Sing Your Quilterly Song in a whole cloth quilt!

I have a confession to make: I’m having a love affair with whole cloth quilts.  This passion snuck up on me, quietly whispering, “let’s see what you can do with this cloth”, “what would these threads look like on Radiance”, “did you see that thread?”   Wide open spaces get me all giddy thinking about the possibilities.  Whole cloth quilts have taken over my quilting.  Any cloth will do add bamboo, wool or silk batting, with miles of colorful thread stitched over the surface creating one of a kind designs.  I found it difficult to give into the yearnings to just quilt with so many unfinished quilts on the shelf until Melly Testa asked me the all important question, “what is this obsession with finishing?”  With this new found freedom along came “Twilight in the Bronx” the first in a series of whole cloth quilts named after the New York City.

Whole Cloth Tradition:
Whole cloth quilts have long been a way for quilters to show their quilting prowess.  Whether by hand or machine whole cloth work carries a certain mystique, rich in symbolism and tradition.  The images used reflected the area of origin.  Whole cloth quilting, trapunto, boutis and matelasse have their roots in Italy and France and came to the US through England during the colonial period.  Generally whole cloth quilts were white stitched out on white cotton however many were stitched on colored cloth and were generally tone on tone.  Quilters used cotton, wool or silk depending on availability and the specialness of the occasion.  Whole cloth work even makes an appearance in feminine fashion in the form of petticoats with an opening in the skirt to revealing the detailed work of the petticoat.  I’ve seen amazing examples of these petticoats on display at the Wadsworth Athaneum in Hartford, CT.

Many quilters still embrace traditional whole cloth quilting in white or tone on tone coloration.  These quilts and textiles, whether hand or machine quilted, add to the beauty of the quilting world attesting to the skill and artistry of the quilt maker.  Like pieced quilts whole cloth quilts take thought, preparation and skill to create.

Diane Guaduynski, Karen McTavish and Sue McCarty have all created award winning, beautiful, tradition honoring whole cloth quilts.  Each one of these quilters has created masterpiece whole cloth quilts with Diane earning the title of “Master Quilter” from the National Quilt Association.  Personally I am in awe of their work as quilters and as teachers.   There are many quilters who are approaching whole cloth in a different way, incorporating a wide variety of background fabrics, thread weight, color and batting choices.  Sue McCarty’s Tribute to Tolkein is an amazing example of contemporary whole cloth quilting using mostly metallic thread to create the intricately detailed wedding scene.  Sue Patten comes to mind with her ZenSuedle quilts and classes.  From Sue’s website I create “continuous line, designs and fillers to create your own one of a kind ZenSuedle whole cloth quilt”.

The practical side of the process of whole cloth quilting
Every type and style of quilting has a process, a way of doing things that is needed for a well made quilt.  Learning each skill, from choosing fabrics to binding, takes time to learn and become proficient.  Each quilter over time takes those learned skills and makes them their own, finding which styles, tools and processes work best for the style of quilting they love.  Whole cloth quilting is no different in that regard, the skills focus on design and the quilting.  The next few paragraphs cover practice, inspiration, decisions, and choices for batting, batting thread and binding.  It is important to note that your process may be different and I wholeheartedly give you permission to figure out your style.  “Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear, just sing….sing a song“  Just quilt, quilt your heart out!

There’s no getting around the dreaded “p” word – practice.
When I need to figure out the stitching path of a new to me quilting motif I take pen or pencils to paper and spend time working out the stitching path.  I do this both right and left handed as I machine quilt with both hands.  As I’m practicing other designs, complimentary motifs will crop up; I call this process “mindful practice”.  I have sketchbooks filled with these images that inspire new whole cloth quilts.  When thinking through a whole cloth quilt the designs are focused and intentional. Or not.  Different colors and line thicknesses will help get the idea of what the quilt will look like when it’s finished.  Using pencils with erasers offers the opportunity of changing things up prior to sitting down and stitching.  This type of practice gets the creative juices flowing, like stretching before exercising.

Inspiration and Design
I wish that complete quilting ideas would pop into my head with a clear understanding of motif and color placement.  Ideas develop slowly, like making sour dough bread.  The starter must be maintained and fed several days prior to use so that the old sour is replaced, yeast has time to develop and flavors the new ingredients.  Once the sour is ready for use the next step is to leaven the bread being made from the sour.  The end result is well worth the effort – the aroma filling the house and tasting the bread fresh from the oven!  The design process for a whole cloth quilt (any quilt) is the same way, it takes time to develop from inspiration (sour starter) to finished quilt top (tasting the bread).

Inspiration presents itself in a multitude of ways; a piece of fabric, wrought iron, the moon, traditional piecing patterns, flowers, trees and the list goes on.  When I’m out and about I keep my camera with me to capture images that inspire.  As I take the image I’m mentally trying to think through the stitching process.  I usually have a sketchbook, sharpie pens or color pencils at hand to try out these new to me motifs.  At a quilting retreat an image of a nautilus shell caught my attention, the spiral shape and connections set me wondering how this could be stitched out.  Looking through the sketchbooks this shape became a recurring them in my doodling and has worked into my quilting.

Oh the moon, the beautiful moon with its bright, reflective light.  Infrequently I can see the moon from my office window which faces toward Manhattan.  I needed an idea for a quilt, the next in the “City” series.  I knew I wanted to keep the eight pointed star from “Twilight in the Bronx” but the next part eluded me.  One morning from my office window the moon hung so low in the horizon it appeared to be resting on the tips of the Manhattan skyline.  In a moment I knew what this quilt would look like, its name, “Moon Over Manhattan” and the star would be stitched out in shades of gray with several star points being obscured by the curve of the moon.

Sometimes inspiration comes from a thought or word.  A friend mentioned the word spiral and several ideas popped into my head. From this one word and a set size @play (recently published in Machine Quilting Unlimited) came to be.

Decisions, decisions
With any quilt we all go through a decision making process including: end use of the quilt, size of the finished quilt, cloth and batting.  Knowing that each decision will effect the overall look of the quilt, oh heck, seriously I just wing it.  Size is based on width the cloth; batting whatever I have on hand and thread, a well stocked stash lends itself to greater creativity.

Fabric
This is where the fun begins.  No matter what, I have a blank canvas and unlimited options. While cotton is traditional here in the states there are so many options including satin, silk, silk/cotton blend, lycra, suede (micro fiber).  This is where fat quarters come in handy allowing the opportunity to try a new-to-me fabric without a huge investment.  For the back use a

Batting

center structure for @play

I have cotton, polyester, bamboo, wool and silk on hand so there are plenty of options.  A small piece like this provides a great opportunity to experiment with batting, learning what the batting will do in the quilt, how the loft affects the look of the quilt and which battings provide structure and which provide loft.  An aside about batting: if it comes from a plant (cotton, bamboo, soy)  it’s flat and has a memory; if it comes from an animal (worms, sheep, alpaca) it’s fluffy and doesn’t have a memory.  With polyester all bets are off it can be flat or fluffy because the companies can do anything with the fiber.  The polyester is meant for another quilt, so no poly. Bamboo will provide structure; it has a memory similar to cotton.  Wool will provide structure; has a loft and has no memory.  Silk provides structure, loft and has no memory.  We all know that when cotton is folded and hand pressed the line can be seen, and a quilt with cotton batting that is folded will retain those lines even when it’s hung even for long periods of time.  Neither wool nor silk have memory so when a quilt has been folded for a while and is hung the fold lines will ease out from the weight of the quilt.  For quilts where structure is important  use two layers of battings in the quilt, this is particularly useful in quilts intended for competition as it is more likely that the interlocking of the stitches will remain in the batting rather than showing on the top or back of the quilt.

Needles & Thread
It’s important to pair needles and thread for good, quality stitches.  If the thread is too large for the needle the thread will bounce and skipped stitches will happen.  If the thread is too small for the needle a larger than necessary hole will be left and pin dotting may occur looking as though you’re having a tension problem.  Rule of thumb: when using a heavy thread use a large needle; fine thread use a smaller needle.
Expect to adjust the tension of your machine: machine tension is set to 60 weight polyester used for garment making, this is a fine thread.  Most of the thread used in quilting is much heavier and may require tension adjustments, usually reducing the tension whether on the top or in the bobbin.  Even if a home sewing machine has self adjusting tension it’s important to understand that in the quilting process tension adjustments will be necessary.  If the manufacturers didn’t want us adjusting tension there wouldn’t be any way for the tension to be adjusted on the machine and there is only 1 machine that I’ve ever seen that did not have some way to adjust the tension, and it needed it.

Marking
There are so many good tools available for marking quilt tops.  Always mark the quilt before its basted unless using some kind of paper product or loose chalk powder which allows you to mark as you’re quilting.  As a general personal rule I use chalk pencils however sometimes the markings don’t show or remove too easily with my hot hands, in this case I use some type of washable or heat removable marker.  There may be issues with the ink type marking pens, particularly if the quilt is basted when marking.  Try a variety, do a little bit of research and see what quilters are saying and find what works for you.
What do I mark you may be asking?  You might (not) be surprised to learn, as little as possible.  With each of the quilts mentioned already I marked the underlying structure.  For “Twilight in the Bronx” and “Moon Over Manhattan” that means the star and circle; “@play” I drafted on huge sheets of paper, placed the paper under the fabric and drew in the spirals (not the nautilus) and the flying geese.  That’s it.

Let’s Get Going
Now that the planning is done and the quilt is marked it’s time to stitch your quilt.  This is where the fun begins.  Relax your shoulders, breathe, blink and enjoy the process of creating a small whole cloth quilt that reflects your style and color choices.  Don’t let a small whole cloth quilt fool you they take hours and hours to get quilted.  Slow down and enjoy the process.  If something isn’t working remember that “a seam ripper is a quilters best friend”, take the stitches out.  Take this time to ponder what’s working and what’s not working and make some simple changes.  Being willing to listen to the quilt and make changes as you’re going along will work better than trying to stick to a “set plan”.  When quilting Twilight in the Bronx, Moon Over Manhattan and @play I listed to both internal (my own thought process) and external voices (friends in one of my mini-groups) and made changes for the better on both quilts.
Blocking
With so much stitching it may be necessary to block your quilt.  Blocking is a process where the quilt is wetted, pinned to carpet or covered foam insulation sheets so that the quilt is square (use a measuring tape, ruler and t-pins) and dried.  It’s best to run fans over the surface of the quilt to aid the drying process.  With a small quilt pinning to your design wall or over sized ironing board and letting it dry will work.  There are some great tutorials for this.

Finishing
Once the quilt is blocked it’s time to give consideration to finishing the quilt.  Before making a decision on how to treat the edge of the quilt take a photo to gain some perspective, distance from the quilt.  Does the quilt need the binding to look complete?  If the answer is yes a traditional binding can frame a small quilt beautifully giving the quilt a visual stopping point.  If the answer is no, then “facing”, the binding is pulled to the back of the quilt, is the better option.  Facing will visually extend the lines of the quilt giving as much visual impact as a traditional binding.  Facing is easy and there are a few great tutorials on line.  If you’ve decided this quilt will be hung on a wall this is the point to add a sleeve, remember to give consideration to the depth of the rod this will be hung on and allow for that in cutting and stitching the sleeve.  If this is meant for competition, check the rules of the show for their requirements.

Enjoy
It’s time to just enjoy your finished whole cloth quilt.  That’s right just sit back and enjoy your quilt.  Post photos on your blog or on facebook and let us enjoy your quilt too.

 

It wasn’t all bad

(c) Teri Lucas 2013

(c) Teri Lucas 2013

In the middle of that experience of being completely drained a there were a couple of amazing things that happened that have helped to restore my sanity.  Long conversations with a couple of friends!  I know this term is overused in some sense, but these were priceless.  In the midst of these “Bang Head Here” was quilted one day.  Funny thing is this was supposed to be another quilt entirely (see the quilting on the right).  I love the feel of rayon and the look of the black batik rayon from Sew Batik just makes my heart go pitter pat.  I’d started some stitching on the rayon and realized that I had not basted it well enough.  I may just finish stitching this and see what happens when. . .

I also wrote the potential forward to what I hope will be a book.  This moment of gratitude had me thinking about how I want to be as a quilter.  I am grateful for all of those quilters who have influenced me and the ones I’m privileged enough to teach.  It was during this time that I changed the tagline from “quilting is a beautiful and complicated art” to “giving quilters permission to do whatever they want since 2008″.  

(c) Teri Lucas

Ultimately I needed time to think, review and think some more.  I’m grateful for the time that allows me to do that.  Over thinking is sometimes a good thing.  Sounds odd right?!  It’s finally allowing me to get out of the way and let a few things just happen.  And I’m grateful for that.  My schedule over the summer and into the fall is light and this is giving me time to work on a few quilts (one for a competition), write and quilt samples.  As I sit here I can see in my minds eye the next two quilts that I want to make, hmmm, make that 3.  Yep, 3 for sure.

I have to remember to take process pictures for the proposal.  The photo to the left is one of samples I’m working on.  The fabric is part of an 8 step gray gradation from Cherrywood.  I’m also planning on using Radiance, batik rayon and silk for this project covering a wide range of fabrics used for quilt making.  Yay! 
 If you’re ever in a creative slump I encourage heartily the following:
chat with friends and other quilter

purchase pretty fabrics purchase gorgeous thread
 try new batting
 get a new coffee/tea mug
 take lots of pictures of things that inspire you
 doodle
 listen
 teach someone
 wallow for a little while
 read my blog and every quilterly blog you can find
 read great quilterly articles
 play
 play
 play
 feel free to walk away for a bit
 wear mismatched socks

Now go quilt your world!

Teri

 

@play a bit behind the scenes and the full quilt

I’m going to make a bit of a confession here.  It’s challenging to admit this because although in thinking about it my facebook postings while I was in the middle of quilting “@play” gave a clear indication of where I was headed at the time.  I kept talking about the quilt as “the unruly teenager” and for a while that’s almost the name the quilt went with however I came to my senses and the quilt ventured into the world as “@play”.

The aftermath shocked me though.  I felt completely drained.  Drained in a way that I never, ever expected.  At first I thought if I’d only finished this sooner instead of just in time to get it to MQU.  Well actually with all the other things going on like: work, teaching in Portland and Houston, needing to get things done for Jeanie and a few other thing I just couldn’t.

(c) Teri Lucas 2012 the bones of the quilt

For the first time in a long time I couldn’t just wing it.  This quilt demanded some planning and (shock horror) marking. As a general, personal rule, I do not mark quilt tops.  I just go for it. Wholecloth quilts over 15″ are a bit different for me.  I need to pay different attention to the design and quilting.

(c) Teri Lucas 2013
@play close up

Not for nothing 36″ of quilting with mostly Kimono Silk is a lot of space to fill.  Between design and quilting I spent about 100 hours on this quilt in a relatively short amount of time.  I started the design work right after I got back from Houston.  Met with a friend of mine to talk about which two Ideas made more visual sense.  What I find interesting is that the strongest presence in the drawing is the flying geese, which are not quite as prominent in the quilt.

(c) Teri Lucas 2013
@play

The hours spent quilting were amazing in a great and not so good way.  For most of the quilt everything went fine. The red flying geese must have close to 500,000 teeny tiny pebbles.  If I’d been using anything other than silk the quilt would have been really bulky.  One thread I was using kept breaking ultimately meaning that I had to change something and the end result ended up better than I thought.

After all of this tight quilting the quilt shrunk – it’s to be expected but 1 1/2″ at the point where I realized it is a lot.  I must add here that I’m grateful for friends who quilt that offered me encouragement when I was ready to toss this into the corner and go cry.  I’m grateful for the commitment and due date on this quilt.  Going from @play to “the unruly teenager” and back again was a challenge.  And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  Yes I would.  Even with this the aftermath of feeling like I’d given everything, just everything I had to this quilt.  This has been the strangest 3 months ever in my quilting life.

The creative funk I’ve been in over the last several months is finally starting to lift.  The ideas are starting to flow again.  I think spring has something to do with it, this renewal of life, color popping out here, there and everywhere is amazing.

fountain

Going to the NY Botanical Garden and the Cloisters help a lot.  Nature and architecture inspire me in so many ways. As did the piano concert I went to the other day.  As the pianist played I could see machine stitching in my minds eye being stitched out over the surface of a quilt.  Quilterly inspiration is filling up and I’ll have something to share with you soon!

Go quilt your world!

Teri

 

We always wondered!

Who dad would call on April 1st and get over on.  Dad owned April Fool’s Day was his favorite holiday of the year!  The groans of, “Oh Dad!” would follow his phone calls or emails.   And even though we’d think he won’t get over on me next year, the next April Fool’s Day came around with a familiar, “Oh Dad!”

Red Rose by George Harris Aug 2006

It was fitting that on this day, in 2007, he passed away, at home with his wife and my sister with him.  My step mom called that morning and I was flying low to get there and had made a little over half the journey when my sister called.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, oh anytime of the year really were opportunities for the Rotten Poet to pen something pithy and share it with his favorite people in the world – his kids and friends.

The  Rotten Poet call Teri on her latest birthday
Which she celebrated in many a happy way.
One of the topics we covered, wouldn’t ya know it.
Was why Teri didn’t respond to the Thanksgiving poet.
She said that with her advancing years
Trying to write poetry brings her to tears.
The mind is really the first thing to go
And that is why this year she’s so slow.
So if all of her kin folk would send words that inspire
She would sit and think and not even perspire.
So make the poem just totally inane
So that she wants to hit you with her cane.

George Harris 2005

Rainbow October 2005
George Harris

T’was the night before Christmas
The house was tidy and neat.
Santa came down the chimney
Landing softly on his boot clad feet.
Before setting about putting
gifts under the tree.
He looked to learn what his snack would be.
Cookies and milk sat
on a near by table top.
The last house left fudge
Made by the wife of a cop
He had eaten pies of pumpkin and mince
And sandwiches made from all sorts of meats.
Each and every stop
Left him different treats.
He finished each goodie
And at my house he stopped and used the can
The first call on my new cell phone
Will be to the busy Roto-Rooter Man

George Harris 2004

George Harris” src=”http://terificreations.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/more-apple-pickin-pics.jpg?w=300″ width=”300″ height=”203″ /> Donut Picking
September 2004
George Harris

What I continue to love about his Rotten Poetry is that the emails would fly with more poetry from other friends and members of family, the love and the laughter.  Oh my goodness would we laugh!

And then in going through his emails last night I found a note from him loving this song, “Do You Believe in Magic?” because he saw the magic in his girls (kids) hearts!

Dad believed in magic and joy and encouraging people.  Later today I will drink a bottle of  Coke in his memory and in his honor, find the joy in this day!

Happy Quilting!

Teri

 

 

New England Quilt Festival!!!

Oh I am a tease aren’t I?!

See this quilt?  Well the front of it got juried into the New England Quilt Festival.  Click on the link to see a full list of the finalists.  Congratulations to EVERYONE.

Looking through that list – there’s some amazing competition, meaning that there will be a lot of great quilts for the return of New England Quilt Festival (MQX East).

I’m excited because this quilt is different for me.  The week of the show I’ll show you the front of the quilt.

Don’t forget I’m teaching at this show.  Follow this link to sign up for my classes.

Happy Quilting! Teri

 

Meeting Stephanie and more

It seems lately it’s either I have nothing to say or everything to say.  I am truly grateful that my blog readers bear with me.  As promised in my October Free Motion Quilting Challenge on the SewCalGal site the December Bonus Tutorial is up.  It’s primarily based on the Kaleidoscope Collections Feather Template pack that Jeanie designed “Feather Zone“.  As I machine quilted “Feather Zone” I learned how to stitch feathers in several new ways which I show in the tutorial.  I’ve struggled with stitching out feathers where I get a thinner spine for quite a while and quilting this quilt and for the tutorial gave me the opportunity to learn how to do that in a variety of ways.  I hope you enjoy.

As I mentioned yesterday I met Stephanie of The Fiber Nation.  I have long enjoyed Stephanie’s artwork and her thought process as she shares on The Fiber Nation.  Stephanie interviewed a number of artists in 2010 – you can read the article here.  I remember a couple of my answers being kind of short and flip however I was serious – one of the benefits of working at home as an artist is that I can be flexible it’s also one of the biggest draw backs as sometimes I’ll do other things rather than taking care of my work.  This has been something on my mind and I’m working on figuring it out.  Stephanie had the opportunity to create art with Melanie Testa, check it out.

So back to the lovely Stephanie…she’s a lot of fun.  At the City Quilter we enjoyed the art quilts currently hanging in the gallery, the current artist being Judy Blaydon.  Many of Judy’s quilts remind me of looking at farmland viewed from a plane.  Stephanie and I talked machines and I enjoyed watching Stephanie choose fabric.  There is one I’m going to have to purchase next time I go there.  I’m kinda kicking myself for not getting it yesterday because you know it’ll be gone later.  I purchased Cherrywood 8-step gray.  It’s really pretty and I have a quilt in mind for it that I may actually piece.

in front of the window at Tinsel Trading

We visited Tinsel Trading on 37th street in Manhattan.

Talk about shiny things.

a reminder of my dmil

I staged the photo on the right and hope to get back to the City and get these for two reasons.  They remind me of my dmil who passed away nearly 2 years ago and I think it’s a good reminder of how to live…with JOY in your heart.  I recognize that living with JOY is not always easy I am finding more and more JOY in the new quilts I’m working on and in the fact that I love what I do as a quilter, I love what I’m privileged to participate in as a quilter.

This truly was a cabinet of curiosities.  I must have been here for 15 or 20 minutes touching things.  I want a cabinet like this, just full of things to touch and feel and enjoy and let others have the same pleasure.  I think if I ever have my very own out of the house studio I will work on a cabinet of curiosities for quilters to enjoy.

I found my marbles

 

 

 

 

This “Thread-Keeper” caught my attention for sure.  Sewists for years have wanted to keep their thread neat and tidy for generations, it’s an on going chore that many of the thread companies are helping us out with on their end caps.

Happy Quilting!

 

Teri

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers & Inspiration

As I mentioned in my last post the fair the dahlia exhibit was exquisite.  Seeing the shape of the petals I see how dahlia medallion quilt shapes came to be and why they are so much fun to piece and quilt.  It’s easy to see why quilters are inspired by dahlias.  This would be great pieced using a single color ombre for effect

After the fair we went to Red Hook to find The Village Fabric Shoppe.  Diana Louie is delightful, if you’re ever in the area stop in and say hi and get a little fabric or art quilt supplies. The shop is one of the most eclectic I’ve ever been in with a wide variety of fabric styles, thread and art quilt supplies.  In a back room she has vintage/antique quilt bits and pieces.  She’s also working on a red work pattern for the town of Red Hook historic sites based on a quilt she and a number of other folks worked on for a special celebration of the town.  I brought home Quilters Dream wool batting and Derwent Inktense Pencils.  I see a little play in October or November after things settle down a bit.

My sweetie and I then went on one of our rides with no destination in mind and we ended up in Hudson NY.  Our first stop on the way was at a farm stand in Red Hook – corn, apples and grape tomatoes came home with use.  The apples, Pink Pearl, are the best apples I’ve eaten in a very long time and we will be going back for more!

Hudston is just beautiful with a “red light district” past.  The town is going through a renaissance and keeping their old homes.  Taking a small detour to a historic sight, this light house just off the shore of Hudson.

And here is the beginning of the yesterdays sunset.  This time of day is always so inspiring the colors of the sky, the texture of the clouds, each one different and unique and infinitely different depending on where in the world the sun sets.

As we started heading home I stopped to take a couple of photos.  I love wrought iron and this captured my attention.  I am in awe of the craftsmanship and designs.  This same railing was on two houses, the first has plants on the stoop.  My sweetie insisted on getting both so I would be able to see the wrought iron clearly.  I have something in mind with this shot and will be stitching it out as soon as time permits.

A few blocks away we happened upon a couple of shops that have incredible window display.  The interlocked shapes of the wood remind me of shapes that we quilters can use while we’re quilting.  By overlapping shapes and/or color we can create some dynamic interest on the surface of our quilts.

Something along this line would be a great way to fill the back ground space on a busy quilt.  Superiors MonoPoly would a great way to add this kind of texture and detail to the negative (background) space on a quilt.

 

Happy Quilting!

Teri

 

From the Dutchess County Fair and the Sunset

The Dutchess County Fair is one we attend every year.   One of the main reasons I attend this fair is the quilts and the other hand crafters.  I like to see what quilters are doing and how the other crafts, particularly since I’ve started knitting, are faring.  The fair usually has a grand selection of quilts and some very knowledgeable quilters at the ready to welcome people and share their knowledge.  For some reason the selection of quilts has been reduced and the quilters seem to have been put in the corner.  I don’t get it, quilts/quilting is so much more than what little was on display.  My guess is that this is not the quilters doing, not by a long shot.  I do hope the powers that be do a little research on the quilting community in general and restore the quilting/needle arts to a larger area!  The quilt in this photo is by Karen Abramson.

That said we visited the horticulture building shortly after seeing the quilts.  I took a lot of photos of the dahlias.

One of the dahlias reminded me of a Chihuly glass piece.

 

Ok there was more than one dahlia that reminded me of a Chihuly glass piece:

 

And probably this one too.

These are just simply amazing flowers and the exhibit was exquisite.

 

As I looked over the dahlias this deep red, almost black flower caught my attention.  I’m still captivated by the depth of the color.  I almost want to send it off to Superior Threads to see if they have a color just like it that I can get.  It’s so striking and would look great on 3 quilts that I’m currently working on.

I’ll end with this sunset tonight and will update again in a day or two.  Tomorrow is quilt, quilt, quilt!  As we drove home tonight down the every windy Taconic I had an idea for the next round of quilting that I need to get done tomorrow.  I think these beautiful flowers and the sunset inspired me!

 

Happy Quilting!

Teri

 

More of Richmond Town

I like touring Historic places.  There are a few places that I would go back and visit including Connor Prairie in Indiana, Colonial Williamsburg, and Old Sturbridge Village.  Each historic site has their own way of presenting the history of their particular area either interacting with the characters of the time period or the docents chat with you.  I can’t quite decide which I prefer though I suspect I prefer being able to chat with the docents.  I usually ask about quilting and textiles but didn’t have much of an opportunity on this tour.  There were some beautiful textiles that the tour guide said were locally milled.

Two of the docents at Historic Richmond Town were amazing and we later learned that they are father & daughter and are great musicians to boot!  Dad spends his days in the wood shop making a variety of tools that farmers and folks living away from town would make for themselves.  These needed to be functional rather than pretty.  The amount of work invested in these items would depend on their later use.  He also explained that children would be assigned the chore of making butter as punishment.  Hee hee!  I’d like to say poor kids but ya gotta learn.  He also makes butter presses, which for the time are unusual as these are just for pretty rather than functional.  Of course I didn’t get pics of them.  We’ll go back sometime soon.

I did learn that they do head to OSV when they need period fabric for their costumes. In looking over the OSV website they’re having a quilt weekend.  If you’re in the area the weekend of August 18 & 19th take some time to visit.  Textiles were an important part of American life at the time since everything needed to be made locally.  I’d love to see more of that come back.  Seeing abandoned mills all over the north east is gutting.  And to know that silk was produced so close in Paterson, NJ – getting silk produced here for my quilts would be so great!

I’m heading to ME this weekend for a family visit and to see Feather Zone hanging in ME quilts.  I’m really excited as I get to meet one of my quilting friends in person.  I’ve wanted to meet Mickey DePre for a really long time and this is my weekend.  If you’re at ME Quilts please say hi!

Happy quilting!

Teri

 

Old Movie Theater, Staten Island

I have a thing for architectural lines.  I can see how they can be worked into a quilt.  My favorite architect happens to be Frank Lloyd Wright, though after seeing the Suckley place and another designed by John Warren Ritch, Mr Wright might have a rival.  I’m sure I could find out who designed the Paramount theater in this photo.  It’s located on Staten Island and the light was perfect for seeing the lines and definition of the stone work.

The stone work on old buildings always amazes me, the attention to detail.  I’m in awe of the craftsmanship.  The planning in the brickwork, getting just the right color to create different patterns that draw they eye over the facade of the building.

I love how something so hard can read so soft.  The curved lines meticulously brought out with just the right tools for the job.

 

Stone masons and architects working together to create something beautiful, taking pride in their respective crafts and acknowledging that without one another these structures would not last long. I can imagine apprentices working long and hard hours learning to work with stone, honing their craft and becoming masters in their own right.

When I see stone work like this I see quilting shapes.  My sweetie sees quilting shapes too, so much so that as we drove by he pulled over and patiently waited for me to take the photos that I needed.  It’s the same with the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, I see images and shapes that relate to quilting.

Happy Quilting!

Ter