HAND QUILTING

Hoffman Challenge 2012

2012-05-19T20:06:00.001-05:00

The 2012 Hoffman Challenge fabric is called J8670 Lavender #70. It is a lovely floral design that I cannot resist buying. I know that I will never be in the running to win this challenge as I am a traditional quilter but I may just enter a quilt anyway. The challenge fabric and its 10 coordinating fabrics are already in the stores. The deadline for entering the challenge is July 20, 2012.

This is the 25th anniversary of the challenge and a random drawing for Sulky threads and 7 batik fat quarters will be part of the fun. You have to enter a quilt, though, in order to be in the running for the drawing.

Redwork Block 7

2012-05-03T09:21:00.000-05:00

The Wedding Quilt - Book Review

2012-03-30T22:43:00.002-05:00

The Wedding Quilt is the 2011 installment of the Elm Creek Quilters series by Jennifer Chiaverini. However, there is no mystery here and really no plot. The book is 90% flash backs. All of the usual characters are at Elm Creek Manor for a wedding. The wedding topic consists of about 6 pages in the beginning and the final 20 pages. Everything else is a back flash from several prior books in the series. I know that there is a newer book out, Sonoma Rose, but I feel that the series is over. The author has run out of plot ideas and should start writing a new series. If you are a series fan and interested in The Wedding Quilt, I recommend reading the key 26 pages in the bookstore or public library. Not recommended.

TO PIN OR NOT TO PIN: THERE SHOULD BE NO QUESTION

2012-03-30T22:05:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of discussion on the quilting blogs lately about the website called Pinterest. Many of these bloggers have been asked to not use Pinterest by blogger Sharon Boggin. Ms. Boggin believes that all pins are copyright infringements. I wonder if she asked all of the retailers how they felt about the issue. I wonder if she asked anyone whose photos are pinned on Pinterest? I doubt that she did. Pinterest is a great way to gain business as members see items they are interested in and repin them to their Pinterest page. Others see the pin and repin it themselves. For the majority, it is free advertising, not copyright infringement.

For some reason quilters think their works are automatically protected by copyright laws and photos of their quilts should not be pinned. Of course, you have the right to ask that your material not be pinned. The copyright protection only applies if you have filled out the copyright forms, paid the fee and been granted a copyright AFTER an investigation of your application which requires a sample of the product. If you are a quilter who is interested in selling your work, why would you be opposed to free advertising? I do not know every quilter who is in the business and can't speak for them. However, among the professional quilters I know, there is great difficulty in getting their quilts sold. If a quilt show attendee cannot take photos of certain quilts or a quilter does not allow pinning, how does your product get exposure? I feel that you are biting the hand that feeds you.

While crazy quilt bloggers use embroidery stitches created by someone else, none ever credit the person who created the stitches. Is this copyright infringement? Is a crazy quilt an original work if the embellishments on it have been used by countless others for centuries? Are the pattern sheets of stitches that Ms. Boggin is selling a copyright infringement? Should today's quilters stop giving beginning quilters quilting patterns and designs that they can use? It seems to me that those of us who learned to quilt 20+ years ago, all accepted freebies from others. Why do you not want to extend the courtesy? Isn't this how the adage "quilters are such nice people" came about? If you are still concerned about copyright infringement, are you planning on paying legal fees to authors of quilt pattern books whose pages you were given by a teacher years ago? As the saying goes, put your money where your mouth is.

I believe that the law finds embroidery stitches to be in the public domain, ie, no copyright infringement. I just don't like hearing about copyright matters unless you have actually filed the papers, paid the fee, been granted copyright protection and put your copyright number on photos of your product. There is even a quilter who copyrighted several well known quilting terms such as "fabric grain" so I hope none of you ever use that term again!

Therefore, I will continue to use Pinterest. I love finding new things on the internet and pinning them is a great way to keep everything in one place.

I know from past experience that I will get 50+ nasty comments a day for daring to write this post. I have no problem posting comments that disagree with me. However, no anonymous comments will be published. All commenters must have an email or other method of contact attached to their profile or their comment will not be published either. Sound fair enough?

TAST - Whipped Wheel

2012-03-15T20:25:00.000-05:00

My first 2 attempts at this stitch had to be taken out and redone. I could not get the fly stitches placed equally apart. This is what I eventually came up with. I have created 2 whipped wheels on my March CQJP Block. I am having trouble accessing Blogger because my internet browser is no longer accepted. My attempts to upload Google Chrome were not successful so every time I want to write a post I need to go to the library to use their computers. This sucks.

March CQJP Block Base

2012-03-01T07:18:00.000-06:00

Embroidery Hoop Art

2012-02-23T17:50:00.010-06:00

I found this decorating idea on Susan Ramey Cleveland's Blackberry Creek blog. It is so fabulous that I had to write a post about it. The design comes from: purlsoho.com Check out more awesome hoop art ideas at the Desire to Inspire blog. Guess what I will be doing this weekend!

Completed February CQJP Block

2012-02-23T11:09:00.000-06:00

I am so glad that I finished this block. I thought it would take me into March to complete it. It is much better than my January CQJP block but there still is a need for lots of improvement. The crosses were embroidered upside down but when the block gets turned around to be attached to another block I don't think that it will matter.

TAST - Chain Stitch

2012-02-23T07:30:00.006-06:00

Finally! A stitch that I like and can do easily. I even understood the directions from Sharon B's blog, which I don't always pick up. For some reason I could not rotate the picture vertically but I think you can tell that I have done 3 linear rows of chain stitch. I can't wait to see what the crazy quilting pros have done with this stitch.

New Seam Treatments for CQJP

2012-02-21T06:12:00.005-06:00

Progress on February CQJP Block

2012-02-20T13:55:00.007-06:00

I started the block on February 1 but have not been working on it since. Life has been rough this month. Now I will be frantic to finish it, but with my lack of embroidery skills I get stumped easily.
Here is a close up of the lace.

TAST - Detached Chain Stitch

2012-02-20T13:45:00.004-06:00

I had a hard time with the detached chain stitch, a/k/a the lazy daisy stitch. It seems that all embroidery stitches are hard for me. Maybe it's not my thing.

Redwork Block #6

2012-02-11T17:36:00.005-06:00

I have 6 more blocks to embroider for my redwork quilt. However, I am going to take a break for a few days in order to work on my February CQJP Block.

TAST - Chevron Stitch

2012-02-10T18:31:00.002-06:00

I am glad that this week's stitch is easy. I am curious, though, to see what the advanced stitchers come up with.

Redwork Block #5

2012-02-10T17:36:00.001-06:00

Redwork Block 4

2012-02-06T09:20:00.000-06:00

I still have a lot of french knots to do on this block but I am not able to make them correctly so I have moved on to the next block. I will come back to it later.

February CQJP Block Base

2012-01-31T05:01:00.000-06:00

This is the same block that I used for January. I was thinking of using it for all 12 CQJP blocks and turning them around when attaching them. The colors will be yellow and orange with every shade in between. The laces that I use will not be repeated.

TAST - Herringbone Stitch

2012-01-30T17:17:00.000-06:00

Finally! A stitch that I know how to do. The top 2 rows are my herringbone stitch and variations.

TAST - Cretan Stitch

2012-01-27T07:26:00.001-06:00

I had a hard time with this stitch too. I just figured it out tonight, I think. It looks right but I'm not sure the needle came in and out of the right places. Maybe I should stitch a couple of rows to feel more comfortable with it. I tried the open and closed cretan stitches but could not figure out how to do them.

Completed January CQJP Block

2012-01-24T17:52:00.000-06:00

I have left some room on the border spaces so that after I sew all of the blocks together, I can do some embroidery to cover up the seam lines. I am a beginner at embroidery and had a hard time coming up with stitches. While I have several cq books, they are boxed up in anticipation of a move this year. I know that my block is not in the same league as those posted on the CQJP blog but I think that I will submit it anyway.

TAST - Feather Stitch

2012-01-24T04:20:00.001-06:00

As you can see, I cannot do the feather stitch correctly. However, this is the best I have done to date. The stitch requires too much twisting of the hand and aggravates my carpal tunnel problems. While I had the carpal tunnel surgery 2 years ago, I still get pain if I twist my hand. It is disappointing not to be able to do the most important crazy quilt stitch.

More Progress on January CQJP

2012-01-23T18:42:00.009-06:00

Yes, I am a beginner. All I need to add is some beading and I think I am done with this block. The photos are not great. I am shooting the pics in the evening and because I used all yellow fabrics, they just don't look right.

TAST - Buttonhole Stitch

2012-01-13T04:19:00.000-06:00

This week's TAST stitch is the buttonhole stitch. I have never been able to figure this one out before until now. The bottom line is the basic stitch. The next section is 2 rows of changing lengths that form a heart in the middle. On the top row I had some problems with changing the base loop over so I will be sticking with the basic stitch for awhile.

Progress on January CQJP Block

2012-01-12T21:26:00.000-06:00

January CQJP Block

2012-01-07T22:12:00.007-06:00

I pieced this block this afternoon and began embroidering the fly stitch in one of the seams. My stitches are not even so they will probably be ripped out and redone. I was thinking of adding beads to the end of the lace but all of my beads are too big so I will have to buy some more. I guess I should also pick up a marking pen to ensure the stitches are even.