A Quilting Road Trip

A road trip can be fun, but when it is a "quilting" road trip, "fun" doesn't adequately describe it. Last Friday, Teri and I (Kara) set out for Williamsburg, Virginia, with two primary destinations: the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival and The Academy of Appliqué. For this week's post, we decided to take you, our readers, along for the ride. 

The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, Virginia

No road trip would be complete without a few stops along the way, and our first stop on the trip was a lunch of pancakes at this famous restaurant. Can you guess which one? We may or may not have left with a few purchases from their gift shop.

Can you guess the restaurant?

After a fortifying lunch, we continued our journey south, checked into our accommodations, and made a beeline to the Quilt Festival for a Baltimore Appliqué Society (BAS) Show and Tell. This is an annual event for members, and is a good opportunity for members who live outside of Baltimore to connect with one another. We saw some amazing antique quilts, as well as this beautiful reproduction Margaret Potts Quilt shared by a BAS member. (You can purchase these patterns and others through the Baltimore Appliqué Society store for 50% off.)

Some of the Potts blocks in this quilt were appliquéd, and some were hand-quilted.

The next day, we went back to the quilt festival for a day of shopping, gazing at beautiful quilts, shopping, telling people about BAS, and did I mention shopping? One of our first stops was this lovely booth filled with vintage quilts, trims, and linens. We had our eye on a vintage quilt, but decided to wait and go back for it. BIG mistake! We saw it walking by us not 10 minutes later in the arms of someone else. Alas, it was not meant to be ours.

Some beautiful antique quilts

Vintage trims galore!

We meandered through the booths, stopping as various items caught our eyes. We had a class on Monday and still needed some background fabric, and I needed some leaf fabric, so that was our quest. However, there were a few purchases like beads, ribbon, and hand-dyed South African perle cotton that made it into our bags.

 I was magnetically drawn to this display of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

After we had finished shopping through half of the vendors, we decided to give our wallets a rest and look at some of the quilts on exhibit.  There were so many beautiful and inspiring quilts, but we were so inspired that we forgot to take more pictures! Here are a few that we loved.

Treasure Chest, by Ramona Houle, from Scottsville, Virginia

Woolly Alphabet, by Debora Konchinsky

The BAS had quite a few quilts on exhibit, as well as a booth to help promote the benefits of membership. Teri and I were honored to be able to share our experiences with others about the BAS, and we made a new friend, Ellen, who was going to be in our class on Monday and Tuesday. She was a lovely example of the kindness and graciousness that you find in fellow quilters.

Sharing the fun of the BAS

A gorgeous Baltimore Album quilt made by Polly Mello, members of the Baltimore Appliqué Society, and Bellwether Dry Goods

This stunning wall hanging by Delia Kane of New Jersey drew many into the BAS booth.

We perused the rest of the quilts and vendors during the afternoon, but soon our wallets were empty, and our bags were full, so we called it a day.  It's amazing how tired one can get from shopping and looking, but we got a good night's sleep and prepared for the next day of shopping at the local antique mall and the Williamsburg Winery.

The weather was bright, clear, and warm, and we were even able to wear sandals—a welcome treat after leaving the cold temperatures of home. The Williamsburg Antique Mall is quite vast and full of all sorts of treasures. We even enjoyed a fabulous cup of tea, dessert, and a conversation with the charming owner of the tea shop housed within the antique mall.

A unique Mola gone crazy that Teri took home

A collage of the vintage beauties we saw

We ended our day with a late lunch and wine tasting at the Williamsburg Winery. Although we have both been on quite a few wine tastings, this one was by far the best, and we highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

What a gorgeous day for a tasting

Lunch outside in February is a treat

A delightful red

We hope you have enjoyed coming along with us on the first half or our quilting road trip. Please join us next week as we share about our amazing experience at the Academy of Appliqué and the rest of our road trip.

Crazy Quilts, Session 2: Marking and Stitching Motifs

Sometimes, like on this crazy quilt that I (Teri) found in an antique store not too long ago, the focus is primarily the fabrics. This particular quilt is quite beautiful in its simplicity, using silk ties for the blocks, all rectangular in shape, with ribbon for sashing. The only stitch used as embellishment on the seams between the blocks, as well as on the ribbon, is the herringbone stitch. The magic of such a quilt is the study of the variety of fabrics from the neckties. What a lovely memory quilt this could be! This is surely an idea for me to file away for someday (hopefully in the far distant future) to use the many ties in my father's collection. When I was in high school, my dad would ask me every morning if his tie matched his shirt and suit. How I'd love to see all those ties put together, creating warm and wonderful memories. I need to make sure he doesn't start cleaning out his closet and giving away his ties!

Many crazy quilts, however, have fancier stitching done on them, with stitched pictures of flowers or other motifs embroidered in the patches. Sometimes they were even painted on the fabric. You can see several examples of elaborately stitched crazy quilt motifs by looking at the quilts from the American Crazy Quilt Exhibit that were on display at the Baltimore Museum of Art last fall by clicking here and here. The selection of such motifs and how to mark them and stitch them was the focus of the second session in our Crazy Quilt—Start to Finish class. 

Once again, we were able to examine some precious samples of vintage blocks in various stages of completion. We showed you a few of the blocks that Sue brought in last month to share during our first session. On Saturday, she arrived with a pizza box filled with all of the blocks that she had acquired at a yard sale. Now that was quite a score! Who needs pizza when there is a box full of goodies like this?!?

We were able to study and admire the intensive work that this stitcher had accomplished. Her method of construction was much different than ours. From the blocks, it appears that she just turned under the edge and basted the pieces onto a piece of muslin. When the decorative stitches were applied, she then removed the basting stitches. Most blocks had a combination of fabric types, but some were consistent.

This  block was comprised of all silks. She painted the rose on the white, which is actually a piece of ribbon and the only piece not turned under on the edges. 

The pieces on this block were all velvets, basted to keep the edges turned under.

The wonderful students in our class all came with homework completed and blocks made. (It is easier to get a class of stitchers to do their homework than it was a class of fourth or fifth graders to do theirs!) We spent a bit of time reviewing and practicing some basic stitches—stem and outline stitches, backstitch, and knots. Everyone was feeling comfortable with those stitches pretty quickly and were eager to get to the motifs. 

First, we discussed the different methods we have used to transfer the designs onto the crazy quilt squares. Sometimes, the method chosen will be partly determined by the kind of fabric used. For instance, it is easy to transfer a design using transfer paper and the stylus of the Sewline TRIO™ pen if you have a cotton or satin. The transfer paper comes in white and black, so it will show up on various colors. It doesn't work well, however, on wool or a fabric with a nap, such as velvet or corduroy. For those fabrics, we have tried tracing the design onto several materials: tissue paper (like Golden Threads Quilting Paper), tear-away stabilizer, and even Press'n Seal®. The traced image is then attached to the block, stitched, and then carefully removed by holding the stitches and gently pulling the tracing material away.

Transfer materials, clockwise from left: Golden Threads Quilting Paper, tear-away stabilizer, Glad® Press'n Seal®, a sample block with a design transferred to the center and one traced on Press'n Seal®, and ®Loew Cornell Transfer Paper with the  Sewline TRIO™ marking pencil at the bottom.

Here, the design was traced on tear-away stabilizer and pinned on the block to stitch it.

This design was transferred onto the block using the transfer paper; the stitching will cover the design lines.

Studying the blocks to get ideas for motifs and thread colors to choose

The heart was drawn onto the block freehand to stitch the buttonhole heart pictured in the book above. 

Another design drawn on the block using the transfer paper

Practicing stitching a motif using the Press'N Seal® wrap with the design traced on it 

It was exciting for us to see that there was such a variety of methods being attempted in class. It will be fun to see if our stitchers settle on a favorite method, or if their techniques vary depending on the fabric they are using. I have found success with the transfer paper and tear-away stabilizer, but Kara really likes the Press'N Seal® method. I am going to have to try it; I can definitely see its advantages, since it would temporarily adhere to the fabric without shifting or needing pins. There is always some new technique to try!

How about you? Do you have a favorite method of transferring an embroidery design that we have not mentioned here? Please share!

Creative Minds: Can They Work Together?

"Just wondering if you had any creative differences and if so, how did you overcome them?"

This was a question asked by one of our readers, and although I answered it, there was so much more I (Kara) could have said about our two-year creative journey, which included our quilt inspiration and a business start-up, so I thought I would tell the rest of the story in a blog post.

Teri and I have been friends for over 20 years and have quilted together for many of those. Our quilting adventures have included navigating Pennsylvania back roads together, sleeping many nights over the years on her parents' pull-out couch, and a cheap motel incident (you can read about that here), just to name a few. Our husbands are good friends as well, and they patiently put up with our quilting shenanigans. Given our long and not-so-illustrious history together, we know and understand each other pretty well. We sometimes speak solely in sarcasm, thus Teri's gift of this mug to me for my birthday one year. 

 

Our primary form of communication

While we can be very opinionated, especially when talking about color, we are both willing to compromise and pick our battles. During the creation of our Fairy Tale quilt, we had just a few differences of opinion, starting with the selection of which fairy tales would make it into the quilt. My favorite fairy tale was the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson, but Teri was not familiar with that particular story and thought it was too close to the movie "Frozen," so it didn't make the cut. Although the story hardly resembles the movie, I gave up on that battle with the hope to someday make an entire quilt based on The Snow Queen and its seven stories. Not too long after our Snow Queen discussion, we got together for a trivia competition, and the answer to the final question was "The Snow Queen." I thought it was a sign, but Teri thought otherwise, so we had a glass of this particular vintage and moved on.

A quite decent fairy tale pinot

Both Teri and I are very particular about color, but we each gravitate toward different colorways.  I tend to like brighter colors, and Teri prefers more tonal variations. Our original plan for this quilt was to do two quilts; one in bright, pure colors with just fabric appliqué and another in more muted colors with lots of embellishment. We decided to start with the brighter quilt, and it quickly became obvious that only one quilt was going to get finished. Teri still has hopes for a more tonal version of this quilt, but for now, we are happy that we were able to finish this one.

A representation of the colorway we used.

During one of our Pennsylvania fabric adventures, Teri happened on a bolt of striped fabric on sale. I didn't see a good use for it, but Teri, being the greater visionary, bought the whole bolt for someday. Well, it turned out that "someday" came as we were figuring out the borders for our quilt top. One of the stripes in that fabric was perfect for our inner border, as it looks a lot like book pages.

I saw no future for this striped fabric, but I was wrong.

Throughout the the two years of working on this quilt, we had many instances of one of us saying exactly what the other one had been thinking. This happened so often that it became quite humorous at times. The last instance was after the top was finished and ready to be sent to the quilter. We were going to be taking the top in that day and needed to decide what type of quilting should be done. The quilt was on the design wall, and I began to describe to Teri what I had envisioned. I turned back to look at her; her jaw dropped, because I had said exactly what she was going to say to me. We had never really talked about the actual quilting before, so we took it as a sign that our quilting plan was a good one. 

Both Teri and I envisioned swirls and feathers in the border

There are many other stories that we could tell about how we came to this point, but here is the real reason why we were able to accomplish what we have over the past two years. Both Teri and I share a strong faith, and this journey would not have been possible without that faith. When I answered our reader that it was by the grace of God that we were able to join our creative forces, it was because Teri and I truly believe that. The last two years have involved a lot of give and take and a blending of our creativity in order to make an idea become reality. Not only have we gained a small business, a growing blog, and a beautiful quilt, but our friendship and faith has grown immeasurably along the way. We are so blessed to have you, our readers, willing to travel along with us as we continue on this story-laden path. Thank you!

Fairy Tales Through the Needle's Eye

. . . upon a time, there were two friends who loved to stitch together. They had taken classes, gone to quilt shows, made wedding quilts, joined guilds, and worked at The Elly Sienkiewicz Appliqué Academy as a stitching team. One evening, about two years ago, they were sitting at a meeting of the  Baltimore Appliqué Society. Just before the speaker began her lecture, Kara whispered to Teri, "Have you ever seen a Baltimore Album-style quilt with fairy tales?" Throughout the rest of the meeting, wheels of inspiration were turning in their heads, as both friends loved fairy tales as much as they loved to appliqué.

As soon as Teri and Kara reached the car, the talk began. Which fairy tales would they stitch? How many should they choose? How large should they make the blocks? They brainstormed during the entire 45-minute ride home. The next day, they had each done exhaustive internet searches to be sure that there were no such quilts. They discussed and finalized the list of stories they wanted to use, including some tales from the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen. The next weeks were filled with planning. Which blocks would be picture blocks, which would be wreaths, and which would incorporate papercuts? They wanted to stay true to the style of Baltimore album quilts, so they intended to include each of these major styles of album blocks. Designs were drawn, colors were chosen, and background fabric and a few base fabrics were purchased. And the friends began to stitch.

Two years later, the top was completed, and they took the quilt to Bellwether Dry Goods to be hand-quilted. And this past Monday, they went to pick up the completed quilt. The stories had come to life. Kara and Teri were thrilled!

Here are a few highlights from the quilt.

The spinning wheel and briar roses from Sleeping Beauty

Cinderella's glass slipper

Little Red Riding Hood with her basket of goodies for her grandmother

One of Snow White's seven dwarves, in front of the magic mirror

Andersen's Nightingale singing with the emperor's mechanized bird

The Ugly Duckling in the nest

Thumbelina in a walnut shell being pulled to safety by a butterfly

The ship that intrigues the Little Mermaid

Beauty approaching the Beast's castle with the rose her father picked for her

Can you find the Beast hidden in the tree?

Jack climbing the Beanstalk on the left border . . .

. . . with the cow at the bottom

Jack descending the beanstalk with the golden harp on the right border

There is no sashing between the blocks, so the quilting design provides that separation.

Teri and Kara are delighted with the completed fairy tale quilt and cannot wait to share it at the Baltimore Appliqué Society meeting next week. Unfortunately, the Snow Queen interfered with their opportunity to share it at a lecture that they were scheduled to give earlier in the week. They have many plans and ideas for fun projects to continue telling these fairy tales through their needles' eyes. 

The two friends are already discussing their next quilt project. Which fairy tales will they stitch next? What stories would you tell through your needle's eye? 

Kara and Teri don't know what adventures their quilt may have, but they do know that any quilt about fairy tales will surely live happily ever . . .