I Finished It!

Wow, this took some doing! :-)  I decided I wanted to design and make a quilt for my grandson (who is now 16) in an adult size that would reflect his love of animals, and also use his favorite color turquoise.  I started this quilt in Tucson at least six months before we moved.  I started the applique sections and pretty much finished them, then I had to give up and pack it away as we prepared for the move.  Of course, moving in was as time-consuming and difficult once we got here, and I didn't drag the quilt out to work on it till months after our arrival.  I did the herringbone piecing sections, then added borders to make it a Queen size.  But, now I had a problem...it is so big I knew I needed a good big table and some help to get the quilt sandwiched and ready for quilting, and this took me a few months to finally get accomplished.  Once it was safety pinned to the batting and backing, I was overwhelmed by the aspect of quilting it on my machine, but I started slowly.  Finally I finished quilting the center sections (not without some problems), and was able to start quilting the herringbone sections, which was a breeze.  But once I started working on free-motion quilting on the borders, I started having problems with my thread feed.  That was a battle!   I took the machine to the shop and had it cleaned, oiled and adjusted (another two month wait) and then went at it again.  Overall, what I had wanted to give my grandson over a year ago, he will finally receive....better late than never! :-)   I'm glad it's done!  He has seen it, and loves it, so that makes me happy!

The lake and the animals in and around it are all machine appliqued...

The frog in the water was the first "critter" I made

Do you see the lizard?

There's an osprey with a fish flying overhead.  Turtles on the rocks are watching it and the fabric-painted clouds. I did do a little bit of fabric painting on the center panel also.

Goldie Richmond Exhibit

While we were visiting in Tucson recently we went to the Arizona History Museum with our friend Paulette.  I was happy to share the Goldie Richmond Quilt exhibit with her!  Goldie was the owner of a Trading Post in Sells, AZ near the Tohono O'Odham Reservation back in the 20s to 40s.  She hand-appliqued and quilted quilts while she waited for customers.  Most of her work represents life on the Reservation at that time, and are wonderful charming works.  She also appliqued floral designs.  Only about ten of her quilts have survived.

I love how she used fabric with pottery on it for the stripping!

One of my favorites...the rider being bucked off his horse!

 
Goldie was six feet tall and quite a fascinating person...she had to save her husband from a bobcat once and killed the very large bobcat with her bare hands!

I would love to make a Goldie Richmond homage quilt at some time...with my own scenes inspired by hers, of Indian life.  There are actually patterns of homage quilts for sale at Cactus Quilt Shop in Tucson, HERE, but I would like to do my own thing.  I have no idea WHEN I will get this one made, though!  So many quilts, so little time!

My Last Quilt Guild

I was able to join my dear friend Paulette and go to Quilt Guild one last time.  It was a wonderful program, with Terri Linn Kygar!  Her technique of coloring applique with heated crayons was fascinating and her work beautiful!  Paulette bought her book, and I plan to get it later.  I love the combination of art techniques and quilting because they are both great loves of mine, so this was right up my alley.  A nice send-off from Tucson's amazing Quilt Guild as I soon approach the wonders of quilting (and photography and art) that Oregon has to offer.  In fact, Terri Linn is from a town near The Dallas, OR and has taught classes in Sisters, which is an hour from our new house!  Perhaps I can catch one of her classes!

Orchids

Many of my shots didn't come out because of low light and the distance from the stage but I managed to capture a few.  The technique can be hand-washed  so the quilts done with the crayons aren't for heavy use and machine washing. 

I envisioned this poinsettia in the traditional reds for a Christmas wall-hanging or table runner.  I do like the blue, though.

A page from her book.  When I saw this, I immediately thought of my Mom's kitchen in her old house!  This would have looked amazing hanging there!

A show-and-tell piece I particularly liked! 

This quilt is being raffled to help a Women's Shelter, and I bought tickets.  Absolutely LOVE it.  So Southwestern though...should be moving away from that, but I will always enjoy it no matter where we go....

This is the Tucson Quilt Guild raffle quilt for 2018...they are designed and made up as you can see well in advance.  I already have tickets to hopefully win the 2017 quilt when the show happens in February...that one is pretty Southwestern in style.  There seems to be a theme here. :-)  But then it breaks away....

2018 is Tucson Quilt Guild's Ruby Jubilee, thus the choice of the red compass roses!

I will miss the Tucson Quilt Guild and my monthly "friend" time with Paulette (and sometimes GayNell).  I have made copious notes of every meeting I have attended, and have learned a lot!  Can't wait to see what lies ahead in Oregon....

 

Amazing Rita Verroca!

The Tucson Quilt Guild is a wonderful organization!  The quilters are so talented, but not "snooty" about it like a guild I once belonged to in Texas.  The members recognize that we all represent different stages of expertise (or lack thereof).  We do a lot of quilting for charities, and our quilt show is amazing.  There are always incredible speakers at the meetings.  This past Wednesday we had the pleasure of seeing a presentation by Rita Verroca.  She is a German lady who moved here thirty years ago and discovered quilting.  It is a uniquely American art form, and she encourages those who quilt to follow the traditions of hand piecing, quilting and appliqueing, if possible.  All her quilts are done in this way, and they are incredible!  And she seemed like the most personable, fascinating lady!  Wow...what a meeting!  Here is a LINK to her website. 

Lady of the Lake, one of her Houston show winners!

Rita Verroca...an inspiration to us all!

This next quilt was called My Fairy Trail.  Rita told that she and her husband were watching the movie The Tall Man with Clark Gable and Jane Russell and she said Jane Russell carried a coverlet with her through most of the movie, and she fell in love with it.  It became the inspiration for this gorgeous quilt...

One of her more traditional Baltimore Album quilts.  I plan to do a second post on some individual Baltimore Album squares she has that are part of an American History quilt!

Projects Recently Finished

I am a slow quilter/embroiderer/seamstress.  Slow, slow, slow! :-)  But I finally get things done.  When our nephew and his wife announced they were headed to the wife's kids for Christmas and New Year and wouldn't be home till Jan 6th, I realized I could send their Christmas gift late.  I hadn't gotten it done in time to mail it before then.  Our nephew used to live in Alaska, and would send me pictures of bears he came across.  I've never met his wife (they live in CA) but had been told she loves owls.  So, this is the set of placemats I made:

The bear and owl are done with my own version of "thread painting"...a combo of applique and thread painting that I am enjoying lately.

Before Christmas also we heard that a dear friend back in Virginia had had another stroke (her third) and was in rehab.  I decided to make her a bed jacket.  It isn't much for someone who has done so much for us, but I wanted to send her something.  She loves Japanese motif since she lived there for several years, and I had some 5" squares with Asian designs on them, plus found some beautiful screen printed panels (the larger rectangle you see below is one) that I bought from etsy and wanted to use: