Burke Quilters Unlimited Spring Retreat

In March Sue was fortunate to attend her local guild's spring retreat. (Burke chapter of Quilters Unlimited)  It was held in Winchester, VA at a Hampton Inn - we take over the ballroom to set up for approximately 50 quilters to come and sew for 3-5 days, depending on schedules.  It's a great way to make progress on multiple projects without having to stop for housework and other tasks.  (of course, those who are still gainfully employed get to take a few days off from work.)

Sue worked on several projects - one finish, one make progress and a new start.  The "finish" was a Hunter Star quilt, approximately 30" square.  This was started in an online class with David Sirota in February in which he teaches his method of foundation piecing and also his trick for matching points.

It is quilted with concentric circles.  These are 1/2" apart, using the machine's seam guide to keep the circles even.  Maybe next time she will space the circles further apart?  Not difficult, but a bit tedious.

Another project was a quilt top called the Harrisonburg Quilt, so named because the pattern is based on an historic quilt owned by the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA.   The Virginia Consortium of Quilters sponsored an online sew-in over the winter holidays on making this quilt, and Sue has been working on it ever since.  Of course, she decided to make the queen size version which is why it is still a work on progress.  But, all the rows and sashing are now joined, and the next step is making and adding the border.  Then find a long-armer to quilt it!

The fabrics used are almost all batiks, with a few commercial prints mixed in as well.  The background is mostly Moda Grunge.  

A third project that she got started on is in response to a challenge from the Virginia Quilt Museum.  The project is called Stitching together History and commemorates the 250th anniversary of the state of Virginia in 2026.   The museum wants to select 250 quilts from all submissions and feature them in an exhibit as well as a book to commemorate this anniversary.  Quilts should fit into one of four categories - Unfinished Revolutions, Power of Place, We the People, and Virginia Experiments.  Sue chose as her topic Loving v. Virginia, the Supremes Court decision that made interracial marriage legal in Virginia.  A portion of her original design includes foundation pieced Virginia Reel blocks, and that is what she worked on at the retreat.   More on this project in another post.

Here are a few more pics of the group with quilters hard at work.

Next retreat will be in fall.  Does your guild do something similar?

Quilt Camp-Week 11 Sometimes your creative journey takes you in a different direction

Last week, Sue wrote about how she revived her original idea for using our new screens in a project to benefit the Virginia Quilt Museum by adding variety to her 9 patch squares.

Elizabeth also tried to make a 9 patch but took the path of a quilt-as-you-go with a leaf quilt design.  Her plan was to fuse applique her fall inspired leaves to the block after the quilting and then stitch them around the edges.  What happened?  After making a few trial blocks she decided the leaves were too small for the blocks,   Also, the leaf designs, while lovely and some of our best selling screens, are not the new thermofax screens we hoped to showcase for you.  The bark screen was the intention for the 9 patch.  

After seeing Sue's dyed fabric, Elizabeth remembered this spiral ice dyed piece and it reminded her of the fall through the skylights here in her house in New Hampshire.

Taking the spiral as a whole piece, she laid out her fused leaves in a circular pattern and then still thought, nah, this isn't working.  That happens some times when making an art quilt and we have to give ourselves permission to put it aside and go create something else.

A few warm early fall days were arriving so she went back to ice dyeing some masks. Maybe she will return to the other ideas on another day?  On some lime green/yellow ice dyed combinations the new Luna Moth was printed with fabric paint.

One of our new screen options are words.  We will burn screens of your choice of words and you can use them in your fiber, paper, clay, or other surfaces that will take a paint or thickened dye.  Elizabeth made these masks using some screens she had on hand.  Wouldn't "smile" be a great one to use?  Smile is one of our new word screens.  Bloom seemed like a good choice also.

You can find the luna moth and word screens, as well as all our other designs, in our Etsy shop.  We are also happy to make custom screens from your images.  Don't forget our fall sale runs through Saturday, Oct. 3. Use code SEPT2020 at check out for a 15% discount.

Quilt Camp Week 10 - Colors of Fall

After 9 weeks of quilt camp posts, last week we took a much needed break.  We had a topic in mind but sometimes things don't work out as intended.  The extra time helped to take a step back and refocus on the project.  Our goal was to feature some of the new screens added to the Etsy shop.  Along with that, we were reminded of a challenge for fall quilts to be donated to the Virginia Quilt Museum, so we decided to combine the two ideas. The museum is asking for 15" square quilts in "Colors of Fall" to be sent in for display by October 19.  After display, they can be donated to the museum for sale in the gift shop. Sue chose to work with the bald cypress screen on 5" squares in a 9-patch pattern, and fall leaves (also screen prints).  Things started out pretty well, with 9 squares printed.

Sue used rusted fabric as the background and printed with Simply Screen paint by Plaid in "French roast".  (The Simply Screen paint appears to have been discontinued - an online search only found it available on eBay.)

Then she printed leaves on a multi-colored piece of fabric that had fall colors.

Fusible was added to the back and the leaves were cut out.  But the problem came when laying out the blocks and leaves; it was really blah, to put it mildly.  The leaves didn't stand out the way she thought they would, and there was too much brown. The first step to correct that was to add a brighter color behind the leaves.  If you enlarge the photo below, you can see that some of the leaves have a yellow or orange edge that was done by  fusing to another layer of fabric.

But even that wasn't enough. Still not very exciting, right?  So, what could she add to liven it up?  Here were 2 options.

This hand-dyed red seemed to add a nice spark.  Should it be a column down the center, or should she stick with the standard 9-patch format?

The 9-patch format won out.  Above are the 9 blocks sewn together.  As it worked out, some of the smaller leaves that didn't contrast well with the brown cypress print worked better on the red background.

So here is the finished piece.  The leaves are fused on, then free-motion stitched.  The background is also free-motion quilted with a meander stitch in clear nylon thread.   The cypress bark prints are a nice contrast with the red.  Much better than the original idea!  Now it is ready to be sent to the museum - we hope they like it!

If you would like to participate in the museum's Colors of Fall challenge, you can read about it here.

Virginia Quilt Museum Current Exhibits

After the class last week with Hollis, Sue made a stop at the Virginia Quilt Museum on the way home - especially to see a group of Hollis' quilts that are on exhibit.  The main exhibit is a group of African American quilts "Stitching Our Stories in New and Traditional Expressions".  The exhibit, curated by Wilma Gerald of Norfolk, ranges from quilts with a strong African influence, to traditional quilts, art quilts, and dramatic story quilts.

"Mother" is by Katherine Wilson of District Heights, MD.  Her piece represents mankind's connection to the African continent as the common root of human ancestry.

"Slave Chain Quilt" is by Sisters of the Yam African American Quilters of Richmond, VA.  This was a group project made by the members of the guild.

This improvisational quilt is by Anna Williams and was loaned for the exhibit by Paula Golden.  Anna (1927-2010) was from Baton Rouge, LA, and was perhaps the first African American quilter whose improv quilts were recognized as art.

In conjunction with this exhibit is "Stories of West Africa", a collection of 12 quilts by Hollis Chatelain based on her educational coloring book of the same name.  Hollis spent 12 years in Africa living in Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Benin.  These quilts are all based on photos she took, each one showing the strength of family and community.

"Beautiful Wanderer" depicts a Fulani girl carrying goods on her head.  These nomadic shepherds wander the area south of the Sahara Desert.

"Whistle Blower" depicts a child on her mother's back blowing a whistle.  Children often make their own toys because manufactured ones are unavailable.  Click on these quilts for a larger view and a better look at the quilting.

The picture on the front of the coloring book is also one of the quilts.  "Fabrics for Sale" depicts a woman selling her textiles in the market.  The African fabrics are sold in 2 yard pieces and women usually buy 3.  One is used to make a top, one is worn as a skirt, and the third is used to create a sling to carry a baby.

The third exhibit features Virginia Quilts in the Jenny and David Powers Collection.  These quilts are representative of quilts made in the Shenandoah Valley.

Made about 1840, this pieced center medallion quilt is made of thousands of half square triangles.

This Wreath and Compass quilt was made about 1850.  It has a folk art quality and soft circular motion.

"Fanny Jane's Delight" was made about 1880.  It is an unquilted top.  Fanny designed this complex pattern which contains many half square triangles that had to be cut with scissors.  The museum is in the process of publishing this pattern.

Take a day trip this spring to Harrisonburg and visit the museum.  This exhibit runs through May 12.  

VQM Fall Exhibits

On Saturday Sue and Elizabeth attended the Celebration of Modern Quilting at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA, and also had the opportunity to see all of the current exhibits.

The event included viewing the exhibit including demos, lunch, and a presentation by Violet Craft. 

The Heritage Revisited exhibit, curated by Susan Emory of Swirly Girl Designs, is on the main floor of the museum.  Here is Sue next to her quilt "Primary Improv" - the red, yellow, blue and green piece to her right. It's a wonderful exhibit that provides an interesting contrast to the historic architecture of the museum. The quilts juried into the exhibit are examples of work in the following categories - improvisational pieces, use of negative space, foundation piecing, alternate gridwork and applique.

Above is an opportunity quilt designed by Susan Emory called "Seeds of Color".  It includes alternate grid work, improvisational quilting, applique, and foundation piecing.  Tickets for an opportunity to win this quilt are $1 each; the drawing for a winner will be on December 16.  Tickets can be purchased at the museum or on the website.

After a boxed lunch, we attended the presentation by Violet Craft.  Violet is a fabric and pattern designer from Portland, OR, who is active in the modern quilt movement. She shared her journey into the quilt industry and progression to where she is today, beginning with a children's clothing line, venturing into fabric design, and of course quilt design.  She has licensed some of her children's patterns to Indygo Junction and the photo above shows some of her "Forest Abstraction" pattern designs.  She has recently transitioned from designing for Michael Miller fabrics to Robert Kaufman. It's always interesting to hear how others have found their way into the quilt industry, often starting out in a completely unrelated field.

Back at the museum, we finished our tour of the exhibits.  A small room on the main floor held some "Treasures from the Vault", including the Belle Grove Album Quilt above (1991).  This was the museum's first fund raising quilt, which raised over $20,000 for the start of the museum.  It was designed by Anna Holland, hand appliqued by sixty quilters across Virginia, and hand quilted by Margie Hockman. The quilt was won by the Skyline Quilters Guild of Front Royal who donated it to the museum's permanent collection.

An outstanding exhibit on the 2nd floor is called "13 Perspectives" by the New Image Artists, a fiber group from the Washington, DC area. The photo above features a group of 8" mounted quilts showing the artists "Eye-dentity", each square created from their own unique perspective.  The pieces in this collection curated by Trudi Van Dyke run the gamut from figurative to abstract, wall art to 3D display pieces, all very intriguing. "Mastery of traditional as well as innovative techniques and materials provide a rich tapestry of visual excitement and stretch the definition of quilting."  It is well worth the trip to see this exhibit.

The final exhibit is the work of Pat Sloan, fabric and pattern designer.  This collection traces her evolving style of work over her career as a quilter.  Her signature pieced style combined with applique is evident in most of the pieces.  But also included are some more traditional as well as improvisational pieces.  It's a treat to be able to see a well-known quilter's work up close.

Not to be left out is the gift shop which contains an eclectic and ever changing array of gift items (for yourself or a friend!).  The photo above includes some pieces created by the artists of the 13 Perspectives exhibit.

We hope you will have the opportunity to make a trip to the Virginia Quilt Museum while these exhibits are up through Dec. 16.  It's great to have such a wonderful resource in our state, and always a treat to be able to make a visit.  And if you are so inclined, donations are welcome.  The museum does not receive any funding from the state, so depends on its membership, visitors, and donations to continue its mission to preserve our quilt history and share the art of quilting.

Field Trip!!

Spring break means vacation time for lots of people.  For Elizabeth and Sue, spring break week was a good time for some field trips.  On Wednesday we set out for Harrisonburg and the Virginia Quilt Museum, with a detour to Leesburg on the way to visit a shop we just learned about called Finch Sewing Studio. They describe themselves as "a boutique sewing + knitting shop with modern fabric, quality yarn, cool tools, and fun, on-trend classes for all ages and interests."  This shop has a very modern yet homey feel with enticing yarns and fabrics.  They teach knitting and crochet as well as quilting and sewing of garments and home decor items.  Check out their website at  finchsewingstudio.com.

From there we headed to the Shenandoah Valley and VQM to see the Jinny Beyer exhibit.  We'd seen lots of pictures of her quilts, but never in person, so it was very powerful to see so many of her quilts in one place.  It's amazing that she does all her piecing and quilting by hand.  It was also enlightening to see her collection of antique quilts on the 2nd floor - a lot of charm/one block quilts that seemed to be the inspiration for the style of quilts she chose to make.  Here are some other shots from the museum.

Above is the museum's raffle quilt for 2015, Civil War Tribute, made by the Cabin Branch Quilters of Prince William County.  Below are a few pieces from a new exhibit that was being hung on the lower level, called Celebrate the Day.  Curated by Shannon Shirley, these quilts celebrate unusual days throughout the year.  Below are Culinary Day by Morna McEver Goletz and Elephant Day by Lisa White Reber.