Winter Weather Advisory

It won't be the first snow of the season–that arrived earlier this month, on my birthday (but didn't stick).

Tonight, two-to-four inches of snow accumulation are predicted . . . in the meantime, freezing rain is falling.

The mitten is hidden under weather in this doppler radar image.

That trip, over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house for Thanksgiving could be interesting around here (and not in a good way).

Whatever your holiday plans, be safe, be relaxed and enjoy the day with people you love.

Quilting Partnerships

This quilt, Three Sisters, was made by Gail Thomas, Annette M. Hendricks and Helen Godden.



It was the first place winner in the Group category in Quilts: A world of Beauty at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. The three artists, living on three continents, credit the Quilt Festival with their collaboration. Be sure to check out my photos of a couple of the many wonderful details here and here.

I love group quilts. I love the collaboration and think there is a kind of magic in quilts made with many hands. Whether it's a scrap quilt made from blocks from a block exchange among friends or a creative partnership in the development of an original art quilts, I love them all.

IQF considers a collaboration of two to be a category of its own, Two Person quilts. This one, Sunflowers, made by Candy Horsley and Kathy Colvin, was not a ribbon winner in its category, but, personally, I found all kinds of things to love about it.



All the pieced blocks are different–isn't it a wonderful colorway and setting for a sampler quilt? Of course, I also love the appliquéd script Sunflowers, too.

Another great two-person sampler quilt was Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, made by V. Wayne Sneath and Jim Sherburne.



This quilt is made of 98 different six-inch blocks. Some of the blocks contain more than 200 pieces. (The artist statement says there are 5548 individual pieces of fabric in the quilt.) You can see a couple of these interesting blocks in this detail photo.

Here are the rest of my photos from these two categories of quilting partnerships. Click the thumbnails for larger images, titles, category and artist information. Or follow the links to my labels Two Person and Group on Flickr.

Sixth Sentence Meme

Take the book you are currently reading and turn to page 161, then read the 6th sentence and share it. Here's mine:

"I browsed."

From Don't Make Me Think. A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, by Steve Krug.

I'm not tagging anyone, but it's so easy, why wouldn'tcha want to play? Your sixth sentence has to be more entertaining than mine ;-)

Project Runway

If I were a designer on Project Runway, I'm afraid that I'd be one of those with time issues. I loved Amy's PR Challenge to create a small quilt based on the first challenge the designers faced–to create a garment that expressed their point of view. I confess my design got no further than a few sketches. (Sorry Amy).

I don't watch reality TV, but I love Project Runway . . . and reading what others have to say about it, including these blogs:

Nina Gargia's Blog
Katherine Gerdes - Design Journal and Portfolio
Blogging Project Runway
Project Rungay

Here are the garments from the first challenge this season–I think it will be interesting to watch and see, over time, how well these designs represent their POV. (click for larger image)


I'll be watching tomorrow night, will you?

Details, Details

In the comments to some of my quilt show posts, Sheri shared that she finds the World of Beauty quilts rather intimidating. Who doesn't? I can't imagine that many quilters look at quilts like those and say to themselves, I could do that.

I may never make quilts like those, but I do know that I benefit from the exposure . . . and while taking them in, in their entirety is wonderful, I also learn from taking a close look at the details.

Had I not looked closely at the colorwash style wreath on this quilt from the Sacred Threads exhibit, In this Quiet Place 2, made by Cathy Pilcher Sperry, Cincinnati, Ohio, I would have missed the very clever use of ribbon embroidery to complete some of the flowers in the color wash squares.


Click any photo for larger image.

The other interesting thing about details is that we each notice different details in a work of art. In this quilt, my friend Diane noticed the paper foundation pieced border blocks on this quilt and liked the use of the colorwash fabrics in this way.

I was really happy to see that some of the quilts from Sacred Threads at the International Quilt Festival because I didn't make it back to Columbus for the show last summer. Here are the rest of my photos from the exhibit–click the thumbnails for titles and quiltmaker information. You can also find them on Flickr, tagged Sacred Threads.

Take the Pledge

This one was easy for me, since giving handmade is my usual approach to gift giving.



Sheri recently posted her her own quest for a Made in China free holiday and is making some cute pajama pants as gifts. Check them out.

Innovative Quilting

It's not always clear to me what makes a quilt innovative versus traditional, but the quilts in the four Innovative categories at the International Quilt Festival in Houston were wonderful.

Below are a detail photos from Peony Dream Melody, the second place winner for Innovative Appliqué Large, made by Molly Hamilton-McNally, Tehachapi, California, on the left and, on the right, Shelter, a quilt in the Innovative Appliqué Small, made by Roxanne Bartel, Salt Lake City, Utah.



The rest of my photos of these two categories are tagged Innovative Appliqué on Flickr.

The Innovative piecers did not disappoint. Here's Cosmati Stars, the second place winner in the Innovative Pieced Large category, made by Judy Mathieson of Sebastopol, California.



And a detail from Sonoran Stars, by Sherri Driver, Tucson, Arizona, the second place winner in the Innovative Pieced, Small category.



The rest of my photos of the Innovative Pieced quilts, Large and Small are tagged Innovative Pieced on Flickr.

Chicago School of Fusing

Here are more photos from Pressing Matters II, an exhibit by the members of the Chicago School of Fusing, at the Greater Chicago Quilt Expo.

Blue Chip Chair by Laura Wasilowski and Wow, That's Orange by Ann Fahl.



Dancing Trees by Frieda Anderson and Agava by Judy Coates Perez.



Colorplay III by Anne Lullie and Blue Collander by Emily Parson.



This group of women are not only wonderful artists, but great teachers as well–I've taken classes from half of them. They are interesting bloggers, too, and genuinely seem to be a great group of friends who truly support and enjoy one another.