Stitching Hands Studio

Tooting My Horn

Someone's got to do it! I've got big news today. First of all, two of my quilts were chosen for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative's May Online Auction. My #10,000 quilt, Shhh..., is the first one you see in this video. I also have #9500, Fine Feathered Friend, in the auction. Please spread the word about this fantastic fundraiser. The quilts in the auction this month are really wonderful. I see several I'd love to have in my own collection.

Now, for the really, really big news. I have been invited to be the Featured Quilter for the 2013 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show! Wow, I'm so honored to have been chosen. This event draws thousands of people from all over the country and the world. I'm glad I have 14 months to prepare. The past week has been so busy, I haven't had time to sit down and really think about it, but I'm sure some new ideas will start sprouting soon.  So, save the date: July 13, 2013.  If you've been thinking about attending the show sometime, this might be just the incentive you need to make the trip!

Small Wonders 2012

This is my entry for the Small Wonders Challenge this year.  The theme is 'A Patterned Village' and the challenge fabric for this year is the green print.  All the rest of the fabric is hand dyed, mostly by me, but at least one of the greens is from a local friend.  It measures 25" x 19".

I admit to having to push myself to make this.  My first idea for the challenge just wasn't going to be ready in time, and I love it so much that I think I want to keep it, so I made this all in one day yesterday.  I started at the bottom, working my way up to the row with the houses.  The main bodies of the houses are free pieced, with the roofs and other details added by fusing.  I call it 'The Red Door' because I've always wanted a house with a red door.  I also like blue doors!  Presently I have neither, but I'm happy to create little worlds where I can have any sort of door I please.  

If you are so inclined to make a Small Wonder, I have it on good authority that the deadline has been pushed back to May 15.  The prizes are pretty awesome, so think about it!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  We are having our first taste of summer weather and it is just delightful!

Studio: April 2012

I decided yesterday it was high time to clean up the studio (just in case anyone comes knocking).  I also had an idea to create a space by the window where I could do hand work.  It means that the iron and board is put away and I'm sure that won't last forever, but I like this layout a lot.

I think I'm going to like this space, at least until the sun gets too intense.  I do have a shade in the window though, so we'll see.

I was also pleased last week to get the second design wall finally up!  Now, I hope I can really get to work.

Lots of stuff going on here.  The coyote piece is the next quilt for my book club, based on Love to Water My Soul by Jane Kirkpatrick.  

10,000!

Wow!  My quilt, "Shhhh..." was the 10,000th quilt registered for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative!  I just found out today when I got a call directly from Ami Simms.  What a treat!  When I picked up the phone I was really wondering why AAQI would be calling, even though I knew the 10,000 milestone was approaching.  The quilt is already in the mail to Ami and there are hopes it will be able to get some extra publicity for the charity.  

In fact, some of you will recognize this one as a piece that I made during the Patchwork Beasts class with Jude a couple of years ago.  I finished it last year and put it in my shop, but I hadn't sold.  When April 1 rolled around I realized I had nothing ready for AAQI this month, I decided to remove this one from the shop and registered it right away.  Well, now it's on a whole new adventure!  Ami is keen to see some local and national publicity, so I'll post here if any of that comes about.

A day in the life of SHS

Yesterday was a great day here in Stitching Hands Studio. First of all, I finished the stitching on the Long Necked Beast (aka llama).  I still need to back and quilt it, but it's coming along.  

Second of all, I got out the quilt blocks I won last year in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show block contest and started work on getting them together.  It turned out I won 21 blocks, plus my own.  Twenty-two blocks isn't quite the right number so I decided to add 2 more blocks to make it a 6 x 4 arrangement.  They had sent me leftover fabric from the block packs so I had plenty to work with.  I also decided to choose the dark green for sashing.  It's actually a lovely two-toned green shot cotton. 

Isn't this a wonderful collection of blocks?  Mine is the third one down in the third column from the left.  The two I designed to make up the difference are the fourth and sixth down in the second column from the left.  I'm still stitching them.  The block arrangement might change before they get sewn together, but so far I'm happy with this.  This is after much rearrangement.  Once I get this all sewn together I'll go look for a good border fabric.  

That little stack of fabric tacked on the board at the right is the block pack for this year's block contest.  Wonder what will become of that?

Today I've been running errands, getting together the guild newsletter, packing, doing laundry, cleaning up. Tomorrow we are off on a little trip to the coast.  I'm sure we'll see rain, but I'm hoping the sun will make an appearance too.  I'll be happy for some time away to clear my head, ramble, take photos, and enjoy my family.  Have a great weekend!

Autumn in New York

My latest slow cloth is finished with a couple of weeks to spare.  Autumn in New York is inspired by Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, as part of the QuiltWorks Novel Idea book club.  This cloth is completely hand stitched with silk applique on a hand dyed indigo vintage linen napkin.  There's a lot of hand stitched embellishment that you can see better in the detail photos below.  I backed the whole thing with a single piece of medium weight grey shot cotton and turned the edges under the edge of the napkin to hand sew down.  The edges peek out and allowed me to square up the napkin.  It's about 22" x 22".  This quilt will be hanging in the QuiltWorks gallery for the month of April along with 35-40 others.  I can't wait to see the whole exhibit.  The few that I've seen so far are really wonderful.

The only building I wanted to be recognizable is the Empire State Building.  To make things easier I decided to stitch the topmost part as you see above.  Lots of little split backstitches make that up.  All of these techniques were learned from Jude Hill.  Please check out her website for all sorts of wonderful online video classes.

Meanwhile I've already started on a couple of other projects, my Undercover Quilter book club project has a great start and my Small Wonder Challenge project is looking really good.  More on those later.  I'm still trying to figure out what book to use as inspiration for my guild Children's Literature challenge.  There are so many wonderful books to choose from!  We are heading out for a little spring break in a few days, I can't wait!

I Believe in Love for AAQI March

I had already decided to finish this little cloth for AAQI when I got the email for the March themes.  One theme was "I believe in ...".  Well, it had to be!  This piece was started in a cloth weaving class with Jude Hill and I hope it does well for AAQI.  

I'm up to $816.29 on my $1000 Promise goal and my latest quilt for sale is A New Vision.   Fine Feathered Friend has not been photographed yet.  However, the March auction is going on now and there are some gorgeous pieces available to bid on!.   I hope you'll check it out and consider contributing to this fabulous organization!

The Big Day!

My show at QuiltWorks is in full swing for the month of March.  You can see a lovely slideshow at the QuiltWorks blog.  Last Friday night was quite an experience! I had such a good time.  It was great to see so many friends there and to hear from others who have seen the show during other times.  These first photos were taken before the show started.  Above is the first thing you see when you walk up the stairs.

Some more views of the gallery.

Above you can see Diane and Mary Ann, the lovely and talented ladies who hung the whole show and created and served the amazing food.

The food is always to die for and last Friday was no exception.  There was a St. Patrick's Day theme.

Come along and I'll show you some quilts that haven't made it to the blog before.

Above is a quilt made by my mother and I for the Hammond Family Reunion in 2000.  We designed and created this through a long distance collaboration.  There are signatures on the diagonal blocks.  It lives at my parent's house. 

This one was a collaboration with my sister and I and made in 2003 for my parent's 40th anniversary.  The photo panel buttons to the back of the quilt.  The blocks in the quilt are state blocks representing the states they had lived in up to that point.  There are state birds and flowers in the border.  Now they live in Oregon and next year is their 50th anniversary.  How will we top this!

This quilt is Maui Beach Houses, made during our year in Maui and finally finished 5 years later.  It's paper pieced.  I like it, but I'm not likely to do that again!

This is another quilt I made for Ryan when he was little.  I love the applique on this.  It's from a commercial pattern.

This is my quilt, Crossroads of Sedona, made in my workshop with Rosalie Dace.  I'm so glad it's finished so that it can be in the Sisters Quilt Show this summer.  It was very experimental for me and includes all sorts of techniques.  I combined hand and machine stitching and quilting in all the blocks.  

On the right are two mini quilts I finished just for the show- Studying with Gwen I and II.  These were made in a class with Gwen Marston.  I just needed to quilt them and decided to do it by machine so it went fast.  I like the top one best.

Zig Zag finally got done and this one was hand quilted.  This started in the Liberated Amish Challenge with Tonya Ricucci.  I love it so much! When I found that border print I knew it needed to be on this quilt.

Above right is a new one called "Little Red House".  This one started in a class with Tonye Phillips.  This one is also machine quilted.   

A Tribute to Gwen, was also started in a class with Gwen Marston.  I feel that she is my greatest inspiration and totally a "rock star" quilter.  I love this piece even though it doesn't lay flat.  Luckily, you can't tell that the way it's pinned on here.  

There was also a case holding three of my small slow cloth pieces.  

Here are some candid shots from the evening.  

Guild member Jill.

My parents enjoying the anniversary photo panel.

Ryan.

Michelle and Erin.

Teresa (and friend), Sarah, Jenn and Myria.

Karen, Sarah, Jenn, Erin and Susan.

Dad, Mark and Ryan.

Raffle Time!

Marilyn, co-owner of QuiltWorks, does the raffle.

Thank you to everyone who came and for QuiltWorks for putting this together!  It was a blast!

Sneak Peek

Sorry for neglecting the blog lately.  The preparation for my show has kept me busy.  I also had a real lack of energy last week, the aftermath of that nasty bug I had the week before.  Last weekend I was really able to catch up on sleep and finally get over the bug and today I felt like normal for the first time in two weeks!

This little sneak peek is the last thing I want to finish up before delivering my quilts on Wednesday.  More photos will come after the quilts are up and the reception is over.  If you happen to be in the area this Friday evening, the reception will be at QuiltWorks 5-7 pm.  I'd love to see you then, but the quilts will hang throughout the month of March, so stop on by anytime the shop is open.

Imperfectly Perfect

All of life is imperfectly perfect, including love.  Today I'm working on this little piece.  It was started in the first cloth weaving class I took with Jude.  I can't even remember how long ago, seems like ages.  It's time it was finished. I added a braided tie that I couched down and am putting in some quilting stitches. It may or may not be done today, but I've got a cold and I'm tired so I won't push it.  Thursday is the hubby's birthday and we'll celebrate then, or this weekend.  Meanwhile, I'm just stitching.

PS- Exciting news to tell- I will be one of the featured quilters at our guild's show this August!  The other honorees are Janelle, a friend and member of my book club, The Undercover Quilters and Joanne one of the guild's greatest resources.  Joanne has been a member since the inception of the guild almost 30 years ago.  I'm am thrilled to share the stage with these amazing artists!

PPS- I changed up the blog a bit and added a subscription button there on the upper right.  I am subscribed myself to be sure it works.  It usually takes a day or more before the email comes out, but if it's convenient for you to keep track of this blog that way, you have one of my readers to thank. Kathleen wrote to ask how to subscribe and I really didn't know the best way to do it.  A little bit of research later and I had this going.  Let me know if you have any problems.