I’m back to making postcards for EBHQ to sell at the next Voices in Cloth quilt show. This one has Laurel Burch cats, and a sun made by machine stitching. Instead of zigzagging around the appliqué as I usually do, I just did a line of straight machine stitching on the outside edge of each piece.
There are a lot of interesting fabrics in these pot holders. Double click on this image to see all the great details.
My younger daughter just left for her freshman year of college and her first apartment! I offered to make her something, and she asked for pot holders. (I made her a quilt for her bed several years ago). She requested black and white fabric with one additional color on each. Above are the finished pot holders, and below are in progress photos.
The skeleton fabric is on the back. My daughter loves drawing skeletons, so that’s why I used this fabric. Most of the fabric on the front of the pot holders was also chosen because it’s something she likes: shoes, Dr Seuss, chickens, dragons, recipes, tea, etc.
Traveler’s Mizrach 2013
Sacred Threads Quilt Show opened July 7 in Herndon Virginia, near Washington DC. I will be visiting my quilt, Traveler’s Mizrach there soon! Click here for more info SacredThreads. The show will be up until July 23. Sacred Threads is a show of quilts with spiritual or religious subject matter.
This is from the Sacred Threads website:
‘The show does not emphasize any particular religion or theology but conveys the spirituality, healing and inspirational messages that transcend all people.
For the exhibit, quilts are divided into categories based on theme. These are Expressions of Joy, Spirituality, Inspiration, Grief, Healing and Peace/Brotherhood. The artwork themes provide thought-provoking insights, encouragement, inspiration and healing responses to grief and human hardships. It has attracted a wide array of visitors and has proved appropriate for all ages from young teens to seniors. The exhibit is a positive influence on the human spirit, giving joy as well as addressing concerns of the soul and mind.’
I honestly don’t remember which category I said my quilt fit into.
Here is the hamsa I’m working on. I wanted to see how small I could cut the fabric with an Xacto knife. I think this is the smallest I can cut. It was rather frustrating to work on. However it looks just like some of my paper-cuts out of paper. When finished it will be 12″ X 12″. I plan to sew a straight stitch along every edge. Luckily I have another week to do it as my 12 x 12 group is meeting a week later than usual because of July 4th.
I’m teaching my class Exploring the Hamsa again on July 23 in Berkeley from 10 AM – 1 PM. It will be at the new quilting studio, Hello Stitch. Here is a link to get you to the sign up page https://www.hellostitchstudio.com/product-page/exploring-the-hamsa. Here is what I wrote about the class there:
A hamsa is a stylized hand for protection against the “evil eye,” frequently worn as jewelry. Found throughout the Middle East, hamsas are traditionally made by both Jews and Muslims, but predate both religions. Come learn about the folklore of hamsas, as we make them out of paper or fabric. The basics of paper-cutting, a traditional Jewish folk art, will also be taught. The class will also cover techniques to make intricate fabric appliqués with that can be ironed onto a backing.
No artistic talent or sewing is required to make stunning hamsa designs. The finished paper-cut hamsa can be framed to hang on the wall and a fabric hamsa can be a wall hanging or become part of a quilt.
This class is open to adults and children age 10 and up may participate as long as they are accompanied by an adult who is also in the class. Students will be working with exacto knives in the class.
Hello Stitch Studio
1708 University Ave.
Berkeley , CA 94703
510-982-6549
Please sign up! It will be a lot of fun, with useful information.
It’s another friend’s birthday. She likes to go bird watching. I looked through two boxes of fabric, looking for birds. This is what I found. I know that somewhere else I have Japanese crane fabric, but it wasn’t in these boxes. Here is the postcard I made for her.
I remember buying the owl fabric because my now 23 year old daughter had a thing about owls when she was little. There was a sculpture of one in a tree near her grandparents’ apartment to scare away other birds. Whenever we visited we had to take a little walk ” to see the owl.” However I didn’t buy this fabric when she was little, because I wasn’t quilting then. I bought it when I was in the midst of making the quilt she took with her when she left for her first year of college. Since only a few pieces of owl fabric made it into her quilt, there’s lots left for other projects.
Today I’m working on a 12 x 12 version of the quilt I made yesterday. I’m doing this so that I can work out how to quilt it on the smaller one. Also, this way I’ll have something to show tomorrow when my 12 x 12 group meets. Since I forgot to take photos of my process yesterday, I’m doing it now.
I just spent a weekend retreat with Joey Weisenberg, who teaches nigunim (songs without words), sometimes singing the same one for up to an hour. Its kind of like meditating only more fun. Something he said really struck me. The Hebrew word sulam means both ladder and a musical scale. I came home and started this quilt. The ladder in my quilt is made from fabric that looks like sheet music. I think l’m going to call this quilt Axis Mundi, which is the connection between heaven and earth. My next step on it is to make some land at the bottom from two different purple fabrics.
I made this with more of the extra black and white strips. I’m going to cut a hole in the center- a hole in the shape of my favorite eight pointed star. Then it will become an amulet, once I figure out what to write in the center.
A friend of mine, whom I’ve known since childhood just had a birthday. I gave her a quilted postcard with several Laurel Burch cats on it. I’ve been making a lot of postcards lately for EBHQ to sell at the the 2018 Voices in Cloth quilt show. I used fusible web to glue the cats to the background, and then zigzag stitched around each with monofilament.
