2013 Spring Quilt Market Portland

I finally have a few minutes to sit down and write a recap of our trip to Portland, Oregon for the Spring 2013 International Quilt Market. I was lucky to have my husband, Thom, along with camera in hand to capture some of the moments of the trip. And, of course, he did so much more than take pictures.

We left Phoenix on Wednesday before Market, and it was fun to run into Nancy Shamy and Cindy Oates, two fellow designers, at Sky Harbor airport. Cindy's company, of course, is Taylor Made Designs, and she has been a pro at the business for over 20 years. This was Nancy's first market for the inauguration of her new pattern business, Kenzie Mac & Co.

The next day I was able to start showing the prints from my new fabric line, Elementary, for Studio e Fabrics, at a morning Schoolhouse for quilt shop owners. What a thrill, after nearly a year of hard work developing the line with Studio e!

 

 Studio e Fabrics Schoolhouse 

Quilt Market 2013

Banner for Elementary in the

Studio e Fabrics booth

The quilt on the banner is one of the quilt patterns I designed for the Elementary line. Here is another version of the quilt -- the instructions for making the quilts will be found on the Studio e Fabrics website soon.

One of my booth neighbors at market was Quiltmaker, and I was so excited to see my block "Simple Life" from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 magazine framed and hanging in their booth.

Quiltmaker booth at International Quilt Market

Portland 2013

On Saturday morning of Market, a group of designers met at the Quiltmaker booth to learn a very unique dance created by Gudrun Erla of GE Designs, titled "Quiltmaker Shuffle". The dance was videotaped and will be edited and posted soon by Quiltmaker. Although I've never been any good at choreographed dance moves, I gave it my best shot. :)

I have more to share, but it will have to wait until another day!

Until next time,

Martha

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 7 winners

Thank you to all of you for your comments. I truly enjoyed reading about the color combinations you would use for your own version of Simple Life!

And the winner is #207 - Jodi. Congratulations, Jodi!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 will start appearing on your newsstands tomorrow!



Until next time,

Martha

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Tour!

Hello, and welcome to day 3 of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Tour! It has been my great pleasure to be a part of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks series since it's inception. Here I am for the fifth time and on the cover too! 

My block is "Simple Life" and it's all applique!

Simple Life

I thought it would be fun to show you some different color options for Simple Life. How about using orange, black and green for Fall?

Simple Life

....Or, blue, black and red.

Simple Life

And finally, how do you like pink, red and green?

Simple Life

I took the last color scheme and drafted this table or wall size quilt using four of the blocks in a diagonal set.

Simple Life quilt

What colors would you pick to make your own Simple Life block?

Just leave a comment here by 5 pm PST Friday May 3rd for a chance to win a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 7, to be sent to you directly from Quiltmaker.  Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 7 will be arriving on newsstands May 7.

Thank you for visiting and now I'll give you a quick link to get back to the Quiltmaker blog for more touring and giveaways!

www.quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures  

Until next time,

Martha

New Fabric Line to debut at 2013 Spring International Quilt Market in Portland - Elementary!

I've been away from the blog for quite awhile, but I'm thrilled to show you a little bit of what I've been working on this past year with Studio e Fabrics. My first fabric line - 

Elementary!

This is the cover of the color card showing just a few of the 19 beautiful fabrics in the Elementary line. It will be debuting at Spring International Quilt Market in Portland in just a few weeks. I'll be back to show you more as soon as I can!

I will be having a booth at market, as well, and I'll show you what I made this weekend as a possible prop for my booth. Three of my new patterns are Fall and Halloween themed, so I thought I would try to make something I've always wanted to make, and here it is.....

We had a big branch from one of our trees break off a few weeks ago in a big windstorm, so it was timely, as the branch was perfect for cutting off a piece for my pot. I spray painted it black, and found this neat metal pot to "plant" it in. A foam insert covered in black Spanish moss is fitted inside.

We'll see if it survives shipping to Portland, and then try it as a prop with the new patterns.

Another idea I have, that I just don't know if I'll have time to get to, is to use my pattern for glitter birds from my book Vintage Christmas:

Glitter Birds from Vintage Christmas

Using black fabric, black clips, and no glitter, I think they would make perfect crows to perch on the branches of my potted black tree!

That's all for now!

Until next time,

Martha

Quilt Appraisals New and Old

It has been busy, busy around here. I've been working on quilts, wool applique projects and just recently finished a pretty cute Halloween themed punch needle. One of those quilts will be published in one of my favorite magazines this year. It's ready to be shipped to the publisher, but before that can happen, it needed to be appraised.

There are a variety of reasons to have quilts appraised. In this instance, for insurance purposes, my new quilt needed to be appraised for it's value in the case of loss or damage. My biggest concern when I ship my quilts off to their various destinations is what happens in transit.

Look at these photos of a box of my quilts, shipped back from a magazine photo shoot in France, when they arrived back to me. 

Gasp! When I saw the postwoman struggling to get this box out of her truck, with foam peanuts falling out onto the street, I thought I would be sick. Luckily for me and my quilts, the publisher shipped my quilts back in the heavy duty vinyl bags as I had requested of them. The vinyl bag was the only thing protecting my quilts after this box was practically destroyed during shipment! Even the peanuts wouldn't have been any protection. Thankfully, my quilts survived!

Here is another example of a box in which one of my quilts was shipped back to me:

Unfortunately, this time, my quilt was not shipped back in the heavy duty vinyl bag in which it had originally been encased by me to the publisher. In fact, it was not even wrapped at all! Again, somehow, my quilt was okay.

Yesterday, I had my new quilt appraised by my friend and local certified quilt appraiser, Karen Housner. We met at my local quilt store, 3 Dudes Quilting, who graciously loaned us their classroom for the appraisals.

In addition to appraising my new quilt, Karen also appraised an antique quilt I had purchased maybe six years ago. Yes, high time I had it appraised! I was curious, too, if I had made a good investment. If not, I really love this quilt. It's a redwork quilt, in very good condition, hand quilted, with a date, and the name "Mary" embroidered on it. The maker or the recipient, I may never know.

Karen Housner measuring my redwork quilt for appraisal

"1908"

A closeup of the cute little gnomes

"Mary"

Each day of the week is represented by these hard-working teddy bears.

Yes, according to Karen's appraisal, I had indeed made a good investment! Although it's an added expense, having my quilts appraised definitely gives me a little bit of peace of mind in the unthinkable case of loss, theft or damage. I think it's also important for those around us to know the value in dollars and cents of these precious pieces of art!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of my 1908 redwork quilt!

Until next time,

Martha

How to hand applique skinny stems

Below is a detail of the skinny stems on the Be Merry Journal Cover from my book "Be Merry: Quilts and Projects for Your Holiday Home". These stems are 1/8" wide, and I'm going to show you how I make and applique these stems.  I use a method in which I prepare the stem with a 1/4" bias tape maker. After making the bias stem, I trim one pressed-under edge of the stem. The remaining pressed edge gives me a nice sharp edge to stitch in place first. The other side, which is now a raw edge, I needle-turn applique.

To begin, you will need the following items: 

Your marked applique background
1 - 1/2" bias strip
a 1/4" bias tape maker
needle, thread, thimble, scissors, pins, iron (not pictured)

Following the manufacturer's directions, pull the 1/2" bias strip through the bias tape maker, and use a hot iron to press the seam allowances as you go.

Pictured below is another method for making the bias stem if you do not have a bias tape maker available. Use a long straight pin and pin it into your ironing board cover in such a way that it leaves a 1/4" opening for the fabric strip to be pulled through.

Do-it-yourself bias tape maker

 Next, cut off one side of the pressed under seam allowance.

Baste the stem onto your applique background (I generally use applique pins for expediency). First, applique the pressed-under side of the stem.

The opposite raw edge is next. Needle turn applique this side. You will find how easy it is to turn.

Needle turn applique the raw edge under to complete the stem

Be Merry Journal Cover

And here is the finished "Be Merry Journal Cover" with skinny stems.  If you try my method for making skinny stems, please let me know what you think!

Well, we got our Christmas tree up yesterday, so today is the day to put on the tree lights - not my favorite part. But putting on a little Christmas music can make even putting on the lights a little bit fun. Cookies baking in the oven wouldn't hurt either!

Until next time,

Martha   

Phoenix Holiday Quilts, Craft and Sewing Festival 2012

It's the last day of November, and it's been a busy month. We had a booth at our first retail show ever at the Holiday Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival here in Phoenix, held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds Nov. 8, 9 & 10. It was a three day event and it was fun to meet new customers and see old friends.

Our booth at the show

I was so happy to find that right across from our booth was my friend Angie Steveson, of Lunch Box Quilts, demonstrating her machine appliqued embroidery technique for 35th Ave. Sew and Vac.

And to add to my good fortune, my booth was sharing a back wall with another friend, Trish Harriman's booth, Attic Heirlooms. Trish hand dyes wool and designs patterns for a variety of needlework, such as needlepunch, rug punch and wool applique. Trish will be making kits for my "Countryside Needlebook" pattern from my book Annie's Scrapbag, and selling them in her Maine shop, as well as her booths at the various shows where she will be a vendor (check her calendar for her show schedule).

Santa showed up to help me out, too! How lucky can a girl get?

Until next time,

Martha

Quilts from 100 Blocks Winner!

Thank you all so much for all of your comments. I would have liked to have responded to everyone individually, but I ran out of time! I really enjoyed reading each and every one, and for those of you who haven't tried applique, I do hope you give it a whirl!

And the winner is .... Rebecca Grace. Congratulations, Rebecca! Please email your address to info@wagonswestdesigns.com to receive your free issue!

Until next time,

Martha

Quiltmaker Rocks the Blocks!

Welcome to the kick-off to the Fall 2012 edition of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks!

My quilt featured in this issue is "Posy Path", which uses my "Garden" block from Volume 4 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks from Today's Top Designers.

"Posy Path" is a medallion quilt, using the Garden block at the center, with rows of quarter square triangles and more applique, using the same templates as the block, to surround the center. This quilt was beautifully machine quilted by Judy Danz! One of the great features of Quiltmaker is their addition of quilting diagrams to go along with the quilt instructions, so you can duplicate Judy's designs yourself!

"Posy Path" by Martha Walker, machine quilted by Judy Danz

I usually applique my quilts by hand, as I did with "Posy Path", and I use two different methods to make bias vines and stems, depending on the project. I usually use a bias tape maker if I need just a small amount of bias, or if I do decide to applique by machine. But if I need a large amount of bias, or have very long vines to make, I usually use pressing bars.  For "Posy Path" I used the pressing bar method, because of the amount needed for this quilt.  I'll show you my process for making these stems.

For this method you will need pressing bars (also known as bias bars). You can buy pressing bars that are made either with plastic or aluminum. Both work great. The plastic bars are a little thicker, so they don't press as crisply, but can definitely be pressed again, after they are removed. I have also made my own. I happened to see some brass strips in several different widths at ACE Hardware. So I bought them, and cut some curved edges with scissors, and voila! The edges are a bit rough, but they work!

You will need to cut enough bias strips for the project. To find the bias of your fabric, fold the selvedge edge (lengthwise grain) up so that it is parallel to the adjacent edge (crosswise grain) of the fabric. Finger press the fold.

Finger press the fold

 

Use the finger pressed crease as your guide to cut your bias edge. Notice on this ruler that there are 45 degree lines marked, that can also be used to cut bias from your fabric. Many cutting mats include 45 degree lines as well.

Next, cut the amount of strips needed in the appropriate width from the fabric. For "Posy Path", cut your strips 1 1/4" wide to make 3/8" stems.

Fold the strips wrong sides together lengthwise and stitch a 1/4" seam. Begin the stitch at about 1/8", gradually increasing the allowance to 1/4", to make inserting the pressing bar into the resulting tube easier.

Insert the pressing bar into the tube, with the seam allowance centered and on top.

Press the seam allowance open as you press the tube along the length of the pressing bar.

Trim the seam allowance close to the stitching to reduce bulk.

finished bias stem, wrong side

Now your bias is ready to stitch!

I have one issue of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks to giveaway!  For a chance to win a copy, please leave me a comment below. I will draw one lucky winner on Thursday, Sept. 6th at 5 pm PST.

And if you haven't done so already, be sure to go to the Quiltmaker blog, Quilty Pleasures at http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/?p=13042 for more chances to win! Good luck!


Until next time,

Martha

My Big Fat UFO (aka unfinished quilt)

Since wrapping up production on my new book, Annie's Scrapbag, I have been working on a new project that, although quilting related, has left me little time for actual sewing/quilting. However, it is during times like these that I can always pull out my trusty "Big Fat UFO" to work on if I have a few minutes to spare.

I began working on this quilt in August, 2000, so it is an official 12-year-old work in progress. But, I'm in no hurry with this quilt. The quilt started when I was getting ready to take a trip and needed something to work on during my stay. That trip was an exciting one, as I had just won my first big prize for a quilt I had entered in the AQS Quilt Exposition Millenium Celebration contest. I was the Arizona state winner for this contest, for my quilt "Cloud County Memories" and it was my first published quilt as well. So I was on my way to Nashville, to see the show, another first as I had never been to one of the big quilt festivals! With four or five nights in a hotel, I needed some handwork!

I decided to cut out pieces for a block I really enjoyed piecing, the sunburst block, and thus began this quilt. Twenty-five blocks later, I had the center of a quilt. Next up, designing the border, which ended up being a very wide one - 16" each side.  It is very folk art - I have a blueprint of where each flower, bird and leaf are to go, but exact precision isn't needed here. It will have 500 or more berries, but that will be determined as I begin working on that part of the top border (pictured below).

The side borders are finished and sewn onto the center, and this summer I pulled out the top border to do a little applique. A few steps closer anyway!

Until next time,

Martha