We quilters can be a persnickety bunch. (Notice, I said WE.) We can tend to get a little judgmental and opinionated when it comes to the details. Is the binding cut from quality fabric or is it the packaged bias binding from a chain store? Is the binding applied in the single fold or French fold method? How did they sew that second side--top-stitched on the machine or hand-stitched? How precise are the points?

So to come clean, I thought I'd share one of my very early quilts. It was created for a McCall's Needlework special issue in 1993--it was called McCall's Quick Quilts. (Learn more about special issues in this post.) I designed this quilt in two versions--this was considered a three-color version (red, blue, and multicolored--the golden color didn't count) and a five-color version (pastels, if I remember correctly). I went looking for the issue, thinking it would clear up my memory and I can't find it! ... Wait, found it on ebay. Bought it. Meanwhile, I'm sharing a photo of the cover with you, thanks to the ebay store I bought it from.


Again, thanks to the store on ebay, I'm able to share an image of the five-color version from the pages of the magazine. It was pretty too, but I have to tell you, I absolutely loved the background fabric we used in this three-color quilt. To this day, that multicolored foliage is one of my favorites. The colors aren't the colors I'd pick now, but I love the way it worked. I got so attached to this fabric that I can tell you where I bought it--a quilt shop in Washington, Illinois. Google tells me that the quilt shop off the square in Washington is Peddler's Way. I can't tell you if that was the shop, but it was right off the square. Of course, they wouldn't have the fabric anymore since I bought it in 1992, so don't call them for it. But I'm sure they have other fabulous fabrics.

So now for the mistakes I made on this quilt. I gave you a closeup shot of the binding--yes, it was bias binding and not made from the quilt fabric. If I remember correctly, that's because I ran out of the fabrics used. But what possessed me to attach it using a multi-stitch zig-zag is beyond me! I think I wanted to get it finished and get it on the wall in my home. And probably I didn't know better. But for those of you who look at your first quilts and think "what was I thinking?" I figured knowing you're not alone would help!

As I mentioned before, I worked at McCall's Needlework and McCall's Quilting in the early '90s. Before McCall's Quilting was launched in 1993, McCall's Needlework often created extra newsstand-only issues, called special issues or one-shots, in addition to the six regular issues a year. Sometimes they were holiday or seasonally themed and other times they focused on a technique. While I worked there, we did several Christmas specials and a few quilting specials. In fact, the whole reason I learned to quilt was because of one of those special issues--McCall's Country Quilting, copyright 1991.

For 17 of the projects in that special issue, we rented antique quilts from an store that specialized in such things. Then we wrote instructions so that people could recreate them. Remember, this was the early '90s, when rotary cutting and quick piecing were still in their infancy. And I knew nothing about quilting. Our editor had the solution--he was friends with Liz Porter of Fons and Porter and she came to the office for a three-day seminar on all things quilting. Not only did I learn a lot about quilting, but I also learned a skill that's been invaluable--the ability to reverse-engineer a quilt. Since we were working with antique quilts, we had to chart and measure and dissect each quilt and how it was constructed (or how it would be, using modern techniques) without doing one bit of damage to them. So now, I can look at a picture of a quilt or an actual quilt, chart it out, write instructions, and figure out how much fabric is needed. It's a great skill to have for designing my own quilts, and it's come in handy at other times in my life.

For instance, a customer came into the quilt shop one day with a family heirloom quilt. She'd received it from a family member, but felt a little guilty that she got it instead of some other family members. So she wanted to create similar quilts for them. After some quick math, I drafted a pattern for her and figured yardage and together, we picked out fabrics for her to get started. I remember it having some great colors in it and a black polka-dot on a white background, but that's all I remember. I didn't ever get to see the finished quilts, but I hope her family members appreciated the work she did.

So my engineering friends from college might be able to reverse-engineer equipment, but I can reverse-engineer a quilt.

Happy end of the weekend, friends! It's been nutty this weekend--a lot of miles of ground covered in a very short period of time. But with temps in the 60s and sunny skies, driving's just not so bad! In fact, the weather was so beautiful today that we did our driving with the convertible top down. Meanwhile, I've rounded up some links to pass along.

About Family Crafts
Sign up for Sherri's 12 Days of Christmas... Crafts email newsletter and you will receive a variety of Christmas related craft ideas delivered top your email box every day for 12 days -- everything from advent calendars to Santa Claus crafts!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Two fun necklace designs featuring charms made with a Faux Scrimshaw polymer clay technique from the book Enchanted Adornments by Cynthia Thornton

The Artful Crafter
Make some sweet, goofy, felt and feather Tom Turkey Place Card holders for your Thanksgiving table.

The Impatient Crafter
Madge shares a sneak peek of the ad campaign she shot with her lovely daughter AND the instructions to the Cupcake Glitter Shirt Avalon is wearing in the ad in this post for iLoveToCreate!

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy is super busy and "somethings gotta give!"

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Over at Craftside there is a free Japanese wave print and a how-to make pocket ATC with it, Latte Art, a sneak peek into Pam Sussman's studio from Lynne Perrella's new book, a call for entries for a cake decorating book, and good questions to ask yourself to help for a business/design plan.

Cathie Filian
It is apple craft time! Cathie is stamping up napkins and a simple apron. She also has a delicious recipe for apple crisp.

Mixed Media Artist
Have you ever wanted to learn how to weave? Cyndi's got a book giveaway going on that could help you out!

The top quilt was a remake of the quilt beneath it, made in Rogers, Arkansas in the summer of 1996. The quilt was rejected for publication because fabrics in the black-and-ivory quilt were too distinctive for publication. Turns out that if you use distinctive fabrics, you'd better be working with the fabric company and designing with it before it's available to the public. Why?, you ask. Well, there are a lot of people who want to make the project just like the picture. With the time it takes to produce a magazine (several months at best), by the time you buy fabric at the store, make the project, submit it to a magazine and have it accepted, send it in, and actually see it in print, that fabric's not in the stores anymore. So I submitted it with the offer to remake it in less distinctive fabrics.

The submission got accepted by Beth Hayes, the editor of McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts, in 1998. The quilt was published in the July 1999 issue of the magazine and it was renamed "Sea Breeze" which seemed a perfectly appropriate name, given that it was created in a beach house on the east coast of Florida.
Funny story about Beth Hayes. She and I worked together for maybe a week when I used to work for McCall's Needlework and she came on board at McCall's Quilting back in June of 1995. Before McCall's Quilting and McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts (now McCall's Quick Quilts) were launched as magazines you could subscribe to, each title was done more than once as a special issue by McCall's Needlework (and Crafts). I was actually involved in helping to produce McCall's Quilting in its first two years as a bimonthly magazine. And about the time I left the company that produced those magazines, Beth came on board. I think she was at my farewell luncheon which may also have been her welcome luncheon. So when I started to consider designing quilts as a freelancer, I turned to her and her magazines first, both due to the fact that I knew her and the fact that I have always felt a certain bond with the titles.

I worked late tonight. That's been happening a lot in the last month. Since I work in publishing, deadlines are commonplace. But it's gotten worse lately. One of my projects got behind because another project with more immediate deadlines kept getting in its way. So now I'm making up for it with long days, working at home for some time each weekend, etc. But I know it will end once the magazine I'm working on is gone to the printer, and it should get better when I just get everything turned over to the artists in the next few weeks.

But back to the headline of this post. As I left the office at 8-something p.m. (a 12-hour day, though I did go out for lunch), I noticed one of those promotional signs on the corner. My guess is that it was a sign for some type of questionable work-from-home program. But the line that caught my eye was "Looking for work/life balance?" I was torn between cursing loudly at the sign (which I did, creatively, thanks to my friend Leslie who has always been able to make up great curse words), laughing (which I also did with my dear friend Lisa who always understands), and crying (which I didn't do).

So in respect for the sign, I'm here to admit that my answer is yes, I am looking for better work/life balance. Work has gotten out of hand lately and it's starting to show here on my blog as well as in my house and my life. I haven't created anything for a while just for me, which disappoints me both personally and as far as my blog goes.

So I pulled out some quilts from my past, some quilts I published previously when I was a freelance designer almost a decade ago, to reinspire and remind me that soon I'll return to a normal work/life balance and create some new projects. And I'll get to share them here on my blog.

I've been pondering whether I want to start designing and publishing quilt designs again. Back when I was designing, the money wasn't great for the work and time involved in creating a quilt, honestly, but I miss it. I miss playing with patterns and fabrics, sharing my projects, finding ways to make project that look complicated but aren't difficult to construct. I want to play with that quilting machine, as that was something that was a challenge in my previous designs and that I think could make a big difference in my finished projects and their saleability. I'm even toying with the idea of gathering designs to pitch a book proposal.

As inspiration for myself, and something to share with all of you, I'll be posting some of my past published and unpublished projects over the next few weeks. Let me know what you think. And if you happen to be a book or magazine publisher looking for some designs, I have publication rights to all of the quilts shown, but the fabrics are a bit out of date! Guess I'd have to remake them--now THERE'S some inspiration!

It's been another crazy week, mostly because of long days at work. The strange part is that I've spent a lot of time working on jewelry pieces for work, so I HAVE been making things, unfortunately not anything I can share here! And with the odd combination of working a lot of hours, making a lot of projects, and writing a lot of instructions, all of it recreating other people's work, it doesn't feel as creative as it might have. So instead, I'm going to spend a little time getting inspiration from other people's projects, like the links below! I bet you can too. 

The Artful Crafter
Make a pretty fall triple wreath wall hanging for your own wall or as a housewarming gift. With a little imagination, you can adapt the design for Christmas or just about any other occasion/season.


Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Polymer Clay Candy Corn Beads Hot out of the Oven made using a "recipe" from the book The Polymer Clay Cookbook



The Impatient Crafter
Madge scares up another fiendishly fabulous mixed media design for Halloween!


Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
At Craftside there is a free cross stitch pattern, a downoadable label and idea for a spooky Halloween decoration and some wild pumpkins, a sneak peek into the new book What is Illustration?, how to sew gathers and ruffles and finally a fun question to be answered to be entered to win a free craft book.


About Family Crafts
Sherri offers several free pumpkin carving patterns for you to download and use!


Mixed Media Artist
Do you have a signature style? Cyndi wants to know what it is and wants to help you show it off!


Aileen's Musings
This week Aileen offers a free pumpkin label for you to download and print. Also, a very cool photo manipulation site, so gather your favorite pictures and have some fun!


Cathie Filian
Make a warm mug of Chai Tea at home with this traditional recipe from Cathie.



Crafty Princess Diaries
Diggity Doggity, the crocheted dog blanket is done!


And on Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style this week, I thought I'd share a quilt I made a while back.

I celebrated my birthday the other day. And I'm lucky and grateful that this year, there were lots of flowers. So I'm sharing some flower photos, not to brag, but to showcase the great color combinations that will serve as inspiration down the road.

First, my friend Lynn dropped off a bouquet of assorted flowers, which I love. In the office vase they went. Then my coworkers and pals Cathy and Hazel dropped by with a bundle of pink gerbera daisies. But with only one vase in the office, I had to find a way to make it work. So I trimmed the gerbera daisy stems and used them as a cuff, if you will, for the mixed flowers.

Then a bouquet was delivered from my honey. Love the colors in this one. Shades of reds and oranges, yellows and greens (analogous colors on the color wheel)--things we're afraid to combine in our wardrobes or craft projects for fear they'll clash that work together beautifully in nature. I'm sure there's a lesson there about being brave and taking chances with color.

And finally, another fall bouquet from my honey's parents. they combine contrasting colors--oranges/reds/yellows and purples for great impact.

I find myself thinking that playing with these color combinations in quilts or cards or other venues might be a lot of fun.....

So the lucky little girl who got the Curious George blanket got a Curious George pillow to match! Though creative is a bit of a stretch, I did trim the fringe and tie the knots. And she loved it. So as I said yesterday, Saturday was a creative day and here's the result.

I did get to be creative today--I'll blog about it tomorrow. It was a nutty week at work and personally--I've been running a hundred different directions, but I'm home this weekend and SO VERY glad to be here. There's much to do--is it that your house gets messier when you're not around, or is it that preparing to be away creates messes? I don't know. But meanwhile, while I'm laundering and picking up, why don't you make some time to peruse the links of my crafty friends?

About Family Crafts
Follow these directions and discover how easy it is to sew a felt tote bag that is perfect for trick-or-treating!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside went a little artsy this week with inside peeks into the books; Hope: A Collection of Obama Posters and Prints, The Daily Book of Art, Really Good Packaging Design Explained and 1001 Ideas for Stonework, but there are also tons of great Sizzix die cut applique designs made by the designers at Halloween Swap-o-Rama-Rama.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Vintage Hankie Scarf made using the tutorial from the Indygo Junction book Hankie Style

The Impatient Crafter
Madge is one degree from Martha! Check out her upcoming appearance at the Grand Opening of Michaels in Manhattan!

Cross Stitch at About.com
Connie has another inspirational pattern, this time with an abstract flair. The chart is easy - whole cross stitch and a wee bit of back stitch.

Cathie Filian
Check out Cathie's quick video on how to spook up china ball lanterns.

Aileen's Musings
Come meet Aileen's friends Herm & Ethel (they're baccck!). Download a couple of freebie e-postcards and send Halloween greetings to your friends!

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi is starting a new quilt...this time featuring pears!

Vickie Howell-Craft.Rock.Love
This week Vickie launched her new PBS Parents column, Craft Apparent. Check out her first article, a how-to on making utterly adorable baby costumes, starting with just a plain onesie!

The Artful Crafter
Eileen shows you how to create a simple but festive Halloween cupcake stand from terracotta pots.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy has a package ready to go out the door for her new jewelry making book.

And here at Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style, I visited a few quilt shops in Toronto--check out my treasures.

I was in Toronto last weekend for a CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) board meeting. Because of how I had to book my flight, I had 6 hours from the time I landed until I had to be at the hotel for the start of the weekend. Yes, you guessed it, that was just enough time to visit a few quilt shops. But since the week prior had gotten a bit chaotic, I hadn't had a chance to do much research online to double-check locations, hours, etc. I located addresses of several shops, thanks to Dad's GPS, but only two of them were still where they were located when I printed a quick map from Google. But one shop staffer suggested another shop, so in the end I visited three shops and still had the chance to look around the town and get ready for the meeting.

What shops did I visit?, you ask.

First, I stopped at Cock-a-Doodle Quilts. I found some fat quarters--I'm assuming they're quarter meters, which is slightly larger than a US fat quarter. But since fabric is more expensive in Canada, I didn't want to get carried away. They had some lovely batiks, this adorable farm print (I'm pretty sure this is bigger than a fat quarter, but I don't have it here to measure), and a panel that I can't yet disclose. As always, you know I'm a sucker for farm fabrics.

Next, after a few misses, I had another hit. The Quilter's Block is a smaller shop, but it was filled with some great fabrics. It's more of an urban shop, which was a new experience for me. As often happens, I ended up with two of the same prints in different colorways. And I also picked up a black-and-white and a black-and-gray print, which are also becoming a pattern for me. And the gal in the shop was very helpful, as we chatted about my mini-shop-hop, she suggested one other store in the area. So off I went.

The shop she suggested was Sewing Machine Factory Outlet in Scarborough. (Again, thank goodness for Dad's GPS!) I found some bolts of fabric that weren't full price--some marked down and some buy-one-get-one-free. Yes, at this shop, I bought yardage, but only off of four bolts. And then there were two fat quarters. As before, the two circle prints are the same print in different colorways--and I love circles and dots. I absolutely fell for the geometric print--it reminded me of some of the ones I picked up in Utah. As for the mosaic-looking print, I thought it would be a great fabric to use to get some practice freehand quilting with that big ole machine of mine. It's beautiful--shades of teal, creams, and brown, and there are birds and florals. I'll do another show-and-tell after I get it quilted--I'm itching to play with that machine again. I need much more free time! As for the two fat quarters, just some batiks that I thought were interesting.

And to round out my trip, here's a funny story. As I walked into the shop, I noticed a gentleman just hanging out in the store. Turned out, he was a fabric rep. I should have guessed--this is not the first time I've been visiting a shop while the fabric rep is trying to do show-and-tell. I don't mind it at all, I love to get a sneak peek at fabric lines, but I always feel bad for the shop owner and the rep, as it's much easier to do fabric selection when there's no one around and you don't have interruptions. I know when I was managing the quilt shop in Florida, we did our best to have the reps come in the evening, which was probably quite inconvenient for them but was very convenient for us. When I was in North Carolina on that vacation I mentioned a few weeks ago, the same thing happened and I bought a lot of fabric then too, partially because I wanted to make it easier on the shop owner, so I just had her cut half-yards. Talk about a tough time getting everything to fit in an already-packed-full suitcase! I was much more frugal with my purchases this trip and was able to get the fabric in my carry-on bag without too much trouble.

So that's my tour of the quilt shops in Toronto. I'm sure I missed some, so if you know of any that I missed, share it in the comment section so anyone who stumbles upon this posting looking for quilt shops in Toronto will have a more complete list for shop hops of their own.

(P.S. If you haven't heard, CHA's planning another Craft SuperShow in Anaheim in January 2010. For a recap of the Summer show, check out these blog posts: Judikins, fabric, Kaiser, JustRite Stamps.)

As part of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I just posted a link to the post about my Gramma's Apron Quilts. After you read about it there, go visit the other blogs and see the quilts that, though I haven't had a chance to explore, I'm sure are fabulous!

Meanwhile, I'll have some fabric photos to share with you next week. Found a few shops in Toronto!

It's been a crazy week, thus the later-than-usual posting of links. Family things derailed my routine, and the rest of the week probably won't be much more routine, but I did have some time to poke around on the sites of my friends, so here are some links to share.

The Crochet Dude
Drew has designed a super cute crocheted pink purse for breast cancer awareness month. AND he's giving away some cool pink ribbon appliques too!

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi shares the profiles of some spectacular mixed media artists, including our own Aileen Roberts!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
At Craftside there are posts on how to have fun with word play and spice up your art, draw a pattern for a full size witch hat and make a tiny one, make a silverware spider and make a gather from a serged edge without a differential feed.

The Artful Crafter
CD Ghosts – what an economical and easy project for Halloween. Let the kids make several to hang from a porch or trees to delight of your Trick or Treaters.

The Impatient Crafter
Halloween is right around the corner and Madge kicks off the season with a stunningly spooky mixed media necklace and a bonus short story sure to send shivers up your spine!

Crafty Princess Diaries
No Brainer Crochet Squares - Tammy shows off some of the crochet squares she makes for comfort-ghans.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Connie has a free quick-to-stitch pattern that reminds you to "Let Your Light Shine".

Cathie Filian
Cathie shows you how to alter kids’ clothing into fun Halloween costumes.

About Family Crafts
Find a way to creatively celebrate every day during the month of October by consulting this list of special days.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
A Buzzing Beaded Bead Bail using a wonderful tutorial from the book--Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith

Aileen's Musings
Need a little Halloween inspiration? Check out Aileen's past Halloween posts and get yourself revved up for Halloween!

And if you missed my post about my favorite backpack pattern, read about my rucksack and the others I've made.

A long while ago, I blogged about one of my favorite patterns--the Rucksack from Bethany Reynolds. Bethany is also the originator of Stack-n-Whack quilts. I've made one of the Stack-n-Whack quilts from her first book (it's pieced but not yet quilted) and have the main fabric for one for my sister, because she covets mine but it is in a totally different color palette than her home. I'm hoping to dive into her quilt this week while I'm playing nursemaid to my mom. I'm also hoping to share both quilts in a future blog post, since I can't seem to find a previous blog post where I've talked about this project. (Fellow bloggers--don't you hate it when you can't find the post that mentions something you're sure you blogged about once before!?)

But back to the Rucksack. I love this pattern! It's great if you're a quilter or a lover of fabric, as it's easy to combine several fabrics in this project, and many of them are smaller cuts like fat quarters. Plus, the width of the front three pockets is adjustable, so I was able to make one of the pockets the perfect width to hold my sunglasses case.

As for the fabric choices. On a challenging day a while back, I ran over to a quilt shop that's very close to my office on my lunch hour and I found the fabric I used for my rucksack (mine's the bottom one in the photo). When my sister saw it, she insisted that she needed one too. Since I'm such a people-pleaser, I asked her to give me some color guidance. Then I went through my fabric stash and let her pick pieces that I thought would suit what she wanted. She was thrilled with the final result--beachy, tropical, and ready for summer.

You may wonder why I'm blogging about this now. I had stopped carrying my backpack for a while, and the other day I laundered it and was reminded just how much I love it. It's a great size, the colors and prints express my personality, and, as I said in my original post, I made a third version of this, the smaller version, for my nephew when he was very young. I'm sure I have a photo of that somewhere--if I run across it, I'll share it here.

How about you. Do you have a favorite project, one that has triggered the "Oh, can you make me one?" reaction from friends and family? Tell me about it, link to it if you've got an image posted, or find some other way to share it with me.

And I thought the Quilt Festival and Wisconsin Quilt Expo quilt displays were impressive. Check out the photos from Quilting in the Garden on Flickr. I've heard about this event for years, but thanks to C&T Publishing, I can peruse it without traveling to the West Coast.

I discovered JustRite Stamps at the CHA Craft SuperShow in late July. The premise of these stamps is that JustRite sells font sets so you can basically typeset your own wording. The wood stamp I bought back in July was round, so letters can be set in the center, like a monogram or wording, and the mini-font I bought then can be placed in the circle around the exterior. But when I saw on their Facebook page that they were having a font sale, I thought I'd better consider a purchase, because I'm having a difficult time finding their products locally. So I did, as you can see. I got the horizontal stamper set that comes with two sizes, Times New Roman in upper and lower case, and their special occasions font which only comes in upper case. All three font sets come in three point sizes, so I should have all the options I need for now.

And if you have a chance, check out the JustRite blog, filled with great ideas and inspiration from their team. Plus there are hops, videos, and more.

A crazy week. I was in NJ for 26 hours (not including the several hours in the airport & airplane), I went bead shopping and then had dinner out with a four-year-old Cinderella and her mom, and now a little R&R. Well, not really R&R. At work, we're cutting a new video on Tuesday, and, since a quick turnaround is needed, I'll be making the projects this weekend. (The mystery supplies are shown in the photo.) So here's to a little creative time, however it arrives.

In between your creative moments this weekend, check out these links.

Mixed Media Artist
Give your favorite building a new look by creating a fractured photograph!

Aileen's Musings
Aileen has a crafty Halloween project and template just for you.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Louise is proud to show off her first project, a Peter Rabbit Cross Stitch Bookmark by Anchor. It's a great first time effort.
 
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside's got a crocheted pumpkin pattern, how to sew a shower curtain and towels, an interview with Tracie Lyn Huskamp author of Nature Inspired and a Mixed Media Dada Dolly TP cozy.

The Artful Crafter
Recycle artificial flowers into frilly fairies. Teens, tweens and kids-at-heart will love making and “hanging around” these little creatures.

Crafty Princess Diaries
A granny square dress? Is it over the top or a true crafty fashion statement?

Naughty Secretary Club
Join Jen on a week long screen printing adventure as she reviews books, plays with a YuDu, puts a unicorn on a onesie, plays with vinyl records and more.

The Impatient Crafter
There's a brand new The Impatient Crafter YouTube video to inspire you to declare yourself an artist! Madge explores the Cricut Expression in this quirky new video offering.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Army men are melted into service to make this cute coaster using the wonderful tutorial from the new book Craftcycle by Heidi Boyd

Cathie Filian
Cathie has a quicky way to jazz up plain glass candle holders and it uses scrap ribbons!

About Family Crafts
Never run out of Halloween crafts, activities, and motivation. Get new Halloween projects delivered to your email box every day for 31 days! Find out how...

Final installment in the Wisconsin Quilt Expo are more wall quilts. Two wall quilt, machine or hand quilted, categories will be covered in this post. The first four will be from the pictorial category. The second four are from the "any other type" category.

Blazing His Own Trail by Anne Crowl Meyer of Richland Center, Wisconsin--the colors are off in the overall shot I took, but the closeups are closer to the actual color of the quilt. This one won second place in the pictorial category.

Summer Farm by Sally Manke of Arcadia, Michigan, captured my eye because A) it was a farm scene and B) I had to get closer to see how it was made. If I remember correctly, they were scraps fused down, then a layer of tulle (fine mesh netting) is placed over it and then she quilted it. So the scraps are kept in place with the quilting and she made this amazing scene. Pretty cool!
The Purple Cornflowers quilt by Rochelle Stibb of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, combines wools of various types. I believe the flowers are felted, as they were dimensional. And look at how the quilting pops off the wool fabric. I think the border might have been hand-dyed, and I think the background fabric was too.

NOW on to the any other type category. The color are way off on this, but Pieces Of Dreams by Diane J. Evans of Schenectady, NY is an amazing piece. I couldn't get her website to come up, but there's a link from her blog and I know there was a picture of this quilt on her site that did much better colors at showing the colors truly. This quilt won second place in the category.

Daylilies Four Ways by Robin Gausebeck of Rockford, Illinois is the final image I'm sharing of this pictorial tour of Wisconsin Quilt Expo. Read all about how this quilt was inspired and created.

So that ends my tour of Quilt Expo. So much inspiration. So much to aspire to. And so much eye candy! Hope you've enjoyed my choices too.

Related Links:
5th installment
4th installment
3rd installment
2nd installment
1st installment

I had a great surprise in the category wall quilts, machine or hand quilted, appliqued. A quilt from a teacher I took a class with last spring. Anne Lullie from Lake in the Hills, Illinois, designed Colorplay III.

Orchidaceous by Stephanie Nordlin from Poplar Grove, Illinois was lovely as well. Beautiful colors and shading and great quilting.

Jeanne Pfister of Kaukauna, Wisconsin, created this first-place category winner, Dresden Delites. The quilting was great and I love how the flowers look like kaleidoscopes.

Summer Jubilee by Monica Troy of Lemont, Illinois, is an amazing feat! Check out the applique and the quilting! The colors, the design, again, I'm always awestruck at these shows and this one was no exception. This quilt won second in the category.

So that's the appliqued wall quilt category. Stay tuned for more in the coming days.

Related Links:
5th installment
4th installment
3rd installment
2nd installment
1st installment

For my next installment of amazing quilts, I'm sharing one quilt from the machine quilted, appliqued, bed-size category and the others are from the machine quilted bed size, any other type category. (For the previous related posts, see the 1st and 2nd installments.) The number one, best of show quilt is in the first category, and what a story it comes with.

Here it is--the Cathedral Ceiling quilt by Mildred Sorrells of Macomb, Illinois. This woman is amazing and so is her quilt! From what they told me at the show, she's in her 80s. Facts from her site about this quilt: "Ornamental Design from a Dover book Victorian Patterns and Designs enlarged. Added the corner designs and then the outer border. Machine appliqued plus a machine decorative stitch around each piece with King Tut thread by Superior Thread Co. Machine quilted with YLI silk thread and Hobbs wool batting. Also added piping before the binding." The story I heard about it at the show was that she's blanket stitched the appliques, didn't like the way it was fraying, and then decided to triple-stitch everything. In addition, she mentions the piping in passing but there's piping along the binding! And of course, there's the amazing quilting. May I be as prolific as she is when I'm in my 80s. Of course, I'll still be using up the fabric I've bought in the last month.... but I digress.

And from the second category, I share the following quilts. I just have a closeup of this quilt, called String of Pearls by Mary S. Buvia of Greenwood, Indiana. But what quilting it is. The applique is beautiful as well, of course, and if you'd like to see more of it, there's a picture on the web of the entire quilt.

I spent Sunday wandering around the Cedarburg Wine and Harvest Festival. There were SO many booths filled with art and crafts: jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery, sewing, etc. And though I can't say I came back with the "I want to make that" bug, I do feel inspired to be creative. It was nice to see other people express their creativity. It's interesting to wonder whether these artists are able to make a living selling at shows like this or do they supplement these shows with other venues (boutiques, galleries, online). Or do they have a day job and they pursue their art in their spare time, selling at shows as they can.

A few decades ago, I was going along making very basic quilted wallhangings as gifts for friends and family. (I was in my early 20s, so I was always in need of gifts for bridal showers and weddings.) After many of them told me "you should sell these," I decided to do that very thing. But since it was before the internet was commonplace and I was young and inexperienced, I dove in without doing any research, and got a table at a local fall festival with my very dear, now ex, mother-in-law who had also just started selling crafts. (No, the divorce wasn't due to this adventure--I had fabulous in-laws!) Since the show was in a few weeks, I feverishly cut, sewed, and painted late into the nights during those weeks. I probably made 20 wallhangings, mostly Christmas, and all one-of-a-kind. If you haven't already guessed, it was a disaster. Didn't sell a one. It was a yucky fall day, weatherwise, and, of course, our booth on the square was just that--it wasn't actually a craft show, more like an extension of a small-town high-school homecoming day. The bright side of this situation was that, in the end, I did sell all of them--to coworkers looking for a homemade gift and to family members seeking the same. (My sister really doesn't like to shop, so she thought it was great!) So when Mom sees something that I've made and starts to say "you know, you could make those and sell those and make a lot of money," I just smile and ask "like those wallhangings?". Somewhere I have pictures of them--if I run across the photo album, I'll scan some in so you can all see. There's nothing wrong with them, they're cute enough, and they were priced fairly for what they were, but it was 1990 and I was a brand new quilter, so when I think of them now, I have to smile and think "oh bless my heart, I thought I was really something."

So tell me your stories. Do you sell your work? What avenues do you use? Anyone else have a rough first show? Lessons to share with the rest of us? Leave a comment and let me know.

So for the second installment of Quilts from the 2009 Wisconsin Quilt Expo, I'm sharing some of my favorites from the machine quilted, bed size, pieced category. I photographed six quilts in this category, but there were more than 50 entered in this category. One of the quilts I photographed was the first-place winner in the category, but there are amazing things to notice in each and every one. It's interesting for me, because I usually piece my javascript:void(0)quilts and machine quilt, one way or another. But I don't feel as though I've ever made a quilt up to the standard of these beauties. So let's get on with it.

Caveat: As previously, please forgive my sometimes-color-challenged images. And I didn't always get all the shots I wish I had now. Also, if you want to see a larger image, click the merged image and it should open in a new window.

The first place winner in the category is Which Way is West by Janell Dahms of Cannon Falls, Minnesota. As with other quilts, I focused a lot on the quilting, as you can see from the second image. It was a stunning quilt--I'm always amazed at quilters who can design this way.

Related Links:
5th installment
4th installment
3rd installment
2nd installment
1st installment

A weekend at home with no plans--heaven! But I should get started on doing the things I hope to get done. First on the agenda, a walk to get the blood pumping. Next, cleaning the house. Then I get to tackle the table full of paper-stuff that I have torn from magazines and printed from the web, in addition to ideas and notes and sketches. I have binders--just need to look it over and figure out what the best way to organize is! Meanwhile, there are blogs to visit. 

Aileen's Musings
There is less then 14 days until the Ties That Bind Art Doll Raffle is done. Stop by and read how you can help us spread the word!

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy shows off the preemie baby blanket she started not that long ago. If you are looking for a super easy crochet project, this is a good place to start.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Go Team! Make some sports-themed gifts or decorations using the free Sports Motifs Pattern Collection. Your fans will think you are "Number One"!

About Family Crafts
If you are trying to find creative costume ideas for couples or groups of peoples, check out the lists I have compiled with the help of visitors like you.

Naughty Secretary Club
If it will sit still long enough Jen will find a way to make it into jewelry, even iron-on T-shirt transfers are not safe.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi shares her finished quilt...and swears she is ready to start the next one!

Cathie Filian
Dry hands and feet season is just around the corner...Time to whip up some handmade lotion bars. Cathie has a yummy DIY recipe!
 
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside's got a chance to win a copy of Nature Inspired along with some original artwork by the author Tracie Lyn Huskamp, a fun Halloween ghost decoration delivered to you by Fedex, creatively photographing your shadow and a sneak peek into the soon to be released 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse.

The Impatient Crafter
Madge talks about crafting a life of joy, which is a crafting of a sort indeed. The best sort.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to make a patch with a rubber stamp project inspired by the Super fun book- Bend The Rules With Fabric by Amy Karol

The Artful Crafter
If this isn't a green craft, we don't know what is! Let Eileen show you how to make desktop organizers from junk mail. Saving the planet - one catalog at a time.

At the Wisconsin Quilt Expo in Madison, they do allow photography of the exhibition contest entries. I took some photos last year, but now that I have my quilting machine, I look at quilts a little different, as you'll see from the photos over the next few days of blog posts. Here's my caveat on the photos. If I shot several images of the same quilt, I merged them together in one image. However, there are some shots of the backs of the quilts and the lighting causes colors to shift, so believe me when I say the grouped images are of the same projects. So, if an image doesn't seem to fit with the front, it's probably a shot of the back. I photograph the backs (with the white-gloved ladies turning it back of course) because sometimes the quilting stitches show up better back there. And no offense to any of the other entries, but I shot only the quilts I wanted records of, so if I left you out, please don't be offended. I loved all of the quilts, but as any quilter knows, some quilts just speak to you. And to view an image larger, just click on it and it should open in a new window and be larger than in the post.

Okay, on to the quilts. Today's installments are from the following categories:
1. hand-quilted, bed-size, applique;
2. hand-quilted, bed-size, any other type; and
3. Wall quilts, machine- and/or hand-quilted, pieced.
In the days to come, I'll include some photos from other categories.

First, hand-quilted, bed-size, applique. This quilt, called Icing on the Cake is from Linda Roy from Knoxville, TN. It won first place in the category. The embroidery is amazing. The flower appliques are dimensional. The applique bias strips are striped, which you may be able to see in one of the close-up pictures. As you can see, there's embroidery along the edges of the bias strips. And on top of it all, it's hand quilted! This quilt's been in many contests, as I found when I googled it. But I didn't find a website for the designer--sorry about that--so if you know of one, please post it in the comments.

Second, hand-quilted, bed-size, any other type. This quilt, called Floating Flowers, is by Jean Clark of Mount Horab, Wisconsin. Applique and piecing combine in this quilt and the cotton-candy colors seem very fresh to me. And again, look at the close-up of the hand-quilting in each block.

Related Links:
5th installment
4th installment
3rd installment
2nd installment
1st installment

I didn't go crazy shopping for quilt fabric, oddly enough, given the large amount of it that was available. However, I did find a few things, some of which were on my "I should pick that up next time I see it" list. One stop was Vogie's. I'd visited their booth last year before I got the quilting machine, and they had African sun-printed batik fabric both by the yard and as large pieces. I didn't buy it last year, but I've been thinking about it ever since. It's great to use for learning to quilt freehand, as there are branches, leaves, etc., to quilt the details in. So I bought two one-yard cuts of two different fabrics and a fat quarter of a batik that called my name.

Second fabric purchase was Graphic Impressions. I have bought fabric there before--I end up finding things at their booth almost every time they're at a show. However, you know I'm a bit addicted to dots, so the top one was a must. And I really liked the black and white, and I've been picking those up for a while now. They had lots more, but I was being very selective after remembering all the fabric I've posted recently.

My third fabric purchase was the largest, and most of them were cuts that were larger than fat quarters. J&A Stitches in Juneau, Wisconsin, doesn't have a store website per se, but they have this site and they sure had some fun fabric. For those of you who've been around for a while, that brown and turquoise floral on the right will look familiar. And as so often happens, I found a few farm prints.

I also picked up a book/pattern called O Holy Night, impressionist stained glass by Brenda Henning. It's lovely and maybe someday I'll make it!

But best of all, I was able to track down Texture Magic at Superior Threads' booth. I saw this online last week and immediately decided that I wanted to play with it. Here's the way it works: It's a thin polyester fabric--you mark your pattern on it and pin it to the wrong side of the fabric, adding batting between the layers for additional loft if desired. Then you sew along the marked lines--the closer you sew, the more textured the fabric will become. After it's all sewn, you steam it--the Texture Magic shrinks--up to 30% of its original size, leaving the fabric textured. I saw pictures of it on velvet and I've seen it in person on cotton. I can't wait to start playing around with it. As always, I'll post photos when I do.

So that was my adventure at the Quilt Expo in Madison. It was well worth taking the afternoon off.

To see the quilts that I photographed and read more about them, see the related links below.

Related Links:
5th installment
4th installment
3rd installment
2nd installment
1st installment

Okay, so maybe the red isn't so subtle, but the others are. This lovely mix of fabrics won't go together in a quilt, or at least that's not currently the plan, but they all have something in common. They were all on mini-bolts and on sale at Material Matters and they are all now part of my stash (joining several others purchased at this store in March). Loved the very soft aqua teal at the bottom and the patterning in the two brownish greens is great. The red pattern is very subtle and will work for a lot of things, I'm sure. I always love stopping into this store in Cedarburg--not only is it a lovely town to wander in, but it's the shop where I bought the quilting machine.