Jan

30

The super secret piecing project

Filed Under Fabrics, Show & Tell | 7 Comments

Whew! It’s been awhile. I was gone for quilt shows back to back… first a guild show in Modesto, then home one day and on the road to Road. Road to California in SoCal is a quilt show and conference on steroids. What fun to be there and experience the excitement and positive energy of 35,000 quilters gathered in one spot to enjoy their common interest. On the way home I visited the fabulous Cathy for our annual schmooze.

Before I left for Modesto I was able to finish the super secret piecing project, which I can now reveal!

Last fall, my super smart nephew Stephen, just finishing his master’s at Stanford, expressed that he would like to give his treasured girlfriend a quilt, something on an oceanic theme, since in her studies she does things like get on a cutter and sail to Antarctica with other students to do research on the waters and sea life there.

Fish quilts. I’ve seen tons of them, I admire them, but to be honest they are not in my wheelhouse. My brain was spinning. But this kid is the nicest guy in the world and never asked me for anything in his life, so I was determined to make it work. Instead of literal fish or sharks or other watery fauna, I tried to think of ocean-related patterns. At first I thought of Storm at Sea, but I get kind of seasick looking at Storm at Sea. Then I thought, Storm at Sea is based on Ocean Waves, and I like Ocean Waves! I pitched the design and coloration to Stephen, who approved it enthusiastically.

I knew I would be seeing Tammy, the dyemistress of Always Unique Hand-Dyed Fabrics, at my next show, so I pitched that type of fabric. I felt that the use of hand dyes would bring the quilt more toward the modern aesthetic for this young ‘un. Again, a hearty approval.

The Always Unique booth

I found the perfect tutorial to make the quilt in exactly the size needed… queen size. Yes people I said queen size. I was putting on my big-girl panties for this one. Thank you *so much* Janet Wickell for posting the Free Ocean Waves Quilt Pattern on about.com.

I read the pattern, studied the pattern, double checked the pattern, made a list. Invaded Tammy’s booth, picked out the colors I liked, secured the fabric for the project. My buddy Alicia the Batty Lady was at the show too. She’s a Wonderfil rep, so I asked her what thread I could use for general piecing. (The DMC I use is too light for sewing a bed quilt.) Alicia led me right to the Tutti.

The Batty Lady booth

Okay, got the pattern, got the fabric, got the thread. When I got home I took a deep breath and started cutting squares.

It was right about this time that Stephen emailed to say that he would somehow like to help with the quilt, if there was a way he could do it without any trips to the emergency room. I was flabbergasted and very pleased. How many computer science grad students want to help with a sewing project? He came down to the house, and I set him and the DH up with marking stations. They sat and marked squares to be sewn into half-square triangles, whilst visiting with Grandpa from back east who just happened to be visiting at the same time. Whew. That was some weekend.

So now I’m making half-square triangle units by the hundreds. There are to be exact 800 of them in the quilt. I did say 800 in case your eyes didn’t believe it. Dana and I sat and marked again one night, and I finally got them all sewn, cut apart, pressed, and trimmed to accurate size.

Stephen wants to help some more. Awesome! I threw a block party. I sewed a sample block, set up a couple of my booth tables in the living room, laid out all the units and triangles, and told them to have at it. They laid out (18) 20-inch blocks on top of taped-together cardboard, with pieces of ancient humongo sketch paper that had been behind my desk for 15 years in between. Now I could pick up the blocks and move them upstairs to the studio.

The beloved nephew.

The boys hard at work in the salt mines.

The fabric is so beautiful.

The background fabric is not actually white… it’s a very pale misty grey, which I thought was oceany. Now I commenced a period of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair, sewing a block or a block and a half a day, until hallalujah! they were all done and pressed. Dana and I laid them out on the floor.

It only took one more day to sew the blocks into a quilt top, 80 x 100, and it was ready to go to the quilter.

After consulting with my friends, I took it to Barbara Heno in Gilroy, California. Stephen and I chose a panto called Waterworld to go with the watery theme. Barbara had the quilt done for me in just a few days, and it came out exactly how I wanted, with big overall swirls and eddies.

I bound it in the same mist grey to give it a more modern-y look.

Barbara doesn’t have a website but if you’d like contact info, just shoot me an email.

I left for Modesto with Dana in charge of the quilt transfer. Stephen came that night and took it away, very pleased with his super secret surprise.

Along with the quilt went a small bottle of Synthrapol that Tammy gave me for the initial washing.

Sigh. I did it ya’ll. I, the appliqué enthusiast and specialist who makes wall quilts, I pieced a queen size Ocean Waves quilt. Boom!

Next time, back to appliqué and the critter who popped into my head and wouldn’t go away.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Jul

6

Hot in Madera

Filed Under Prizes, Quilt shows | 3 Comments

The winner of Jeanne Sullivan’s
Simply Successful Appliqué is No. 1, Linda Klauer! Congratulations Linda,
I know you will enjoy the book.

Here’s a quilt tale from the road.

Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes, was displeased last weekend.

I was in Madera, California, at a quilt show, and this was my view.

This is a very pleasing quilt made from all Hawaiian-themed fabrics. Upon closer inspection (which I had plenty of time to conduct), it appeared as though the sleeve had been applied to the wrong end and the quilt was hanging upside down.

Note the boats sailing in the sky, the palm trees growing like Miracle Tomatoes, the motorcycle shack hanging from the ceiling.

Pele displayed her displeasure. It was 104&#186 when I arrived for setup.

Wished I had Sue’s sunbonnet during load-in. Putting the booth up was quite the challenge. At one point I lay down on the cement floor. It felt good but I thought I might scare somebody so I got up.

I learned a new term, that of “swamp cooler.” Alicia explained to me that it’s when air is blown over water (as opposed to refrigeration) for cooling.

Swamp coolers are what we had at the Madera District Fairgrounds. But we were told that two air-conditioning units were being brought in, so we had hopes that the days of the show would be better.

According to the Vibe it was 85º at 9:00 the next morning.

My neighbors were good buddies Shawn of the Rusty Crow and Alicia the Batty Lady.

The Rusty Crow, featuring “Anything Primitive and Scrappy.”

The Batty Lady can answer any question you may have about batting, and probably carries the type you want.

Shawn wished for a piña colada.

Alicia was frying eggs on the metal loading door.

Shawn had thermometers in her booth. Yes, that does read 90º inside.

Here were our two a/c units, demo models at a vendor booth on the other side of the building.

My knitting needles had been in the suitcase in the car.

As you can imagine, the crowds stayed away in droves. But there were some beautiful appliqué quilts in the show.

Celtic Spring by Virginia McClaren


Daisy Dance by Melinda Worstein


Civility by Barbara Haggard


And they had the loveliest retrospective displays I’ve ever seen.

The guild members were very supportive, bringing us cold water, encouraging us to take our time packing out, and helping us tear down. Thank you, ladies.

It was 105º as I headed home.

When I got to Casa de Fruta it was 92º and their chocolate goodies were melting and stuck together. I received a discount on my fudge-covered oreo.

By the time I got back to Santa Cruz it was 66º. I told Dana, “It’s freezing over here!” I was mighty glad to get home.

I hope you are staying cool,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie