Once Upon A Barn

You may have noticed the Build-A-Barn button on the side bar of my blog, if you don't know what that is I am here to tell you today. The uber-talented quiltmaker extraordinaire, Julie Sefton, has written a book! You may know her better as quiltdivajulie  she has an exceptional blog: "Me and My Quilts-- Exploring the Possibilities". Julie is extremely creative and super organized at the same time; traitst one might think are exclusive of each other, they're not in Julie's case! Julie is always sharing her creative process through her blog posts. Step by step, post after post, she shares her inspirations, her thoughts, her notes and her unique quiltmaking successes as well as those things that didn't quite work out as well as she had imagined; she is most generous in every regard. I only know Julie through blogging. Over a year ago she contacted me, as well as a few others, about helping to proof the process notes for this book. From there the SSOBB was born; there's a link for the Secret Society of Barn Builders on my sidebar too; you can read more about this "sorority" there. So, fast forward to now. The book is out and available, it is published by AQS; if you can't find it in your LQS you can order it directly (but tell your LQS that they really should carry it!). My copy arrived a few weeks ago, as soon as I had it in my hands I read through each word of each page, it was exactly like visiting with Julie through her blog, I was immersed in each and every step of her pattern-free, improvisational barn building techniques. Suddenly I had a thought! I had a barn drawing that I could pull out from a long-ago quilt class; I could use Julie's technique and make a 2016 version of my 1993 class sketch!

I had no problem finding my notes and sketches from that class that I taught twenty three years ago! But, where are the sample blocks that I constructed way back then? I have no idea. That's okay-- my mind is racing and I am launching on a new adventure, using a new method, through this inspiration on aging, yellowed paper!

With my sketch in hand and Julie's book opened wide I have begun to pull fabrics to bring the old barn to life!

Join me in this adventure. I will share my progress along the way. I have enlarged my original drawings so that I could envision a central panel in actual size, approximately 24" X 12". Stay tuned for updates, this is going to be fun! Thank you, quiltdivajulie, for inspiring me in oh-so-many ways; let's see what happens along this path!

Life is Good!

In The Begininng...

The year was 1983. A local fabric store was offering a beginning quilting class and I really wanted to attend. I discussed it with Mr. Goodneedle, we tallied up the projected expenses (how could he know then what would be spent in the years to come!) of that one class and we agreed that it would be my Christmas gift. It was a sampler class; I met the teacher (my dear friend of 32+ years now), bought my supplies and the "book" (magazine) and eagerly waited for that first session. I remember that Ann, our teacher, brought a Maple Leaf quilt to display (in addition to her sampler) and I sat in that class, staring at her Maple Leaf quilt, thinking to myself that if I could ever make anything that pretty I would stop right then and there. Ahem.  I worked diligently on that sampler quilt whenever I had a free moment, at that time we had a seven year old and a three year old, there weren't many of those moments to be had. This sampler was hand and machine pieced and completely hand quilted, lap style. I dug out the quilt and that beginning "book" yesterday, along with my hand-written class diploma; Ann came out to Chez Goodneedle for a sewing and catch-up day, I wanted her to see that I have kept all of these "firsts", the important things that define my life as a quiltmaker. I think she was impressed. This quilt, my very first one, is worth much more to me than money could ever buy. Begun in 1983 and completed in 1985 I can still recall the feeling of pride and accomplishment when I took that last stitch in the binding and knotted off the thread. But even greater than that was what followed: I carried this just-completed quilt upstairs and placed it over my sleeping son who happened to be home from school sick that day. He opened one eye, surveyed the quilt, and declared himself "covered with love". I've been making quilts ever since! I am deeply grateful to Ann for starting me down this road, I look back over these past thirty two years and I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without quilting; the friendships, the adventures, the creative endeavors and, of course, the quilts. They will live on, well past me. I look forward to another sewing and catch-up day next month with my dear friend and mentor, this time we may actually switch on a sewing machine! In the beginning there was a young mother on a tight budget with a deep yearning to stitch a quilt of her own... the rest is history!

Life is Good!

   

Quilting "The Journey" And A Book Review

I've resumed quilting on "It's The Journey" after a few distractions. Working on this challenge quilt continues to be a joyful experience, as has always been the case. Each shape offers a new opportunity to try out another quilting motif or technique. Snowbird has risen to each and every task and performed beautifully. Three things have come together and combined to assist me in becoming more adventurous and creative in my quilting choices, two of them are machine related: Snowbird is equipped with Bliss drive and Quilt Glide stitch mode, both allowing for smooth-as-silk movements resulting in curvier curves and flawless, precise control. The third thing is a new confidence  gained as a result of taking a longarm class this past summer. The instructor, Gina Parris-Perkes, was encouraging and helpful in exactly the way that I needed to be gently nudged forward past what had been my own self-imposed boundaries. That, and actually breathing while quilting have made a world of difference! (I have a classmate friend to thank for noticing that and cheering me on with: "breathe, breathe"...!).

Quiltkeemosabe and I will get-together tomorrow for our monthly "Bible" study, working our way together, block by block, through Rosemary Youngs' Quilt Block Bible.  We alternate hosting and instructing and have added a book review to our agenda too. If we're going to hold each other accountable for stitching up the blocks we figured we'd throw in some accountability for the books we buy!  This was my month to write up the book review and I chose Karen McTavish's new, 2nd edition of Mastering The Art of McTavishing. This book comes with a twin set of DVDs demonstrating her signature, distinctive, quilting stitch; I found the book a sound investment worthy of its place on my bookshelf, it's a highly valuable resource. If you would like a copy of my book review just let me know and I will be happy to e-mail a copy of that to you.

Life is Good!

Reading Rainbow

I don't have a wide angle lens or I would show you these three bookshelves horizontally, end to end, displaying the rainbow effect of my just-arranged quilting books. I had been in a quandary for some time as to how to shelve all of these. By subject matter? By author? Quite a while ago the ever-brilliant Quiltdivajulie suggested that I shelve them by binding color, I took her up on her idea at long last and absolutely love the way my shelves now look! This makes me smile. What little thing can you do today to change your view and improve your outlook? Look around... you'd be surprised at what a big difference a little change can make.

Life is Good!

 

How Will Your Cabin Look?

If you were to build a log cabin how would yours look? Would it be contemporary or modern? Would your logs be set straight or varied and interlocking? I'm not talking about building a cabin to live in, but rather building a Log Cabin quilt to snuggle up under! The fine folks at Fons & Porter have released a free e-book that's yours for the clicking (here). You will be inspired by the gorgeous photographs of everyone's favorite, most basic of all, quilt blocks. It doesn't matter if you're a traditionalist at heart or a modern quilter, there's something for everyone in this book: Build Your Best Log Cabin. There are great setting options to inspire you but my favorite section of the book contains the finishing techniques: binding with piping  is addressed as well as joining the binding strips for a smooth and lump-free finish! You'll consult this book over and over once you have it downloaded on to your computer. With these tips and easy to follow how-to's every Log Cabin that you build will be your BEST quilt yet!

Life is Good!

A Classic, From My Own Shelf!

I have shelves loaded with books in the studio. When I buy a book I typically read it and then shelve it, where it sits... forever. When my Guild advertised a book sale at an upcoming meeting it piqued my interest as far as what I might actually already own, lurking right under my own nose. I certainly have books that I can cull, and I will... eventually. But for the next few months or so I am going to examine (reexamine) my personal quilting book library. I pulled this one out today and read through it while my grandson was napping. It is an excellent book for considering when choosing the what, where and how of quilting a piece. The book uses a logical approach to thinking about that next step such as: how will the quilt be used, what is the timeline for completion and what is your skill level, all valid considerations. I bought this book before I had Sundance, when I was machine quilting on a domestic machine, and the book is set up that way; for domestic machine quilting and hand quilting too, but the same principles apply, even is the quilting technique being used today is a longarm machine. There's also a chapter on scale and proportion which I think is never discussed enough. Visiting my own library today has energized me for my next quilting adventure. What's collecting dust on your shelves that can be pulled out, reread, and celebrated all over again? Have a look, you might just be surprised; I was! Now, I must figure out how a way to arrange my books... by author, by title, by subject matter? I'm leaning toward the latter as that seems to make the most sense to me, then I will most likely alphabetize by author within each subgroup. I have never had an organized approach to categorizing my books, I know that it would make me happy and save searching time if I used a method more orderly than my current willy-nilly shelving style.

Life is Good!

Quilting... What's New And What's Not

I got the quilting finished and the binding on this baby quilt for our nephew's new addition this week. My husband and I spent the day in the car yesterday, a day trip to Weaverville, I managed to get all the handwork completed. Now with the binding whipped into place it is ready for mailing. Quiltkeemosabe gave me a tip a few years ago regarding binding... she hand bastes hers into place before the final step! Ever since she made this suggestion I have been basting my binding, it is such a pleasure to work on finishing a quilt that has no pins or clips to deal with, especially in the car! 

Quilt binding basted into place and ready for finishing by hand.

What's new? Superior's MonoPoly on a 10,000 yard cone. Joy!

What else is new? This book, at least it's new to me. More self-imposed homework!
How old is this quilter/author anyway? Twelve??  The book and instructions are simply wonderful.

What's NOT new? This Crumb Baskets quilt. While demonstrating hand quilting last week to one of my students I heard myself telling her how relaxing hand quilting is; I'd forgotten that. This quilt, basted for hand quilting since 1998, was easily accessible and has become the object of my own relaxation sessions!


Life is Good!