post-retreat update

Just got back from a small quilting retreat.  7 of us in a lovely house in Wimberly, TX.  So much fun and so many projects!

I made this graffiti quilt for Melanie for her birthday.  These are fun to do!

I used variegated thread and a double batt of wool and cotton.

Sideways view of the cat portrait that I am working on.  This is my daughter's cat, Cosmo.  This piece is about 25 inches square.  I wanted to try a snippet technique similar to Danny Amazonas.

Here is the original photo of Cosmo.  I'm not sure why that other photo turned sideways, but I will put more photos on it when I finish it, maybe they will be right side up :)

  How about a fun portrait quilt called "Generations". It's made from the new book by Flora Joy, Trispective.  It was a little tricky to do, but it worked and her book is full of very good information!

So my portrait is in the middle, you can see it when looking straight at the quilt.  When you are on the left side you see my Mom, and when you look at it from the right, you see my daughter.

The trispective quilt had a some time-consuming photoshop work, then I sent it to spoonflower to print.  Then a lot of folding and tucking ensued.  But I love how it turned out.

This is a 14 inch block, paper-pieced, for our guild raffle quilt.  This took me a day and a half to make.  Whew!  That's precious retreat time.  But it turned out pretty.  

I got lots of inspiration from my friends at the retreat.  I was inspired to do better work, like taking the time to hand applique my Jinny Beyer Craftsy flower blocks.  Also, to be more precise while piecing - honestly some people are so picky!!  I was also inspired to do more projects for others.  I did make two more dog beds out of scraps though...  those go to the Humane Society.  

The way to stay inspired and motivated is by doing what you like, doing what you love.

Raphael Saadiq

Hope to get back to you sooner than later, Karen

fox in the hen house

This is how the fox turned out after quilting:

below is the back of the quilt, you can faintly see the outlines of the fox on that busy fabric!

His outer border is the henhouse - see the chicken wire quilting?  

For a before photo, see my last post.  This is a quilt made by my friend Carol, with a kit from Keepsake Quilting.  The pieces were already fused and cut when she bought them.  The fusible web was so stiff and thick, I don't know how they expect someone to quilt that.  Yes, I did it, but with many thread breaks, lots of cursing, and trial and error.  I ended up using a microtex needle and invisafil threads, although I did use some Wonderfil variegateds also.  The problem with the microtex needle is that my needle threader can't get into that little hole.  And with all the breakage, I had to hand thread the sewing machine needle many, many times.  I had to use the microtex needle to avoid those giant holes in the fusible web.  But, it is all finished now.  Hope you like it, karen.

pillow and more

Hi, I just got home from a busy few days in lovely Beaumont, TX where the guild there treated me to their southern hospitality and cajun cuisine.  We had a lot of fun learning free motion quilting on a domestic machine.  The ladies were very skilled and they had lots of great tips for me.

Here I am demoing how to quilt a large quilt on my small machine, and I'm doing the hardest part - the middle 4 blocks.

If you want to learn this here in San Antonio, I will be teaching a beginner Free Motion Quilting Class at Memories By the Yard on February 5th: Memories by the yard newsletter  see page 9.

I made this pillow last week, it was a kit that I bought at our quilt show in September.  It was a fun little project.

And I started a new quilting project for a friend - just because I wanted to:  

Carol made this from a pre-fused kit that you may have seen in catalogs.  It's beautiful, BUT, the fusible web is so stiff that my threads are breaking very often and I am finding it very difficult to quilt!  I don't know how these companies expect us to quilt these projects???  Not only is the one layer stiff, but in some places there are several layers of this stiff stuff.  I am determined to do this for Carol, and I will put on my big girl panties and be patient, and just keep rethreading and plugging along.  

This is one reason I loooooove Misty Fuse.  But heck, I have quilted through 5 layers of steam a Seam II and the lite version also.  It doesn't have to be so hard...  

One of the ladies from Beaumont , Anne, is the inventor of these tools: strip stick  Check it out, they are so simple and yet so genius.  You have to try these!   

slow start to the new year

I am going slow this month.  too many projects that are overwhelming me!  Slowly working on this DWR quilt.

I thought I would do something like this...  but it just wasn't right.

so I tried another design, and fell back on my old standby - feathers and curved cross-hatching.  I just love that look.  So I ripped the first design and now I'm slowly working on this 100+ inch beauty.  

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.  ~Edmund Hillary

I better get to conquering myself, Karen

how to fix free motion blahs

I am doing some intense quilting on a quilt with busy fabrics... first of all, what a waste of time!  Why don't I just do something simple since nothing shows up on this fabric anyway.  But it's for a friend, and she wanted something wowie on her top.  She did give me carte blanche with this (you're going to wonder about that soon!)

so here is part of the quilt.  All that work and it's just blah....  So what to do?  

What if I put in a tight tight scribble fill around  those star points instead of a looser fill.  It really popped that star after I filled it in.  of course, it took a while...

And whoops, I did a ton of "Nemeshing" around this flower.  Can't see it?  neither can I!  I could see it fine while I was quilting it and looking closely.  Oh will I never learn??  So what to do?

How about a little tsukineko paint dabbed onto the feathers with a fantastik?  I think it worked perfectly.  But you see why I needed to have carte blanche - to do whatever I wanted.  Can you believe I painted on a friend's quilt?  Me neither?  It had to be done though :)

In my defense, this was a quilt top that she had for many years and never got around to quilting it herself.  She said to "work my magic" on it.  Hope she doesn't regret that!

I have a finish too!  

This is a dupioni silk quilt top that my friend had embroidered.  It too, sat around in a closet for years.  I am going to surprise her with this finished quilt at our Christmas party.  (It may not be a surprise if she sees this...)  

FYI, I quilted in the red with a pink metallic thread.  It quilted beautifully one day, but the next day it tangled and broke and snarled, arggg!  I changed needles, even tried a different sewing machine, fiddled around forever to no avail.  Then I looked out the window and realized that the weather had changed dramatically.  A front came in and I had the heater on, when the day before we actually had the AC on.  So I got out my Sewer's Aid silicone lubricant and smeared it on the thread spool.  Wow, I finished the quilting without anymore trouble.  I bet I will remember that trick next time, I hope you will too!  Later, Karen

 "Keep your sense of humor, my friend; if you don't have a sense of humor it just isn't funny anymore." - Wavy Gravy

Thanksgiving blessings

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am taking a break.... turkey is in the oven and the other dishes are ready to go in when the turkey is done.  Pies are all waiting to be eaten, we have as many pies as we do people at this feast!!  Yum...  

I wanted to share my small town fame.  14 of my quilts are hanging in the hallways at the San Marcos, TX Chamber of Commerce for a few weeks.  Here is the newspaper article:

So if you're in the lovely town of San Marcos this month (maybe hitting the outlet malls), maybe you will get a chance to come see these.  

Have a lovely day, Karen

Christina finished!

This quilt is from a photo that has been in my family for years - since 1917 actually.  This is my grandmother Christina Joly Comiskey when she was 16.  I finished it (well mostly, there's a little more quilting to do) last night.  It debuted at my guild meeting this morning and was well-received.  Thanks ladies...

I am going to call it "Christina".  It is very closely quilted around the face, body and even the wood on the furniture.  I used gray organza to make the mirror shimmer.  I cut out pieces of organza to fit in the mirror frames and stitched them down.  This piece also has a light brown tulle overlay on the whole piece (inside the frame).  

Looking at this photo, I can see a bit of her reflected hair that could use a little more quilting, sigh.  I quilted this on my little bernina 153, no regulator.  Wanna see my setup?

The machine is inset in a gidget table (very stable yet portable table) and surrounded by conference tables.  If I shut that closet door, I can quilt even bigger quilts without it falling off the table.  This little sewing machine is THE BOMB.  Mix and match threads and it just keeps on sewing with perfect stitches.  

I do have a few little tips.  I use a single hole stitch plate and a Little Genie Bobbin washer - no mess on the back or backlashing or thread vomit (Hollis Chatelain's term for the mess on the back).  

16 or so of  my quilts are going to be featured at the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce from Nov. 17, 2015 until January 20th, 2016.  Stop by and see them if you are in the area.  I will post photos when I go to hang them on Monday.  

Next project?  nancy's huge metro wedding ring....  Gotta get on this one, may take a while.  

Isn't it beautiful?  96 x 104", aye yi yi!  

Happy quilting ya'll, Karen