A cornucopia of blocks

Did you miss me? I know I've been quiet but it is because I've been busy helping my Mom (Anne H) with her latest African quilt, working on my quilt The Meadery, making class samples for my workshops and working on assorted other projects.

I thought I would start by sharing a few more blocks in my Mom's current Africa quilt. These are original designs and she is beyond thrilled with how her quilt is coming along. I can't get the background fabric to photograph accurately. It is in fact a deep gold colour. Hopefully I can get a few pictures outdoors and the colours will be better.

Notice the dress on the little girl. Mom has difficulty appliqueing dresses so she actually makes little dresses off the quilt and then sews them to the child. You can see that the skirt is actually gathered!

Mom loves making blocks with Masai and she told me that this is one of her favourites.

Mom often has a grandma with her grandchildren in her blocks and this is an example.

How cute is this little boy trying to climb a tree to get at the redwing blackbird? There is an abundance of them here in Canada but I'm not sure that there are any in Africa. We love the redwing blackbird song. To us it sounds like they are saying "sweet marieeeeeee"!

I've completed two more Road 66 blocks. The Road 66 quilt is featured in Di Ford's book Primarily Quilts. This first block reminds me of an antique sandwich plate. I bought the lavender print many years ago. I liked it because it was a serpentine print and then can be hard to find. I think that this type of print adds so much visual interest to a block.

I really like this block. The circle fabric in the middle adds a little pizzazz and the striped fabric in the outer round seems to glow.

I've made two samples for my workshops this Autumn and this is the first one. They have been sent to the Guild that is hosting the workshop. I hope the Guild members like what they see and are inspired to sign up for my course. I think what makes this piece work is the fabrics I've used. I'll have to write a post soon about how I selected the fabrics for this project and also how I buy fabrics to build my stash.

I've recently discovered that there are books available on making pieced hexagons but I've been making them since the late 1990s. I had planned on making a fussy cut hexagon quilt (Stars in the Loft) but couldn't find fabrics that I needed nor could I afford to buy the quantities I would need for fussy cutting so I developed my methods to "make" the fabric and designs needed for my quilt. Once I got started the design ideas flowed!  My techniques and methods are constantly evolving, changing, streamlining and simplifying. My friends used to tell me I should write a book and I suppose I should have but that train has long since left the station. The reason I tell you all of this is because I don't want anyone to think that I am copying or profiting from another person's work. My pieced hexagons are my own idea and I've been developing and refining my techniques for more than 15 years.

We've had falcons and hawks nesting in the neighbourhood. The young are very noisy begging their parents to feed them. Yesterday there was constant whistle so I went out to see what it was and it was a young red tail hawk! He was a big fellow and he sat atop the trees for a very long time.

I'm linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Be Social and Esther's WOW.  If you are looking for inspiration head on over for a look see at what others are doing.

Time for me to get my day started so until I post again, happy sewing.

Karen H

Another one and another one!

I've got two "another ones" for you today, a reader's Value Proposition Hexagon QAL blocks and my Mom's (Anne H) latest African quilt.

Deb arranged her Value Proposition Hexagon Quilt Along blocks on her design wall and we can see there is another fabulous quilt in the making! They are very different from Bunny's blocks that I showed  you yesterday but equally stunning! I don't think Deb has decided on the colour for her middle path although she has auditioned some possible fabrics.

My Mom had made an African themed quilt and it was purchased by a friend who loves her work. She took it to a framer who affixed it to a scrim which was then stretched over a wood frame. It was stunning and Mom and I thought it was a great idea so she made a small quilt and we stretched it over an artist canvas. This is the first attempt. It isn't perfect but I've now got the basic idea as to how to do it!

We purchased an artist canvas that was stretched over a wood frame. The quilt top was trimmed so that the width and length were each 1/2" larger than the canvas (this extra 1/2" is for the seam allowances). I attached 1 1/2" strips of black fabric to all four sides of the quilt and the sewing was started/stopped 1/4" from the corners; each strip was about 1/2" longer than the length/width of the quilt. I pulled the strips to the back and used a staple gun to staple them in place but I left the corners loose. At the corners I turned the edges under and with black thread stitched them together. The last step was to staple the corners. We are pretty happy with how it turned out. Now she had better get cracking on another wall hanging so I can quilt and frame it for her!

I'll be out tomorrow so there'll be no post until Wednesday so until then, happy sewing!
Karen H

A Quilt Show, more Grannies and stain removal

Did you miss me yesterday? I went to the CQA (Canadian Quilters' Association) Quilt Show. It was a juried show and there were many amazing quilts to be seen. I was hoping to be able to share some pictures but no photography was permitted in the juried show. However the winners are posted on the CQA site.

There was an invitational show and photography was permitted. One of the featured artists in the invitational show was Renske Helmuth who is an extremely talented appliqueist and teacher. Renske coordinates efforts amongst quilters in her Guild to create quilts which are auctioned off at the Mennonite Relief Auction each year. This year the theme for the quilt project was Africa. Although my Mom is not part of that guild she was allowed to submit a small quilt and it was included in the quilt. The finished quilt was on display and I was able to take a picture to share with you! The title of the quilt is A Cooperative Effort. How appropriate!

Isn't this quilt stunning? Do you recognize my Mom's quilt? It is in the upper left hand corner with the three Masai. This is what it looked like before it was trimmed. These pictures and a few others were posted on my blog on July 19, 2013. It was so exciting to see Mom's contribution in the quilt. I just LOVE her block and think it glows in the finished quilt!

I now have a few more Godstone Grannies (GG) blocks to share. Most of them now have the path stitched to them so this means I can start sewing the blocks together. I'll be sure to share my assembly plan with you in the next few days.

Today I plan to continue removing the ink stains from my Mom's Lazy Punk blocks with hairspray. Karen left a great comment explaining why the hairspray worked. I thought I would share her explanation with you. Karen wrote that "the reason it worked was the alcohol in the hairspray acted as a solvent. Works great on most ink stains. It can also work on grease as it breaks it down, although I've found original blue dawn to work best on grease.

I keep hydrogen peroxide, blue Dawn, and alcohol in my laundry
cupboard for just such emergencies. I call it my first aid kit for fabrics!

Hydrogen peroxide works on protein stains like blood and grass. Blue Dawn for grease based stains. And rubbing alcohol for inks, dyes and lacquer based stains."

Thanks Karen for a very informative and helpful message! Stains will be no match for us now that we are armed with this great advice!

On Friday I test drove the Juki TL2010Q and I'll share my thoughts on that machine with you tomorrow. Until then, happy sewing!
Karen H