Finally Finished

Here I am helping Samantha as she sews on her sashing.

My granddaughter is pointing to her quilt on the bulletin board. Each child picked their own fabrics for their sashing and borders. I'm on the right. The pink and purple in the middle is a thank you note signed by all the children. The quilts filled three bulletin boards.


This is Kate as she ties her quilt.

Tonight was open house at my grandchildren's school in Cypress, CA. My granddaughter is in Preppy K and I have been working with her class of 10 for 9 months. Each child made blocks of the month, and then sewed the sashing on their blocks with my sewing machine. Due to lack of time, I sewed on the borders, then pillowcased the quilts with the batting and backing. Then, each of the children tied their quilts with embroidery floss. They were all on display tonight in the classroom.

I want to thank Desiree Habicht for giving me hints and inspiration for the blocks. Many of these children were still 4 when they started their quilts, and some didn't even know how to color or print their names. As you look at the quilts, it is easy to see how their skills increased throughout the year.

It is so much fun to watch children progress, and to see their confidence grow as they try new things. I hope some of these children grow up to be quilters someday.

Good News!

I will be the featured artist at http://dinnerateightartists.blogspot.com/ on Monday, May 17. Dinner at Eight Artists are curators of the "Beneath the Surface" special exhibit that accepted my quilt "Magnificent Menace."

The other good news is that this exhibit "Beneath the Surface" will be traveling to the International Quilt Festival-Houston after Long Beach.

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.

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.