Toot, toot

Slow applique, very slow applique. This past week, I finished appliqueing the zigzags on both top and bottom borders. Then I started on the little pot of flowers on the upper border. It was fun to see how narrow I could make the stems.

Those little yellow flowers just about did me in - 55 little petals. The lower yellow flowers have been appliqued down (except for half of the centers) but all the other flowers and leaves are only glue basted. I see now why most other LE makers decided to do Broderie Perse!

Here's a shot of progress so far.

 Friends have told me I need to toot my own horn a little more so here it is: Toot, toot!

My quilt, "Selvage Star of Bethlehem", will be hanging in the "In the American Tradition" exhibit at Houston next week! It will also travel to other Quilt Festival shows this year.

I plan to be at IQF in Houston next week so if you're there and you see a gray haired, 55+ year old quilter wearing jeans and a T-shirt, be sure to say hello! Ha.

Until next time, Mayleen

Resurfacing!

Its been 2 months since I've written a blog post so I'll try to fill you in on what I've been doing. Most of my time has been spent finishing up my term as president of the Prairie Quilt Guild in Wichita, Kansas. However, I did finish two more UFO's and here's the first:

"Just Ducky", my August UFO finish #8

I started this baby quilt years ago while my kids were still in school many years ago. I didn't know anyone who was having a baby but I thought it was cute. Besides learning to do fusible applique, I learned that its a good idea to line fabrics so the background doesn't show through. The backing is a fuzzy duck print. Quilted by Tricia Lehman. I may give this to my daughter whose baby is due any day!

A few Prairie Quilt Guild traditions - 

The outgoing president makes a gift for each board member. These were my gifts - pincushions pieced from red, pink, purple and gray fabrics. Those squares are about 1/2 inch square. Now that I've worked that small, I'm wondering if I can piece even smaller!?!

Another tradition - The Board makes a quilt for the outgoing president. This is a signature quilt made with many Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The signatures are from the board members, some of whom are pictured, and guild meeting speakers from the past year.

"Cheddar Cheese and Crackers", UFO finish #9

This was a 2009 quilt-a-long on the Humble Quilts blog and is finally finished! The hand quilting was what kept me from finishing this UFO on time. I'm going to have to check if this small quilt is really as wonky as it looks in the photo!

Recently I've begun working on Love Entwined (LE) again. As you can see, I'm busy stitching on Vase #4. When its finished, there's some redo work and I still need to add those fried eggs! I've set a goal to have the entire center finished by the end of the September. At that point, I'll decide if I'll add a narrow border to the center and call it done or if I'll attempt the borders.

Did you see the Houston Quilt Festival button at the top of the right hand side bar? Selvage Star of Bethlehem will be hanging in the "In the American Tradition" exhibit! I'm planning to be there too.

Until next time,

Mayleen

Fur on Quilts

Have you ever made a quilt with a realistic animal on it? If I tried, I'm not sure the animal would be recognizable. I'm impressed how quilters can capture an animal's expression and mood! Here are some of the animal quilts from the Houston Quilt Festival.

 Kim Wants to Quilt, But Tae Needs a Belly Rub by David Taylor

Summer Camp by Barbara Yates Beasley

You Dirty Dog! by Cindy Garcia

Let Sleeping Cats Lie by Cheryl Giovenco

Best Friends by Jeannie Moore

Raining Bubbles by Jennifer Day

Click on this photo to see the animals in the bubbles!

Its So Otis by Nancy Raher-Kessler

Can We Talk About the Steak? by Barbara Yates-Beasley

But We're Only Playing by Sandra Betts

If They Were in Furano by Hiroko Miyanna

Bookends by Kim ? 

(I'm sorry I can't give credit but the photo of the paper with the quilter's name is too blurry for me to read. Does anyone know her name?)

Unforgiven by Laurie Russman

Uh, oh. We put bows on our cats' heads every Christmas morning. Now I'm going to be wondering if I'm forgiven!

All in the Family by Nancy Brown

Seneca by Ferret

Identity Crisis by Susan Engler

 I grew up on a farm so seeing this calf brought many memories of bottle and bucket feeding calves back to me. Calves have the longest eyelashes!

I'm bracing for tomorrow's weather which is predicted to be 30 degrees colder than today! Shiver. The best thing about cold weather is its quilting weather!

Until next time, Mayleen

Seeing Red

More quilts from the Houston Quilt Festival!

I'm always drawn to red quilts, even if there's only a little red in them. It usually doesn't matter what style of quilt it is either. Red is what attracts me. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

 This is what we saw as we entered the show. The Houston Quilt Festival was celebrating their Ruby anniversary with a special display of red and white quilts!

 G.M.O.'s Gone Wild by Betsy Brandt-Kreutz

 Joyful Heart by Aki Sakai

 Sweet Fifteen by Miyuki Hamaba

 Sarah's Revival by Sue Garman

 My Version of a Persian by Christine Wickert

Reptile Wisdom by Karen Stone

I really liked the mixture of red, hot pink and orange colors.

 A Square Pattern by Tadako Nagasawa

 Magic Carpet by Suet-Fern Lee

 King's Parade by Suet-Fern Lee

 An Autumn Flavor by Kiyoko Matsumoto

Its the Singer Not the Song by Ming Hsu

I'm sure I have pictures of more red quilts but I think this is enough for today. More quilts from the show to come including a popular portrait quilt and some pet quilts too!

Until next time, Mayleen

Why I went to Houston!

I have many photos of quilts from the Houston Quilt Festival to share with you but I'm going to start with the quilts and people I most wanted to see!

The Australian Quilting Exhibit, sponsored by Quiltmania

 Phebe by Di Ford

Since I'd just finished my version of Phebe in spring, I most definitely wanted to see it!

Rotherfield Greys by Di Ford

I'm attracted to medallion quilts so this is another quilt I'd like to make.

Antique Wedding Samper by Di Ford

I've made 5 blocks but am having difficulty finding the right fabrics. I spent a lot of time studying this quilt.

the Morrell Quilt by Di Ford

I'm not sure I've spelled Morrell correctly but this quilt is on my "Someday" list.

Drayton Hall by Di Ford

Ann's Legacy by Di Ford

Oh dear, Mrs. Tompkins! aka The Burnt Quilt by Di Ford

Jane Austen Quilt by Di Ford

I'd like to learn more about Broderie Perse so I made sure to watch the demonstration Michelle Yeo (left) and Di Ford (right) did. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to catch the bus back to our hotel.

On Saturday afternoon, I attended the lecture, "Three Addicted Aussie Quilters", given by Carolyn Konig, Di Ford and Michelle Yeo (l-r) and enjoyed hearing about how they approach quilting.

Stars upon Stars by Michelle Yeo

California Star by Michelle Yeo

19th Century Folk Art by Carolyn Konig

Marriage Quilt by Carolyn Konig

Indiana Rising Sun by Michelle Yeo

and if you've stayed with me so far ...

my friend and a member of our quilt guild, Jan Hutchison collaborating with Gail Stepanek, won the Pfaff Master Award for Machine Artistry for their quilt, Stars on Mars!

It was an exciting and fun time at the quilt festival but now I'm trying to play catch up on everything I should have been doing at home. I'll be back with another installment of photos soon.

Until next time, Mayleen