Friday, March 30, 2018

From Start to Finish: Jammin' Jelly 2.0

About ten years ago, my second pattern, Jammin' Jelly, was published by Joen Wolfrom Designs. It was written to use some of those new precuts that were just being released--charm packs and jelly rolls.

The original inspiration came from a floor--if I remember correctly it was a bathroom floor in a fast foot restaurant in Los Banos, California.
In the last several years, I have wanted to make an updated version of this pattern, especially when a designer for Riley Blake released a line of fabric with "live a colorful life" in one of the prints--which ended up being in every single block. :)
So I dug into my bin of solid scraps and had the best time making 20 blocks. I forgot how quickly these blocks go together. It probably took me longer to choose where to place the solids than it did to sew the block together! 

I decided the blocks needed a little breathing space because of all the texty prints. The original has no sashing between the blocks, but in this version I added a narrow 1" black sashing with colorful cornerstones. 
After it was quilted and bound, I knew exactly where it needed to be photographed. There is an old building in town that has been painted with a rainbow of colors. It was hard to get a picture showing the beautiful progression of colors--and the blue/purple side of the building was not accessible at all.



Isn't it fabulous??


Name: Jammin' Jelly 2.0
Designed and Made by: Cindy Wiens
Quilted by: Darby Myers
Size: 44"x54"

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Quilting in the Pines 2018

The owners of Quilters Paradise closed their shop the end of 2017, but decided to hold Quilting in the Pines this year anyway. It was a weekend of interesting weather. Janice and I drove up earlier than we had planned because a huge snow storm was said to be on its way.
 They weren't kidding. This was the view from the table where we sewed.

We stayed at Marilyn's cabin again this year. Such a treat.





By Saturday, there was some blue sky.

It seemed like a good day to take our annual picture.
Jennifer, Marilyn, Janice, Dotty, me
We also celebrated Marilyn's birthday during the weekend.

Jennifer always makes personalized placecards for each of us, using a scrap of the challenge fabric.
I never do a challenge project. Jennifer and Dotty always do one. Jennifer's project won first place this year--she foundation paper pieced blocks using the challenge fabric from each year of Quilting in the Pines. Such a great idean and so nostalgic.
Dotty's was so very cute too.
I worked on some snowflake blocks. How appropriate.
I also started Jammin' Jelly 2.0--Live a Colorful Life. It's finished and has been photographed, so be looking for it. 
Lots of sewing going on here. 

This year, very good friends (sisters) Margie and Debbie were also at our table. We've known them for years, so it was extra special to have them at our table.
I had an enounter with a bear. Ha!

By Sunday, the skies were blue and the snow was melting.




We don't know if the retired owners will continue this very fun tradition next year--they say yes, they will. We hope so. So many good memories are made each year.

Tale of Two Cities

I took one class at Quiltcon, a photography class taught by Kitty Wilkin and Michelle Bartholemew. It was a fabulous class--well organized, informative, packed with so much information--I learned so much. If you ever have a chance to take a class taught by them, sign up as soon as you can!!

I had brought along my Tale of Two Cities quilt, as Kitty was doing a lecture about making quilts to mark life moments, and this quilt was being included in her lecture (you can read about that at the end of this post). After class, we took it outside for a little photo session.

I had noticed this beautiful light fixture, with some of the paint that dripped down the side of the building. It was nearly the identical color to one of the fabrics in the quilt.



These two pictures were by far my favorites. I hope Kitty will send me the pictures she took. I would love to know what her experienced eyes focused on.
Quilt photography has become one of my favorite parts of quilting, and I hope 2018 sees me gaining more knowledge and experience in documenting the things I make.


QuiltCon 2018: The Quilts

Where to start with the quilts at QuiltCon 2018? So many intriguing ones to choose from. As in other years, quilt guilds from all over make donation quilts which go to a local charity. They are all based on a specific color palette. They were displayed in the mail hallway and on both sides of the main lecture hall. While I tried to document the quilts and their makers in the other categories, I did not document the different guilds. But here are some of my favorites:










PIECING

I can hardly believe I even took a picture of this one, being as phobic as I am. But it was pretty cool.
 "Hiss," Sarah Sharp, Carmel, Indiana
"The Switzerland Quilt," Vicky Mueller, Karlsruhe, Germany
"The Voodoo Code," Kathryn Upitis, Calgary, Albert
 "Plant Lady," Sarah Sharp, Carmel, Indiana
(close up)
"Which Way Is Up?", Dawn Golstab, Leander, Texas
"Igualdad (Equality)," Carolina Oneto, Colina, Santiago, Chile
"incidental Collaboration," Nora Renick Rinehart, Chicago (1st Place)
"Aura," Nydia Kehnle (3rd Place)
 "Fangirl," Lysa Flower, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
 "Positive: Negative," Lorena Uriarte, Maroubra, New South Wales, Australia
 "Shag," Catherine Mosely, Cameron Park, NSW, Australia
I love the traditional hand tying

IMPROVISATION
 "Configuration: Kasuri With Five Lines," Julie Haddrick, Adelaide, South Australia
 "Blue Jean Butterlies," Charlotte Noll, Lauderhill, Florida (Judge's Choice)
 "Loon Lake Love," Krista Fleckenstein, Anchorage, Alaska
I love Krista's choice of colors

APPLIQUE'
 "Color Personality" by Annabel Wrigley, Warrenton, Virginia

I adore all of Annabel's "blob" appliques




"Fauchet" by Virginia Robinson, Chapel Hill, North Caroline

QUILTING CHALLENGE
 "West" by Lori Beitler, Montclair, New Jersey

"You are Here" by Jennifer Johnston, Kitchener, Ontario
 "This Way, That Way," Danielle Reiner, Mountain View, California
 "Scrap Migration," Abigail Fuller, Deary, Idaho
 "Northern Obsession," Christine Perrigo, Erie, Colorado (2nd place)
"No Goose Left Behind," by Sarah Ashford, Wellington, Somerset, UK

BEST MACHINE QUILTING WINNER
 "Happy Dance," by Sandra Kaye, Jacksonville, Florida


MODERN QUILT GUILD QUILTS OF THE MONTH
 "Singularity," Jenn Nevitt, Fort Worth, Texas (January 2017)
"Bridges," Anne Sullivan, Baltimore (December 2017)

USE OF NEGATIVE SPACE
 "Sirkel," Daisy Aschehoug, Oslo, Norway
 "Urban Trek," Heather Black, Spokane, Washington (1st Place)
 "Configuration," Eva Birch, Mantua, Ohio

 "Pivoted Plaid," Cassandra Beaver, Urbana, Ohio

HANDWORK

"Out of Square," Di Jobbins, Zelland, NSW, Australia
 "Wholecloth 4, Heidi Parkes, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

GROUP OR BEE QUILTS
 "The Here and Elsewhere Bee," Andrea Tsang Jackson, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1st Place)

MINIMALIST DESIGN
 "Lateral Ascension," Cassandra Beaver," Urbana, Ohio

 "Harvest," Carson Converse, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts (1st Place)
(the lines in this quilt were drawn on by hand!)
"Sliced Circles," Karen Lee, Happy Valley, Oregon
 "Passage," Carson Converse, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts

MODERN TRADITIONALISM
 "Color Study H1," Victoria Findlay Wolfe, New York (1st place)
"UnBoxed," Doprie Hruska, Highlandville, Missouri
 "Ohio Snowball," Christine Perrigo, Erie, Colorado
 This is one of my most favorite quilts in a very long time. It was thrilling to be able to study it up close.
"Pineapple," Tiffany Baxter, Amherst, Virginia
 "Fly Away Home," Kimberly Davis, Phoenix, Arizona


 "Goal Visualization," Laura Hartrich, Oak Park, Illinois
"Is This a Modern Quilt?," Sarah Lowry, Greensboro, North Carolina

So now you know which quilts caught my eye. Have you been to QuiltCon before?