This Time I Cried

This quilt is currently hanging at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, along with my quilt "Tahitian Tradition: Ti Fai Fai." I will admit that I was hoping for a "Best Handworkmanship" award, and of the two, I thought Tradition was the likely contender.

I pulled up the website this morning, and just now read the winner's list. oh. my.

Best Hand Workmanship: #3032 The Flower Fades by Suzanne Kistler.

I LOVE this quilt. It has a lot of meaning to me, and I've sewn a lot of myself into it. This was its 4th show, and it hasn't shown well. I've continued to enter it, primarily to share its message, not to win.

I feel truly humbled and blessed, and didn't have anyone to tell...

Thanks for listening. :)

Sacred Threads

I don't think that I've mentioned that my quilt, "More Glorious Than Solomon," has been juried into Sacred Threads, in June. It sounds like they had a record number of entries this year, so I am delighted that this quilt made the cut. You may recognize it, I've used portions of it for my header, as well as my business cards.


The show will be held June 22-July 4, in Herndon, VA. For specifics, click here. If you are on the East Coast, I encourage you to attend. I've never made the trek, but I hear that the show will touch your soul.

Not much else to share around here. I'm trying to put my head down and knock out a stack of quilts-for-hire before I head out to Asilomar for a seminar with Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer.

Oh, and Kim, from Kim's Big Quilting Adventure, has given me instructions on how to get your comments to come directly into my email box. I've been wondering how to do that since I first started blogging. If I did it correctly, I may just start being more responsive to your comments. Wish me luck on that one!!

Time to put my head down and get to work!

Arg. *Sigh*

I must tell you how great it feels to finally finish this quilt. wow. I drafted/drew the pattern at the first Hartland Quilt Retreat, which was in October of 2007. (btw, as I looked up the link, I see that the Lone Star quilt in the picture on the left is mine.) I sewed the Log Cabin blocks and cut the stencil for the border in November of that same year, at the Valley Oak Quilt Guild retreat.

I had a problem with stenciling the border, in that the fabric I chose - which is perfect in every way but the most important - was a medium value. This meant that no matter what I did to try to make the lettering stand out, nothing worked. I had committed to using Fabrico ink markers for the lettering, and even after 4 layers of ink, it wasn't distinct enough.

I attempted to lighten the fabric behind some of the lettering with paint. I ruined one border completely, and had no more of this fabric. By now it was out of date and out of stock everywhere. I finally found a replacement border piece in my stash, that I had discarded earlier as "ruined". At this point, it was "good enough" to finish the quilt. I went over the four layers of stenciled green ink with a layer of black, and a fifth layer of green. whew! I can finally read the lettering. Finally, finally.

The border hang up hung me up for over a year. I don't even remember when I finally basted it and began the quilting.

Because it is hand-quilted, it was my travel project. This quilt has accompanied me to many places, including Colorado (twice) and New Mexico. And multiple quilt retreats.

I couldn't decide how to quilt the border, so I set it aside. again. Last fall I finally realized that I had to just quilt it. And so I did. Then I didn't like the flatness of the quilt, although it was perfectly and completely flat. I added the dimensional heads to the coxcomb. And added dimension to the border. See the wobble I introduced to the quilt? Can you hear me groan? This is the left side:

Here is the right. For some reason the top and bottom remained flat and straight.

Last night, I spent all of NCIS, LA spritzing and pinning the two borders into submission. Please quilt, please submit!!! I dampened the interior of the quilt and absolutely soaked the recalcitrant borders.

This is the left border this morning. It's not quite dry.

This is the right border this morning. It's not dry either.

Compared to the before, those two borders are looking pretty good. If you're wondering how I did this, here is a close up. The pins are nickel-plated applique/sequin pins, that do not rust.

People ask me, "How long does it take to make a quilt?" How about "forever"? It depends on the method used, and whether or not the method is working well.

So. Will this or won't this become a traveling show quilt? Good question. I guess the proof will be in the judges' remarks come April. I have entered it into Best of the Valley, and am considering submitting it to the Denver National Quilt Festival.

After all these years, it would be sad to just put it in the pile on my shelf, doncha think?

Such a saga.

And now, I'm back to work on the show. 'Til next time...

Finished

"The Flower Fades"
Suzanne Kistler February 2011
44" x 44"

"The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our Lord stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

A Use For Red

I've been trying to finish my "Flower Fades" quilt. As with last week, "all I have left are binding and the dimensional applique." This is what the flowers looked like, before I began messing with them.

Perhaps I should have used extra batting, but I didn't. I had to do something, to rescue the quilt from its two dimensions.

I turned to the reds.

I basted around the edge of the piecework, then zig-zag-basted across the body of the piece. You may be able to see the stitching, if you click on the image.

Then I started pulling on the basting threads.

I'm trying to cover the original red quilted ruff with dimension.

Here it is, all pinned in place.

Here's another view.

It's taking a long time to sew it down, because not only am I sewing around the edges, but I am picking up each basting thread and sewing it in place. Hopefully by the time I make it around, the fabric will be secure. I suspect I will have to do some additional tacking, to be sure it stays put.

I've sewn about halfway around the first flower. My husband saw it, and asked, "Is that a flower?" yes. "Is it a coxcomb?" yes. "woohooo! I got it right!!" woohoo! He got it right.

Maybe that's because every year for the past 20 years I've been planting coxcomb from seed. Every year I have a crop of beauties like this:

My husband never asks about my quilts or quilting, and very rarely shows any interest in either.

Yet, every year I make him a valentine. This year's edition is already underway, made with leftovers. The heart is red velvet, from Adam's' Santa suit.

2011 valentine, in progress. Measures 6" square

And since we're in the season of love, I thought I'd show you this photo. From l to r we've got Malcolm, Edgar, and Charlie. If I thought my house was cold, they proved me right. Why else would they be so piled on top of each other?

Malcolm hasn't been feeling very well lately, but I guess when you've put almost 11 years with his kind of mileage on a cat, he has a right to feel poorly.

And that's what I've got for now. I have a quilt-for-hire awaiting my attention, a valentine to finish, and some more tacking down of dimensional applique to do before the day is done. Enjoy your weekend!!

Working, Working, Working...

No time to blog, no time to stop and say, "Hello! Goodbye!" Time is of the essence, and it's slipping through my fingers...

Can I spin a yarn, or what?!!

I have finished the hand quilting on my quilt. YAY!!

All that remains is binding, adding a sleeve, adding labels, and...adding some extra pizazz.

What kind of pizazz?

Shall I give you a hint?


What on earth am I doing with diamonds? HA! Do you think I'm going to tell you? No, I am not.

I am experimenting, which is part of what's making me nutso, because I THINK I know what I'm doing, but I've never done it before and if I do it wrong then I'll be back at square one and I won't have my quilt finished and then I'll have to come up with another idea and I've been working on solving this particular problem for the past two years which is why I hadn't been in a rush to finish the hand quilting and

I think I'll stop and take a breath now.

Multiply the above by 10, and you've got an idea of what it looks like inside my brain these days. It's not pretty.

But the red is pretty, don't you think?

If I solve my problem with the quilt, I have additional plans for red. Stay tuned, as I might have something to share some time soon.

As to my February goals, the above quilt is the Flower Fades quilt, which shows up as #2. And I beaded last night, so that's part of #1.

How about you? Have you set any goals this month? Are you making any progress?

Self Portrait: Laid Bare

When I showed my Self Portrait to our Art Group - one of these days I will say, "When I showed my Self Portrait to Sew Eclectic", but I haven't made the mental transition yet - they had some questions. "How did you do this? What was your process?"

hmm. I thought it was basic, but on second thought, maybe I should tell you the steps.

First, I drew the magnifying glass. Then I cut a gingerbread gal that fit inside its circle. I used the drawings as my pattern.

I chose a dark background, placed the pattern for the magnifying glass on it, and cut it to a size that would hold the entire verse. Then I pulled out a paint pen, and started writing on the fabric.

I used a DecoFabric pen, that I bought from Michaels.

Once I was sure the spelling was correct on the verse, I laid the pattern back on the background and decided where to put the reference (Psalm 139:23,24) I wrote it down, and walked over to my stash, to select fabrics for the magnifying glass and body.

While the paint was drying, I prepared the applique pieces.

I put the pattern for the magnifying glass down, then centered the body and hand-appliqued only the body in place. I then machine-quilted the entire quilt.

Once it was quilted, I appliqued the outside of the magnifying glass in place.

Then I slipped a circle of tule netting under the rim, and carefully turned under the inner edge of the magnifying glass.
I then machine-quilted around the magnifying glass as well as inside the circle on the tule. And there you go, I was done. It was time to attach binding, turn it to the back, and stitch it down. yay!!

On another note, a friend and I swung by an Estate Sale today. She found an old stained paper ice cream bag with a $5 price tag on it. I hadn't seen it at all. Inside were treasures. She gave me half. Here is a picture of my portion of the loot. wow. Thank you, Wendy!!!

Tomorrow it's off to PIQF...stay tuned!

Bus Trip!

On Friday morning, I got up at 4:40am. Why, oh why, would I do such a thing? Ahh, I was lured by promises of a day at the Long Beach Quilt Festival, that is why.

We'd already been on the bus for 45 minutes when we saw this...

That's right. We were up before Mr. Sun.

The bus ride itself was not a joy, and it had nothing to do with the people. Let's just say that what took a "mere" 9 hours of travel (to + from) the past two years took over 12 hours this year. That's a bite out of my day, and a Big Bite out of show time.

We did eventually arrive, and we did see things.

The first thing I saw (I was looking for the "Celebrate Spring" exhibit) was this couple taking a photo of my quilt. "Excuse me...may I take a photo of you taking a photo?" They laughed a lot but agreed. I didn't tell them I was going to post them online!! :)

I found my friend Lisa, who informed me that my Hoffman was also on display. Really? I had no idea!!

It turns out that I did not take many pictures at all. In fact, because of the "no photograph" signs on various exhibits, I only took pictures of one creation besides my own. It was this pineapple.

I even photographed its sign!! (Del, this is for you. I'm trying to be good about naming the quiltmaker!)

The things that caught my eye again and again and again were color, line, and texture. Texture seems to be the biggie right now with me. The quilts I wanted to touch (but didn't - I'm a good girl!) were the ones that had marvelous quilting or embellishments or fabric manipulation. I continue to be surprised by what I like. It is very different from what I actually do.

I mentioned Lisa, and for some reason this is the only picture I have of her.

At 3pm, she gave a lecture on Sacred Threads, a biennial quilt show which showcases quilts that are spiritual in nature. Lisa is the new Co-Chair of Sacred Threads, and her lecture shared some of the work from the 2009 show. Because I was going to be there, she asked me to bring some of my quilts along for a short "in the fabric" show and tell. I brought "The Light Shines in the Darkness," "Think Before You Speak," and "We Have Seen His Star: Wise Men Still Seek Him" to share the limelight. (The latter two quilts were part of the 2007 show.)

It was both humbling and heart-pounding to have 5 quilts displayed (albeit 3 were only for a brief period of time) at Long Beach. It is truly a dream come true, one that I have dreamed of for years.

The dream ended, and it was back on the bus for the 7 hour ride home - wild fire on the Grapevine, among other things - and I was home at 11:59. My coach is again a pumpkin, and reality has returned.

Charlie seems to have captured today perfectly - I'm very tired, I'm very hot, and I think I'll just put all feet in the air and play dead...

Sweet dreams, Charlie. Sometimes they do come true!!!

Tomorrow, I shall share pictures of my "wee" bit of shopping... :)

Keeping Warm When It's Cold...

I'll start off with this picture of Wendy VB and her quilt, "Loretta Lives." This is the quilt that was voted Best Overall in our quilt guild's Circle Challenge. The label reads, "Made in the memory of Loretta White, who lived and died to the glory of God." At least I think that's what it said. I'm "quoting" from memory.

Please be sure to click on the photo to enlarge it and really appreciate Wendy's beautiful hand-quilted quilt. :)

This morning it was cold and foggy. Fog is nothing new if you're from around here. But, since this was the first foggy day of the season, I took pictures. Here's the view from the front door...it doesn't look TOO bad...

And here's the view from the driveway. As you can see, there's plenty of visibility, for about 50 feet. Then it's socked in. It took a while to get used to driving in this, but now it's not so bad. (I can say that, now that I've been driving in it for 25 years!)

And if you're cold, here's how to stay warm. Cat blankets.

This was taken last night. I was sitting there, minding my own business, when Malcolm stole my lap. Edgar thought he needed some lovin' too, and since the lap was taken, he took the next best thing.

I'm always telling the cats (and kids), "If you're sprawled on the floor, you're going to get mistaken for a rug." I guess it follows that if you're sprawled on the couch, you can be mistaken for a couch! It's the warmest I was all day!

Sacred Threads

Many thanks to Lisa Ellis for taking the time to not only take pictures of my quilts but also to send them to me. Your efforts are MUCH appreciated!!!

"The Light Shines in the Darkness"
Suzanne Kistler 2007

"Psalm 46:10 Be Still"
Suzanne Kistler 2008

I still get a thrill any time I see someone stop and look at one of my quilts, especially one of my faith quilts. To God be the glory! :)

The Sacred Threads exhibit continues in Ohio through June 28, so if you have the opportunity to see it, take advantage! It won't be back until 2011...

Back at the ranch (figuratively speaking) my painting is finished. Today's plan is to put the design wall back in the room, and then, who knows? I might just try to SEW something!!!

"We Have Seen His Star..."

Back in 2005, I was contacted by Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, regarding my quilt "We Have Seen His Star: Wise Men Still Seek Him." They had seen it in Jan Krentz's Diamond Quilts book, and were interested in publishing a pattern. I gave them the go-ahead, and it was presented as their 2005 Christmas Memory Pattern. All you needed to do was send them an SASE, and they sent you the pattern.

Every once in a while I get requests for the pattern. I usually tell people to contact QNM, and see if it is still available. They wrote the pattern, I didn't. I constructed the quilt differently than they outline, but the results should be very similar. I used Jan's Lone Star techniques to make the star.

This week I received TWO requests for the pattern. You have my blessing to make this quilt. In fact, I don't think there could be too many of this quilt in existence. If anyone else would like the pattern, either contact Quilter's Newsletter or email me.

Now that you've read this, you'd probably like to know what quilt I'm talking about.

Here is the full-view:

And here is a detail of the quilting:

If you click on the image, it should give you a larger view.

That's all I've got for today. I've worked on my April Step twice, both on Thursday and last night. The boy is appliqued in place, and I'm giving him hair. I might actually get the top together by Thursday, but the quilting is looking iffy. Goals are good. Don't allow the inability to reach every single one keep you from setting them. Every step we take is progress. Let's keep moving forward!

Still Doing Show Stuff

Have you missed me? I've missed you. Actually that's not quite true. I've been so busy I haven't had time to miss anything, except maybe sleeping. I've decided I've got quilt lag. This morning I couldn't remember my morning routine, and even forgot that coffee was an option. Folks, we're talking tired!!!

Yesterday I wanted to post a picture of Be Still. I entered three quilts in the show, "Psalm 46:10 Be Still," "Cascading Crystal Kaweah," and "Encompassing Tradition." All of the judge's comments were positive, but only Be Still snagged a ribbon. God is good. If I were to pick one of the three for recognition, this is the one I would have chosen. It's quite humbling to realize that my handquilting is decent enough to please more than one judge. wow. What an honor!

"Psalm 46:10 Be Still"
Best Hand Quilting, BOTV 2009
Suzanne Kistler 2008

I've spent the past couple of days shipping back quilts from the show. I have one last package to ship, and it won't go out until Thursday. Today I spent the afternoon writing thank you letters to sponsors. Tomorrow I have more paperwork to do, and one of these days I need to take the remainder of the PVC pipes and sheets out of the van. The garage is already full, but part of it is seats from the van. yep. One of these days I'll get my garage back, and my van back, but not today.

And one of these days I'll give you an interesting post, but not today.

I got a comment from Mason's Puppy Raisers, asking about the pattern for "We Have Seen His Star, Wise Men Still Seek Him." I actually have a copy of the pattern from QNM, but I have no way to contact you. If you could email me (my email is on my profile) and send me contact information, I'd be happy to send the pattern along to you. My feeling of that quilt is that the more of them in existence, the better. It's a reminder that Christmas is about a lot more than just Santa Claus and snowmen.

And on that, I'm going to hit the hay. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have something more to post, but not now. Sleep well!!

Happy Easter!!!

Palm Sunday/Easter Sunday Banners
Suzanne Kistler 1994

Yes and Yes and Welcome Home

I've been trying to play catch-up after being gone for a week. I'm almost done going through the mail. woohoo! I received a large envelope from Sacred Threads (large is always good), containing two acceptance letters. Both "Psalm 46:10 Be Still" and "The Light Shines in the Darkness" will be heading to Reynoldsburg, Ohio in June. I'm going to have to check my calendar and see what else June holds!

I was also relieved to know that "Cascading Crystal Kaweah" came home on Thursday. I was beginning to get anxious about that one - I'd hoped it would be home a week ago. The judges' comments were encouraging, they referred to it as a "bead-o-rama." ;)

Finally, "Encompassing Tradition" arrived last night. Welcome home, baby, you're looking good!

Finished Feels So GOOD!!

First of all, thank you for your votes/encouragement to finish up some of these UFO's. The feathered stars got two "votes," the 12 Days of Christmas also got two. The Scotland blocks are also "in the running." (Actually, of those three projects, the Scotland blocks are the most likely to be finished during the next 12 months.)

Finished feels good, doncha know?!!

I am finished with my last quilt-for-hire of 2008. YIPPEE!! DeAnn asked if I was going to post it on the blog. "Do you want me to?" "Oh yes! Absolutely!!"

So, for DeAnn, and the rest of you, here is her quilt:

quilt by DeAnn Farris, 2008

You can't really see the quilting from afar, so here it is, up close and personal...


It is quilted in both blue and yellow thread. The back looks pretty good too, if I do say so myself...


But even better than looking at the quilt, is looking at this...


Be still my heart!

Going through all of my UFO's has really got my motor revving. I'm raring to go! But Christmas is coming, what am I going to do? Aha!!!

I took a LOT of pictures yesterday, from my Box of Possibilities.

Some might call it a box of discards or orphan blocks, but I see it differently. I have a hard time throwing ANYTHING away, because you never know when you just might need it...

Take for example, the making of this quilt: (the picture was taken before I blocked it. yikes.)

"WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR"
Wise Men Still Seek Him
Suzanne Kistler 2003

"WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR"

Wise Men Still Seek Him
close-up
Suzanne Kistler 2003

I made this star a LONG time ago, when Jan was working on her Lone Star book. I only made the star part, and it didn't seem finished. I wanted to add light coming down to the world, but had no idea of how to do that. zip. zero. nada. I put the star aside, until Jan was working on her Diamond Quilt book. I suddenly had the answer...I could do diamonds!!

I started cutting and sewing (my usual method of quiltmaking). Draft a pattern? But why? Well, here's why:


This was my first attempt. Rather than look like light filtering down from a star, it looked like a rocket taking off. The light was headed in the wrong direction.

I abandoned this one, and the second attempt was successful. It was incorporated into the finished quilt, and you've already seen the picture. The final quilt was a success, and Jan included it in her book. Quilter's Newsletter also liked it, and in 2005, it was selected as their "Christmas Memory Pattern." I'm not sure if they still have it available, but they might. I couldn't find a link to the pattern, but you can see what's on the cover of that particular issue and find the info to track it down...

Anyway, back to the wayward rocket light. Of course I couldn't throw away all of that piecework, not a chance. I might need it sometime, you know?

And I'm thinking that I know just what I'm going to do with it today. Perhaps I'll post pictures tomorrow. And on that, I'm off to "create."

oh wait.

Pat expressed her disappointment at not "winning" the quilted Christmas card. Should we try it again? Leave a comment on this post, and I'll draw a name for another card on Tuesday 12/9. I do get up early, so you probably want to comment by Monday if you want in on the action... ;) Oh, and Jan? Sorry, you can't win twice, but you can still comment... ;)

Good luck!!!