empire quilters, nyc

We’re identical twins! (Just not with each other.) Me with Barbara Feinstein.

I visited the Empire Quilters guild meeting today and saw an inspirational presentation by contemporary art quilter Pat Pauly.

Using Maurine Noble’s name as a conversation starter, I had a fun time talking with Barbara Feinstein. Barbara and I are both identical twins and Japanophiles—so we had lots in common!

The guild boasts a whopping 375 members. The meeting room at the Fashion Institute of Technology was packed with 185 mesmerized quilters. Raffle tickets, show n’ tell, stash giveaways, and a member vendor made for a busy event.

little sister quilt

Doodle Baby, 2010, 35" x 45"
GIFTED TO NORA DUNHAM

For Liz Holland’s Baby Girl No. 1, I overly hand stitched her baby quilt for five months. For Baby Girl Number 2, I hand stitched this whole cloth quilt with hot pink and orange threads over a four-month period. Then I doodled, with SetaSkrib dye pens, on the black and white top fabric for almost six hours.

Both the top and backing fabric are vintage African fabrics that Maureen Noble picked up in South Africa 20 years ago.

for a graduating senior

Passport, 2010, 52" x 88"

This quilt has been patched together over a two-year period. An upcoming deadline finally got it to the finish line.

The recipient will be an innovative young man who always thinks outside the box. The African bug print at the top is a detail he’ll enjoy.

The global fabrics—from Africa, Japan, Southeast Asia and America— are from Maurine Noble’s stash. Nothing new there. Thank you Maurine!

cabin gallery

At the top of the stairs at our log cabin is a set of pole railings. While I’m here, I hang a series of small quilts over the railings. Then I put the quilts away when I’m gone so they don’t get sun damaged.

This quilt is a gift from Maurine Noble who wrote the book Basic Quiltmaking Techniques for Machine Applique. Maurine made the quaint quilt to use in her applique classes that she taught around the world.

desert inspired

Michael and I are visiting Maurine Noble at her winter home in La Quinta, California. Maurine has a spacious and bright quilting room here. Her newest quilt top is a serene combination of pale batiks in a rotated and repeated pattern.

my first commission

Royal Roots, 2010, 46" x 59"
COLLECTION OF BEVERLY ANDERSON

Last night I delivered my first quilt commission. Cindy Anderson, who bought a quilt from me in September, requested one for her mother-in-law’s birthday.

Cindy choose the fabrics out of my stash. The next time she saw the fabrics, they were in a finished quilt. (She mentioned to my sister that the quilt design wasn’t what she expected. That’s to be expected!)

The vintage plum and black fabric, given to me by Maurine Noble, is from South Africa. The central square is a highly detailed Indonesian batik. The gold and red batiks were bought at Lunn Fabrics in Lancaster, Ohio last summer.

The quilt is assembled using the quilt-as-you-go method with the red strips connecting the parts. The center is heavily hand-stitched while the background fabric is free motion machine-stitched.

quilt for no. 1

A School For My Mermaid, 2009, 45" x 69"
COLLECTION OF ELIZABETH STONE

For Christmas, Liz received an oversized lap quilt from me. The fish fabric is vintage, probably from Scandanavia. The modern polka dots are from Maurine Noble. Connecting the two is a wavy strip of hand-dyed fabric, made with three 70" pattern pieces—one for the red stripe and ones for either sides.

Hand stitching encircles each fish while the side border is machine stiched-in-the-ditch. Cozy navy flannel backs the quilt.

quilt for no. 2

Woodstock, 2009, 44" x 46"
COLLECTION OF VICTORIA STONE

All tie-dyed, the blue fabric is from Goodwill while the pieces on the back are from Maurine Noble. The fabulous French fabric used for the 1" binding is also from Maurine.

Wildly erratic, the quilting is free-motion machine stitching. The Bernina was set at 1/2 speed and then I floored the speed pedal for attaining the most control. Good thing I am a beginner, so I can forgive myself for the lack of perfection.

(Yardage in thrift stores is beside the tablecloths and draperies. Sometimes batting can be found with mattress covers, near blankets.)

baby quilt series: no. 6

Marble Mania, 2009, 32" x 42"
COLLECTION OF MAURINE NOBLE

The cottons in this baby quilt were marbled by Elin and Maurine Noble at an all-afternoon demonstration.

The center area has a haphazard pattern of fabric strips while the border has precisely lined-up strips. The stitching parallels the piecing—both random and perpendicular.

baby quilt series: no. 5

Dungaree Baby, 2009, 34" x 42"
COLLECTION OF PAMELA BELYEA

This is a true scrap quilt made with Maurine Noble castaways. The composition is a response to fabric at hand. The top includes pieces of hand-dyeds, an African printed cotton and a green pseudo-camouflage fabric.

Scissor-cut. Random pieced. Machine stitched-in-the-ditch.

the hocking hills of ohio

Dairy Barn, Athens OH

Maurine Noble and I jetted to Ohio on Friday for a weekend of quilting adventures. We stayed in Connie Davidson’s new remodeled B& B in Millfield, filled with charming quilts.

On Saturday we toured the 2009 Quilt National show at the Dairy Barn. After reviewing half of the 87 winners in two hours, we took a cafe break, and went back to check out the rest. I bought the show book to remember all the incredible compositions.

Monday was another day of treats. At Lunn Fabrics Studio in Lancaster, I met Debra Lunn and Michael Mrowka. These hippy artisans, with long careers in fabric design, are leading the batik division of Kaufman. Maurine and I were able to buy some of their prototypes from Java by the pound.

Another stop was at Nancy Crow’s farm outside Baltimore. John Stitzlein, Nancy’s husband, took us on a tour of the teaching barn as well as a peek into the family home—with its global art collections. Great trip!

lap quilt series: no. 4, entry 2

River of Life, 2009, 42" x 62"
PURCHASED BY MARY GOLDERSON FOR HER NIECE

After many months of hand quilting, this project is complete. There is hand stitching around the fish and throughout the broad bands of solid color. There is machine stitching-in-the-ditch around the Chinese Coins and between the fabric bands. The pieces are all scissor cut with no measuring to create a more naive look. The finishing details include an organic beige cotton for the backing and a 1" binding.

The inspiration for the quilt came from the fish fabric that Maurine Noble brought back from South Africa two decades ago. I just couldn’t cut up the gorgeous pattern, so I used it in very large pieces.

the send-off quilt

Crow Barn Quilt, 2009, 70" x 44"
COLLECTION OF MIKE GORE

Heading off to college evokes feelings of high hopes and adventuresome expectations. To remind Plymouth’s high school seniors of their spiritual home, our church sends them off with a comfort quilt made by the Piece Makers.

For the 15 graduating seniors, our busy quilting group produced 18 quilts this year. The three extra quilts were given to the Plymouth Healing Communities ministry.

My quilt is actually the work of three Plymouth women. Maurine Noble made the central black and white sections at a week-long Nancy Crow workshop. I designed the quilt top with scrap fabrics and did all the finishing. And Susan Jones did the bulk of the hand stitching.

The recipient, Michael Gore, is the son of a leading Plymouth family. Mike’s a bright young man with leadership abilities, public speaking ease and a witty sense of humor who loves to race bicycles.

lap quilt series: no. 5

African Night & Day, 2009, 42" x 60"
COLLECTION OF JANET LANE

High contrast: black top on white back. The front is made with Dutch wax-resist fabrics from Vlisco and Woodin. The back is a silk-screened tablecloth from South Africa. The hand of all the fabrics is crisp and cool.

Although I scissor-cut the pieces, the final look is quite precise. This is because I could cut along the graphic patterns of the fabrics with the black backgrounds. The quilting includes mostly stitch-in-the-ditch with some hand stitching.

The fabrics were brought back from Africa by Maurine Noble when she taught quilting classes there.

the loaner

Before Maurine Noble migrated to the sunny climes of California for the winter, she lent me her second Bernina. It’s a 20-year old baby that her guests from afar use when they visit her home. What a thoughtful hostess!

The afternoon of the hand-off, Maurine took time to show me all the features that make a Bernina the perfect machine for quilters. With the two-task foot pedal, knee bar and stitch memory, I had a brain-opening lesson.

This weekend I have used it for the first time to piece a baby quilt for a special newborn boy. The machine just purred as it stitched together the woven plaids and checks.

After story: At the end of the winter I bought the machine from Maurine. I couldn’t live without it.

lap quilt series: no. 1

Dreaming in Russet, 2008, 60" x 42"
COLLECTION OF CINDY ANDERSON

I have just finished no. 1 of 10 in a series of lap quilts. My intent is to try different piecing and color combinations, essentially to sketch with fabric.

This quilt has wedge-shaped blocks in long strips with machine quilting in-the-ditch along each seam line. The printed fabrics are global, from Maurine Noble’s stash and scraps.

In the spring I plan to have an Open House to sell the collection, with the proceeds going to a worthy cause. If you read this blog and would like an invitation to the event, just let me know.

dachshund circus quilt

Dachshund Circus Quilt, 2008, 52" x 42"
GIFTED TO MADDY JOHNSON

The inspiration for the Dachshund Circus Quilt came from vintage fabric I bought in Astoria last January. With a turquoise background, the pattern includes a big top, freak show, balloon man and Ferris wheel.

The whole cloth quilt has an appliqued dachshund and big ball. I pieced the appliques with fun, bright fabrics. Maurine Noble helped me by satin stitching a pale yellow thread around the two shapes with her fancy Bernina sewing machine.

On my machine (a 20-year old borrowed Pfaff), I free-style stitched around all the circus elements in the background. It took almost 40 hours! Just trimming all the threads took another three hours.

My big learning with this project had to do with contrast. Due to its patterning, the dachshund applique did not show up well. I added an eye with a highlight and little black nose to make the colorful blob look more like a jumping dog!

The quilt now belongs to baby Maddy, the daughter of a designer at my workplace.

artist inspired

Crow Barn Quilt, 75" x 52"

This month’s Art Chix theme was “Artist Inspired.” Our assignment was to create an art piece inspired by a well-known artist.

I chose quilting superstar Nancy Crow. Nancy has transformed quilting into a modern artform with her work exhibiting in high profile museums.

Partially finished with some hand stitching, my project was a twin-sized quilt. The three dramatic areas of black and white piecing in the center were created by Maurine Noble at a one-week workshop led by Nancy Crow. Maurine had tossed the class samples in her scrap bag and forgotten all about them.

I don't expect to finish this quilt until Spring. It will be given to a high school graduate at Plymouth Church. There are a lot of young men in this year’s senior class, so I assume this will be a big boy quilt.

imported from africa

Out of Africa, 2007, 72" x 48"

I made this twin-bed quilt from fabrics that Maurine Noble bought home from a teaching gig in South Africa.

The top is very colorful with quilt-as-you-go horizontal strips. The back has a black-on-beige pattern in the center area and a beige/rust-on-black pattern on the sides. Lime green sashing connects the sandwiched and machine-quilted fabric.

Note how the 1/4 inch binding changes where the background fabrics meet.

chinese coins

Batik Baby, 2007, 42" x 26"
GIFTED TO MIA AGUILAR

This is Quilt No. 3 for me. A sampler really, as it isn’t very big. The fabrics are from Maurine Noble’s bags of scraps. The inspiration was a set of pre-made squares I found in the collection of castaways—mauve triangles with coral heart-design batik triangles. I added some sashings of hand-dyed fabrics and a wrap-around border of random-width Chinese Coins to finish the quilt top.

I can’t find the origin of the name, Chinese Coins, anywhere. Instead I have found that there are other quilt patterns with similar names, such as Roman Coins and African Coins.

The quilt was machine-stitched “in the ditch” to make the triangles and Chinese Coins puff up. It was the first time I used Dorrit’s Pfaff with a running foot to stitch a quilt together with the batting.

Baby Aquilar is the recipient of this stroller-sized quilt. Her mother, Laura, worked at Belyea before getting pregnant, selling her condo and moving to Arizona. With only two week’s notice before her departure, the baby-to-be received an existing quilt instead of a new one made specially for her.