Summer

It is two weeks since my kids got out of school.  Two weeks of a complete blur.  We went to Mexico for 8 days, and I have been in nonstop baseball-game shuttle mode since returning.  Mostly I need a day to sit, nap, and not have somewhere to go or something to do.  I have the feeling that the next 8 weeks will be similar.  I am not getting much of anything done, but have grand intentions.

FYI...Though most of my clients know that this is the time when I stack the September Custom-quilt queue, BUT I will happily take the edge-to-edge projects throughout the summer.   Smaller custom jobs (baby quilt or small lap quilt size) are fine too.  If you have a quilting need, please don't hesitate to contact me.

In the two weeks leading up to the end of school, I was furiously working to wrap up a couple things. I have added a fun 40" sample to my stack of class samples.  This is for a fills class that I am teaching at Quilt Odyssey in 3 weeks, and again at MQX in October.  With any luck, it will also be taught at the April 2017 MQX as well since it was a well received class.

The sample was fun to quilt.  It is purple Kaffe shot cotton, and I used a bright contrasting orange thread for the middle of the mandala.  I really wanted to show off the patterns for this piece.  Each section has a different design.

I am in the process of designing a silk quilt in a similar style, but it will be pieced.  Maybe by 2019, I will actually start it!  The backside of the sample is black...

I am also working on quilting up the vintage linens I got in Paducah this April.  I have a plan for these as well, but you'll have to wait a bit on that.  These are great small manageable projects that can be finished in 1-2 days.

 I also officially wrapped up the quilting on my next show quilt.  It has blocking and binding to go.  Sounds simple, but I expect this will take 100+ hours.  I had just about finished the quilting in May when I decided that the blocks needed these tiny silk circles -- 126 of them.  I also chose to applique a perle cotton around the blocks.  These two tasks took a whopping 65 hours.  I hope to drop this puppy into the tub today and get it onto my blocking boards.  The binding may take half a lifetime so it's time to get going!

Here's the backside before the dots were added.  I love the solid backing because it shows off the fantastic texture (and the sateen makes it so simple to find the buggers that need fixing!).