Dear Friend,

Here is another quilt from the AQG Show that I was drawn to.

When I first looked at this quilt I thought it was interesting-I liked the design, the contrast and the colors.
And then I took a closer look and thought "Wow, someone did a great job of cutting the fabric pieces so that the light and dark of each piece was evenly distributed."

Then I took another look an saw that this quilter (sorry, I can't give the credit to the maker) had paper pieced each strip to make the blocks. She very carefully placed her light and dark pieces to create another dimension.


And it looks like each strip is 1/4 inch wide finished. That is a lot of piecing!


I have made one paper pieced pineapple quilt. It was rewarding to watch the blocks take shape but I will probably never tackle another one again. My hat is off to this very patient and talented quiltmaker.

More later.
Love , Jan

Time Flies: why lds women stress

Dear Friend.

I just saw this on one of my favorite blogs and had to share it with you.


Time Flies: why lds women stress

Enjoy-
Later, Jan

Ready for More Quilts?

Dear Friend.

I picked up my copy of the Quilt Show program and now I will try to match names to some more of the photos I want to share with you.


This is another quilt done by Geri Hruzek (Crazy Quilt-Birds of a Feather). I loved this quilt for the technique. It is appliqued, a technique called broderie perse. The technique was popular in the 18th and 19th century. The quilter would cut a large (usually) floral relief from a chintz fabric and applique it to a solid background. The term means Persian embroidery. Sometimes the quilter would add embroidery to enhance the applique-notice the tendrils. The other amazing thing about this quilt-hand quilted and very well done.

I have come to the realization that this very talented lady has a lot of time-she might not even own a computer. I would love to have the time to do some of this kind of handwork. In both examples of her work she exemplifies some of the greatest traditions of quilting.

Do you have time for one more?
Isn't this fun! Actually, I was thinking of my sil, Shawn, who will go to all kinds of extremes to decorate for Halloween. I mean-he spends hours creating fun outside decorations but when Christmas comes, well let's just say he's not to much into it. Anyway, This just made me smile and I couldn't back far enough to get another shot but there is a huge tarantula hanging from the top of the quilt. (I know-tarantulas are not spiders but it's not my quilt!)

That's it for today. More to come and I hope you enjoy the show.
Jan

The Quilt Show Was in Town

Dear Friend

Okay, if talking about quilts bores you-then don't read my next couple of blog posts. But I am going to talk about this one anyway. The Arizona Quilters Guild annual quilt show was held this weekend and it was amazing, mind-blowing and a re-energizer.

The problem with taking pictures at a quilt show is that there are way to many people trying to get a. around you or b. very, up-close, interested in the quilt you want to take a picture of. Right now, I can't find my cataloge for the show so I can't give the proper credit for the quilt-maker or the quilter if it was machine-quilted. As soon as I find it, I'll list all the names.


Marla and I got lucky as we stepped out into the parking lot. This very nice man offered us a ride in his fancy golf cart. Of course, you know what happens when two of us set on the back of a golf cart and the only weight in front is next to nothing. So we were off to a good start.

Most of the pictures I am going to show you are more about the detail. Either-"how did they do that" or quilting ideas for the future. Some of the photos are about color and design, too.





Crazy or Krazy Quilting has been around since the late 1800s. There are crazy quilts (made of wool and very utilitarian) dating much further back, but the colorful, heavily embellished quilts we recognize today are a result of the Oriental influence at the World Exposition held in the 1890s. These entries offered so much color and fancy work, I had to get some photos for my to-do list. Almost every design on these were embellishments-appliqued, embroidered, crocheted, everything added. The photos are of a quilt labeled Birds of a Feather, pieced and quilted by Geri Hruzek.

From one end to the other, I loved the simplicity of this quilt, but I think the quilting made this quilt great. The outline quilting of the appliqued posies gave them depth and really made them pop.

This little piece by Margot McDonnell really caught my eye. The story on this is this-it began as a vintage black and white photo. Margo hand appliqued and embroidered the scene and then to achieve the misty morning look, covered the piece with 2 layers of bridal veil netting and the hand-quilted it. It is small-11 x 18 but so appealing. Great job Margot. (No, I don't know her.)

One more today-I'll save the rest for this week.
This was called "Apostrophes Pops" pieced and quilted by Keith Dommer. What I loved was the color. Using the neutral tones for the blocks, and sashings as well as the "apostrophes" with the brilliant turquoise to "twirl" the motifs. Isn't this great.

Going to quilt shows is like attending or listening to General Conference or reading the greatest book that made you sad it ended. It invigorates, motivates and makes me forget my aches and pains.

Lots more later,
Jan

Long Time Gone

Dear Friends,

Yes-it has been a few days since my last post (and that is said tongue-in-cheek. ) I have been busy, busy, busy. But I'MMMM BAAAAAAAAAACK.


These are Judy's chickens, well some of them. See that big old nasty rooster-Judy calls him Rooster Cogburn. I call him mean and evil. He didn't think I needed to go inside the coop and he scares the c*** out of me. Well, I got in and found this-
They told me they were just doing their job and I said "Good, go to it ladies." And they did.

Then I took a slow ride up the road to see the sights. Yes, there are a few sights around Vernon.
I stopped here

and said "hey" to mom and then drove on up to see how far I could go and how much snow was left. I got just past the first cattleguard before I had to turn around and the snow was beautiful and so pristine looking.

It was so quiet, so peaceful, so serene. I cannot wait to see what all this moisture brings this spring and summer. As we were coming home, I spotted the first of the wild poppies along the side of the road in Gonzalez Pass.

And then, as we came out of the Pass, we witnessed this (and you know how I love this!)

And that was yesterday.

More about today tomorrow, which will make today another yesterday. I have had a lot of great yesterdays and tomorrow, today will be another one.

Love, Jan

Happy Valentines Day

What I Did On My Friday-Off

Dear Friends,

There are 2 things on my mind today that I want to record here. The first is how very sad I feel for the people of Haiti. I was watching the Fox news reports this morning - 5 days after the earthquake and the situation is still horrible and frightening. The work to rescue and recover is going on and today they reported a rescue which is wonderful, but the real problem is trying to reach and serve the wounded and sick. Here is the link for LDS Humanitarian donations
http://give.lds.org/emergencyresponse

The second thing is that Scott Brown is doing so well in MA. This would be the biggest message to Washington in many years-to stop the insidious notion that the politician owns the seat and rules this nation. Republican or Democrat, I truly wish to see every incumbent defeated.

Last Friday I drove to Miami, AZ and met up with my oldest and dearest friend, Irene. We have been friends since second grade (many years ago) and have shared many miles together. She is one of my heroes and is married to another one of my heroes. Irene retired from teaching a couple of years ago and was looking forward to the time she earned for her personal interests, her husband and the rest of her family. Now, she and Tom are raising 2 beautiful granddaughters and giving these girls a wonderful home filled with love and security.

I enjoy every chance we have to get together and just visit. We did a little shopping in one or two antique stores in Miami-most were closed on Friday which is strange, but I guess their shop days are Saturday and Sunday, and found some items of interest. But then we found a quilt store!

I know you are shocked. And of course you will know where my $ went. The quilt store is on Sullivan Street, just a block from El Rey (how convenient). Julie's Quilt Shop is small but packed with some wonderful fabrics. She carries a lot of southwest themed fabrics as well as a wonderful assortment of sun-dyed fabrics. It is nice to know the shop is there and hopefully this summer I can plan some stops there on my trips to Vernon. This sweet lady even offered to open early for me if I called to make arrangements while passing through before her regular hours. This lady knows how to win a customer!

Now-what did I buy. Well, as a quilter that loves quilt history, I have been aware of the Gee's Bend quilts for some time. Recently, Zoe's got in the bolts of Gee's Bend Fabric that have been hand-dyed and are wonderful solids with a soft, subtle shaded look and rich colors. There are samples on the Zoe's web site to view them. If you are not familiar with Gee's Bend quilts or they story behind them, check out the story here.

I have always been impressed with the story behind the Gee's Bend quilts but they are not the kind of quilts I am drawn too. The early quilts were made from worn clothing or cloth the women had in their possession and were representational patterns of what they had in their memories and surroundings. One of the most popular patterns that they did was called "Housetops".



I bought one of the reproduction kits called Lazy Girl that Julie had just got in and will try to get this one made soon.

So I guess I need to get busy. The blocks are almost done on my after Christmas-Christmas quilt and only need to make a few more blocks for a promised quilt to Seth. And btw, I got the book I talked about in my last post-thank you Mary, plus adding 2 more books on scrap quilting to my collection. One Saturday a month, Zoe's Trunk has a group meeting just to work on scrap quilts. I am really looking forward to the that one.

Well, I've spoke my mind, shared a little and recorded some daily history. Talk to you again soon, love, Jan