Crazy 8's -- Shiisa Quilts, Bloomington IN

Once a month, owners of the Bernina 820/830 machines get to take a special class, just for them, at Shiisa Quilts. There are a lot of really great features on these machines and these classes are designed to give owners an opportunity to explore them.

Today we made small pieces that could be used as a center of a pillow, sewn to fabric to use as a journal book cover, framed as an art piece, or ? The features we were using were: flip and sew piecing using a 34D (dual feed) foot, bobbin work using the machine's built-in decorative stitches, as well as applique and some embellishment.

I had brought butterfly stencils for people to trace for the applique, but we had both turquoise and red kits available and the red people weren't going for butterflies! There was a poinsettia panel that had come into the store recently and so a couple of people cut sections of the panel to use for their applique....


This is Alice's project; she stitched down the applique and then, working from the back, used stitch #14 with Superior's Threads Glitter in the bobbin.

The stitch on the right was everybody's favorite; it is stitch #687 on the Bernina 830.

Bev L. (there are two Bev's who spend a lot of time here) did the work above -- different stitches in the bobbin work and another big difference, she inserted batting into the applique before she stitched it down. After she adds additional stitching to define the holly leaves, she will have a trapunto look to the applique. Bev is also planning to add some crystals where the berries are printed on the fabric.


Susan had one of the turquoise kits; she sewed some of her strips on the diagonal before flipping and sewing the strips to the stabilizer base....

....a closeup of one of Susan's stitches.

Susie fitted a gathered chiffon trim with a black edge to her butterfly and used a blanket stitch to sew the butterfly and trim down at the same time.

Here's a closeup so you can see how the trim curved around the butterfly; after I took the pictures, she did some additional stitching inside the butterfly with metallic thread in the top of the machine.


Billie chose a multicolor batik for her butterfly; below is a closeup of one of her stitches. Billie was using Superior Threads Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin of her machine.

Using a thick thread like Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin necessitated loosening the bobbin tension. On the 820/830 machines, it is very easy to change the bobbin tension and then put it right back when you've finished using heavy thread.

One of the most fun things about today was playing around with the various decorative stitches and finding the best way to get a perfect stitch. Threading bobbins with metallic or other slippery threads is sometimes problematic, so Bev L. and I experimented with various threading paths to get superior results.

Next post: How we got the bobbins to wind perfectly!

More Quilts at Shiisa and a Fun Technique for Machine Quilting Feathers

It's always an extra added bonus not to feel rushed in the morning -- it's especially good to have a few minutes with a cup of coffee in one hand while the other hand is reaching to caress an exceptionally attractive bolt of fabric. Since Jan and I were at Shiisa Quilts over an hour before class started, I had plenty of time to prepare to teach, but also time to look!

Every so often this morning I also paused at a rack or table to pick up and read the packaging of a new notion or examine something else that I hadn't seen before. It's always fun to see what quilters are coming up with to make our sewing easier and more fun!

But, for me, it always comes back to the fabric:


The great holiday colors stacked inside the chest tempt me to make another Christmas quilt!

That stripe just makes everything sing.....

This is a page from a book from AQS Publishing called "Cuddly Snuggly Quilts" by the self proclaimed "Crafty Ol' Broads", Linda K. Johnson and Jane K. Wells. Shiisa Quilts is sold out of the book right this minute, mainly because of the wonderful quilt they have on display in the store that was inspired by this pattern.

Bev L. made this quilt using the above Africa panel for the center of the quilt instead of the small blocks. She sashed it with an orange giraffe print and then finished out the quilt using the pattern directions.....

....and came up with this stunner! Needless to say, my fabric is already cut and the book ordered!


This quilt is hanging behind the cutting table in the shop. Alice Ridge pieced "Sarah's Star" after finding the pattern in the Winter 2010 issue of Fabric Trends magazine.









It was quilted by Kathy Kessler. I'm having dinner with Kathy tomorrow night -- I love her quilting and am really looking forward to meeting her!

Today I taught the second day of my Fluff & Stuff machine quilting class; the second day always concentrates on free motion. This afternoon, we were playing with various styles of free motion feathers and Alice Ridge showed me how she jazzes them up a bit. Shiisa Quilts is a BERNINA dealer and we were all sewing on BERNINA 830 machines. If you are familiar with the Artista line and/or the "8's", you will recognize the screen below...

Alice is very particular about how her quilting looks when she is finished, so after she sews her feathers, whether they are free hand or marked with stencils, she sometimes adds a decorative stitch to the spine of the feather. This not only adds additional dimension, but also disguises any places where the feathers aren't perfect.

Since we were using the BERNINA Stitch Regulator with the open toe sole plate, Alice showed me how she can remove the BSR foot and install the open toe walking foot without having to take the needle out of the fabric; doing it this way eliminates additional stitching to anchor the threads.

Then, as shown above, she selected stitch #14 and adjusted the width of the stitch to 2.1 mm and the length to 2.0.

Then she sewed along the spine of the wreath that she was working on.

I did a demonstration in class showing various types of feathers that could be sewn freehand. After I sewed these feathers, Alice showed the class how to switch the feet and sew stitch #14 down the spine of my feathers.

This looks like something that could be a lot of fun and would be worth exploring with some other decorative stitches!

Goodbye, Knoxville -- Hello, Bloomington!

Goodbye, Knoxville --

One of the very best parts about travelling and teaching is all the people we meet, both teachers and students. Learning tips and tricks from other teachers about the subjects they teach, equipment they like, travelling advice -- all of this makes our jobs easier. And, being quilters, we're all pretty good about sharing.

On the Knoxville trip, I spent most of my off time with the above teachers: MaryAnn Scheblein-Dawson, Karen Stone, Teri Lucas and Laura Wasilowski. This was taken just after breakfast Sunday morning; we had all finished our teaching the day before and were getting together for one more meal and our good-byes before departing for the airport.

Thanks, guys! It was wonderful getting to know you all and I'm looking forward to when our paths cross again! (P.S. Karen: See you next week at the Nebraska State Guild show!)

Hello, Bloomington IN --

Today I taught the first day of my two day "Fluff & Stuff" machine quilting class. Before students arrived and after they left, I spent some time walking around the shop looking at all the goodies. I've been to Shiisa Quilts twice before, but owner Jan Mease is always changing things up to keep it fresh and tempting!

This immediately caught my eye; the asymmetrical design was very cool and I also really liked the odd (as in not square or rectangular) shape of the quilt itself.


Here's a close-up of the center area which is accomplished with a surface design technique known as discharging.










Alice Ridge adapted this from a vest pattern in the "Australian Spirit" book...more details at right.....

"Midnight in the Forest" by Jan Mease; the pattern is from the book "Quilts with Attitude" by Deb Kerasik.


Is this a yummy batik display? All these beautiful colors! The displayed quilt is "Amazon Star", a pattern designed by Judy Neiemeyer. The top was pieced by members of the Bloomington Quilters Guild Board and quilted by Kathy Kessler. It will be raffled by the guild in December 2011.

Wanted to show some closeups of the excellent piecing and beautiful quilting!











The pattern is available for purchase at Shiisa Quilts as are tickets for the raffle.

This was another quilt that really caught my eye -- at first, it pulled me in mainly because I loved the colors.....


..but then I took a really good look at Kathy Kessler's quilting and liked it even more!











At right are more details about the quilt; kits are available from Shiisa Quilts.



Shiisa Quilts is located at 2536 W. Industrial Park Drive, Bloomington IN (ph: 812-333-8311). To visit the website, click here.

Knoxville Convention Center -- Knoxville TN

Before leaving Knoxville this morning, I wanted to share one last look. There were quite a few interesting art pieces displayed in the public spaces of the Knoxville Convention Center and many of them had a "quilterly" feel to them, even some that were constructed of stone, metal and other not soft materials. A couple of the fabric pieces were irresistible, however, and I just had to show you!

"Under Tennessee Skies" was created by Village Quilters Guild and gifted to the Knoxville Convention Center in June 2009. 21 guild members collectively spent over 840 total hours on this project!


Of course, I was hooked in by the masterful machine quilting and embroidery!

"Mountain Tradition" is a tapestry hand-woven by Betsy Worden. The colors are so vivid and clear....

There were so many other wonderful things to look at in the convention center, but we were all just racing from place to place and event to event, then falling into bed.....just didn't spend as much time with a camera in my hand as I would have liked to!

This morning, Sunday, I'm flying to Bloomington IN to spend a few days in one of my favorite shops, Shiisa Quilts, owned by my friend Jan Mease. Even when I'm not in town, I get all the facebook posts and e-mails that keep me informed of all the good stuff going on there.

And I get to eat at Lennie's -- bwah-hah-hah.....I've waited all year for this!!!

Borders & Bindings -- AQS, Knoxville TN

There were six participants in our Borders & Bindings workshop on Thursday -- everybody finished their little quilt tops, then gathered 'round to learn how to do mitered borders, prairie point finishes, double fold mitered binding and scalloped bias binding. And, of course, we had to do a group ta-da!
There were some really fun fabric combinations in this class, so we have to take a closer look:

Dee used a patchwork type fabric as her focus and inserted a tiny plaid as her crumb catcher (narrow folded strip inserted between two borders) between the first and final borders. The crumb catcher really stood out....

We had great seasonal fabrics represented -- Carol chose Halloween, one of my very personal favorites!
Andrea chose this great oriental motif fabric and surrounded it with some interesting prints for a very sophisticated effect.

Nothing shy about Kathy's fabrics -- very wild 4th of July, all RW&B with stars!

And we all really liked her sparkly flip-flops, too!

Jan's focus fabric was such an elegant Christmas print; her other fabrics helped to capture the feeling of the holiday season.

Susan also worked in Christmas prints, but in a more playful, laidback fashion.

Thank you, ladies, for spending such a fun day with me at AQS in Knoxville!

AQS Guild Challenge Winners -- Quilt Artists of Kentucky

Each of the 20 entries in the Ultimate Guild Challenge consisted of a series of eight quilts submitted by the sponsoring guild. As judges, we evaluated 160 quilts to decide on the winners.

I decided to take a photo of the information displayed with the quilts so that I won't run the risk of leaving anyone out or matching the titles and quilts up incorrectly.

The first place group is "Table Art Inspires Quilt Art" by Quilt Artists of Kentucky, Berea KY. The quilt photos are as they are displayed in the show, taken from left to right:

Just had to get a closeup of the bare branches -- love the embroidered leaf falling off of the edge of the quilt!

Other guild challenge winners (not pictured) are:

Second Place: Winter Wonderland Challenge, Des Moines Area Quilt Guild, West Des Moines IA

Third Place: Sunrise/Sunset Challenge, PTA Fiber Artists, Asheville NC

AQS Authors Exhibit -- Knoxville TN

Continuing to gawk at all the beautiful quilts in the Knoxville AQS show, I found the exhibit of quilts by the very talented authors that AQS publishes. Here are a few:

They are displayed in a zigzag format so that you can get quite a few in one picture...

"His Light Reflected" by Ranae Haddadin was so stunning with all of the colors and the excellent, intricate quilting. The quilt is from Ranae's book "Amazing Ways with Circles and Rays".

"Beauregard" by Margie Engel is from her book, "Bodacious Applique a la Carte". Her artistry and use of color just pulled me in to take a closer look.


Here are pictures of Ranae and Margie's books so you know what to look for when you go "inspiration shopping" at your local quilt store's book rack!

Next: When guilds issue a challenge, quilters answer!