Labels

I've undertaken a project to get labels on all my quilts. I've been putting it off because I hadn't settled on a labeling strategy. I have no interest in using a permanent marker on my quilts -- it just wouldn't feel right to me. I've seen a few stamping solutions that seem elegant and workable, and I may end up going that way one day.

But for now I've decided to bite the bullet and embroider the labels. I've been very satisfied with the several embroidered labels I've made before. I'm sending the Green Stag quilt to hang at the Pacific International Quilt Festival later this month, so I figured it was high time to get on top of the label backlog. Now it just needs a sleeve and it will be ready to go.

Next up was the geometric Green Windows baby quilt I mad in the spring.

Then the Shazam lightening zig-zag quilt that's finally ready to send off to the BASICS quilt gather.

Next my Modern Quilt Guild Habitat challenge entry, now titled In One Way.

And Finally a little Halloween quilt I made in my stencil quilt class. Can you tell it's spooky?

But wait ,there's more. I realize I haven't done a proper post on my finished Ripple quilt. I promise I'll get to that soon. For now here's a shot of the label I stitched into the backing just before I quilted this corner of the blanket. Then I centered one of the drops around the label.

As for the sewn-on labels, you might have guessed that I love that blanket stitch around the edges. I wish I had figured out how to get a clean stitch at the corners of the rectangles before the very last stinking corner. You can see how the part of the stitch that's supposed to sit along the side of the label pulls up over the edges at many or the corners.

The solution I came up with was to have a small diagonal stitch in the corner (so if the blanket stitches are 1/8", the diagonal stitch comes into the label only 1/16"), turn the corner, then take a small backstitch in the backing material, catching only 2 or 3 threads. Now proceed along the new side. I'm sure many of you more experienced stitchers have already solved this problem, perhaps in more elegant ways.

Watch out for Lauren

And yes, I'm addressing her small children. Check out the amazing work she did in my stencil quilt class. Hardcore!

Desert outing

Malcolm, Hamish & I were lucky enough to spend a few days in the Utah canyon lands last week. H was there on business, and the kid and I tagged along. We stayed at a small hotel close to the Glen Canyon Dam, and a stone's throw from the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Staircase National Monument.

The single story buildings were modern and spare, with tall, thick concrete walls enclosing guest rooms, defining paths and courtyards, and protecting from the desert sun. In a cooler climate the walls would have been oppressive, but here they were comforting and protective.

The architects did a wonderful job of framing views -- sometimes slivers between walls, and sometimes framed panoramas. For the record, I love a framed view. The aesthetic of a glass house is very appealing, but I don't really want to live inside it. Buildings need windows in solid walls just like magazines need editors. Too much view is simply overwhelming.

Here are some photos of our memorable outing.

Stencil quilt class

I had such a great time teaching my first quilting class the past two Sundays at New Pieces. All eight students made whole-cloth quilts using the stencil designs I brought into class. I wrote about my ginkgo leaf class sample a couple months ago.

I brought in five designs: the ginkgo leaf, a rose, a butterfly, a dragonfly, and a tarantula. I chose the tarantula for a spooky Halloween project. We spent the first two hour session talking about color and contrast, fabric selection, transferring designs to fabric, and then beginning to sew. (Susi blogged about the first session at Just Crafty Enough.) We all worked together to solve some unforeseen challenges transferring the designs to fabric. We all agreed that next time I should plan more time for this step.

Jane picked the most beautiful fabrics for her ginkgo quilt.

The second session we finished sewing the designs, cutting the stencil away, and basting the quilt sandwiches. Everyone was well on their way to completing the project. I can't wait to see the finished quilts.

Jaime used a dark background for her rose.

The photo is a little dark, but Nancy's dragonfly is going to be amazing! Can't wait to see Susi's and Jane's ginkgos, Jaime's and Angela's Roses, Nancy's dragonfly, Amanda's and Claudia's butterflies, and Lauren's rock 'n roll tarantula.

I've created a Flickr group for students and blog readers to post photos of work from class or Piece and press tutorials. I'd love to see your stuff there! http://www.flickr.com/groups/pieceandpress

And finially, I've scheduled a repeat class Sunday December 4 & 11 at New Pieces. I believe four of the eight slots are already taken, so sign up soon if you'd like to take the class!

Pear blossoms

Thomas Knauer sent me a little bit of his upcoming fabric line for Andover, Pear Tree, to see what I would make with it.

I've been working with a bunch of medallion designs, and I thought all the curvy egg shapes in Pear Tree would really shine with some curved piecing.

This is also my first attempt at quilt as you go (QAYG), where you quilt your blocks and then join them later. Granted I haven't joined any blocks yet, but still I'm wondering why I haven't done this before. You have so much more control working with small pieces. For the echo quilting in the medallion, I turned the block round and round. It was such a breeze compared to the circle quilting on the Ripple quilt.

I'm making four medallions, each set it Kona Bone, with window pane sashing to match the prints. I'm leaning toward a dusty pink for the sashing, but I might go blue or green.

The second medallion is pieced (I actually did the pink one first), and ready for the QAYG treatment. There are some piecing photos after the fold.

Miscellany

The Bumble Beans Basics Miscellany challenge blocks are due tomorrow, so I thought I'd go ahead and post my entry. Twelve challengers were given 8 letter sized cuts of Julia Rothman's Miscellany collection from Cloud 9 Fabrics to design and create a unique block.

After seeing Beth's posts about her card trick blocks, I've decided to call my design "coin trick." My design features 4 overlapping circles instead of squares.

Between my practice block (with fishbones) and my entry block (with candy trees), I used all 8 Miscellany prints.

I pieced the blocks on the machine in four sections. Each section had a circle and two of the border strips to make a complete edge. I pieced the sections in pairs, then combined the two halves to finish the block. All the seams are curved, but there are no y-seams. The photo above shows the final seam pinned and ready to sew.

I think these two blocks would work great together in a larger quilt. I wanted to use all the prints in the challenge block, but the circles would pop more if the  borders were a light solid or a small dot.

I played around with some mock-ups this morning.

Without sashing I like how the edge pieces come together in the block corners to form crosses.

With the addition of gray sashing the blocks appear to have more depth.

But I think this block really shines on point. The tension between the diagonal force of the sashing and the vertical repeat of the coins creates a sense of movement and energy.

King me

The Checkers quilt is done, and I'm surprised how much I love it. If only I could figure out how to photograph large quilts (twin size, this time). Sure, ironing would go a long way.

But still, this photo is with 6'-4" me, standing on a curb, tippy-toes. And the binding is still dragging. My binding does not drag!

The background fabrics are Kona Snow and Kaufman Carolina Chambray in natural. The squares are Merimekko print solids.

I've posted about the quilting before. I could not be happier with how it turned out. Such rich texture and the hand-feel is fantastic.

Here's the checkerboard.

The back has a strip of pumpkin pie. The background is Kaufman chambray, the light orange is a Kaufman solid, and the dark a Merimekko print.

Oy, I should have ironed.

I'm so happy with the texture and color in the detail shots -- I was worried the iron would ruin it. I love these detail shots in evening light, but the whole-quilt shots are garbage. And I don't have a studio bed to take pictures on.

What is your photography strategy?