My Favorite Designers - Chapter 5 Karen K. Stone

Every designer brings something new and different to my toolbox.  I've been highlighting my favorites in no particular order of wonderfulness, but rather, as I encounter them. Last month Karen K. Stone visited the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild. Wow, what a program!

My introduction to Karen came many (10?) years ago when I took a class at Quilter's Haven in Olathe. The class was Karen's Cinco de Mayo - a fantastic, somewhat chaotic New York Beauty. This class fueled my search and collection of wild, colorful fabrics. These fabrics are part of my daily round now, but back then they were way outside of my comfort zone. 


Cinco de Mayo is made of a series of blocks using the New York Beauty block - all of them varied in terms of the number of points and bands.  This is not mine - I only have the first two rows done (yeah, I know I started it 10 years ago). But isn't it beautiful! I love the variation in the size and number of points.

My next close encounter with the force of nature that is Karen, was a class at the first Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival. I am an EPP fan and she was teaching EPP by machine. It was a challenging technique for me because I balk at a lot of prep work - and this technique took a lot of prep. It's a good tool to have in my kit, but I haven't used it yet.


This brings us to the present - well, last month, when Karen came to our guild. She is a dynamo of a speaker - I've love to get a little of her energy. The story of her quilts was mostly about color and value. It made me think about not being so matchy-matchy with my color schemes. 

For the workshop after the talk and trunk show, Karen choose "Wild Women Don't Get the Blues" as the pattern. I choose Tula Pink's Raccoons for my focus fabric. I thought those little guys would be so cute surrounded by the colorful star points. After I took this pic, I added a black and white striped flange between the raccoon and the star points. I really liked it but i was a lot of work. So now I'm looking for something similar but easier. Or maybe I'll just leave it as is. Hmmmm Dilemma!

Curious about Karen? Look for her workshops and programs. She is a bundle of positive, quilting energy.

A New Quilt From Start to Finish - Chapter 4 Assembly Line Foundation Piecing

Wow, its been quite a week with the Kaw Valley Guild's Quilt Show. The Show is now behind us and I am catching up with housework (yuck) and sewing (yeah). The show was a success by many standards. A lot of hard work by many people and also great fun and inspiration. 


So, now that I am a bit caught up, I can work on my Judy Niemeyer Cattail Mixer. In previous chapters I designed and colored the quilt on Quiltster, and prepared the papers and fabrics. In this chapter I am working on one series of cattail sections. One of the best features of Judy's quilts is her method of assembly line sewing.


Actually, it should be assembly line sewing, pressing, folding, and trimming. Because the mantra here is "what you do to one piece, you do to all pieces". For Judy's patterns that could mean 4 pieces, all the way up to a hundred  - on the border for example. In this case I have four sections.

For those of you who have done foundation piecing before, this is pretty much the same method. What is different is that you do several at the same time. 

The first step is to lay out all your pieces that you prepared in Chapter 3. I aligned them in the order that they will be sewn with the "sew side" towards the top. In this case, I had 11 pieces of background and cattail leaves. 



When doing foundation piecing, you should reduce your stitch length so that the paper is easier to tear off. Its a bear to rip out if you make a mistake though . . . curse words have been heard coming from my studio. Judy recommends 1.6. So I adjust my trusty Bernina and I'm ready to go.




Following the "do it for every piece" method, I lined up the first 2 pieces of fabric on each of the 4 papers.  The beauty of foundation piecing, is that you just have to be able to sew on the lines. You get perfect points on difficult patterns just by sewing on the lines. I sew on line 1 four times. By the forth time, I really know that line well. Practice makes perfect!


Second step is to press the seam open - yes, 4 times! I sometimes use getting up to the ironing board as exercise (don't tell my trainer Zach), but this method saves those trips. I iron all 4 papers at the same time. I guess I'll have to do real exercise instead.




Step 3 is to fold the paper back and trim the excess fabric away. Judy recommends a long piece of template plastic because you can get a good fold all along a long paper. Using an "add-a-quarter" ruler butted up against the template plastic gives you a nice straight cut edge. 


Now you do it again with the next piece of fabric, then the next, and next, sewing on lines 2 through 11 - you get the picture.  I now have 4 raggedy papers, so obviously there are still a couple of steps left. 





Step 4 is to sew the registration lines using a basting stitch. This is one of the brilliant features of Judy's patterns. The registration lines help you put the sections together. This section has 3 registration lines on each piece.


Now the last step, the fun part that really gives me a feeling of accomplishment - trimming the papers on the outside cutting line. If the lines are straight, I use a ruler. If they are curved I do it free hand. 

So now I have 4 left side cattail sections complete. In this pattern there are a total of 4 different sections - 2 corner sections (left and right) and 2 center sections (left and right). As soon as I complete the 4 right side sections, the cattails will be done and I can move on to the inner border. The cattail sections include some applique stems and cattails which I'll address in the next chapter.

Keeping life curious with Judy Niemeyer!

My Favorite Colors - Chapter 1

What is your favorite color? Answering that is like deciding which one of your kids is your favorite - IMPOSSIBLE.

Before quilting, I used to have favorites - in my clothing, my home decorating, my car. I loved green and mauve in the 80s, blue and burgundy in the 90s. I wore olive drab everyday from 1979 to 1995. Not my favorite, but it brought out my green eyes.


Now that I am quilting, they are all my favorites - each one like a special, well-loved child. I have this feeling that since its not paint, an expensive couch, an expensive car (all cars are expensive these days) or clothing I wear, I can use any color I want. In fact I am trying to experiment with different colors and color combinations. I even have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to color schemes. 

I love rainbow, or I call them color-wheel quilts. I've got a couple of quilts going that include 24 colors of the color wheel. The first one I started about 3 years ago - Technicolor Galaxy. The other one I did with a small group from our guild and is called Eclipse.


Technicolor Galaxy by Alyssa Lichner at Pile O' Fabric is a absolute explosion of color and shape. I really enjoyed collecting FQ of lots of different colors. It was tough to find exactly the right shades to make that color wheel effect.  Yellow-green, red-violet, orange-yellow, turquoise-green. I even like saying the colors and imagining their deliciousness.  


I am almost done with this one - I just need to do 3 more outside corners, and then I am ready to quilt the sections. I quilted the center section a few weeks ago and I really like how it turned out.




Eclipse is a foundation pieced quilt by Kimberly of Main Street Designs. A small group of us in Kaw Valley Quilters Guild did this together and we are all showing ours at the upcoming quilt show. It is really cool to see how different they are in different colors. I used color wheel colors with a black background. It just came back from quilter Sandra Cockrum, and as usual she did an outstanding job. You can't see all the fabulous quilting in the pic, so come see it in person at the Kaw Valley Quilt Show on 7-8 April.

So, enough for now, but not nearly enough about color. I'll post later about the other colorful quilts in my studio. 



Keepin' it Curious!

Quilts of Valor - The Gift of Comfort and Healing

Quilts of Valor - just the name of this group give me goosebumps. QOV is an organization that makes and donates quilts to service members and veterans touched by war. I'm tearing up just thinking about service members and the sacrifices they made and continue to make. 

These women and men are like my extended family as I too served in the military (US Army 1979-1995). I never had to go to a shooting war - the cold war was my war - but I trained, prepared, deployed on training exercises, and prepared my family as best I could to function while I was away. This was basically the reason I retired early - I have 2 sons, one of whom has autism, and I did not feel comfortable leaving them for long periods of time. This picture was taken at Signal Corps Basic Course, where I was a TAC Officer (mentor) for new Lieutenants. Geez was I young and thin! Anyway, I digress.

Kaw Valley Quilters Guild (KVQG), my local guild, has a group of 7 women who make and donate quilts regularly to QOV. The donation ceremony is very meaningful for them. They see their quilts received and cherished by local service members. So far they have donated 25 quilts in 2 years.

I made a quilt that will be donated to QOV - it is a Courthouse Steps pattern done in red, cream, and blue with appliqued stars. QOV quilts do not have to be red, white and blue, but many are.






Dan, my ex-husband and father of my sons, flew Cobra helicopters in Vietnam and commanded a helicopter battalion in Desert Storm. He is a proud aviator, soldier and veteran, so I nominated him to receive a quilt on the QOV website. He received his quilt last November on Veterans Day. Here he is with his wife Linda (left) and Barbara (right), the San Antonio TX QOV Coordinator.

There are lots of ways to get involved - ask your local guild or check out the QOV Website. If you don't feel up to making a whole quilt, you can donate money or fabric, or you can make a single block - see the QOV 2018 Block Drive

Curious about QOV? Learn more on the QOV Website. 

Kansas Goes Modern - A Technique Quilt

Last year I had the privilege of designing the BOM for the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild. Our guild offers a BOM every year and I had always wanted to write a pattern  . . . so I volunteered. Occasionally I like to challenge myself, and man oh man, this was a challenge.

I don't remember when and how the idea came to me, but I wanted to do a quilt with Kansas named blocks.  These blocks usually have a  traditional feel, which is not really my style. So, I decided to give them a bit of a twist by using modern fabric - Grunge by Moda -  and a non-traditional layout. Hence the name - Kansas Goes Modern (KGM).


I also wanted to learn a little more about the quilting history of my adopted state of Kansas. I am not a quilt historian, but it was fun to learn about the history of each of the blocks. Much of the information came from Barbara Brackman, a member of our guild and a nationally known quilt historian.

Since I get really enjoyment from learning and teaching, I decided to throw some interesting and varied techniques into KGM. So I included pieced blocks, English Paper Pieced blocks, foundation paper pieced blocks, and applique blocks. 


So, the blocks - all with Kansas in the name:
     Kansas Star
     Kansas Troubles
     Kansas Dugout
     Kansas Beauty
     Kansas Twister
     Kansas Dust Storm
     Rocky Road to Kansas
     Kansas Sunflower
     Hearth and Home's Kansas 

After getting it all assembled, I asked the wonderfully talented Sandra Morgan-Cockrum to quilt KGM. She did a terrific job with lots of custom designs, ruler work, and swirls.

Now, after releasing one block a month and three months of assembly instructions, I am putting everything together in a pattern that will be available for purchase in the next few months (one of my goals for 2018). I am so excited about this. I have to get some good pictures taken and put the finishing touches on the pattern - but I'm almost there!

My next steps are to take KGM on the road as a workshop or series of classes. So, if you are interested in making KGM in class, please let me know. Hopefully it will be coming to a shop or guild near you!

Curious about Kansas quilt blocks? Check out Kansas Goes Modern!

KVQG Opportunity Quilt for 2017

Every year members of the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild make a quilt to raise money to help support guild programs. A small group usually makes the quilt and then one of our talented longarmers quilts it. The drawing for the quilt is usually held at our Fall mini retreat, at which time the new quilt is unveiled. This year, the drawing will be at the guild's 40th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration in September.

The punnily named Sew Whatever's (I love their name) group: Karla Menaugh, Georgann Eglinski, Carol Jones, Sarah Fayman, Roseanne Smith, Kathe Dougherty, Wendy Turnbull and Beth Stella - have been together quite a while.  They meet weekly at Sarah's Fabrics to sew and visit.

Last year, the Sew Whatevers, along with friends Linda Frost and Kathy Supernant, decided to take on the task of the opportunity quilt. Since 2017 is the 40th - Ruby Anniversary of our guild, they chose to make the quilt ruby and white. And IT IS STUNNING!

The unusual blocks come from the book Nearly Insane by Liz Lois. As soon as Wendy told me about the book, I ordered it. Can't wait for it to get here.

They knew they wanted blocks around a center medallion. They looked up pictures of the ruby nasturtium (40th Anniversary Flower) to design the center applique. Wendy Turnbull expertly did the applique and Kathy Supernant stitched the green stems and curlies.

The incomparable longarmer Lori Kukuk quilted this lovely with circles of feathers, grids, and some echo quilting around the applique wreath. 

The Kaw Valley Quilters Guild is selling tickets for opportunities to win this gorgeous quilt. I've had it out at several venues so far and will have it at (hopefully) the July Sidewalk Sale, the Douglas County Fair, and other venues around town from now until September, The tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. If you would like to own this quilt, or support the KVQG, buy a ticket or five. Just let me know.

Curious about the KVQG? Check us out!

Magic Squares - Thank You Sara Chappell

So, I have my guild friend Sara Chappell to thank for my increasing stripe stash. Stripes are wonderfully versatile - they make great bindings, an accent fabric, or borders. But my favorite way to use stripes is what I call magic squares. I'm not exactly sure where that name came from, but I do think its's absolutely MAGIC!

There is more magic if the stripped fabric is wild and doesn't repeat too often. Two color fine stripes don't make any magic at all.  Stripes with multiple colors, sizes, and shapes make wonderful magic!

Here is how the magic happens - 

• Layer 2 layers of matching fabric - matching so that both layers are identical (sort of like a stack and whack)
• Cut a strip any size you want depending on how often the stripes repeat - anywhere from 4 to 6 inches wide and at least twice as long.
• Cut the strip into squares
• Draw a line diagonally from corner to corner.
• Sew a seam .25 inches from the each side of the line.
• Cut apart on the line. Press
• You should have 2 matching half square triangles.
• Make 2 more if you want 4 for a square.
• Keep making more, using a different cut of fabric so that your squares are not all the same.

They can be put together in squares or partial squares like I did, or in rows, or randomly.

I've only made 1 so far and it sold at an arts and crafts fair, so I am dying to make some more and play with different layouts.

I'm curious about what you do with your striped fabric! Let me know.

Come Visit Some of My Quilts at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!
My quilts are being featured in a small quilt show during the months of January and February in the Founders' Hall at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lawrence. I am sooooo excited. I'm also giving a small talk on January 8 at 9:30. It would be great to see some friendly faces there - just don't make faces to make me laugh.

So how did this come about? you ask. Well . . .  In 2015 I was the featured quilter at the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild quilt show. It was so fun to show my quilts, think about my quilting life, and basically wallow in quilting for two days. Someone from the UUFL was there and asked if I would hang some quilts in the church fellowship hall. That seemed so long ago, but of course time flies and now its here.

I hung the quilts this morning and they will hang through February.  It was so cool was seeing my quilts actually hanging somewhere - not just draped over a chair!

I'm totally nervous and excited. On the one hand it seems like a big deal, on the other hand, it's just me and a few of my quilts - no big deal.  They asked me to write an artist's statement - I know it sounds a bit pretentious, but it really is helpful for me as I'm setting my quilting goals and priorities. You know I love my lists! So I took this opportunity to revisit some thoughts I wrote several years ago, and come up with some 2017 quilting goals.
So, I hope you come out and see me on the 8th, or if you can't make it then, come out and see some of my quilts. 
OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!!!!! (Doing a happy dance!)

Zen Garden Quilt Update

Here's a finished one for you! 

I finally finished Step-Daughter Lynne's Zen Garden Quilt. If you missed the first posting about this quilt, you can check it out here. 
Yahooooo!  I really liked how it turned out. Lori Kukuk did a great job with the quilting. 
It hung in the KVQG annual quilt show last April. 




I was going to use a BL Sashiko machine to stitch the water lines, but decided to use perl cotton and add the stitches by hand.



Lori's quilting added little flowers into the cherry blossom hexies. 




This was fun in so many ways - using Daiwabo Japanese taupe fabrics, EPP, working from a picture instead of a pattern, adding in my own touches like the clamshell river rocks at the lower edge of the quilt.

I love moving a quilt from "a work in progress" quilt to a finished quilt. It hasn't made its way to Lynne in Portland yet, but it will soon.

Here's to a finish!

Next Up - Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks

Next up in my rotation is Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. I almost feel like I should be done with this one because our KVQG group decided to make one in black and white for the guild's opportunity quilt (raffle). I just got done (with help) putting frames around the blocks, putting the blocks together in rows and adding sashing and borders. But that was THAT one, and now I am working on THIS one.


I posted about my progress (or lack thereof) earlier and now that TP is in my rotation, I expect that I'll make better progress. My goal this rotation is to have 1-25 blocks done.  So . . 7 blocks this time up.





I'm using PB&J fabric - which I love - and a few other fillers thrown in. I'm cutting the fabric for several blocks at one time and then storing them in snack baggies. When I head to the sewing machine I can knock out a bunch at one time. 




So, here is what I accomplished this rotation:  3 blocks sewn and 5 more blocks cut. Didn't make my goal of completing 1-25, but still made good progress.


Happy Tula!

Tula Pink Update

Tula Pink is a fabric and pattern designer I have been following for a couple of years now. Her patterns have a simplistic, modern sensibility to them and I would describe her fabric as whimsical with juicy colors. When I saw her book 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, I knew I wanted to made them. Every. One. Of. Them.

So I asked members of my quilt guild - Kaw Valley Quilters' Guild - to participate in a sew along. Best thing ever! We started in January (see my earlier post from February 3, 2015) and have taken off like crazy. We just met last month and I am amazed at the beautiful blocks that people are making. So I though I would update everyone with some pictures and descriptions of ideas and tips folks have shared.

I think three of our group - Kathy, Sandy, and Barb, have all 100 blocks done. 







The rest of us are either racing or crawling along as our schedules allow. I have to admit I am one of those who are crawling. I think I only have 13 done. But I do have my stuff organized - I've made stickers for each block and have a list to keep track of all the I have finished.


Joyce is using the blocks as a background for her original applique designs. Taking her experience one step further, she made 4 of a block and sewed them together into something totally new.


Cindy is using Asian-inspired fabrics and antique kimono fabrics.

Shari is using black, white and gray fabrics.

Kim R. has focused on blue, green and red fabrics.




Joy T. is following Tula's color choices. 



It is so cool to see the blocks in such different colors and prints.

A couple of months ago, we decided to make extra black, white, and gray blocks so that we could make an opportunity quilt in the future. We are really coming along. We have 46 blocks committed to!  

It is so fun to watch everyone share their blocks and see how the same block is transformed by different fabrics. Next meeting I hope to take pics of everyone's block 1 - more if I can. 

So this week, I am going to get going on MY Tula blocks. I'll shoot for at least 8 of them.

Our little group has a FB page. Check out Kaw Valley Tula Pink 100 Modern Block Sew Along.

Staying Curious about Tula!