Ribbon Winner

Marilyn Eparvier continues to wow judges with her version of "Florentine".  First, it was juried as a semi-finalist at the prestigious AQS show, and now she has won a coveted first place blue ribbon at the West Michigan Quilt Guild 2016 show.  With over 500 members in this guild, it had lots of competition. 

The judges were very impressed with Marilyn's work.

Thank you Marilyn for sharing your good news.  It's a proud moment for sure when that blue ribbon gets pinned on your quilt!

AQS Quilt Week - Grand Rapids

AQS Quilt Week at Grand Rapids, MI, is now a sweet memory for Marilyn Eparvier, who was honoured to see her Florentine hang at the show. (You can see the complete list of semi-finalists here.) I just love how her quilt looks against the black curtains - it almost glows!

And speaking of glowing...here's a shot of Marilyn with her quilt - tired, but happy, after her long week of volunteering.

Sincerest congratulations, Marilyn!

Diane's "Florentine"

Diane Zdep of Alberta has done it again, this time embellishing "Florentine" from my book Quilting Beauties.  If you enlarge the picture, you will see she has added embroidered motifs to the centres of the New York Beauty blocks.  Very, very pretty - and Diane's quilting adds great texture to the piece.

You can see Diane's embroidered version of Oriental Beauty and her stunning Christmas Beauty. at these links. Thank you for sharing, Diane.  Can't wait to see what's next!

Florentine by Marilyn

Sometime an email can make you feel so good inside.  Such is the case with this one, from Marilyn Eparvier, who wrote asking permission to enter her version of "Florentine" in national exhibits. (Click that link to see my original). Her quilt is beautifully done;  I am thrilled for her to show it off.

Marilyn writes, "I was so impressed with everything about your quilt that I even made similar fabric choices, something I never normally do. Your book "Quilting Beauties"  from AQS is excellent, chock full of inspiration and helpful information...When the quilt was on my design wall waiting to be bound, my daughter took one look at it & said, "That's the one I want!  That one is perfect."  Everyone who has seen it is so impressed with the innovative way the traditional New York Beauty pattern is incorporated into the total design with such beautiful results...This quilt was so enjoyable to make; even the quilting with gold metallic thread went very well and was fun.  I am looking forward to your next book."  You can see Marilyn's exquisite quilting below.  The fabric by the way, is a gorgeous collection from Hoffman Fabrics.

Thank you, Marilyn, for your very kind words, and for doing such a stellar job on your quilt.  I look forward to seeing some big ribbons on your beauty in the upcoming year!

Quilting Beauties: Florentine

Last summer, I showed you some miniature blocks I was piecing in silk, but I never showed you the completed quilt.

Here's the finished quilt: (colours are weird in artificial light, especially so in silk - I need to shoot it outside!)

It's a miniature version of Florentine, from the book Quilting Beauties.One of the nice things about having the templates available on a CD is that, with a little experimentation, you can vary the size according to the scale you choose. This miniature finishes to 14".  It was a real challenge to bind in that slippery silk but all in all I don't think it turned out too badly.  More importantly, it was a lot of fun and I learned things I will apply to future silk projects.

Here's the full sized original of Florentine (34" x 39") pieced in a gorgeous gold-laced collection generously supplied by Hoffman Fabrics. I can't recall ever loving fabrics as much as these...I could sew with them forever. There was no solid black in this collection, so I added a VERY black Hoffman batik - "raven" it's called. Gorgeous.

Florentine was actually one of the quilts chosen for the book cover. I love the way the New York Beauty blocks fit together, with a gaggle of Flying Geese circling the outer edge. While in progress, you can see I briefly considered adding a black circle to draw your eye to the centre of the patchwork...but in the end, decided to leave it off.  That may be something you choose to add. You'll notice the miniature version above has a silk-covered button in the centre.

The squiggle quilting adds just the right flair.

Here you see my assistant adjusting the quilt so it hangs perfectly straight. Maddie was such a big help with the photos.

If you zoom in, you may be able to see the feather quilting which encircles the outer border of geese.

You can order your copy of Quilting Beauties here.  Purchases made through my website are signed, and accompanied by a cute little lapel pin.

Send in the Clones

I could use a few extra hands!  I am working like crazy to finish up a few new pieces to hang in my World of Beauty exhibit October 14-18 at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.  I have four more teeny, tiny blocks to piece before this miniature can be assembled:

I scrolled back through my blog posts and see I started these in June...when I thought I had all kinds of time to finish.  The blocks are very small (these fan sections are 2" x 3") and pieced in silk.  It isn't patchwork which can be hurried as the silk is very unforgiving.  There is no ripping out as it leaves holes so it's important to work carefully.

Because I've had a successful morning it feels my patience needs to be rewarded. I am off to Mrs. Pugsley's to check out an Oriental collection I've had my eye on. :)

My sewing has been progressing at a very slow pace this summer...even though summer itself is moving along at breakneck speed.  I am still poking away at the little silk New York Beauty blocks. Despite the fact the blocks are only about 2" wide where they narrow, they take much longer to piece than a "normal" sized block...especially worked in silk.  This one is just for me though, so no deadline other than I would love to have it finished in time for my show at Fibre Arts Festival.

I also succumbed and bought some of the Hoffman "Narumi" which I have been ogling at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.  

How best to use the border print puzzled me for a bit but I like how it is working up into the spaces between the gold spikes.  There are three different gold prints being used for those.

The colour for the centres is still undecided.  My plan is to piece the blocks but not join them, then take them to the quilt shop to audition different fabrics for that centre spot.  Sounds like fun, wouldn't you say? :)