I LOVE to Talk About Quilts and Quilting!

If you love to talk and love to quilt, there are few things more fun than talking about quilting. Count me in!

GUILD PRESENTATIONS

This year I’ve had a chance to share my quilts and thoughts on quilting a number of times. Guild presentations are the best! Here are some photos from my talk with the guild in Waverly, IA. Click any photo to open the gallery and see them bigger.

Moonlight Waltz

My Medallion Quilt

Stained Glass II

Swirling Star

I have presentations on medallion quilts, the Mill Girls, and the Underground Railroad Quilt Code. The latter two are very appropriate for historical societies or other groups, as well as quilt guilds. Besides my classes on medallion design and construction, I’m currently developing a couple more workshops. Check my page on presentations and classes, and please contact me if you’d like to know more.

PODCASTS

Besides guild presentations, I had a whole lot of fun talking with Elizabeth Townsend Gard, head of research on the Just Wanna Quilt project. I have two podcast interviews in the can and am scheduled to speak with her again soon.

I wrote about the project and linked my first podcast here. Click on this link to find the recording. It’s 52 minutes, on the long side. We talk about how and why I started quilting, what medallion quilts are, how I see green quilting and our responsibility as quilters to make the Earth a better place, and more. The second podcast is shorter and can be found here.

MY QUILT IN HOUSTON! 

The last fun thing I want to share with you is that I had a quilt at the Houston International Quilt Festival in November! Okay, full disclosure: it was in Houston at Quilt Festival, but it was in a booth, not on exhibit. The Just Wanna Quilt project had a non-profit booth, to reach more quilters and investigate the dynamics of a large quilt show. My quilt Dizzy helped decorate the booth.

photo by Judy Walker

photo by Jim Ruebush

Sharing about quilts and quilting, not much better than that!

Taking the Show on the Road

Today I’m off to present to a guild. I love preparing for these meetings! Each time is a treat: the audience and space is new to me, the way I think about my quilts evolves, and I get to pet my quilts as I choose which ones to bring.

One of the things I enjoy about choosing my quilts is seeing how much they have changed over time. The differences might not be apparent to other people, but I can tell. In late 2012, a mere five years ago, I made the first quilt I think of as from my “medallion period.” (If Picasso can have a “blue period,” surely I can have a medallion period!) It was for my dear Jim, made at the end of a year that was hard for both of us. I always include this quilt in my trunk shows, for sentimental reasons and to illustrate design issues.

Extra-large lap quilt for my husband Jim, made in late 2012. It’s about 69″ square. 2012.

Since then I’ve made dozens of medallion quilts. All of them taught me lessons. For example, I learned that

• the center block doesn’t need to be intricate, it just needs to be bold with multiple shapes and colors, and some decent value contrast;
• placing the center on point makes the quilt a lot bigger in a hurry;
• when you put it on point, it’s better to have the setting triangles too big than too small;
• it’s easier to add new colors in the inner and middle borders than in the outer ones;
• try arranging half-square triangles in a variety of ways, since placement of value and line make a difference in their effect;
• spacer borders and blocks are your friends.

Dizzy. 60″ x 60″. One of my most recent quilts. 2017.

Besides lessons about design and construction, I also learned a few things about patience and persistence, and about asking for help.

Quilting, in any format, is good for developing patience, a trait that hasn’t always come easily to me. Consider the process of making a quilt, and all the steps required. Even when it all goes well, you have to be willing to work through the fabric prep, cutting, piecing, pressing, assembly, sandwiching, quilting, binding. You know this is the short list! And when things go wrong, besides the swearing and throwing of things, there’s also unstitching, sometimes yards and yards of unstitching! Or building different blocks, or cutting different strips, or taking the whole thing apart and starting over. Yes, I did that on the Garden Party quilt.

Garden Party. 2015.

I’ve also learned to ask for help when I need it. My tendency is to push through challenges without asking, not always a good decision. But Jim is my willing “consultant,” and I ask him for help frequently. Learning to trust his opinion (because he’s almost always right!) makes it easier to ask for others’, too. When I teach my class, a big portion of class time is in “workshopping” the students’ projects, allowing other students opportunity to advise and comment on the works in progress. They learn to evaluate the project and the process; while they do, so do I. Student comments have made an impact on multiple quilts of mine. And I’ve received tremendous help from my sister in learning to see color better.

I always hope I can convey a small portion of this in my guild presentations, along with the fun and excitement of designing and making these special quilts.

Do you enjoy looking at your past quilts? What has quilting taught you? I’d love to hear your comments.

Guild Presentations — Always a Pleasure

For almost a quarter of Americans, public speaking is their greatest fear. I’ll admit that’s one fear I’ve never suffered from. I actually enjoy getting up in front of a group to speak, whether it is three people or three hundred. And it is always an honor to be invited.

Tomorrow evening (Monday) I’ll be presenting at a guild meeting, one of my favorite things to do. This presentation is on medallion quilt design basics, with some tips and tricks for success. I love sharing my knowledge about these special quilts, and showing some I’ve made in the last few years.

Here is one of the quilts I’ll show.

My own quilt, finished August 2013. It’s about 73″ square.

I made this in 2013, what I consider the early part of my medallion focus. Since then I’ve studied design concepts and learned more strategies and techniques for creating unique, exciting medallion quilts. By changing the elements of color, value, shape, size, line, and placement, there is infinite opportunity for a new quilt every time.

If your guild is interested in medallion quilts, made individually or in round robins, get in touch. I’d love the chance to visit with you about presenting for your group. You can reach me at catbirdquilts at gmail dot com.

Medallion Design Basics Presentation and Trunk Show

A week ago I had the pleasure of presenting to the DeKalb County Quilters’ Guild in Sycamore, IL. My topic was medallion design basics, including examples of design concepts such as unity, balance, movement, and value. I also discussed the components of the medallion format, including the center block, the first borders, intermediate borders, and last borders. Each has a role to play in creating a cohesive design.

Besides the slide show, I brought 11 quilts with me. I asked the guild members to notice a few things generally. In particular, few of my center blocks are very spectacular themselves, though generally they are bold in their sizing and values. Most of my blocks are pretty simple, variations on Ohio Stars or churndashes or the like. None are elaborate Mariner’s compass blocks, or intricately appliqued designs. Those are wonderful centers for medallions, but you don’t need fancy to achieve a great quilt.

What do you need? You need something interesting to look at. The center block is the natural focal point. The borders around the center direct the eye to and from it with differences and similarities in shape, color, and value. Repetition of shapes, especially when varying sizes, creates interest. Repeated similar colors or patterns, with some variations, make us seek out just what the differences are. Diagonal lines are effective in giving a sense of movement, and half-square triangles are an easy way to provide that motion. Variations are as important as repetitions. Too much of one leads to chaos; too much of the other leads to boredom. As with all else, balance is key.

Jim joined me at the meeting, helping to set up and tear down. He also took the following photos.

Before we began, three of my quilts hung.

Three quilts from my Medallion Sew Along, with good examples of balance, value, color, and shape.

Great audience of 75 or 80. They use a church hall for meetings.

Me pointing out one of my un-spectacular center blocks. Not fancy but it works well!

In addition, Doris Rice, a member of DCQG, allowed me to share her photos. Her complete blog post can be found here. Thank you, Doris! So lovely to meet you.

The Flip Side. They also like the back.

Garden Party

Stained Glass Too. Another un-spectacular center, gussied up.

Quite a contrast in styles.

I enjoyed meeting the guild and sharing my quilts with them. If your guild is interested in a session on medallion quilts, give me a holler.

Odds and Ends

So many things going on! There are several short blog posts I’d like to write. Instead, here’s a mish-mash of a few.

First, I’m excited to be presenting to the DeKalb County Quilters’ Guild tomorrow (Thursday) evening. I’ll be discussing design basics for medallion quilts and showing a few quilts in my portfolio. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm. The address for the presentation is
St. Mary’s Parish Activity Center (PAC)
322 Waterman Street
Sycamore, IL
Guests are welcome. I’d love to see you there!

Besides that, I’m working on a quilt with my sister Cathie. (Okay, make that two quilts. This weekend we’ll be quilting that hourglass together.) We’ve done “round” robins before, passing a top between us using a medallion format. Today I made some flower block parts for the next border of our current round robin. In fact, I’ll pass the flower parts on to her. Then she’ll get to decide whether to use them or not. Here are four of the blocks (not fully assembled) arrayed on my design wall in a bouquet.

I’m a member of the yahoo group called Stashbusters. Recently we’ve had discussions on chain-piecing with leaders and enders. Here is a post I wrote previously about that.

Another post I wrote before was on paying attention to your machine. I take good care of mine, cleaning out the lint regularly. Recently I had my main machine serviced to take care of the parts I can’t reach. It was a fairly small investment, less than $100. But today it was making noise as I sewed. I tried listening to it to determine what might be wrong. Ultimately I decided a new needle was in order. Listen to your machine. Often you can take care of the small problems yourself. (A related post you might enjoy is A Stitch in Time. It shares a little history and information on how your machine actually makes those stitches.)

Friday is my mom’s birthday. She would have been 83. I keep a picture of her on my wall and am always glad to have her with me.

And to the more trivial, I finally got my hair cut this week (!!!) and my new business cards came today.

I’m keeping busy. My life is full and I am very blessed.