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!

Sariella Trunk Show: Diamonds & Donuts

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a trunk show featuring the duo Sariella, composed of Sarah of Sariditty and Nicole (Nikki) of Lillyella, at Hip Stitch.

The pair shares my affinity for donuts, which shows in Baker's Dozen, an 18" mini created using 1/4 circle blocks and available as a free PDF pattern download. I adored their creative use of novelty fabrics and trims.

 And the donut LOVE continued.

The larger version is called Bakery Box, and is available in Issue 17 of Modern Quilts Unlimited.

The inspiration continued!

A well-rounded display of wall art decorated the room including Diamonds in the Rough created using Lizzy House's Whisper Palette, Scrappy Litter Blox, and the Patriotic Banner. I found it very clever how the diamond quilt featured a top, side and bottom view. Then again, Sari is a certified diamontologist with the Diamond Council of America aka Sparkle Expert.

She likes her karats too. I think this Tiffany Box Quilt has a few...zillion!

 If you want to make your own diamonds, there's the Electric Diamond Paper Piecing Pattern.

If you love kitties, Scrappy Litter Blox is an adorable choice.

Another theme prevalent in the quilts was Flying Geese. The 12" Sun Blossom Mini blocks (shown here in Me+You Indah Batiks) were made of HSTs that can be rearranged to create new designs.

 The Observer Quilt was a fascinating piece featuring Art Gallery Denim, the Observer collection, and antique lace.

Hexagons also influenced the duo. The Deco Hex quilt for April's Stash Builder Box (Use code IHEARTSBB for $3 off your first box.) was shown, as well as a version for the Wonderful Things Blog Hop.

Locations, such as the southwest, have also made an impact. Heirloom quilt is featured in the 2018 Quilter's Planner.

This mini was influence by Moroccan tiles.

A few more items of note include a Cathedral Window pillow made for the Blithe Fabrics Blog Tour using the Diary of a Quilt Maven tutorial, the Undercover Maker Mat, the Butterfly Charm Block pillow, and Feather Fall.

Come back soon for more about the trunk show with Sariella!