Esther Aliu's Heart's Desire Block of the Month

Esther Aliu has a new Block of the Month applique mystery quilt called  Heart's Desire. Her designs are gorgeous. www.estheraliu.blogspot.com  I'm using a combination of back-basted needle turn applique and reverse applique.  Here are the first two colors basted on the first block.  Marjorie has a different color scheme and applique technique at www.appliqueaddict.blogspot.com.

Sophie's Quilt

Sophie's Wild Rose Baby Quilt:  center

Sophie's quilt is my newest Huckleberry Baby Quilt.  The center is a needle-turn applique five petal Wild Rose.  The surrounding blocks are my Wild Rose blocks, the result of one day saying, "Hmm.  I wonder what happens if Bear Paw blocks are assembled backwards?"

Bear Paw block construction diagrams

 
The white background of the wild rose block doesn't really show the reverse Bear Paw of the layout. The Flying Geese segments are actually pairs of half-square triangles.

Sophie's Wild Rose pieced block

I  had been working on "Buffalo Gals," but when Miss Sophie's mama asked for the wild rose quilt, it seemed like a good idea to make it first. Sophie decided to take her time, and was born today; the center of the quilt is almost done; all of the pieced blocks are pressed and ready for final assembly. I'm aiming for finishing assembly and quilting before she's a week old.

Saturday Chores

This is a little frustrating.  If you've been looking for details about the Sisters Quilt Weekend on the Pinecone Playhouse site, it isn't there as of 7:50 PM on Saturday, October 16.  The event  is happening, and will be next weekend at the Pinecone Playhouse in West Yellowstone.  Here are all the details:

Sisters Quilt Weekend:      

UFO (Un finished Quilt Object) Workshop

October 22 and 23, 2010

Pinecone Playhouse, 121 Madison Ave

West Yellowstone, Montana,

Yes! A workshop dedicated to finishing quilts! All the fun of a great escape, and a finished project too!

Finishing a quilt is an occasion for celebration, so please come to our party!  Come prepared to finish a project or two, or at least come prepared to commit to considering the possibility of setting a completion date.  Quilters may be genetic sisters, sisters of the heart, sisters of the cloth met in a fabric shop, or innocent bystanders. Non-quilting friends are welcome, but must accept the possibility of becoming convinced of the importance of UFO’s in the universe. Please, no children except as paid participants. 

Please plan to declare your quilt completion commitment when you arrive, and bring a finished quilt or two to share for our quilt show.

Door prizes!  Fat quarter exchange!  Ugly fabric contest!  Participant Quilt Show!

This is our biggest event of the year, so register early!  Deadline:  October 20, 12:00 Noon

Fees:  
$10.00 Registration fee, non-refundable
$45.00  Friday and Saturday, includes dinner Friday, breakfast and lunch Saturday)
$20.00  No meals, attend Friday and/or Saturday
$20.00  Saturday with  lunch

So, everyone pays the registration fee, but other costs will depend on the meal/no meal option you choose.

Schedule: Friday

12:00 Noon             Registration, unfinished quilt project deadline selection begins

1:00-3:00 PM         Quilting, piecing, appliqué, or kibitzing

3:00-3:10 PM         Recess

3:10-5:30 PM         Quilt!

5:30-6:00 PM         Pre-dinner break

6:00 PM                 Dinner

7:00 PM                 Informal Quilt Show and Victoria Rose Quilts trunk show

Saturday:

8:30 AM                 Breakfast

9:00 AM                 Quilt!

10:30-10:40AM      Recess

10:40-12:00 Noon   Quilt

12:00-12:30PM      Lunch and door prize drawing

12:30-3:00 PM       Quilt! 

3:00-4:00 PM         Final opportunity to present finished projects, Clean-up

To register, call Anna at (435) 734-2635.  If  your call is missed, please leave a  message; your call will be returned.  Or email  victoriarosequilts@gmail.com

Heritage Quilt Workshop and Pinecone Playhouse are programs of the Western Heritage Arts Center, Preserving, Presenting, and Promoting the Best of the American West.

Yellowstone in Autumn

I spent last weekend in the "greater Yellowstone" area.  The potato harvest is nearly finished in Southeast Idaho, and there are migrating swans resting on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River below my mother's house. 

After quilt class related business in West Yellowstone on Friday, I drove into Yellowstone Park to see the new Visitor's Center at Old Faithful.  Nice building, great bookshop, and quilt stuff too!  The Yellowstone Association bookshop has a section labeled Crafts which includes a couple of counted cross-stitch kits and an intriguing selection of color prints of various park icons on fabric.  We will chase down the manufacturer and distributor to let you know where else those prints might be available.  I know there are a few at the Send It Home shop in West Yellowstone, which, by the way, is the only place in West with quilt fabric.  Our Columbine Sillhouette and Baby Bear Paw quilt patterns are in the shop.  Patti also has a selection of Yellowstone themed fat quarters (fish, wolves, cowboys, etc.) and kits and books from Quilting in the Country.  There is an intriguing selection of yarns, including buffalo yarn.  http://www.send-it-home.com/  Patti takes a break in late October and opens again in December, but her yarns and knitting kits are available on line.

The big news is Sisters Quilt Weekend, October 22 and 23, at Pinecone Playhouse in West Yellowstone.  This year the theme is UFO's, with prizes for quilters who finish their Un-Finished-quilt-Objects during the party.  Check in and start working any time after noon on Friday, the 22nd.  Dinner on Friday, breakfast on Saturday, and lunch Saturday are included in the price.  And chocolate.  There is a no-food option for our quilting friends who are on severely restricted diets.  There's also a Saturday only option.  By Tuesday, October 12, all the details will be available on the Pinecone Playhouse website (click on Heritage Quilt Workshop) too.http://www.pineconeplayhouse.com/

French doll quilt and UFO quilt

Hand pieced doll quilt Nine-Patch-Nine-Patch

This little quilt is ready for binding.  Making these small quilts as class and pattern samplers is delightful.  I can take a whole quilt with me to my grandson's dentist appointment in plastic sandwich bags, or do the piecing and quilting while watching football games or traveling.  I haven't managed to quilt while eating breakfast and reading the cereal box, but where there's a will...."

While sorting and organizing my stash, I got down to the bottom of the back of the closet in the sewing room. What does one do with a 90 X 90 applique quilt in colors that are no longer particularly enticing?  I'm beginning to think there is a reason this quilt never was quilted.  Hmmm.   Now there's a quilt for the UFO/UFQ Sister's Quilt Weekend.  At least there will be several people with ideas about how to improve the quilt. I'll take the fabrics with me.  Maybe someone will fall in love with it and take it home to live in her closet!

Sister's Quilt Weekend:  UFO/UFQ party:  October 22 and 23 in West Yellowstone, Montana.  See September Sister's Quilt Weekend blog below for more information. 

To register: Call Pinecone Playhouse 121 Madison Ave, West Yellowstone, Montana, (406) 646-4107


Heritage Quilt Workshop and Pinecone Playhouse are programs of Western Heritage Arts Center.

Applique Christmas quilt progress



One of four green blooks in the Christmas Hawaiian Applique quilt

The quilting phase of the Hawaiian Appliqué Christmas quilt is going quickly. Sometimes when I’m in the middle of appliqué I forget how much fun the quilting is. I love being able to take the one square I’m working on with me, instead of having the whole quilt taking up the family room for days on end.

Center block for the Christmas Hawaiian Applique quilt

The setting for this quilt is similar to the Baby Bear Paw, putting the appliqué blocks “on point.” (Not to be confused with “en pointe,” which leaves the dancer's toes aching. Remind me to post some pictures of my Nutcracker Ballet costumes for the Dream Pointe Ballet Company) The quilt will take advantage of the concepts behind speed cutting of triangles to manage the quilt-then-assemble order of construction for Hawaiian style appliqué

Anna's Anxiety List Sept 22

Applique thread selection is one of my current anxieties.  I've used YLI silk thread for years, and love the way it disappears into the turned edge on needle-turn projects.  However, many of the shops which used to carry silk thread don't have it now.  I suspect part of the problem is cost, as silk thread can be twice as expensive as cotton.  Size 50 cotton thread works, but just doesn't have the strength of silk of the same weight.  For hand-applique projects, I am investing so many hours that I want the materials be the best available.  That's also why I hand-quilt applique projects.  So, what is your experience with applique threads?