French Bouquet in JUMP-START YOUR QUILTING

You have seen snippets over the past year…

But now, you see it in its entirety! My French Bouquet mini quilt is officially published in one of House of White Birches newest book, “Jump-start Your Quilting” (edited by Jeanne Stauffer).

This 16″ x 16″ mini wholecloth/applique combo wallhanging was designed with a home machine quilter in mind. A 16″ square is just about the perfect size for someone who wants to do a bit of practicing on fancy quilting using their home machine.

The fabrics are mainly from RJR‘s Fancy Hill Farm collection, except for the beige background that’s from Robert Kaufman‘s Radiance cotton/silk line.

Quilting was done with YLI Silk 100 (Color 239) over Hobbs Wool Batt because I wanted to highlight the feather quilting in the center of my floral wreath.

If desired, you can also quilt or embroider a monogram in the center instead of doing the feather quilting. The feather quilting motif is my original design adapted from an antique Persian floral cluster. It is printed in the book for quilters to use on their quilts.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Click here to find out how I popped my applique:

I love it anytime I get to do dense quilting – therefore making French Bouquet a most enjoyable project! I hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I had enjoyed quilting it.

From time to time, I am asked about the stitches I use for my applique. Come back tomorrow for a tell-all! Meanwhile, I wish you a beautiful day!

Logged: 10.5 hours

I had wanted to work on my Mary Wigham over the weekend. But I remembered I have my “Spanning three centuries” quilt languishing somewhere in my stash. I certainly didn’t mean for it to wait three centuries to be completed. So, I hunkered down and worked on it for a few hours. Here is what I have after a total of 10 1/2 hours:

I am actually showing you the back because it looks prettier than the front at the moment. The front has fabric marking allover that it is hard to see what’s being quilted:

Feather quilting is ABSOLUTELY addictive! I didn’t want to quit after I got started! There’s just something about these feathers!

Have a great day everyone. I hope you have a fantastic day.

p.s. You may click here to read about why I had named this quilt “Spanning Three Centuries.”

Logged: 6 hours

Good day, everyone!  A quickie to show you the progress on my “Spanning Three Centuries” quilt.  So far, 6 hours have gone into the quilting:

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!  See you next week!

Joining the QUILT FESTIVAL Fun

Amy of Park City Girl is hosting her first annual Quilt Festival, and thought I couldn’t miss out on the fun! “Select your favorite quilt, make sure you have a good picture of it and go post about it! It doesn’t matter what size, style, or era it is from – there’s no judging here :) In your post tell your quilt’s story.”

It’s hard for me to have to pick a favorite quilt because all the projects I have worked on end up being special to me in their own way. The most meaningful quilt I have made, however, is my interpretation of Mrs. Susan Nokes McCord “Harrison’s Rose Urn” (circa 1860) for a wholecloth. This is Mrs. McCord’s quilt:

This is my wholecloth interpretation:

Both works are in honor of our 9th President, President William Henry Harrison, also the grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison:

I added an “H” to the urn as a monogram, and a grouse silhouette to commemorate the President’s favorite past time, grouse-hunting. The President named his house “Grouseland” — that’s how serious about grouse hunting! :)

You can see the background stippling compared to the size of a penny:

The quilt top is a cotton/silk blend, quilted with silk thread over a wool batt. Finished size is about 13 inches square:

It won first place in the 2008 Grouseland Festival of Quilts Old Tippecanoe Block Challenge. It is now part of a permanent collection displayed in the Grouseland Mansion. If you are a subscriber to “The Quilter” magazine, you might have also seen it in their March 2009 issue:

Thank you for stopping by. If this is your first visit, I would like you to stay a bit longer and look at my other favorite quilts. Please leave a comment – that way I can visit you back! Have a lovely day!

Back to feather quilting

I am still waiting for fabrics to come in for my upcoming magazine quilts. That means, I have some time to work on my “Spanning Three Centuries” wholecloth quilt. One of these days, I will get it done…

Truth be known, this is a practice quilt. I want to eventually re-do the entire quilt in some kind of silky fabric.

Alrightie, my friends, back to my sewing machine. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! See you next week!

2008 Old Tippecanoe Block Challenge Winners

Since I was not able to personally attend the award ceremony for the 2008 Festival of Quilts Old Tippecanoe Block Challenge at Vincennes, Indiana, I was pleased to see that Grouseland Foundation finally has the pictures of the other winning blocks!  I would love to have seen these blocks in person, but for now, the pictures would suffice…

[My block is very similar to the 2nd place applique block that I had adapted it for a wholecloth interpretation.  You can see close-up pictures of my block here]

I have since made Jane Stamper’s acquaintance — she won first place in the applique and second place in the pieced categories.   The amazing thing about her work is that she does EVERYTHING by hand!!!  I am a machine gal when it comes to quilting, so anyone who pieces and quilts by hand is simply impressive to me!

Happy Stitching, everyone!

Bernina’s THROUGH THE NEEDLE (Issue 28)

I received my complimentary copies of “Through the Needle” over the weekend. Bernina didn’t just send me one or two copies – I received SIX copies (I smell a giveaway once things settle down for me)!!! And kudos to the editorial staff for a job well done. The magazine turned out to be very eye-catching!

I had seen the draft sent to me for final review, but it is NOTHING like seeing the real thing:

Here are more pillow shots:

Back of pillow – the fabric was one of those that I just couldn’t pass up at the quilt shop:

Click here if you happened to miss the previous post.

[Through the Needle will feature another article on me sometime next year. Stay tuned! I think it’s going to be really fun working on that project. This project will be done with the help of Rogers Sewing Center. You may contact Rogers Sewing Center for more information. You may also contact me should you be interested in a custom-made pillow like the one shown.]

I WON!!!!

I received the following comment on my Harrison Urn Quilt Block from Jane in Indiana on Friday —

“I had just come home from the Grouseland Quilt Show because I had won a place in the challenge. And wouldn’t you know, it was your block who beat me!! Congratulations on your first place winning in piecework!! I had placed second in piecework, also!! I was, also, blown away at you work. Beautiful!!! I had consequently found your blog a few days ago and saw your block there. I had to go today to see who beat me, and when I saw that it was yours, I wasn’t really that surprised. Your work is wonderful!”

I was excited and surprised and feeling a bit unsure about the news at the time, because I hadn’t heard anything official from the organizers…

Jane assured me that I had indeed won in emails we exchanged later, but still no official word from the organizers…

Then, this afternoon after we returned from church, a message on the answering machine confirmed my FIRST PLACE win in the Pieced Category at the Grouseland Festival of Quilts Old Tippecanoe Block Challenge held in Vincennes, Indiana on October 10th and 11th, 2009. Later in a phone conversation with Judy Morton representing the organizers, I was told that my quilt block will be displayed in Grouseland, with the possibility of being part of a traveling exhibit as well. I was also told that the winning entries will be featured in “The Quilter” magazine. What an honor this is in my short quilting journey!

Right when I was about to publish this post, I received an email from Jane. She went back the following day and took pictures of my block with the blue ribbon (bottom left corner). Jane had won second place in the “Pieced” Category, and first place in the “Applique” Category (top left corner, and bottom middle are Jane’s blocks – stunning!). Thanks bunches, Jane!

As I let the news soak in, I am thankful for many that have encouraged me beyond measure in my quilting journey:

1. My Lord and King – without Him, I am nothing. Indeed, “I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” (Psalm 16:2)

2. My husband – he was the person who had first planted the bug of “you ought to try sewing” in my ear ever since we were newly married eons ago (well, not that looong!). I was an engineering student at the time and later proceeded to work in the field of Chemical Engineering for about seven years, and had NEVER had any interest to sew in my whole life. Nonetheless, he is always supportive in all my learning opportunities. He certainly was and still is in all my heirloomy pursuits — always with constructive ideas!

3. Barbara – my quilting teacher, mentor, close friend who is also a fellow Jane Austen fan. If it weren’t for her teaching me in my first quilt (which is an applique and pieced quilt, can you believe the naiveté for someone who has never sewn?), I wouldn’t have learned the love of quilting. I tell her that every quilt that gets any recognition is a tribute to her.

4. Annelle – my heirloom sewing teacher who is never discouraging in any way. Sharing our love for heirloom together has been an incredible journey.

5. Dan and Rhonda of Rogers Sewing Center – they have been invaluable to me as friends. They have helped and encouraged me tremendously ever since the day I purchase my machine from them. Through the Sewing Center, I have also made many sweet friends with whom I have forged great friendships. There’s just something when I can talk sewing with another person.

6. My sister – very very different from me, but she is never too busy to stop and oooh-and-aaah about anything I make!

7. I am certainly thankful to the bloggy friends I have made through this blog. Thank you for your ever encouraging words about my work. Your comments often brighten my day while I take my breaks from working at my sewing machine. I always make a point to respond to every comment either by email or visiting you on your blog if you have one.

Song of Williamsburg

The wholecloth-style quilting is one of my favorite kinds of quilting because one could really showcase some dense and beautiful feather quilting motifs.

Now that it’s completed, I am pleased to show you “Song of Williamsburg”. Was this like anything you had imagined when you read Border Smart a few days ago? The quilting motif in the center cotton sateen block is original and was inspired by an 18th century bird bottle found in Colonial America.

The entire quilt is quilted with silk thread. You can see from the closeup shot that I had added some French knots for added interest to the piece.

I wish you a beautiful and blessed day, brightened by bird-ly songs!

p.s. The pattern of the quilting motif will be available for purchase some time next week.