Meeting an Instagram Friend

Life is full of wonderful coincidences, have you ever noticed? Earlier this summer, Sheryll, one of my quilting buddies, mentioned that I'd be interested in her guild's speaker in September. It was to be Carol Shriver, a fellow Ohioan who lives in Coshocton, my husband's home town. Small world, right? 

But there's more! The reason Sheryll knew to mention it to me is that she knew I followed Carol on Instagram, and that Carol's work is impressive.

So, Thursday, she and Terry, another quilting buddy and guild member, attended the meeting with me as their guest. Fun! I was really eager to meet Carol and hear her speak to the guild.

I first heard of Carol from fellow Ohioan Annette Williams of Sewing The Good Life. Annette is a frequent vendor at quilt shows, and is just the nicest lady. In one pre-pandemic conversation I had with Annette, the subject of DH's hometown came up, and she knew of Carol from there, and proceeded to tell me all about her. I began following her on IG and the rest is history. (A convoluted story there; hope you were able to follow it!)

So let's go to the guild meeting. The Goodtime Quilters are known in these parts as a guild who puts on one of the best quilt shows around. It's a very active guild with retreats and shop and hops and speakers, in addition to the annual quilt show. Several of the Frankfort Girls are in this guild and I hear of their activities often. I'm glad they welcome guests, as I am not in a 'joining' frame of mind since retiring. 

After the business meeting, which was handled in quick order, Carol took the microphone and shared a trunk show of mostly applique quilts she has made since she retired from teaching Home and Consumer Sciences. She'd never quilted before retiring, but had a strong background in needle crafts. She told the story of taking her first quilt top to her LQS and asking if it just needed to go to the garbage can. Assured that "it would quilt out" - she didn't have a clue as to what that meant at the time - she has gone on to become a prolific quilter and often garners "Best of Show" when she enters her works in quilt shows.

Let's see a few that she shared. I did not photograph every quilt Carol brought, and these that I am sharing are amateur quality photos taken during her talk. I hope you'll pardon the distractions and focus on the quilts. All these will be linked to better pictures on Carol's IG account, so you do have a chance to see her exquisite workmanship more closely. My guess is that once you go to her IG, you will soon be following her, too. There are some gorgeous squares on her feed, for sure!

 

This album quilt is a pattern by Blackbird Designs called Fresh Picked.

 

This quilt is Granny's Garden by designer Lori Holt and was a block of the month project awhile back. Carol had it custom quilted; both quilt and quilting are gorgeous!

 

This is a Quilt Mania Mystery Quilt from 2019 called Marshal from designer Jen Kingwell.

 

This Kim Diehl pattern is an early quilt from Carol's quilting career and it illustrates how quilters evolve through their work. Carol explained that she was firmly into darker, reproduction quilts early on, and largely made pieced blocks. However, she grew tired of the monotony of making the same block over and over, so moved into applique and "happy colors" which afforded her the variety she desired. 

The variety in this quilt speaks to Carol's preference for "busy, happy quilts." I found the colors in this one particularly appealing. It's called Midnight at the Oasis by designer Jen Kingwell.

Here we have another Jen Kingwell design, a very whimsical quilt called Spring Fever.

Carol and I talked briefly both before and after her talk; we plan to meet up in Coshocton the next time we go to visit DH's family, and there's a good chance we take in some fabric shopping. Looking forward to it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Bark Cloth - A New Interest

A month or so ago, I saw the most adorable little zipper pouch on Instagram. I've sorta' been on a bit of a bark cloth "kick" ever since. Below is the pic I saved, and you can click here to make your way to other gorgeous beauties by this designer.

Seeing this fabric sparked a memory in me of fabrics I remember from my childhood - not just in our own home, but at both grandparents' houses, aunts' and uncles' houses, probably many friends of our family, too. Then I remembered a piece of this cloth that I actually own stashed away upstairs in the sewing room.

Why I have saved this fabric, I have no idea. I do not remember where or when I got it, either. The piece is sewn into a case for a smallish pillow, but that does not help me remember my origins with it. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste, you know?) *grin*

Perhaps bark cloth is seeing a resurgence in popularity. I wonder if it's the combination of design and texture that appeals so much? A week ago, DH and I attended the Columbus BIA Parade of Homes, and the very first home on the tour featured a bedroom decorated with bark cloth window treatments, pillow, and chair upholstery.

My piece of bark cloth is in very good condition, so I think I will try copying the inspiration picture and see what kind of a sweet zipper bag I can come up with. Add some embellishments of lace or denim or simply a complimentary fabric, perhaps? Yes, that sounds nice. And don't forget a sweet beaded pull.

One aspect of Instagram that I have come to appreciate is the concept of # (hashtag). If I am interested in something, I can just search that item with the # in front of it. So, for example, when I wanted to see more bark cloth, I entered #barkcloth (don't use spaces in a hashtag search) in the search bar, and WHOA!! What a vast array of beautiful fabrics I found. Then I also searched #vintagebarkcloth, and that elicited even more! I admit to being slow to the game on understanding hashtags, but IG has helped to enlighten me.

This new interest in bark cloth prompted me into a nearby thrift store to see if I could find any items like curtains which were made of bark cloth. Nope. But I think I will remain on the lookout for it. As I have seen the vast array of designs on IG, I find myself more and more drawn to it.

Happy Saturday! I am taking my little stash of Lake Effect hexies on a quick overnight to Columbus. Progress has been steady on those hexies, and I feel a big final push coming on for finishing them off.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Modern Sewist

In yesterday's post I mentioned a quilt shop located in Siesta Key/Sarasota, FL, where we vacationed last week - The Modern Sewist. A check of its location on the map app showed that it was practically within walking distance of us.

Thankfully, my DH is one who doesn't mind (too much, anyway) hauling me around to find quilt shops. I know he has a limit, though, so I keep 'em short and sweet. He really is supportive.

But I digress...

I enter a "modern" quilt shop with a bit of trepidation; my tastes typically lean to the traditional standard or classic styles. However, I have been salivating over some of the fabrics coming out by some of the new designers - I wanted to see them! And, more importantly, touch them! I hoped this shop would carry those fabrics.

They did!! Yay!

The shop is bright and cheery, decorated quite full-to-brimming with all manner of samples and inspiring projects. I met the incredibly hospitable store manager Jenni who made me feel quite welcome. We talked about fabrics and blogging and Instagramming and all the fun stuff that makes this hobby of quilting increasingly accessible to people of all ages. These are the very things forcing this old traditional gal to break out of her "comfort zone" and experiment with some of these trendier, modern designs.

Jenni was excited to learn that I am a Bernina-owning gal, as she will travel with the shop owner and another employee to Chicago to become Bernina dealers. I am catching their IG posts about all their adventures and learning. Exciting stuff, indeed.

I found lots of fabrics that wanted desperately to come home with me, but just three won out. I had to exercise restraint, for sure. Jenni was so helpful; I quickly chose my two florals, and needed a nice solid-type to accentuate them - she knew just the options to show me. I decided on the perfect dark blue shown in the photo and I can't wait to dream up a terrific project for these sweet fabrics.

My exciting fabric purchase consists of that navy by Rae Ritchie of Dear Stella Design. This is a pretty tame piece by some standards, but to each her own, right? I still have that foot firmly planted in traditional-quilt-land, you know. *wink*

The florals are both by Art Gallery Fabrics - AGF - called Ethereal Fusions, and aptly so, I must say. Have you ever seen such loveliness?? The minute I saw these, I was enamored by them. They are so delicate and dreamy.

Once I got back home and in the sewing room, I opened these fabrics out a bit and shot a fuller picture of those florals. Aaahhhh! I'm swooning!

After a bit of study, I noticed a hint of gray in both florals which prompted me to recall a gray piece tucked away in my stash - maybe?? Yes! I think the gray (Weave by Moda) will work with these perfectly! Oh my, serendipity is at work here, people!

Now, tell me, what will I make with these???

So that sums up my quilting adventure in Sarasota, FL, and my trip to The Modern Sewist. I highly recommend! I am now following the shop on IG as well as Jenni (her handle is @jenglebelle). She told me about their on-line shop, which I will definitely keep in mind.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

April Round-Up and An Instagram Lesson

Here we are at the final day of April, and I have prepared a collage to corral all my activities for the waning month.

In the top row is my finished mini-quilt using the swap blocks shared with the friends in the Frankfort group. Next is the lovely FQ pack of dainty calicoes purchased online, followed by the fixed and finished Jelly Roll quilt that I attempted (and screwed up royally) back in September.

In the middle row I have two pictures that feature treasures from a box of fabric and linens from my mother. The embroidered pillow cases were a wedding gift to my parents in 1956, and I made the table cloth from a generous length of sturdy fabric buried down in the box. The final picture in the middle row are the newly-recovered barstools using remnants of the family room curtain fabric.

The bottom row shows the pincushions I gifted to the retreat participants, the finished Thimbleberries quilt begun at the '17 retreat, and my DH, as he approaches the finish line of the Cap City Half Marathon in Columbus. This race was Saturday, and he did so well for not having run competitively in about 35 years. It was quite an accomplishment!

Now, I am going to digress a bit, and talk about making these photo collages. There are many iPhone apps out there that will make collages, but the one I most often use is simply called Layout. It is compatible with Instagram, which I find myself using with increasing frequency. More often than not, I use the 3x3 option because it reminds me of the 9-patch block I love to make. Perfect for the quilter, you know.

Over the past few weeks, I have been seeing many collages on Instagram that look like the one above - the quilter is pictured in the center and is surrounded by examples of her work. It accompanied the hashtag (#) quiltvsquilter. The hashtag was created by an Australian quilter names Cat - her IG name is tincatsew.  She started a quilter's version of one that artists had going called #artvsartist. So the #quiltvsquilter is a way to see the quilter behind the quilt. Most often, we see the quilts but have no idea of the people who made them. Mine, above, features some of my most recent finishes - mostly from the year of the UFO, along with some others that I could quickly access.

I still consider myself to be a novice at the whole 'hashtag-IG-tagging-following' business, but one interesting phenomenon occurred after I posted the collage above with the quiltvsquilter hashtag. Before I knew it, I had over 100 "likes" - by gosh, I think the previous high might be 25. I mean, really, I have very little interaction of this sort with my IG posts. Now, I don't do it for the likes, but I admit, it feels nice to get them! My main reason for Instagramming is that I like to look at quilt pictures! I find quilters with similar styles to mine and follow them. Sometimes, they follow me back. The only way to be followed back is to post pictures. I admit to being gratified when a quilter likes something I have posted; it validates that what you are making is appealing to others, not just yourself.

Well, I have certainly rambled on a bit, haven't I? Like I said, all this new technology is fun, but the learning curve is wide - and getting wider all the time for this old gal.

Hope your April has been great, now let's make May even better!!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Two New Patterns

Try as I might to eliminate new pattern purchases, sometimes I run across a true beauty that simply MUST be purchased. I have stopped taking magazines and buying them in the stores. I rarely buy new quilt books. I figure that most quilts are just new takes on old patterns, so I tell myself I just need to be "inventive" and come up with my own beauties.

That said, yesterday, I bought two PDF patterns. I just couldn't resist. Downloading patterns this way has it's benefits - but also its drawbacks.

One benefit is not filling a bookshelf or a 3-ring binder with yet another quilt pattern. The drawback, for me anyway, is how to store the PDF files on my various devices. If I save them in a number of different locations, then I hope I will be able to locate them when I want to. So there's another benefit.

You probably don't care about any of that; you just want to see the patterns that tempted me so, right??

This screen shot of Lake Effect by Minick and Simpson does not do justice to just how pretty those fabrics are. You may recall that I have been attempting to imitate this quilt since April or May - go have a look at this fabric-buying post (scroll down quite a ways), and then this template basting post. I thought I ought to be able to replicate Lake Effect without purchasing the pattern. Well, I have decided that while I could do the elongated hexies with little trouble, I would definitely need help with those appliqued inner sections. And, gee whiz, it was only $15. So I bought it last evening from Fat Quarter Shop. Sent instantly to  my phone - what could be easier??

 Now for the second pattern...in the past several months, I have become quite a fan of Instagram. I try to use it exclusively for quilt-related pictures, therefore it serves as a different form of Pinterest, but I get to control (for the most part) who I follow and what I see. Aside from ads which must be scrolled past, I really love it. One of the things I am seeing quite a lot of lately are pretty little star blocks to go into a Camille Roskelley /Thimble Blossoms pattern called Scrappy Stars. The blocks finish at 4.5 inches, and they look so scrumptious - especially the ones that Carrie Nelson is making -  I decided I simply MUST make some, too. And even though this is a very traditional star, getting it to that exact size might be a challenge, so for less than $5, I bought this, too.

What am I thinking?!?! Ahhh, well, I know. I can plan out 40 quilts before finishing one, but who do I have to be accountable to?? No one but myself. And I am good with it. *grin*

Happy Quilting, Friends!