Even though I had tons of organizing and packing for the road trip, I could not pass up the opportunity to listen to one of the Grand Dame's of Quilting share her thoughts and quilts at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon. 2016 is Gwen Marston's last year of teaching and she will be retiring to her home on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. It must be a magical place to have nourished such an artistic soul. 32 miles long and with only 450 full-time residents it provided a place for her to realize and nurture her creations. Her quilts were amazing, but I also left with an appreciation of her wit and wisdom. The presentation not only gave me courage to be freer in my quilting, but also to be less critical. Gwen's new book, Free Range Triangle Quilts, with Cathy Jones is definitely going to be on my wish list!
We are continuing our trek making it across Death Valley...all I can say is WOW!!! Next week I will have a wonderful slide show of The Tater Patch in Merrill, Oregon..the first quilt shop stop. It really is packed full of quilting yumminess. My "Car Quilt" this trip...although we are in an RV, is hand quilting my Buttermilk Basin Quilt from 2015. I am now on block 3 stitching with Valdani Thread...and, you know what? I am ok with my stitches because Gwen says she embraces the pucker!!! LOL
As promised, more quilts from 2016 AQS QuiltWeek Paducah. Along with the quilts, we have a quick interview with Marilyn Badger regarding the name of her Best of Show quilt, "Arandano."
Congratulations to the National Quilt Museum on winning this prestigious award. While we were in Paducah for the AQS show, we stopped by and talked to National Quilt Museum CEO Frank Bennett. He shared with us his feelings about winning the award, what's currently happening at the museum, and what's coming up in the future.
Katie Pasquini Masopust was interviewed at SAQA's 25th anniversary conference. She talks about incorporating her painting into her quilts and how she divides her time between painting and quilting.
Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! is a Quilt Alliance project designed to capture the stories of quilts where quiltmakers gather.
Star Members can watch TQS Quilting Legend 2016 Katie Pasquini Masopust in Show 1913.
Lace and trims items are another embellishment item we are finding more of on quilts or other sewing projects. So, this week we want you to take time to organize these bits that also, like beads, tend to get stuffed in corners, drawers and other random places.
If your heart swoons at the sight of ribbon, lace and other trims, chances are they might not have a dedicated location once you get these beauties home. It may not be from a lack of trying, as most stores place those little rolls and lengths of deliciousness in a bag that can easly get lost amongst fabric, tools or other baubles. Once tucked away, it is hard to remember what you purchased, much less, what it looks like and where it is.
Finding what you want, can sometimes involve a lot of hunting. Avoid the frustration of the hunt by keeping ribbons, laces and other trims in their own space. We have found a variety of suggestions, but before you get excited with what we found, you need to do some digging and sort out your stash.
Does this item continue to really speak to you?
Donate items that don't make the cut; they might speak volumes to someone else.
Remember, we are getting YOUR space set for a more enjoyable experience with less frustrations.
Sort items by color, type, thickness, or patterns. Decide what works the best for you and how you will use them.
Once the sorting has been done, we do recommend hand washing lace (with a delicate laundry soap) and pressing as lace shrinks just like fabric. Do not wash velvet ribbons!
Now it's on to the fun ideas we found. Once again, we offer ideas for two types of creative spaces.
Options for Clean and Clutter Free:
If you prefer a clean and clutter free space, consider these options for storing your embellishment items. Each offers close at hand, organized solution without being a visual distraction.
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1. Card stock postal tags work well to keep ribbons sorted (Heart and Handmake UK) in a lidded plastic storage box.
2. Denise Clason uses foam core boards to hold multiple numbers of ribbon that then fit nicely into 13" x 13" stackable Snapware container. This way she can easily see what she has, and lid keeps things clean.
3. Use old wooden rulers or yardsticks to wrap your ribbons and lace, then hang the rulers with cafe curtain clips to a rod.
4.Hang items up using pant hangers or a hanging jewelry organizer.
5. Use a candy tin filled with ribbons wrapped around hand made cardboard holders.
6. Use plastic storage containers with holes to suspend wooden dowels to hold the rolls of ribbon together (SpunkyJunky).
Options for Visual Inspiration and Admiration:
Do you prefer a visually inspiring space, or love having your colletions of beautiful laces and trims to admire? These ideas might just be the perfect solution.
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1. Ribbons on old spools out on display.
2. An apothecary jar filled with bits of lace (Flicker...Wondertradings).
3. Ribbon wrapped wooden clothes pins in a vintage sewing machine drawer.
4. Create a beautiful display of your collection by hang ribbons from curtain rod rings.....attached using cup hooks (Pinterest).
Or get out all those baskets and use them for holding and displaying your collection.
Visit with ribbon artist Helen Gibb. Her work is filled with ribbons, laces, trims and other embellishment
items that will make you swoon!
Haven't worked with ribbons and lace but want to try your hand at it? Check out Helen Gibb's Vintage Postcard class in Classroomshere. It is an easy way to dip your toe into the world of laces and trims.
In this fascinating video, learn how tapestries were made in the time of Louis XIV and are still made today. They explore the process of tapestry weaving at the Gobelins Manufactory in Paris, where historical techniques dating to the time of Louis XIV are used to make contemporary works of art.
This time it was on The Quilt Show set, where cameraman Jim Hucks, showed Alex some vintage newspapers all about quilting in Colorado. We asked Jim's mother, Ruth, to share what she knew about the newspaper pages. They offer a wonderful peek into our quilting past.
Thank you to Jim and Ruth Hucks for sharing this treasure trove.
(Once you've opened the .pdf files, you may want to click on the Zoom in order to read the small print.)
From Ruth ~
IT ALL STARTED BY HAPPENSTANCE:
A newspaper publisher and a former newspaper reporter standing side by side in an Aerobic Dancing exercise class, one with knowledge of Colorado quilting history, the other just starting a quilting class, in itself a piece of history.
The two women, Barbara Walton and Ruth Hucks, became fast friends, lived in adjacent neighborhoods south of Denver. Together they worked on three untapped and narrow bits of the state’s history. The first was quilts.
How to find, and where to find the quilting information, led Ruth to the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library where she scanned for hours the films of many early Colorado newspapers, including The Greeley Journal, Rocky Mountain News, Littleton Independent,The Democrat Herald of Springfield CO, and the Boulder Daily Camera, plus collections from the Colorado State Historical Society. There were lengthy histories, brief paragraphs from Keota, CO., and Grand Junction with late 1800 and early 1900 datelines, too many tales to relate.
There were photos aplenty of quilts and the stitchers, one of a young Black Denver quilter, Florence F. Bell, who used 318 spools of silk to complete her project.
Joan Dix, Ruth’s quilting instructor, is shown with her prizewinning entry into the GOOD HOUSEKEEPING Bicentennial contest, the photo taken at the quilt’s first public display in 1978.
Ruth’s own favorite is of Lovey Philliips, a 92-year old resident at Home Lake, the veterans’ village north of Monte Vista, CO. taken during a birding trip to the area in southwestern Colorado. Ruth inquired at an antique shop whether there were quilters in
the town and the proprietor directed her to the delightful stitcher.
The Burlington CO quilters are shown in an early 1980s photo, as they met in a local church. Several stitchers were known to Ruth’s daughter, a Burlington High School teacher, and according to custom, the visitor was invited to stitch, albeit nervously, an inch or two on their current project.
Can't let the day go by without sharing photos of some the beautiful quilts found at 2106 AQS QuiltWeek Paducah last week. You'll find everything from Steampunk to flamingos in these eye-catching creations. And this is just the beginning - come back Wednesday for more, including the Best of Show by Marilyn Badger.
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