Classes and a new pet.

I've been taking a couple of classes at Quilt University lately. One is helping me learn more about the EQ6 program and all that it can do. This class is taught by Fran Gonzalez and has really pushed me to learn more about EQ6. QU has a series of four classes that you can take, I've taken two so far. She walks you through creating blocks so you can learn something new with each block. I really had no idea how complex this program is.

I am also taking Gutta Resist on Silk right now. This class is taught by Marjie McWilliams. I've taken a number of classes taught by Marjie. She is a dedicated and fun teacher, always willing to answer any question. I have never used gutta before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I like silk but don't use it often in what I make. So, this was a step outside the box for me. I've done two of the four lessons so far. This is the sampler I made in the first lesson. The second lesson is still drying on my stretcher bars.

My son has a new pet. I have to admit when he said he was getting this, I was a little skeptical. It didn't sound like a fun pet to me. It does have a very cute face, and he is taking care of it (I told him I wouldn't). He is having trouble thinking of a name. Any suggestions? He doesn't want the obvious 'Sonic' (as in sonic the hedgehog video game).

Have a creative day! Janet

My favorite quilt for the Blogger's quilt festival

I decided to enter a quilt in the online quilt festival.  I needed to write about my favorite quilt in my blog and link it to the festival.  Hope you enjoy the show.

I have two or three quilt's that are my favorites.  They were all made within the last two years.  I joined Minnesota Contemporary Quilter's about a year and a half ago.  I credit joining that group with the spark in my quilting.  I really enjoy the no-rules approach to quilting and am having fun learning lot's of techniques and maybe making a few of my own.

The quilt I chose was for last years challenge.  Our theme was architexture.  I already had a photo of a cottage in Ireland that I wanted to re-create with fabric.  The photo had been on my inspiration board for over a year.  When I learned about the challenge I knew I had to try to make this quilt, even if I didn't feel it was good enough to enter.  I was very nervous about entering something with this group since I was new and there are many accomplished quilter's in this group.  I also had no idea how to make this quilt.  I made a couple of copies of the photo and left them around the house to keep me thinking about it throughout my day.  I enlarged one to eight by ten and used my projecta scope to draw outlines of what I wanted.  I decided to do the stones individually so I could add more texture to them and maybe still have my quilt lay flat when I was done.  I wasn't quite sure how to make them with the texture I wanted but I just started to play with my fabric and my machine.  I think it was one of those middle of the night "Aha" moments when it finally came to me.  Do you ever do that?  Wake up with a brilliant idea in the middle of the night?  Sometimes it works for me and sometimes I wake up in the morning look at the note I wrote myself and wonder 'who wrote that, and what were they thinking!'

I used about six shades of different batiks to make the stones.  I wanted to show the changes in color of the rock along with the shadows.  It took me awhile to decide on the door fabric but I really like the small stripe that I chose.  I added some tulle for the shadow on the door and did a little thread painting.  I tried thread painting the door latch but it looked really flat and didn't fit with the rest of the quilt.  I was thrilled when I found the latch I used.  It's a switch for a miniature train set!  It just looked perfect too me.

I had some trouble finishing the edge of the quilt.  I cut it first and then added the tiny stripe of red.  Well, I wasn't really thinking when I cut it and had trouble getting my little red strip of fabric straight because of the dimension of my stones.  Live and learn! Next time think of the whole quilt and finish out to the edge before applying dimensional aspects.  I did finish it in time and I did add it to the show.  It has been touring with the MCQ exhibit for almost a year now.  Should be home pretty soon. I've added my original photo to the

 bottom so you can see I did change it a little, cropped it and emphasized some of the color tones, but it's close.

I also want to credit a couple of teachers I had around the time I was making this quilt.  Myrna Giesbrecht who taught me to keep going and not listen to what others have to say about what I am making.  It was my opinion that mattered for this quilt.  I also took a class from Susan Brittingham around this time.  I learned how to add the grass at the bottom using her technique.  I took classes from both of these teachers at Quilt University. 

Have a creative day

Janet

Friendship!

Hello, 



     I have met some amazing women this past year through my journey to become a fiber artist.  I think that is the best gift I could have given to myself at this time in my life.  I am at the age where I am almost an empty nester.  I have two children who both mean the world to me.  One is off in the working world and the other is a junior in high school.  Before I had children I was a teacher of preschool children with special needs.  A couple of moves to two other states, two children, and a car accident later, I needed a new focus in my life.  I wore many hats as a volunteer over the years and still do volunteer work at my church, in my community and other places that appeal to me such as the Textile Center in St Paul.  But, now I am building a community of support for myself that revolves around fiber arts.  

     The best gift I gave myself was joining the Minnesota Contemporary Quilters.  This is a great group of women with a wonderful focus on enjoying the journey, learning new skills, and challenging each other to continue to grow through life.  As an offshoot of this group I am also a part of a small group.  I've mentioned them before, we call ourselves the Rosie Quilters.  We are varied in our focus and abilities and each bring unique strengths to the group.  I wanted to show you a couple of recent gifts they have given to me. The elephant batik was given to me by Kathy on the day she got us all together for our soy wax batik project.  I haven't decided what to do with it yet but I really love it.  The "J" fabric square was made after we learned soy wax batik by Stephanie.  Isn't it fun.  She bought a set of cookie cutters on ebay and made us each a square with the first initial of our names.  The Hawaiian print is also from Stephanie, a gift from her trip to Hawaii.  (Don't forget to check out Stephanie's blog in my blog list to the left, Journey of a Fiber Artist Stephanie Forsyth, -She is number one if you google fiber artist and also has a small appearance on The Quilt Show) I am inviting them all to my home soon and have some ideas for something to give each of them but don't want to give it away before they see.

     

     I have also made some good friends this past year through online classes.  Even though I haven't met these people in person we have common goals and interests that keep us friends across the U.S., and on to other countries around the world.  I've received many postcards from my online friends.  Not your everyday postcards either, they are each a work of art that I will treasure for many years to come.  I'm hoping to create a video stream of all my postcards to put on my site, sometime this weekend, so check back to see if it is here.  They are worth the visit.        

     Some of the sites I have taken classes are:  Quilt University, Quilters Keep Learning, Adventure Quilter, Sharon Schamber's website and The Thread Studio.  I would recommend any and all of these sites.  I want to mention a special note about The Thread Studio which is located in Australia.  I am taking my embellishing class through this site right now.  Many of my classmates are from Australia and I just want to let them know we are all wishing you strength as you fight the fires and try to piece your lives back together.  Sending positive thoughts your way.  If you know of something more we can do please contact me to let me know.

Check back to see my postcards.  I will try to have one of cards received and one of cards given.  It will be worth the visit. Janet

Basic quilting skills

Hello,


Monday night was the meeting for Minnesota Contemporary Quilters.  I love those meetings they always make me laugh.  I haven't made it for several months due to weather, health and no meeting in December so it was fun to reconnect.  Our speaker this month was a traditional quilter who was speaking about some basic skills such as binding quilts.  Some of us need to work on these skills just a little.  I know that I am hit or miss with my bindings.  I have trouble with the corners and the edges seem to want to curl.  Not pretty!  That is why I signed up a month ago for a class at a local shop, Bear Patch Quilting, called Binding Perfection.  I am mostly a self taught quilter and my self education is spotty at best.  I knew binding was a skill I wanted to improve.  So it was a little bit of serendipity that this was the topic at our meeting.  My class is this afternoon and I need to take something to bind.  I am trying to finish up examples from classes I have taken (at least the samples I like).  So, I am taking a sample from my Flower Power class taught by Susan Brittingham at Quilt University.  The one I am taking to my binding class is one of our beginning examples for the Flower Power class.  I also need to finish the final project for that class but I'll save that for another day.

I took some show and tell to the meeting the other night.  Everyone seemed to like my blue jean quilt.  I made two of these during a class in the learningfa yahoo group.  I cut out all the blue jean circles while I was watching the election debates last fall.  I'm calling this my green quilt!  I used an entire box of old blue jeans cutting 300 circles for the two quilts, and four yards of flannel that I have had laying around since my children were very young.  It felt good to use up so much of my fabric stash.  I had been saving the jeans to make a quilt 'some day.'  It was fun to make it along with other people all encouraging each other along the way.  The red and yellow quilt is my son's, there is a photo of each side for that quilt.  The green and purple quilt is my daughter's.

 

                                   

I also wanted to post a photo of the header I had on the top of my webpage.  I changed it today because it was hard to read the title with that particular quilt in the background.  This quilt was also made for a class at Quilt University.  It is my own design from the class Points and Curves taught by Myrna Giesbrecht when she was at Quilt U.  She is no longer teaching there you can find a link to her webpage on the sidebar (Creative Conversation).  This quilt is called Pursuit of Happiness.  It was part of an exhibit at the Textile Center in St Paul last fall.  The exhibit was called Freedom:  The Fiber of our Nation and was displayed during the Republican National Convention last fall.  Have a great day everyone! Janet