and cutting and cutting!
They were super hostesses and dessert makers!
Didn’t get a photo of Gail. She was busy at the shop, but brought yummy lunch to us!

Gayla was gone looking for background fabric when I took the photos,
so I missed hers, but it looks soooo cute!

Thanks for a wonderful day!

 

Category: Workshops | No Comments »
Tags: applique patterns, quilt workshop, workshops

margaret | April 15, 2011

Having presented a lecture and workshop to a wonderful group of quilters in Little Rock, Arkansas, we headed to a quilt shop (of course).

Driving through Scott, Arkansas we spotted the Plantation Agriculture
Museum, what a find!

Wow! The  old tractors sitting outside caught our eye and we stopped to take pics.

We have a 1940s 9N tractor, so these tractors were a certain save to the camera.

 

The museum opened at 8 am and just as we finished taking these pics the doors opened:

It was all about cotton! As quilters, we use cotton batting and fabrics…how cool is that!

The pic above is a bale of cotton.

This is a scale for use in the field for weighing the cotton.

No mention of the yield for batting or fabric.

This building was designed for the “angle of repose”.

It really was a very interesting stop!
That’s the joy of only traveling the backroads of the USA.
We never would have seen this on the interstate.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Museum and the “angle of repose”:

http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/plantationagriculturemuseum/

Category: General | 3 Comments »
Tags: quilt workshop, quilts

margaret | April 6, 2011

That’s the question I asked in my recent article
published in the April issue of The Quilt Pattern Magazine.

Check out the issue to find the answer!

If you haven’t subscribed to the online magazine for quilters, you have
missed some great patterns available.

Category: General | 2 Comments »
Tags: published article, quilts

margaret | April 2, 2011

Did your favorite win?

Below is the list of the winner’s in SewCalGal’s Annual Golden Quilter Awards.

Congrats to each of you! But wait…you’re invited to a party…
Details on SewCalGal’s blog.

Drum roll……….

The envelopes are opened and I’m happy to announce
the official winners of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards.

Best DesignerAnne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs

Best Teacher/Instructor Bonnie Hunter, Quiltville

Best AuthorEleanor Burns, of Quilt In A Day

Best Quilt Store (Physical) Mary Jo’s in Gastonia NC

Best Quilt Store (online)Fat Quarter Shop

Best Long Arm QuilterJudi Madsen - Green Fairy Quilts

Most Innovative product (physical item)AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter

Most Innovated product (software item)EQ7, by The Electric Quilt Company

Most influential person in the world of quilting to-date, aka “Lifetime Achievement”Eleanor Burns, Quilt in a Day

10) Best Quilt RetreatTwo Wacky Woman (Southern California)

Category: General | No Comments »
Tags: sewcalgal