Daily Blog

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On Tuesday, April 16th, BERNINA USA welcomed 11-year old Make-A-Wish America recipient Macy to their office. My NBC5 was there to document the visit, watch the video below.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO. (The video begins after the ad.)

Here's the entire story from BERNINA.

Two years ago, Macy was diagnosed with a non-cancerous tumor in her jaw that required multiple surgeries and two years of chemotherapy to treat. During this time, Macy was pulled out of her regular school to be home schooled, and at the suggestion of her physician, took up quilting as a challenging activity to fill her time. Macy’s situation was referred to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children undergoing treatment for a critical illness. Her wish? A BERNINA sewing machine!

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Seasons of Life by Sandra Mollon with Kris Spray had a back that could have won awards, but now you see why it won from the front. (See the back by clicking here.) It won Best Movable Machine Workmanship at Spring Paducah 2019. This 83" x 83" wonder has Hand Appliqué, Beading, Broiderie Perse, Couching, Hand Dyeing, Embellishments, Hand Embroidery, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Inking, and Tsukineko Inks.

Design Source: Art and crafts of the early and late 19th and early 20th centuries.

UPDATE: Seasons of Life was also the Outstanding Large Quilt winner at the Road to California show, January 2019.

Learn more from Sandra in Show 2609.

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It's Spring! Time to get out into the garden, or at least head out to the farmer's market. We can help with the "toting" of supplies or vegetables with this fun tutorial from Sue Bleiweiss.

Materials to create an Oilcloth-lined Garden Tote

• Oilcloth:  You’ll need enough to cut the following pieces
• Two pieces 16″ x 13″ (front and back)
• Two pieces 7″ x 13″ (sides)
• One piece 7″ x 16″ (bottom)
• Two pieces 14″ x 16″ (front and back outside pockets)
• One piece 2″ x 44″ (binding for the top)

Canvas, duck cloth, or denim fabric: you’ll need enough to cut the following pieces

• Two pieces 16″ x 13″ (front and back)
• Two pieces 7″ x 13″ (sides)
• One piece 7″ x 16″ (bottom)

Bag handles

Star Members can watch Sue in Show 1608: Creating Unique Collage Quilts & Quilts with Meaning,

Sue also mentions not to use pins when working with oilcloth. We'd suggest using Clover Wonder Clips.

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Wandering Foot. Quilt by Amedia Grimley Morris c.1852, Oregon City, Oregon. Image Quilt Index.

Superstitions around sewing and quilts have circulated for generations. From avoiding quilts with thirteen blocks, beginning a quilt on a Friday (you will never live to see it finished), stitching in a spider's web for good luck, to avoiding bad luck with giving away your first quilt, the lessons for do's and don'ts are numerous and sometimes quite complex. But how does a quilt get the reputation of being under a spell? One such quilt at the Museum of Texas Tech University seems to be a bit of a wanderer.

Legacy of a Thousand Stitches
By Marian Ann J. Montgomery, Ph.D.,
Curator of Clothing and Textiles, the Museum of Texas Tech University

In 2016 the Museum of Texas Tech University mounted the exhibit Legacy of aThousand Stitches which showcased 45 quilts from the Museum’s quilt collection, which was well received by the community and the local media.  

The Devil’s Highway quilt mentioned in one of the segments has an interesting family history of never being slept under because the family thought it was jinxed.  Family stories are recorded when objects come in, whether the curator thinks it was an accurate story or not. Well, in this case, the story just might have some merit.

Mrs. John Vaughn of Matador, Texas, string-pieced the top with hexagons but only finished the top. Her sister, who completed the quilt used home-dyed flour sack fabric from the Light Crust Flour Company as the backing. This particular quilt seems to have a mind of its own and has been found to be a bit restless. During the set-up process for the exhibition, the quilt was not in the designated storage area as would be standard for quilts in the collection. No one seemed to be able to locate its whereabouts. Day two, a second hunt took place, but despited valiant efforts by the staff, no quilt. Just before the opening, a third search revealed the quilt to be 'in the storage area' exactly where is should have been. No one could explain the mystery.

The museum staff does believe there is something to the story of this quilt having something unusual about it. Maybe, having never had an actual person sleeping under it, the quilt is seeking someone for comfort.

Devil’s Highway Quilt, Top 1890-1910, quilted 1946. Gift of Mrs. G. C. Keith, TTU-H1979-180. 
Photo courtesy of the Museum of Texas Tech University.

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I was checking up on my sister's place and noticed my BIL's had a puzzle laid out in a peculiar way. I laughed out loud! I knew it was him that had laid the puzzle out because his brain just works in a different way. So, the next time they came to Central Oregon I asked him... "What's his process?" He had separated the pieces by shape! Not color! Each sheet of paper has only pieces that were shaped the same...hummm. 

I told him one of my favorite activities on The Quilt Show is the puzzle, and this past week I had to piece together the puzzle of Gwen Marston's quilt. But, I mostly piece the puzzles by color. 

All of this got me thinking about the quilting process...do you start a quilt because of the pattern or shapes...like I am sure my BIL would do? Or, do you first decide on color, find fabric and then decide on how you want to use them? I am mostly color or fabric driven. Occasionally I will find a pattern and then search for fabric to use but for many years I built my stash by being color driven. It made me wonder...what kind of quilter are you...block or color???

Stay tuned and travel along with us on Quilt Roadies.

Click here for Anna's YouTube Channel.

Click here for Anna's blog.

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Textile artist Katie Berman of Katie Berman Textiles is sharing ways you can incorporate an eco-friendly form of mending into your wardrobe. She wants you to give your clothes a second (or third or fourth…) chance by giving them a little TLC! Learn how to get started on a more sustainable wardrobe using basic Sashiko stitching and Spoonflower fabric scraps.

Click here to read the whole article and get more information from Spoonflower.

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This photo was taken on the plane ride to Paducah. As the plane flew over some clouds, the shadow of the plane was projected on them. There is no Photoshop work done here. It is just a picture taken on the iPhone from the window seat. Capt'n John says it's because Alex is on the plane, but he is biased.

Be sure to watch TQS on Facebook and Instagram as we capture the feel, the fun and the quilts at AQS Spring Paducah 2019.

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Birthstone Blocks by MJ Kinman are stunning... and fun to make! 

We recommend an Add-A-Quarter Ruler to make this project a cinch!

To make the quilt, you cut apart the freezer paper template that is provided with the pattern and iron the pieces to the fabric before cutting around them with an additional quarter-inch seam allowance. The Add-A-Quarter makes this super easy!