Daily Blog

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(Photo: WeAllSew)

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When I decided to take a break from sewing in the RV, I researched online for a shop that was near where we would be camping and found Quilter's Quarters in Cottonwood, AZ.

I looked at their calendar of classes and found a class called Finish It Up...sounded perfect so I called up and asked the owner if I could sign up. The class was actually a finish it up for students who had taken a class with Georgia Mate. But, she said there would be no problem with me piecing away in a corner of the classroom. What I learned upon arrival with my Featherweight, was this class was a finish it up for various machine embroidery classes. It was not lost on me that as I sat across from Carmen (my table mate) that we were decades apart in machinery.

As we sewed the day away, I thought a lot about the different aspects of quilting and how there is something for everyone. Some, like myself, might like embroidery by hand...others prefer embroidery by machine, and yet we are all quilters and stitchers who accept each other and agree that together we will keep the quilting industry healthy. Machine embroidery may not be my cup of tea, but what I do know is that everyone in the class was having just as good a time as I do when I am hand stitching. And, like back in the day when hand quilters looked at machine quilters with disdain, time brought acceptance and so will it be with embroidery machines. As with the world at large, quilters can also look at each other with acceptance and understanding of our differences.



The instructor was Georgia Mate who is the BERNINA expert in the area. She has been teaching owners of a BERNINA the ins and outs of their machine for 28 years! She actually bought a BERNINA store before she even owned a BERNINA. LOL. Now that she no longer owns a shop, she travels to three different shops in Arizona in support of BERNINA sewers. She has also designed many patterns to be used with embroidery machines. And, she herself owns 15 BERNINA machines!!! I think next time we are in the area we need to do a sewing room tour!!! What do you think?!

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Quilt collector and author Bill Volckening was one of the lucky souls that won one of Libby Lehman's quilts in her recent auction. After studying "Woodland Chromatics," which Libby made in 1984, he decided that not only was it a "modern" quilt, but perhaps, it just might be "futuristic."

Click here to see more images and learn more about the quilt on Bill's blog. Grab a tissue, there's one little part that might make you tear up.

Click here to visit Bill's blog.

"Woodland Chromatics," cottons, Libby Lehman, Houston, TX, 1984, 63" x 63" - Photo: Bill Volckening

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Many of you might know that Jamie Wallen suffered a terrible loss while vending at the Houston quilt show last fall. Unfortunately, some of the items were destroyed and most have not yet been recovered. TQS caught up with Jamie in Paducah where he gave us an update about what he has been working on and what plans he has for the future. We think you'll like what he has to say.

Star Members can learn more about Jamie in Show 1708: Jamie Wallen's Playground.

Click here to go to Jamie's Quilters Apothecary website.

Click here for more info on classes and retreats at TAG (Quilters Apothecary at artspace Textile Arts Gallery and Learning Center).

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"Moonflower" by Molly Y. Hamilton-McNally won the APQS Best Movable Machine Workmanship Award in Paducah. This quilt was fabulous from the back and now take a look at the front.

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As we continue our study of color, we begin with Monochromatic: the first of Five Color Plans found in nature. Monochromatic literally means "containing or using only one color." The Monochromatic color plan creates a sense of simplicity, calm, harmony and relaxation. It can also read as very sophisticated.

As the most difficult of the five plans, understanding and working in a Monochromatic color family takes discipline and real focus. Let's say that you love the color orange and want to make a quilt in this color plan. Staying within the orange range means that no other color or neighboring color such as yellow-orange or orange-red may be used in your quilt.

On the surface this might sound simple, because you have a huge fabric stash, and orange is one of the largest collections within your stash. But, when you look at the Essential Color Wheel (below) it quickly becomes evident why most quilters avoid this plan. Do you notice how few options there are for using just orange in the wedge? Not so easy now, is it?

The trick to keeping a quilt from becoming visually flat is to use as WIDE a range of Tints, Tones, Shades and pure Orange as possible. Hand-dyed fabrics, with their subtle nuances offer the quilter the widest range when it comes to working in a monochromatic plan. The old addage 'If five fabrics are good, then ten are even better' is a good thing to remember when building a fabric grouping. 

To keep your quilts from looking flat or boring, let the Ultimate 3-in-1 Color tool do the work for you when culling fabric from your stash or at a quilt shop. Each of the twenty-four pages features not only the pure color, but also the tints, shades and tones of that pure family.  So all you need to do is hold the card up to the fabric you are considering to determine if it fits within your monochromatic plan. Think in terms of quantity.

 Easy Monochromatic color plan tips:

• Use a wide range of tones, tints and shades included with the focus color to keep the overall impression from appearing boring.
• Hand dyed fabrics give you the most range within a color family.
• Add visual interest with a variety of textured prints.

Let's look at a number of excellent monochromatic color plan examples:

Practice Exercises:

1.Pull fabric from your stash to create one Monochromatic color plan as in the example by Grace Errea above.

2.Using your collected fabrics, build any one (or both) of the blocks provided. To keep the focus on the monochromatic plan, simply paste the fabric pieces onto your worksheet.

Click here to download the Quilt Block Square .pdf file.

Click here to download Quilt Block Star .pdf file.

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BERNINA of America Best Stationary Machine Workmanship Award
#706 CAPTIVATED BY NATURE,
Olga Gonzalez-Angulo,
Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain

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This is an amazing quilt. The Quilt Guards were very nervous as visitor after visitor got their nose within 2" of the quilt. Olga Gonzalez-Angulo from Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain must have infinite patience. TQS viewers may remember this name. Olga is a partner with Rosa Rojas in the Apliquick Company.

Click here to see the work of Olga and Rosa in the Free Show 1912: Appliqué Made Easy.

"Captivated by Nature" is 82" x 66" and used Fused Appliqué and Machine Appliqué. It was quilted on a stationary machine. Take a look and scroll down for more details.

Here is a look at a section of the back of the quilt.