Life Under Quilts

This was a big quilting weekend for us on Long Island.   The Long Island Quilters Society holds a huge quilt show every two years, and because I taught a workshop for them in January, I was in the loop enough to fill out the forms and submit my quilts on time this year. 
I went yesterday morning and saw the show with Eri.  It is held at the Garden City Field House Gymnasium which is big airy space.  Everything felt fresh, bright and beautiful. Promise that spring is on the way.  I was very happy that Travel Quilt #3 took two ribbons-- Best in class for Piecework, and 1st place for commercially quilted in its size category.  (That's completely Shannon's fault!  thank you!). 
It's only recently that I became interested in entering my quilts to be judged.  Winning a ribbon is pretty cool, but I have always been a little anti-establishment when it comes to the "proper" way to make a quilt.  I still feel that I made the quilts for me, and I want to share what I've…

Last weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to see some friends in northern Virginia.  I eluded to it in my Monday post, and sure enough, we got caught in a snowstorm.  It was great to see our friends, and a quick shout out on Instagram pointed me in the direction of Finch Sewing Studio in Leesburg.  Eleni and I hopped in the car (leaving the kids with the husbands) and stopped by just as the snow started to fall.

The owner, Nicole, was very friendly (You can read her blog here, or follow her on IG-- @finchsewingstudio) and her shop is just adorable.  It has such a great atmosphere, I don't think my photos could capture how happy it feels just to be inside.

 It was great to go in with Eleni, who has been asking me to make a quilt for her wall for a few months now.  She isn't a quilter, and it was helpful to be able to talk about fabric, pattern, and design using the examples in the shop to get a better feel of what she likes and doesn't like.  I'm still thinkin…

Is spring here?  I think it might be, but then again, I'm writing this post ahead of schedule and the forecast is predicting snow for Monday..
Anyway, I've been very productive this week.. the boys helped me sort through some scraps one afternoon and I've got a nice basket full of hexie-diamond hopefuls.




 I figure I better not cut too many now in case I change my mind about the colors.  I have pulled a lot of purples, pinks and oranges, and I'm not sure if I'll want to stick with that when I actually get around to stitching them.  I let George help and select the fabrics for the rings around the bird hexies-- one uses a blue scrap from the quilt on his bed, I wonder if he recognizes it.  They are definitely not fabrics I would have picked to go together, so these two bird blocks will be all George, and that's just fine by me.  I hope by the time I reach the other side of the quilt, Jack will be old enough to contribute his preferences too.

So, show us what you&#…

I did it.  I did some selfish, not-work sewing and made myself a little needlebook.
I used the pattern from nanaCompany and I'm really happy with it.  I am a scrap hoarder, this is not news to anyone, but a while back I started putting tiny scraps into a separate little tray next to my cutting table, and then when I moved the sewing room downstairs, I started a new tray for very little scraps.  I think my original goal was to sort out pieces small enough for this EPP project, but the collections came in really handy for this too. 
 I'm a little out of practice, and this improv scrap top didn't come together as easily as I thought it would.  I actually had several reject bits before these scraps just found each other and I stitched them up.  Instead of play trial and error for the back cover, I just went with a piece of this teal/turq floral from JoAnn's.  I hand quilted it with fans on the back,
and just followed the seam lines on the front.   It had been ages since I …

With the enthusiasm that I baste and  piece hexies, I can hardly imagine that there once was a time I didn't like the shape, or the idea of making a quilt with them.  I guess we all learn and grow with age, huh?
This past week I had a wonderful lecture and trunk show with the guild in Huntington, NY.  I taught the pillow workshop to a small group of their members last month and several of my students brought in progress to share.  One even completed the entire pillow!  The group was lively and welcoming, and I had a great time.  We have scheduled a few more workshops as well, and I am steadily working towards my goal of getting all of Long Island English paper piecing.. (well, almost).
(I always feel a little guilty when the volunteers have to hold up my quilts.. these suckers are HEAVY.)
I am making slow and steady progress on TQ#5, with the fifth diamond nearly complete.

Yesterday I was piecing after the kids went to bed and decided to time myself with the stopwatch on my phone…

135 stars.. that's how many are in Merrill's quilt.
 She brought it over this weekend with some fabric and a deal-- if I bind it, I can bring it along for my trunk shows.  I've got a lecture/trunkshow coming up on Tuesday, so it was pretty easy to agree to this idea.
The quilt is for Sabrina, who proudly pointed out fabrics to George.  I, of course, loved seeing the two of them pour over it like true quilters' children.  You can read more about the quilt in Merrill's guest post here.

I am so lucky to get to keep this quilt in my house for a while, it brightens up the whole living room!  We made the quilts simultaneously and even though there are a lot of shared fabrics between the two, they look completely different (to me anyway, what do you think?).  There is a pic of them side by side here.   For this week's progress report, I have bits and pieces to show.. most of diamond #4 and the start of #5..  I may be teaching this pattern at a workshop next weekend, s…