Blanket Statements Exhibit

Gallery Views

This weekend I was able to visit the "Blanket Statements" quilt exhibit at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

The exhibit features 15 historic quilts from the UK Quilters Guild Collection (dating 1780-1949) as well as 20 quilts by Kaffe Fassett (and team).  Kaffe is a patron of the Quilters Guild and worked with their curator to select quilts from their collection for interpretation.

The exhibit is a stunning collection of quilts spanning 236 years - all successfully combined in brilliant color.

Can you find the antique in the trio?
Hearts and Crosses Coverlet, Organic Radiation
and Citris Zigzag Ribbon

The antique quilts are displayed by the interpretations so viewers can make comparisons as they enjoy the quilts.

Two Books Are Available:
Kaffe Fassett's Heritage Quilts
Includes beautiful colored photos of all of the quilts in the exhibit as well as patterns for the interpretations.

Blanket Statements
Exhibit Catalog is a 32 page full color catalog
The 6"x 9" booklet is laid out with the quilts paired when the book is open for easy analysis.
Contact the gift shop HERE.

The museum also has a companion exhibit, "Pattern Pieces:  Can You Make A Quilt Out of Wood?

Some of my favorite wood pieces were by artist Laura Petrovich- Cheney.

Laura works with selvaged wood from hurricane Sandy creating these beautiful pieces of art.  Great color, texture and design.

Can you tell she also quilts?

Rustic Checkerboard Medallion by Sidmouth Quilt

The exhibit at The Michener Art Museum runs through February 21.
It then travels to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.  Exhibit dates there are March 12 - June 28.

Be sure to check for any Educational Programs during the exhibits.

English and American Quilts - 12/1 - Jean Lury
Piecing Together Cultures - 12/15 - Patricia Herr
(Sign up in advance with the museum)

I hope you get a chance to enjoy the quilts as much as I did.



Get the Free Blanket Statements Mobile App (Crowd Funded) at Google Play or Apple's App Store
       Listen to other quilters as they view the quilts.
My Kaffe Quilts HERE
Nancy's Quilts with Kaffe Fabrics HERE
Our Radical Rose pattern in Kaffe Prints HERE
More on the Exhibit HERE
Next Stop - San Jose HERE

Bonus Photos:

Earthy Herringbone Stripes, Chevron Strippy, Sunshine Herringbone Stripes

Ridehalgh Quilt, 1860-1890
Silk, Brocade and Velvet, each piece outlined in gold silk braid
All hand sewn

Detail from Sunset Stripes

Have a great week!
Dawn

Catherine's Garden BOM Month Eleven

I have been busy in the studio working on my second and third colorway of our 2015 Catherine's Garden BOM.  Since I have three block sets completed, I want to finish them all differently.  This week I focused on the dots.

This involved digging in the stash - deep.  I have been able to mix some reproduction fabrics in with the brights, pastels and Kaffe prints. The oldest print I used in a yellow pin dot from 1985 - really!

I would love to have your opinions - fresh eyes please.

I will most likely machine quilt the blue dots, and want to use fabrics that compliment the appliqué.  I am fairly certain I will add a busy print border, I did the appliqued border on the first two.

So, here we go....

I am keeping the layout the same - 4 x 4 applique blocks, but will mix up the order of the blocks.

I like the Kaffe print for the border, do you?

I am thinking of using the prints from the applique for the alternate blocks.  Are they too much?  Do prints help the applique detail pop?
What would Catherine think of her 1855 flowers?

Or, is keeping it all 'dotty' better?
There would be texture in the alternate block after quilting.  Is it more soothing to the eye with the pastel Kaffe print?
I think I've decided, then looking this morning I changed my mind again.

Your thoughts please?  TIA for taking time to leave a comment.

Month eleven blocks are posted HERE.
Have a great weekend!
Dawn

Mosaic Columns Quilt A Colorful Journey

I need a name

I love textiles, not just reproduction fabrics and antiques, so quilts with lots of fabrics appeal to me.

Before I get into the details of my Mosaic Columns quilt, meet this SOK guy.

My DD and I were at the LQS and just had to buy the book, 'Stray Sock Sewing' by Daniel.  We were laughing out loud at the photography - the designs are a delight, and well - - the book came home with us...  We headed directly to the store and bought a bag full of baby and children's socks.  DD made several for gifts, and I managed to snag this 'guy with attitude' who sits on my desk.

Mosaic Columns

This is a Kaffe Fassett design 'Mosaic Columns' from the book 'A Colorful Journey.  ISBN 1-904485-07-3
It uses more then 25 prints in a beautiful queen size explosion of color.

The fabrics, including the back and binding were a gift from my DH, who bravely located the book in my sewing room, took it to the LQS, and had them package it all up.

It is machine pieced and I also machine quilted it.

Last year we had a house professionally staged for sale, and THE STAGER had me put most of my quilts away.  We won't discuss what happened in my studio...

Anyway - this quilt got to stay out, and was used to stage a pink girl's room.  It glowed.  And yes, the buyers had a little girl who got that room.

Every quilt can use red?

It even uses deep red in the pallet.  It was a good exercise to use the pallet in the book because I would not have selected the red.  Now I know better!

This basket is filled with loose buttons, so I scooped some red ones out for the photo...

The little red scissors are very light weight steel with tremendous sharp tips.  I bought them in the 1980's when I was heavy into cut thread work like Hardanger.

Color Pallet

Perhaps everything old is new again.
Checkout the pallet of colors in this old set of mending cotton.   Priced at 2 cents...

The 10 colors are 25 yards each, and are labeled "Mercerized Mending Cotton" from the Heminway and Bartlett Mfg. Co. Watertown, Connecticut Made in the U.S.A.

Instructions to darn a hole are on the back of the package with an illustration.  I wonder what two colors she used up?  White & Ecru?

Fishy Fishy

This is my little fish sewing bag.  Isn't the batik nice with the prints?  The pattern is in the book, 'Omiyage:  Handmade Gifts from Fabric in the Japanese Tradition', also a great book for fun little gifts.  I made several items from this book.

Also playing on the quilt are a pair of my scissoroos, and some silk thread from an applique project I had sitting near by.

Kind of a global combination, Australian designed scissors made in Italy, by the Japanese designed fish, made of batik from?, and the Kaffe design...

Shell Buttons

I thought the colors in this sewing set looked nice on the quilt too.  These are little themed 'books' that slide open like match boxes.  Each is 'titled' with a sewing supply it contains.  The bottom drawer opens to reveal scissors and thimble.

I don't think it was ever used.
Each little book/box is still full, including the shell buttons I sprinkled on the quilt.

The scissors have no maker marks but are pretty nice for a mending 'kit' and still very sharp.

Supply Drawer

Closeup of the scissors and thimble in the drawer.

Note the little circle drawer pull so carefully attached with a ribbon loop.

I'm thinking, 1940's?  Any ideas?

Use Color Today

And here's the gang....

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope your day is sunny and bright!

Radical Rose

Original Quilt from our Collection 

We love seeing quilters making projects with our patterns.
Our 'Radical Rose' has been a popular pattern for us.
One of my favorite things is seeing the fabric selections, and how they add their own personal choices.
Since we published the pattern, a few blocks and one similar quilt have turned up.  They appear to be "newer" and have the look of a "traced" pattern where the shapes and lines are thinker and less pronounced.  We are proud of the accuracy of our pattern to the 19th century original in our collection.
We also include all of the detailed original quilting lines.

Kelly's Dot Version

Kelly at Pinkadot Quilts blog is using Dots! (Here).
You can read about her process, trying a new to her technique and some changes she might make.

She also has additional photos and steps on her Instagram feed - pinkadotquilts

She's aiming for a modern, yet traditional - I think she's nailed it.
Dots are a favorite of mine, I think Kelly has a winner with her project!  Don't you?

A Pair of Janet's Blocks

Janet at Mrs Sew n' Sew blog (HERE)
Has her version of Radical Rose moving along nicely.
Janet, like me, rotates between projects - fun in variety for us.

She is making her blocks in scrappy fabrics, sticking to traditional red and green prints.
Another beautiful interpretation.

My Kaffe Version

The pattern also looks wonderful in fabrics like
Kaffe Fassett.

This smaller version is also available in the pattern package.

I like how the border blocks create s secondary pattern.

I machine quilted this wall hanging and bring it to my workshops.

Karen's Wool Version

Karen, Log Cabin Quilter  (HERE)
Made a table mat in wool.

It too is very popular, and I bring it to workshops.

She walks you through the appliqué method she used in the linked blog post.  It gets RAVE responses when I show it.

She used the smaller of the two block sizes in the pattern.  It has a finished edge and not quilting - a beauty!

I also have some blocks completed in indigo.

So rich, for this variation I left iff the floral arms - yes, make it your own!






Thank you for following along this 'Radical Rose' journey.
If you finished one, and would like it featured, please let me know - I would love to share your work.
If you have one started - We would love to share it as well!

Link to Pattern HERE
Link to Pattern Release post (HERE)

Have a great week!
Dawn

Proud Finishes

Some wonderful finishes to share.

Florence finished her Catherine's Garden quilt.

She used reproduction fabrics.
Hand Applique
Hand Quilting - following the original quilting lines shown on the pattern.  She then went back in and added even more!

Isn't it beautiful?
Three years on and off with other projects in between , including moving.

For the ground fabric she used 'Lately Arrived' by Barbara Brackman from her stash.

She reports it was especially nice to hand quilt and she wished she bought more.

All cotton batting.
She quilts in a hoop - the same hoop she's enjoyed for the past 30 years of quilting.

The center of her quilt.

 "I will say it was the most fun quilting project ever - the background fabric was just wonderful for quilting and so much space quilt on and I just kept adding more and more!"

It was fun to see photos of Flo's quilt as she worked on it.  It was an honor for us to have a collector of magnificent antique quilts, make one of ours.

Thank you Flo for sharing your work!

Lee Anne has her Calico Paradise ready for quilting.

She is planning to hand quilt, possibly with pearl cotton and maybe a big stitch.

She had a very special red that is hard to find for the border.  In order to stretch it, she added 8 blocks to the border.
Great look!!

Lee Anne you captured the original look perfectly - thanks for sharing.

Send more photos of the quilting, we'd love to see it.

The choice of fabrics is perfect.

They sparkle in the summer sunshine.

There is a new line of fabrics due out soon - similar color ways perfect for this quit - stay tuned for more details this summer.  I'm particularly interested in the double blue - could be stock up time!

Joy shared her quilt all hand stitched by her.
She combined three or four old patterns in a way that appealed to her.

It measures 71" x 71"

Perfect to hang behind a king size bed.  She has a king size Pot of Flowers/Pride of Iowa quilt she has planned.  What a room that will be!

The fabrics are all from a reproduction fabric line from Laurene Sinema of Phoenix.

This quilt was exhibited in Chicago and Houston in 2017 in "Traditional Appliqué".

Joy uses wool batting.

Incredible quilting - look at the wonderful texture!

Thank you for sharing Joy!

Pip has her Calico Paradise well under way. I have ALWAYS wanted to see this quilt in
Kaffe/Brights.

She swapped out some of the madder for turquoise.

Don't you love the multi colored leaves?

For the very center she used a classic Kaffe print.

Fun combination of dots and stripes!

Pip lives in Australia. I often think about the original maker and how she would have marveled at our fabrics and the distance we can share our quilting projects.





The color glows!
Love the variety of prints and how they all work together.

Thanks to all the quilters who shared their beautiful work.
Email me if you have photos you would like me to share.

Happy Stitching!
Dawn

Happy 2012 and WINNERS

95" x 95"    Spiral Circle VIV

Happy 2012!

Thank all for your suggestions on how to re-do my colorful circle!
SO many great options.


I chose Kaffe Fassett Millefiore (GP 92) Blue as the ground surround.  The assorted circles are all prints from the center piecing - and include many Kaffe's, including the Millefiore in other colorways.


We've patterned this VIV (Vortex In Variation) separately - numbering the paper pieces for 37 fabrics!





I have two fat quarter 12 packs for the giveaway from the comments HERE.

RNG 1: Stitches
RNG 2:  Yankee Quilter

email me your snail mail addresses and I'll send the fabric out Tuesday!

I wish you and yours ALL THE BEST IN 2012!!

Catherine's May Block

The first of the month already!
Of course I posted the Catherine Gardens BOM file early, and of course many of you already found it...HERE

Here is a variation I made on April's block.
Rather than applique all of the stamens on the orange set, I used an embroidery chain stitch for the side two.  I little french knot at the top finished them off.

I am loving all of the color ways.  I have several finishing ideas - unique for each of my versions.

The dotty set got some fussy cutting.  I decided I wanted my stripe petals to all orient in, so cut each separately.  A little more work, but in this case worth it.

This 'stamen' print is also making an appearance in several leaf blocks.  I love it!

The green is an Art Gallery fabric from their Paradise Collection.

In other blocks, I took some liberties fussy cutting rather than layering up colored circles.

This oval is from one of my favorite Kaffe fabrics that has been printed in numerous color ways.  'Milleflore'

Excuse my design wall.  The flash caused the printing on the foam board to show through.

This is my yellow ground set.  They won't be set this way.  I still have not decided on the ground fabric.  I know it will be green.  All one green?  Scrappy green?

Another stitcher started a yellow set, she found a wonderful Moda Bella solid called 'Mustard'.  It is beautiful!

So many great choices!!

Since I decided to make several color ways of the blocks, I'm not caught up on the second and third colorways.

This is the dotty set.

I pulled these out of the notebook just for you to see.  I have several basted up and ready for summer travel.

I'm using, blues, pinks, turquoise and a wonderful lime green.  Also switching up some of the color placement in this set.

The orange set I went crazy basting on all the blocks and skipped around through the block sequence.  I have some basting done on every block, I just didn't pull them out for you - yet.

Have you seen Karen's set?  HERE, she posted all of her pink and brown blocks.  She also has her ground pieces in place so you can see the flowers 'anchored'.
Lovely!

Have a great Week!
Dawn

Block files are available HERE.

Road To California Quilt Show 2012

Here are some of the quilts from Road To California.  I only had a small amount of time.  There is a link below to the winners.  I took some photos of some to share with you.

Another great show!
Hats off to all quilters who enter their work in shows and all of the volunteers who make the shows possible.

From the Nancy Mahoney Special Exhibit:

1930's Ozark Tiles 60" x 80"

Tag Text: Author's Collection (Nancy Mahoney)   Hand quilted by Laura Lipski
The shades of blue which radiate from the center of the quilt starting with pale blue to a royal blue adds interest to the viewer's eye.  She likely designed the layout of this pattern without a design wall.

1930's Ozark Snowball 70" x 84"

Tag Text:  Author's Collection (Nancy Mahoney)  Hand Quilted by Laura Lipski

This was an old quilt top I bought many years ago at a flea market in Mass.  It is pieced with old feedsack fabric and the squares subtly set the busy patterns in the blocks.  This was pieced by hand during the depression but I think it's a very happy quilt with all of the pastel colors that were used.  Laura left the natural edge and appliqued the edge to the border.

1930's Snowball Quilt 70" x 84"
Authors Collection
Hand quilted by Laura Lipski

Tag Text:  An antique top I purchased many years ago.  The special appeal was the 'left over' star scraps the quilter used to border the quilt.  Laura kept the natural edge and blind stitched it to the backing fabric.  The choice of solid and printed feed sack prints makes this a cheerful quilt.

1860's Ozark Tile 80" 80"

Tag Text: Author's Collection (Nancy Mahoney)   Hand quilted by Laura Lipski
This quilt was pieced with scraps from men's shirting and other household clothing.  Most of the center squares are shades of red and burgundy, sometimes thought to be the fire reflecting the warmth of a home.  Notice a few of the center squares are pieced from flannel fabric.

Baltimore In The Provence Eileen Heck Somis CA

Tag Text:  Hand Appliqued and hand quilted by Eileen.
The inspiration came from French Toile fabric with its pastoral scenes.  When a piece of sheep fabric was given to me by a friend this was the beginning of Baltimore in the Provence.
Maker's Original Design
Traditional Applique Ribbon Winner

The Bizzy Bird Farm Julee Prose Ottumwa IA

Tag Text:  Since it is so heavily appliqued (660 Circles), I did the same with the hand quilting, using curly Q's and outlining.  Much 'fussy' cutting with Kaffe Fasset fabrics.  Changed the outside border from the original pattern by adding cats, many birds and one goat.  There is so much to look at, thus the name Bizzy Bird Farm.
Traditional Applique
Kim McLean Pattern?

I have to tell you - the quilt below - about 4" or 5" blocks!! stunning hand quilting too...

Mon Petit Maltimore  Susie Wimer  Ranson WV

Tag Text:  I love 19th century style applique, but did not want to make a quilt using someone elses pattern.  I didn't plan this quilt.  I started by making one small block, then another, using fabric left from other projects.  I loved letting the designs emerge, using themes from antique albums and other 19th century genres.  For the cutouts I just put scissors to paper and experimented.  The quilting took two months, stitching everyday.

Traditional Applique Ribbon Winner

Makers Original Design

Detail of fourth block last row - about a 4" block!!

A Thousand and One Berries?  Charlotte Schoonover Rapid City SD

 Tag Text:  I enjoy hand applique and fell in love with Susan Garman's pattern "The Lily Roseberry Quilt"   I did add the scallop border which made the quilt pop.  It is machine quilted on my Bernina 180.
Commercial Pattern:  The Lily Rosenberry Quilt by Susan Garman   (Link below)

Civil War Bride Janice Hartmen Gilbert AZ

Tag Text:  I had been collecting civil war fabric and fell in love with this quilt and its history when I saw it on the Internet.  I enjoy hand applique.  It was fun choosing fabric for each block.

Innovative Applique

(The authorized book is listed below)

There was also a special exhibit by the McLean Quilters (Virginia).
As part of a guild challenge they were asked to take a 1940s quilt block and use it as the inspiration for a new quilt.  The vintage blocks were taken from two sets.  The link below will take you to their photo album.
Thanks to fabulous sponsors this exhibit is able to travel!

I could never be a quilt show judge - could you?

Have a great week!!

Links:
Road to California Winners 2012 HERE
Nancy Mahoney HERE
McLean Quilters Unlimited Special Exhibit - Vintage Revisted HERE
   Also HERE (Scroll to the bottom)
Lily Rosenberry Pattern HERE
Official Civil War Bride/Bride of Paradise Book HERE
Kim McLean Patterns HERE