Friendship Maine

4 days, 5 quilts and more. A fitting end of summer retreat. I am teaching a techniques class at Sew Portland this weekend and next on creating quilts from photos (like these!) Call the store to see if there is space available at 797-6700.

Morning Walk

Fairies live here

Done

Friendship Ahead

Student work, 'Picture This!'

Summer flew by in a flurry of visitors and travel. We got the dining room/studio window replaced and repainted the room, finally! Although the design wall went up last weekend, my sewing machine is waiting for clear space on the table. I plan to kick start sewing again with a long Labor Day weekend retreat in Friendship, Maine. 4 days and 7 projects--maybe more!

I've also scheduled fall classes at Sew Portland. 'Picture This!' an all techniques class, spans two full Saturdays. Starting with a photo (or two) I describe how to turn photos into patterns and patterns into quilt tops. In class we'll be using a photo of mine taken in Friendship, but the techniques will translate to your own photos. My favorite part of this class is creating the tree!

The class was popular enough when I taught it last year in Trenton, that I created a pattern, 'Safe Harbor' which is available for sale at Sew Portland. No need to purchase my pattern for class though--I will provide what you need and teach you to make your own patterns. 'Picture This!' is scheduled for September 12 and 19.

I teach Free Motion Quilting on October 17. If you've been waiting for that one to come around, it isn't posted yet but they will take your name at the store or over the phone.

Taking a few months off of quilting wasn't easy, but I did take lots of photos to inspire new pieces this fall.

Summer!

Lamassu

Summer in Maine. Time to get out and enjoy other people's work at quilt shows, craft shows and galleries. Time to visit and reconnect with family and friends from away. We plan to paint the dining room/studio so, for the first time in a long while, the design wall is empty. I've been working on a commissioned king-size bed quilt for which I was asked to include a woodblock printed heavy cotton, with images of Cyrus the Great, Ahura-Mazda and protective Lamassu! What to do? I collected over 30 fabrics before I dared cut up the hand-blocked textile. I took courage from the fact that the piece had stains and would likely not be used again as it was. Keeping the piecing simple showcases the focus fabrics. A center section and borders are pieced but separate. I am contemplating whether to quilt in sections, complete the top before quilting on my trusty Elna, or complete then send the top to a long-arm quilter. I think my next step will be to work on quilting designs. That may drive the final decision. Here's a sneak peak!

Center panel

One Done!

One more student quilt from the Voila class! Lisa completed her quilt with binding to match the brown and green polka-dot flower centers and first time free-motion quilting throughout the green background. Although she nearly changed her mind on the orange petals, they make a bright, sunny quilt. Way to go! She sent along this photo with her comment, which says it all--"love it, love it, love it!!!" 

Lisa's finished quilt

Voila!

Voila!

I am teaching a two-day class at Sew Portland (part 2 is this Saturday.) We are working on raw-edge fusible applique. I designed an easy baby size quilt to learn on.

Last Saturday we spent time choosing fabrics--each student had her own unique vision. Fabric shopping is so much fun! We could have spent the whole day playing with fabrics but eventually we got to work cutting and stitching the backgrounds and learning to use fusible web. The product we used in class is Steam-a-Seam II Lite. My personal favorite is an oldie but goodie, Wonder Under. I love that stuff. But Steam-a-Seam has the advantage of acting like a Post-It note until you are ready to hit it with the iron, so the applique pieces go on the design wall, get moved around until you love it, then set with the iron, no pinning involved! A huge advantage in a classroom situation or for working on the large-sized petals in this pattern.

With tops done, students headed home to spray-baste the quilts in preparation for this week's completion session. If all goes according to plan, they will secure the fused applique with a variety of stitches, add some quilting in the background (free motion here we come!) and finally, apply the binding entirely by machine.

I couldn't resist showing off Victoria's completed top--she chose prints for her flower petals and added a border to make the quilt a little bigger. Flower Power!

Victoria's top

First Friday!

Linda Morrisette "Mermaid"  Diane Brause "Lighthouse" Rana O'Connor "Dream"

On my list for the last few years has been to participate as an artist in First Friday Art Walk in Portland, and this past Friday, I had the pleasure of exhibiting (along with many other quilters and fabric artists) at St Luke's Cathedral on State Street. What a venue!

The organizers, Pat and John Fowler, did an amazing job. Pat must have called every quilter she knew in Maine. I had about 30 pieces from quilters and fabric artists with Art Quilts Maine and Calico Quilters in Yarmouth. As we were setting up, the doors kept opening and in would come another woman or two with suitcases and boxes filled with quilts.

I thought the juxtaposition of traditional quilts and fabric art would be inspiring, and it was beyond expectations. Traditional quilts were draped over every pew, filling half of the church with color. Art quilts were hung from easels all around. A wonderful pianist provided live music, a table held wine and cheese, and around 5:30, people started coming in. The turnout was great.

People walked in, took a minute to absorb the riot of color, then took time to talk to quilters who showed off their handiwork, describing the impetus for a certain quilt, unfolding another to reveal details. Said Pat, "I think this was the best showing of any art that we have had in the cathedral in the 3 years that we have been participating in the Art Walk." The photos tell the story. We'll be back next year!

Mary Hodgkin "Wavy Logs in Batik"

Makers at the Public Library

Suzie McCormack and I had the pleasure of being "makers" at the Portland Public Library last Saturday. Our workshop, titled "Fused Fabric Collage" was under the Youth cluster. We set up shop in a sunny spot near the children's section of the library. Two ironing boards, a table with samples and a handout describing the process, and a big table with a pile of fabric scraps and scissors.

Participants chose a small fabric base then found a chair and a pair of scissors and went to work snipping up fabric scraps, peeling off paper to reveal the fusible webbing, and arranging their compositions. When a piece felt complete, it made the perilous trip to an ironing board where a little magic and heat fused all the scraps in place, making their artwork permanent.

We had about 30 people come through. It was great fun seeing the parents' involvement--we offered them the opportunity to make their own piece, and many who originally thought they would just help their children soon realized they really wanted a chance to make one too!

We had letters, hearts, houses and a pirate ship, and plenty of abstract images too. The time flew by. Before we knew it we were stuffing the now much smaller pile of scraps into bags and talking about coming back next year.

We had time to walk around and check out other workshops. What an exciting array! Hands on exhibits ranged from robots and electronics to soap making and a band playing homemade instruments. Suzie and I sat in on a story project being developed which will place bricks on India St (the oldest street in Portland) that each tell a story about people and history in Portland. It's called Portland Brick. Very cool.