X and O: My Magnificent Mini

The first challenge for the Island Batik 2019 Ambassadors is to make a miniature quilt and post sometime during February.  The guidelines were pretty broad:

• Must be 24” x 24” or smaller
• Any fabrics except “surprise” fabrics
• Any technique

February is always a red-and-white month for my sewing, so I cast my thoughts to something Valentine-heart-love related. I hit upon one of my previous designs, "X and O", and decided to remake it on a smaller scale. This is the original, which uses an 8" New York Beauty block in a diagonal setting.

The pattern is in my book, Quilting Beauties, and since it has the templates and foundations on a CD, it's really easy to resize the blocks in the printer menu.

I resized my blocks to finish at 4", and went looking through my red scraps of Island Batik fabrics.  I had a little chuckle when I discovered that the hank of rayon in this year's box was tied in red and was just the right size for my spikes!  Waste not, want not...

See?

For the background fabric, I used a piece of the Check It Out from my December project.  I love the subtle colour change in this print, and knew it would not overpower my little quilt.  For the light print I chose a piece called "Almond", from the Neutrals line. It has a faint marl of purplish-pink running through it. Underneath the spikes, is a pure white batik so that the points will show nicely.

 The piecing was pretty straight forward and the centres for the side blocks were easily sewn in.

For the centre, however, I decided to eliminate the seams and appliqué a complete circle on top of the spikes. To do this, I put my pins in straight down through the fabric, and then gently bend them back and slide them in horizontally. This way the circle stays in place as each pin goes in.

I chose ultra-fine Aurifil 80 weight cotton to machine blind stitch the circle in place, switching to a size 10 Microtex needle. It disappeared right into the fabric.

Looks like we are ready to quilt! I always love comparing the piece to the sketch drawn in EQ8 to see how close I came.  Not bad!

The batting used is Hobbs Tuscany silk, which is one I use a lot, and always in a miniature.  It allows the quilting to show, but without adding bulk which a heavier batt would do. It produces a beautiful drape in the finished quilt.

The thread chosen to quilt this miniature is the same Aurifil 80 weight used for the appliqué. The space for quilting is pretty small, so a fine thread is perfect.  I kept regular 50 weight thread in the bobbin, and switched my needle out to a size 10/70 Topstitch needle.  The larger eye of the needle prevents drag on the thread when doing free-motion.  

 I didn't do a whole lot of quilting, as I didn't want to overpower the design of the patchwork.  There are curves in the white triangles under the spikes, a little lick of flame in each spike, and tiny fleur de lis flanking the centre New York Beauty blocks. The background has some echo quilting, and a heart added in each setting trianle. 

Here's the back, which is the same Almond used for the front, and 50 weight Aurifil in the bobbin.

My  miniature X and O finished at 16" across.  Thank you to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, and Aurifil thread for the products used. You can find the pattern for X and O in Quilting Beauties. 

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!

Festival Prep

There's lots of excitement here this morning, as orders have started to arrive for Fibre Arts Festival. W hat fun to open the boxes!

Included is a new shipment of my book, Quilting Beauties.  I love the line, "Live, breathe, quilt", that AQS has on the box. Words to live by :)

 Polly was particularly taken with the Aurifil box.

Perhaps an Italian cat helped pack it...? 

Inside were lots of goodies, including a few new items - cases, and thread collections. 

The thread cones have turned out to be a popular item, both with stand-up and sit-down quilters. These large spools hold 6,452 yards (5900 m) of 50 weight and offer great saving if you use a lot of thread.  They are in stock now in basic colours.

 There is also a "Basics" collection of 12, 50 weight 1300 m spools in a reusable case.

The 12 weight cotton has been replenished and several new colours added, including light blue and a really pretty rose.  Polly and I will be playing with thread all day!

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!

QB

A full year after its release, it's heart-warming to see that Quilting Beauties is still going strong!  This greeted me yesterday when I logged onto the website of the Canadian distributor for the book.

It's been awesome to read reviews like this:
You know times are changing when a new book includes a CD-ROM of printable full-sized templates and foundations for making your sewing easier! Besides giving instructions for making nine quilts, several pages are devoted to explaining how to hang unusual-shaped quilts. Great photos help with that understanding. "Quilting Beauties" is a book for the confident beginner who wants to focus on foundation paper-piecing, and perhaps discover for the first time how quilters get those precise spiky points!

Receiving photos from readers of the finished quilts has been such fun. This is "Thistles In The Heather" by Kate Chamberlain:

This stunner is by Joanne Colleaux - "Ostentation":

Several versions have been entered into major quilt shows, like Florentine, by Marilyn Eparvier.

...and jazzed up with embroidery, as in this one by Diane Zdep.

A big thank you for your continued support.  If you have made a quilt from Quilting Beauties, please send along a picture.  You can purchase an autographed copy of the book from my website.

X and O by Diane

It was barely a week ago I showed you Diane Zdep's beautiful version of Florentine, and now she has finished up another from my Quilting Beauties book.  This time she chose "X and O". If you click the last link, you will see it doesn't much resemble my original.

I love all of Diane's work, but this is totally my favourite - blue/green with a touch of purple, and featuring a kitty - well, it doesn't get any better than that!  Diane's appliquéd kitty is from Lunch Box Quilts.I love those little paw prints!(They look like the ones Maddie and Polly add to the front of the book when they sign.)  Thank you for sharing this Diane - x's and o's to you! :)

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!

Judy's Ostentation

More loveliness to share! This is Judy Vargas' interpretation of Ostentation. Judy has added a very pretty colour pattern around the outer ring - I especially like the gold tips at the top of each of the star points.

Judy writes,  "As you can see I modified the pattern...and am pleased with the outcome.  It's going to be donated to Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach so they can auction it off."  What a generous way to share your talents, Judy;  congrats on this beautiful piece of work.
Ostentation appears on the cover of Quilting Beauties.

Star Of Beauty

Yesterday, the November issue of AQ Magazine arrived, and in it is my New York Star Of Beauty. You can see why it is so named, as the blocks meeting in the centre form a secondary star design.

Amazingly, this quilt only uses one block, but drawn in different orientations on a 60 degree grid. It is quilted with radiating lines in a gold metallic thread.  Alternate rays are stippled to allow the neighbouring one to pop up.  I just love the blue centres for the New York Beauty blocks.

For fun, Hubby and I took the quilt to be photographed at the Gemini Observatory at Mount Allison University.

In person, it appears that the outer row of NY Beauty blocks spins around the centre.

Except for the blue, the fabric is from a gorgeous Hoffman collection called Narumi. (The blue is actually a Fairy Frost).

Narumi contained a stunning border print, which I used as the background for under the spikes and also in its entirety for the backing.

Here's the cover of the magazine;  locally, it is available at Chapters and Superstore.  You can also purchase it directly from AQS here.

If you'd like to see the quilt in person, I will have it with me Saturday at the Zonta Bazaar.