Mat Inspiration

This optical illusion quilt, designed by Ukrainian quilter Mezhibovskaya Valery Vadimovna, aka lerusisik, has garnered lots of attention, both here and where it currently hangs at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium.

One of the folks intrigued by this quilt entitled "Through The Lens"  is rug hooker Kate Seely from Ontario.  Kate and I enjoyed a conversation on the mechanics of drawing out the design, and she very quickly produced this mat.  Isn't it wonderful?

Her colourful version replaces stark black with a dark green, and uses multi-coloured centres for the blocks.  Believe it or not, the dark green was from a wool kilt which she washed, felted, and then cut into strips.  I don't believe I could ever bring myself to cut up a kilt!!

I was very surprised to get these pictures so soon after she contacted me, but she had an intense five day hooking marathon and went to it.  Kate will eventually add border rows and promises to share pictures of the completed piece.  I think it looks fabulous!
This is not the first time Kate and I have connected over mats and quilts.  A few years back, she wrote for permission to hook my New York Roundabout:

She amassed a palette of wool in similar colours...

..and sketched her design on burlap.

How awesome is this?!

Really love your work, Kate, and so appreciate you sharing pictures.  Can't wait to see your optical illusion all finished!
K8 the Gr8 :)

Betsy's NY Roundabout

This picture was sent in by Betsy Dunphy, who stitched a New York Roundabout in Kaffe Fassett and black/white prints.  What a fabulous palette! I do love the movement in this design, and never tire of seeing how different it looks each time it is sewn.

With talk of a postal strike imminent in Canada, I have been busy figuring out alternative ways to ship merchandise.  Certainly a courier is not cost effective for a pattern, so I have been busy converting some of the more popular ones to digital files so they can be downloaded.  New York Roundabout Again has just been added to Craftsy, so if you have been waiting to download this pattern you can find it here. (you do not have to join Craftsy, you can log in with your Facebook info).
Thanks, Betsy for sending along the picture of your beautiful work!

Eye Candy For Quilters

Awhile back, pattern tester Darlene Gerber worked on my Roundabout Again pattern before it went to print.  She finished the top in no time, but didn't get around to the quilting.  She sent it out to award winning quilter Valerie Smith, aka The Pumpkin Patch Quilter.  You've got to visit Valerie's site to see this piece - her quilting is jaw-dropping phenomenal.  The curved cross-hatching is so effective in the quarter circles, and those feathers in the middle - oh my!

Click the Quilt Gallery tab at the top of Valerie's page to see more. Wow! Please be sure to leave Valerie a comment so she knows you have visited.  I know you will enjoy seeing her beautiful work - I sure did!

New York Beauty Exhibit

If you are around Amherst, N.S. this week, please stop in and say hello.  I will be at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium each day from 1-4 (the store hours are longer, these are the times I will be present.)

RA Photos

What a pleasure to receive an email such as this from Jeannine Damstetter of MA.

Thought I'd send you some pictures of my New York Roundabout Again finally finished...  It was a dream to put together with your instructions and pattern.

 I took a few online classes with Angela Walters and the quilting brought it all together.  Thanks again for your great patterns.

Jeannine's colours are spectacular, especially those pale bluish centres peeking out on the sides. They add great dimension.  I hope you click on the photos to see a close up of her gorgeous quilting on those feathered wreaths. Jeannine, I also took a class from Angela Walters and know that she is great inspiration.  Thank you so much for sending this along.

"Just Go For It!"

Yesterday in my inbox I received an email with a couple of pictures attached.  I recognised the display name  - Carol -as belonging to a friendly customer from North Yorkshire, UK.  We had had several emails back and forth and I knew she was intending to enter a guild challenge with the quilt she made from one of the purchased patterns.  I was prepared to see a pretty version of Roundabout Again in blue and white...and I did. 

What I was not prepared for was the second picture, and the words she wrote.  Read on, and prepare to be amazed: (I have Carol's permission to share!)

Hi Karen:

A while back I bought the New York Roundabout Again pattern from you. My intention being to make it using blue and white fabrics. I could then enter it in our quilt groups bi-annual show in the”Blue and White Challenge section”.

Well the pattern was a challenge for me. With your help (you sent me details of fabric requirements and placements of light and dark in the pattern) I picked my fabrics.

I have never completed any curved piecing before but it went like a dream with the minimum of un – picking necessary. Paper piecing makes it so easy to get good results.

The quilting was my next obstacle. I stitched in the ditch around the blocks and then I wanted to free motion it all but had never tried the technique. Well I made up some quilt sandwiches and started practising. I wanted feathers around the edge so that is where I started . I soon became bored practising and decided to “just go for it” I used some coins as templates to draw round to  give me the curves needed on the feathers.

This worked really well and I carried on filling the shapes with FMQ. I even began to enjoy doing it, and am so pleased with the end result, although there is a lot of room for improvement.

The good news though is I won the Blue and White Challenge at our quilt show.

Thank you for a wonderful pattern.  Carol

Carol's first attempt at free motion quilting, done on her first curved piecing project and she came through like a seasoned veteran - wow! For those struggling with free motion quilting, Carol's words are great advice:  just go for it.  Our applause to you Carol for a job well done;  can't wait to see your stitching in a year's time!  

The pattern for Roundabout Again is available here

Marjorie's New York Roundabout Again

Here's a lovely finished NY Roundabout Again from "Shepody's Quilter" Marjorie in New Brunswick.  She and two pals, Connie and Marla, each made their own version.  You can see more pictures on Marjorie's blog, which is aptly named Marjorie's Busy Corner;  you will see she keeps her machine up and running at all times!

Thanks for sharing Marjorie, and for the beautiful work you did.  The pattern for NY Roundabout Again is available on the checkout page of my website.

Roundabout Back Home

Returning from an out of town trip, I found my Roundabout Again quilt had arrived back from Paducah. Tucked neatly inside the pages of the show book, was this wonderful label which I will proudly stitch to the back of my quilt.

What a fabulous keepsake;  thank you AQS for dotting the i's and crossing the t's.  

Now it's time to do laundry and pack up for Saulnierville! 

Cleverly Roundabout

Way back in October 2011, Kate Seely from Ontario, Canada contacted me to ask permission to translate one of my quilt designs into a hooked mat.   This is not such an unusual venture, as our grandmothers often traced traditional squares and triangles into geometric patterns onto burlap to hook with strips of wool. Kate however was proposing to do a more modern design, one with curves and spikes:  New York Roundabout.

Here's her traced design.  I bet that was no small thing Kate, to draw those curves smoothly.  You did an awesome job.

A couple of months later, she sent us an update on her progress.

What an unexpected surprise to open my mail yesterday and find pictures of her completed rug.  Wow!  I am really taken with the way she filled in the sides, the space between the arcs.  I will remember that for a future quilt.  It gives a great shape to the finished piece.

Kate writes: "It’s going on the floor in front of the fireplace. It’s 44” from tip to tip and 25.5” across – just the right size."

Look at her label - how sweet is this?!

Take a well-deserved bow, Kate.  If you ever tire of it, I'll send you my address;  we have hardwood floors and love hand hooked mats!  Honestly though...I think you need to make the quilt to match...
Please leave a comment and a bit of applause for Kate, she has worked cleverly, creatively and very diligently on this masterpiece.

Paducah 2013 Winners

The list is up!  You can read the names of the winners here. Congratulations to all, especially Renae Haddadin and Karen Kay Buckley who received Best Of Show.  Even though Roundabout Again is not on the list, I am still thoroughly thrilled it gets to hang out with all these awesome quilts, and hope that folks visiting the show will enjoy seeing it.  Lynn and Gaile:  I am looking forward to your pictures!

The Mailman Came...

...and left this big envelope:

Could it be...?!?

It was like opening my acceptance letter from university a million years ago.  I held my breath, and then I saw that magic word:  CONTESTANT!!

 My Roundabout Again has been juried into the 2013 AQS Paducah Show in April!!!

Ecstatic is not a large enough word to describe how I am feeling. Apologies to those friends who got awakened with a giddy phone call (well, you should have been up any way by then!) or received one from my almost-dead-constantly-beeping cell phone...(and I can't imagine what my husband's secretary thought was happening!)

You can see pictures of the full quilt here.  The show runs April 24-27 in Paducah, Kentucky.  I am off to charge my phone, I think I've got a few more calls to make *-)
Edit:  You can see the entire list of semi-finalists here

Alisa's Roundabout Again

I love when folks send pictures of their work, especially when the project turns out this gorgeous!  Alisa Aymar attended the Roundabout Again workshop at Fibre Arts Festival in October and made this:

Lovely! Please leave a comment for Alisa below.  If you would like to make your own, the pattern for Roundabout Again #112 is available here.

How To Sew A NYB Block

So often I hear folks say that they would never be able to sew a curved seam such as in a New York Beauty block, and are too intimidated by the thought to even try.  In reality, these blocks are not a bit difficult as long as you can sew a good, consistent 1/4" seam - as in straight patchwork.  I took some pictures of the process for Marg  a couple of weeks ago and thought that I would retake them and tidy them up a bit for posting here when time allowed.  (ha!) Since there are no more hours in the day in 2013 than there were in 2012, I have decided to post these and ask you to forgive the crooked shots.  

The block below is the same one used in Roundabout Again.  I have my regular 1/4" piecing foot on my sewing machine.  In the picture below, the space inside the green tape measures 9-1/2”, the unfinished size of the block.  You can see that the pieced foundation arch reaches to the 8” mark on the mat.  Since this arch is foundation pieced, you know that it is the exact size it should be;  use it as a guide to line up  the edges of subsequent block sections.  After you have stitched the spikes and carefully removed the foundation paper, stay stitch 1/8” from both curved edges.  No doubt you remember stay-stitching from Home Economics class;  it will not show in your finished work but it helps keep the curved edge smooth in the sewn seam.  Don't fuss over sewing a perfectly straight line, just make sure it is within the 1/4" seam allowance.

Mark the centre point on the bottom edge of the spikes, and mark the centre point of the quarter centre circle.  (I fold it in half and either put in a pin or make a mark with the iron)

Match these centre points and pin.

Place a pin at each end.

Now...If you look closely along the right hand side of the block, you can see where the centre quarter circle is pulling in.  This is usually where the problem lies in having your block come out wonky..

To keep your block true along the edges, pin down both sides at the end of the piece you are adding.  I flipped the patchwork over in the picture below so you can see that I am pinning down along the edge of the pieced arch unit.  You will not be sewing along this edge, the pin just keeps the fabric from pulling in as you stitch along the top curved edge.  You will remove the side pins as soon as your curved seam is sewn.  Make sure you pin both edges.

When it is pinned, it will look like this (below).   The blue headed pins are those holding the fabric to the edge;  again you are not sewing that edge, just the top curved edge where the red-headed pins are.

When I am ready to sew, I flip the piece over to the other side.  Even though we were told in Home Ec class to put the fullest side on the bottom so the feed dogs could ease it in, flipping it over to sew has 2 advantages:  the fullness is now on the top, so you can see if you are stitching any tucks or pleats under your needle, and also you can see the seam where the spike ends, so you know that you should not be stitching past that area for your perfect points.

I pressed the seam towards the centre circle, but would alternate the direction I pressed in the adjoining block  You can see how straight the edges are – without trimming.

I add the outside arch in the same manner – pinning first at the end of the stitching line, and then along the side of the piece I am adding. (see the white pin along the right bottom side of the red fabric?  That holds the edge of the arch true and straight while you stitch along the top curved edge.  

If you have “needle down” on your machine, it’s nice to enable that function;  stitch up to the pins and remove them as you get to them.  Needle down helps keep the fabric from shifting.  Again notice that I am stitching with the fullest piece on top.

I press this band away from the spikes as there is less bulk.  Despite the rather crooked picture, you can see that the edges of this block have stayed nice and straight and it has come out to exactly 9-1/2”.  (I hate trimming!) For me, the trick is all in that side pin.  For the blocks which call for the background section, I add it exactly the same way.

Now...was that so hard?! :)

Roundabout Again...and Again!

Here's another top from the workshop finished up and ready to quilt!  This New York Roundabout Again was made by Colleen Gander who travelled with her friend Delia from Ontario to attend my workshop at Fibre Arts Festival.  Colleen hadn't planned to send a photo until she had this beauty all quilted, but I coerced her into sharing now. (And no mistake, Colleen - we will want to see it again when it's quilted!) She shot it early this morning and the colours are a bit skewed.

I took some of the yellow out in Photoshop, but it still isn't quite right.  Colleen used a delicate red and white toile for the centres.

Thanks, Colleen;  I never met a red quilt I didn't love and this one is no exception.  Looking forward to seeing it quilted!
Kindly leave a note for Colleen on her beautiful work by clicking the word "comments" below.  You do not need any sort of account to comment, simply click "anonymous" at the bottom of the option menu.

First Finish - And It's A Beauty!

No surprise, it's Joan, and look at this - she's even got it all quilted and bound.  (Look at those feathers! )

Skip on over to Joan's blog Ouvrages d'une Acadienne to see a picture of the entire quilt.  It's BEAUTIFUL, Joan!

First Finish?

It's sort of, kind of, the first finish from the workshop...(the qualifiers are because it isn't really the whole quilt and the maker wasn't really in the class!)  However, it is the New York Beauty block from Roundabout Again, and Beth did pop into the class for a few minutes to pick up the pattern and see what was going on.  That counts.

Beth Munroe is a beginner quilter but has been a sewist for a good many years. (I almost termed her a "sewer" but that term written always makes me chuckle as I think of underground waste pipes...I don't want to call anyone a seew-er) Beth watched a quick paper-piecing tutorial at Fibre Festival Headquarters last week by Phyllis Cameron and decided she was ready to tackle a block.  Built-in decorative machine stitches were used to quilt the block.  Beth followed the directions in the pattern to make continuous bias binding which transformed her block into a potholder.  Now Beth is feeling confident and ready to start the quilt!