Still Quilting

In my last post, I mentioned a quilt I am trying to finish to hit the 10/18 deadline for AQS Daytona.  I am still quilting.  I average about 2 hours/day on this quilt, and I'm just about halfway through.  I'm going to have to ramp it up if it's going to be finished before the end of this week!!

In the meantime, I've done a few other things.  Like Block of the Month, for guild.  I designed a pumpkin block for October.  The response was delightful!

 Look at that pumpkin patch!!  The blocks are about 8.5" unfinished.  The winner is going to have a lot of fun with these!

 For November, I gave them a foundation square and a piece of red silk.  We're going to try crazy quilting.  I sold all of the silk/foundation pieces that I brought with me.  If everyone brings their block back?  Someone is going to have a wonderful project!!!

As I said, I've been quilting steadily on a quilt.  But the crazy quilting messed up my space pretty quickly.  As I was trying to put things to right, I ran across a project from a Jean Wells class at least 2 or 3 years ago, if not longer.  It was done, except for the facing.  No time like the present to finish it, right?  Right!

I put the little quilt face down, right sides together, on the facing fabric, then cut.

 I pinned the edges, then stitched it in place.

 I drew around a box lid, then cut out the space, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.  I turned it right-side out, pressed, and stitched down the raw edge.

 Once the stitching was done, I flipped it over.  Cute!!  It's approximately the size of a piece of paper.

And in other news, I cut my hair and donated it.

And I guess that's going to do it.  Back to working on that quilt.  Quilt faster!  Quilt faster!!  Goals are good.

A Finish!

Did I set any goals for February?  I think the only goal I set was to get my quilts entered in Best of the Valley.  Past that?  ohmygoodness!  My days are too full to set goals!  In fact, I'm taking a break from quilt show tasks right now, to post.  shame on me!  ;)

I was very excited about the theme for this year's BOTV Challenge, i.e., "Colors of the Valley."  But make a quilt?  I didn't have time for that.  But when the deadline for the show challenge arrived and there weren't many entries?  The deadline was extended for 5 days, so that those who ran out of time could finish their submissions. 

I looked around at my UFO's, and spotted the top that I'd put together last May in the Jean Wells class up in Sisters, OR.  The challenge quilts were to measure 18 x 24", my top was 20 x 26".  With some heavy quilting, I thought it might just shrink up to 18x24, and surely enough, it did!  (I trimmed off less that 1/4" in each direction.)

Here is my final piece, finished in time for the extended deadline:

 "The Early and Late Rain"  by Suzanne Kistler, March 2017

 "The Early and Late Rain" - detail

I'd been thinking that during this wet wet year, this quilt is the color that rain brings.  I had a working title of "The Color of Rain" as I quilted, but once it was finished?  I tried to recall a Bible verse that mentioned both early and late rain.  I found it through a search on Bible Gateway. 

In trying to keep with the deadline, I decided to "save time" by printing my label, rather than stitching it out on my embroidery machine.  In doing so, I could increase the amount of text.  Here is my final label - I need to play around some more, to figure out how to "pop" the text better - I put the text on a background of a recent photo from my backyard.  I am very pleased with the results.

And that's it.  wow.  I actually quilted for more than 5 minutes in a month, AND I finished something.  Big things are afoot!  woohoo!

P.S.  In other quiltie news, my quilt By The Sea was accepted into the Sacred Threads exhibit this July.  Stay tuned for more details. 

SO Inspired!

I am having an amazing week, here in Sisters.  We just finished Day 4 of our 5-day seminar.  I can't believe it's almost over.  The group of women in our class are fantastic.  Each could easily become a dear friend, if they didn't live in Oregon, Ohio, Montana, Utah, etc.  Yes, we've come from across the country, to congregate in Sisters and learn from Jean Wells Keenan.

This is what my work area looked like this morning:

 Here it is, 8 hours later.  I remembered to take the photo about 10 minutes after I began straightening the mess.  Believe me, it was much more organic than the photo indicates.

I'm pretty excited with my piece, though at this point, it feels chaotic.

By the time I left, I had the bottom right corner filled in as well.  I forgot to snap a shot before we headed to dinner.

Sisters is BEAUTIFUL.  I've heard about Oregon, but all I'd seen before was the Portland airport, and Hood.  I'm captivated by the art galleries and antique malls, and could spend several days just poking in and out of shops.  Instead, I work in the studio from 8:30am - 5-ish, only window shopping from about 12:30-1pm each day.  Despite my dedication to my craft - typed tongue in cheek - I have managed to spend at least as much as the workshop cost, if not the cost of lodging as well.  If I thought I was getting away for less than Asilomar, I was mistaken.  Shopping is a LOT of fun here.  Be forewarned, if you're headed to Sisters.  Art is available for sale EVERYWHERE.

And with that, we're early to bed, early to rise.  That way we might actually finish something before we hit the road and head home.

I think I could grow to love the mountain environment as much as I love the sea.  Sisters is delightful. 

And with that, I'll rest, so that I can sew more in the morning.  Happy Creating!  :)

Inspiration to the Max

Had a great time in Missouri last week, stopped in California for less than 24 hours, and am now in Oregon.  wow.  Where in Oregon?  Sisters, to be exact.  What am I doing here?  Charlotte asked if I wanted to take a class with her, from Jean Wells.  Did I?  You betcha!

 Behind the door of the Textile Education Center, the 5 day seminar is underway.

 I brought my equipment with me, which consists mostly of fabric, fabric, and more fabric.

 By the end of the day, I had my first strata, sliced and hung to my satisfaction.

 I also did a color study, from one of my inspiration photographs.  Can you tell that my inspiration for this week comes from this year's incredible Spring?

And if I get tired of greenery or flowers, I can always look out the window.

Stay tuned, because there's definitely more to come!