Quilts in the Attic: Uncovering the Hidden Stories of the Quilts We Love
Karen Musgrave
Voyageur Press; $24.00

Are you ever interested in “the rest of the story” when it comes to the quilts you
see? So much is unknown about the quilts we see and that’s what Karen Musgrave set
out to remedy with Quilts in the Attic. She has explored the background and personal
history of 30 quilts and their makers in a period that spans more than 200 years.
The stories are fascinating. I started with the first one, “Nettie’s Beauty.” Karen
captured me in the first sentence: “Nettie Miller Sours was found dead in her bed
with her hands neatly crossed on her chest – a true Virginia mountain woman to the
end.” I went on to learn about how the quilt was won at auction and then about the
personal life of Nettie. I enjoyed learning more about Ruby Short McKim in “Legacy
Reclaimed,” especially since one of my first quilt book purchases in 1977 was One
Hundred and One Patchwork Patterns. I was fascinated to learn about the gift in
2010 of “Night Flight” by Andrea Scadden to Bill Volckening, Oregon Quilt Project
coordinator, who just volunteered that he loved free quilts. This quilt had been
in Quilt National in 1983 and now its maker is a Buddhist living in the Himalayas.
Just pick the book up, read any chapter and you’ll find a treasure.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Are you a procrastinator? Well, who isn’t at times? I think I felt in a procrastinating mood as I started to write this ezine. Then as I was thinking about what to write about, I looked down and saw the little stickie on my computer screen. It reads “DING. Do It Now Girl.” Isn’t that a great acronym, too? DING. As in the door bell is ringing, and you are going to answer it. As in the work is calling, and you are going to do it.

Here are some tips to help you DING.

1. Have a schedule or deadline. Nothing like a deadline to spur you on to action.
2. Remove the distractions. That would be all the bright shiny objects in your field of vision or the latest issue of your favorite art publication. You’ll have time
   for them later.
3. Get clear about what you are accomplishing and why.
4. Break the task down into manageable bits if it’s really large. You don’t have  to do it all, you just have to start.
5. Set a timer. If you promise yourself to work for 15 minutes, odds are that you will keep going once you are into the project.And, if Do It Now Girl doesn’t resonate with you, try Do It Now, Go!

Please share your thoughts on how you handle procrastination on below.

Continuing my reporting from a couple weeks ago, here is more of what captured my eye in Portland at this year’s Spring Quilt Market:

1. As always Moda had lots of new designs in yummy colors. From its news designer, Gina Martin, comes bright, graphic and whimsical patterns depicting birds, bird houses and garden flowers in her premiere collection, Wrens & Friends. From designer Kate Spain comes Sunnyside, a bright collection of yellows, blues, greens and tangerines. The latest collection from Zen Chic an Brigitte Heitland is Barcelona, a cheery collection of graphic prints, tiles, strips and dots. Also loved the booth design. It featured more than 19,000 laser cut leaves in the top fall Bella colors sewn into a hanging forest. (www.modafabrics.com)

2. Sawgrass Technologies is bringing digital fabric printing to the mass market with its FabricMaker fabric printing system. The system, available in personal or professional packages, lets individuals or shops print custom Fat Quarters, 24″ or 44″ yardage in its unique 8-color ink set. (www.fabricmaker.com)

3. Island Batik launched Quilted in Honor, a fund-raising initiative for Operation Homefront, one of the nation’s top military fund-raising organizations. The flagship of the program is Island Batik’s Quilted in Honor fabric line designed by Kathy Engle. A wide range of retail products were designed and crated by Quilted in Honor partners to support the project. (www.quiltedinhonor.com)

4. New from Omnigrid is the On-Point™ Ruler designed by Donna Thomas. This ruler measures across the diagonal rather than the sides. This is great for cutting squares, triangles and rectangles that are to be set on point in a border or inside a patchwork block. (www.omnigrid.com)

5. ArtKloth is a canvas-like foundation cloth that can be used to create projects ranging from totes to wall hangings to roller shades. It’s versatile and you can fuse fabric onto it, glue or rubber stamp on it or paint on it. It’s available in sheets or rolls. (www.artkloth.com)

6. I always love the colorful display at the Michael Miller Fabrics booth, and this year I was not disappointed with the swan boat that graced the booth with its “Spring is in the air” theme. New from Tamara Kate is Flight Patterns, which was inspired by dappled light, fresh breezes and care-free summer days, and les Monsieurs, which is best described as all boy filled with whimsical cars, planes and castles. Laura Gunn’s Edges featured graphic circles, grids, lines and mosaics in a collection of springy brights and neutrals. Also premiering from Michael Miller is a new batiks line. (michaelmillerfabrics.com)

Please share your thoughts on what caught your eye below.  

Eleanor Burns hosts a year-long block party that is available via livestream on her website. This book is the collection of the patterns plus from 2012. When Eleanor was considering the topic for 2012, someone suggested she create blocks named after food. That was followed by a suggestion that she add in a cooking lesson. You’ll find 6″ and 12″ blocks for Melon Patch and Broken Dishes among others, as well as a 20″ block for Cherry Basket. Of course, they’ll all combine into a large sampler quilt. If a sampler isn’t your choice, you’ll find direction for lots of full-size quilts and wall hangings from the blocks. In addition to the quilt blocks, you can enjoy the recipes that inspired each. The book includes a wire binding so it can lay flat and lots of full-color illustrations to ensure success with your project.

With traveling so much in May, the weeds got ahead of me. Way ahead of me! Weeding is not a chore I enjoy. I’d much rather sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and read or take a walk. About this time I found a note from a young man in my neighborhood looking for work so I gave him a call. He was off from college and wanted to earn extra money. He had a big goal. He was the recipient of a 1977 Granada, a classic car. Only problem was the car needed some cosmetic work that he and his dad could do and he needed to buy insurance.

What did I learn from this young man?

1. Knowing your why is huge. Tim, that’s the young man’s name, said he needed the car because it would make the right impression. It was an impression that he wouldn’t get with the family’s old pick-up truck.
2. Create a plan and work the plan. Tim showed up at my house with calendar pages for May through August printed out. He knows how much money he needs to make to maintain the car. He has the calendar filled in with odd jobs ranging from yard work to dog walking so he can accomplish that.
3. Set deadlines so you can work toward your goals. Tim plans to take a “lovely young woman” out on on June 16th, so he’s got a deadline. He wants that good impression. He has other deadlines along the way, but that’s the first one.
4. Look for options and ask for help. Tim has outlined how much money he needs to make, only it will take the summer to make enough to pay the insurance. (That’s not counting on the money for gas!) To meet his goal, he had to look at other options. His older brother, after reviewing the plan, is loaning Tim the money for the insurance. The older brother considers it a good risk.
5. Don’t forget yourself. When Tim was setting his calendar, he put in the fun activities he had planned so that working toward his goal didn’t consume all his time. It’s easy for those of us who work for ourselves to finish one task and then jump right into the next.

While I could see all the specifics of a good business plan here, what was most fun for me was the joy that Tim had in telling me about the car, how he was fixing it up, and the impression he knew it would make. It was a good reminder for me about looking for the joy in my goals.

Now I’ve got to keep a lookout on the 16th to see the car tooling up the road.

Please share your thoughts below.

Back Basting Appliqué Step by Step by Hand or Machine

Long arm appliqué fan, Barbara Eikmeier, found teaching needle-turn to others a challenge. That was until she discovered back-basting appliqué. With this needle-turn technique, you baste the fabric in place from the back side, then trim and then appliqué. Barbara covers three methods of back-basting appliqué: baste by hand, appliqué by hand; baste by machine, appliqué by hand; and baste by machine, appliqué by machine. She also includes step-by-step illustrations of techniques such as layering motifs, reverse appliqué and broderie perse. Once you have the technique down, you can progress through a series of wall hangings, table runners and a banner to perfect the technique or venture out on your own.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

It’s always exciting to see what’s new on the market, whether that’s fabric, notions or a new magazine. Here’s my take on some of what I saw at Quilt Market last week.

Color, color, color. We are still seeing lots of bold and bright colors. I didn’t see pastels. I did see lots of fabrics that were reminiscent of 1930s fabrics. I also saw more what a friend termed “street wearable” patterns and more embroidery patterns. Here are some more specifics.

1. I mentioned embroidery. This was celebrated to the max by Heather Bailey who introduced a line of embroidery patterns, some of which are quilt labels. Heather recreated one of her patterns stitched on a 6-foot by 10-foot wall. She was still stitching the wall during the show. Heather also won a best booth award for this creation. See a portion above.
2. New from Carolyn Friedlander is her Slow Sewing Studio line. This pattern group celebrates hand sewing and socializing. This is just another example with the trend that we are seeing of hand work.
3. Amy Barickman with Indygo Junction introduced Crossroads, a new line of softened denim. It’s 100% cotton, 54″ wide and available in white and 13 colors.
4. New from Pind Inc. is the Quilt Design System. This 72-inch “Butterfly” system was designed to be functional, space saving and aesthetically pleasing. It is easy to assemble and features options for up to four design walls. The system is also perfect for using as a stretcher frame on which to mount silk for painting, and it can accommodate a large canvas for painting.
5. Stkr.it is the perfect solution if you want to connect your digital memories to your quilts. You attach a sticker with a QR code to your quilt label. When someone scans the code, they are directed to a site online where you’ve uploaded a video or audio making your gift even more personal.

More next week.

Please share what you saw that was new on below in our Leave a Reply section.

The Gifts of Imperfection
Brené Brown
Hazleden; $14.95

I purchased this book a while back because I’ve loved Brené Brown since I saw her talk on TED and watched her keynote speech at Omega a couple of years ago. I knew I would have a long trip back from Portland and took this to read on the plane. I loved the book. As someone who wrestles with perfectionism, this book cut to the core for me. The book is subtitled “Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are.” Her recommendation is to take up wholehearted living and she shares 10 prescriptions for that. For us creatives, one is to create! It’s a quick read, though it will be something I will go back to again to study in more depth and consider her questions. Can’t recommend this book enough. I’ve ordered extra copies for family and close friends.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

For 27 years the International Association of Professional Quilters has recognized outstanding teachers. This year our award goes to Maryland appliqué artist Mimi Dietrich. Here is some insight into her teaching philosophy:

What standards of workmanship do you require of your students? What do you do if they don’t attain them?

I am an appliqué teacher. As far as standards of workmanship, all I ask is that my students try. Some students come to my class with preconceived ideas about applique. Some are very afraid of the “A” word when they come to my class, some are afraid they will not be able to make small stitches that they have read about. I just ask them to try. To try to make the stitches as small as possible on the top of their work, as consistent as possible, following steps that I give them for the traditional appliqué stitch. As they practice and keep stitching, the stitches will get smaller, more even and consistent on the top and bottom. I ask them to have fun stitching the appliqué to the background fabric, trusting that they will get better with each stitch. They usually get hooked!

How do you encourage creativity in your students?

I encourage creativity in my students by suggesting that they substitute elements in the applique patterns. They can substitute a gathered flower for a rose, folded buds for little flowers or clumps of berries, or even add their favorite butterfly to a floral design. Many students feel that they have to follow a pattern exactly. I love it when they change things and make the design their own. I also encourage them to make Baltimore Album quilts using their favorite colors and fabrics, rather than the traditional red and green. We discuss how the traditional quilts were made, but it’s exciting to see students make the quilt with their own style.

How do you encourage students’ further growth in quilting, beyond the formal class?

I encourage them to do “research,” which means searching for photos of appliquéd quilts and looking at quilts in shows. I give them names of books, magazines, quilt shows and web sites to inspire them. One of my favorite ways of helping students grow is a group I host once a month called my “Graduate School.” It is only for students that have taken my year-long class in Baltimore. I am not paid for it because I love it so much, and we are now in our 20th year! Right now there are 40 active participants. In the morning we have show and tell. In the afternoon, we choose a project for the year and work on different blocks each month. My favorite part of this is that I require each student to be a “presenter.” They are wonderful and this has encouraged some of them to “really” become appliqué teachers.

What do you feel is your greatest contribution to the field of quilting?

My greatest contribution to the field of quilting is the first book I wrote, Happy Endings: Finishing the Edges of your Quilt.  I wrote the book in 1988 and this year it is going to be re-released with its fourth edition and a new cover. That’s 25 years! That’s amazing in the world of quilt books. But the true importance of the book is that it taught thousands of quilters how to put binding on their quilts! That means quilts are getting finished!

Please share your thoughts or leave a reply in the section below.