Libby Lehman

I forgot to hit publish on this post, but that's OK, because I have more information than when I originally posted. Libby Lehman suffered a brain aneurysm after returning home to Houston from Paducah. Libby was a judge for the Paducah show, and apparently was having severe headaches while she was there. When she returned home, she went to the doctor, and the aneurysm burst while in the doctor's office. She later suffered a stroke. We've all been holding our breath since then, but I'm happy to report that Libby has been moved to a rehabilitation center and is making good progress. We don't know how long her recovery will be, but it will be a long road ahead. She has received over 400 cards, and her family says she has responses (blinking, etc.) when they read the cards to her. Life is so uncertain. When I ran into Libby in Paducah, she appeared as vibrant and full of energy as always. When I showed her my quilt, she noticed and praised the changes I made, and overlooked my atrocious quilting. No indication that a few days later, she would be fighting for her life. A Caring Bridge has been set up for Libby: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/libbylehman.

I sent Libby a humorous card because she has such a great sense of humor and I hoped that it would be OK. Since then, the family has said that humorous cards are especially appreciated.

A Little Get Well Poem From Me...

Work on getting well,
Don't you ever quit,
Or I'll be there in person
To give you lots of...
(Open the card)
Encouragement!
What? What did you think I was going to say?

The First Step is Admitting That You Have a Problem....

Hi, my name is Jeanette and I'm a hoarder. I joke about being a fabric-aholic, about being a yard of fabric away from being featured on Hoarders, about my stash being my 401k, but the truth is, I'm a hoarder.

For weeks I have been cleaning my sewing room. When I was working on teaching the class in North Carolina, I literally had to clear a path from the door to the sewing machine. What made me come to the realization that I have become more than a fabric-aholic is the number of books, patterns, fabrics, kits that I have more of one of the same thing!  Sew many books that are duplicates, sew many patterns that are duplicates...aaaaugh!  I just said to Al that I am a hoarder, and he said sympathetically, "I know, Honey." He then said, "Is it time to start selling some of that stuff?" and my heart stopped. That is the true sign that I am sick and need help. After I've had time to adjust to the thought of parting with some of my treasures, I think I will try to sell some of the duplicate books on Amazon. I'll let you know how it goes...

In other news, on Saturday we had our Judy Niemeyer Club meeting. I'm so proud of what we've accomplished! Mary completed her table runner, which was the beginning project to learn the way Judy paper pieces.

 

This is Cindy's table runner:



Once they complete the table runner, they had the choice of doing Three Ducks in a Row, Indian Summer, or Weeping Willow. Mary, our paper piecing Energizer Bunny, has completed all these blocks:

Aren't those pretty? So proud of Mary and the other students.

Back to cleaning....

Twelve step program for fabric-aholics...Never be more than 12 steps away from fabric!

This has been on my design wall since forever. When I needed a sample for the class in North Carolina, I had the brilliant inspiration of setting the blocks on point and calling it a day. Then I had another brilliant idea - Cultured Expressions is sponsoring an exhibit at the Dei Museum in Ghana, and since I adore Lisa, I wanted to submit something, but both the size restriction as well as the no commercial pattern restriction had me significantly stymied.  But ta-da! Here's a nice Afro-Centric piece. Two birds, one stone. The piece is called, New York Beauty Goes to Africa. Various New York Beauty blocks made with African prints, some of which were purchased in Ghana and South Africa.

When one door closes, another opens. Or you can open the closed door. That's how doors work.

Paris...Rome...Paducah!

Another item crossed off my non-existent bucket list. I have wanted to go to the Paducah Quilt Show for many years, but it is so dang hard to get to and the accommodations leave a bit to be desired, and it's hard to get a hotel room, because the tour companies snap them all up. So - seven hour drive and staying in a hotel away from the action - no, thank you. Last year I noticed that Stichin Heaven travel had a tour AND (most important), the rooms were in Metropolis, across the river, at Harrah's! Illinois is a quick 14 mile ride across from Paducah! Who knew? When the quilt show lists accommodations, they don't list Illinois hotels, so all you get is a list of the "Inns" in Paducah. If I were to go back, I would definitely stay in Metropolis at Harrah's. So all the folks on the tour (56 of us) all met up at the Nashville airport, and took a bus to Paducah ('cause you can't fly in to Paducah!)

First of all, Metropolis - you do know it is the home of Superman, right? Because it rained every day but one, I didn't get a chance to go to the giant Superman statue. But here is a not taken by me photo:

We did drive by the statue, but because it was raining, my photo wasn't a good one.

 

The quilt show was phenomenal...so many quilts and over 400 vendors. Of course I spent way more money than I intended to, but not on fabric. We started out by going to dinner with Eleanor Burns, she of Quilt in A Day fame. Not being a Quilt in a Day kind of girl, I have never made one of her quilts, but I sure did enjoy her. She greeted every single one of us personally, chatted and answered questions, cleaned up after us, and was just generally a delight. Despite fabrics that were on sale from $3-$5, I didn't buy any fabric.

 

Thursday was National Quilt Museum, Caryl Bryer Fallert (A-MA-Zing studio), and Ricky Tims photo shot. I wish I could show you the quilts at the National Quilt Museum because they are so incredible, but you are not allowed to take photos. Paducah had some kind of arts revival program years ago and Caryl bought her live/work studio for $2, in exchange for refurbishing the building. She took us on a tour of the building, which is very organized and beautiful. The Ricky Tims photo shoot will be on the cover of The Quilt Life in October. Thank goodness he did it on Thursday, because Friday, despite weather reports that the weather would be overcast, it poured. Went to Mecca Hancock's of Paducah (not the same as Hancock's).  How to describe it? First of all, it's HUGE and is in two buildings. How huge is it? Fabric is arranged by designer, not by color, that's how big it is. These pictures don't even begin to show how big it is. I only bought 2 yards of fabric at Hancock's, because how can you not? The ones I bought were current batiks which were $6/yd. 

 

Incredibly, one day I ran into Libby Lehman, and I got to show her my circle quilt! With 30 or 40 something thousand people, it really was amazing that I saw her.

 

And here's a picture of our tour group.

There were soooooo many people in Paducah, and the quilts are not laid out with as much room as they are in Houston, so I don't know that I would go back. I might, but I don't feel compelled to. PLUS - AQS is adding three new shows next year, one of which is in CHATTANOOGA! Not only does Chattanooga have nice hotels, it's actually a short two hour drive away! September, 2014, Baby! 

 

Live like there's no midnight

- Cinderella

Rest-Muse-Count Your Blessings

Ta-da! Finished piecing AND quilting the top I started at Libby Lehman's class at Asilomar last month. It's titled, "Count Your Blessings." One morning when I was walking the beach, I noticed a plaque on a rock that I must have walked past I don't know how many times and never noticed. It faces the ocean, and it says, "Rest - Muse - Count Blessings."  What a wonderful reminder!

 

So here is "Count Your Blessings!"  

 

 

OK, so I danced like no one was watching. My court date is pending.

Lowlights Reel

"The reason we struggle with insecurity is that we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlights reel."  -Steve Furtick

This post is a behind-the-scenes. You all see the fantabulous end results and none of the struggles to get there. Who wants to read a blog about all the times you messed up?  I'll have some pretty pictures, please!

This weekend was definitely a behind-the-scenes reel. On Saturday, I took the shoe quilt to KiwiQuilts to baste on the longarm and to do some of the quilting. It would have been pretty embarrassing if I didn't have a secure sense of self (developed much later in life, btw.  Another favorite quote is Eleanor Roosevelt's - "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.") I couldn't even remember how to turn the machine on. I couldn't remember how to make it go, and the fabric I'm using was not cooperating, so it was hard to baste. In my defense, it has been since November since I used the machine, and the only time I had used it before that was a class two years ago, so I haven't developed any muscle memory. :)  People tell me when I teach class that I am so patient, and this is why. I know I am far from perfect, so it's much easier to be patient with someone who is learning.

Sunday we had planned to do gardening, but it rained, so it was a perfect excuse for Al to watch The Master's and for me to put the binding on "Autumn at Lost Mountain." When I took the quilt up from being blocked, despite all the great smooshing, it puffed up in the middle again and the border was wavy. I blocked it again, and when I took it up yesterday, still poofy in the middle, border still wavy. I'm not sure if that's because of the polyester in the batting or what, but I'm not blocking it again. I started putting the binding on, and my first corner is wonky, so that's a do-over, also.

So all in all, pretty frustrating...I'm headed over to Kiwi tomorrow to baste some more!  Next post will be pretty pictures (or at least pictures), but just wanted to share with you that I don't just sit down at the machine and churn out lovely results. Sometimes they are spectacular failures. Einstein once said that "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."  

Ladies, if a man says he'll fix it, he will. There's no need to bother him every six months about it.

Asilomar - "But I've still got some sand in my shoes..."

 

Remember that song from The Drifters in the early 60's? It was a followup to the hit "Under The Boardwalk."  Summer over, summer love over, memories over, but I've still got some sand in my shoes...

Had a wonderful week at the Empty Spools Seminar in Libby Lehman's class at Asilomar. There were about 18 of us in class, and we learned some great tips from Libby, who is also a Bernina Educator. The weather was fantastic, and I walked on the beach every day.

I actually added that little top rock, which is a lot harder than you might think. Just sayin'.

I was not happy when Aramark took over management of Asilomar a few years ago. You know, big corporate giant taking over management of "The Refuge By The Sea." But I must say, they have made so many nice improvements, and so far, still kept that unique small quality. First of all - SIDEWALKS! Previously pedestrians just shared the road with cars. I've never seen an accident, but I'm sure there have been plenty. Second of all - SIGNS! I can't tell you how much I have wandered around Asilomar looking for a building. A friend was going to meet me last week and she said, "You are going to have to come out to the street, because I am not driving around that maze." And they have maps (energy saving maps that light up when you walk by at night!) and directional signs (Scripps, this way. Lodge, that way.) Third of all - much better food, although that's up for debate. Usually by about the third day, I could not stomache the food at Asilomar and would eat offsite, but it is vastly improved in my opinion. When I made that observation one day, some of the women at my table said it was "homier" before. The recycling of food is hilarious, though...Pork Loin for dinner Monday night, Sweet and Sour Pork for lunch Tuesday. Steak for dinner Tuesday night, Steak Salad for lunch Wednesday. But they have vegetarian choices now, lots of salads, and well balanced meals. And new mattresses!  Don't get me wrong - it's still "rustic." No televisions, telephones in the rooms, wood floors that creak like my old bones...but at least it is rustic, and not just run down and decreptic.

So in class, we were able to choose from several of Libby's projects. I worked on the Pinata Quilt. In my quest to not have any more UFO's, I chose to work on a small version and do a larger version later. And if later never comes, I won't have yet another unfinished project. You work with the circular attachment to achieve this result. I didn't finish putting it together, but here it is on the design wall:

 

We took the red eye coming back Tuesday night...I'm still trying to recover from that! The sunrise was beautiful...hard to get a good shot from the plane (especially after you are supposed to have turned off all electronic devices.)

 



 

I'll be home until the end of the month, when I go to the quilt show in Paducah for the first time. Good to be sleeping in my own bed!

 

What's the difference between a skinny quilter and a fat quilter? A skinny quilter comes home from work, sees what's in the refrigerator and goes to bed. A fat quilter comes home from work, sees what's in bed and goes to the refrigerator. - Joke told by Libby at Asilomar.

Jenny from the Block...or Blocking by Jenny...or

Blocking is fun..or...Blocks R Us...or...Send in the Blocks...

Can you tell how much I love blocking? Not.

I blocked Autumn at Lost Mountain today. When you quilt a top, even if it was perfectly square before (which has happened, never), it won't be after...that's just a fact of life. For "Show" quilts, the judges expect to see dense, all-over quilting, which is going to make things even more out of whack. The way to remedy that is to wet the quilt (Aaaaugh!) and gently ease everything back in to shape...or in the shape you want it to be.  Some people throw their quilts into the washer, some steam, I've even heard of dry blocking. I do not block every quilt. Only ones that need to hang perfectly straight when they are being judged.

I block in the tub, throwing in some Shout Color Catchers, available at your friendly neighborhood grocery store in the laundry supply department. The tub just seems a little more gentle to me. The Color Catchers pull any excess dye into the catcher (they're like little color magnets!) instead of it going back into your quilt. Ever throw something red in with the whites and end up with everything pink? Color Catchers prevent that. For good measure, I also throw in some Synthrapol. No good reason, since the Synthrapol does the same thing as the Color Catchers.

Looking at this picture makes me dizzy! But can you see some of the green in the water? I washed these fabrics before using them, but there's still some excess dye. I forgot to take a picture of the color catcher to show how green they were (I used three).

I then threw the quilt in the washer on the spin cycle (gentle) to get the excess water out.

Then I laid her out on these styrofoam boards I bought at Home Depot. (You can get them at Lowe's or Ace or any place that sells insulation.)  Some people use the carpet, and I've heard of people using their hardwood floors. This piece was really poofy in the middle, so I smooshed the quilt out from the center. Yes, smooshed is a technical quilting term. True. Look it up if you don't believe me.

Smooshing photos by Al Walton

When I measured the inside border diagonally I got a measurement of 64 and 7/8. But when I measured corner to corner the other way, I got 64 and 3/8! Almost half an inch out of whack! All that smooshing, I bet. So I lifted the wet quilt up and eased in a little bit one way and out a little bit the other and ended up with 64 1/2 both ways. The smooshing and easing took about an hour. Then I got the borders straight, and now she is just drying her heart out. I might be able to get her squared up tomorrow. I leave Tuesday for Asilomar, and it would be great to be have something to work on on the plane.

Margaret from Mainely Quilts of Love also has an excellent tutorial on blocking. Here's another really good step by step tutorial here.  Or just Google how to block a quilt and LOTS of sites will pop up.

"I'm afraid I can't go. I've already taken my bra off, so I'm in for the night."

Paper Piecing Class

I taught a paper piecing class at KiwiQuilts today. Three people came to class. Look what we did!

That may not look like a lot, but when you consider all the cutting that we had to do before we started sewing, it's a lot! I can't wait to see the results - they're off to a great start! This pattern is Indian Summer by Judy Niemeyer.

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party!

What I did at Quilt Class

On Monday and Tuesday I took a class at Quilting By the Bay. Judy was teaching the wedding ring class, and I just can not have another UFO (Unfinished Object, of which I can see 15 in just this room), so I did an easy project...a table runner. I actually got a lot finished...

This is made with a Brown Sugar Bali Pop...at first I thought the brown and blue would not look good, but I really like it. What do you think?

Tomorrow I have to gather my materials for my class with Libby Lehman at Asilomar next week, and Friday I have to prepare for my class at KiwiQuilts on Saturday. Never a dull moment!

Before I go to bed...Judy and Dell really loved the quilting that Margaret did on the Feathered Star. And here's a picture with Judy and the quilt!

 

If at first you don't succeed, try having a drink while you do it. You'll be surprised how much less you care.

Best Weekend Ever!

(This post is out of order. I started it when I came back from North Carolina, but forgot to publish it. This took place the weekend of March 1st.)

I've just come back from a weekend in North Carolina with the African American Quilt Circle of Raleigh-Durham. I haven't said a lot (anything?) about it in case I was an abject failure...didn't want it widely known that I had fallen flat on my face...that would have just been between me and the ladies of Raleigh-Durham. Well...it was fabulous! And not so much because of what I did, but because these ladies are so supportive, so warm and welcoming...I had a blast!

Friday I stayed at the home of Kimberley Cartwright, and we went to the opening of their quilt show. My favorite piece featured some of their activities over the past 15 years. I sent Rachel a photo so she could see her place in the guild's history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now I'm a part of that history!

 

I taught a paper piecing class on Saturday. The block I taught was the New York Beauty, and I think the class was a success. Several people said they wanted to do more paper piecing, and I’ve had a lot of requests for the template we used. There were 25 people in the class! Here are some of the blocks completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After class on Saturday, I was soooooo tired. I went to Wish Upon a Quilt (great quilt store! Lots of fabulous batiks!), then went to the room and put my feet up until time for dinner. We went to P. F. Chang’s for dinner, then went to a dance show at . It was a wonderful show. Afterwards we went to the room with snacks and wine, and sat up drinking and talking until after 1AM. I thought I would struggle to get up the next day. I took a sleeping pill when I went to bed, and slept solidly, and I was in good shape Sunday morning. Kimbereley said I snored all night long.  Breakfast the next day, then we went to a great store called French Conections. Their sign says they sell French Antiques and African Art.  But it says nothing about the fantastic African print fabric they sell at great prices. Loved this store.

Then it was time to go back and get ready for the 15^th anniversary luncheon. When they asked me to be their guest speaker, of course I was flattered, and then reality hit! It was a lot of work getting ready, but I think the presentation went well. My heart was so full from the generosity of spirit of the group that I think anyone would have done a great job. The food was delicious and the celebration was full of heart and soul. I stayed over Sunday night and just crawled in to bed after the luncheon was over. On Monday, I had planned to go to the Botanical Gardens, but I couldn’t get up, so I met Kimberely at the scrap store, then went to Thimble Pleasures, (another great store!) then came on home. It was a great weekend!

 

Friends are like the walls of a house. Sometimes they hold you up, sometimes you lean on them, but sometimes, it's enough to know they're just standing.

Quilting Makes the Quilt!

 

Here is the flat out GORGEOUS Feathered Star. OMG - quilted by Margaret Gunn at Mainely Quilts of Love. She did an amazing job quilting it, turned it around really quickly, and she was priced reasonably for custom quilting. It turned out so much better than I expected. What a talent! 

 

The piece is called, "Autumn at Lost Mountain," and was inspired by the changing colors of the Maple Trees at Lost Mountain last Fall (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

 

I have a class with Judy Niemeyer next week at Quilting by the Bay in Florida, and I cannot wait to show the finished quilt to her. I really should block it tomorrow or Friday so I could work on the binding in car on the way down, but that would be too much like right. Besides, I don't want to take a chance on it not being dry and not being able to take it. You will recall that I started this when I went to Judy's retreat in Montana last September, and I know she will be pleased to see the finished result. And you know you're going to see a picture of me and Judy with this quilt when I get back. Just sayin'. 

According to this BMI chart, I am too short.

Piecing people and applique people

In the world of quilting, I honestly believe there are two types of people...people who piece (me - sewing all the little scraps of fabric together) and applique people - people who apply little scraps of fabric to other pieces of fabric to make pictures of flowers or animals or people. I don't like applique, but I decided this year to challenge myself and try something new, so I bought a block of the month with fusible applique. Fusible is really cheating, because the pieces are already cut out and in this case, already have the fusible (sticky paper) glued on! Can't get any easier than that! So, I thought this would be an easy way to jump in to the applique world. I actually enjoyed this, and might take a step up to real applique next...maybe.

And for the record, I did try the Ricky Tims method of tearing the fabric for this block...and I don't like the result. The edges are wobbly and ironing them did not make it better.

I needed something easy to do after tearing paper out all week for the Feathered Star. I have talked before about how much I hate taking paper off...it was really a pain with these small pieces. I have little pieces of paper all over the floor of my sewing room and I have tracked it all over the house.

And I'm teaching a paper piecing class at KiwiQuilts! We had 10 people sign up for the first class!

Tomorrow it's back to the shoe quilt. I am going to put the out side border on and get it basted down and start quilting it.

You're riding a horse at full speed. There's a giraffe beside you. And you're being chased by a lion. What do you do?

Get your drunk ass off the carousel...

My New BFF, Ricky Tims

I finished the Feathered Star! Y seams and all!

Why yes, that is me on stage with Ricky Tims. He, Libby Lehman and Alex Anderson held a seminar at Clayton State. He was asking me how he can improve his piecing skills, and called me up on stage to demonstrate.  LOL! What really happened was that on the first day of the seminar, he was talking about "Caveman Quilting" and how you do not have to have a perfect 1/4" seam allowance. Edith said, "You should cover your ears when he gets to that part." He didn't hear exactly what she said, but heard our murmuring, and like a good teacher, came right on down into the audience and we repeated the conversation to him. We joked about having to call the paramedics for the less than precise part. Later, he was making a point that we all only have so much time, and we shouldn't waste time on low value activities. So of course he calls Miss Perfect 1/4 inch seam allowance up on the stage to make his point. The lady standing there with me was to cut strips and I was to tear the fabric, which presumably is faster. But he set it up so that I finished first anyway. We all had a good laugh, he gave me a yard of fabric which I donated to the Guild for the auction next month. Just for the record, I do not like to tear fabric, because while it is on the straight of grain, the stress of tearing it distorts the edges of the fabric. His recommendation is that you press the fabric and the edges will be fine. I'm willing to try it...(she said skeptically and not at all set in her ways.)

 

He was very generous about signing books and taking photos:

 

We had a great time at the seminar and I learned a lot. I wanted to attend one of his retreats in Colorado this year, but couldn't make it fit into my schedule. I definitely will go next year. And I'm taking Libby Lehman's class at Asilomar in March. And Clayton State University is a beautiful campus.

 

I just threw a housewarming party for the people next door. Well, I called it a housewarming, the police called it arson.