First, hi everyone and welcome to new readers!  I’ve actually been piecing…set-in circles no less!   Above is the 74″ square top.  Each block will finish at 12 1/2 inches.  I used Latifah Safari’s 12″ Clammy to cut the circles, half circles and the corner quarter squares.  Her instructions have you cut the outside from a single piece of cloth, but in addition to wanting to mix up the colors I felt that used too much yardage.  I do have a nice stack of the background fabric “pumpkin seeds” from the leftovers to use in something, though!    Need a title…not Crop Circles! Going in Circles?  Nah… maybe Hither and Yon? My newsletters readers have come up with a few really good ideas… I’m narrowing in on a title but Help me here! Suggestions welcome! And if you’d like to get my newsletter, look in the menu bar on the right of the blog page (or at the bottom of any other page on this site) to sign up.  If you live outside the US or prefer privacy, when it asks for a zip code just type in 12345 as a place holder–it works.

#latfahsaafir ‘s clammy and some grip tape made cutting the circles easy peasy!

I love many modern quilts because of the large scale of the blocks (for a graphic impact rather than ease of construction, though that is a bonus too), the room for quilting and/or the use of straight line quilting, the color and, frankly, for a change of pace.  I’ve also fallen for Latifah Saafir’s Clammy and Muffin Top quilts so I bought both the 8″ and 12″ templates.  What I didn’t realize is how incredibly versatile her templates are, allowing you to make clamshells, half circles, muffin tops (about a generous 1/3 of a circle), quarter circles, background pieces, pumpkin seeds (that elongated football shape you see in the top right, and all the really useful markings to cut on the fold, add seam allowances and what not. In going to collect the hotlink for you, I noticed she has bundles that save on cost and also some seconds that are less expensive.

You can see that I used highlighter tape to mark where I needed to cut for my background.  Her instructions have you cut a square, then cut from the square for the clamshell or circle.  That gave me more odd leftovers than I wanted, so I cut the circle from the edge of my fabric and then cut four corners so I could mix up the background as well as save on scraps.  Still, I’ve got a use for the leftovers….stay tuned (probably in a year LOL).

A longarmer recommended the Gator Grip tape to me; got it on Amazon to use for ruler-work machine quilting rulers, but it works for cutting rulers too.  I found that I wasn’t able to hold the template without making it slip sometimes, so I cut four small squares of the grip tape.  You can’t even hardly see it in this photo.  See the next one for a close up.  I LOVE THIS on the templates! You can still see the lines on the mat beneath the clear grip tape.  It works better than the sandpaper dots and other products I’ve tried, and a roll of this stuff will last forever.

The scissors are pointing to the 1/2″ square of grip tape on the under side of the ruler. You can even (slightly) see the markings on the cutting mat through the tape! Also notice the helpful makings on the ruler for various extra ways to use the template for cutting things other than a clamshell.

Cutting and Precision

Let me just say “perfectly precise” are two words that have never been used to describe my work.  But I am trying and learning.  An online master class in International Quilt Festival’s Virtual Festival  (it was in either December 2020 or 2021) with Philippa Naylor showed me I really COULD be precise if I tried. First, slow down.  Second, cut as carefully and precisely as you can.  If the pieces aren’t exact, then nothing else will be!

Pressing is also super important.  To avoid tucks when pressing seams to one side, use the tip (or toe if in the UK) of the iron, NOT the side of the iron. Astonishingly, it really is more precise at getting the entire fabric pushed away from the seam without an inadvertent little fold or tuck.  Sometimes, though, it is better to press seams open, and that takes a bit of learning when and how.  I’ve taken Philippa’s online Garment Makers’ Question Time workshop, and think in a year or so (if/when I get caught up on everything else) I may take her Quilters Question Time, even with as many years of quilting as I have–egads coming up on 33+ years!

It’s amazing how nice and a FLAT I got the blocks–precise cutting, careful sewing, smart ironing for the win!

Use the tip/toe of the iron to press seam allowance–here the allowance is under the green fabric.

• Stitched blocks front and back.  I used my alphabet and number pins to keep track of column and row.  I placed a pink pin (Taylor Seville’s Magic Pins…the pink are the LONG ones) in the top left background quarter to help me keep track of placement.  The letter/number pins are pinned vertically with the flower toward the top of the block, also to help me remember which way is up. Pressing:  the background sections are pressed open.  The stripe inserts are pressed under the strip.  The background goes under the circle.

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  Front and back of the blocks. Although the cross-cut on the circles creates thicker bumps, I opted to press under the circle to “raise” it above the background. Here you can see the top and the under side of two blocks.

• I used a Sharpie to mark A,B,C etc. on some flower head pins, and 1-12 on even more.  Each row is A, B, C etc., then each block going across is 1, 2, 3 etc.

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  My DIY numbered pins help me keep track of what goes where–and a photo on the phone is a MUST!

•   Fold the circle in half exactly and press a crease on the edges.  Open it back up.

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  Fold circle in half. I am careful to align the strip so it folds directly on top of itself.

• Turn the circle 90 degrees, fold in half the other way aligning the first pair of crease marks, then iron in the second set of creases at the fold.  At first I just quartered the circle and pressed, but I got more accurate alignment after I tried marking the spots in two steps.

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  align the creases you made (above), bringing the top all the way down–it’s offset here to show you the crease marks on both edges.

• I pinned the background (sewn into a circle) to the center circle on the creases at the top, bottom and sides. In other words, the concave (innie) curve goes on top of the convex (outie) curve.  As I stitched I added a pin about  1 1/2″ before each of those pins–the fabric doesn’t ease in as well where the grain is closer to on-grain.  In the rest of the quarter circle arc, I use my fingers to ease in and hold the background in place.Being as accurate as you can at all steps helps!

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  This is a do what works best for you thing. I find that just a couple pins and using my fingers works better and more accurately (along with sewing reasonably slowly) than using a thousand pins.

In the studio I love my Zirkle magnetic pin minder, but this Clover magnetic pin “cushion” with a lid (that fits on the bottom when you don’t need the pins covered) is perfect for retreats and travel.

You can never have too many pins. For hand appliqué, you want them short so the thread doesn’t tangle. For machine piecing, I prefer really LONG so the head of the pin doesn’t get caught under the foot. ALWAYS pull the pin out before it reaches the needle–sometimes that maybe when it is one stitch away, but don’t sew over it. If you hit the pin you can knock the machine out of timing (expensive repair!).

My sets of homemade ABC and 123 pins are on the bottom, along with some of my Taylor Seville pins.  Taylor Seville reached out to me when I was teaching at a couple shows in the past year or so, and sent me some to try (I hadn’t used them before but now I do!) and more to share as classroom giveaways.  The pins come in different lengths and thicknesses.  The mint green ones are the shortest of the ones I have, the blue are a finer metal (makes pinning seam allowances open flatter and therefore sew up more accurately, but they bend more easily so choose your usages wisely), the pink are longer.  I prefer the longer as the grippy ends don’t get snugged under the presser foot.  Best of all, Taylor Seville is coming out with a BOX of ABC 123 pins with SLOTS for each one… no more pinning into cloth or having a muddled mess of pins….. I always figured why spend the $$$ when I could make my own cheaper, but that organizing box is Da Bomb!  Will be ordering as soon as they are available!  I saw maybe September 2023 for them…..

PERFECT intersections!  

Pinning is the key, with a big helping hand from seams pressed OPEN:

• first, put one pin through the Very Center of the seam of the pieces on the top,
• then poke that pin through the seam of the pieces on the bottom.

LEAVE the pin in the seam vertically–don’t bend it sideways or “pin the seam.”

• Place two more pins in the seam allowances on both sides of the seam.

The pin through the seam stays poking up!

• Slide the fabric under the presser foot and try to keep the vertical pin in place.

In the photos, below, you see that at a certain point you need to let the vertical pin pivot out of the way.  The photo on the right shows me holding the pin still IN the seam to keep it aligned until the very last moment.

Sew SLOWLY when you approach all those pins. The finer the pins (in this image I’m using glass-headed pins that have a thicker shaft -metal part). The thinner the shaft, the more flat the fabric remains and the easier it is to get a perfect match. The drawback to finer pins is they bend more easily. Do what works for you. For me, I’ll sacrifice a few pins (and use them bent for a long while too) to get flat and perfect and not have to rip out and re-do.

I counted up on the horizontal seams that joined the rows (see top photo) and counted about 50 intersections.  I only had to “fine tune” (i.e. fix) three, and even before fixing the perfect match was off by only a thread of two!  Since I am nowhere near a perfect or precision sewer, that is nearly a miracle!  I mean look at the next photo…SWOON!
Since I wrote my newsletter, I got the backing made from leftovers (hooray…about 2″ of stash used up…sigh…..).

I LOVE my long closet. When we moved in in 2011, this room was awful and unfinished. I had a carpenter make me sliding design-wall doors and I love them. They hide clutter (teaching stuff, storage for mixed media, paper, ribbons, etc., and all my quilts, rolled). Use the search box at right and enter “state of the studio” to see the transformation pictures.

And because we all need cute AND perfect intersections in our lives, I’ll close with Percy, who hopped up on the top the instant it was done to approve of the design!

#thetalesofpercivalwulfric

I am beyond elated to share that I will be your US host on a 10-day trip to Japan March 2-11, 2022! Here’s a link to the complete PDF Brochure which you can download or print, but I’ll post each page here in the photos. Originally, this trip was to have been in January 2021 but was cancelled due to COVID. It was rescheduled to January 2022 to coincide with the Tokyo Quilt Festival, but that looks like it won’t happen either so we are now in March 2022. BUT, I think the March itinerary is EVEN BETTER–so many cool things, including quilts, shibori workshop, my bucket-list-dream-item visit to the Itchiku Kubota museum (see my Kubota Pinterest board here), and so much more (and not as cold as January)! AND here’s some more eye candy, my Japan pinterest board.

A friend asked about food restrictions, and the company replied: “Regarding diets.  We have a place on the registration form for them to include dietary restrictions.  They were really good about it in Japan.  The meals that are included will be notified ahead of time regarding any restrictions and they do make substitutions.  Both years I have gone we have had guests that were vegetarian and gluten free.  They were prepared separate meals.  Also for when she eats on her own she should give the Japanese guide an index card and ask her to write in Japanese what she is allergic to and dietary restrictions then she can show it to waitresses when she eats on her own.  This worked well.” Fantastic! So don’t worry if you are vegetarian or gluten free or whatever you can travel on this trip!

I am so excited about this trip…. while many go on these trips just to go to the Tokyo Quilt Festival, comparing the two itineraries and activities, I actually think this is a better trip! AND the weather won’t be as cold in March! I hope you’ll join me–I’m already thinking of little on-tour goodies for you should you join me! Please do write and ask any questions!

When I arrived in Maine 16 years ago today, to move into our house in Camden (we moved from there to neighboring hope in 2011), I did not know that after 46 years of wandering the globe and living on four continents, I had finally found what I always wanted: HOME!

Maine has become my muse and my soul’s home. Within two years, I made this quilt which flowed out of me effortlessly. In such a short time, I had become Maine’s and Maine had become my heart’s true home.

When I grew up on the West Coast, everyone said that the West Coast was friendly, open, welcoming, made up of newcomers. Yet as a 6 year old arriving from Argentina, it wasn’t. The leader of the Brownie troupe wouldn’t let me join because we hadn’t lived in California long enough. Children told me I wasn’t a Californian and never would be because I wasn’t born there. Quests for better schooling let my mother to move me from school to school: Bayside, Central, Grenada, Del Mar and finally San Domenico all in the time from January of First grade to the start of 7th grade. I didn’t belong and never did. From College until age 46, I moved. And moved. And moved. All work, but still. No place to feel HOME.

Yet when I moved to Maine, where there was supposedly the vaunted “Yankee reserve,” I was welcomed with open arms even though I am indeed “from away.” Long time Mainers and others from away welcomed me equally. Quilters welcomed me and gave me a home. I began my quilt art and teaching career here. And this year, I was honored, humbled and thrilled to learn that one of my quilts will hang at the Bicentennial Exhibit to celebrate Maine’s 200th anniversary of Statehood at the Maine State Museum in August as one of Maine’s contemporary quilts. Everything has, of course, been delayed by COVID, but there will also be a book and I’m in it, with thanks to Laurie LaBar, head of Textiles (and other things) at the Museum. Did you know where I live was part of two states (sort of)? The District Of Maine was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony when the colonies became the first 13 states in the Union in 1776. In 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise, Maine became a separate state.

My goal is to make an exhibit’s worth of quilts celebrating the world around me. Guess I’d better stop blogging and get back to the studio. I am forever grateful to be here with my husband, two sons Joshua and Eli, my third-child-by-another-mother DIL Ashley, and all the various critters past and present and future that share our lives.

That’s it in a nutshell! I really need to go buy a lottery ticket! During International Quilt Market, which I recently blogged about, I stopped in the Michael Miller booth while swooning over many things, including the indigo design minky (!!!) and the Cotton Couture solids. One of the staff members mentioned the Brand Ambassador program….when I got home I followed up, submitted an application and this morning this happened ……

Today started off with a great big WHOOOP when I saw an email titled “2020 Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador Selection” and that began with “Congratulations! You have been chosen…..”

I wasn’t sure as an art quilter I’d be up their alley, but clearly they are willing to give it a go and so am I. Early next year I’ll let you know more about what it that means and what I’ll be doing as a Brand Ambassador, and in the meantime I have already ordered 3 yards of a print minky of theirs coming to help me make a lap quilt of a top I finished at least a decade ago from a charm square pack purchased in Hawaii circa 2002! And I ordered 7 yards of an aqua in Cotton Couture (Luna) to play with those amazing fat quarters in the giveaway I won….remember this? Can’t wait for it to arrive!

Now, alas, reality intrudes and I’m going back to cleaning the kitchen (so it can get really mucked up over the next couple of days…makes total sense, right?)! But I’ll go back to work happy as a clam!

And yes, there was even more fun stuff at Market…see why I never got to the quilts? (Previous two posts have more good stuff.)

One trend I noticed across various fabric booths is that they are getting super smart about cross-marketing. The artwork isn’t just in quilting cotton, but heavier and/or lighter weights (in this case a canvas weight for a jacket, chair upholstery or tote), wall paper, gift paper, note cards, little stationery items. Smart.

A perfect end to a fun Quilt Market. More on the house renovations, Festival, family and more in the coming weeks.