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Even a rock star like Alex can learn a new quilting trick or two.  Recently TQS member littleflower commented that Alex had 'not come over to the dark side' by using spray basting instead of saftey pins to hold her quilts together prior to quilting.  To this Alex said that she had found spray basting to pose the problem of wrinkling in the back.  No fear, littleflower sent over this great tutorial on how to spray baste a quilt.  We think you might find it useful as well.

Teri steps her process out in a downloadable pdf for you.  Click below.

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It takes time and practice to build your skills with regards to free-motion quilting.  Why not let an expert guide you along the way.  Having taught hundreds of quilters over the last ten years, Don Linn (Episode 910) has found practical solutions to many of the problems students continually exhibit when learning to machine quilt.  We found a number of great tips in his book Free-Motion Machine Quilting.

• The foot control of your machine should be able to smoothly control the machine speed from very slow to fast.   If your machine tends to groan and take off all of a sudden as you press harder on the pedal,  Don recommends getting another machine for machine quilting.
• Don prefers using a small oval plastic hopping foot to others out on the market.  He uses an X-Acto saw to cut away the front to allow better visibility when stitching.
• Using a single hole throat plate will go a long way to help improve stitch quality.  The single hole helps guide the thread straight up and down as you move the fabric in all different directions.
• Don suggests that you always machine quilt with your shoe removed to allow for more speed control.
• Avoid the temptation to spin your practice piece.  This might work with a small practice piece, but will prove to be a problem when working on a larger project.  Practice moving the quilt in a circular motion without actually spinning the quilt.
• Don't lift your hands while the machine is still running.  Let the machine stop before moving your hands to avoid off track stitches.

To find more advice as well as practice projects, check out this great 'must have' reference book on Don's website here.

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Opening November 15 and running through February 5, 2012 at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is Invisible Lineage.

This exhibit showcases the work of four influential mid 20th century fiber artists-Mary Buskirk, Lydia Van Gelder, Mary Walker Phillips, Katherine Westphal-alongside works of four late century artists, Pat Abrahamian, Pam Moore, Karen Hampton, and Janice Sullivan.

The juxtaposition highlights the profound influences the earlier artists had on a second generation of artists working in the fiber medium. A wide array of objects and textiles drawn from each artists' collective bodies of work illuminate the invisible lineage between the first generation of ground breaking artists and the later artists they inspired.

Also coming to the museum is Collecting California an exhibition of quilts and textiles by contemporary California artists drawn from the museum's permanent collection. It features work by local artists Susan Else, Sheila O'Hara, Sonja Barrington, Joan Schulze and Cathy Bolding and historic pieces by Lillian Elliott, Jean Ray Laurey and Ed Rossbach. This exhibit also runs from November 15 - February 5, 2012.

The museum is located at 520 South First Street in San Jose, California.  To learn more, click here.

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Basic Housing, Inc. is asking for your quilts and Robert Gonazalez, a Board Member of the Alliance for American Quilts, is helping to gather quilts for homeless families being put back into transitional housing.

They are getting ready for another distribution day at the beginning of December and are trying to collect 400 quilts by Thanksgiving. Alex is going to be donating some of hers along with some of her buddies like Pat Sloan, Marianne Fons, Mark Lipinski, and even the Moda Bakeshop.

Okay, TQS, help them reach their goal!

You can help by sending your quilts to:

Basic Housing, Inc.

Attn:  Robert Gonzales / BBINC

540 East 180t Street,

Bronx, NY 10457

Please include your name, address, email, and the value of the materials you used.

Quilt Questions please contact:
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
at
bumblebeansinc@gmail.com

or

Robert Gonzalez
at
rgonzalez@basicsinc.org

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Spend a day expanding your quilt knowledge at the "Elegant Geometry" exhibit on view now through January 8, 2012, at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, NE. The mosaic quilts on display are silent testimony to the unbelievable amount of time, patience, and skill shown by their makers. 

Mosaic quilts are eye-dazzling textiles made from thousands of precisely shaped fabric patches formed with the help of paper templates.The technique was used in the British Isles as early as the 1700s, and became popular in other parts of Europe, as well in as Britain's North American colonies. 

Not able to make it to the show? Watch a curator podcast to learn more about how these quilts reveal the process of assembly, the complexity of the results, and the frugality of the needlewomen who made them.

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We loved how, in Episode 909, Gyleen Fitzgerald shared that, along with making new quilts, she also loves rescuing and utilizing old quilt tops. Old tops, however, do have unique characteristics that we must keep in mind as we set about completing them. If quilting an old top is in your future, her are some helpful tips from Gyleen that we've gathered from her book Quilts:  Unfinished Stories with New Endings:

• Anything pre-1900, no matter how complete or incomplete, should be seen a by professional appraiser before you do anything.

• Check the stability of the fabric in a quilt top before it's quilted. Be warned that anything could happen, the worst being a ruined, non-repairable top or block. When in doubt, seek the help of a professional.The pros have many ideas about how to clean and protect vintage fabric.

• Keep in mind that the idea is to honor the work of the original maker with your own work. Gyleen likes to juxtapose current fabrics with the old.

• Gyleen admits to being a renegade and washing her quilts on a delicate cycle in the washing machine. She uses a fragrance-free laundry liquid, OxiClean, and several color-catcher sheets. She only allows the cycle to run on delicate for about 10 minutes. A few seams might need repair afterward, but usually the treatment comes off without a hitch. On occasion, she has inserted a layer of white muslin between the top and the batting to give the quilt more strength.

• Gyleen likes to have her completed quilts machine quilted for two reasons. The first is that her schedule just doesn't allow her time to quilt them herself. (Sound familiar?) The second is that the machine-quilted quilt will be more durable and enjoy a longer life.

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Hundertwasser by TQS member lisata

Love the whimsical and quirky work of artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser? Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to a special 20th anniversary exhibit by the museum which embodies and honors the work of this Austrian ecological visionary. 

In 13 stations, the exhibition takes us on a journey to selected focal points of Hunderwasser's artistic life: important times in Vienna, Paris, Hamburg, Venice and Japan, the legendary Otto Wagner attic studio on Spiegelgasse in Vienna, Hunderwasser's artistic actions protesting the rigidity of architecture, the "Regentag" motif as a key to his universe, and finally, New Zealand – his second home and last paradise. Thus, this jubilee exhibition opens up a pathway to a rediscovery of Hundertwasser, whose ideas and pioneering actions are reflected in today's ecological trends.  To learn more about Kunst Haus Wien and the works of Hundertwasser click here.

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Submitting a quilt to a national show requires that you pay special attention when you're making the hanging sleeve. Here's a reminder lesson from an expert whose quilts have graced many a quilt exhibit.