Wooly Felted Wonders 100% wool will change the way you quilt and sew by making you a better and more efficient presser.
Wool Ironing Mats
These dense wool Ironing Mats give a faster, crisper press on quilt blocks, applique pieces, and more. The 100% wool surface absorbs the heat from your iron and returns it to the back of your piece, pressing from both sides at once!
Available in 4 sizes.
Pressing Bar & Clapper
The Pressing Bar & Clapper gives a better, crisper press on quilt block seams, and the rounded surface lets you press just your seam - preventing the rest of your block from becoming distorted. Use the longer 20" size to press long seams as you complete quilt tops!
Alex and Ricky are joined by Patty Murphy and Julie Silber on the TQS set. Patty has heard the frustration of quilters who struggled to ‘get it right’ when it came to their patchwork. She shares a wide range of techniques for improving your cutting and piecing skills, cutting off minor imperfections at the pass, and clever ideas for combining orphan blocks into fun and colorful quilts.
Then, quilt historian, curator, and quilt broker, Julie Silber, reveals the secrets to deciphering a true antique crib or doll quilt vs. an imposter. These rare, made with love, little beauties are sure to charm you.
You'll love this tutorial from Laura at SewVeryEasy. Use up those jeans (she used 7 pairs) and old flannel sheets (or buy all new fabric, it's up to you) and create this modern jeans quilt in no time.
Miwako Watanabe exhibit. Image courtesy of Teresa Duryea Wong
The massive conglomeration of traffic, bright lights and high rises known as Tokyo seemingly swallows up all the towns and cities in its path. There is no end to one place or the other. Yokohama is one of those places that seem to morph right into the edges of Tokyo.
Yokohama is a port city, part industrial and part picturesque. It is also home to Japan’s first major quilt festival – the International Quilt Week. The event first began in 1992 (under a different name) and then became International Quilt Week Yokohama in 1995, and then folded rather suddenly in 2015. There has been a void in this hallowed space ever since.
Now, a new group has organized a whole new show, and quilters turned out in droves to see it all. Quilt Time Festival was held for the first time at the Pacifico Yokohama Exhibition Hall from May 30 to June 1, 2018. Approximately 10,000 quilters showed up on the first day, and another 14,000 or so over the next two days.
If you’re looking for an excuse to go to Japan, this is surely a good one! Mark your calendars now for next year’s show: May 30, 31 and June 1, 2019.
Quilt Time Festival is much smaller than the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, also known as the Tokyo Dome show. The venue and smaller crowds might be attractive for some visitors, not to mention the nice weather in May versus January.
Many of Japan’s well known quilt masters held exhibitions. Yoko Saito (Show 1505) has a large display that was constantly filled with quilters seeking a closer look at her stunning, folkloric quilts.
International art quilters Sheila Frampton Cooper (Show 1306) and Danny Amazonas were both invited to give talks and show their work. Both Sheila and Danny, whose styles are very different, were refreshing choices and based on their popularity at the show, they most certainly inspired many quilters.
Yoshie Mizukoshi created this stunning quilt (on the left) which was one of the four winners in the Quilt Time Festival juried competition. Author Teresa Duryea Wong is pictured here with master quilt artist Yoshiko Katagiri next to one of her newest quilts at the Quilt Time Festival in Yokohama. Yoshiko is a master at using antique silk for her appliqué, all of which is created using the needle-turn technique and hand quilted. Her original designs are always beautifully rendered themes of Japanese culture.
Kathy Nakajima had a bright, and beautiful display of her floral and applique quilts. And her mega-sized shopping booth that featured her fabric and books and more, was packed ten rows deep with shoppers.
In addition to all the quilts on view, Quilt Time Festival offered several different workshops and lectures, a juried competition, and an excellent collection of shopping booths.
One of the best treats at a Japanese quilt festival is the opportunity to shop for antique fabric, such as these silk and cotton kimonos. Many quilters will cut them apart and use them for quilts. This booth is packed with shoppers, perhaps the 1,000 Yen price (roughly $10.00 USD) was a big attraction.
It’s exciting to see a new venture fill up a void in the quilt world. And Quilt Time Festival is not only filling a void, they are bringing a fresh, modern perspective to Japan’s quilt community. Hope to see you in Yokohama next year!
Teresa Duryea Wong is the author of two books on Japanese quilts and textiles and a frequent contributor to TheQuiltShow.com. She travels to Japan often to research and write and travels the U.S. to lecture. She is currently working on a new book on American cotton and quilts. Visit her website-teresaduryeawong.com; or her blog- thirdfloorquilts.com
I have been dreaming about making a Laura Heine quilt...so when a class was being offered at The Stitchin Post, I jumped at the chance! And then...I panicked. The project was so outside my comfort zone. But, as chance would have it, I shared a table with two women who imparted wonderful quilting wisdom. Charlotte said, "You don't pick the project...the project picks you!" And Jette said, "Don't choose a project because it's simple, but choose one that inspires you." WOW...I so needed to hear that, and rather than second guessing my choice of pattern, I dove right into The Octopus Garden!
Although my project will be an ongoing for the Fall/Winter, we were all encouraged about a potential finish because one of the students, Cece, has taken the class before and brought her finished projects to share! They are both wonderful and I hope you are encouraged to give one of Laura Heine's patterns a try!
I put together a little collage of all the work in progress during class and hope you might see something that gets you motivated :) Enjoy, and stay tuned as we hit the road on another adventure which we will share here and on Quilt Roadies!
Summer is almost gone, and we are sad to say goodbye.
Hold on to your summer memories with this 26-piece fat quarter bundle inspired by bright turquoise water, beautiful flowers, colorful corals and anemones waving with the current as you break through the water's surface.
Hippolyte Hunting by Marilyn Belford and Jamie Wallen depicts Hippolyte, a Queen of the Amazons. The Amazons were a tribe of fierce, empowered women descended from Ares, God of War. This quilt shows Hippolyte hunting on the back of a horse. We love her attitude.
Hippolyte Hunting was exhibited in Houston 2017, won an Honorable Mention at Road to California 2018, and was Viewer's Choice at the Garden State Quilters Guild 2018.
The annual show has been running for over 20 years, and it gets better each time. Plan on spending all day, as there will be so much to see, starting off with 300 quilts! If you've never attended before, it is quite a sight to see these textile beauties hanging from gorgeous, enormous oak trees. If you've been before, you know what a treat it is!
She has been impressing and influencing the quilting world for more than 40 years. Her captivating quilts and innovative, time saving techniques have kept her at the forefront of the industry, and she never slows down! As an aside, her Friday class is filled, but she is also going to teach on Thursday (call 925-447-0280 for your reservation).
Additional exhibits include the work of California Art Quilter Gail Sims. You will find her beautiful and diverse work in the Greenhouse.
And if this isn't great enough, the Out of Boxers Friendship group from the Amador Valley Quilt Guild will be sharing its work. Such GREAT talents all in one place!
Want to take a class from Alex? Get a jump on your holiday gift-making with this appealing wall hanging.Holiday Stars is versatile enough to work in either autumnal colors or Christmas reds and greens (or use your own combo!). You'll learn efficient piecing skills, as well as great fusing and finishing appliqué techniques. It's fast and fun and you'll be well on your way to creating a beautiful new piece before the day is over. Call 925-447-0280 to reserve your class. (Class is Wednesday, Sept. 19, 9-4pm).
Although the show is open on Saturday and Sunday, the quilt classes are offered earlier.
On the road to visit the International Quilt Study Center Museum in Lincoln, NE, Lilo spotted the longest three-dimensional sculpted brick mural in the U.S. created by Catharine Magel and Mara Smith. What was originally a very nondescript wall of the Cloud County Museum and Concordia Travel Information Center ,is now an amazing sculptural history of Cloud County, Kansas.
Artist Catharine Magel's,140' long and 15' high design, offers the viewer a diverse history of Cloud County, KS using the art of hand sculpted images (by lead sculpture Mara Smith) depicting planting and harvesting, mining, aviation and other early mechanized industry.
A woman on to the left of the doorway sows seeds, while the man to the right of the doorway harvests a crop. Three young boys represent the orphan train riders that arrived in great numbers during WWII, as does the US soldier shaking the hand of a German POW soldier. Many POWs worked as laborers on farms and in factories that manufactured many items, including brick.
(Section of brick workers during the green clay process. Image courtesy of Catharine Magel)
Mary says the actual work is a multi-step process that involves the selection of wet clay bricks (before firing), "sculpting the design by carving away clay until the desired detail is reached. This arduous process, using common potter hand tools, may take from a few weks to several months depending on th esize of the project. During this period the brick must be kept damp and covered with plastic every night, to keep the clay workable. When the sculpting is finished, it is dissassembled, numbered, and stacked dry. Then the bricks are top set on kiln cars, and fired in a 400' tunnel kiln to 2000 degrees. Drying and firing take nearly a month to complete."
After firing, the bricks are cooled, checked for errors, cracks or other imperfections that might mean re-carving and firing. The bricks are then packed and shipped to the site for installation.
Cloud Ceramics donated 6,400 bricks for the Cloud County Museum Whole Wall Mural. The three-dimensional brick mural covers the exterior wall of the Museum annex located at 6th & U.S. 81 in downtown Concordia. The 140' brick mural features the history of Cloud County including the Cloud Ceramics beehive kilns.
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