pinning the mina quilt

I worked this afternoon to pin together the Mina quilt sandwich. First I taped the green backing fabric to the berber carpet. Then I taped down the Warm & Natural batting. Next I placed the pieced layer on top.

I pinned the three layers together using a Kwik Klip (pronounced: quick clip), a simple tool that kept my fingers from being torn apart by the small sharp pins. I pushed each pin through the layers and onto the end of the Kwik Klip. Then I pulled up on the Kwik Klip to close the pins.
I started pinning from the middle of the quilt design. As I plan to in-the-ditch stitch, I kept the pins a short distance from all seams.
This is the back of the sandwich with the pins showing through.

the book i didn't write

Intuitive Color & Design, Jean Wells, 2009, C&T Publishing

This wonderful book, by Jean Wells, talks all about making quilts by taking an adventure. An Oregonian quilt artist, Jean articulates how to make color and design choices in a clear, straightforward way.

Inspired by Nancy Crow and Ruth McDowell, and decades of exploring her artistry, Jean presents a rich portfolio of quilt projects with encouraging commentary.

It’s the book I’d like to write in about ten years. Jean, thanks for beating me to it.

I bought the book at Fabric Crush—Seattle’s newest designer fabric store, now in the Wallingford Center.

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.

la conner connection

Quilts from the 08 Japanese show.

I drove to Skagit Valley today to meet Liz Theaker, the director of the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum in the Gaches Museum. We talked about the upcoming Japanese show that opens the end of June.

In the summer of 08, I happened upon the biennual Japanese show (see photos above). The craftsmanship and design were impeccable. The quilts always come directly from Japan and don’t tour, so the show is exclusive to the Northwest’s only quilt museum.

In 2008, 14 quilters came to open the exhibit and teach classes. Liz doesn’t know yet how many quilters will be coming this year. No matter, they’ll be a big hit.

my mangle—an extinct beast

I bought my mangle, a.k.a. Kenmore automatic ironer, at an estate sale this winter for $12.50. I discovered it in a dank basement, probably left over from the early 50s.

Although it came with no instructions, the operation of my mangle is self-evident. Turn on to start heat. Push kneee pedal to make the roll go around. Push other knee pedal to engage the curved heated plate.

Recently I pre-washed some fabric for a lap-sized quilt project. When I pulled the damp fabric out of the washer, I pressed it all in the mangle in five minutes. Typically the same amount of fabric would take 1.5 hours to iron by hand. I'm thrilled with my “new” household appliance.

mother/daughter quilt: delivered

Maple Stars, 2010, 53" x 43"
COLLECTION OF JANE BELYEA

Today my mother turned 83 and I turned up in Victoria with our finished mother/daughter quilt. During production, Mom admitted she wasn't too sure about the composition. Now she is very pleased with the results—so much so that the lap quilt’s new home is her living room.

amuse museum, tokyo

Just two months ago, Amuse Museum opened in the Asakusa neighborhood. The museum is the brainchild of Amuse Inc., a leading Japanese entertainment company.

Fresh and bold, the first-floor Boro exhibit allows visitors to touch the raggedy clothes. The collection of Mr. Chuzaburo Tanaka includes uber-padded and stitched robes that peasants would wrap themselves inside to sleep—like wearable patched futons.

What were once considered of no value, Boro articles are now cherished as national treasures.

tokyo quilt festival : part three

Besides a plethora of booths selling fabrics and quilted handbags, the Quilt Festival developed some outstanding presentations.

Getting to see the actual process steps of indigo dyeing was wonderful. I’ve just bought Jenny Balfour-Paul’s book, Indigo, which will be helpful to extend my understanding—as all the explanations at the show were in Japanese.

Ten diverse quilters each decorated a space with their quilts, furniture and props in a section called “Welcome To My Room.” These were definitely the most compelling exhibits, especially when the artists were present.

Allentown Art Museum from Pennsylvania hung a traditional selection of historic quilts. And Hae-Ja, Kim, a leading nubi artisan from South Korea, stitched on site with a special showing of her sublime quilted clothes.

tokyo quilt festival : part two

The theme for the 2010 Festival is The Tree of Life.

I learned from May Okamoto at the Clover booth about the multitude of tree quilts on bright blue walls. The squares for the 94 quilts were sent in by viewers of a Japanese TV show on quilting.

The network had a team of professionals, under the direction of Yoko Ueda, assemble more than eleven thousand pieces into cohesive and wonderful quilts. Well labeled, each participant could come to the show and see how her piece fits into a “community” quilt. What a great way to encourage quilters to attend the festival!

tokyo quilt festival : part one

I made it—5000 miles from Seattle to the TOKYO International Great Quilt Festival! Under the air-filled Tokyo Dome were quilts of all ilks for a nine-day show.

Quilting lends itself to a huge range of expression, as shown by these detail shots. I bought the show catalog so I can remember all the remarkable professional quilts presented.

all things blue and white, tokyo

Not only did I visit the legendary Blue & White shop in the Asabu Juban district, I was welcomed by its generous owner, Amy Katoh. What a spirited and inspired woman! Amy seems to be non-stop in her endeavors of all things authentically crafted in Japan—in blue and white.

I purchased the shop’s 2010 calendar with bold prints on the top half of each month. My intention is to mount the prints and hang them in my dyeing studio—as they are printed on wonderful paper.

At the front of the store was a small exhibition of Boro work. It’s like shibori—covered with stitching—but much more folksy and textural. I bought Amy's book on Boro and now know more about the remarkable yet practical artwork originally made by poor farmers’ and fishermens’ wives out of neccesity.

Blue & White is two blocks from the Azabu Juban JR train stop, at 2-9-2 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo.

a mini scrap quilt

A Dog’s Life, 2010, 27" X 32"
COLLECTION OF NICKI STONE

My mini dachshund loves all the big quilts in our home so I decided to make her a little one. This scrap quilt is made from the scraps of a full-size scrap quilt (see Aug 2008 post).

mother/daughter quilt: day four

With three days in Victoria after Christmas, Mom and I moved our lap quilt project forward. But the top was not complete by my departure time.

I bundled everything up and kept working on the piecing in Seattle over the holiday week. One whole section was jettisoned and I added some new fabric to brighten the composition.

Mom’s 83rd birthday is in February. I will return to Victoria then with a finished quilt filled with our shared energies.

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.)