Baby Bear Paw ready for adventure

The first Baby Bear Paw quilt is not only peiced, appliqued, quilted, and bound, it has been delivered to its new home in the lobby of Pinecone Playhouse in West Yellowstone, Montana.  The theater lobby is also an art gallery, so it is terrific to see a piece of handwork there.  (It suddenly seems odd to use that term only for needle and thread, yarn and cloth works, since the watercolors and oils are done by hand too. ) My sister Antonia handquilted the Baby Bear.  Yes, My Sisters Quilt.  The capital letters are because I want to do an article or perhaps a book some day with the title My Sister's Quilt. At present the quilters are sisters and sisters-in-law, but neices and granddaughters are coming along quickly. 

One of the things that excites me about the Heritage Quilt Workshop is the opportunity to pass on the skills I've learned both in the family, from friends and teachers, and by trial and error.  One of the questions we've had about the workshop is whether we should insist on Only By Hand as the guiding principle. The Baby Bear Paw is machine pieced, hand appliqued, and hand quilted.  Is there a problem with that?

When I first started attending The Quilt Set meetings, the ladies were rather apalled by my mix of hand and machine work.  They were disciples of Sandi Fox (who did a great deal not only to promote quilting when it seemed to be dying, but also to teach techniques that lead her students and their students to understand the art) and thought I was a little brash to be dabbling in strip pieceing and machine applique. I think theyput up with me because I was willing to thread needles for some of the more mature eyes in the group. 

My answer to the dear women of the original Quilt Set group is the same I offer now:  my great-great grandfather's sister's husband bought one of the first sewing machines to 'cross the plains' for the use of their pioneer household.  My grandmother who was born in 1893 used a machine to piece her quilts, whether made in 1925 or 1975, but they were always hand-quilted. 

I enjoy hand-peicing and applique, and handquilting, but I also enjoy the speed with which I can machine piece and quilt for my rambuntious grandson.  There are occasions for combining machine and hand work, and there is no moral imperative to seek an imagined purity of as-our-grandmothers-did-it.  Whatever degree of space age technology we may use, somewhere on the continuum, there is a place for all of us as quilters

So whether you are a hand-piecer or a machine-piecer, or even a stripper, the finished quilts and a comfortable closet full of projects for next week and the week beyond are valuable, whatever the method of construction.

Hmm.  I wonder if a picture of a planned quilt is an appropriate gift for newlyweds who sent virtual invitations to their wedding festivities. ???


Quote of the week:   "There's perfect, and there's good-enough."  Renae G. Allen (RGA Designs)

Too Many Fish

"Over the Limit:  Too Many Fish" is hand pieced.  The fish are fussy cut batiks.  Each fish block is 4" finished.  At the moment I'm trying to decide how to quilt it.  When is not a question, now!  This is a great project for charm squares, since each "fish" can be cut from a 5" square.

One of the pleasures of patchwork by hand is portability.  I did all the block-to-block sewing on a trip to Montana. 

The next Fish quilt combines applique and piecing, and is currently nameless.  Maybe "School's Out."

Here's the finished Baby Bear Paw.  Finished as in pieced, appliqued, quilted, bound, and washed.  I'm always amazed at the difference the last step makes.  This quilt is 100% batiks, with a bamboo batt.

Antonia did a superb job of quilting, which is most obvious on the back, where her beautiful stitching show very strongly against the dark background.

I had some trouble with bearding, which I started to blame on the batt, but not waxing the thread helped a little, and using Thread Heaven  helped a lot.

Columbine Silhouette

Today I was on a Sunday Drive...and I'm inspired to re-visit my Rocky Mountain Wildflowers blocks.  The Arrowleaf Balsam Root, Lupines, and wild roses are blooming in the foothills of Western Idaho.

 

Happy Quilting!    Marjorie

Huckleberry Babies

Here"s Baby Bear Paw in brighter batiks.  We're beginning to suspect that everything looks better in batik. (Okay, brides excepted.)

Making two quilts by the same pattern is very unusual around here.  There is always a new idea we want to try (or someone in the family getting married) driving the next quilts. Test-driving the Baby Bear Paw instructions helped pinpoint the rough spots, and the  pattern will be available by May 15.

There will definitely be more baby quilts.  They'll have their own sub-title:  Huckleberry Baby Quilts from Victoria Rose. They'll join  the Ruth M Rides Again heirloom quilt patterns, and designs By Marjorie for Victoria Rose.   The next baby quilt will be a Spring Butterfly, also a combination of pieced and applique blocks.

Baby Bear Paw Quilt

The Baby Bear Paw quilt (48" x 48") finally exists as more than a figment of my imagination.  Here is the top, with the borders cropped a bit.  Next up is quilting it, unless I can't wait to piece and applique it in Very Bright.  The heartline is reverse applique and the same fabric as the Bear Paw block center posts. 

Welcome

Victoria Rose Heirloom Clothes is branching out with the addition of Victoria Rose Quilts.  We've been quilting for decades, but only for our own pleasure and amusement.  Now we have an opportunity to share our tips, techniques and original designs through a series of workshops in West Yellowstone, Montana.  Our quilt events will happen May through October at the Western Heritage Arts Center.

Our focus in 2010 will be on teaching hand-work techniques as well as putting a modern spin on traditional designs.  We're all hard at work on projects.  Anna is sewing up the Baby Bears samples for the May workshop.  Marjorie is designing and sewing columbine applique blocks.  And Fred is editing photos of all our inspiration quilts.   We can't wait to get things done so we can share the photos on the blog!