Market was not Spooky

A pre-Halloween and especially a pre-Presidential election quilt market can be spooky. I didn't sense those jitters from years before this year.It was upbeat, bright and far from gloomy. Then again, it's fabric world, full of things we all love. And I left before all the storm jitters started...

What did I like?

A wall o' fabric by Marcia Derse. AH! Several of us confessed to collecting fabric by Marcia but being unable to cut it up, we love it so much...

The fabric designer who wore a skirt. Thomas Knauer for Andover. That was different. He loves fabric!


Modern quilts on display. This one is called Cutting Edge Conglomerate. It was made by Earamichia Brown and the NYC Metro Mod Quilters, quilted by Jackie Kunkel.

And the best Treat YO Self books I saw:

Inspired Art Quilting by Jean Wells. Her work continues to be pure inspiration for me.





15 Minutes Play by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Wow! Victoria has taken our beloved scrappy style and made some very clever and exciting quilts. I was really impressed with them and can't wait to get a copy of the book!

There's more - I will continue with another blog - soon...

Be sure to VOTE!

My friend Barbara Brackman some created political fabric. She took a photo of one of the candidates and dropped it into some historic fabric, courtesy of her Photoshop skills.

She gave me a sample and I of course started adding little scraps of fabric all around the main character. I added a calming inner border, then finished with a border of more scraps. I've long admired the Pearlies and thought a message with shell buttons would add just the right message in a rather subtle way.

We are lucky - we CAN vote freely in the coming election. So no matter what, be sure to

My little quilt measures 24" x 27". Check out the link to Barbara's blog above - her fabric is available for all...

A Message from my Grandma

I am still letting go of stuff. Last night I sorted through boxes of old photos.
I found some great photos I had forgotten about. Some were framed. I was taking them out of frames, scanning them, and putting them in a folder for safekeeping.

The frames are piled nearby, ready for the antique mall booth. The cardboard and paper that went with them were in the recycle pile. I carried it out to the bin this morning. One piece of cardboard turned over and I recognized my grandma's handwriting. Here's what it said:

I had forgotten that. The frame is wonderful, "antiqued" in the popular 1970s style.

This frame is staying, along with Grandma's note. Is this not the best example ever of the importance of labeling your work - whether it is a treasured frame or a quilt? She's been gone for years but I know she would be delighted that her reminder worked.

Thelma Iris Tunison Poore, 1941

Thanks, Grandma. I miss you.

A Woven Ticking Rug

I'm travelling today. I found this woven ticking rug at an antique shop in Iowa and thought wow! I've not seen a rug like this before. And the thrifty price was so good I decided to take it home and try to follow it to make one of my own.

It measures 22" across. The torn ticking strips vary in width - 1/2" to 3/4".  The center seems to start with strips laid across each other, then the weaving begins.

As the rug gets larger, extra strips are added (see left). The strip is folded at a space where there is room (so 2 strips extend outward), then the weaving continues.

This view shows 2 points where strips were added - one just outside the center, the other about 7 woven strips later.

The maker finished the rug by zig-zagging the edges on the sewing machine.

Fresh Perspectives

We can all use them, can't we.
And if they come in the form of a new, exciting quilt book, even better!

I love this book, Fresh Perspectives, just released by C&T Publishing. My friends Bobbi Finley and Carol Jones are the authors. They did some very exciting work, interpreting some traditional quilts in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska and remaking them in a contemporary way.



Carol and I both fell in love with the same quilt there. A little Amish quilt, circa  1910 - 1930. And we both made interpretations of it. They included mine in the book:

I've wanted to show it to you for a long time, but waited for the book to come out. The center squares are batiks, the rest are from my stash: some quilt prints, some shirts, some indigos. It was great fun to make!

I'm also finding the book a great help as I work with some vintage blocks passed on to me by a friend cleaning out her sewing room. It's going to be a great reference for some of us who try to use old blocks in contemporary ways. I've already recommended it to a friend wanting to use some nine-patches in a quilt. Stay tuned, you will hear more about ways I'm using this book.

The Other Side of the Skirt

Here is side 2.

Skirt Side2

And a favorite block - I love these shapes:

What a skirt!

Skirt side1

I am recuperating and doing well, slowly but surely. A friend knew just the tonic I needed - she hauled me to a tag sale. In the garage, hidden by mounds of polyester fabrics, I found this skirt.

Ok, a high fashion item - it is NOT. But it is a little goldmine of fabric blocks from the 1960s and a bit past (you'll note a few '50s pieces). It's in mint condition: if it was worn, it was only a careful time or two. The blocks are mostly 3 1/2" square. The maker went to the same home ec class I did - notice how carefully she pinked all the edges (so they would not ravel) and pressed them open. The hem is finished with hem tape. And the price was just right for thrifty Deb: $1.

I'll post photos the other side and a favorite block in a few days. If you see other blocks you'd like to see a closeup view of, let me know. The fabrics are fabulous! I notice Denyse Schmidt's new fabric line is homage to the 1970s (the Monkees, etc.). THIS ONE is pure Laugh In! (Watch this and you'll see why we thought throwing water at people was so acceptable ... )