Magnificent Menace

Magnificent Menace
accepted for special exhibit "Beneath the Surface"

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Teaching the next generation to quilt




When my grandson, Garrett, was in Kindergarten, he made a quilt for his school's Science, Arts and Crafts Fair. This year, my granddaughter, Peyton, made her first quilt for the same event. She is only in Pre-Kindergarten and is still 4. Both times, the children had to do more than half the work on their quilts. I quilted each quilt and put the binding on. Garrett cut out his own pieces; I cut Peyton's with a rotary cutter.

I helped Garrett's Kindergarten class make a quilt for their teacher, Mrs. Kupper. I also helped Garrett's second grade class make a quilt for their classroom. This year I am helping the Pre-Kindergarten class each make a quilt for their moms for Mother's Day.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

I was very excited yesterday to open my email and find my quilt, Magnificent Menace, had been accepted to be shown in a special exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, CA. I wasn't expecting to hear anything until April 1, when results were expected to be announced.
This quilt was another one of my procrastinations, although I did have a lot of excuses this time. I had trouble getting the fabric I wanted to use. Then when I wanted to paint the background, it was either raining or windy. I finally moved the shower curtain rod to the center of the bathtub, and painted it there. Good thing we have another bathroom!
I wanted to use some Lumiere Pearl paint in turquoise to add sparkle to the sea, but I misplaced my bottle. So, instead of going out in the rain, I mixed some turquoise Plaid Acrylic Fabric paint with some purple Lumiere (which I did find) until I had nice shades of blue, with the help of several shades of Tsukineko inks. By the way, I found the turquoise Lumiere on my sewing table right after I completely finished the background.
More about the process of creating this quilt in another blog.