Meeting Some Quilters in Maryland

Meeting Some Quilters in Maryland

This past week my friend and I went to a quilt conference at the DAR Museum in Washington, DC.  While there, we were invited to attend a meeting of a local quilt guild, the Uhuru Quilters Guild in Lanham, MD.  The guild is celebrating 25 years as a guild and a wonderful display of their quilts is on exhibit at the Prince Georges African American Museum and Cultural Center in North Brentwood, MD until the end of January 2020.  More information on the guild and the show can be found at:
http://www.uhuruquiltersguild.org/
https://pgaamcc.org/

SHOW AND TELL at the quilt show opening.

Home For the Holidays 2019 at the Roberson

2019 Home for the Holidays at the Roberson - Binghamton, NY

Once again our trees are up at the Roberson, brimming with hand made ornaments from local quilters and fiber artists.  I added photos of some other whimsical trees - Dr. Seuss and Peanuts were my favorites.  The image on the left show my latest needle felted star, we had a workshop at the November Lamb to Loom meeting, hosted by Ann Merriwether.  I added a bit of blue roving for eye make-up and added some stitched eye lashes - she's my "Fallen Star."  There are several examples of back-strap weaving - Santa garland and other needle felted gnomes.  The Stepping Stones quilt guild tree is showcased in front of one of the member's quilt on the wall behind it.  There are numerous quilts on loan from the guild throughout the exhibit.  Both groups will be giving demos this year at the Roberson.

https://www.roberson.org/event/stepping-stones-quilt-guild/
Stepping Stones Quilt Guild - December 8 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Stepping Stones Quilt Guild will be putting on a demonstration of their amazing craft on the first floor of the Museum.

https://www.roberson.org/event/lamb-to-loom/
Lamb to Loom - December 15 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Lamb to Loom will be putting on a demonstration of their amazing craft within Roberson’s halls.

Are You Crazy? Don’t Splash Receives an Honorable Mention

Are You Crazy?  Don’t Splash Receives an Honorable Mention

My submission to the 2019 QCNYS Challenge: Still Crazy After All These Years has been chosen to be a part of the Traveling Exhibit (12 quilts in total), which will tour the State of New York for the next two years.  Are You Crazy? Don’t Splash received an Honorable Mention.

The Still Crazy After All These Years Exhibit will be unveiled at the Best of NY Quilt Show, September 20th & 21st, 10AM – 5PM, at Watson Homestead Conference Center, 9620 Dry Run Rd, Painted Post, NY 14870.
 

I will be at the show giving a demonstration on crazy quilts on Friday, September 20, 2019 from 1-3pm.  I will be bringing several antique crazy quilts, along with the one I am working on, The Velvet Hex.
 

The Top Left photo shows a cute little flower fairy from the front of the quilt, where as the backing fabric is a crazy quilt “cheater” fabric.
 

The Bottom Left is the center medallion of the crazy quilt I am making, called the Velvet Hex.  All the embroidery and seam stitches are done by hand, and are English Paper Pieced together.
 

The Bottom Center is a lovely crazy quilt that has several Kate Greenaway motifs, along with Japanese Fans and Peacock Feathers.  The Top Center (right of show information) is another are on this quilt showing the traditional spider and web design found on many, many crazy quilts of the Victorian era.
 

The Bottom Right is my entry into the Challenge, and will be on display at the show, along with all the other entries.  It is hand embroidered, English Paper Pieced, and hand quilted.  The border is done in red hand crochet trim.
 

The Top Right is a crazy quilt using many motifs from The Art Amateur (1880, 1881) and Harper’s Bazar (1881) magazines.
 

In the Center, are some owl ornaments, made from silk tie scraps.  They are cute and fun to make if you just want to try some foundation piecing and a bit of ornamental stitching.
 

These, along with some other smaller pieces will be on display on Friday during the demonstration.  I hope to see some of you there.

"Are You Crazy? Don't Splash"

"Are You Crazy?  Don't Splash"

All submitted to the Quilter's Consortium 2019 Challenge!  There should be between 20-30 other quilts from consortium members.  They will be unveiled at the September 19-20, 2019 consortium meeting and Best of New York State Quilt Show, held at the Watson Homestead near Painted Post, NY. 

My husband took photos of the original 1885-86 splasher and I had them printed on the travel bag I made for my quilt.  In staying with the tradition of lace edgings on splashers, I crocheted a lace trim on the edge of mine.

This was a fun journey from start to finish - when I first saw the antique splasher, to doing the research on all the motifs (and in many cases, finding the original source), to creating and finishing my quilt.  All the time working on it, I felt a connection to the original makers A.E.M and A.E.T. - thinking about what was happening in their lives, and why they chose the motifs they did.  I couldn't help but wonder if a mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter team made the 1885-6 splasher.  The motifs they used come from pre-civil war sources (1858) to 1886 - almost a 30 year range.   Plus, I was remembering my mom, on how she taught me how to embroider when I was a little girl of 6, and how she would crochet the edges of the pillowcases we made.

Now I have to get back to working on The Velvet Hex - my crazy quilt I started a while ago....

Are You Crazy? Then and Now

Are You Crazy? Then and Now : 1885-6 and 2018-9

Here's an update on my Quilter's Consortium of NYS entry for this year's challenge.  I just trimmed it down to size and 'knife' finished the edge.  I will be adding a crochet lace border to the piece, once the edge blocks are quilted and seams embellished.  All the while during the making and researching for this, I kept thinking about the makers - possibly a mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter or ???  What were their lives like and why they picked the images they did.   The sources range from the 1850s to the 1880s, and was clearly made to be used - hence the cottons versus 'fancy' materials crazy quilts were typically made of - silks, plushes, brocades, etc.  Plus the fact that there are 'tack' marks on the top corners where it was tacked to a wall or wash stand.  The backing on my piece is one big label.  In the interior of each quilted block is the design source or inspiration for the corresponding motif on the front of the piece.  I had considered binding the piece in a traditional quilt fashion, but thought of my mom and how she taught me to embroider when I was 6 and how she would crochet little borders on the pillowcases we made, so in keeping with the tradition of splashers, there will be a crocheted edge.  Thanks to my hubby Kris who took the photos for me.

Wait For Me Girls

Wait For Me Girls Completed

I just finished the "Wait for me" girls motif from the Manual of Fancywork, by New York publisher A.L. Burt.  Only 7 more to go.  The completed needlework is prepped and ready for English Paper Piecing and will start once all the designs are done.

In the upper corner is the pattern used - sized to the block shape, then transferred to the 'back side' of the fabric using a pencil and light box.  I have chosen to use the 'back side' of the fabrics in most cases since it looks more worn, and has a less jarring effect (ie more muted effect) if there is a printed design on the front of the fabric.  You can see what I mean in the Front and Back photos of the motif.

You can see the original 1885-1886 piece and design sources at http://quiltpapers.blogspot.com/

Are You Crazy? Don't Splash

Are You Crazy?  Don't Splash

I am currently working on my submission to the 2018-2019 QCNYS Quilt Challenge:  Still Crazy After All These Years.  It is based on an 1885-1886 splasher I found and purchased earlier this year.  As I am stitching the motifs, I am researching the design sources.  It has (and still is) a great project to work on.  You can see the original piece and the information I have found at https://quiltpapers.blogspot.com/2018/11/1885-1886-out-line-embroidery-splasher.html

The plan is to English Paper Piecing the motifs together and then embellish the seams with various crazy quilt stitch designs.  12 weight Sulky cotton thread (red and blue) and 12 weight crochet cotton (black) is being used for the embroidery.

More information regarding the challenge can be found at https://www.qcnys.org/challenge/index.htm