Coming Up for Air

I'm finally home after over a month of being on the road teaching and speaking.  While I love what I do, I'm a homebody at heart and I need to come up for air.  I've been swamped and that's never a good feeling.  It's time to take a breath. I sewed for the first time in a long time today.  I was so looking forward to sitting in front of a machine again.

I ended up pitching a fit because my machine is acting up again.  If you see a Bernina in pieces on a street in Chicago, you'll know who it belongs to.  It may be time to give up and get a new machine.  I'm tired of trying to make that one work for me.  

I made this sample block for my Slice/Insert Technique class at Camp Stitchalot that is happening August 9 - 11 and being put on by Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics.  I'll teach several variations of this technique and share lots of quilty inspiration.  It's one of my favorite techniques and has so many possibilities.  I love possibilities.  I'm thrilled to be teaching with Dan (Piece and Press), Amanda Jean (Crazy Mom Quilts), and Rossie (Fresh Modern Quilts).  It's a more casual teaching atmosphere and a wonderful venue with lots of time built in to sew.  We'll be learning techniques and then there will be time for practice and individual consultation on both technique and composition. I'm so looking forward to it.  If you're in the area, or even if you're not, check it out and come and join us.  It's going to be a blast!

I'll be back tomorrow with the winners of the moving giveaway.  I have to finish unpacking quilts and decide which ones will be going to the winners.  I'll give you a hint, three people guessed the exact number of boxes!

I finally sewed the last two sides of the binding onto this quilt.  The first item checked off the list of things to do!

Nice to be back!

While I was Moving...

... an exciting event happened, my class, Improvisational Piecing - Modern Design went live on Craftsy. I'm so excited to share it with you.

In the class I teach three techniques and five new quilt designs. The techniques are three that are in the book, but I've added new variations in the techniques, so if you have the book, you'll definitely be learning new things and of course there are five new quilt designs,

Unparalleled Quilt using the Slice/Insert Technique

If you sign up for the class, I'll be there to answer questions and work with you to learn the techniques, make the quilts, and make the quilts your own.  The other students in the class will be there for you too.  We'll all be sharing information and the quilts we make.  I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.  Students have already begun sharing projects.  (Awesome, inspiring work!)

To the Point Quilt using the Modern Crazy Piecing Technique

With a Craftsy class you can access the class at any time and you keep the class forever. You can work at your own pace and the Craftsy platform allows you to move seamlessly within the class.  To check out the class, click the link on the sidebar.  I hope you'll decide to sign up for the class and join me!

Crosscut Quilt using the Slice/Insert Technique

These are some variations of the Crosscut quilt that I made using some of the step-outs from the filming of the class.  I finished these at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild retreat a few weeks ago.

I used the leftover crosscut blocks to make oversized half square triangles with a couple of solid fabrics.

I quilted both of them with a straight line chevron quilting.

I used green thread on the first one and purple thread on this one.

I really love the different looks created by the different color threads.

The move is almost over.  More on that in the next post and I'll have the winner(s) of my Make Moving Fun giveaway.  If you haven't put in a guess, head back to that post and guess the number of boxes that are now EMPTY!

I Am A Homeowner Once Again!

Well, a condo owner, but in two days I will be moved into my new place.  At this point I'm not even close to ready, but the movers come Thursday morning, so it's happening, ready or not.
 
Julie asked if my stash wasn't going in boxes, how was it going?  When I moved from Kansas I moved my stash this way and it worked great and saved me from having to get more boxes and kept my fabric organized and not jumbled.

I use laundry baskets.  I store scraps in these and they get dumped into individual garbage bags.  Then I transfer my stash into the baskets. (I use these baskets for bunches of things, but for moving they all go to fabric.)  The fabric fits in exactly as they are folded on my shelves, so when they arrive at the house, I take them out as is, place them back on the shelves.  No refolding, nothing is mixed up.  When I moved from Kansas I took one extra step and each basket was lined with a garbage bag so the fabric was inside that, garbage bag got tied up and then sat in the basket because we used a truck to move. I wanted the fabric protected in case something tipped over.  The baskets went into the truck with all the other boxes and furniture.

This time I'm moving my stash in the car.  All of these baskets will probably be one or two loads in the car and since the movers aren't doing this I didn't bother with the garbage bags.

 Great thing about this method is that the baskets stack about 5 tall and are easy to move with a dolly out to the car.  These will be the first thing to go into the new place.  The condo will be ceremoniously christened with fabric.

If you've gotten in touch over the last couple of days, please don't expect a quick reply.  I'll probably be back up and communicating by Monday.  See you soon and wish us luck!
PS...don't forget to guess the number of moving boxes for the giveaway.

Lava Lamp Quilt

This quilt came home a few weeks ago, but I haven't had time to share it. It's with a bunch of other lovely work in the new Modern Patchwork magazine. I love to design from my experience and this simple take on a tumbler quilt is from my memories of lava lamps. I was obsessed by them, loved daydreaming and staring at them as the lava moved and changed shapes.

I really enjoyed reading this issue, especially an article on mid-century inspired free motion quilting by Kevin Kosbab.

My apartment is in chaos and filled with boxes and packing stuff so the only place to take a picture was on the balcony and it's not big enough to spread out a quilt, so I threw it on a chair and shot this.  I am going to miss having this view.  We've been really lucky living with a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline.

Maybe this quilt would be good for the "make moving fun" giveaway? Have you shared your guess yet?  It's a nice lap size, so good for a movie marathon on a chilly spring evening. I've had so much fun reading the stories and getting some great tips, so thanks for a smile when my back and neck were hurting.  I've broken one dish so far and haven't even moved yet.  Hopefully, that's not a sign of things to come.

I'm heading for Buffalo tomorrow.  My class is full, but I'm sure there is room to come to one of the two lectures I'm giving on Friday.  If you're in the area, come and chat, see a bunch of quilts and talk quilting with me!  I'm sure the folks at the Aurora Sewing Center will be happy to give you more information.

Packing update:
I've packed all the books, the guest bathroom, and all the contents of the buffet (all my sets of China and all those dishes I never seem to use.) Tackling the kitchen today!

How to Make Moving Fun?

We are closing on the condo we purchased back in January on Monday right after I get home from Buffalo and the move happens three days after that on Thursday. I've been successfully avoiding thinking about or doing anything about moving until today. I've put off packing until now and I'm leaving Thursday morning for a weekend of teaching. I woke up a bit panicked today, so I went into hyper packing mode today. I've got my boxes, packing material, tape and my dogged determination to pack like a mad woman.

I'm not sure there is a way to make packing fun, but I thought maybe it could be fun for my readers and I'll live vicariously through you.  What about a surprise giveaway?  I have no idea what it might be...a quilt, a bunch of fabric, a book, some white elephant I don't feel like packing?  Maybe all three?  You'll have to wait and see.

Here's what I'm thinking....how about guessing how many boxes it will take me to pack everything in this 1000 square foot apartment. I'll tell you now, my stash will probably not go into boxes, so take that into account.  I'm just counting boxes, not anything else.

Leave a comment with your guess.  If you're a no reply commenter, leave an email address where I can contact you.  I won't go searching for you.  If you have a great moving story, or packing, moving, unpacking advice feel free to share that too.  You never know what might be rewarded.

First person to guess closest to the correct number of boxes wins.  I may have some other winners too depending on how I'm feeling that day.

Bruno is freaking out and has taken to hiding in the bathroom to avoid the chaos.  Wish me luck!

Aftermath

Last week was difficult in many ways for the cause of anti-violence in this country. With the failure in the Senate and bombing at the Boston Marathon, I was pretty down. In fact, on Monday after happening onto the television coverage of the bombing, I left the house with Bruno and went for a long walk in the rain. The last image I saw on television was the sidewalk with only trash and blood stains. As we walked the puddles in the street appeared as pools of blood. I couldn't get the image out of my head and so Monday night I started this quilt. I finished it Friday morning.

It's difficult to explain how I was feeling, but for me, putting my emotions into a quilt is better than masking them with anti-anxiety meds. At first I wanted to ignore the coverage, and forget about the legislative disappointment, but that's not going to help me or anyone else. It has to be a call to action, to do more. I made calls, I wrote letters and I started looking again for organizations in my new neighborhood that might be a fit for me to make a small difference.

I know the quilt is harsh and sad and difficult to look at.  But I need reminders...I need to remember that there is work to be done.  It's easy to fall into a routine and work and play and live blissfully and put the problems I want to see solved on the back burner, or worse, in a place where I ignore them.

This quilt, "Aftermath" shoves the reality in my face and for me is motivational.  I have work to do.

To respond to the "quilty" questions about this quilt...
The quilt is approximately 40" x 60"
The red is fused and then the raw edges were zigzagged with red thread.
The quilting is straight lines done 1/4" apart over the entire quilt.
The quilting runs at an angle with the direction of the splatter.
The back is a 15" strip of an Alexander Henry skull print in black and white placed at a slight angle across the back with black solid above and below.
The quilting thread is Aurifil 50 wt in cream.
The red is Kona cotton color rich red.

Wishing for Spring?

Has spring sprung where you are?  Not in Chicago.  In fact, it may snow tomorrow.  I'm longing for spring and I've been looking for a project for the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild Retreat this weekend.  I promised myself only sewing for fun...no work!  I hope I can keep that promise.

So very early this morning I played with some curves and came up with this GIANT tulip block.  I love the oversized block (20 x 26) and the tiny stem.

So this weekend, I think I'll  surround myself with gigantic tulips and maybe make a quilt like this.  I think that would be fun!

I can't wait to get to Wisconsin and start sewing, sewing, sewing and maybe some more sewing.  I hope you have time to sew this weekend too!

Crosscut and More

As some of you know I was out in Colorado a few weeks ago filming my Craftsy class, Improvisational Piecing - Modern Design. I had so much fun with my team, my producer, Kate, camera guy and future quilter Marshall and my switcher, Ivana.  Great people make for a great experience even though I had to be in front of a camera.

In the class I'll focus on teaching three techniques from the book with new adaptations and twists and of course new quilt designs, five of them. I'll keep you posted on the status of the class and the release date.

 The one advantage of doing work in front of a camera is having loads of step-outs to work with when you get home.  This is the Crosscut quilt from the class.  I love that this quilt looks complex, but is so easy to piece.  I also love how the negative space flows in and out of the blocks.

I found a new quilting pattern to use on this quilt and I've fallen head over heals for it.

It's like the serpentine stitch that I use a lot, but instead of being rounded it's pointy and forms these cool diamonds.  I think you'll be seeing it a bunch from me.

Having extra blocks means I had time to experiment a bit.  I made a few blocks into half square triangles and you know with hst's the possibilities are endless...diamonds, pinwheels, zig zags, chevrons, etc.  I love the simple diamond, but it's amazing what a 6" shift will do.  It creates this "sliding triangle block" on the left which I think is kinda cool.  When you turn it vertically it creates a almost rectangular pinwheel.  I think I'll quilt these up to keep as class samples.  They're almost large enough to make into quilts, but I'm out of all of these fabrics.

I also made a larger version of the Crosscut quilt.  The quilt for the class is a bit small for me.  It's great for a sample, but I wanted a larger version that I could snuggle under.  This one is perfect.  I've added it to my stack of quilt tops to quilt.

I've got step outs from the other four quilts too....lots more possibilities and quilts that need to be made.  If only there were more hours in the day, more days in the week, more weeks in the year...

Teaming Up!

I finally finished the binding on my version of the "Stepping Stones" quilt which is on the cover of our book, "Quilting Modern." Hand binding is getting harder and harder for me to do with my sore hands, but a long soothing hand massage from my hubby helped me get ready to tackle the next quilt on the pile.

The quilting is a little different than the original.  I wanted the stones to be quilted with pebbles and the background to be straight lines in different orientations.  I'm always amazed how the quilting brings out the color change quality of the galvanized shot cotton.  It's one of my favorites with the orange and blue threads that come together to create this fabric.

I wasn't able to get a full on shot because of the 40 mph winds and the rainy day, so I'll do another post soon where I can show and tell you all about the quilting.

Taking pictures of this quilt reminds me of all the work Katie and I did together.  Good news is that we get to be together again in May.  I'm staying after Quilt Market and heading to Seattle to do some teaching with Katie.  We're going to be at Island Quilter on Vashon Island May 20, 21 and 22 teaching three different classes.  I'll also be speaking and showing quilts at the Vashon Island Quilt Guild on the morning of the 21st.  You can find out all about signing up for the classess, getting lodging on the island and joining us from Anja of Island Quilter.  We'll be teaching Slice/Insert Improv, Machine Piecing Hexagons, and Modern Crazy Piecing.  We're going to have such a great time, learn lots and sew, sew, sew!

Katie and I are so excited to be teaming up and teaching together.  For those of you who join us, it's probably going to be a once in a lifetime deal.  I hope if you're in the area you'll decide to sign up for one or all of the classes.  I hear the island is beautiful and Anja's shop is a must see.

My sons were in Chicago this weekend and Ben grabbed this quilt and curled up on the sofa.  He wouldn't let me snap a pic because he knew where it would end up, but it was great to see him snuggling under a quilt I made.  Isn't that why we do what we do?

Revealed

I'm so happy to be home. I've been away for over a week and I'm itching to sew and play in the studio. I was out in Colorado all last week and then spent the weekend in Milwaukee. My hubby and I spent the good part of the weekend exploring the art museum.  The building is amazing with its iconic wings.

I love a museum, especially one with modern exhibits and folk art. It was so inspirational. I was particularly inspired by one piece.  It's funny, I didn't take a photo of it or remember the name of the artist but I couldn't get it out of my head.  I do remember reading the description and it was about revealing a part of yourself, a sliver of who you are.  So, I took that concept of revealing and made these.  I don't have a plan in mind.  I concentrated on figuring out how I was going to construct the piece.  I'm working on getting an even smaller reveal...a sliver.  It's fun to be inspired and think about where this might go and in what different incarnations. I want them to be much bigger too.  Right now they're about 40" tall, but I want to go BIG and skinny and maybe curved rather than these angles.

I've also been continuing with my improv block a day.  These are from the week before I left.  I'm going to continue with these and hopefully put them into a quilt for Project Night Night which is a charity project for the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild.  I've committed 5 quilts so I need to get in gear and finish them up.