Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association

YOU ROCK!

Bernina Retreat

I just got home from a reunion weekend with the Bernina National Artisans! It was mind boggling, fun, and exciting.

We spent three days working with and talking about the 830, Bernina's newest machine. My favorite features are:
12 inches underarm span, and more height too!
Jumbo bobbin with 40% more thread capacity, the whole bobbin area is easier to see and access.
The BERNINA Stitch Regulator, which makes free-motion sewing easy and fun.
Total Stitch Control it sews at 1100 stitches per minute!
PLUS Dual Feed, Automatic Threading and more!

Everything we every asked for is here! Check it out!

http://www.berninausa.com/product_overview-n2-sUS.html

A Few of My Favorite Things

1. The Bottom Line by Superior Threads; quilting, embroidery, bobbin, binding, and appliqué. Comes in 55 colors and is 60 wt. lint-free polyester.
Its smooth surface allows it to work well with metallic threads. The smoothness of the filament poly thread does not snag or grab the top thread. If you've had trouble using metallics, give it a try.

2. Shiva brand oil paint sticks
Make elegant fabric with the look of airbrushing! Paint sticks applied to silk or cotton are simple, fun and permanent.

3. Cotton and cotton blend battings
Sticks to other cotton; thin; can be machine quilted & shrunk to produce antique looking quilts or to hide quilting stitches; comfortable to sleep under; it breathes. Cotton endures and will not beard like polyester. A good choice if “shadow through” from the quilt back is a problem. Cotton, bonded or glazed batting won't pull apart and needs to 'relax' after removal from the packaging.

4. Golden Threads quilting paper
For use with the No-Marking Method to create tear away stencils. The paper tears away cleanly and easily without pulling out your stitches.

5. Thread
Lightweight threads are great for “fancy” stitching. They are thin so a lot of thread won’t make your project seem stiff. The easiest to use are medium weight threads, which are great for anyone learning a new technique. Heavy threads are bold and can make a project stiff and very “thready”.

Cotton is probably the easiest of all threads to work with. Polyester looks like cotton and it’s easy to sew.

Monofilament (clear or smoke-colored) thread must come off of the top of the spool. To wind it onto a bobbin, wind slowly to avoid stretching and be sure to wind the bobbin no more than about half full.

Metallic threads need the upper tension loosened one or more numbers, a polyester or nylon bobbin thread and a vertical spool pin.

Flat film polyester demands a vertical spool pin with a felt pad underneath so the spool can rotate easily.

Bobbin Thread - Match it and top thread colors so it won’t matter if your bobbin thread peeks through.

Two museum exhibits

I recently visited two great museum exhibits in the Seattle region that are not to be missed.

The Bellevue Art Museum is presenting until May 31, 2009:

American Quilt Classics, 1800-1980 The Bresler Collection
This eclectic group was collected by Fleur Brestler 30 years ago and has become an impressive and historically important collection of quilts. The 36 piece collection ranges from late 18th century and early 19th century whole cloth and block printed chintz quilts to mid 19th century appliqué and album quilts. It also includes wonderful examples of a handful of unique pieces from the 20th century.



The Seattle Asian Art Museum is presenting thru April 26,2009:

Garden & Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur

The exhibit includes paintings in a rich palette of colors by the court artists depicting the 16th and 17th century Maharaja’s with their harems in fantastic gardens and images of royal luxury with heavenly landscapes populated by Hindu deities. Most of the fifty-five paintings in Garden and Cosmos have only been seen by the Maharaja’s and scholars!

Library Additions

Treat yourself to a new book, I recommend these:

Quilting in the Limelight by Philippa Naylor;

Phillipa’s book covers everything you ever wanted to know about her extraordinary career, her fabulous quilts, and her life from Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom. A great read!

To purchase a copy contact
http://www.dragonthreads.com/

You can visit Philappa at her web site http://philippanaylor.com/


Strip Therapy: Bali Pop ~ Dynamic Duos by Brenda Henning


If you need a sewing fix, something to make quickly, check out the designs in Strip Therapy. This fun collection of 12 quilt designs is based upon Hoffman Fabrics 2 ½” Bali Pop strip sets. Each strip set will yield one larger quilt, plus a smaller quilt using the leftover tidbits from the construction process.

Contact Brenda at brenda@bearpawproductions.com
Or visit her web site http://www.bearpawproductions.com/

Hi All,

I’ll be in California at the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association meeting giving my lecture Quilt Toppings, Tuesday, February 24. The workshop is Simple Surfaces the next day. I hear it is almost full, but for more information contact Stacy at sniblett@pacbell.net

About Quilt Toppings; Fun & Fancy Embellishments
Quilters are a notoriously restless group, always seeking new ways to express their creativity. This lecture taps into the strong emerging trend toward embellishment of quilt surfaces.
Paint, foil, paint sticks, thread, crayons, buttons, ribbons and beads are all readily available, fun, easy and non-messy ways to add that final design element to traditional and non-traditional quilts. (from Quilt Toppings; Fun and Fancy Embellishment Techniques)

About Simple Surfaces
Learn all about paint sticks and foiling on fabric. Applying foil or paint sticks to silk or cotton is easy, fun and permanent. This informative hands-on workshop is for both traditional and non-traditional quilters and clothing makers.

PS Tuesday is my BIRTHDAY, I like presents, so the first person at the meeting to wish me ‘happy birthday’ will receive a gift from me!

Melody

The Quilt Show

The Quilt Show
If you haven’t checked out The Quilt Show you should. It is a subscription quilt show on the internet hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims.
I flew to Denver on a cold in windy day last March to film for The Quilt Show. The trip to La Veta, and the studio, is beautiful one across the high plains in Colorado.
I talked about what else but embellishments!

Let's Talk Bling!
Beads and baubles, paint and much, much more. Wait till you see what Melody Crust, the self-admitted queen of bling, (Episode 312) has in store to make your quilts stand out in a crowd. Here is peak into a show filled with lots of ‘sparkle! "Tune in" for the show when it airs Monday, December 8, 2008.

I love of all things shiny. Combine this with my favorite co-conspirator in fashion, my Bernina 730, and the result is High Society. This charming 1950’s ensemble is reminiscent of a simpler time when afternoon cocktail parties were in vogue and even the most sophisticated ladies longed to be Grace Kelly and secretly swooned over Gable and Bogart.

Fashioned of luscious green-gold silk shot with turquoise, discovered in the Fashion District of Los Angeles, the dress features a tight-fitted bodice and a sweetheart neckline. The very full skirt swings easily with the satisfying swish of real silk that makes every woman feel beautiful. The long petticoat you see playing peak-a-boo at the hem is 80 yards of ruffled turquoise nylon net sewn to the bottom of a petticoat.

The most remarkable piece of the ensemble is the over-the-top really-fake faux fur stole. Over 3000 thousand yards of net strips were sewn in a virtually countless number of rows to capture the look of the fur stole every stylish woman in the 50s either owned or coveted. I credit my Bernina machine and its ruffler attachment for making what would have been an overwhelming construction project into one that was actually quite simple. My love for shine shows through in every one of the thousands of sequins hand-applied to every available turquoise net surface.

No glamorous lady of the era would be caught at a party without sporting a chic hat. Constructed of the dress silk and the sparkly polyester fabric used to line the stole, this oh-so-French confection serves beautifully as the perfect finish for this woman of style.

Pamper yourself!

Start the New Year off right, spend some time with friends and go on a sewing retreat! One of my favorite places to visit is Mrs. Anderson’s Lodging House and Dee’s Country Accents in Leavenworth, Washington. http://www.Quiltersheaven.com

Mrs. Anderson’s has 10 guest rooms that are decorated with turn-of-the-century antiques, quilts and vintage clothing. Enjoy the cozy atmosphere in the heart of downtown Leavenworth that offers space for sewing. It is an easy walk to many shops and restaurants.

Dee’s Country Accents is a quilt shop with a large selection of books and patterns for quilts, dolls and stitchery including red work, silk ribbon, and yarn.

If you happen to be there on the first Tuesday of the month check out the ladies attending the Quilt Soiree. Pick a hat and join in the fun.

The Holidays Bring Wonderful Surprises!

I received a wonderful holiday gift this week. It was an email with photos taken at a quilt show earlier this year. I had the pleasure of teaching two workshops for the Greater Ann Arbor Quilting Guild this past spring. Some of the finished pieces were shown in a special display at their semi-annual quilt show.

One of the workshops was Bead Candy Quilts. They are those small, eye catching, colorful, embellished, post card sized quilts that make great gifts or a way to brighten up an office or fun space around the house.

It was a great group of ladies. Each one brought mountains of bits of lace, appliqués, fabric, beads, trims, feathers and shiny stuff. As you can imagine, with twenty ladies all from different backgrounds, experiences and taste in fabrics, there was no duplication of fabrics or embellishments. What made is so much fun was seeing the variety of items they brought, and watching them offer suggestions and work together to create some really wonderful little quilts.

When I teach this class, I not only teach a variety of techniques, but also show samples, and offer suggestions to jump start everyone's creativity. I know that sometimes it's hard to get started. One of the reasons this workshop is so successful, is that anyone can take a handful of leftover bits of cool stuff that have traditionally been too small to use in a quilt, and make a wonderful small piece that can be finished in one sitting. WOW! What a sense of accomplishment!

Well, I understood ahead of time that this guild was full of very creative quilters and it was true. Just take a look at a few of the finished Bead Candy Quilts they made. It’s never too late. Go through your beads, bangles and bits of fabric and see what you come up with. Be creative. Go wild. There are no rules. Feel free to send me an email of the finished quilt.

I love surprises at the holidays! Be open to giving and receiving all that the holidays have to offer and most of all. . . . . create!

Have a wonderful holiday season!
Melody

What I did on my summer vacation

My husband Charles and I often travel to southern Utah. We love to take the “blue line” roads whenever possible. We found a good one that goes through the community of Antimony (named after the metal discovered there in 1880). The highway is little traveled, scenic and ends just outside Bryce Canyon National Park. Nights were spent in state parks like Kodachrome Basin, arguably the best State Park facility anywhere.

We headed south on the Cottonwood Canyon dirt road, in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Large signs indicated that high clearance and 4-wheel drive were required. They were right. The road is on a lot of clay, but fortunately it hadn’t rained recently and none was forecasted. However, no grading or maintenance had been performed in a long time leaving it almost impassable. We spent four hours navigating the road, mostly in 4-wheel drive. We learned later that park rangers were telling travelers that the road was impassable and closed.

A primary destination of our journey was White Pocket and South Coyote Buttes, a permit area in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness on the Utah Arizona border. Access is through miles of deep sand road, so we reserved a guide service with special vehicles. White Pocket is a relatively unknown and unique spot on the Paria Plateau. I expected ridicule for bringing my pink umbrella. Turns out, our guide Susan used an umbrella and brought extras for others.

The Slot Canyons in this area are particularly beautiful, with red and gold sandstone colors. Then we signed up with Slot Canyon Hummer Adventures for a three hour tour to visit Secret Canyon, a section of Waterholes Canyon on the Navajo Res. I want a Hummer. 'Them' things go straight up.

Our last stop was at Moise, Montana, North of Missoula, location of the 20,000 acre National Bison Range. We took the 19 mile Red Sleep Mountain Drive twice, once in the afternoon and once at 7AM the next morning. It was great viewing and picture taking of bison, antelope, black bear, white tail deer and elk. All in natural habitat but used to vehicles on the road. Elk were bugling and fighting in the morning. It was a great way to finish our trip.

Then we had a short 8 hour drive home!