Hunter's Star Quilt

I recently finished this queen-sized, purple and white bed quilt for a friend. It's called "Hunter's Star" and the stars are formed in the corners when you piece the blocks and arrange them next to each other.

The blocks are arranged with 4 blocks going across and 6 blocks going down and there are 3 borders: an inner cream border, a middle border of 2 different purples and the outer purple border. So that the pieced part will fit on the bed without hanging over the bottom edge, I eliminated the middle border at the top and also made the cream border a little narrower. This part will be under the pillows.

Most of the quilting is stitch-in-the-ditch with a purple varigated thread, but I did some free motion hearts in the center of the cream squares, and in the cream border I echoed the stars that would have been there if the pattern had continued. Both of those were with cream-colored thread.

The middle purple border was quilted with a meandering wave and the outer border was quilted with a scalloped-shape, which was a little tricky to figure out since I left off the middle border at the top of the thread so the quilt isn't exactly symmetrical.

Rust Dying

My friend Lori (Laughing Girl Quilts) has been doing a little bit of rust dying lately, and she also led a workshop on rust dying for our art quilt group.

I made this piece by spraying an piece of an old linen table cloth with vinegar, added some cuttings of steel wool, wrapped it diagonally around a rusty piece of metal, put it in a ziplock bag and sprayed more vinegar into the bag. When I got home I opened the bag and put it outside in the sun. I checked to make sure it was still moist and 24 hours later took it out, rinsed it many times and then washed it.

If you want to see samples of Lori's rust dyed fabric, what she did with them, or if you want to give it a try, check out Lori's blog.

As for this piece, I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, but I have some ideas. Whatever it becomes, I'll post it here when it's done.

Quilts at the Springfield Museum of Art

I was at the Springfield Museum of Art (Springfield, Ohio) recently and was pleasantly surprised to see a quilt exhibit. The quilts were made by Alyson Annette Eshelman and there were several nice wall hangings and even some three dimensional work. They will be on display until Sept. 30, 2009.

Of course while I was there I visited the museum's permanent collection. If you've never been to the Springfield Museum of Art, it's small but very wonderful. As I entered the main room there were several of the museum's folk art paintings but at first glance I thought they were quilts. I guess some quilts can have a folk art style to them.

The special exhibit was paintings by Jack Osbun. His paintings were wonderful and I because I'm always looking for new display ideas, I was also interested in how they were framed. Jack's paintings will be at the muesum through Oct. 3, 2009.

The next show at the museum is fiber artist Aminah Robinson. I'm going to be a docent during this show, so I'll let you know more in the coming weeks.

Mason Art Show

The 4th Annual Mason Arts Festival takes place this Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009 from 11 am-5 pm at the Mason Municipal Center, located at 6000 Mason-Montgomery Rd. in Mason, Ohio. I'm in booth #28 so stop in and say "Hi." Want more info? Click here.

I love the image used on the postcard this year. It was designed by Bonnie Collins.

Wine Glass Coasters Custom Order

I was recently contacted by a woman who owns a bistro in Naples, Florida. They use wine glasses for their water glasses and wanted a few wine glass coasters to use. By a few I mean 18 sets (although since they were all the same fabric, it was just 72 wine glass coasters.)

She wanted a black and white print, and liked one of the ones on my website with black vines on a white background, but I only had 2 of that kind left. Since I'd bought that fabric a few years ago, I thought there was a chance it might not be available. So I went to my local fabric store and sure enough, they didn't have that fabric. But they did have the reverse of it...white vines on a black background.

So the 72 wine glass coasters are now on their way to Naples, although I wish I was delivering them personally!

The wine glass coasters are designed to fit over the bottom of the wine glass, so it moves with the wine glass so you don't have to remember to take your coaster with you. They also help to protect your furniture and also your wine glasses. They usually come in a set of 4 with different fabrics so guests can remember whose glass is whose.

If you live near Naples or go there to visit, stop in at KC American Bistro, at 885 Vanderbilt Beach Road, and be sure to let them know that you like their wine glass coasters!

Bowling Journal / Sketchbook with fabric cover

It's not just the bowling shoes I like, it's also the cheesy graphics related to bowling. I found this fabric at an antique store that also has a quilt shop in it, and I bought the rest of the bolt. I made this journal cover, and a couple of post cards. I still have some fabric left, so maybe I need a "bowling" shirt to go with my shoes.