Season's Greetings

This humble little tree is lighting our home with birds, nests, and crystal, tempting Oliver and bringing Christmas joy and peace.  It has been put away for several years, but Oliver is now mature and only gently touches the crystal ornaments and watches them move and reflect the lights, and he doesn't seem to notice the birds perched here and there or some of the fallen nests from storms brought in to save and treasure.  Perhaps if the birds actually moved he would start stalking them!

We've had snow, mountains of it, and frigid temps, but are happy to be snug and warm inside.  I've been cleaning, decorating, and baking just a few big yummy oatmeal cookies.  I have long since stopped doing anything fancy, and keep it simple and delicious.  

Below is another look at my Delectable Mountains wall quilt, showing some of the quilting and the richness of the colors.  I like the heavy old rose sateen as a background color, but the fabric weight was a bit much for the lightweight piecing fabrics.  The large triangles are a rich mud color hand dyed sateen so there was quite a bit of weight in the piecing junctions. 

I quilted the backgrounds with gold silk thread (not metallic) and that added an overlay of rich color to offset the cool rose in the fabric.....I like it!  I did do a sample with matching rose thread and it sort of died and looked flat and lifeless.  There is nothing, repeat, nothing like quilting a sample with your choices before beginning on the actual quilt.  It has saved me from making major mistakes so many times.

Oliver is helping me with all this exciting activity, and his favorite new thing is my lovely Polar Bear snow globe, a mother and two cubs.  

I've always loved snow globes but never found one that was just right.  This one jumped into my line of sight recently while I was shopping for something entirely different (probably something way too practical to recall), and it enchanted me.  I didn't realize until I had it a few days and tipped it over to read about it that it had a key on the bottom, which I turned and now can hear Silent Night tinkling away as the bears sit in a whirlwind of snow. 

At first Oliver watched the bears, then checked out the snow when I shook it, and finally the music, and now simply sits and watches, enjoying it.  He is a gentleman of a cat.

Thank you all so very much for the incredible comments on my last post; they warm my heart and make me realize anew how special an experience I had as a quilt teacher.  

May your holidays be happy and bright, the New Year everything you wish it to be.  Peace,

Diane

Unpacking

Sometimes it is more work to “unpack” from a trip than it is to pack. For some mysterious reason I always bring home more, even though I distribute the handouts, eat the food taken with me, sell the thread. My quilts “fluff” after being out and about in the classroom and take up more room, I buy a few things here and there, and clothes that have been worn and just tossed in the suitcase definitely take up more room.

Plus, the anticipation of the trip makes packing so much more fun than unpacking and getting back to the normal routine of everyday life at home. It is raining hard here in Wisconsin and we really need it for the parched lawns, gardens, farms. Good weather for "unpacking."

The laundry is in the washer, stencils back in the drawer, quilts out flat on my cutting table to relax and de-crease after being smooshed in the suitcase in hot, humid weather. I tacked the notes I made to myself on the wall, and now just have a bit of bookkeeping to do, then relax, quilt until it is time to get ready for the next trip.

I had a wonderful time with 39 students in two sessions at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY last week, and I too learned new things. Ideas, techniques, all were shared, and of course the quilts in the museum continually inspire and delight. It was a pleasure to visit two of my quilts on display and recall all that went into them and see them with a fresh perspective of time and distance.

The photo, below, shows some of my quilting on a small muslin sample. The circles, or “froth,” the bubbles on top of a hot latte, an heirloom variation of rocks or pebbles, are about 1/8” across.

When quilting them you need to slow down a bit, be sure the stitches don’t get too large or you’ll get rolling hexagons, adjust the top tension maybe a bit lower so the thread doesn’t pull as you do tiny designs. I used yellow thread on muslin and the effect is a subtle colorwash of color that blends and enriches.

Most of us in both classes found that quilting small circles like this is better done in small amounts at a sitting, short sessions at the machine. Be sure and take frequent breaks, look up, blink, rest your eyes. I use a magnifier on my Bernina whenever doing this sort of quilting design and it helps tremendously.

I do still take plenty of breaks though, and no one could pay me enough to quilt an entire background of tiny circles. I use them here and there, like a dash of seasoning in my quilt.

We discovered that #100 silk thread has this colorwash effect. Quilted heavily over a fabric color in a non-matching but blending shade it adds to the richness of the quilt without screaming “Thread!” or looking too contrasty. Thread is another tool we machine quilters can use to define our designs, control color, and let negative space show better.

Stitch length, color of thread, and machine tension are the three defining things that make or break the quilting.

Play around with some quilting and try a slightly “off” color of thread instead of matching it to the fabric, or contrasting it. Chartreuse silk thread on gold fabric, oh my, wonderful. How did I not know this twenty years ago?

Keep quilting, your work indeed will get better!

Diane