Saturday, August 18, 2007

August Push to Finish Time

One of the good things that I like about August, is the Alaska State Fair. It urges me to finish those things I've had laying around, so that I can enter them in the fair. It's fun to display there, & most years I manage to win enough ribbons to at least pay for my gate fee. The cash prizes for quilts is a pittance, but the ribbons are fun to collect. A blue ribbon wins $6.00, 2nd place $3.00, & 3rd gets $1.00. Now if you manage to grow the biggest cabbage you win $2000.00. Can you see where the priority is in the Mat-Su Valley?

Eve here has been finished finally. I've posted her before, but now she has a finished edge & bead embellishment. She will be entered in the fiber art, needle felting wall hanging section of the Fair.
Here are some details. You can click on the pictures to see them bigger if you want.

The other thing that happens soon, is our Anchorage Log Cabin Quilt guild show, right after the Fair. We always have a small quilt silent auction for our big fund raiser every year. I decided to make a replica of our raffle quilt from last year. It is 8"x11", and took me about 20 hours to complete.
It is wholecloth, I drafted the whole design on graph paper 1st, by looking at a glossy photo of the original quilt. It placed the drawing on my light box, & laid my fabric on top, then drew the color on using an assortment of fabric pens.
I used an extremely small machine stitch to quilt. It was impossible to remove the stitches once sewn in because the stitch length was so tight I couldn't possibly get the seam ripper into it, so I had to do everything right the 1st time. I used very fine threads. The purple around each block is the Superior Threads' Bottom Line #60 wgt poly thread.
The rest was quilted with #100 wgt YLI Heirloom Cotton .
I bound the edges with a single layer (instead of my usual double fold), & it's only 1/8th inch wide.
I'm pleased with how it turned out.
Thursday at quilt guild we had several people do quick demos about different techniques.
This lady is Caroll Jones (one of 2 Carol Jones in our guild). She talked about Shasiko.
I was really impressed with her work.
She studied under a Japanese lady named Noriko ---- (sorry I forget the last name), but she said she'll be going to Houston this fall to take more classes from her, so you who get to go there may see her wandering around there in her lovely Sashiko jackets.



She offered to teach us a class for free. 8 of us signed up.
PS you should all stop by my friend Kathy's blog. She's doing some beutiful work with her natural dyed wools.

13 comments:

Vicki W said...

I love your little miniature! That was a great idea.

jenclair said...

You are so versatile! From the funky, beaded, textured, and charming Eve to the exquisitely detailed work on the miniature...what a range of technique and style.

I'm in love with Carol Jones' jackets. Of course, you signed up for a class!

Rian said...

That miniature is amazing! You are sure to snag some more ribbons with that one!

And I have to echo Jenclair's sentiments...you are so talented and versatile.

Digitalgran said...

I have been catching up with your blog as I haven't had much time recently. I love Eve, but those cards you have made are wonderful too.
Lastly congratulations on your new GD. Did you know Carys is a Welsh name? I wonder if she has Welsh blood? She is beautiful.

Dianne said...

Oh I LOVE Eve, she is fantastic. What a wonderful expression she has .

Linda Fleming said...

Eve is an amazing piece of work! I love her! And the quilt is gorgeous. Good luck at the fair!

FARBTUPFER said...

This little miniature is great. And thank you for the new link!

Feeling Simply Quilty said...

That is a great mini quilt. That quilt will win a ribbon anywhere it's entered. I'm directing the gals in our guild to your blog to get some ideas about fabric painting.

Kathy -MIQuilter said...

Your miniature is wonderful, very time consuming. You know I am very jelous of your sashiko class. Last class I was, I flew in at the last minute (oh, and I think I took your place in the class!). Your such a good person, I just love you!

Micki said...

Love both pieces. You ARE a very versatile artist.

Anonymous said...

I guess the moral of the prize money disparity is that you can eat cabbage, but quilts/needlecraft only feed the soul. (What's wrong that that picture?) Wonderful work, as always.

Anonymous said...

That's "WITH that picture"--why don't I proofread before posting??

Granny Fran said...

That little miniture quilt is a jewel. What a great idea of how to do it! Love your friends wool dyeing. That used to be a love of mine that I might need to start on again. I love wool quilts.