add a border block quilt label update

In the previous article about the Add-A-Border block I used to improvise a nine patch quilt top I neglected to show the back and the label I embroidered for it in my post. Trying to update the post by adding more photos and text wasn't working this morning. I decided to just post these photos with this story all on it's own.
Ever since I began quilting the label at the end was the part I felt was very important and it was a challenge to make. I was influenced to do simple big embroidery letters by a lovely lady in England Claire O. known as Selfsewn who had a blog post a number of years ago on her blog about her own labels you can read it here: Selfsewn Label Tutorial that was totally inspiring. For me it was the answer to the problem.
 So thanks Claire! Here is my latest kind of simple label on AAB quilt project seen in my previous post.

Quilt finish for charity

New finish Blue & White Wedges quilt 

 Recently I finished this new blue and white quilt of wedges sewn in long strips which were left over from a Dresden Plate quilt called Blue Diamonds I made almost three years ago.

Blue Diamonds quilt 2012-2013 a Dresden Plate set on point and hand quilted.

 I made too many wedges for my Dresden plates because I wanted lots to choose from when I was building them. I cut and cut six inch wedges and then put them together as I needed them to mix and match my dark and light plates. When I was done making two large bed sized tops I set the remaining wedges aside. At some point these wedges got sewn together into long alternating blue/white strips that laid in a pile of left over blocks for quite a long time. Opportunity this year to make a quilt for the homeless arose at the guild as it always does in Sept. We have 100 quilts for Kids as a challenge and I had a pal to help me assemble these into a quilt at our all day guild sewing day. Virgil, I met him over the summer, quilts but doesn't have much experience he says. We joined forces at the guild meeting and with his help we put it together in a top that measures about 40 x 64 inches. A nap quilt for a toddler or a throw for some one feeling the season chill. Our quilts this year are going to the Washington DC homeless family shelter at the old DC General Hospital I believe. Once the top was all sewn together and nicely pressed I was lucky to find a nice piece of blue and white tartan in a box of donated fabric large enough to cover the back. I brought the blue tartan yardage and our top home to finish with batting quilting and all the usual parts.

Since this quilt is going to be a donation, I did the straight line quilting on my featherweight Singer sewing machine so it was faster than by hand. I did a diagonal design to echo the wedges. Then on a visit to Manassas I whipped up a personalized label for the back and added the solid blue to bind the edges. 

front, back and label 

Long walks are part of my aspiration every day. It is good to get away from the sewing and in Manassas while I was working on the blue and white wedge's label this image of a local lake surrounded by white asters and blue sky and white clouds becomes a photo equivalent to the blue and white quilt. Guess I didn't get that far away from the project on my long walk seeing the same colors by the lake. 

Quilter's mistake

This past weekend I packed up my quilting tools and two projects to attend the DC Modern Quilt Guild's meeting in Falls Church, VA for an all day sewing meeting.

The completed reconstructed triangles added Sunday

 I usually don't get much sewing done at the meetings because there are so many interesting people to meet and visit with that I often spend my time that way. This time I decided to take along two projects one to complete for show and tell and the other to catch some simple sewing time after that first project was done. I have been building these blocks row by row or border on border for a while now. I have the steps worked out in my head and I thought this would be easy to complete one at the meeting. Just cut  the square in two and add it to the center medallion for a finish, then there will be just one more row to add and the block should be finished. Well best laid plans didn't account for the simple self assured speed with which I screwed it up.

on the right the wrong cut I made at meeting. 

I built two blocks with the intention of cutting them on the 45º angle and making them triangles to frame the center diamond medallion in a block after careful planning this worked on the first side I cut at home and attached but at the meeting I got going to quickly and I didn't consider that there was a right and a wrong 45º direction. I found out just about as fast as I cut my block in half.  I did it the wrong way through my two HST that were meant to be the pinnacle of the triangle not the corners cut in two. Insert frowning face here.

The way I intended to cut the square to make my triangles 

Once I got over that surprise I was glad I brought my Denyse Schmidt improvisational blocks and fabric to work on and that was the work I did the rest of the day.
Stopped into a favorite grass fed beef restaurant "Elevation Burger"  down the street. Its just a few blocks down the street from our historic Church meeting rooms,

 Hope we get to use this Church in Falls Church again for our group is big and we need a lot of space and tables, chairs electric outlets and it doesn't hurt to have a kitchen and open room on floors for layouts... So many needs for so many quilters I am beginning to think that this organization needs paid staff but then the price would be so high the numbers would shrink. Well that is a round about way of saying thanks to our administrators who did a great job with this weeks meeting and the big Denyse Schmidt events two weeks ago! Thanks to each of you on the board.

This is the church that that gives Falls Church, VA. it's name. The original was built in 1764 during the colonial era of Virginia. The grave stone there by the enormous Oak tree was installed in 1808 and there were others further to the left under the shade of this great tree even older than this one. 

Now it's time to get back to work on my blocks for the Tumbling Block applique medallions quilt for this week I want to finish up the last block of nine and begin putting them together to quilt. 

spring arrives bringing snow, flowers and an art exhibition

 It feels like ages since I wrote a blog post and well maybe it is but everything takes off in the spring time and there is that little pocket computer that draws me into a black hole of Instagram fun which circumvents the previous goal of being a blogger who is posting stories as they happen.

 My life feels so full of good stuff I feel guilty sometimes wondering when the dream is going to end. That doesn't mean there aren't stresses and worries but I like to focus on the joy and delights and marginalize the other end of the spectrum here on my blog. I also like to use this place to make a record of what has been good and beautiful in our lives here on 10th St. NE in Washington, DC. With the long winter we had and the snows and cold spells I had almost forgotten the joys of spring would be coming along. It was especially odd to have yet another snow storm on the first day of spring but we are fortunate to have warmth in the city this time of year that pushes the earliest flower right up through the cold snowy ground and reminds us that it is time for things to change. The sun comes up in a different spot than it has done in a while making the crystals in our windows cast bright dancing spectrum's around the room. It happens every time we have a sunny day but this time of year it is more directly shinning through the window and that makes it more intense. It was an inspiration for the bowl I made and donated to the Smith Healing Arts Center's annual funds raiser show of 125 artists work. I was invited by my former boss George Hemphill to submit an Alchemical Vessel for this years exhibition. I had a bit of a hard time digging up a idea for a vessel that could be made like my quilts with fabric and thread but in the end there was a great little trick with ropes, thin strips of fabric and long hours twisting, sewing and building a fabric bowl. Much like a clay coil pot only the glue wasn't clay but thread, its a technique used to make rugs too I believe. I started out with a small bowl to try one way then built a second beginning that seemed more pleasing to my eye with less exterior threads showing. Orange was the start up color and then the rainbow fell into place ring after ring...

slowly building rings in a spiral up and out to match as best I could the shape of the ceramic blank canvas most of the artists were using as their canvas I really didn't expect it to take so long. Each day it was growing slowly and the anticipation of the next rings of color helped me move forward day by day. 

In the end I added a foot and a label to the bottom and finished with a little fabric hook to hang it on the wall then whisked it off to the gallery with my statement to be photographed and installed and added to the catalog. Each bowl will bring a $150 for a ticket to the guests which they get to select according to the first come first serve ticket purchases. But you can also go see all the bowls Tuesday-Saturdays at the gallery on U.Street NW near the corner of 17th. from March 27th through May 22nd. The benefit is May 1st. for more information on getting one of these great art bowls check out the Joan Hisaok Healing Arts gallery's website. 

I went by yesterday and really enjoyed the show and began wishing I had a ticket. The glossy photo catalog will be available next week!  

Saturday Arts field trip to DAR

Saturday I was lucky to be on a DC Modern Quilt Guild field trip with a few of my many quilting friends to the Daughters of the American Revolution or DAR museum. We went to see the current exhibition titled Eye on Elegance Early Quilts of Virginia and Maryland. The weather was perfect for a museum day too gray to feel bad about being inside and just warm and dry enough to make getting out easy. 

 The quilts are fantastic intricate works of art which retain their vibrant colors in many cases. They are all shown in amazing detail on the web gallery where you can learn lots of details about each quilt and the maker and zoom in to look at the details from the comfort of your home desk or lap top computers. Note you need to let the images load up fully to see the details on your computer screen but it doesn't take long.  

This is a copy that Jane is working on and she brought it along to compare the results of her work to the original. We love the results and are encouraging her to keep going. Only 6 more rows to go it looks like to me to finish the whole top. 

An Ohio Star quilt pattern one of the few quilts that had a design we see still in quilting but this one was remarkable for the fine quilting details. In the top and bottom hourglasses they used a double line of tiny stitches to create that interesting visual texture to contrast the diamonds in the four solid white blocks. Detail shot below.  

This was one that I really got a kick out of and it turns out not only is it made of wools and corduroy but it is made from Men's clothing scraps by the wife of a descendant  German trained tailor using a German technique called inlaid patchwork. No quilting  stitching in this quilt that I could see but the hand stitching of the pieces shows. Some top stitching adding details like hearts and flowers as felt appliqué. 1790-1810 are the dates given so a very old quilt to be made of wool we know that moths love to eat...

This block of fruits and watermelon with a blue knife and birds caught my eye. I love the blues and reds in these quilt blocks from the Album quilts of Maryland. 

Here if you blow it up is a fancy lady riding a white horse lower left of the image and these flowers in the cornucopia vase are embellished with top stitched embroidery. 

This is a screen shot from the museum showing the entire quilt I couldn't get in the museum. White and a rich pink printed fabric and a center medallion appliqued... 

The part that I loved in this quilt was the actual quilting which was very fine shown in my detail shot below. 

 The second screen capture image of this center medallion quilt with the vine and these great applique grass blades surrounding the edges. It also had very fine quilting all over the top.

 After we enjoyed talking about our favorite quilts and investigating them we went to lunch all 18 of us got individual lunch treats at Cozi on 17th St. NW which was about all that is open on Saturdays in that area around the White-house. The usual places there are crowded during the week with government workers so Sat. is a good time to go see the show and metered parking right around the museum was plentiful believe it or not.

I enjoyed this field trip with my quilting friends and I wouldn't mind going back to look again. Maybe I should undertake a copy quilt top like Jane so I have a good reason to keep going back, it's open through September 5th 2015.
More information:
http://www.dar.org/museum 

Saturday Arts day

This week we were excited to go see a free presentation of the Washington Ballet Company introducing their newest ballet based on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow published in 1820 this short story is one that has been a great halloween scary story for many generations. It has lots of "Dutch" influence and kindled my interest in the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam as a youth when I was studying ballet myself.
This presentation was inspired in part by the paintings at the Smithsonian American Art Museum which hosted this presentation in their great Kogod courtyard under the fantastic canopy installed a few years ago over the space between the two buildings of SAAM and National Portrait gallery.

The choreographer told us that the costumes for the laundresses were inspired by this painting of a the  Young Moravian Girl circa 1755-60 in the collection which we found later and photographed. 

 What ever the inspiration these dancers were channeling joy and pilgrim charm... they warmed up for us and later danced for us sections of the ballet with introductions about the various sections. They also introduced themselves and I was surprised to discover that one was Japanese, Ukrainian and the third is Brazilian! They are soon discovered and accused of witchcraft.

Ballet is always a drama with tragic undertones and romance currents run a plenty. 

They apparently get the usual Salem treatment for witches and come back in the second act as spirit witches with great white wigs! Ichabod Crane the protagonist in the short story is a fellow who wears yellow knickers in this production and is set upon by these spirits while reading some ancient book on witch craft he found somewhere in sleepy hollow.

The Ballet has a funny side too with a drunken bartender who has a duet with Ichabod which I got a short video recording of here. It's a nice dance for a couple of guys and Ichabod is the sort of sober one trying to keep the bartender on his feet. 

While we were looking for the two paintings after we saw the show we discovered a few things that brought quilts of old to mind and lo and behold in the next room a Mennonite quilt.

Mennonite Quilt with embroidered flowers about 1880 cotton 

After the ballet and the roaming through the American Art to find these treasures Keith and I enjoyed great gourmet submarine sandwiches at Taylor Gourmet on 400 block of K. St. NW. Another great Saturday of art adventures.