Jo Morton Club

I belonged to a Jo Morton Club this  past year at O'Susannah's Quilts & Gifts.  There were a total of 9 patterns and all of the quits were small wall hangings and are only available for club members.  I managed to get 3 of the 9 tops completed and out of the 3 I managed to get 2 of them quilted and bound!  Sue invited everyone from the group to her house for dinner and to see everyone's quilts!  Dinner was fantastic but the Quilts were absolutely gorgeous!  Sue strung a clothes line between the pillars on her porch so that we could show off our work!

I have to admit the flowers on her porch are really pretty too!

These classes were taught by Sharon Bristol.  Sharon works at the shop and also teaches there.  She is a wonderful teacher and has a fantastic beginner's class!

The third quilt in from the left was the only quilt there that wasn't a club pattern but it is one of JoMorton's patterns.  Suzanne made it and the applique is all wool!  It is really sharp!

Sue's house is on a corner and the street is quite busy, our quilts were definitely stopping traffic!  More than once someone slammed on their breaks so they could get a better look!

Hope you enjoyed!!

Happy Quilting!

Margaret

Houston Quilt Festival 2013

This is a personal post about a woman who has meant so very much to so many, especially the Quilting community.  

I grew up in a very small community in upstate NY, it was a community were everyone knew everyone.  Parents were called Mr. & Mrs. and you knew if you misbehaved your parents would know before you all gathered around the dinning room table for dinner.  Mrs. Alderman was part of our community and my sisters and I grew up with her daughter Betsy.

After school we often ended up at a friends house and once in a while I was lucky enough to tag along with my sister Jane who was in the same grade as Betsy.  I can still remember going into Mrs. Alderman's home with her daughter Betsy and my sister Jane and knowing immediately that Mrs. Alderman was a very special and talented person.  The walls of the Alderman home were often decorated with Mrs. Alderman's talent and I loved to look at her work!  Last summer Mrs. Alderman lost her fight to Breast Cancer and when she did her family lost a truly wonderful mother and the quilting world lost an extremely talented person!  Quilt Festival this year is honoring Mrs. Betty Alderman and I was lucky enough to get a chance to once again see some Mrs. Alderman's work.  

This is a sampling from one of Mrs. Alderman's sketch book, a photo of her, a snap shots of her working on one of her many quilts and a picture of her in her booth at Quilt Market.

Each quilt has been documented by her daughter Betsy Alderman Lewis.

This Santa quilt was always one of my favorites!

I always wanted to make this quilt, this is a definite on my bucket list!

I love the simplicity of her red work!  Her needle work was incredible!

Mrs. Alderman was known for her Sun Bonnet Sue designs.

 

Betty made this quilt in beautiful blues.  I had attended a retreat held by O'Susannah's Quilts & Gifts in Watkins Glen NY and Mrs. Alderman was teaching Blue Mood at the retreat!!  I made mine in Black & White and it hangs in the stair/entryway of our home, every time I go down the  stairs I see it and think of Mrs. Alderman.

This is another of my favorites!

I wish I had written down the names of all the quilts.  Having the opportunity to see Mrs. Alderman's work pulled so at my heart strings that I had a hard enough time keeping the camera in focus so I'm thankful for the pictures and thrilled to be able to share them with you!

A few months back Betsy gave me one of her mother's bags that she had embroidered a mother sitting on a tree branch holding a baby in her arms.  I have been playing around with an embroidery design and Betsy and I have talked about incorporating it into my piece. 

Happy Quilting!

One Quilt, Two Quilts, Three Quilts, MORE!! Cont.!

You saw One Quilt....  Now here's Two Quilts!

A Jelly Roll!  I LOVE these quilts!  They are so individual and all so pretty!

The quilting pattern is Berry Vine and the thread color is Caravan!

A very beautiful Quilt made by Jane!!  Great Job! 

And now for THREE QUILT!  You aren't going to believe this one, it is stunning!!!

Isn't it beautiful?  This quilt is Custom Quilted.

It is quilted with Sands of Time thread color.

The pieced block was quilted with Allissa Block 2.

It's hard to see in these pictures but the setting triangles were quilted with Feathers.

The Feathers weave their way around the pieced blocks.

Here's a close up of the blocks.

And now for the BACK!

The backing material is black with a small gold leaf, the perfect back for this quilt!

Here you can see the way the Feathers weave their way around the blocks.

This quilt was a joy to quilt, it is a truly exceptional quilt!

That's One Quilt, Two Quilts, Three Quilts and MORE to come!!!

Happy Quilting!!

Urban Beads Part 3

It's done! It's done!  It's done!  Well ALMOST, I still have to do the binding!!  :)

Here it is!

Every row is stitched in a different color thread!

Yup, that was a lot of thread changes!!!

Isn't it cool?  I can just imagine this quilt in a college dorm!

Or on one of my Grand children's beds!!!

Here's the back!  Look at all that color!!

I'm really happy with how it turned out!  I've got just a few hours left to get the binding on, talk about finishing it at the last minute!  It needs to be completed by tomorrow morning!  I'd better get in gear!!

This quilt pattern is by Jenny Pedigo of Sew Kind of Wonderful, it was made for O'Susannah's Quilts and Gifts and was quilted by Miss Marker's Quilts!!  Talk about a team effort here!!!

Happy Quilting!

I've Officially Banned Myself From Quilt Shops!! :)

I've officially banned myself from Quilt Shops!!  My (self imposed) punishment for spending MORE money on fabric is to ban myself from stepping either of my feet into a quilt shop until Friday January 18th!!  Here's why......

I was asked by my Sister and my Mom to ride along with them while they went to their monthly Jo Morton class.  I (obviously from the title of this post) decided to take the day and join them.  It was so much fun to spend a couple of hours in a quilt shop with some wonderful women who love to quilt as much as I do!

I got into more trouble with myself again today!!!!  I had the batiks that I purchased yesterday with me and ended up adding to this little stash!  Here's my NEW and IMPROVED pile of Batiks!!!

I now have a total of 12 YARDS to play with and to design with!!  I can't wait to start playing!!!!  I'm trying to decide if I want to do a sampler quilt with these or if I want to do something with triangles, with 12 yards to work with maybe I could do both!!  What do you think I should make with these?  Should I do a new block of the month sampler quilt or should I do something with half square triangles????

I hope you had a fantastic weekend!  I'm spending the day tomorrow on the Long Arm!  I'll be working on a large quilt that was a block of the month quilt at The Scarlet Thread in Webster NY.  I'll post pictures when it's done!

Happy Quilting!!

Crayola Crayons Aren't For JUST Our Children/Grand Children!

I am so excited to have finished this project!  Isn't it the absolute sweetest thing?  With Valentines Day quickly approaching I think this may be the PERFECT little something for Valentines Day or as a Easter Bag/Basket!  This pattern is by Meg Hawkey of Crabapple Hill Studio and is called Crazy Love.  I really enjoy hand work for many reasons but most of all because it is so very easy to travel with.  This project was completed in no time at all, I really was amazed at how quickly it went together.

I'm teaching this project on Sunday February 3rd at O'Susannah's Quilts and Gifts in Watkins Glen NY.  I'll be teaching Meg's Crayola Coloring Technique and the following stitches:

English Daisy

Forget Me Nots

French Knots

Lazy Daisy

Satin Stitch

Circle Flower Rose

Feather Stitch

Fly Stitch

I hope you can attend!  If you can't attend the class but would like to have a on line tutorial please let me know!

Happy Quilting!