Triangle Tango
This is a quilt my daughter pieced. I free motion quilted it, and did the binding. Yes, we make a great team!
This is an older quilt that I quilted on my mid-arm, the Pfaff Powerquilter 16.0. I did all the clamshells free hand. I’m not sure that was the best idea as they are not symmetric, but overall, I think it looks nice. Obviously, the picture below is pre-binding, but I wanted you to get an idea of what the quilt looked like in a full view.
It’s an adorable pattern and materials. I bought it as a kit in an adorable quilt shop outside of San Francisco. I would give them a shout-out, but I can’t find it searching the internet. Hopefully the shop is still around, and doing well.
Happy quilting ….
Nancy
Quilts of Valor, Guild’s 40th Anniversary
As part of the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston’s 40th Anniversary celebration, the guild decided to donate 40 quilts to Quilts of Valor. Unbelievably, these generous ladies donated 52 quilts! On Tuesday, July 19th, we came together to celebrate the 40 years of the Guild’s existence, and to donate our quilts. It was a very special evening, with 26 quilts going to the QOV Foundation and 26 going to Camp Hope helping servicemen and women suffering from PTSD.
During the evening, one quilt was donated to the brother-in-law of a guild member, Genelle Long. Wayne had served in Vietnam, and it was truly touching seeing him being draped in a quilt made with love.
On Sunday, July 24, another ceremony took place, with the quilts being awarded to Camp Hope. The quilts were beautiful, and I think the men really appreciated the gifts of love and appreciation.
My quilt –
I am very proud of my guild, and so proud to be part of such a project.
Happy quilting ….
Nancy
Masters in Textile History
I am really excited to tell everyone about my new challenge! I am going to begin taking courses at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln to obtain a Masters of Art in Textile History. It is a fantastic program. It will be done as a distance option program with the final semester, and several summer courses taken on campus. http://cehs.unl.edu/tmfd/ma-textile-historyquilt-studies-distance-learning-option-iii/
The International Quilt Study Center and Museum at Quilt House holds the largest publicly held collection of quilts in the world. The collection houses quilts from the early 1700’s to present day, and from 45 countries in the world. http://www.quiltstudy.org/
The ultimate goal of the program is to prepare you for curating a collection, or working with textiles, and textile arts in an educational or research capacity. I have always loved history, and textiles, so this was a no-brainer. Even if I never work as a curator, I am very excited to help preserve the world of textiles, and to teach others about the importance of such preservation. Textiles and the types of textiles produced have been influenced by economics, world history, and women and their roles in society.
I will begin the coursework working on the Graduate Certificate in Quilt Studies, then possibly move into the Masters program in the Spring of 2017. My first course is Aesthetics and the Quilt.
I have to admit, I am a little nervous about going studying. I received my Masters in Accounting and my CPA license back in 1990. That is 26 years ago! But, I made it through the GRE this summer, I guess I can do this too!
Happy quilting ….
Nancy
Flower Vase
This was my first wool applique project. I just love it. It is a Sue Spargo pattern(https://www.suespargo.com/index.php), that of course, I didn’t follow exactly. Sue’s is much more detailed. Sue is an amazing artist, and I can’t believe what she does with wool. But I, as usual, always feel the need to change things up. Honestly, I have not done enough needle work or wool applique to know what I am doing, but I set off on my own! Anyway, I am pleased with the results. I free motion quilted it on my mid-arm, the Pfaff Powerquilter 16.0. I used Aurifil 50 wt threads for the quilting. Because the wool is so thick, I had to retrace all my quilting lines to make them show up. I read that Sue’s quilter often uses the wool genziana thread on spools to quilt her quilts. That is quite the challenge, but I can see why it probably looks good.
I am currently working on the Sue Spargo Block of the Month challenge, Cuppa. This time I am following directions and doing everything as Sue planned it. It is July, and I am still working on April! Yikes, I have to get moving. I would show pictures, but Sue requires that no pictures show up on Social Media until the year is up and the project is being released as a pattern.
Happy quilting ….
Nancy
Butterfly Garden
This quilt is a fused applique pattern from McKenna Ryan. http://www.pineneedles.com I began this quilt in a workshop with the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston. The quilt is all batiks. Including the pieces appliqued and the background. I free motion quilted it on my sit down mid-arm (Pfaff Powerquilter 16.0) using Aurifil thread. I love the way it turned out. The approximate size is 26″ square. It makes a great wall hanging!
Happy quilting ….
Nancy
My new baby – an Innova Longarm!
Yes, I said those words! I bought a longarm. After doing research, and testing machines, I decided that a 26″ Innova was going to be the best purchase for me. Let me start by summarizing why I decided I should get a longarm.
I have a Pfaff Powerquilter 16.0 sit down mid-arm machine. It has been a great machine. I have quilted a lot of quilts on it, but I found I was having back and shoulder issues (even with bungee cords rigged up to take the pressure of the quilt off the table). I also found it was difficult to do large motifs. Even if I was doing an overall pattern, I made it much smaller than I desired. And, it would take forever to finish a quilt.
This is a very large purchase in more ways than one; in terms of dollars, and in terms of size! It is very scary to pay that much money for something that you aren’t sure you will even be able to use! I know that sounds crazy, but the only way to really improve your longarm skills is to use a longarm. So, it is kind of a catch-22. How do you improve without taking a leap of faith and just purchasing one?
I decided on the Innova by ABM International. http://www.innovalongarm.com/ I felt that it was the best engineered machine out there, and I found that after a few hours of testing on a friend’s Innova, I was able to make some motifs that weren’t half bad. Everything I read said that you have to find the machine that suits you. And that was my Innova, hereafter known as Maxine. Maxine arrived a week ago. I purchased my machine from JoAnn Gemmill at Jo’s Quilting Studio. http://www.josquiltingstudio.com/ My dealer was here all day setting up the machine. Levi and Dustin worked hard, and did a fantastic job getting Maxine installed. I have been practicing, and completed two charity quilts. I am really pleased with both.
Below is a picture of Maxine, in her new location, and my first practice feather!
Happy quilting ….
Nancy
Serendipity
I began this quilt in a Sheila Frampton Cooper workshop through Quilting Adventures (http://www.quilting-adventures.com/) in New Braunfels, Texas. Sheila (http://zoombaby.com/) is an amazing artist and teacher. This quilt currently hangs in my dining room, and I am really proud of it.
I was thrilled that she was able to help me begin a journey exploring the artist within me. I have begun the second quilt of this type, but have a lot more work to go.
I individually quilted each segment with thread to match. Details of the quilting work:
Happy quilting . . .
Nancy
Sound Waves, a Winner!
My older daughter Lauren likes to quilt. I love that she is interested. With her engineering skills, she really puts together a fantastic design. This quilt was entered in the Houston Quilt Guild Quilt Show, in the “First Quilt in a Show” category. It won 1st Place! Lauren designed and pieced the quilt, and I free-motion quilted it, and did the binding. I just love this quilt. I am so proud of her, as this is a fantastic piece!
Happy quilting . . . .
Nancy
Lacey River, Linen Quilt
This quilt was inspired in a workshop with Cindy Needham through Quilting Adventures (http://www.quilting-adventures.com/). The lace top was purchased in Moscow Russia, and laid on top of a batik purchased in Bali, Indonesia. I used the bouttis method to stuff yarn in the snake like, and celtic center pieces. I used 100% silk to free motion quilt the piece. Then I heavily beaded the quilt. Wow, it was a lot of work.
I entered the quilt in the Houston Quilt Guild Show, in the category, First Quilt in a Show. I was ecstatic to win 3rd.
Happy quilting . . . .
Nancy
Cambodian Girl, Portrait Quilt
Well, I finished my quilt from the Portrait Quilt Workshop. I finished it months ago, but never put it on my blog. I am really pleased with the way it turned out.
There is a story with this completed quilt. My first finished project involved sewing the four faces together, and fashioning a quilted frame around it. I entered the quilt in our guild’s quilt show in September 2015. The judges liked it, but made a couple of comments about the way I set it in the frame. I was a little upset, but then decided to take the judge’s words and listen to the comments that had merit, and ignore the rest!
Here’s the quilt:
This little girl was selling postcards outside of a temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Our guide recommended that we not buy the cards from her, as she was a part of a child gang. We bought a set from her, as we were worried about what would happen to her if she didn’t return with money. My husband took a picture of her. I know that the issue of responsible tourism is a difficult one. It is often recommended that you don’t give children money, but items like pencils, pens, and notebooks. When a child is begging for money or trying to earn money, it is very hard to turn them down.
I took the postcards that we bought, and cut them up and sewed them into the header on the piece. I left everything with a rough edge, and sewed yard around each picture. I used Derwent Inktense pencils to color the blue and green faces. The purple and the red are done with crayon. It was heavily quilted or thread painted. I did a different background for each face.
Happy quilting ….
Nancy
NancyE_Quilts 