Contemporary Traditions

A little baby quilt pieced by a friend of mine, Jan. Isn’t it darling?

I quilted Wonky Feathers on it.

I forgot to show you who stands and watches over all of my ironing.

“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be (pressed). I don’t do these things to other people and I require the same from them.”

Well, he said something like that anyway.

QuilterSA

Libby asked quilters to post a photo of their ironing boards.

Well here is mine… in all its pressing glory. As you can see, my space for pressing overlaps with the kids’ school area. I get to enjoy perusing the United States and its geography while I do my pressing. I actually learn a lot from it. And if I get tired of the US, the World map is just above it.

It is incredible how our brains work. I am especially impressed this morning with how it can store away information and even if I think I have forgotten it, my brain can pull it up and use it without my having to think about it.

I took a class with Sue Patton in November of 2005. I was a new longarm quilter and I had a lot to learn. Sue’s class was great and I was exposed to a lot of new techniques and ideas. However the techniques were way over my head. I couldn’t see myself ever using half of the stuff that she was showing us and I assumed I never would do it. It was beautiful, but beyond me. So I put her book away on the bookshelf and I thought that I filed the techniques in the delete file in my brain.

Apparently those ideas were only in the archives because this week, 2+ years later, I’m working on Robbing Peter to Pay Paul. I’ve gotten lots of practice and a few more classes since that class with Sue and I am starting to develop my own “style”. As I was working this morning I started wondering where some of these techniques I am using came from. And then I remembered Sue’s class. Some of what I was doing came from Sue’s class! Her techniques had worked their way into my style without my realizing it. Thank you Sue! and Sherry! And Sharon! and Pam! and Dawn! And all of the quilting teachers out there that share their time and techniques. I appreciate it!

Oops! White thread on red… should I have stopped and picked it out?

Beth of The Jury is Still Out pieced this quilt for Quilts of Valor. You might have seen it on my borders page too. And while it still needs a binding the quilting is done; more wonky feathers!

Mr. Turkey is just about finished. All I have to do is the button for his eye, 3 buttons on his vest and his legs and feet. I put some cording on for his legs and feet to give them some dimension and I am going to satin stitch over the cord with black.

What a good feeling; to finish up a project! And here are some photos:

As with every project I learned a lot with this one. Mainly I learned that a white on white background is beautiful but it presents some problems. Obviously, it is very difficult to keep a white background clean while working on it. But not so obvious is that the seams running through the white areas show up more than I would like. Also, I used some of the colored fabrics on the back and they do show through slightly. So a white quilt should also have a white back. I will think very carefully before committing to another white background.

The freehand quilting is a new technique that I learned from Dawn Ramirez’ DVD Pajama Quilter Reloaded. I had seriously thought that I would never be able to do freehand feathers like this but after watching her DVD and practicing a while I am able to do it! And it is so much fun! DVDs are a good way for me to learn. I like being able to pause and rewind and watch it again.

I took Antique Stars to my LQS to be put on display for a while and after that it will take up residency on my daughter’s bed.

Now it is time for me to turn my attention to the next project…

It is Girl Scout Cookie season here in San Antonio. The Girl Scouts of South West Texas had a cookie rally at Sea World last weekend. The park was only open to Girl Scouts…and their leaders! Boy, did we have a blast!

The Clydesdale barn is near the front gate. What are horses doing at Sea World? Anheuser Busch owns Sea World…

The dolphin display is great. It is easy to get up close and personal with the dolphins, especially if you buy food to feed them.

The aquariums give you a peek into a beautiful world.

The penguin are so cute!

And we were treated to a sea lion show.

Thank you Sea World for treating the Girl Scouts to an awesome day!

By the way, at that point the Girl Scouts of South West Texas had sold 860,000 boxes of cookies. That is a lot of cookies!

Have you seen the Quilt of the Month at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum? Made sometime between 1925 and 1935, it is a lovely quilt with appliquéd bouquets of flowers; perfect for Valentines Day.

My kids have dental appointments today. So I will be spending the morning sitting in a waiting room stitching away on Mr. Turkey!