Quilt Show Coming Up

March 24, 2010,

I am a member of the Quilters' Connection which is a fairly large local quilt group. They have a quilt show coming up on June 4 - 6, 2010. If you are in the Boston area, pencil in the dates and swing by to see many beautiful quilts done by many renowned quilters. Note, my quilt is beautiful, but I am not one of those famous quilters... yet. :)

I have submitted two quilts for showing, depending on space, one of mine will definitely be on display.

For those who would like to support the group, the group is also raffling a beautiful quilt call "Modern Linoleum" which measures 102" x 85". You can see the quilt on the Quilters' Connection website. Raffle tickets are $1. If you are interested, let me know.

Some of you may ask, why the shortage of posts? Well, I have placed quilting on the way side, hidden my sewing machine, stopped buying fabrics, stopped buying quilting or sewing gimmicks because hubby and I recently purchased a dwelling. This dwelling needs minor work, so we are in the process of looking for someone to do the job.

I have heard that construction is on the slow side, but we can't seem to find someone who will do the work. I think we have finally found someone that we would hire, we are just awaiting the estimate to come back.

We are currently still living in our apartment because moving in with construction in the background is going to be hellish and very disruptive. So we've made a decision to stay put where we are until almost everything is done.

The work includes gutting out three bathrooms, removing lally columns in the basement and putting up another support beam to make the basement an open room to fit a pool table.

Fun, fun, fun. Hopefully work will be starting in the next two weeks or so, can't wait to move in.

Quilt & Bitch

Show + Tell :: Meditation + 80 Stars

July 10, 2009

Here is my latest quilt called "Meditation". They are done with batik fabrics (no surprise there). The background fabric is a black fabric with a tint of blue. This was hand appliqued and hand quilted.

I think my fingers are getting use to the torcher of quilting, which means I can do more in one sitting.

This one is available for sale on gquilts.etsy.com.

(Above: "Meditation" wall hanging)

(Above: Detail of wall hanging)

(Above: Back of quilt)

(Above: Detail of back of quilt)

So far, I have gotten a decent amount of hits to the quilts, but no one has bitten yet. Guess I just have to wait longer for that Bernina machine. Maybe I don't need the machine anyway, because I enjoy doing things by hand anyway. We'll see.

So here's another quilt that I finished this week. This one is similar to the Koi fish quilt that I did a couple of months ago, but with different colors. This one is also for sale on gquilts.etsy.com. If this does not sell, I plan to give it as a birthday present to a friend who is turning 80 in February. This quilt contains 80 stars, so if this sells, I'll be making another one similar to this.
 

(Above: Back of quilt)

Some of you may wonder what happened to the cue that we were expecting sometime this week... no sign of it. But more importantly, the beautiful cheese cake baked on Sunday is still freaking sitting in the fridge. I wonder when it will start turning green.

Quilt & Bitch

And the Winner Is...

June 13, 2009

I am please to announce the winner of "Name That Quilt" is Bethany from Quilted with Love. The title of the quilt will be "Circles in the Sand". She will be receiving these two beautiful fabric bowls. Thanks for helping Bethany.

(Above: Fabric bowl)

(Above: Fabric bowl)

So here is the quilt that I just finished entitled "Circles in the Sand".

This is available for sale on gquilts.etsy.com.

This quilt is definitely my new favorite quilt. Everytime I look at it, it makes me really peaceful.

As I continue on my quilting journey, I have geared more towards eastern / asian design. I started out with patterns from a book that were more hawaiian, where the quilts have a focus on flowers. Since patterns from books are copyrighted and cannot be sold, and because I can't seem to draw flowers, my design have been more geometric. Still the same concept as hawaiian quilting, but a different focus.

I just finished designing one more wall hanging and am just starting to applique it. My goal is to have this done by the end of the summer. Another quilt is in the hand quilting stage.

I always try to have one quilt that I need to applique and another quilt that needs to be hand quilted. This way, when my fingers are all roughed up from hand quilting, I can switch to the quilt that needs to be appliqued.

I have found that each step of the quilting process, whether it be designing, basting or sewing, I find each step to be very meditative. This usually means that I have the T.V. on in the background and I do whatever I am doing.

Stay tuned for more quilts.

Quilt & Bitch

Name That Quilt

June 6, 2009

I finally finished the quilting of the nameless quilt below way ahead of schedule. I had given myself a deadline of end of the summer, and it's done even before summer has started. Yippee!

(Above: Nameless quilt, can you help?)

Now I need a title for this quilt. Leave a post on a title for this wall hanging. The person with the best title will receive a fabric bowl made of batik fabric similar to this one (make sure you leave your e-mail address so that I can contact you).The title of the quilt should not exceed more than 8 words. By entering this contest, you agree that I may use the title you come up with on this quilt. More than one entry is allowed per person. This contest closes on June 13, 2009 at 12:00 noon EST. 1 (one) winnerwill be announced by June 14, 2009 Sunday at 12:00 noon EST.

So far there is one entry from Bethany (Quilted with Love) with the title of "Circles in the Sand".

Now I am off to do the binding. The final pictures of the nameless quilt will be posted very soon.

Quilt & Bitch

Look, Look

May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's day to all the mother's out there.

I have not been posting because there's really not much going on. I have been focusing my energy on finishing two quilts.

I finally finished the quilt that is from Vicky Flemming's book call "Hawaiian Applique".

(Above: Finished quilt)

(Above: Detail of quilt)

The quilt was started in the summer of 2008 and have been sitting in the closet for some time. I finally decided to finish it, and viola, it's done. It turned out ok, not my best work in quilting, but it'll do. It took me approximately two weeks of continuous hand quilting to finish this wall hanging. The approximate size is 45 x 45.

Last week hubby and I went to check out a sewing machine. We looked at the Bernina 450. The price is approximately $3000 after everything is said and done. Oh how I love that machine. Hubby's criteria was that I had to start selling my quilts before I could buy this Bernina. We'll see about that.

Who would buy it? How do I price a wall hanging that is hand appliqued and hand quilted? Would an original design of a quilt sell for $500? That means I would have to sell 6 wall hangings in order to get a Bernina.

Quilt & Bitch

Spring Cleaning

April 23, 2009

This morning I felt motivated on cleaning my stash of fabrics. I have three bags of fabrics which are ready to be given away. I've posted on "Freecycle.org". Hopefully somebody will take my unwanted stash.

My current quilt project is another hawaiian quilt. This was suppose to be a gift for someone for Christmas of 2008. That never happened. This quilt was started in the summer of 2008. The applique is all done, and I am in the process of hand quilting. I am approximately 30% of the way done.

My guesstimate is that I'll have this done by the end of summer. Stay tune for the end result.

(Above: Another Hawaiian quilt in progress)

(Above: Detail of yet another Hawaiian quilt)

My goal for this summer is to finish this quilt and another wall-hanging that needs to be quilted. In the mean time, put your thinking cap on and come up with a name for the quilt below. The winner of this quilt will receive a fabric bowl, similar to this one.

The title of the quilt should not exceed more than 8 words. It should not contain any vulgarity. By entering this contest, you agree that I may use the title you come up with on this quilt. More than one entry is allowed per person.

This contest closes when I finish hand quilting the wall hanging. Thus there is currently no end date. I'll post a reminder as soon as I start on the binding.

(Above: Nameless quilt looking for a name)

My inspiration for the nameless quilt above was a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Below are two items that inspired me to come up with the wall hanging. Can you see the resemblance?

(Above: First inspiration for nameless quilt)

(Above: Ancient Chinese stool, second inspiration for nameless quilt)

Quilt & Bitch

Online Quilt Festival

April 17, 2009

I am participating in the first online Bloggers Quilt Festival that is being put on by "City Girl".

Below is the quilt that I am the most proud of. This quilt is called "Regal" and was finished at the end of 2008.

It is an original design. The quilt measures to approximately 40"x 40".

The fabrics are batiks. The orange fabric is hand appliqued onto the blue background fabric. It is hand quilted.

(Above: "Regal)

Click here to see other quilts from the "First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival".

Quilt & Bitch

Look, Look!

February 25, 2009

Below are wall hangings that I have done this past two years.

Below is a pattern from the book call "Hawaiian Applique" by Vicky Fleming. I made two of these, with the same colors. One is hanging at my in-laws house, and the other is hanging at a friend's house.

(Above: Hawaiian wall hanging, pattern from the book "Hawaiian Applique" by Vicky Fleming)

Below is a quilt that I designed. The quilt is called "Lizard's Running in Circles". Hand appliqued and hand quilted.

(Above: "Lizard's Running in Circles")

(Above: Detail of "Lizard's Running in Circles" quilt)

Below is another quilt that I designed. It has a similar design as "Lizard's Running in Circles". I guess I can name it "Lizard's Running in Circles II" (quite original). Hand appliqued and hand quilted.

(Above: "Lizard's Running in Circles II")

(Above: Detail "Lizard's Running in Circles II")

This one below is my favorite. It is called "Regal". My own design, hand appliqued and hand quilted. As you may notice, I love the orange and blue combination, it never gets old.

(Above: "Regal")

(Above: Detail of "Regal")

The quilt below is also another pattern from Vicky Fleming's "Hawaiian Applique". Am not sure what the title is.

(Above: Hawaiian wall hanging, pattern from the book "Hawaiian Applique" by Vicky Fleming

Quilt & Bitch

Hawaiian Quilt Tutorial Continued

February 4, 2009

This tutorial is a continuation from the entry dated January 31, 2009.

Step 8. Starting from the center and choosing one segment (1/8th of the section), pin with applique pins. Applique pins are pins that are approximately 1/2". They are easier to work with, because they do not stick out as much as regular pins. When basting, the thread will not be catching and pulling as much as they do on regular pins.

Step 9. After you have finished pinning or you run out of pins, you can start basting. When you baste, you want to keep it a maximum of a 1/4" from the edge as possible. Again, starting from the middle and working up one side of a segment, baste. The basting should not be more than an inch long.

Once you are done with one side of a segment, go back to the center of the quilt and baste the other side of that segment. This prevents unevenness when basting.

I start out with a strand of approximately 30 inches of thread, and tie a big knot. When basting, don't pull the threads to tightly, or else it will distort the fabric. When you need more thread, simply whip stitch in that one area two or three times, and then snip thread off.

I have heard of quilter's using some kind of glue to baste their applique. I have not done this and am scared too. Would love to hear from other quilter's who have tried this and what the results are.

Step 10. After basting, take out all the pins and start hand appliqueing the quilt. Have fun.

Quilt & Bitch

Which Way Is Right?

February 2, 2009

I went fabric shopping yesterday, where the store had 40% off of fabrics. What a mess the place was. Women grabbing bolts of fabrics they wanted, and the line to cut the fabric was long! I had three other fabrics I wanted to match, but I gave up. I ended up buying three fabrics, one of which was what I had already have and another will be added to my stash, and the other one for the background for the Hawaiian quilt.

It works well. It's currently in a bucket soaking in hot water. I have a nutsy way of washing fabrics. For batiks, I don't put them in the washer, I soak it in a bucket, and change the water every few hours. If it is a dark colored fabric, where it bleeds a lot, I soak it at least three times until the water runs clear. I told this to someone and they thought I was nuts. She recommended buying a solution call "Retayne", so I did. I'll be washing some dark fabrics soon and will post the results when "Retayne".

I have always wondered whether there is a right side or a wrong side of a batik. This got answered by a quilt shop owner who saw one of my quilts. She said that there are tell-tale signs.

(Above) Right side of fabric.

(Above) Wrong side of fabric.

(Above) Detail of wrong side of fabric.

The wrong side of a batik fabric contains spots. If you turn the fabric to the correct side, the spots are gone. Other ways to tell whether the fabric is right or wrong is the contrast or brightness of the fabric. The right side of the fabric tend to be brighter and crisper. The wrong side of the fabric tend to be duller.

Next topic, my husband was cleaning his car the other day and we found a street atlas of Boston. I also have a birthday present that I needed to wrap up for our nephew. So below is the end result.

Pretty nifty eh? So now my brain is processing. What else can I do? I thought about cutting these maps and stitching them on cards and giving it as presents. That'll be cool. I'll try a couple and see how it comes out. We have friends in New York, so if this project works out, then I will probably try to get some New York maps or subway maps and put them on note cards. If I get really ambitious, I can also make envelopes that go with it. That's down the road.

Another thing I have been curious about are batteries. Should they be stored in the refrigerator? After doing a little bit of research, according to Duracell, batteries should not be refrigerated. So, out of the fridge they go.

Quilt & Bitch

Oh My, Oh No!

January 31, 2009

I documented the process for my next wall hanging.

Step 1. Get freezer paper. And a ruler with a 45 degree mark on it.

I use freezer paper because it is relatively larger than and more flexible when it comes to pinning that regular copy paper.

Step 2. Draw a 45 degree angle from one corner of the paper.

Step 3. Start creating your design. Here I did a star. The shaded part is going to be the foreground fabric.

Step 4. Cut out the outline with scissors. I left a 1" strip on the paper and named it "Joint" so that two two pieces of points will be connected. This "Joint" will be removed when I start appliqueing the foreground fabric on the background. The end result will look like floating stars.

Back to Step 1. I realized that I don't know what the angles are to make an eight pointed star. So I gave up. My husband was not home, so I could not have him help me with the math. It's pretty funny around here when I need assistance adding or multiplying. Usually I would shout into the other room and have him do the math for me (and this would go on for 5 -10 minutes). So I gave up on the eight pointed star design and decided to do something else.

So above was another draft of the eight pointed star. I started squiggling and above is the what turned up.

Step 5. Next attach your design onto the foreground fabric.
To fold the foreground fabric, lay the fabric flat and fold it in half away from you. Then fold the fabric in half again from right to left. Next, take the upper right hand corner and fold it to the bottom right hand corner. It is usually better to start with a square, but I do get lazy and do not usually do this.

Now pin the design onto the fabric. Make sure the long side of your design is on the bias side (the longer side).

Step 6. With all the pins in place, start cutting the fabric.

Step 7. Open up your cut work and lay it on the background fabric.

Here comes the fun part. In the above picture, the background fabric was what I originally planned. After looking at it, I am not too happy with it. It just looks busy. You have to be happy with it, because you are going to spend a long time doing it. If you're not happy with it, it will probably go to the UFO pile.

Below is another fabric I have. But I don't think I am happy with it either. I guess it is another excuse to see what the fabric store has. I am thinking of using a brown background. I'll see what I can find at the store and post back. At 40% off per yard, can't beat that price.

Once I figure out what the background fabric will be, I'll continue this tutorial.
(Update: February 4th, 2009: Tutorial is continued on posted dated February 4, 2009)

Happy Quilting,

Quilt & Bitch

Yipee It's Friday!

January 30, 2009

I just finished appliqueing the second project that I described on January 26th. It still does not have a name.

The pictures above is the back. Because it is made of batik fabric, I have found it very hard to hand quilt. So I decide to cut out the portions that are not needed, in this case the background fabric so that I do not have to quilt through one extra layer. This is the step that I tend to forget. When I finish basting the quilt and start hand quilting, only then do I remember that I forgot to cut out that one layer. Darn.

That was what happened with the Borobudur quilt that I posted on January 26th, 2009. Luckily the fabric in that quilt is not as thick as some. So I got a little bit lucky.

For now, these four fabrics will go to my huge pile of other fabrics. One day, maybe you'll see the finished product here.

Below are two fabrics that I will be using for my next project.

It will be an eight pointed star. Also appliqued. The background will be the light color fabric, and the foreground, the dark color fabric. This one should go quickly. I plan to make it a smaller wall hanging size. I am still on the design phase, hopefully I'll remember to take pictures of my progress.

Happy quilting,

Quilt and Bitch.