The Latest From Claudia

A few weeks back I had a most delightful email from my friend and former quilting student Claudia. She has had her shares of ups and downs this past winter, but she still made time for sewing and has this beauty to show for herself.

This amazing Bargello wall hanging is Claudia's latest creation. I have said it before, but I am just so amazed at her willingness to try any and all quilting techniques. Never in my life have I considered doing half the stuff she has tried, and Bargello is one such technique.

Talk about a student surpassing her teacher!!

Claudia explains that she doesn't think she will do another one of these as the tiniest pieces were 1/2"! Not her cup of tea, as I recall. The pattern is called Surf Song from a book called Twist-and-Turn Bargello Quilts by Eileen Wright.

Peeking from behind is Claudia's DH Gary assisting with holding duties. He has been an extra-good helper, I expect, these past few months, as Claudia has undergone knee surgery. She informs me recovery from that was easier than she expected, but there were additional complications - "hang ups," as she called them - with reactions to medicines and some scary heart issues. I believe she is mending wonderfully now and is back to trying to establish her "normal" - training dogs and attending show trials.

I believe I have overcome the nastiness in my head; feeling much better this morning. Still some drainage and stuffiness, but to a lesser degree than over the weekend. I'm ignoring it as best I can.

Have a productive Tuesday, my lovelies!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Claudia and Denise Checking In

Since I have been in total hostess mode for the past several weeks, and practically zero significant sewing has occurred around here, I thought today might be a good day to share the productivity of my friends Claudia and Denise. Both have been in touch with me recently, and they continue to be brilliantly productive.

Denise has a penchant for making quilts with small pieces. She tells me this is a result of refusing to be wasteful of fabric. She keeps bits and bobs that many would throw away and puts them to use in some incredible creations. Here are two pictures illustrating this philosophy - definitely a beauty in the making! This WIP (work in progress) is going to be spectacular.

I like that these pictures include the hem gauge. I count eight tiny pieces of scrap fabric sewn together to make that 2.5-inch unit. These are then used as the sides of this Churn Dash block.

The result will be a wonderfully scrappy quilt. Even the corner units and the center unit are made up of scraps. The more I study it, the more I am inspired to make some use of my own scraps. I hope Denise will send pictorial updates as she finishes this quilt. Click here to see a post featuring (among other things) a scrappy quilt that Denise made earlier this year.

Claudia shared some recently finished projects with me. She sent these photos of her increasingly skilled workmanship. The tote bag in the first two pictures is quite impressive. Her quilting has gotten better and better, proving the age-old theory 'practice makes perfect.'

This throw required much less detailed skill, but I have to give Claudia props for trying a project involving fleece; that's a challenge not just everyone is up for.

This last picture is a tasseled table runner, which would be simple to construct. The challenge would be the finishing, in my opinion. It looks like the edges are folded under, matched to the back, and then stitched.

That same link also includes previous work from Claudia, so click it to have a look.

How was your Christmas? We had quite a houseful here yesterday, and - like always - had more food than we could possibly want. My fridge is stuffed with leftovers. Come over! We could feed you well!

The best part was having loved ones near. My 82-year-old mother was here, and 3 of my 4 siblings, too. Only one of our 3 kids attended, but we had nieces, nephews, and in-laws aplenty. We had a couple of rousing games of Bingo and some gifting, as well. My brother Mark was a Christmas baby 58 years ago, so we always celebrate his birthday, too. So much good cheer - I just didn't want it to end! Everyone was headed home by 6pm; DH and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas night here together.

I am thinking about doing some stitching today...wouldn't that be refreshing!?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Claudia Has Been Busy

It has been awhile since I brought you news of my friend and former quilting student, Claudia. She continues to crank out some beauties and often sends me pictures of her finishes (and near-finishes).

Below are some that came in a recent email. She and her DH live nearby on a nice farm where they raise and train dogs, which means they also have a small flock of sheep. That country setting is evident as the backdrop of some of these pictures. You can also see that windy days do not cooperate with willing husbands holding quilts!

This last picture typifies Claudia's love of dogs! Isn't it going to be a great quilt for a dog-lover!?

DH and I are charging ahead into this new week. We are meeting another couple for a dinner date later on; this morning I got my 2.5-mile walk in. And I also made block 7 (two of them!) of Blockheads 2, which I hope to share here tomorrow!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Claudia Update

Sometime last week, I received a couple of emails from Claudia with pictures of her recent sewing. She simply amazes me in how far she has come in her sewing and quilting journey. About a month earlier, she took a mystery class at Creations Sew Clever in Chillicothe. While she did not get to finish her quilt that day, she has finished it now, and here is her quilt top all ready for layering and quilting.

She asked me about how to have this quilted, and I deferred to my standard - loose meandering. I know there are some fantastic long-arm quilters who create works of art with their stitching. I don't have that vision, which I guess can be developed over time. Would you have given her a different answer?

She sent this picture, too, of a little repair project she tackled. It appears to be a resoundingly successful effort.

She recovered a pair of old visors with some colorful patriotic fabric, and added embellishments for amping up the glam factor. They look great!

Great job, Claudia! You just keep on impressing me with all you are willing to tackle!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Quilting and Coincidences

People who don't know quilters well might be of the belief that we make our quilts in the quiet of our homes, with little interaction from the outside world - a lonely pastime, perhaps.

No way!

This hobby is the most social and open hobby ever. Having Sharon over once each week is just a beginning. We also have a wide circle of friends who enjoy lugging their machines and projects to someone's house for a day of stitching together. Our Frankfort Girls group meets every-other-Friday morning to do just hand-stitching.

And then there are retreats and quilt shows and classes. And I haven't even touched on the community that can be found in cyberspace.

This lengthy introduction is surely going somewhere, and it describes just one instance of how all these various spheres of quilters eventually are bound to intersect.

A week ago, my neighbor and friend Dorothy shoots me an email saying that she and her daughter are taking a mystery class at Creations, a quilt shop in Chillicothe. Across the table from them are Claudia and Denise, my students off and on for the past couple of years! What a small world.

For some history on all these friends, you can check out some backstories, if you like. I first wrote about Dorothy in 2017 when she wanted help making a picnic quilt for her son and daughter-in-law. Claudia and Denise have been the subject of many posts over the past 3-4 years, and here's just one that represents a bit of the kinds of things we have tackled together.

Now, let's get to the pictures of the work Dorothy, Sarah, Claudia and Denise did in the mystery class.

The bottom photo is from Claudia who has her mystery parts laid out at her home. She is in the process of sewing the top together.

The emails I got from Claudia really speak to the nature of "community" -

Denise and I enjoyed meeting two of your friends from Frankfort yesterday at the Mystery Quilt Sewing Day at the Creations store in Chillicothe. There were seven steps. The photo shows Denise with her quilt at step 4 I believe. There would be five of the strips like she is holding next to each other. Her batik fabrics are beautiful. I left a little early as there were farm chores to do at home before evening, but I think Denise finished hers before she left. Just before I left at 5pm the first quilt was completed. It was fun to arrive to well marked piles of fabric and a little sheet (CLUE) to follow. And fun to meet new people with the same interests.

And Claudia is a true "learner" in every sense of the word; she later sent this with the picture above:

Here is my Mystery Quilt down to ten pieces. I had asked for red, white & blue figuring I would get something patriotic with stars, stripes, etc. but with the green in it too it is far from patriotic looking. I now know that I have to be more specific. At step 3 I had a snafu. I tried very consciously to match the two corners but alas my matching (which was with an angle) made the piece off center and I had to take them all apart and redo matching the sides and not a center seam. I just didn’t understand “quilters” language. Ugh!!

 You can be sure Claudia will know this "quilters language" next time - she learns fast!

I hope this post makes sense; I am a bit under the weather with some crazy congestion - maybe allergies? Maybe upper respiratory again? I think I will have a cup of hot tea, and take a nap.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Cross-Body Phone Bag

I upgraded my phone this week. My little iPhone 5s was "just plumb wore out." She wouldn't hold a charge for much longer than an hour. It had become exceedingly inconvenient being plugged in all the time. I am now upgraded to a fancy-schmancy iPhone 8! Our kids don't even have phones this high-tech! Ha!!

Because I like to use two apps while walking - Fitbit and Map My Walk - I carry a cross-body bag to keep my hands free. I made it up from scraps laying around; I also used it for carrying chapstick and tissues when I didn't have pockets. Well, this new phone is so much larger than the old one; a new bag became necessary.So I made one.

One side has a deep pocket for sliding in a credit card, or cash, or a chapstick.

The other side has a pocket that is more shallow, again, convenient for cash or a credit card. On the inside where one side of the strap is attached, I made a loop to hook keys. That might prove useful.

This is actually my second attempt. I made a prototype that has a too-short strap for cross-body purposes. I am probably going to remake a strap for it. It was also a bit snug around the phone, but I think I can live with that.

Now here's a coincidence. I made my cross-body bags late afternoon on Wednesday. Later that evening, I received an email from Claudia who sent a picture of a bag she'd just made for her iPad - she completely made up the pattern. Just like I did! How cool is that? Cosmic forces at work, apparently! Here's Claudia's iPad bag - fancy, what with a zipper, hardware, nylon strap and a tassel! Whoo-hoo!

I sorta' have a thing for bags, so I might just make another one for my phone. I like creating something I use, and they go together super-fast.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Extra Credit from Claudia and Denise

These two students of mine are becoming quite the accomplished seamstresses as evidenced by their recent productivity. Both have shared pictures or in-person projects and I think you will enjoy seeing them, too.

Claudia is an experimenter (is that a word?). She has no problem whatsoever with the philosophy of "just trying it to see what happens." This willingness to experiment has led to quite a few successful projects such as the one above. Not only did she use transfer material for the picture, but she superimposed the face onto a cartoon superhero, then appliqued it to a warm scarf for an employee's son.

Another thing I've noticed about Claudia is that she is a problem solver. At all the dog shows she attends, registration tables are set up. Doesn't every registration table need a nice long table runner? Claudia thought so, and so she made one! How nice!

This t-shirt quilt is a gift Claudia made to surprise her husband for Christmas. Every dog show they attend has a t-shirt, so of course they have way more shirts than they will wear. She selected several with great graphics or that represented a particularly memorable show and voila! A lovely quilt is the result. I stopped over at her house in the fall to give her a few tips for making this, and she went with it all on her own. What a great job!

Now brace yourself for this quilt from Denise. She admits "I like to sew lots of little pieces." Yes, I believe she does. This string quilt is a Laundry Basket Designs pattern by Edyta Sitar. Ohhh, myyyy...

Denise said that this was a long time in the making, and spent a good amount of time stuffed in a closet as a UFO. She hopes to have it quilted in time to enter it into a local quilt show this summer.

The three picture above are close-ups of some of the intricate detail of this quilt. Those small squares might just measure an inch. The result of "sewing little pieces" is absolutely magnificent, wouldn't you agree?

Bravo, Denise! This is a stunning creation! I can't wait to see it displayed in the quilt show!

So, haven't my students done well for themselves? I just can't believe all their accomplishments! Denise dabbled in quilting prior to my meeting her; Claudia was a brand-new beginner. We three have had quite a fun time sewing together.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Giant Tote Bag Class

Over a week ago, sewing and quilting students Claudia and Denise came over for some instruction and help with making humongous tote bags. We had a good day, and accomplished our goal of a useful tote bag for each of them.

This Jumbo Bag is the pattern Claudia found and copied for us. It makes a nice big bag, and since both Claudia and Denise travel extensively to dog shows with lots of paraphernalia, this bag seemed perfectly suited to their needs.

Claudia used heavier fabric than quilting cotton for her bag. I would categorize it as duck or home dec weight.  Quite a pretty design for a bag, and her lining was well-chosen, too. I took liberties with the handles. The pattern called for making handles that seemed like they'd be too flimsy for the weight needed on the bags we were making. I bought webbing in gray, white and black, and both were happy to have sturdier handles on their bag. Claudia applied her webbing directly to the bag; Denise covered hers with fabric that matched her fabric. Both versions looked really good.

Denise used fabrics that were cotton weight. We adjusted the size of her outer pocket to catch under the straps, thus eliminating extra stitching on the pocket. I like the contrast the pocket and straps give to the bag. I can see this being quite useful for traveling purposes - and fashionable, too.

Now these two dog-lovers are becoming quite the prolific quilters. I have a whole lot of additional pictures of "extra credit" projects they have recently worked on. I will prepare them for a post tomorrow, so come on back for a look at their handywork!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Odds and Ends

The jobs in the quilting room have been either secret or small lately. It's that time of year, you know. I have bits of things to share, so I will combine a few in today's post.

First, I helped Claudia for a bit on Friday afternoon (last week) on a t-shirt quilt she is making. It will be a nice-sized quilt, and she is currently in the process of making the last of her blocks. We discussed the size of her sashing strips, the usefulness of cornerstones, the width of the borders, etc.  She has become so knowledgeable in her new-found hobby! I am quite proud of her fantastic progress.

Next, I will give you a sneak-peak at some Santa-sewing I did on Sunday afternoon. I can't wait to share the entire project with you!

And last, for today anyway, is this cheesy picture of yours truly just after DH and I finished putting the long-arm machine together. We have both remarked that this was not nearly the intimidating job we feared it would be. Now I just need to find a few free minutes to play around with it!

For now, that's all I've got. I did sew with Sharon yesterday, so I have some progress on my December UFO to share. It is going to be so nice not to have to think about UFOs for awhile! Yes, I do still have more, but I probably won't even think of working on one for several months! This year of UFOs has done me in!

Happy Quilting, Friends!