Great day for MARQ

Today was the MARQ reception at the WI Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts. Wonderful reception and the exhibit was very well received. Thanks Dad for the photo!

Was a busy day in the studio as well..finished Amy's Kaffe quilt and put on her binding after the reception. Also finished the PPAC donation crib quilt. A lovely lemon yellow and lime green children's print..so refreshing to work on bright quilts when most days are so dark lately.

This week I will concentrate on getting the fabrics pulled for the Bead Inspired challenge for MARQ and continue to work on the upcoming list of quilts for BBD.

Made several new pieces of jewelry for the Museum gift shop..valentine's day is coming..time for a new set of earrings or a necklace check out the Museum Gift Shop!

Artist Reception for MArQ Exhibit

The artist reception for the Milwaukee Art Quilters' Exhibit at the WI Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts in Cedarburg is Sunday, January 29th from noon to 4pm. Our exhibit Connecting Threads a Line of Design is hanging in the Museum gallery through April 11, 2012. This is the exhibit that won the Ultimate Guild Challenge in the AQS show in Knoxville in 2010. We have the winning 8 plus at least 9 other quilts made by the members. It is a wonderful exhibit..truly a lot of different creative voices in the art quilt world are represented here.

My quilt: Epicenter is one of the winners and is on display

Back in the studio!

I have spent most of my new found "spare" time in the studio the past few weeks..that is....when I haven't been working! Actually, I have spent more time in the studio in the last few weeks than I have the last few months..it has been delightful!

I finished the new top for the "big" BBD Creations quilt this afternoon. It is a traditional patchwork using colors from a dusty dark blue to periwinkle and then a rich blood red to lemon yellow. It has touches of Bonnie's copper and black as well. I will have it quilted and ready to go by late February. Was good to spend time using my brain and playing with math puzzles. The serenity that a complicated piecing design can give you is highly underrated.

I started the MArQ bead inspired challenge today as well. It has to be ready by the meeting date in March so I will have to hightail it over to Office Max to blow up the line drawing for the applique tomorrow. The quilt isn't large..about 32" x 45", but it will have a great deal of hand work in silk, wool and batik..I know a lot of fiber going on..trying to stick to stash! With 25 years of collecting I am sure I will be successful in that endeavor! It will be a very textural piece with lots of handwork and embellishment.

I have also started pulling the fabrics for the next BBD quilt..I had mentioned before that we are trying to make up for lost time in the past two years as I was committed to the WI Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts Construction project. We plan to have at least 5, if not 7, new quilts this Fall. Time to change it up in the booth. We retired several quilts this year....Sunflower, English Ivy, Angel, Puss in the Corner and Birthday Bunny...There will need to be more room..the new "big" quilt will take up a whole wall by itself! The other quilts will be much smaller. but still will require re-configuring the booth!

Back to the grind..using EQ5 to write the pattern tonight for the new quilt. I haven't pulled out that software in a few years so this ought to be an adventure in memory! It will be nice to have a program to make the blocks and the paper pieced foundations! Our patterns have gotten better: full sized applique and better written directions..pattern writing is a learning experience.

Thanks for popping in!

A New week

It has been a long time since I regularly contributed to this blog..the Museum being the main reason.....

This past weekend was fantastic! I spent the majority of it creating..working on color matching for a new piece I am working on with Bonnie, BBD artist. I pulled every dusty blue I have..a total of 42 so far! and 22 yellows to oranges. When I couldn't find the right hue I treked over to the local quilt shop...I haven't been there in about a year..to see what I could discover. It almost appeared as if their owner knew I was coming..there was a whole new shipment of blue solid cotton that hadn't been cut into yet!

When I returned home I began to cut and piece...with a new rotary blade in place the old habits of measuring twice and cutting once ensued! The piecing...something I haven't been able to sit down and do in a very, very, very long time.... was so fun! I loved watching the seams match, the surprise of sharp points and intersections meeting on the first try! and,...sometimes, honestly, on the third or fourth try! After a year without sewing for myself, it was actually fun and relaxing to piece again.

I watched as the color strategy worked out...and in a few cases, not work as well as it looked in the "picture".. I listened to a favorite book uninterrupted for hours instead of in the car on mad dash to and from the building site. All of these little things I had taken for granted are now such a treat again.

I look forward to 2012 when I can spend more time in studio creating and "playing" with all the wonderful designs that have been jotted down in journals, on napkins, backs of envelopes and scratch pads. The designs are finally being put to good use.

I look forward to taking pictures of the projects soon. Until then, no snow and 50 degrees in WI in January..what a rare treat!

New barn gallery!

Here a sneak at the interior of the new Museum.you can imagine all the wonderful places for exhibiting large quilts.

This summer the Museum hosted David Taylor (www.davidtaylorquilts.com) for a three day workshop in the new Educational Facility. What a great time. A great place to hold classes and show off the finished works..please go to the website to see the upcoming exhibits!

Here's exciting news you can rent the barn and classrooms for events as well! If you want more information you can go to the website or contact the Facility Rental Coordinator, Ellie De Lia at development@wiquiltmuseum.com

www.wiquiltmuseum.com

The Reason I have been gone: the WI Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts

On the left is what existed last winter about this time..a drafty, timber frame building over a crumbling smelly foundation. The barn had limited electricity, no running water and the Museum could only use the barn during the warmer months. The critters had taken over and left "deposits" on most of the surfaces..there was over a hundred years of dirt and grime in there!

At the top right is what the Museum is now, this picture was taken shortly before the Grand Opening in August of this year. The Museum is now a fully preserved timber frame barn, a new foundation that houses the James Taylor Gathering Room and a large classroom with enough electricity for a quilting class with 20 students all with irons, lamps and sewing machines! The upstairs houses the barn gallery all cleaned up with a new pine floor; a large gift shop, restrooms, and a prep kitchen for caterers! There is a large cement patio and a beautiful cedar deck surrounding the Museum. Lots of places to come and sit and enjoy the quiet of the farm.

If you are ever near the Cedarburg area..please stop in..the Museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday but is open usually from 10am-4pm except on Sundays when the Museum opens a bit later at noon. Please go to the Museum website: www.wiquiltmuseum.com for information on the latest exhibits and offerings!

So after a year of construction..I am walking away from this beautiful project and back to my quilt world ...I am so looking forward to playing again!

Wow I have been gone a long time!

Well, it has been over a year since I posted..I was a bit busy with the WI Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts in Cedarburg WI. I have spent the last 18 months or so building the Museum and getting it open. My "term" came to an end with the New Year and I am back to creating and sewing! It has been a long drought of creativity for me and I am looking forward to getting my hands on all the fabrics and designs I have collected in the past two years.

That doesn't mean I didn't sit on my hands! The picture you see here is the latest pattern available through BBD Creations...we debuted this large wall quilt at the Houston Show this past October.

"Ram-ifications" is 36 x 36" made of wool and copper cottons. Bonnie's original design is spectacular and the quilt is too! It is a wool applique...all by machine...a large project but can be done in a long weekend or over a few weeks for busy quilters. He looks like he has a lot of 'tude, doesn't he?

This February I head off to Bonnie's studio for a design think tank..we have several quilts in the works for BBD and a few just for competition this year. I will post as I finish them.

As I have said so many times before...stay tuned a lot of new "stuff" is coming this year!