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Tip of the Week: Moving Your Sewing Space

It's easy to forget your studio set-up in the flurry of activities surrounding a move.This easy trick will save you lots of time when you settle into your new digs--
Before packing up, use your cell phone to take a quick snap of your old space! You'll have a handy reference as you unpack at your new location.

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If you were inspired by Carolyn Konig's (Episode 1411) attention to detail when re-creating traditional quilts, then you'll definitely want to check out these three artists and their techniques for carrying on stunning handwork traditions.

Remember: As a Star Member, you have access to EVERY SHOW, EVERY TEACHER, AND EVERY TECHNIQUE . . . PLUS, in our Little Scrap of Magic lessons, we're creating small projects to practice some of the techniques taught in the current shows.

Just 22¢ a show. Practice is free.

Learn finger pinning for hand piecing
with Jinny Beyer in Episode 601.

Learn to make a traditional
Isle of Man Folded Roof Tile block
using your hand to determine measurements
for cutting and sewing with Pepper Cory in Episode 1007.

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Joe Cunningham is a quilter, a designer, and a hoot. Here is his "Inspired by Libby" quilt in process.

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Do you enjoy the BERNINA instructional videos with Susan Beck?

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Hate sewing on buttons by hand? You can do it by machine!  All machines are a little bit different, but mostly you just need to remember to drop the feed dogs and use a foot designed to hold the button in place.

BERNINA's WeAllSew.com shows you a three ways to sew on your button.

Click here to learn how.

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It's time for Month 6 of A-Z for Ewe and Me with Julie Cefalu.

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Join the fun by making your own version of the TQS 2014 BOM quilt, designed by Janet Stone . This month's homework is to make letters N, P, R, O and sashing, plus joining everything you have completed so far.

Don't forget to watch the companion tutorial with BOM Specialist Julie Cefalu as she shares tips for piecing an accurate 1/4 square triangle block and pressing open seams.

P.S. You can watch Janet in Episode 1401.

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Turtle Bay by Claudia Pfeil of Krefeld, Germany was the winner of 3rd place, Large Wall Quilts, Pictorial at AQS QuiltWeek Paducah 2013.  It was also the winner of the Handi Quilter, Excellence in Longarm Quilting award, at Road to California, 2013.  Turtle Bay is 79" x 93" and was completed in 2012.  It is an original creation from Claudia.

Artist Statement: To capture the beauty of the sea I have combined silk and gauze fabrics .The shells and star fishes are made from silks with hand painted designs and are machine appliquéd. The sea turtles are made from hand-dyed and printed fabric, and are hand appliquéd. The net and the gauze gives a mystical effect, a translucent look. The quilt’s border – freehand and freestyle appliquéd - the symmetrical design reminds you of the turtle’s shell.

If you'd like to see it close up, click the button below.

Turtle Bay - 36 pieces non-rotating

Turtle Bay - 100 pieces non-rotating

Turtle Bay - 300 pieces non-rotating

Turtle Bay - 100 pieces rotating

Turtle Bay - 300 pieces rotating

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Join Wendy Butler Berns as she describes working on her quilt for Libby. Triangle Tangerine Tango has both great applique and wonderful thread work.

You can watch also Wendy in Episode 1304: Borders with Benefits, Terrific Textures...and More!

Click here to visit Wendy's website, www.wendybutlerberns.com.

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The following is an excerpt from an article by Karen Alexander, Member of AQSG since 1981 and past President of The Quilters Hall of Fame, discussing quilting pioneer Florence Peto.

"Calico Garden Crib Quilt" (49" x 39") by Florence Peto,1950 
Pieced appliqued and quilted cotton. (Shelburne Musuem permanent collection; photo courtesy Shelburn Museum)

Today it's hard to realize how little quilt history was available before the influence of our early 20th century pioneer quilt historians. Florence Peto is one of the most influential figures active before 1960. Peto wasn't alone in her pursuit of quilt history at that time. Marie Webster preceded her and Carrie Hall, Rose Kretsinger, Dr. William Dunton, Ruth Finley, and Berthe Stenge, just to name a few other TQHF Honorees were each busy in her/his own sphere. Each would eventually come in contact with Peto. Yet, Peto remains a unique voice in the quilt world from the 1930s-60s.

Taught by her New York Dutch grandmother to be a fine needlewoman at an early age, Florence Peto had a life-long interest in antique textiles in particular. Born in 1881 and married in 1900, her personal interest in textile research took on an added dimension as a result of her husband's position as a cotton converter and mill owner. Her access to his fabric sample books stirred her interest in dyes and printing methods, wetting her appetite for ever more knowledge. Her self-directed studies eventually led her to focus on quilts and for that the quilt world can be very grateful.

Photo by Karen Alexander

However, Peto didn't stop at just studying the fabric and pattern of the quilt. She went in search of the quilt's story. This is where the contacts she made through her lecturing often paid off. Peto believed that quilts were "cloth documents," and she wanted to know who, where, why and when about each quilt. Once she found a quilt, she interviewed family members and, when possible, sifted through archives, files, letters and even diaries to get the quilt maker's story. So great was her passion for these stories, her first book "Historic Quilts" (1939) focused on quilts for which she had personally gathered documentation.

Photo by Karen Alexander

Eventually becoming an excellent quilt maker herself and winning several contests, Peto's "Calico Garden" was selected in 1999 for inclusion in "The 20^th Century's 100 Best American Quilts." Peto also wrote about quilts for the popular publications of the time — Antiques, American Home, Americana, Woman's Day, Hobbies and McCall's, lectured widely, designed needlework kits and greatly influenced the quilt collecting of several museums. 

"Where Liberty Dwells" 1953 by Florence Peto.  Private collection. (Photo courtesy Shelburn Museum)

Contemporary readers of the earliest quilt history books (such as Webster, Finley and Peto) will note that today's modern quilt historians have corrected some of the misnomers of these early historians.  This in no way disparages their earlier work.  We simply correct it and build upon it as new information is uncovered and new understanding develops.

Want to know more? Publications of both the American Quilt Study Group and The Quilters Hall of Fame offer more history on Florence Peto. This brief article is but a thumbnail sketch of a very talented productive woman. Surely Peto's life story presented in a full-length book with lots of photos is long overdue.

Avery, Virginia. "Florence Peto-Renaissance Woman of Mid Century," Quilter's Newsletter, January 1980.

Avery, Virginia. "Florence Peto, Path Finder," Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts, Summer 1983: Carter Houck, Editor.

Clem, Deborah. "Florence Peto," The Quilters Hall of Fame, Rosalind Webster Perry and Merikay Waldvogel, Editors(1984),pg. 125.Gross, Joyce "Florence Peto and Woman's Day," Quilters' Journal, Mill Valley, CA, Vol. 3, No. 2.__________ "Florence Peto," Quilters' Journal, Mill Valley, CA: Winter 1979, Vol. 2, No. 4.

Peto, Florence "American Quilts and Coverlets New York": Chanticleer Press, 1949.

_______ "Historic Quilts New York:" The American Historical Company, Inc., 1939.

_______ "The Crib-Size Quilt". Woman's Day, December 1951, pg. 72-75, 125-127.

______ "A Textile Discovery". Antiques Magazine, 1953, pg. 120-121.

Florence Peto letter to Elizabeth Richardson, March 19, (1951?): courtesy of Bets Ramsey.

Woodard, Thomas K. And Blanche Greenstein. "Twentieth Century Quilts: 1900-1950" New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1988.