It Followed Me Home...

If you looked at the picture of the class I taught at MQX last week, you probably noticed these sewing machines. MQX provided new sewing machines for all classes which were provided by vendors. There were twenty of these Elna Excellence 680's in my classroom.

Elna's rep, Russ, called me two hours before the class started, asking me how to set up the machines. Many of the classes were about machine quilting. "My class is all patchwork, we need a quarter inch foot." He asked about the color of thread the students would need. "It doesn't matter," I told him.

"Oh that'll be easy."

He was there when I got to my classroom, and he stuck around for the whole class answering any questions the students had, but I don't remember anybody asking anything.

Later (as part of an agreement between MQX and the vendors), Russ told the class about the Elnas. He felt they were the best of Elna's line, talked about some of the features and said they were for sale for [he gave a number] 48% off. I barely paid attention.

But later that night, after having had dinner and read a bit, I was talking to Julie about the class and the show. I don't really know where it came from, but I said to her. "I think I'm going to buy one of those sewing machines." Which was really weird, because I didn't touch one of them. "Why do you say that," Julie asked.

"It was the way they sounded," I replied. "I had twenty students in a smallish conference room. The students were in four rows of five, and they were practically climbing over each other to get around (a large cutting mat and the ironing boards were just outside.) I didn't hear a sewing machine all afternoon. They were so damn quiet. And not one student had a problem."

At 10:40 PM I texted Russ, told him my name and which class I taught, and that I was interested in buying one of the machines in the room. When I woke up the next morning I had a reply from Russ (that he sent at 5:50 AM) telling me which booth to visit.

Well, long story short the damn thing followed me home. (They actually had it packed and ready for me when I got there.) It has every bell and whistle I could ask for, sews like a dream and is incredibly quiet. I haven't had a new sewing machine since 1977 when I got a Kenmore for college graduation. (It ran for 33 years until it died around 2010.)

"You'll be doing your own free motion quilting with this pretty soon," Russ teased as he loaded the box into my car.

Oh no I won't.

"Oh, yes you will."

Oh HELL no I won't.

We both laughed.

I'm old enough to know to never set yourself up for something you can't or won't do, so, I guess we'll find out next year!

       

Birds at MQX Manchester

We had a good time making birds at the MQX show in Manchester yesterday.

 The place was really hopping.

I thought to myself, "wow, I've arrived!"

More on the birds later!

So... How Did You Two Meet?

Janet-Lee and I have a rather unique "how we met" story. In the middle of 2016 I was "kinda sorta" looking for a local long arm quilter because shipping quilts halfway across the country was getting expensive, and since I was starting to make lots of quilts because I wanted to use up some fabric, the shipping costs were increasing.

I'd seen the work of other long arm quilters at various quilt shops and at some of the guilds I spoke to, but I was looking for somebody who wouldn't be intimidated by the unusual quilts that I make. So I was "kinda sorta" looking, but the reality was that I wasn't looking very hard.

In late August of 2016, while on an airplane at 35,000 feet, on my way to visit my new granddaughter for the first time, I was waiting in line for the rest room when I got to talking to one of the stewardesses. Somehow we got to the "I make quilts," and "Yeah, my mother does too," stage of the conversation. The stewardess (Ariana?) told me her mother did long arm quilting, and believe it or not, lived in New Hampshire. I gave her a couple of postcards of my work and didn't think much about it.

Close up of quilting on the Fruit Loops quilt

Two months later, Ariana finally gave her mother the cards, and Janet-Lee wrote to me, and we went back and forth about what I like and what I didn't like in quilting. She wrote that she quilts about 300 quilts a year, and knew what she was doing. We exchanged contact information and there it sat for about five months. During this time I started making the Scrap Slab triangle quilts, and finished up the Digital Pinwheels. I had six quilts that needed quilting, and the stack was growing. I needed a local quilter.

Digital Pinwheels

At some point it dawned on me that Janet-Lee was one of the owners of the MQX shows, and there was an MQX show in Manchester in April 2017, which was like two days away. I bundled up the Fruit Loops and Digital Pinwheels quilts and went to see the show and meet Janet-Lee. We hit it off and I left the quilts with her. I told her to do whatever she felt was best.

The quilting on Treasure Trove.

 Now Janet Lee is no dummy. She knew perfectly well the quilts I had left with her were only "couch quilts" and that I wanted to see how good she was.

Well, she didn't disappoint. Janet-Lee certainly knows what she is doing, and when I went to pick up my quilts, I left her Treasure Trove, Snow Day and the Tumblers quilts.

We searched through her quilt designs and chose patterns for those three quilts, but as I left I told her that if she got to one quilt and she didn't think the design we picked out was right for the quilt, to go ahead and do what she felt was best.
.

detail of the Jewel Box quilt

On at least one quilt, she did just that, and I was thrilled with her choice. I left the Jewel Box quilt and Terrazzo, the black and white Slashed Squares quilt.

Terrazzo Quilt

 So by the time it came to quilt the Colorado Quilt, I had no qualms. Janet-Lee knew just what to do and I let her do it.

detail of the Colorado Quilt

So the next time you meet somebody in an airplane, 35,000 feet above sea level, somewhere over the US, don't underestimate the connection.

You never know.

Not only do I have a great long arm quilter, I have a good friend, and next year I'm going to teach at the MQX show in Manchester.

Who'da thought?

The Weekend

I went to the MQX show in Manchester NH on Saturday. This lion was my favorite of the show. It was part of the Cherrywood Challenge. (You may have to look at this a moment or two for the colored blocks to form part of the lion's face.)

This was another of my favorites. Generally I feel these kinds of representational quilts are a "misapplication of the medium" (as Gerald Roy says), but this one is really beautiful. It hung perfectly flat, which gained points in my book. This won a pink ribbon (second place) in Pictorial Quilting. This was made by Andrea  Brokenshire from Texas.

As soon as I saw this I had to have it. A very bright light with a bendable neck. The thing is so light it weighs next to nothing, and because it's wireless you can use it virtually anywhere. I can already see this is going to help me when I do some hand sewing. It was less than twenty bucks, and you can get it on Amazon for even less than that.

And I had a chat with the MQX founder and I'll be submitting a proposal to teach a class there next year! 

My Saturday

My Mother and I went to the MQX quilt show in Manchester on Saturday.  There were a lot of quilts with lots of details, lots of quilting, lots of sparkles, lots of embroidery...

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It's funny because I supposedly go "over the top" yet my quilts are minimalist compared to these.  There was a lot of beautiful stuff, but only one quilt really "hit" me.

This one. And that THIS ONE hits me is really saying something, because by and large I do not like "picture" quilts. Generally I'm not impressed with an image that has been projected onto a piece of fabric, and then painted; or an image that has bad drawing errors (there were way too many of those yesterday).  This one is pieced, and no attempt has been made to make up for that. This quilt has the emotional impact I'm going for. It has everything it needs and nothing extraneous.

this is the label for the quilt.


I met some lovely people. I handed a business card with my Black and White Crayons quilt on it to one lady. She looked at it admiringly, then pointed to my name. "I know that name. Is that you? You're famous." I thought it was pretty funny. My Mom said, "I told you!"

When I told folks I had TWO quilts accepted into AQS Paducah this year, all were impressed, and one lady asked "Did you win a prize?" I said I was never going to win a prize at an AQS show, as my quilts weren't quilted to within an inch of their lives..." Again my Mother whacked me in the arm. "You never know."

Afterward, my Mom and I went to get some Pho.  Gosh, I love that stuff.

Then we stopped by the new Whole Foods store that just opened. I packed my cart full of fruits, vegies, and a beautiful steak I'll cook on the grill later.

After that, I went to Staples and had one copy of Julie's book, Build-a-barn, spiral bound,

because it is SO much easier to use.

Hey, you gals at QT? Recognize the photo?