Thinking outside appliqué

Wallhanging 9 1/2" x 23"

I just finished a small wallhanging using patterns from the book "3D Folded Blocks"  AQS books.  

This was a fun project and forced me to think outside my comfort zone (appliqué, appliqué, appliqué) and to try something I've never done before.  These traditional blocks are actually created by fabric folding; sort of like doing origami.  Once finished, I machine quilted the wallhanging using my walking foot and simple, geometric stitching lines.

Close up of 3D folded blocks

Easy hanging method

Instead of a hanging sleeve, I stitched 3" folded corner triangles to the back top side of the quilt just before adding the binding.  A narrow, flat wooden strip cut to size is slipped inside the triangles, and then I attached a small picture hanging hook.

Finished wallhanging hung on guest bathroom wall.

Opposite wall of bathroom with my color inspiration for wallhanging. 

Out of the Ordinary

 Detail "Oh, Mexico Beach"

2012 Jane Zillmer

To rev up some quilt excitement (winter gets long here in the Northwoods), I've entered this quilt in the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA .  This is a juried and judged show with great cash awards.

The show's theme is "Out of the Ordinary" and there is a separate award for best theme interpretation. A statement needs to be included in the application about how your art and specifically this quilt entry allows you to "escape the ordinary and enter the realm of extraordinary."  

Here's what I wrote about my quilt (approved by Katy my journalist daughter):

 

Designing a quilt starts with inspiration from the ordinary world around me; a passing idea or a thought is transformed into a lasting memento, something extraordinary.

Our many family vacations spent in Mexico Beach, Florida are now but a memory.  Here, in my quilt “Oh, Mexico Beach”, the most beautiful shore birds, the white sandy beaches, the aqua and bright blue waves of the Gulf of Mexico, bubbles and seaweed are all right there and I’m back on that beach with my family.

Flower Power Part 6

The current issue of Quilters Newsletter is "hot off the press" - as my daughter the editor would say.

Part 6 of Flower Power is included in this issue.  You can order back copies of the magazine and catch up before Part 7, the final pattern installment!  

I'd love to see your Flower Power quilts.  Email any photos to me.   

UFO Bucket List

I'm one of those people who keeps lists.  I carry a little notebook with me all the time and write everything down. This is in addition to my never ending shopping and grocery lists.  Love to cross things off those lists!  

Starting a new quilt ("December") is always exciting and fun, and while I usually do have several projects going at the same time, when they pile up (literally) and stare at me, I can't focus!  

I had the idea to clear all UFO's out of my immediate work space and store them in a plastic bin (UFO Bucket).  They'll be right around the corner in a closet, don't worry.  

Just to make sure I don't forget what's in the bin, I attached a UFO Bucket List, complete with bullets - for checking off as I complete them.  Hey, it's me.

 

Stitching heaven

Snowflake Block #1

I enjoy all aspects of applique and quilting, but machine applique stitching is my favorite.  

 "December" design and fabric selections are pretty certain and after sketching my first snowflake block: 

 

I then fused my appliques and started stitching:

December - full design idea and layout.  All nine snowflake blocks will be original and each one different, of course!

New beginnings

Fern and Rosy of the Woods.

 

 

Hi There!  Happy New Year!  Where have I been?  What have I been doing?  Funny, but I had to lead with this photo of our grand Golden Doodles posing during a romp in the woods on Christmas Day.

 

 

The Zillmers and Fahdens on a snowshoe trek.

 

The rest of us snowshoed behind the doodles and they seemed to know just where the trails led, though we did get a bit lost at one point.  It was a wonderful vacation with family spent right here on beautiful Echo Lake.

 

As great as it was, it was also great to get back to quilt world.  I had seriously neglected all of my projects, except for hand stitiching "Crimson Tweed"- pattern by Sue Spargo.  Yes, I did finish it, but it needs to be quilted.  No problem:  I'm doing well with my machine quilting if I do say so myself.

 

 

 

"Crimson Tweed" (pattern by Sue Spargo)

 

 

 

Before getting back to other projects such as designing 3 new quilts I have in mind, I simply had to finish machine quilting Etude.  I set a goal to have it finished by New Year's Day and I did actually complete the stitiching yesterday.  I'm ready to add the binding, hanging sleeve and label.

 

 

 

Etude pinned and ready to quilt

 

 

 

 

 Etude quilting complete.

 

 

To quilt the last couple of blocks, the sashings and the borders, I didn't use my Bernina Basic Stitch Regulator.  I used my #24 free motion foot, with stitch length and width set at 0 and I did not lower the feed dogs.  This is a trick I picked up from Leah Day's blog.  I have to admit, I like the feel of this method better than using the BSR.  Stitch quality and tension seem about equal. 

 

 

Regardless, I'm really happy to have this done.  Now it's on to new beginnings.  I won't be hibernating the winter away like some furry family members seem to be:

 

 

Leo and Lily sleep the day away.

 













New Fons and Porter ebook Review

I've been asked to review the new ebook:  "Build Your Best Log Cabin" from Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting.  I was interested immediately as the log cabin block has always been one of my favorites.  

The ebook is concise and easy to read with beautiful color photos throughout.  You'll find an antique quilt example of each of three log cabin favorites: Traditional, Courthouse Steps and Chevron.  Also included are different setting options and charts to cut strips for each of these blocks in a number of different block sizes, so you can easily design your own quilt and layout. 

 

Antique Chevron Log Cabin owned by Sara Miller



Would you like patterns to make new and unique log cabin quilts using these three traditional styles?  There are four complete patterns by well known quilt artists included for you to try.
.

 

"Bears in Berties Log Cabin" by Ricki Tims

 

Projects are rated per difficulty from easy to challenging. I especially like the color graphics and easy to read charts, the log cabin tips and bonus features including:  bobbin work with trapunto, binding with piping, and Liz's lumpless binding.  The instructions for these techniques are displayed tutorial style with up close photos and excellent how-tos.

I will refer to the lumpless binding tutorial often, as Liz's technique is the best!

This ebook will inspire you to explore the timeless beauty and versatility of the log cabin block. I have often combined applique with log cabin blocks: note the setting chart for "lights and darks" on page 4. The light space is perfect for applique!

With permission, here's the link for you to receive your own free copy of this ebook:

http://www.fonsandporter.com/landing/free-log-cabin-quilt-patterns 

 



 

 

 

December

My favorite month, December in the north woods, is upon me. In all it's darkness and brightness, I love each day.  Christmas is of course, a big part of it, but instead of falling into the  shopping and celebrating mania, I enjoy the real beauty and peace that December is.

December has inspired a new quilt project.  The photo above is a layout design from my EQ program with some basic color plans.  I've changed the design and colors several times, but I think this is it.  The center stars will be my own snowflake designs (each different of course!) and the snowflakes will be made up of leaves, flowers, branches etc.  The dark green circle segments represent the color of dark winter pines. All the colors will be rather dark, with gray tones.  The snowflakes will stand out in whites and very light grays, and I'll add some blue maybe at the center snowflakes to represent the brilliant blue sky when it does pop out.  

Winter is my favorite time to be outside walking or snowshoeing in the woods.  Nature never disappoints.  Trumpeter swans made a brief appearance on Echo Lake the other morning.  The sun was shining brilliantly.  

This morning the weather is snowy, gray and very windy; the lake looks completely different.  An otter takes the place of the swans in this next photo (black blob).  Earlier, an osprey like huge bird was in the same spot, soon to be chased away by an eagle.  

I've finished the hand applique on my Crimson Tweed wall hanging and now it's on to the borders. 

More wool applique

It seems I've been on vacation.  Not really, but we did spend Thanksgiving  in Minneapolis with our wonderful family, and the weekend before that I was gone to an out of town wedding.

After finally  finishing my shore birds quilt, I wanted and needed a break, a diversion.  So, I began this wall hanging "Crimson Tweed" from the book by the same name, author Sue Spargo https://www.suespargo.com/.

I have combined hand wool applique with cotton raw edge machine appliques.  I'm adding embroidered embellishments as I go along.  There will also be appliqued borders.  Will I finish it  before Christmas?  Hmmmm.... I do love the folk art designs and it's really been fun to stitch.

Also, I hand stitched a couple of bird ornaments of my design for our quilt group's annual Christmas tree which will be raffled for the Manitowish Waters Library.  The theme this year was simply "red and white" and all ornaments are hand made by group members.  We decorated the tree today and it's beautiful.

Meanwhile, my next large quilt is brewing in my head.  More on that later.  

Over the Waves

"Oh, Mexico Beach"

 86" x 86"

Jane Zillmer

Also known as "Shore Birds",  and at times "The Beast",  this quilt is finally finished.  Better photos will be taken when my new camera arrives and I find a non windy day to hang it outside and take pictures.

The skewed edges you see are caused by a slight breeze when I took this photo early this morning.   Prior to this, the border edges were just plain wavy.  Made me seasick.  Now, I know that the theme of this quilt is ocean and beach, but those kinds of waves are not desirable.

This set me into a panic. Who knew you needed to block a quilt after it's been quilted?  I always skip those chapters in my books.  With some excellent advice from Diane Gaudynski, hours of consternation (get my quilt WET?) and finally, just using common sense (as Diane advises), I accomplished what I set out to do.  After removing my first binding, blocking the entire quilt - twice - squaring and remarking a new outer edge, reattaching a new binding and doing a final block, it is as square and lovely as can be.. 

I first blogged about my inspiration and fabric choices for this quilt in January, 2012.  This is my Big Quilt for the year.  For the past 7 years, it has been my goal and pleasure to complete one large quilt each year.  Of course there have also been many small projects and patterns completed, and oh yes... a book written.  But I always have one major quilt in the works.  Most of these quilts are professionally long arm quilted.  "Oh, Mexico Beach" was quilted by Lisa Arndt.

Why do I make these big quilts?  First of all, I love looking at big quilts.  And I love the challenge of  designing and completing these quilts which each tell a story about something in my life. I guess they are big stories to tell. 

And for 2013?  That quilt is still just in my head. 

Wool work

Maybe it's just that time of year, when my thoughts turn to wool. Like wool socks every day. Or maybe I just need some small projects to work on while still tackling The Big Ones.  More about that another day.

This pillow was so much fun to make.  After gathering leaves on one of my walks, I dried and pressed them as usual.  I thought I'd just lay them out on graph paper and let an idea come to me......  

... a really nice, cushy warm pillow done in my hand dyed felted wool.  I usually stitch wool applique by hand , but I stitched these leaves by machine with a straight stitch around the edges and then added vein details to the leaves also by machine.  I like the effect.

First Showing

Hello!

"Carla Rose, Katy Marie" made it's first showing at the Treasures of Tomorrow quilt show held last weekend in Marshfield, WI.  And it received a very nice third place award in the Master Quilters category.  

I've been entering and attending this show for many years.  It's a chance for me to spend the day with my good old friend Jan (She's not old, she's my long time friend).

It was a very nice show, good vendors and all around a lovely day.  

Workshop

Dresden Basket 22" x 22" by Jane Zillmer

I had a wonderful time leading an applique workshop yesterday sponsored by Mercer's Small Town Quilt group, and I'd like to thank them for asking me!  We met at the spacious and well lit Manitowish Waters Community Center.

19 ladies joined me for a busy day learning my applique technique.  "Dresden Basket" was the chosen pattern.  Each quilter brought their own fabrics; some chose colors similar to the pattern and others went a completely different direction.  It was really great to see the results.  Several ladies had never done applique and one honestly expressed a "fear of applique".  Not uncommon. We did run out of time and just touched on my stitching technique.  I'll follow up with anyone who'd like more help with this. I had planned to get some photos, and didn't get to that either!

I am always impressed by the quilting knowledge and experience among the group, but even the most seasoned said they learned something - the ultimate compliment to a teacher.  

Colorful award

Can you stand another blog post about Flower Power?  Well, what the heck, I need to share this:

Flower Power won the Best Use of Color award in the Traditional Quilts category at the Santa Clara, California Pacific International Quilt Festival last week.  I'm really pleased to have been bestowed this honor. The judges understood what my quilt is all about.  It's fun and colorful!

A quilter friend told me recently that my quilts look "doable" to the average quilter.  They are not show stoppers, or over-the-top, make your mouth drop quilts.  

Thanks, I agree. 

Little by little

I first blogged about this UFO 2 years ago.  This quilt is from a pattern by Piece O' Cake Designs titled "Stars in the Garden".  I machine appliqued the blocks using various decorative stitches years ago and have been hand quilting it little by little ever since.  I use Perle Cotton and a modified "big stitch" for my hand quilting.

I have one more block to finish after this one, plus the borders.  It is always out staring me in the face saying "work on me, work on me" and when the mood hits me, I do work on it.  I've thought about scrapping the whole thing or farming it out (where?) but no, I really love this quilt and someday, it will be finished.

Hand quilting is actually relaxing.  Sometimes it's just exactly what I need.

Etude

This is the full sampler quilt (UFO) I've been machine quilting -  shown here pin basted before I started quilting it.

When I blogged about my quilting progress last week, my daughter Katy, the quintessential journalist asked me what the title of this quilt is.  Title?  I hadn't even thought about a title, while usually I name my quilts as I'm working on them

I made this quilt years ago to "practice" my hand piecing skills as I intend this quilt to be a class model for beginning quilters some day. Then I decided to "practice" my machine quilting to finish it. Each block is different and would force me to try different free motion designs. 

What to name this quilt..... "etude" came to mind.  I remembered practicing etudes for my piano lessons. 

The actual definition of etude from thefreedictionary.com:  A piece composed for the development of a specific point of technique   2. A composition featuring a point of technique but performed because of its artistic merit.

Perfect!

Graduation

It's official:  I have given myself a diploma and I can stop "practicing" my machine quilting.  Permission granted to actually machine quilt any quilt I want to. How long have I been at this??

Not that high honors have been bestowed on my machine quilting, but I've reached an acceptable level.  And more importantly, I've relaxed enough to just be able to sit down and "do it already" without agonizing and overthinking.  

I only have 6 blocks left to quilt in this sampler, plus the sashings.  But is it "show quality"?  You're darn right it is!