Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Happy Halloween!

For all of those who wonder what lies beneath my cold, hard exterior...well, this is it. Dr. McDonald (no E-I-E-I-Oing about it) will be getting my teeth in line, and he has a super cool x-ray machine that he uses for more than making Halloween decorations. But I'll leave that to him, because he's the one with all the post graduate degrees in orthodontics. I'm just here to have a spooktacularly good time!


If you're in the Albuquerque area, and have some pearly whites that need straightened, I recommend Cornali and McDonald. They're very nice, meticulous with regard to making a plan for bite correction, and diligent about explaining all procedures.


Here's looking at you! Boo!

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Friday, October 27, 2017

Gridster Bee: October

This month Leisa Plocher provided the Gridster Bee members with African fabrics her mother had collected to create the Africa Queen pattern by Anne Batiste. I enjoyed fussy cutting the fabrics to make three royal ladies.






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Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Cindy Grisdela Trunk Show

I had the pleasure of attending a trunk show with Cindy Grisdela, courtesy of Hip Stitch, a local quilt shop here in Albuquerque that has been bringing in some great presenters lately, such as Sariella.



Cindy is the author of Artful Improv (affiliate link).



Cindy had some fun quilts and tips to share, and I figured you wouldn't want to miss out.



For this piece, Cindy explained that you could turn it to make whatever side you wanted be the top. She mentioned her customers have personal preferences about how her art is oriented, which even affects sales.


Pastel isn't Cindy's go-to color scheme, but she challenged herself to tackle less saturated hues. She did dense quilting in the top right corner of the piece below to add interest.



With regard to free-motion, Cindy suggested, "Nobody knows what you meant to do, so don't take yourself so serious.


Her pieces illustrated the beauty of minimalism.



To help even out the tension for free-motion Cindy uses 40 wt on top and 50 wt in the bobbin.


She suggested coming up with new quilting ideas by asking, "What if..."


Cindy encouraged us to enter shows and explained how each venue varies in what they are looking to include. "If you aren't getting rejected, you aren't entering enough shows," she said.


Cindy is adept at taking a coordinating color scheme and adding a few outliers to make the overall effect work.

Uneven Bars by Cindy Grisdela
Cindy sells her work at shows, and had prepared some pieces for hanging by mounting them onto canvases painted black and adhered with gel medium (affiliate link). Her binding on these is a pillowcase-style facing.



I like this style of presentation because...


If you want to get some pointers from Cindy, check out this YouTube video. You could also pick up her book.


Thanks Hip Stitch for the fun evening!

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Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Wonderland Quilt Along Block #1: The Hat

Let's get this tea party started! In case you missed my announcement, each month I'll be introducing a free block pattern for my Wonderland Quilt


We're starting things off with The Hat. Instructions follow, but you can also download a printable pdf on Craftsy.


Cutting:

Main Hat Fabric ( I used a random scrap. Let me know if you can identify the print.):
C- 8½” x 2½”
D- 5½” x 5½”

E- 5½” x 3”

Background (Daisies & Dots by Piece O' Cake Designs for Robert Kaufman):
A- (2) 8½” x 2”
B- 5½” x 1”

I used Aurifil 2600 (Dove) for piecing. It's light gray, and makes a nice neutral.


All seam allowances are ¼”.



Directions:

1. Attach B and E to opposite sides of D.




2. Attach A rectangles to each of the 8½” sides of BDE.



3. Attach C to the bottom of the existing unit.



Your unfinished block should measure 8 1/2" x 10 1/2". Don't forget to follow Quilting Mod via e-mail or a blog reader of your choice, so that you don't miss out on any blocks. Socialize with others and share your blocks at the Wonderland Quilt Along Facebook Group. Share your progress by using #WonderlandQuiltAlong on Instagram.

Disclaimer: Aurifil has kindly sponsored the thread for this project, but it would be my thread of choice regardless. Also, there are some affiliate links above, which will not cost you any extra if you make a purchase. While I appreciate any buying you'd like to do through my links, my main purpose is to help provide information about products I use in case you're interested in trying them out yourself. No pressure.
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