Daily Blog

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Not feeling like the whole quilt was tying together, Sharon Hansen incorporated the center block she made for her quilt, Star Struck, into the border to bring about a more cohesive look.

Star Struck by Sharon Hansen of McKeesport, Pennsylvania was featured in the Pieced, Large category at Houston 2019.

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The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles presents Let's Visit Artist's Studios by Amy Milne.

From the Museum:

Join us on Wednesday at 2pm EDT for another interesting Textile Talk! The Quilt Alliance is part of a 6-member fiber organization collective offering free talks on Wednesdays. Join Quilt Alliance director Amy Milne on Wednesday, August 19 for a virtual studio crawl! We’ll share excerpts from studio visits with artists who have been interviewed for StoryBee the web-based show hosted by author and quiltmaker Frances O’Roark Dowell. From small, efficient home studios to inspiring cottage and warehouse spaces—you’ll be inspired and energized by these maker spaces. Then we’ll pay a live visit to the workspaces of artists Earamichia Brown (@cocktailsandthread) and Leslie Tucker Jenison (@leslietuckerjenison).

This is a recorded video of that talk.

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Alex asked viewers to send in their questions. She will answer them. Be sure to be there LIVE to help Alex with the answers. If she gets it wrong and you are not there to help, well...who's fault is it really???

Alex will be live on Friday August 21, 2020 at 10am PST, 1pm EST, and 6pm London time. All classes are recorded.

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Containing images hidden throughout that relate to the beginning of life, Kevin Womack's Birthing Bed quilt is the first in a series of quilts that depict a person's bed at different stages in their life. Can you spot the baby's hand?

Learn From Kevin in Show 2704.

Original Photo: Mary Kay Davis

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We continue our selection of quilts exhibited in 2019 at the Houston International Quilt Festival as part of their 45th Anniversary, the Sapphire Anniversary. The Sapphire Celebration exhibit is described as:

"Quilters have long used the color blue to symbolize trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Sapphire is also the chosen gem to celebrate 45th anniversaries—which International Quilt Festival is doing this year (2019)! These new and antique blue and white quilts will be suspended from the ceiling in a spectacular and unforgettable display."

To be a part of the exhibit, quilts had to fit the following criteria:

• Entries may be Traditional, Modern or Art.
• Entries must have been made between 1974 and 2019.
• The minimum size is 50” x 50”

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Inspired by the work of novelist Lucy Boston, Melinda Stanton made her quilt, Lucy Comes to Texas, out of sample blocks from kits in her local quilt shop. "Each block took an average of five hours, including choosing the fabrics, cutting, glueing, sewing, appliquéing, and trimming."

Lucy Comes to Texas by Melinda Stanton of Silsbee, Texas was featured in the Pieced, Large category at Houston 2019.

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Fabric Bias can be confusing to a beginning sewist. Cross grain, length of grain, and bias are all terms that experienced sewists know but beginners find hard to understand right away. Alex explains that straight of grain is used for both the cross grain and the length of grain. She also tells about the amount of stretch involved in those directions. But it's the bias that is the dangerous side. You need to know what the bias is and how that changes how you use it in sewing and in quilting. The directions of the grain affect placement, colors, and pressing.

Here's a quick test:

1. What is the direction that is 90 degrees to the selvage called?
2. What is the direction that is parallel to the selvage called?
3. How much stretch is there in the cross grain?
4. How much stretch is there in the length of grain?
5. How much stretch is there in the bias?
6. What is the selvage?

Be sure to forward this to new sewists so they start with the understanding of cross grain, length of grain, and bias.

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Use this quilt block to convey a message or attach a signature to your quilt. You can use this quilt block to tie this quilt to a time in history that those who follow will then hear about. Your quilt becomes a part of world history and your family history.

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Here's a great tumbling block quilt from Marci Baker called Playing With Blocks. Learn Marci's easy method for putting together this kind of quilt in Show 1810: Quilting Tools and Techniques.

Original Photo: Gregoy Case

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Shu Chun Lai made the quilt Kepler as a tribute to Johannes Kepler, a 17th Century German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer famous for his laws of planetary motion.

Kepler by Shu Chun Lai of Taipei, Taiwan was featured in the Pieced, Large category at Houston 2019.