I am finally able to post again after my whirlwind trip to Cleveland, Ohio to tape three episodes for Quilting Arts Television (PBS) with Susan Bruebaker Knapp.

I was kind of a nervous Nellie when we started taping but Susan made me feel soooooo comfortable. It was like I was just chatting with one of my best friends. The three episodes focus on: Tips and Tricks for Creating a  Landscape Quilt, How to create a Quick Little Matted and Framed Landscape Quilts, and Embellishing Your Landscape Quilts.

The series is the 2100 and will be shown during the 2018 episodes. I am featured on Episode2103, 2107, and 2112. 

I am including some photos from the taping for you. 

I met some very talented guests that will also be featured next season so don't miss any of the episodes. 

I am hoping to find an editor or publisher for my quilting novel soon. I went to a writing conference before I went to Cleveland and have one editor interested and a lead on another. Most of the quilting entities that publish quilting novels want novels without a lot of swearing, intense drama, or sex in them. My novel has all of those things!!!! Wish me luck.

SQUARING YOUR QUILT AFTER BLOCKING

I hope most quilters realize that landscape quilts need to block and square their wall quilts so they lay flat and square! Here are the trimmings from a quilt I just created for Quilting Arts Television airing in 2018. My quilt was fairly square after I blocked it so it wasn't too difficult to square. I use square rulers when I square my quilt and always measure to make sure my quilt is the same width and length. I measure several places across the quilt to make sure the measurement is the same throughout! As you can see above, when I put the binding on another quilt (Melaine's Quilt), I use binding clips to keep my binding in place while I stitch it down by hand!
Happy Quilting
xxoo
Joyce

Creating is messy

 

So, just to show you that it is impossible for me to create in a clean studio, here's a photo of my studio
during a creative frenzy! When I am done, I clean
everything up but why bother in the middle of a design as it interrupts the flow!

Chaos!

 I am looking forward to hosting my "Thursday
Quilting Group" this week. I know, our name is
uninspired but we have never changed it!

SECRETS FOR CUTTING FABRICS FOR

LANDSCAPE QUILTS

So, what's the secret ingredient I use when cutting small elements

for my landscape quilts? STARCH is my good friend and secret weapon.

Not just any ordinary can of spray starch, that won't do! And sizing? It absolutely won't do! 

There are actually a couple steps that assist me when I cut the elements out for my landscape quilts. 

#1. I mix my own concentrated liquid starch in a spray bottle. Here's the trick: Mix one third water and two thirds starch and shake well.

#2. Heat your iron to the highest setting on dry, NOT STEAM. 

#3. Spray the fabric you will be cutting out on both the front and the back with the starch/water mixture. 

#4. Let the starched fabric set for a couple minutes, otherwise, when you put you iron to it, you will get a glaze on the fabric. 

#5. Iron the back side of the fabric first, then repeat on the front. Sometimes, you have to iron it again.

#6. Use very sharp scissors. I like Karen Kay Buckley's scissors pictured below. If I am cutting larger elements, such as mountains, I like Fiskar Razor-sharp spring-loaded scissors.  

#7. Since I have starched the fabric so much that it almost stands up by itself, I move the fabric while I cut, not the scissors!

#8. I spread a beach towel on my lap and cut out my prestarched fabrics while I watch television at night. That way, I can kill two birds with one stone.

 

Here are some elements I cut out with my starched fabric and the Karen Kay Buckley Scissors

Quilting Arts Television Opportunity

I am positively thrilled to announce that I will be a future guest on Quilting Arts Television, hosted by Susan Brubaker Knapp. 
I will fly to Cleveland, Ohio in September and I will tape two or three episodes to be aired sometime throughout series 2100 in 2018.

The episodes will focus on: Quick Little Landscape Quilts, featuring how I build a design in a matted and framed format,
Tips for Creating a Successful Landscape Quilt (focusing on how to select fabrics, building perspective with value and scale, etc) and Beautifully Embellished Landscape Quilts (How I add various mediums of embellishments to quilts to add texture and dimension.) 

 
 Until next time, happy quilting!
Joyce
 

Applying a large binding to a quilt

Normally, I apply a 2 1/2 inch binding to my quilts but I wanted a larger binding on my goat quilt. So, I cut a three inch binding and realizing it wouldn't be "full" I cut a one inch strip of Hobbs Thermore batting to fill it with. However, this necessitated me applying the binding in different way because using the mitering method wouldn't work. So, I applied the top first, then the bottom making the binding even with the edges of the quilt. Next, I applied the side bindings and used extra length so I could fold it over so the edges were contained. 

 

 

After several days of trying to quilt the sky in my Girly Girl Goat I finally got it right. For those of you who think "Professional quilt artists" never screw up, I'm here to tell you - WE DO.....Or, at least I Do! 

I was stitching along, thinking everything was hunky dory, only to discover the back of my quilt looked  a mess. Everything was fine at first and then it all went to hell! So, I started down the list of things that I recommend to my students:

1.  I pulled out all the quilting stitches which is a pain in the you know what!
2. I cleaned out my bobbin casing area, getting rid of all the lint and threads, etc.
3. I oiled my machine
4. I adjusted the top tension on my machine
5. I adjusted the bottom tension on my machine
6. I put in a fresh needle
7. I used a heavier weight thread in the bobbin
8.  I adjusted the top tension again
9.  I adjusted the bottom tension again
10.  I tested on a like sample and everything looked fine but it was just an illusion!

NOTHING WORKED

1.  I reversed sewed (I pulled out the quilting stitches again)
2. FINALLY, a light bulb went on! Maybe the type of sewing machine needle I was using was the culprit!
3. I took out the Metafil needle
4. I replaced it with a top-stitch needle and Voila, IT WORKED! 

TIP
It's really difficult to keep your quilting lines horizontal WHEN QUILTING SKIES,  so her's what I do:
Using your ruler, mark chalk lines in two inch intervals. In this case, I used a white chalk marker because it blends in with my sky fabric. If you just eyeball it, it's easy to get off track!

Now, I'm off to continue rewriting my quilting genre novel and finishing up the quilting on my girly goat!

Girly Goat, etc.

As you can see, my Girly Goat quilt is coming along but alas, still not done. I've quilted the bottom in swirls and will be moving on to the sky in a day or two. I've been working steadily with my new Web Master, Holly Knott to redo my web site. My son, Shawn, spent an entire day with me rephotographing old quilts and photographing new quilts using his amazing camera. The high resolution photographs will be clear and sharp. I've also written new text for my site and we are reorganizing pretty much the whole site. It's been hard work, but will be well worth the effort.

In the meantime, my focus has been primarily on rewriting my quilting genre novel with a new plot or focus. It's been going well and I think the final result will be one quilters enjoy. I've been a bit of a recluse lately, as a result but that's O.K. We've had such cold weather here I haven't really wanted to go out much anyway. Today, we had snow on the roofs and grass again but now it's melted. Our high in Kent, WA, will be a cool 42 degrees!

That's it for today. Happy quilting to each of you.
Until next time,
Joyce