WIP - my 1st post on this linkup

Work in Progress Wednesday it's called over at freshly pieced, a cute modern blog that I've noticed over the last week or so and have decided to work on the Supernova Quilt Along. I've got so many things going on I really shouldn't add this one in to the list, but it just called to me!

As a long-arm quilter for my business (started Nov. 2009) I've always got quilts on my machine, today no exception. But, in this WIP I'll focus on my own initiatives rather than customer quilt tops that I quilt. I've also got a running list of things I'm working on, daily tasks, etc. to keep everything going. I've had an accountability partner (an old friend from grade school days) that I privately email once a week with my weekly accomplishments--this has been valuable. Making it public in this fashion will be an abbreviated list, but also has some 'truly in progress' stuff that I tend to easily forget about as I focus on my business activities most importantly.

So...being my 1st Wednesday post --I also do a Design Wall Monday post--here is what is I. P. !

New Projects

Supernova - participating in the quilt along -- using 'origins' basic grey. Here are my groupings. Top row and 1st pile of 2nd row I'll do two blocks each. The 'blacks' I'm thinking one block--the center one. The far right lower pile--pale yellow the outside border contrast and the whites as the background fabrics.

Psychedelic America -- this is Marti Michell's 2010 BOM 'American Beauty' program that our guild used last year for their monthly Block Lotto. I didn't participate, but I won a huge fat quarter stack in 2009 of psychedelic batiks that I wasn't sure what to do with them. When I realized there was enough fabric to make the 'American Beauty' quilt, I decided to challenge myself with the adaptation to the psychedelics (my word for them). The original was made with a line from Maywood Studio called 'wild roses'...mine will be WILD! :-) The challenge is to have it completed by April 12 --our next guild meeting. AHHH...I got a year late start ;-)

Active Ongoing Projects

a. EQ 2011 BOM - at least I'm keeping up to date on this one! I love designing with EQ (now on version 7) and they have a challenge to physically create a block that they publish each month and then personally create a setting of them at the end of hte year which will be judged for a prize of some sort. I'm making them as 6" blocks --they could be made at any size. I've chosen batiks and will stick with purples/greens/white/black colors.

b. Starlight-Flutterbright is a finished quilt, but perhaps not Finished ;-) I won Judges' Choice at Spring 2011 Trends (EESchenck's industry mini-market event) with this quilt, but would like to add crystals to it. I'm going to be teaching this pattern as a class this Sunday, so will dream about the crystals if I have a spare moment while the class is working on their own versions. Crystals on the front, crystals on the back. The back is black and you don't see any of the star elements because of the way I quilted it. Crystals might be able to add in the star. I'm very excited about how the secondary design of the on-point block emerged in the background almost in 3d--especially when it was hung at the show because there was opportunity to view it from a distance. This quilt was the result of a local shop asking me to design something with the panel fabric of the large butterfly and pansy blocks. It is also available in a blue/purple colorway.


Ongoing Projects on hold --I'll only post photos in the future if there is progress made, but this is so you have an idea.

a. Jinny Beyer BOM 2010 - doing this with my mother and hope to display both at a show in September. But probably won't get back to this until May.



b. Oddie's Wild Nature 2010- a personal stylization of June Jaeger's 'From the Wild' and 'Nature's Sampler' and one or two or more? McKenna Ryan blocks thrown in. (no picture today)

c. LoneStar wall hanging - 2009 WWVQG Annual Class (need to add borders and re-consider my Y-seams--the biggest reason for this stall)

d. One-fabric cut up and re-pieced table cloth - 2009 (need to finalize the borders) Not happy with this result, but wanted it to just fit the TOP of the table and not have any overhang, so this is what I ended up with. I had a limited amount of fabric to work with and decided this was the best I could make of it. There you go. Been trying to decide on the type of batting. I've heard to use a piece of flannel if you want to make a table cloth and not have a lot of bulk.

e. Vineyard wall hanging (need to sit and focus and figure out what is left before adding borders and quilting it) I really love this one, but when the challenge date passed, I got distracted with other things. It is meant to be a window that you are looking out of and see the vineyard landscape. Spring Release is coming up in May and I have an opportunity to display and sell items in a winery, so just might take the opportunity to wrap this one up and get it into the showing.

f. Writing several patterns ...stay tuned--as an engineer this is the part I actually like! I have several that have been made, just need to be written and several designed, but not made or written.

Completed Tops awaiting quilting:

a. Basket BOM from WWVQG 2006...just finished the piecing last month, want to do some fun quilting on this one. As I'm writing this post, I'm wondering what I've got here that is 'modern'. My influences around me are NOT modern, so I am wanting to push that envelope in my deveopment, so I'm here. For this one, I made the sashings the same as the background so that the baskets float. There is a daisy fabric used as the corner stones which also appear to float. I imagine this is a field of grass with an occassional daisy growing up and a whole set of baskets there to photograph. I'd like to believe that is more modern ;-) There is lots of good blank space on the sides which provides nice quilting space.

b. Tulip wall hanging (take out the quilting and re-do on the long-arm) 2009 quilt festival challenge entry domestically machined with really bad tension!

c. A duvet cover that I made in 2001 that I'd love to quilt, now that I have a long-arm. (no photo today)

This week's stats:
New Projects: 2
Completed Projects: 1--see my "Journey's" quilt blog post here
Currently in Progress: 12 -- good thing we're not counting all the fabric piles that represent projects sitting in cubbies that haven't been started ;-)

Design Wall Monday

I feel so accomplished. I had three commissions that came into my queue last Fall and I can finally say I'm done with the quilts! YIPEE!! Here is the final one. I used mostly basic grey's 'Origins' line from moda. I also used two different batiks in the center panel large diamonds and two fabrics from the 'Chrysallis' line from moda in the outside panel's large diamonds. Barbara Larson kindly did the embroidery work. One of my artist friends thinks that I should write up this pattern and suggest it could be any journey! Just fill in the diamonds with appropriate symbols/ memories/ photos, whatever and choose your color scheme. i.e. your engagement, wedding and honeymoon; your school years -- elementary school, high school, college; your career --just starting, somewhere in your mid-life crisis, and now your retirement;  WDYT?

In writing this I have just spotted my humility block!! Oh my. Can you spot it? There are many more detailed photos of the quilt at http://www.facebook.com/kissedquilts . This was designed as 45" x 60". It could easily be sized up to 60" x 80" or 90" x 120". These diamonds aren't a traditional 60 degree cut. I created a template to get the correct angle and then used my ruler to be sure I maintained my width on each piece. I really enjoyed doing the quilting on this one too.

So, on my wall today is the start of my 2010 BOM from Marti Michell (yes last year!). This was a challenge presented to our guild and it is due--completely finished--by April 12. We'll see what I can get done on the Monday's between now and then. For completing our local Shop Hop the Blues in 2009, I received a large stack of Hoffman batik fat quarters that had quite an eclectic mix of colors even within one fabric. Turns out there is enough fabric in the stack to do this quilt top.

So....I've sorted them out by general color scheme and tried to assign them in a pleasing colorway and within available fabric groupings based on requirements for this 'American Beauty' quilt. Below are her original colorways made with Maywood Studio's 'Wild Roses'. I like the 'black' one better, but mine will surely be WILD :-) Working Title possibilities---Psychedelic America ....America in the'70s? I reserve the right to modify my groupings as I go. I did draft it up roughly in EQ7 this morning, to check on the setting colors (sashings, borders, stars, etc), so we'll see.

I think I'd rather be doing the SuperNova Quilt Along with these mostly leftover fabrics from the 'origins' fat quarter bundle that I used to make the 'Journey' quilt above. I think I am more of a 'modern' quilter at heart, but haven't allowed myself to go there much given the influences I've had around me. Hmmm...need to push the envelope. 

Hoping I can get into a nice balanced schedule now. Taxes are filled out too, so major burdens are gone! Another show coming up at the end of April in Pendleton, OR so need to figure out exactly what I'll be putting in the show there. I'm also scheduled now to teach 'Starlight-Flutterbright' (the one I got Judges' Choice on @ Trends/EESchenck earlier this month) at Highland Quilts in Athena, OR on April 3. If you are reading my blog for the first time, click on the label to the right side that says 'Flutterbright' to see the quilt. The pattern is available for purchase from me or through Highland Quilts or Quiltmania (Richland, WA). If you're a shop owner and would like to carry it, I can sell them to you at wholesale (min. order 6 or 3 if ordering other patterns as well) The secondary pattern is what really makes this pop, and any panel print or appropriate sized blocks could be used in the setting.

See what others have on their design wall...they are indexed at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

What's up right now?  This is a new commission and represents tri-mesters for twins. We're calling it
'Your First Journey'. Winter-just the beginning;
Spring/Summer-characters forming;
Fall - a whole new world.

Embroideries of chrysallis will go on the left side empty diamond spots in the 'winter' panel and butterflies on the right side in the 'fall' panel. The center panel has batiks in the center diamonds featuring California Poppies on top and teddy bears on the bottom. Both represent their names. I have used moda fabrics mostly Basic Grey's 'Origins' line with the exception of the bigger diamonds using fabric from the Chrysallis collection and the batiks in the middle panel.

I ran out of design wall to show the last couple of rows, and then there are white, then yellow, then green, then dark brown borders that eminate out from the center with on-point pieces as well,. but larger than the small diamonds used here.

I think I might be crazy to try and piece all of this in this fashion...but it's about to start! Wish me luck. I'll post a photo next Monday since it needs to be delivered by Thursday night! YIKES!

And here is what I finished that you saw in progress last week:

More Monday Design Walls indexed at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

First I must say...I'm just excited to share news from Trends 2011 (EESchenck's mini-market in Portland, OR)....my Starlight-Flutterbright received the Judges' Choice award in their quilt contest. See my blog post from earlier this morning for a photo and my complete Trends report.

Last week I did get my version adapted from Alicia Cribb's twisted turning twenty top completed and plan on getting it quilted today. The client has already seen this and is very excited. A bit of creativity here to get this picture taken by myself this morning. It is a very big quilt and is going to barely fit on my 10' quilting table. It is hanging sideways vs. how it will be used on a bed. There are borders on 3 sides...they opted for no border at the 'top' (shown here down the left side). Thank goodness or I would have to go to someone elses long-arm machine because it definitely wouldn't have fit on my table.

I'm finishing up this morning on my quilting table--doubles as my design wall ;-) ....a customer quilt which is really stunning. They used the blended border technique made popular by Pamela Mostek and put a french braid design in the center of the quilt. Very attractive, don't you think?

Got lots to do...so that's it for today. Check out other design walls indexed at Judy's Patchwork Times Blog.

Trends Weekend - Spring 2011



On a Quilted Breeze - Oregon Coastal Quilters



This was my second Trends event at EESchenck. The first one, last Fall, Elaine Shaw of Highland Quilts and I did a one day run...over and back (4+ hour drive each direction). This time she was not able to join me --she was in India (actually in route home) on a one month medical assessment mission trip. None the less, I pressed on and took the opportunity to go to the Portland Quilter's Guild show on Thursday afternoon and was able to speak with Jack Boersma extensively about my Gammill machine. It was very informative and will hopefully be productive with some ideas he shared with me on tweaking my machine for better performance. I also tested my un-regulated stitching and gained a lot of confidence that I can turn off the regulator and quit overrunning it so that I can keep my speed up and still have consistent stitching. There were several beautiful quilts at this show, including Oregon Coastal Quilter's raffle quilt. Just have to share it with you. If you click through to this link, you'll see that it has been accepted into the Houston International Quilt Festival.

Justa Pasta was my dinner choice--my husband's favorite restaurant. Felt a wee bit guilty for eating there without him, but enjoyed a wonderful salad special and wild mushroom lasagne w/goat cheese.

Starlight-Flutterbright by Marlene Oddie


Friday was spent at EESchenck's Spring Trends event (a mini-industry market) shopping the sales, checking things off my list, and meeting lots of industry shop owners, and even a couple of buyers. I entered Starlight-Flutterbright, the quilt I designed on request of Highland Quilts, in the Trends Quilt Contest. Surprisingly, there were only five entrants, but I was happy with the odds of winning something. It was fun to see it hanging in the big aisle and see the secondary pattern from afar. I saw several people photographing it and when they put it all together that I was the maker, it made for some fun conversations. The quilt you can see in the background is from another shop that was unknown to me in Walla Walla. Turns out they exist to fund a charity project similar to Bags of Love, they are on Rose St called Grandma's Sewing Room. In the afternoon there were several ~30 min. classes offered. Marci Baker's -Not Your Grandmother's Log Cabin was sold out when I had tried to register for it earlier in the month, but sat in on Simplicty's woven coaster demonstration. We got to each make one after trying out their rotary cutter as well.  When leaving on Friday this was in front of me leaving Swan Island...I couldn't resist capturing a photo (my last name is Oddie!)

Saturday was a restful day with the Congleton's, my gracious hosts for the weekend.



Elizabeth Hartman and Marlene Oddie



 Sunday, I was up early with the time change and made it back to EESchenck for the book signings. The first was "The Practical Guide to Patchwork" by Elizabeth Hartman. I found out from her that after blogging about quilting for some time, she was approached by the publisher to write this book. Nice to have the younger generation and a more modern approach represented in such a lovely book! The second signing was "Stack the Deck Revisited" by Karla Alexander, who flew in on a delayed flight from Montana from a retreat. It became quickly apparent that others had received numbers earlier (due to the delay) and were getting in the queue based on their number....I jumped in line as quick as I could when I saw them assembling, and got one of the last 2 or 3 books on the stack....so was very grateful.

I was able to have a good chat with Marci Baker, even received a sample block and was given pointers on teaching the diamond and triangle log-cabin blocks. Later in the day, I encouraged her to work with AccuQuilt to develop a die set that would cut those pieces! Hopefully they can create a great product.



Jason Yenter

Several other fabric manufacturers were there, including Jason Yenter from InTheBeginning. The new Camelot line is beautiful--even some William Morris in there!

Also got to talk with Bryan at Fabric Freedom who had taken notice of my Starlight-Flutterbright quilt, which uses their fabrics, when they (he and his son) entered the building. Fun to make their acquaintance.



Lumiere Sateen - yummy!!

 The newest fabric style that I was attracted to was the Lumiere Sateen. Here is an example of it worked up in a small whole cloth wall hanging. Just one piece of fabric, quilted as a vase with flowers and borders. I purchased several colors and look forward to designing something and perhaps kitting it for resale. Stay tuned! I also picked up a variety of hot crystals to try embellishing Starlight-Flutterbright--even from the back. I guess it is still a work in progress. Also a light colored fat-back batik that would work well with anyone's Starlight-Flutterbright quilts.

Door prizes are handed out every hour on Sunday......with a big finale at 4pm with $1000 EESchenck credit....so, many stick around (since you have to be present to win) to see if they are the lucky one. Well, I wasn't the big winner or any door prize for that matter, but prior to the final announcement, they announced the quilt contest winners...and I won "Judges' Choice" for Starlight-Flutterbright! VERY COOL! I think the design lends itself to putting anything in those panel blocks.

Well, that's my Trends Spring 2011 Report. Happy Quilting.

jdqltr's Sewabout Quilting: Go! Be Dazzled

Just have to share this link. If any of you reading this saw Sarah Vedeler's winning embroidered quilt at Houston's International Quilt Festival in 2010, then you'll recognize this quilt. I'm sharing this because I much prefer this color selection and just think it is stunning. Enjoy!
jdqltr's Sewabout Quilting: Go! Be Dazzled

Design Wall Monday

I intended to get 3 commissions done in January that were not in any rush to receive them, so after a medical incident over the holidays and my work got put on hold, I felt I needed to keep up with my customer quilting schedule, but have struggled to work on the commissions.

#1 -- Friday, I finally finished up a T-shirt quilt for a former rodeo-diva ;-)

#2 -- a modification of the 'twisted turning twenty' pattern by Tricia Cribbs--primarily modified so that when you cut it on the diagonal you get a true point once you have sewn them back together with every block. It is also a different size block to get the desired quilt size of the client. So, since Friday this is the progression:

Fri. testing my pattern--whoops not quite

Sat. night: All center pieces are cut

Sunday: 1st stage pieced

Sunday: All sliced

Sunday: set ....had a few alternatives that were shared w/the client before final sewing. This is a bit more than one quadrant of the quilt. I do need a larger design wall!

Monday: I'm sewing it all together NOW! ;-) Need to add borders and then quilt and bind it. Feeling very accomplished for getting this created once I set my mind to it.

The 3rd is well through the design phase and just needs a couple more fabric purchases and some embroidery to be done (thank you Barbara!) and then I can piece it together. I look forward to sharing that one with you (blog reader!) in the next couple of weeks.

I can finally show a complete photo of our WWVQG Raffle Quilt for 2011 -- "Valley Icons". Contact me if you're interested in purchasing $1 tickets, they'll be posting a schedule soon on the http://www.wwvqg.com/ website as to where it will be on display at various shops, events, and wineries in our valley this year. The nine icons represented in the silhouettes (clockwise from upper left) are the Blues (our local mountain range), hot air ballon festival in May, flowering trees, farmlands and vineyards, our new baseball team the Walla Walla Sweets, grapes, asparagus, onions and wheat. Our guild hosted a class by June Jaeger in 2010 featuring silhouettes in nature. It seemed appropriate when I was given the opportunity to design this year's quilt that we would utilize that concept and create something representing our local icons. Thanks to Eddie Walker for her artistic skills used to create the silhouettes. Click on the photo for a higher image to see the quilting which extends each silhouette.

I get to teach on Tuesday evening at our guild meeting, with permission, Jinny Beyer's fragmentation exercise that she did at her Hilton Head 2009 seminar which led to the Stoney Creek quilt. We'll be doing it in paper with black to white variegated values.

p.s. If you've been reading my design walls the last few weeks, I've been working on that basket quilt...well, I've now decided to leave it as is, do a custom quilting on it and keep as a sample in my quilting portfolio. Now to find some quality time to do the custom quilting. ;-)

Be sure to check out more Monday Design Walls as indexed at http://www.patchworktimes.com/