Making Waves!

Hi, everyone, and happy National Sewing Month!  And guess what...   I treated myself to a new sewing machine!

I got my Brother NX-650Q nine years ago just after I retired and had decided to learn to quilt.  It's a good machine -- I'm planning on keeping it -- but the harp space is way too small to quilt even a twin-size quilt, especially if one is stitching in the ditch on the diagonal.  I was replacing a 35-year-old Kenmore, and I did a lot on on-line research to figure out what I wanted at a price that seemed reasonable.  (BTW, I wish I'd kept the Kenmore, with its single-hole needle plate and strong engine).  Oh well.  I LOVED the Brother.  It came with a large extension table, a gazillion feet, a ton of stitches, including alphabet.  I was in awe.

But over time, as I did more quilting, I became aware of its limitations.  In addition to the small harp space, the motor just didn't have enough strength to power through heavy seams, and the zig-zag needle plate just sucked up triangles.  Single-hole plates are $$.  Earlier this month I decided that it was time to quilt the Otsego Lake quilts.  It was so frustrating!  The walking foot and/or the needle would stall where flying geese came together at the points.  The thread kept breaking.  The vibration caused screws to come loose, causing the needle to drop and break and the walking foot to come apart.  Garrrr!  Yes, most problems were resolvable, but still...

Again I did some internet research, this time with more understanding of what I needed.  My friend Deb told me how much she loves her Janome Memory Craft 6700P, and she does FMQ on huge quilts on hers.  Kelli, the owner of Riverhead Vac and Sew, offered me a very good price.  And the Janome has 3" more harp space horizontally than the Brother.   Not the biggest available, but just fine for me.  Ultimately, although I did find a couple of used machines on line, I decided that it was worth the extra money and peace of mind to buy from my local dealer.

My playground!  Janome standing confidently in the background, Brother in the table, Featherweight to the side.  I was so excited to get to work on the backlog of quilting.  I soon discovered that the Janome doesn't have a stipple stitch that I wanted to use, so she moved back and the Brother went back into the table for a little while.  Soon enough she came back out.  I keep my Featherweight set up on the side of my sewing table for opportunistic piecing.

Now, as National Sewing Month wraps up, I'm happy to say that one of the two twin-bed Otsego Lake quilts is quilted and ready for binding.

You may notice some (!) less-than-perfect points and seam matches.  This was the first "real" quilt that I had embarked on (not counting a baby quilt that was the product of a DVD-based how-to-quilt class).  The cutting was not very good, my sewing was not very good, etc., etc., you know the drill.  I squared up the top as best I could and started quilting and by stitching in the ditch along the diagonal lines.  But since there were few genuinely straight lines, things quickly got out of whack.  When I started stitching along the horizontal lines of the border, nothing wanted to stay flat.  And yes, I used a walking foot.  

There were pleats and folds everywhere.  I spent hours and hours trying to ease the fabric, with little appreciable improvement.  This afternoon I decided that I was wasting my time.  Step back!  Can you see it from the Mackinac Bridge?  Maybe when the quilt is washed, these won't be so noticeable.

So I decided to move on:  binding!  I'm not sure how that will go, either.  The edges are going to be very wavy.  But that's not a flaw!  It's a feature!  They represent the waves on the lake!

When you can't decide what to make, make excuses!

Crosstown Arts Quilt Show, Part 3

Memphis Blues

Last winter Crosstown Arts in Memphis sent out an invitation to quilters within a 200-mile radius of Memphis to submit one or more quilts for a summer show.  The only requirements were (1) the quilts had to be 24" square, and (2) they had to be blue.  Some were arty, some traditional.  There was a quilt by someone who also had a quilt in the Art Quilts show, one by a teenage boy, one by a group of kids.

The quilts were hung in columns of 3, so it was hard to get photos of the ones on top,  There were 230 in all!  I didn't take photos of all of them -- my poor phone was barely limping along at this point.  There was no handout with information about the quilts, so most are shown here with only my own comments.

I'll start with one of my two favorites and end with the other.  Enjoy them and everything in between!

Antarctica was created by a high-school boy.  What I truly love is that it is quilting in reverse.  Look closely -- this is a wholecloth quilt made with a single piece of white fabric.  As a geographer and a quilter, I was entranced.

A wholecloth quilt with beautiful free-motion quilting.

Close-up of the previous photo.

This was by a quilter who also showed in the art quilts exhibit.  You can see that the apparent curves are created by very small change in the sizes of the horizontal strips.

Yes, these are miniscule pieced squares, giving the appearance of a cross-stitch.

Close-up of previous quilt.

Captivating straight-line quilting.

Close-up of pineapple quilt above.

Needle-turn applique.  Wonderful quilting enhances the appearance of a koi pond.

This quilt held me for a long time.  How I wish that I could have learned more about how it was made and what inspired the quilter.  Machine- and hand-stitched, hand-appliqued and quilted.

Close-up of the girl fishing.

The fish in the river, considering the lure.

Satin fabric, machine appiqued and quilted.

Close-up of previous quilt.

A traditional sampler quilt with whimsical touches.

Beautiful use of similar fabrics to add depth.

Close-up of previous quilt.

Hand-stitching adds nice texture.

Use of alternative materials, both hard (shells) and soft (tulle) bring this quilt to life.

And finally, one of my favorites from this exhibit.  How can you not love the invention and humor while meeting the show's requirements.  Anonymous quilter, I love you!

I'm already hoping that the Crosstown Arts quilt show will become an annual event!  If it does, you can visit it here again next year!  

Crosstown Arts Quilt Show, Part 2

Crosstown Arts Quilt Show, continued

Here are a few of the other art quilts from the quilt show that was held in Memphis, TN in June and July.  Again, the words are those of the quilters themselves.

SYO #32, Harue Konishi, Tokyo, Japan.

I wanted to take two-dimensional quilt works to the next level.  However, I did not want to achieve this by creating a concave-convex surface.  My idea was to create something that appears flat from which another world could emerge.  I let threads hang in front and in back, which created another space below.

Dutch Colors, Willy Doreleljers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands.

The windmill has traditionally been a striking presence in Dutch landscapes.  This work celebrates and old technology that still has bright prospects.  Hard lines and color contrasts bring to life the windmill's struggle against the elements.

Close-up of Dutch Colors

Realization, Karen Rips, Thousand Oaks, California.

It is believed tht the first sounds made by human beings was the Om, which is created by forming the mouth in the shape of an oval.  When ritualistically repeated again and again, it is poissible for one to come to a true state of consciousness or realization.

Crazed 16: Suburban Dream, Kathleen Loomis, Louisville, Kentucky.

We like to think we're masters of the univserse,  but really our civilization is a collection of six billion people held together by an increasingly fragile set of connections.  We neglect our children, our poor, and our homeless; we disrespect our government; we overstress the social bonds that should unite us.  What happens after some people achieve the suburban dream, while others remain in crowded cities?

Commercial cotton, machine pieced and quilted.

Wedding in the Wind, Jim Hay, Gunma, Japan.

I had recently watched a very windy outdoor wedding from my 9th flool Tokyo hotel room, and this is my interpretation.  The fallen priest reveals his skinny legs, the bride's father lose his wig, and the groom holds onto the wig but lets the bride blow away.  I included a self-portrait with my wife since we were celebrating 10 years of marriage that year.  We are hanging onto the edge of the quilt for dear life.

Close-up of groom holding ring while the bride is blown away.

The quilter and his wife.

The topsy-turvey priest.

Stay tuned for the final installment of the Crosstown Arts Quilt Show, with the local quilts made to meet the show's Memphis Blues criteria:  must include blue and be 24" square.