Fall Sewing

Fall sewing is on the menu. My goal is to finish at least one seasonal quilt in time to enjoy for the season. This meadowland quilt using cider fabric has been waiting for a couple of years. Today I’ll sew the blocks together. I love the pattern but not all the flying geese. I just can’t get those right unless I use the blockloc method which I didn’t use for this one. Once it’s all quilted and being used I won’t notice the deformed geese. I hope.

I’m making table runners with the leftover scraps. One will be for my mother in law and one for myself. I think this fabric line is beautiful. Basic Grey is coming out with a complimentary line, Nutmeg(?), soon. I will have to indulge myself.

This quilt has been lingering because it has a flying geese border…that I don’t want to do. See a theme? I resolved to just put in an orange border but it really would look better with some geese. So it hangs on the design wall…mocking me.

We foster puppies for our local animal shelter. Today I have to take Walter (tan) and Tobias (white) for transport to New Jersey. Both are already adopted which makes my heart happy. They are absolutely perfect little guys. We love them and will miss them. ❤️

It’s a beautiful fall day in central Texas. We’ve had rain after a long drought. Nature is rebounding.

Texas Quilt Museum Summer 2022

I’m fortunate to live close to the Texas Quilt Museum. This exhibit was winners of last year’s International Quilt Festival and special exhibits by Ricky Tims and Timna Tarr. 

I’ve been watching this artist emerge in social media. She is @cottonandbourbon on IG. This piece is striking.

 

I was drawn to this quilt because it reminded me of bluebonnets. Some day I will want to add bluebonnets to a quilt. Her technique is meticulous.

This quilt was beautiful and looked like it was fun to make. I felt like I could actually do some of these techniques. The quilting was very creative. It included several specialty stitches with fancy thread. The artist is from Sisters, Oregon.

The Ricky Tims exhibit was inspiring. The hand dyed fabrics add such depth to his quilts. I’ve never seen his quilts up close. I noted that several traditional elements such as flying geese are used but with a touch of improv which creates more movement and looks like much more fun to make. More forgiving to the quilter.

The grouping of colors in this one adds such depth and movement. I like the simplicity of the design but the depth and detail of the color. It would have far less interest without the improv color blocks.

The flying geese in this quilt are not uniform which makes it so much more interesting. So much movement.

The Timna Tarr exhibit was so much fun. Of course, I loved the chickens. Her technique is ingenious and very effective. She has a book coming out in October. I want to get it and take a Zoom class with her.

What a joy to visit this museum.

I have a new sewing machine. I didn’t need one. I have two Berninas- 4?? quilters edition which I bought about 15 years ago because I thought my Bernina 1080 was broken. It wasn’t. Both run beautifully but I was so tired of the need for a leader and ender to keep it threaded. After I sewed on a fancy machine in Sisters, I really wanted the thread cutting feature. I got some “mailbox money” and decided to splurge. I’m SO glad I did. I absolutely LOVE this machine.

I’m making a Meadowland quilt using cider fabric. I enjoy the big blocks but I do not enjoy the flying geese. I’m just not good at them. It seems like I do the same steps but sometimes they are beautiful and sometimes they are deformed. 

I’ll post the blocks next time. I forgot to get a pic of them today.

The donkeys finally got to move to a pasture near the house. We’ve had fence down and hubby didn’t feel it was priority to fix. I missed the donkeys, so I was thrilled when it finally got done. I like seeing them up close every day. I love my girls.

Today was a beautiful day. My joy was having leftovers and not having to cook. I know I should have loftier, deep reflections but I received huge joy in not having to think about feeding us. Maybe tomorrow my joy will be a deep thought. Maybe.

Joanna