I have to do this, but I’d really rather be doing that!

As I mentioned, I went to Quilt Market in Houston last month. This is the trade show where shop owners go to see what is new and trending in the quilt industry.  This is where they find just what YOU will want as you visit their shops!

Well, I found plenty to bring home myself. I got so many ideas and so inspired!  Now I am stuck.  I really WANT to do some of the projects I brought home, but I have so many I NEED to get done before that I am frozen.  My studio is such a mess that I can’t really find anything.  I have several quilts that a finished but for the binding and several more that need labels.  I have several deadlines looming. Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, so there are menus to prepare and gifts to decide on (let alone shop for).  Where to start?! 

How do you manage your time? Do you make lists?  Do you set “hours” for specific activities?  

Yeah, I guess I really should go try to make sense of the studio so I can then make a list and prioritize and get the calendar out and make a schedule.  When you’re right…you’re right.  

Thanks for listening (reading).

Sometimes You Never Know!

A week ago I was at International Quilt Market in Houston, TX.  For those of you who don't know, Market is THE trade show where quilt shop owners, teachers, designers come to find out what is new in fabric, notions, patterns and anything else you can think of that is related to the business of quilt making.  It is an exciting place!  I love to go to Market to see what is new, meet up with other quilt professionals and shop what might be interesting to my students for future workshops.  It is there where creative juices can get flowing.  A week ago, my quilt world might have just shifted.  I'll keep you up to date as I progress.  This is what I wrote to share with you last Monday, the last day of Market:

You know?  Some day you're perking right along, feeling fine about decisions you have made and someone says to you, "No, you're selling yourself short and you should ... instead" and a light suddenly goes on and you SEE a different path that totally wakes you up to a new journey?  Yeah, that happened to me today!

So, stick with me and let's take this journey together!  I can't wait!  2020 is going to be very different from 2019!

Out damned spot! Out I say!

I had an interesting experience with a Frixion Pen that you might find helpful. 

I know that it is advised that we just don’t know what the pen will do to fabric in the next 100 years since it was never developed with archival properties on fabric in mind.  And while we don’t know what will happen in the next 100 years, there are some things we do know now.

We know that friction will remove the marks (friction causes heat and it is the heat that removed the mark) but that extreme cold will bring it back.  So we now know NOT to mark a quilt with quilting designs, remove the marks by heat and then send our quilts off to a quilt show to be judged in the dead of winter.  The marks must be washed out to be truly out.

I found out something even more drastic!  I made a small quilt with the plan to send it into a magazine for publication.  As I completed all the appliqué and piecing I contemplated the quilting design.  My quilt top was made with commercial batik fabric from a reputable fabric company, quilt shop quality.  I marked a quilting design in the border of the quilt top but when it was complete I decided I didn’t like the looks of it so I ironed it away.  Only it didn’t go away!  Where the markings had been there was now no color.  The chemicals in the pen had bleached the dye away from the fabric.  I was left with a faint white “mark” that was now permanent.  (Fortunately for me there was enough random white in the batik that the offending “marks” did not show too badly.)

Alarmed, I decided to see what the Frixion pen would do to hand dyed fabric.  I found the same results on Cherrywood fabric and my own hand dyed fabric.  Then I got to wondering what the Clover White Pen did under the same circumstances.  My mark on the Cherrywood turned from a white mark to a black mark.

I now use both pens to trace my appliqué shapes only.  I really like the fine line both pens produce and I have no problem with marks not disappearing inside the seam allowance.  So I will continue to use the pens freely there.  I don’t know what pen/marker I will settle on for quilting design marking, but before I use anything on my future projects, I will test-test-test…no matter what the fabric.

I Am Determined to Become a Machine Quilter!

As a quilter, one of the best ways to spend a weekend is on a quilting retreat, and did I ever have a terrific weekend recently!  There were seven of us who gathered at The Creative Place retreat center in Spring Hill, KS.  We had plenty of room to sew and a wonderfully quiet room in which to sleep.  We spent all our waking time in a large studio, chatting, sewing and eating, everyone having her own projects and goals.   Some of us arrived bright and early Friday morning while others arrived throughout the day and then we spent our time sewing like madwomen until late Sunday afternoon. What a pleasure to simply concentrate on quilting, having the time to sew without the interruption of laundry, vacuuming, cooking, or dishes.

I will admit to being a frustrated machine quilter.  Well, I can’t even call myself a machine quilter, just frustrated.  I can’t recall how many machine quilting workshops I’ve taken, trying to master this technique, but it has been many.  I feel like I know the mechanics very well and I have even been known to machine quilt a project or two using my BERNINA #50 Walking Foot, but I have never felt like I could call myself a Machine Quilter.

While most quiltmaking techniques and hand appliqué are what I teach, I admit that machine quilting leaves me frustrated. I think I know the mechanics well.  It is the rhythm and artistry that escape me.

Armed with Lori Kennedy’s new book Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3:  61 Designs to Finish Your Quilts With Flair (Martingale), a basket of thread, batting scraps, muslin, and my BERNINA 740 I set out to get a handle on machine quilting and I was hoping to finally begin to master the techniques. My plan was to go through the book and try to stitch each of the designs to gain control of the machine.  The step by step photos and excellent descriptions in Lori’s book guided me through each design. Lori encourages quilters to begin by doodling, by drawing a design over and over on paper to get the feel for it. I must admit to being amazed by how much this step helps.  I drew the design, going over and over it until I was comfortable with it, then off to the machine I went with my quilt sandwich.  Again, using a technique Lori uses, I drew parallel lines on the quilt, giving me a defined space in which to stitch, just as quilt blocks or the space between appliqué motifs might.

I began my endeavors using the BERNINA Stitch Regulator, eventually switching to the #29C Quilting Foot, the transparent sole allowing me to see in all directions.  While the BERNINA Stitch Regulator comes with a clear foot, I thought the smaller #29C might be of benefit while I was learning.

I began by stitching loops and then added more and more and then I shifted to scallops.

At times I seemed to have the control I was seeking, but then it would seem to slip away, showing me that the “Practice, practice, practice!” heard from every machine quilting teacher will indeed make all the difference.  My excellent machine quilting friend (and first teacher) says I have to pay my dues – that’s what the practice is all about.  While I dislike practicing I continued with my exercises:

Lori’s designs taught me how to look at the designs and quilt them, giving me confidence to try the designs in my imagination.  So playing around with those became the next goal.  I thought I might work with a design that I actually want to put in a quilt.  Maybe if I could learn how to stitch that design, I could move on to an actual quilt someday soon.   I began by drawing out my own design and worked on that.  My friend also said I would learn a lot of control if I tried quilting my name.  So I doodled, played with my design, wrote my name and tried embellishing my design.  I have a lot of work to do to get to the point my parallel lines are actually parallel!

So I practiced some more. 

By the time I was finished on the third day, I was finally seeing some progress and realized that, with consistent practice, I might just become a Machine Quilter!  Thank you, Lori!

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I am a national teacher and a BERNINA Ambassador, happy to travel the country, teaching quiltmaking techniques – except for machine quilting! – for quilt guilds, quilt shops and BERNINA dealerships.  You can find out a lot about me on my website at www.kathydelaney.com.

Along with other BERNINA Ambassadors, I am participating in a Blog tour.  You won’t want to miss the blogs offered by the following Ambassadors on the dates noted below.

I hope you’ll leave some comments.  Tell me how YOU learned to machine quilt.  Any advice for me?  Any hints?  I look forward to hearing from you!

Kathy

Blog Schedule:

Monday March 20
Lynn Carson Harris
Kelly Ashton
Diane Doran
Melody Crust

Tuesday March 21
Kathy Delaney
Christa Watson
Mandy Leins

Wednesday March 22
Sandy Fitzpatrick
Beth Ferrier
Cheryl Sleboda

Thursday March 23
Annie Smith
Lori Kennedy
Kari Karr
Catherine Redford

Friday March 24
Joanne Sharpe
Cherry Guidry
Jenelle Montilone

Quiltmaking on the High Seas

Last month I went on a quilting cruise.  “What is that?” you ask.

So there is a cruise ship with several thousand people and mixed in is about 125, give or take, quilters and their traveling companions.  Although, there was at least one quilter who came alone, she was quickly adopted and probably never got a moment to herself until in her stateroom. 

The organizers worked it out with the cruise line that there would be a couple of meeting rooms set aside and dedicated to the quilters the whole cruise.  These rooms were stocked with about 20 sewing machines each that the quilters could visit every evening and just sew to their hearts’ content.  On the days we were at sea, the quilters gathered in the machine rooms and three areas of the large dining room and had machine or hand quilting related classes. ( I got to be one of the teachers, teaching applique and Mariners' Compass!)  On the days the ship was in a port, the quilters joined the rest of the ship’s population and explored or relaxed or went on excursions. 

On a cruise you smile all day long.  This is mostly because you are just plain happy.  But, also, every time you pass a person who is a member of the working staff, they greet you with a huge smile and an extremely pleasant greeting, as if you are one of their very best friends.  And they don’t seem “fake” about it!  By the end of the cruise, you look upon all these people as friends because you’ve forged relationships with various members of the staff.  The stateroom steward seemed to just KNOW when I needed fresh ice.  It always just appeared.  And one of the drinks staff seemed to know my favorite lunch beverage was a Mojito!  With all those people to deal with, I was amazed anyone would remember specific preferences. 

For the whole time I was on the quilting cruise, I was pampered and spoiled.  It is rather hard to come back to reality, actually.  But the new friends I maked and the photos I took has left a lasting memory and I can’t wait until I can go again!

Three months ago I had my knee replaced with a new one.  For a few weeks I couldn't go anywhere, and I really didn't feel like doing much.  Before my surgery I prepared by having basted a quilt top I’d finished ages ago and pulling out two other tops that were in the midst of being hand quilted.  I just knew I was going to get the ones started finished and I could make quite a dent in the third.  I never picked up a needle.  My stitch group came to visit one day and I think I might have gotten an inch quilted.

But there was something I did get accomplished – with a little help from a new friend.  My husband happened upon a woman whose business is to help people who need help to stay in their homes whether for health reasons or age.  She doesn't do medical chores like changing dressings or giving injections, but she helps with household chores such as laundry, dishes and vacuuming and she helps with bathing if needed, meal preparation and such.  My husband thought she was exactly what HE needed while I convalesced.

At first she helped my husband with some housekeeping chores.  Eventually her being there let him get out of the house so he could go grocery shopping or just an hour or so with his buddies over a cigar.  He was afraid to leave me alone as I was having some hallucinations with my medication and he was afraid I might fall.  Eventually he had a great idea.  Why not have her help me clean up my disaster of a sewing room?

So, eventually we headed down to my studio where I sat in my BERNINA sewing chair (I call it my   throne) and Cindy got to work.  We went through everything.  UFO’s were scrutinized.  Would I really finish it?  If not, all the supplies were put together for the project, packaged and put in a special tote for distribution to the “share” table at my guild along with fabric I would probably never use again.  Other notions or patterns and fabric were placed in another tote for distribution whenever I needed a door prize.  A lot more was just simply discarded.

Eventually my room took on organization and space.  And now, to begin a new year, I have a clean and well organized sewing studio!  I wonder how long it will last…

Throwback Thursday Throws Me Back to Germany

So, I've noticing the Throwback Thursday fun.  It made me think of my teaching experience in Germany a few years ago.  I was going to be in Germany to visit my older son and his wife and someone arranged for me to teach a workshop in Saulheim at the Sanger Halle.  Participants included American quilters as well as quilters from France, South Africa, the Netherlands and France. 

The Sanger Halle reminded me of the VFW Halls.  We were in the upper (main) level and it consisted of two rooms; a large room looked like it was for dancing or programs.  The other room seemed to be the bar.  We met in the bar.

The day began with my showing slides of my quilts and that was followed by a lovely soup luncheon with wonderful homemade breads.  The lunch was served by a lovely German couple.  I think she probably did the cooking and he was the person who was in charge of the Sanger Halle. 

The workshop I taught was my “Not Your Grandma’s Appliqué” workshop.  While the participants were from all over, I had no problem communicating with them.  They all understood and spoke English, which was a good thing as I didn’t speak anything but English.  Everyone was very attentive and seemed to be having a wonderful time.

   

Half way through the afternoon, we were served a variety of cakes.  In addition there was wine!  Never had wine served at a workshop before or since.  Getting back to the workshop and my demonstrations, I soon discovered our hostess, after cleaning up the cake treats, had joined us and was looking over my shoulder very attentively – she almost had her chin on my shoulder. 

All of the ladies were so much fun.  Next to seeing my son and his wife and getting the news that I was going to be a new Grandmother, teaching this workshop was the highlight of my trip!

 

This is Marie.  She presented me with the most adorable crocheted holder for my thimble.

This is everyone!  This is in the entry of the Sanger Halle.  Notice the trophy cases.

Hey!  Throwback Thursday IS kinda fun!