Progress on the Batik Spice Market

I mentioned earlier that I'm doing a commissioned quilt for a woman named Kristen in Seattle.

The pattern is called Spice Market and the whole thing is going to be done in some really spectacular batiks that she carefully chose at the local quilt shop.

I've only made a few really large quilts - less than a dozen, and never in Batiks!

I finished cutting out the fabric and I started on the sewing when I discovered that the half-square triangles, of which there are MANY, are a very odd size. I don't know why I didn't thoroughly read the pattern before I committed to a time frame.

So here I am marking each and every HST by hand before I am able to stitch it. Wow, that's time consuming.

I originally promised this quilt by the end of the summer, but it's been rather slow going so now I'm looking at something closer to the end of September.

Fortunately, Kristen was very understanding about the situation.

Of course my son reminded me this weekend that I promised to make him a Robot quilt for his new Big Boy bed ~ leave it to the kids to NEVER ever forget.

Cheers,

Dionne

Sisters Quilt Show - Part Two

Here is the Lap Quilt Swap IV that I made as part of the Lap Quilt Swap. You can't see it on this picture, but all the participants were listed on this tag, and on the label sewn into the back:

Here is the front of this spectacular quilt. It was such a great swap! I was really pleased with the results. I'll have to get a better picture to highlight all the blocks. I try to do that next week.

Blocks for this quilt were made by me, by QuiltDad, Quilty the Libster, Stitchalicious, Rita, Whoopdedoo, Oh That Ashley, AudreyPawdrey, and several others that don't have blogs.

There was a fabulous display of 'postcard' sized quilts that were on silent auction.

I can't remember what it was a fundraiser for, but there were several that were spectacular.

I bid on several but won none. They were all wonderfully matted and framed.

There was also a block competition.

Anyone interested is eligible to participate. This year the parameters were to use only solid colors.

There were probably forty or more entries.

This adorable giraffe baby quilt was one of the ones for sale.

This vintage quilt was also for sale ~ its the same one I posted yesterday, but I promised I would post a close up of the fabrics.

I think all of the squares measure 1 inch or maybe 1.5 inches.

Cheers,

Dionne

Sisters Quilt Show

The quilt show was about 100 degrees and boiling hot. But we had a fantastic time. Here are a few pictures of the show:

This is the only Cathedral Window quilt I saw at the show. One day I'm going to make one of these:

I've seen pictures of car covers on the web before, but it's pretty spectacular to see these cars in person!

Here's another one:

This full size swan Bargello was embellished with real feathers.

There was a kids section with several very expensive sewing machines where kids could sew their own quilt blocks or little projects ~ such as a glasses case or coasters.

The younger kids were able to design their own blocks, but had help with the sewing:

There was a whole section devoted to the 'Next Generation' of quilters. Here one of my girls stands next to the very first quilt she has ever made.

Here is my other daughter's quilt:

This quilt was entirely pieced. The swirly bits are actually some very creative quilting!

Here I am with one of the quilts I had hanging in the show. This quilt almost didn't happen so many times, the further along I got the less I liked the fabrics. Fortunately my daughter LOVES this quilt, so I told her when she gets a Queen size bed, she can have it. It might be a while, I hope she still likes then.

I was surprised to see many antique quilts as well. I don't remember seeing any antiques last year, and even more surprised that the owners didn't mind these quilts hanging in the brutal sun all day long! The yellow tag means it's for sale, maybe that's why the owner didn't mind. Not many quilts sold this year. Ann, the show director, told me this year they had an extremely high turn out, but it was the lowest show on record for quilt sales.

This dragon was made entirely with squares and half-square triangles.
I have a ton more pictures, but only so much space on the blog. If you've never been to Sisters and have the chance, I highly recommend it! This year the featured presentation was the Gees Bend Quilts and Quilters, but it sold out so quickly that I wasn't able to take the class or go to the lecture.

Gwen Marston and Freddie were there as well and OF COURSE, those classes filled up super quickly as well. They hosted a lecture/picnic, but I couldn't go because it conflicted with some of our family time.

I was REALLY happy with the class I took with Karla Alexander, so I don't feel too bad about missing some of the other classes.

Cheers,

Dionne

Karla Alexander: Trunk Show

During the Red Onion Class, Karla Alexander gave us a mini - trunk show. Her work is beautiful and I wish I would have taken a picture of every quilt she showed us.

This first quilt is a variation of the quilt we worked on in class. It also hung in the show.

Below is the variation we worked from, they don't look like the same quilt do they?

Most of the rest of these were from her book Stack a New Deck: More Great Quilts in 4 Easy Steps

I like this one, it's done in black and white and greens. Do you see the little lady bugs?

Cheers,

Dionne

Red Onion Class with Karla Alexander

I'm back from my trip to Sisters, Oregon.

It was a marvelous family vacation actually, we stayed at a golf resort in a nearby town and there was plenty to do for my husband, my teenage daughter as well as for my younger children. And of course, I was in hog heaven!

On Monday I had the only class I took during the week. It was with Karla Alexander. Although she has written many wonderful books, the one that we worked from was Stack a New Deck: More Great Quilts in 4 Easy Steps

Her example was done in Batiks of deep purples, taupes and light greens. My photograph really doesn't do this quilt justice at all!

Karla had so many helpful examples and handouts, that this class turned out to be one of my most successful classes ever! I was really excited about all the great tips and tricks I learned in addition to the actual technique she was teaching.

Not only that, she was a real

interactive teacher. She even took her shoes off and got on the floor with one attendees blocks and really worked one on one with us! It was a brilliant class.

I also wanted to give you a little taste of how different all our work was.

Everyone in the class chose to work with batiks, but I think this quilt would look just as nice in a variety of different fabrics.

I chose all teals and chocolate browns. I was the only one of all the students who worked in a light/dark pattern, similair to the way the example quilt was designed. My

squares are in the first photo of the student work, lower left corner. I only have five squares up at this point. I later took all my squares off the design wall to give other students more space. I knew I wouldn't be finishing my top that day.

Cheers,

Dionne

PS - Kristen you'll have to wait for your pics!

Yes, still more Pre-school Quilts!

It seems there is no end to these little guys! But I assure you I am almost at the end.

I love how unique all of them are. Also, I find the kids fabric choices facinating! Even the boys picked some interesting fabrics.

My next post will be in a few days after I return from SISTERS OUTDOOR QUILT SHOW!

Yahoo!

Cheers,

Dionne

Antwerp Train Station

I saw this online, I don't know how they managed it, but it's pretty amazing.

When I stayed in Antwerp ~ a beautiful town in Belgium, I can assure you there was no singing and dancing!







I spent a great deal of time in Antwerp some time ago and this is a really busy train terminal ~ I can't imagine how they pulled this off!

Cheers,

Dionne

Spice Market Batik Quilt

I started a quilt that I am making for a woman I work with.

The colors she chose are beautiful batiks. The Spice Market pattern uses thirteen fabric choices all in a very distinct placement, so this isn't going to be a quick chain sew quilt!

But the result will be stunning. I've actually already started to cut the fabrics, but I haven't had a chance to take the picture yet!

Cheers,

Dionne

One Quarter of the Way Done?

Here are the latest blocks on the ATWQS quilts I'm working on.

The first one has a bunch of "state" blocks, done in several locally inspired fabrics.

I did one of the trees in a fabric that has Washington postcards in greens and blues against an apple tree background. Then I bordered it with fabric from last years Western Washington Shop Hop. It has subtle images ~ the state bird, the state flower, year we were granted statehood etc.

I think these blocks look nice together. The overall quilt will have a nice eclectic look to it!

The next block is a 'liberated cottage' in the style of Gwen Marsten. I like this house on a hill, with flowers in the garden and butterflies in the sky.

Don't you think the neighborhood is coming along nicely?

It looks like my house on the hill block is WAY too big, but really it's not. I had to make it a little larger to get the effect of the hill and then chose not to trim it!

Cheers,

Dionne