A Festive Fourth of July

This year is almost half over, and it has passed all too quickly! I've spent most of my days working on quilts for a new book, which I won't be able to share with you for quite some time.

I had fun this month putting together a cute little Independence Day centerpiece for the upcoming holiday. It has a few new items from Hobby Lobby, "USA" blocks from my own childhood building blocks, my own crafted paper hat and firecrackers from Country Living magazine patterns from years ago, a vintage star cookie cutter and cup, and red and blue pom poms to fill the tiered trays. Coincidentally, in addition to this new centerpiece, the rest of my little family room is decorated year round with a patriotic theme.

My centerpiece is sitting on my very first machine quilted quilt. For the class, we were told to bring something to quilt, so I quickly pieced a small nine patch quilt and brought that to class. I chose solid red and white fabrics, figuring that even if my first machine quilting was a mess, at least I would be able to use the small red and white quilt in decorating for the holidays - Christmas, Valentine's Day, Independence Day. 

I took my dear little Kenmore sewing machine to the class, and free motioned loops and stars over the top. And to the casual observer, it probably doesn't look too bad. My plan for this little quilt's use in decorating has been fulfilled many times over.

This month my quilt, Autumn Stars, from my patriotic themed book, Betsy's Scrapbag, will hang at the Texas Quilt Museum beginning June 27. The exhibit will run through September 29, 2019. The museum is located in La Grange, Texas, and if I can manage to escape my feverish quiltmaking for my book, I would like to take a trip to the museum, which would be my first time. I have also always wanted to visit that part of Texas, so it would be a fun trip!

For more information on the Texas Quilt Museum, here is a link to their website:

http://texasquiltmuseum.org/index.html

Happy Summer Sewing!

Martha 

On the Cover! Quiltmania!

Very shortly the newest issue of Quiltmania will be on newsstands or in your mailbox if you're a subscriber - the November/ December 2018 issue. Here's a sneak peak of the cover!

Quiltmania #128 November/December 2018

AND.... I'm proud to say that the quilt featured on that beautiful cover is my quilt - Georgetown Circle! You may have seen some of my previous posts while I was piecing and quilting Georgetown Circle, and what a joy it is for me to see it on the cover of one of my favorite magazines!

I've been busy getting new patterns out the past few weeks and I have three published and on my website. Here they are!

Happy Jacks Table Square

Fancywork Journal Cover

 

Countryside Needlebook

Countryside Needlebook and Fancywork Journal Cover are patterns which were originally found in my book Annie's Scrapbag. I've had many requests for the patterns, as Annie's Scrapbag is now out of print, so now here they are! You can see the inside pages of Countryside Needlebook on the website.

I have more patterns to come, but that's all for now!

Until next time,

Martha

Autumn Happenings

Happy Autumn! We've finally had a break in the weather here in Phoenix, and it's a welcome change!

I have a few things to share about the upcoming months to come.

My book Annie's Scrapbag is now out of print. 

Annie's Scrapbag

I think it's a book with a wonderful collection of patterns, if I do say so myself. Although I don't have any copies left to sell, either wholesale or resale, there are still copies available at quilt shops nationwide, so please check the internet or on your travels, if you're interested in purchasing a copy.

I have decided, however, to release some of the patterns from Annie's Scrapbag, as individual stand-alone patterns, and those should be available at least by the end of the month. I will also have a new Halloween themed pattern –" Happy Jacks Table Square" – too!

Happy Jacks Table Square

Speaking of Annie's Scrapbag, one of the quilts from the book, "Garden Girl", will be on exhibit at International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, next month, and again at the Spring International Festival in Chicago, Illinois. You'll find it in the exhibit "In Full Bloom".

And I'm also honored to have another of my quilts, "Autumn Stars", from Betsy's Scrapbag, on exhibit at International Quilt Festival in Houston and Chicago. It will then fly solo back to Texas, and be on exhibit at the Texas Quilt Museum in the summer of 2019. Woohoo!

Be on the lookout next month for the Nov/Dec issue of Quiltmania magazine, where I'll have one of my quilt patterns featured! I can't wait to see it myself!

I have another project that I'm so excited about, that I'm hoping will come to fruition by the end of this month. Fingers crossed.

Happy Fall Sewing!

Martha

MOKA Quilt Study Group June 2018

We're almost half the way through 2018 now, and I've been working on finishing a book's worth of new designs. So far I've finished four of the quilt designs and one punchneedle. And I'm working on many more. I wish I could share now, but it will have to wait.

Just recently, I decided to treat myself to a weekend of antique quilt study, after learning of the event from Sandra Starley, who I follow on Instagram. Sandra was also one of the presenters, and I have long enjoyed the photos she has posted of some of the quilts in her collection. The chance to see some of the quilts in person was something I didn't want to miss. 

The quilt study weekend was organized by the MOKA quilt study group - MOKA is the acronym for Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. The group meets twice yearly, and this particular meeting was held in Overland Park, Kansas.

Just a day prior to the event, my mother's neighbor learned of my interest in antique quilts, and shared with me one of her prized family heirlooms, a crazy quilt made by one of her grandmothers, dated 1886. Her grandmother was born in 1866, thus having made the quilt when she was 20 years old. The quilt was in remarkable condition.

The first event of the MOKA quilt study weekend, was a tour of the Johnson County Museum, in Overland Park, Kansas, with a special showing of some of the quilts in their collection. The quilts acquired by the museum are required to have some association to Johnson County.

The quilt below has beautiful embroidery (forgive me, I didn't bring my note taking materials, so don't remember the date of the quilts):

I've always loved red and green applique quilts, and this quilt was no exception. 

The quilt was beautifully finished with a tiny green piped binding:

One of my favorite quilt blocks was represented in this pieced quilt:

And lastly, the graphic quilt below, was found in a church in Johnson County. Today, it would be considered "Modern".

The following day was filled with lectures, and the group had a stellar line-up of speakers. Fridays' lectures were given by Sandra Starley - "Signature Quilts from the 1830's - 1850's, Lori Triplett - "The Case of the 200 Year Old Chintz Bird", and Anita Loscalzo - "Whence Garlands, Swags, Bow-knots and Neoclassical Design Motifs Found in American Quilts.

This time I DID jot down a few notes. From Sandra's lecture, I learned that sometimes people would hire a paid scrivener to "sign" their names to a signature block. No wonder some of the signatures you see on those quilt are so perfect - I just thought everyone had wonderful handwriting!

This first photo is a broderie perse applique quilt, formerly a part of the Shelburne Museum's collection:

Sandra Starley during her lecture: Signature Quilts from the 1830's - 1850's

Many of the quilts Sandra presented were from Pennsylvania, and Sandra noted that the Quakers used, as an example "9th month", instead of the word September, as they viewed the word September as pagan.

1843-45 Pennsylvania

More from Sandra's Friday lecture:

1858 New York City

Lori Triplett presented her lecture in the afternoon, and showed us some beautiful quilts from her collection. She has a book coming out soon, where the quilts will be pictured, so we'll have to keep our eyes out for that!

Have you ever wondered about the possible source of the ever popular swag border in quilts from yesterday and today? Pictured below is a detail of my own swag border from my quilt, "1776", from my book Betsy's Scrapbag. 

Anita Loscalzo, in the final program of the day, gave us some insights on where the source of the swag, and other motifs found on quilts, may have originated. Her research found the popularity of swags, bow-knots, urns and more, on architecture and the decorative arts during the Neoclassical period. 

Saturday's program began with Ann Wasserman's lecture "Quilt Repair Tales", her journey into restoring quilts. I enjoyed learning about her many methods in restoring vintage quilts.

Last on Saturday was Sandra Starley, and her lecture "Birds & Blooms - Imagery in Chintz Prints and Applique, 1830's - 1850's. Just a few pics of some of the fabulous quilts Sandra so generously allowed us to photograph:

What a great weekend, and if you're anywhere near the Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas area, I would highly recommend you check the MOKA quilt study group out. Anyone can join, and I was thoroughly impressed with their organization!

Until next time!

Martha

Arizona Quilters Guild 2018 Quilt Show Ruby Extravaganza

The Arizona Quilters Guild 2018 Quilt Show, Quilt Arizona! will be held in just a few weeks, on March 22, 23 & 24th. This year's theme is Ruby Extravaganza, celebrating the 40th anniversary of AQG.

I will be one of the featured speakers at the show, and I'm thrilled to share some of my many quilts - those I designed for exhibition, and more that were designed for my books and patterns

Just for fun, I created this video of some of my ribbons, many of which, as you may notice, were awarded by the judges at the Arizona Quilters Guild. I will be bringing most of the quilts for which I was so fortunate to win these awards, to share with you.

Please join me on March 23, 2018 at 1:30 pm at the Mesa Convention Center, 201 N. Center St., Mesa, Arizona.

Until next time,

Martha

Making Circles and Berries

I'm working on a new quilt design, and today I began the "making circles" phase of the appliqué preparation for the quilt.

I'm making two different sizes of cream circles, some which will be berries, others circles. The blue will be an eye for a bird. Using a stencil makes quick work of the marking. The running stitch around each circle takes some time, but I don't mind. I can turn on a good movie, and relax. Tonight I have in mind watching more episodes of Season 4 of Turn, which was just added to Netflix. I was so excited to hear George Washington speak the name Colonel Sheldon in the first episode - the very colonel my great great great great grandfather Paul McKinstry served under in the Revolutionary War (if you have my book, Betsy's Scrapbag, you've read all about it!)!

If you'd like to know more about how I make these circles, I have a short how-to video on the Henry Glass You Tube channel - the link is on the side bar, or click Here. In addition to the video, I included a handy dandy chart in my book, Be Merry, with all of the sizes for everything needed! 

The first time I used this method, was to make berries for my quilt, Summer Rentals:

Detail - Summer Rentals

For that quilt, I made 300. Since then, as I mention in the video, I've made dozens more (I haven't counted). Here are a few more on my quilt, "Sweet Bouquet", from Vintage Christmas:

Detail - Sweet Bouquet

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my new quilt, I have 134 of one size to make, and dozen of another size. I'll be taking a trip soon, so I'll have a little airplane time, and hotel time to make a few. At least, that's the plan!

Until next time!

Martha

 

Prairie Pop Art

The inspiration for Prairie Pop Art, a new mini quilt pattern in the Little Quilts from the Prairie collection, is an 1855 quilt shown in one of the first quilt magazines I bought years ago. You can see that quilt in the magazine in my blog post here.

Prairie Pop Art, 24" x 29", is sewn using all of the small scale companion prints in my A Prairie Journal for Henry Glass & Co. fabric line.

Because of it's small size, this was a fun quilt for me to machine quilt. I loved quilting the orange peel design in the center of each square, and it's so easy to mark. It seems to be a design I go to again and again for quilting the center of squares of all sizes.  

When machine quilting, my preference is to use a thread to match the fabric in the quilt. So for the squares, I did need to change threads quite often (I always try to match the thread in the bobbin to my backing fabric). After the quilt was pin basted, I marked the orange peel pattern on the squares using a chalk wheel, which is fast and easy to remove. You could certainly mark the pattern before basting, with a chalk pencil or water erasable marking pen. 

I mark the orange peel pattern for quilting using a circle stencil, which can be found at hobby stores in the drafting department or office supply stores. The stencil below has circles from 1 1/4" to 3 1/2" in diameter. You'll also need the marking tool of your choice.

No math needed to determine which circle size is right for your quilt block. Just lay the stencil over your quilt block, move it around, and find the one the fits best! For this block, I will use the 2 3/4" circle stencil. Each circle has hash marks for each quarter section of the circle.

Align the hash marks on opposite sides of the circle with the bottom edge of the square to be quilted.

Use your marking tool (I'm using a chalk wheel, pictured), to mark a semi circle (the top half of the circle).

Rotate the stencil to align with another side of the square, and mark another semi circle.

Rotate the stencil two more times to mark the remaining two sides of the square.

And, voilà! You now have a marked orange peel pattern to quilt!

After quilting, I remove the chalk marks with a toothbrush I keep handy for just that purpose.

Prairie Pop Art is now on the website as a PDF pattern download. You can find the pattern HERE.

Until next time!

Martha