Quiltin' Meetin' With Show 'N' Tell

This evening, we all met up at Kirsten and Jane's place for a quilt meeting.  What a fun time!  Astrid and Kirsten have been collaborating on a Gwen and Freddie tribute quilt.  What a surprise!

Of course, it is called "Gwenny's Baskets".  It is simply lovely.  I think this year we have made more quilts than ever, and we still have four months left in the year.  Of course, getting ready for a themed quilt show has a lot to do with it.  

This is the first time to one of our meetings, for Gracie.  She brought several of her quilts to show us.  This is her liberated log cabin quilt.  She quilted it herself on her domestic sewing machine.

This is a liberated medallion quilt, made by Gracie.  She really fits in with our group.  It has nothing to do with her bringing chocolate chip cookies and kitty measuring tapes for us.

This is Gracie's Fractured Log Cabin quilt.  She just completed it this week.  She had been working on it to contribute to our upcoming quilt show.  The show is at Expo Idaho on Sept 26 and 27.  Kirsten and Jane have all the quilts for the show curated, and we are all working on last minute things that need to be done.  We went over those at our meeting, then had a fun time chatting and eating cookies.

Kuna Days Parade, Today!

 

Jane here!  We had so much fun at the Kuna Days Parade today.  It started out breezy and overcast which made it less hot in the waiting for the parade to get started.  About half-way through, Gracie fell over.  Marsha managed to help her up, so she could wave some more to the crowd.  We were all a bit wind-blown by the time it was over.  It was a great crowd this year.  

The parade theme is "Under Western Skies", so we all wore our bandanas.  We put Kirsten's down-on-the-farm quilt on this side of our float.  That is Gracie in the middle.

L-R:  Kirsten, Edna, and me (Jane)  The amazing thing is how noisy it was this year, as we were followed by 15 motorcycle riders with very loud engines. 

Jane's Second Tribute to Gwen Marston Quilt

Kirsten here.  Jane has completed another tribute quilt in honor of Gwen Marston.  One of the many quilting things Gwen did, was collecting old/antique blocks then making quilts with them or in the style of them.  Jane has a pile of these hand-pieced nine-patch blocks.  She has no idea how old they are or who actually did them.  She got them from Vesta, but she is not sure Vesta did them or if she collected them from someone else.  That is just the thing; we get blocks from people who have passed away, or we get them at quilt shows or yard sales.

Here is Jane's latest completed quilt.  She is really good at piecing, the blocks, on-point.  She just got the binding on it on Sunday.  We had a little back-yard BBQ, so she was able to show it off to the gang.   

Everyone is Being Creative!

I think we decided on this "Gwen and Freddy Challenge" a little close to our upcoming show in September.  But if we each make at least one, we will have something inspirational to display in memory of these great quilters and teachers. Kirsten and Edna have made Gwen and Freddy quilts before, so we have those for the show.  We are hoping to have ten.  Jane is working on her second one.   

Edna e-mailed me a photo of what she has got going on her design wall.  Edna said she is making a bunch of liberated nine-patch blocks and on-point squares in squares.  I am really liking those bright nine-patch blocks!

Of course, Marsha hangs out with me.  Here is what she has on her design wall.  She is making lots of liberated stars, liberated log cabins, and square-in-a-square blocks for her quilt.  It is going to be interesting to see all the different quilts!  We are certainly off to a great start.

Jane's Tribute to Gwen Marston

Astrid here, again.  It seems Jane has been working uncollaboratively on this solid-colors quilt.  She finished it last night and brought it over today, to show me.  Jane loves the many quilts designed by Gwen Marston.  Gwen Marston was born in 1936 and passed away in 2019.  She has had a huge impact on thousands of quilters, worldwide.  I feel that her biggest contribution to quilting was her gift of inspiring other quilters to break away from patterns and design their own quilts, while developing their own styles, which grew out of the traditional.

This is Jane's first quilt using all solid-colored fabrics.  It looks magnificent!  She said she was playing around just sewing different colored pieces together and then cutting them and reassembling them.  When she put them on her white design-wall she had a little space between them and decided she liked the white breaking up her blocks, so that is how she improvised her own quilt design.

Astrid's "GweFre" Quilt is Fabulous!

I had so much fun designing this quilt and making the "parts".  I have some parts left over, that will likely go into another tribute quilt.  Jane is thinking of doing a vertical row quilt and include some of the parts.  I think Jane and I will do some collaborative quilting!

Marsha took this photo of my quilt and I.  It is considered a medallion quilt, which is one of the types Gwen Marsten wrote an entire book about and hosted classes on.  The color scheme is all Freddy.

Gwen and Freddy Challenge!

Astrid here.  Our little group of quilters have decided to do a Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran challenge, as a 2025 tribute to two of our favorite quilter rock stars.  I have jumped right in!  I am feeling pretty good about what I have put together so far.

I am presently making a bunch of black and white half-square triangles for another border within this quilt.  I also, have more decisions to make about what kind of flowers I am making stick out of my Gwenny basket.  I am so excited!  Edna is going to make one, too.  She made a Gwen Marsten style medallion quilt a couple years ago, so I call her a trailblazer.

Florals, Plaids, Stripes, Polka Dots, Hedge Hogs, Rabbits, and Ducks Oh My!

Many years ago, we were told that you do not mix florals, plaids, stripes, and polka dots, which does not even include hedge hogs, rabbits, or ducks.  I must state that fashion, home decor, and quilting sure was boring back then.  Those days are over baby!

Feel free to use this pallet of colors, anytime.  I, Kirsten, finished my vertical strip quilt with amazing colors, especially the yellows and purples (and all the rest!).  It has all the things in it, that I was told could not go into the same project.  My message is to all my quilting friends out there, to do what makes you happy and don't listen to the fuddy-duddys.   Happy quilting! 

Jane's January Tutorial - 2025

Happy January!  I am going to show you how to make a Hachi quilt, a Japanese improvisational quilt.  Improvising just means making decisions as you go.  Try making a Hachi quilt.  It is okay to head in a direction you are not familiar with and make discoveries for yourself.

There is no pattern, but that is okay!  The Hachi quilting process is simple and allows you to make choices about size, color, fabric patterns, and placement to create an overall unique and lovely quilt.

There are some rules to guide you, so there is no way to get lost.  Patricia Belyea, author of "East-Meets-West Quilts", lists five rules: 

1. make each block square, preferably 8" X 8"
2. make blocks with two fabrics in a relationship:  1/2 & 3/4, 3/4 & 1/4, 1/2 & 1/2
3. as you layout your block, to make the design, alternate the blocks horizontally and vertically
4. add an unexpected visitor (1 or 2 blocks) to add even more interest to your creation
5. break any rule you want

Let's get started on this "improv" quilt.  I started by rummaging through Astrid's stash of Japanese and Asian feel fabrics.  You can use any fabrics you have and try to match each print with a solid or a fabric that looks like a solid if you step back from it a little.  I use mostly tone-on-tones, when it comes to solids.  If you have large prints, like great big flowers, they work particularly well in Hachi quilts.  

Since I want four prints and four solids, and need to narrow my fabric choices down, I used my color wheel to help me decide what other colors go with the amazing tonal-yellow fabric I really want in my quilt.

The only real large print is of the cats.  In this photo I am showing the solids that I chose for each of my four prints.

Rule #2, is one I really like.  This photo illustrates what the relationships look like.  

Here are my colors in their 1/2 and 1/2 relationships.

Rule #3 states to start your lay-out with either a vertical position (seam connecting both pieces that make up the block is going up and down, while horizontal means side-to-side, like the horizon) or a horizontal position, then alternate the adjoining blocks.  That is what I am doing in the photo, above.

You can arrange and rearrange your blocks as much as you like.  I like the bold 'L' shapes that pop out when you put two of the same color combination blocks next to one another.  That is another feature of the Hachi style.  See that uninvited guest block there?  It is called an unexpected visitor, which adds another element of interest to your design.  I chose those colors, because there is less yellow in this quilt than any other color and the print is a stripe, which is unexpected!

I rearranged my blocks until I was pleased with the composition.  These blocks are on the design wall and have not been sewn to each other yet.  I can still make changes if I want.

Look at the color and shape relationships, then notice the relationships with adjoining blocks, including my visitor.  I just have to sew them all together to complete the quilt top.

Sew all the block together, in rows, then sew the rows to each other.  Cut a quilt back a couple inches larger than the front, and some batting.  Layer the back, batting, and top to make a quilt sandwich.  I recommend stitching in the ditch, but you can quilt it however you wish.

While you are quilting your quilt, be sure the stitch all around the outside edge, about 1/8 inch.  After the quilting part is done, trim your quilt with a straight ruler to square it up.  Now it is ready for the binding.  The Japanese have a way of binding their quilts, so you don't actually see it.  Patracia Belyea calls them "endcap facings".  You can bind your quilt anyway you wish, but I recommend you try the endcap facing.  Read and look on, for how to do endcap facings.

Hachi Quilt, Part 2:  Endcap Facings

Cut your strips for endcap facings.  I made mine 4" wide.  Press them lengthwise, in half, then place the folded edge away from the edge of the quilt top:  place the raw edge along the raw edges of the quilt.  See my amazing diagram, below:

See how the side facing, that was on top, is now underneath the one that runs clear across the end.

Amazing!  Press it all the way around, while pulling up a little of the front of the quilt, so the seam is right on the edge of the quilt, all the way around.  When you look at the quilt from the front, you do not see the back.  When you look at the quilt from the back, you do not see the fabric from the front.  I pin my edges in place then press them, the I go around again with my steam iron and a tailor's clapper, to make the edge of my quilt nice and flat.

With needle and thread, whipstitch the free edge of your facing down, only going through the backing fabric and some of the batting.  Do not go clear through to the front of your quilt.  Click on any of the photos and they will enlarge, so you can see the details.

This is the finished back of my Hachi quilt.

This is my finished quilt!  I like that you cannot see the binding, all you see is an amazing design!  I hope you will give this project a try.

Happy New Years Eve Eve!

Kirsten here.  2024 is almost over.  We did so much this year.  Astrid and I just finished our wall-hangings.  They are both machine-pieced, but totally hand quilted and bound, with a little bit of embroidery. I thought I would never hand-quilt another quilt, after the one I finished in 2020, which took me more than a year to get the hand-quilting done.  But there is a new stitch in town, called the long stitch.  Plus, I started doing more embroidery this year, too.

Astrid wanted to try doing the hand-quilting, so we decided to do primitive type wall-hangings, because they are not so large as regular quilts are.  We used up a few of our ever-growing piles of scraps.  It was fun to get together and sew without one of us lugging our sewing machine to the others' place.  This is a great travel project!

Christmas Quilts

It would seem some of us are on a red and green or a Christmas quilt kick.  Marsha finished her Christmas quilt, just as our weather has finally changed and it truly feels like November.  We met at her and Astrid's place and had tea and apple pie, as we just visited for a few hours.  I knew Marsha was working on a red and green quilt, but then she surprised us with a fabulous Christmas quilt.  

It is a medallion quilt!  What an impact the color and design make!  Marsha has come a long way in her quilting skills and design ideas.

Welcome!

With all the hard work, planning, making, and then running our "Good Friends Quilt Show", we forgot to post a photo of our amazing welcome sign.  It was the first bit, we completed, that made us feel we were really getting somewhere.  It is at the entrance of our show.  The first photo, below, is when we were working on getting everything set-up.  The second photo, below, is on the first day of the show.

Good Friends Quilt Show Taking Place in Garden City, Idaho

It has been a crazy few weeks, getting everything ready for our quilt show.  It has been up and running for a week and a half.  We have had tons of people come through.  I am wishing we had put a guest book out for comments from attendees. 

Here is Astrid selling raffle tickets for the quilt Kirsten donated.  

Jane was monitoring the quilts.

Someone admiring Kirsten's hand-quilted Civil War Nine-Patch quilt.

Norma and Edna having a discussion.  

So many quilts to see!  This pink and brown beauty is a Stack N Whack quilt.  

Good Friends Quilt Show!

Our "Good Friends Quilt Show" is a labor of love.  We have all been working tirelessly to get it going.  Tomorrow is opening day!

Astrid brought in a ton of clothespins, that Edna and Carol painted.  We want to display our quilts in style.

Flashy clothespins, oh yeah!

Marsha and Norma working together.

Astrid and Edna hard at work.

Norma helps Kirsten with quilt hanging.

Jane and Marsha hanging quilts.

We really do need a step-stool, but that blue chair worked out just fine.  We worked hard all day. We got the skirt on the table, the raffle quilt ticket collection box fixed up, and all the quilts hung.  Tomorrow, Friday, August 16, 2024, is the opening day of what we have named the "Good Friends Quilt Show."

It is at Expo Idaho in the South Exposition Bldg, August 16 thru 25, from noon to 10 PM each day.  Please come, we would love to see you there!

Kuna Days Parade!

Guess who made it back up to Idaho?  Edna got here in time to be in the Kuna Days Parade with us.   That was last Saturday, the third.

Kirsten and Edna waving to the crowd.

There were six of us on our amazing quilt float this year:  Edna, Kirsten, Norma, Astrid, Marsha, and Jane.

Here is Marsha and Astrid between Jane and Norma.

Kudo's to our driver, who did an outstanding job this year; gradual slow-downs and speed-ups, with no quick take offs or sudden braking.  It was a fabulous time, with lots of folks on the street-sides, with a genuine air of festiveness.  We all went out to lunch, with Carol and Annita, after we finished the route.

Jane's Confetti Quilt: Pockets Full of Posies

Jane here.  I have been looking through some of the amazing quilts that Kirsten has completed, and I got inspired.  One of my favorites is her confetti quilt.  The quilt is constructed by making the back, cutting the batting to fit the back, and making a solid top.  You sandwich those three pieces first, then you cut smaller pieces of fabric to just sew on to the top of the sandwiched layers.  The stitching that you sew around each small piece, is also the stitching that quilts the whole sandwich together.  This is known as "killing two birds with one stone", or "quilt-as-you-go".  

It is just another way to quilt-as-you-go.  The pieces, sewn on top, just have raw edges, and that is okay.  You could just use a bunch of small scraps to stitch on the top, and you would not have to cut any fabric down.  I used some scraps on mine, just the size they were, but I also fussy cut some flowers and some pocket shapes.  I, also, overlapped some of my pieces.  It is the same type of technique as Kirsten's, but they look completely different.  That is one of the great things about quilting.  You can add your own style!  To view Kirsten's confetti quilt, click here.