The 12 by 12 Project

This was a really fun exhibit at HMQS -- it's amazing what a quilter can do in a square foot of space!

This exhibit just made me want to get out all sort of creative things and run to the sewing machine!

"Partial Seaming" for an Appliqued Border

Alex Anderson sent me her quilt top that will be published in the December 2010 issue of The Quilt Life magazine. So I'm not going to show you much of it now -- you'll have to see it when the magazine arrives in your mailbox!

Along with the top, which is both pieced and appliqued, she sent me four appliqued borders to be attached to the top. The problem was that each border had a distinctive start and end so that the borders could not be put on in a normal (i.e., straight or mitered) manner.

Partial seaming was the solution.....

First, I measured the width of the border, which was 6-1/2" cut, then the width of the quilt top. Adding 6" (6-1/2" minus two 1/4" seam allowances) to the width of the top gave me the length measurement for the border. I cut the border, then pinned it to the quilt top, leaving unattached the top 6-1/4" of the border. This will be sewn last when the partial seaming is complete.


I took the quilt top to the sewing machine and sewed the bottom few inches of the border to the quilt top and left the remainder of the seam pinned.



Then I pressed just the sewn part of the seam toward the border.

Then I was able to rotate the quilt top 90 degrees, measure across the center in the next direction, cut the second border strip to that measurement, then pin and sew the second border strip to the top. When doing partial seaming, you are going around the quilt rather than sewing on opposite borders as in more frequently found border treatments.



After the second, third and fourth border strips were put on in this same manner, I was able to complete the pinned first seam for a good example of "partial seaming".

On to the quilting....

Cathy Franks exhibit at HMQS

This was one of the special exhibits at HMQS -- I was captivated by Cathy's quilts and inspired by her artistry. To see more of her work, click here.

Doesn't this just put you into that summer's day mood?

Reminded me of a fairy tale....look at all that beautiful work in the border!


Closeups so you can see the embellishment....

Loved how the piecing and applique complement each other!



Wish the titles of these quilts had been posted -- on second thought, it sets our imaginations free to think about what they mean to us....



The surface design left and the fabric pleating below definitely deserved close-ups....

Another fanciful tale in cloth.....

...and a border closeup. Love the detail in the faces!

More HMQS Quilts (Part 6)

"Fireworks" by Nettie Smith, quilted by Linda Hibbert, was one of my favorite quilts in the show. I love how the smaller kaleidoscopes are attached to the larger one. According to Nettie, this quilt "Began as a kaleidostar, the quilting transformed it into Firecracker, then into fireworks with additional small kaleidostars".

I took a bunch of close-ups so that you could see the detail....

"Remembering II" by Sandy Curran depicts an older woman's memories of her younger self. The background is quilted with her thoughts.

"Creativity Unleashed" by Lea M. Hardee and quilted by Sue McCarty, was started in a class with Judy Dales as an 8 point star.










Sue's quilting enhances the ribbon-y, feathery effect....

"Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Fire by the IncREDible Jerry Lee Lewis" by Pam Hadfield was inspired by a guild challenge with the theme of "All Fired Up". The required elements for the challenge were the red fabric, the flying geese pattern on the edge of the rug, embellishments and RED was to be incorporated into the title. The background quilting is balls of fire.


"My Friend Thoreau" by Judy Eselius, quilted by Janet Fogg, is an original design using inking of the drawings.

Judy used her own photos for color and inspiration.

"Stars by the Bay" by Maureen McPherson uses a Peggy Martin pattern and fabric bought at a quilt store in Galveston TX (Quilts by the Bay) during an anniversary trip. The quilt store was destroyed a year later by Hurricane Ike.

The quilting was done by Maureen on her domestic machine using cotton batting and Signature variegated thread.

"It's Really Yellow" by my Aunt Barbie's (Barbara Walsh of the Utah Quilt Guild) friend, Marion Murdock, was the largest quilt entered in the "Conventional Machine" category. It is an original, traditionally pieced design inspired by Native American star quilts.

Her piecing is excellent!

















Some of her quilting designs were adapted from EQ.

"Tatonka" by Molly Olivier is an original landscape quilt of a buffalo in Custer State Park. Molly used strips of fabric to create the foliage and the hills in the background.

Tulle and free motion quilting, as well as BoNash, hold everything in place.

This is the last of the quilts in the general exhibit. There are special exhibits that I am still going through and picking pictures to share -- so much inspiration under one roof!

More HMQS Quilts (Part 5)

You guys are really tired of looking at pictures of quilts by now -- right? I didn't think so!

This show was that good -- just had to take all these pictures and share them. In case you will be in the Salt Lake City area next May, the show dates will be Thursday through Saturday, May 5-7 with classes starting on the 4th.

So we continue with the quilt review.....as usual, descriptions within quotation marks are taken from the artist's statement accompanying the quilt.

"Sitting Pretty" by Barbara Barrick McKie, was inspired by her photograph of a seagull taken in the Channel Islands National Park in California.

"Disperse dyed polyester transfer prints were machine appliqued and heavily free motion quilted. Two layers wool batting."


"Ancient Memories Wedding Quilt" by Lynn Drennen is an original design inspired by elephant's memories.

Lynn used Warm & Natural cotton batting, her threads were silk, polyester, cotton and metallic.



"Red Vase at Midnight" by Barbara E. Lies: "Hand appliqued flowers, vase, bell and cup; fused shadow; machine quilted; cotton fabric; wool batting; various threads."

"Stars for Arden" by Ronda K. Beyer: "I made this quilt in memory of my little brother who committed suicide. He loved black and tan colors as well as toile fabrics..."


"I had the embroidery in the star centers done especially for this quilt."

"Shooting Stars" by Birgit Schueller; Birgit was the first person I met when I arrived at the show and I really liked the class she was teaching. For pictures of Birgit and the workshop, click here.

Birgit is a well-known longarm quilter and teacher who lives in Germany. There are over 20,000 hotfix Swarovski crystals reflecting the light on this quilt!

"Big Bird Blues" by Claudia Clark Myers, quilted by Marilyn Badger, features five different blocks or quilting patterns from the Kansas City Star newspaper, which published a weekly free pattern for many years.

I've always greatly admired Marilyn's quilting and this is certainly no exception to that rule!

"Grandmother's Flower Garden" by Kaylene Parry, a gorgeous wholecloth quilt made of crepe by Beautiful Fine Fabrics.


The batting is bamboo by Winline Textile and the thread is from Sulky.

"Feathers in the Sky with Diamonds" by Lynn McCartney is an original design using the shadow trapunto technique on her longarm machine.


Lynn used Air-Tex 16-oz. poly for the trapunto batting and Quilters Dream wool for the base batting.


"The Perfect Storm" by Anne Munoz is based on a photograph by that name taken by the Hubble telescope.

Anne started with a piece of white pima cotton and batiked and dyed the piece before machine quilting it.

"Feeling Groovy" by Candace West was inspired by the late 60's graphic style. I really loved the contrast of the bright flowers with the black and white pieced background blocks.

The dark swirls in the background seemed to pull it all together, adding another contemporary element to this quilt.

The embellished flower centers were fun....

Until next time....