Author Archives: Maggie Ball

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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I am so thankful for my amazing quilting adventure: the friends I have made; the places I have been; the joy of sharing my quilting passion when I teach; the opportunity to keep on learning from my students; the inspiration from the work others and the patterns that surround us every day; and the excitement of exploring the endless possibilities of new designs and techniques.

I saw this wonderful sewing machine quilt at the AQS QuiltWeek show in Des Moines. Quilting with Silk, 34″ x 29″, was made by Charlotte Noll, of Lauderhill, FL

 

 

AQS QuiltWeek, Des Moines Quilt Show (2)

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The judged AQS show at Des Moines had almost 200 contestants. Here is the quilt that won Best Hand Workmanship. My Sweet House with Kirara, 68″ x 76″, was made by Ayako Kawakami from Chiba, Japan.

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From a distance this quilt looks complicated, but not particularly striking because of the low contrast in the values of the fabrics. However, the closer you get, the better it gets, and up close it is amazing. The details in the hand embroidery on the delicately pieced blocks, quilting, pictorial applique and embroidery embellishments are beautiful. This is an exquisitely made quilt which must have hundreds of hours of work invested in it. Here are some detailed shots.

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American Heroes Quilts

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In honor of Veteran’s Day, I thought I should revisit the American Heroes Quilts project. At our Bainbridge Island Quilt Festival this September, there were several American Heroes quilts exhibited and the opportunity for show attendees to stitch quilt blocks at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. Our local American Heroes quilt group meets on the third Thursday of the month at Esther’s Fabrics and is open to all. You can also pick up American Hero blocks at Esther’s to make at home. (This may change as Esther’s is about to have a new owner).

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The American Heroes Quilts project was established in 2004 to provide recognition and appreciation to wounded service men and women who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The quilts are like metaphoric hugs and a way to express gratitude. There are over 800 volunteers participating in the program. As of the January 2016, over 21,500 quilts had be given to deserving service men and women and their families. The quilts are sent to Madigan Hospital at Joint Base Lewis McCord, other Warrior Transition Centers in the US, and directly to bases in Afghanistan.

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The quilts are made using red, white and blue fabrics, often with patriotic prints. Quilters seem to be generous by nature and this is one of many examples of the outreach projects in which they participate.

 

AQS QuiltWeek, Des Moines Quilt Show (1)

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The judged AQS show at Des Moines had almost 200 contestants. Here is the quilt that won Best Original Design. It is Ewe Are My Sunshine, 63″ x 72″, by Janet Stone from Overland Park, KS. This quilt is one in a series of alphabet quilt designed and made by Janet. Her goal is to make 26 alphabet quilts and she is now over half way. Many of her previous quilts have also been major award winners and I have admired them over the years.

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Janet’s design sense and attention to details are incredible. She uses vibrant colors in this quilt, beautifully combining applique, piecing and free motion embroidery. The quilting is exquisite and all done on her home sewing machine. Each block is a little master piece. Here are some detailed shots that give you a taste, but the pictures don’t do it justice.

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AQS QuiltWeek, Des Moines, IA

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Earlier this month I spent four days teaching at the AQS QuiltWeek in Des Moines, IA. These AQS events have three major components: the quilt exhibits which include a national level quilt show and several special exhibits; the booths selling every imaginable quilting gadget, machines and of course fabric and notions; and a wide offering of classes and lectures.

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Here I am at the entrance of the exhibit hall in the Iowa Events Center. The other picture shows a particularly colorful booth hosted by Fabric Therapy, a store from Fife Lake, MI. There were around 115 booths, and plenty of quilters busy shopping. Two of the classes I taught were my Template-free Kaleidoscope Puzzle Quilts and the Template-free Op-Art Kaleidoscope Quilts. Examples of work by my students are shown below.

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My class sizes were very small, but the students who came were enthusiastic and we had a very enjoyable time. It turned out that the other teachers had low sign-ups for their classes too. The excuse that we were given, was that this summer was very wet which meant that the harvest was late in IA and many quilters were on their farms still harvesting instead of attending the show. I have no way of knowing how much this accounted for the low turn-out, but suspect that other factors are involved. The industry is clearly changing and the AQS, which has been over-extending itself, will only have six national shows next year instead of eight. They are introducing a fall show in Paducah which I hope does not dilute the spring Paducah event that is so special. AQS QuiltWeeks will only have five locations instead of eight (Daytona Beach, Lancaster, Paducah, Grand Rapids and Des Moines, cutting out Chattanooga, Phoenix and Syracuse). It will be interesting to see how it all goes moving forward.

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These two quilts were in the AQS judged quilt show. Neither was an award winner but they both appealed to me. They both have a great sense of movement and the use of contrasting values make the designs look stunning. On the left is Kan Oh Chi Rai – Prediction Study of the Past by Yoshiyuki Ishizaki from Ahiya City, Japan. On the right, Pioneer Log Cabin pieced by Diane Bacon of Humbolt, IA, and long-arm quilted by Rhonda Post. Diane used a pattern from Judy Martin’s book, Extraordinary Log Cabin Quilts.

The FabGrab Quilter’s Sandboard

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As a quilt teacher, I sometimes receive e-mails from people wanting to promote their new products. Maureen Lasslett, maker of the FabGrab sandboard, contacting me offering to send me this 3 in 1 no-slip fabric grabbing tool and asking for critical feedback. Maureen is a former quilt shop owner (2001-2011), quilting and sewing teacher, and the current co-owner of a sewing machine resource center in her home state of New Jersey. When she had her quilt shop, one of the more popular products that she offered her customers was a sand board, used for holding fabric patches in place while tracing template outlines, sewing and cutting lines. Clover and Dritz both carried their own version of this very useful tool, but no longer produce them. Maureen felt that this was a product that should be readily available for quilters, so she designed her own and it is now in the market place. Here’s her website.

20160905_121457Don’t be put off by the rather dated-looking packaging. This is a great tool with three surfaces for use in a variety of quilt-making techniques: the sandy textured surface holds fabric firmly in place for ease in marking and tracing, the felt surface may be used for a mini design wall for small pieces and applique, and the white acrylic surface on back provides a smooth area for writing and tracing. I particularly like the sand board and am already using this frequently. The size, 8-1/2″ x 11″, is convenient to use and to transport. I have no reservations in recommending this product.20160917_162016

Maureen is working on improving the packaging and will be removing the gimmick of the free fabric squares and pincushion pattern. On the updated versions, you may also find a different color of felt for the mini-work wall. Give it a go!

 

 

Quilting with Kids

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I recently donated this quilt, Octopus’s Garden, that was made at Blakely Elementary School in 1997 to the Bainbridge Island Kids Discovery Museum (KiDiMu). This fish print quilt is featured in my book, Creative Quilting with Kids, now out of print, but still available second hand on Amazon. See the book for more pictures. The quilt looks great in the toddler play area of the museum, hung on the yellow wall. I’m delighted that it is now out for people to enjoy, rather than being stored in my closet!

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I worked in collaboration with the Art Specialist, MJ Linford and the fourth graders. We had a real octopus, rock fish and cabazon donated from the local grocery store. We used rubber fish too, which I have also donated to KiDiMu for their art projects with kids. The fourth graders were eager to paint the critters for printing. The background piece was prepared ahead of time. There are wonderful fabric possibilities to create the rocks and weed. These were applied using Steam-a-Seam2 fusible applique. The painted critters were arranged carefully and the background cloth placed over the top. We pressed the fabric gently using the back sides of spoons and the palms of hands. It was astonishing so see that even the suckers on the octopus’s tentacles were printed and the kids were very excited to see the results. They wrote the words of the Octopus’s Garden song in the border around the quilt. It was a fun project. The kids also brought t-shirts to school to print with fish so that they had a take home memory.

Bainbridge Island Quilt Festival 2016 (3)

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Here on Bainbridge Island, we recently celebrated our 4th Annual Quilt Festival with 190 quilts hanging outdoors for the day, colorfully adorning our main street. This event is sponsored by the Bainbridge Island Modern Quilt Guild and Esther’s Fabrics. See my previous two blogs for more pictures. These two quilts were hanging next to each other and I was immediately struck by the difference it makes using a light or a dark background. The same fabrics are used in both quilts, but they are highlighted in different ways. My personal preference is for the one on the left with the white sashing. I think that this features the variety of fabrics best. The one with blue sashing is too blue for me. I always advise my students to include either white or black if they are using a monochromatic fabric selection. In this case, there is enough white in the fabric rectangles that the quilt is still successful.

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They were both made by Jo King and quilted by Sue Lohse. The one with the white sashing is called Under the Sea, and the other is Deeper Under the Sea. Jo made these quilts for her grandsons and included many underwater, sea life and boating fabrics. The quilt shown below, with black and white sashing is stunning.

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Checkers Anyone, was made by Stan Green and quilted by Krista Moser. The lovely batik fabrics are well presented with the black and white sashing keeping them separated. The colors are intensified. Without this sashing the batiks would merge and the quilt would not be nearly so rich-looking. The checkers form their own interesting pattern too and help to produce the woven effect on the quilt.

 

 

 

Bainbridge Island Quilt Festival 2016 (2)

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Last week I showed some street pictures from our Bainbridge Island Quilt Festival and a couple of my favorite quilts. This event is sponsored by the Bainbridge Island Modern Quilt Guild and Esther’s Fabrics. The quilt show is open to any quilter wanting to display their quilt, but many of the quilts are submitted by members of the Modern Quilt Guild. “Modern” quilts typically have a large amounts of negative space which is often white, and they tend to lack borders. The patterns are often large, relatively simple, and in bold colors. Here are some examples of quilts that I would regard as “modern”.

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The quilt of the left, Polka Dots, is made by Tammy Abuan and quilted by Gladys Schulz. Tammy used a pattern, Raindrops, designed by Kimberly Jolly, Sarah Price and Jocelyn Ueng. The polka dot fabrics in combination with the solids make a great 3-dimensional boxy look and it is nicely done.  On the right, Kathy’s Taking Turns, was made by Kathy Loveless from the pattern Taking Turns, by Monica Solaria-Snow.

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These zig-zags make a striking statement and are made more interesting by the variety of fabrics of each color that are used. This quilt, Last But Not Least: A Quilt For My Angel, was made by Dawn Weber and quilted by Gladys Schulz. I love the quilt on the right, Double Trouble Take Two, made and designed by Katie Pedersen. Katie writes, “I created this fun quilt to show alternative layouts for my Double Trouble workshop. The technique merges traditional half-square triangles and improvisational stitch-and-flip triangles. I love the boxy effect of turning the blocks on point and mixed use of fabrics from my scrap bins. Even the little bits can be salvaged.” This seems like a great technique to try and I like the use of scraps for a fresh and contemporary look. Using five large Double Troubles and four smaller ones makes a strong visual impact which is appealing to me.

 

Bainbridge Island Quilt Festival 2016 (1)

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Our 4th Annual Bainbridge Island Quilt Festival took place recently on Saturday, 10th September. This is the fourth year in a row that we have been blessed with glorious sunny weather for hanging all these quilts outdoors for the day. There were 190 quilts displayed and they made a colorful show along our main street in Winslow. We had a good attendance and the public were very appreciative. Here’s an overall view and I’ll post more pictures in the coming weeks. My Original Octangles quilt is the black, white and red one in the center of the top left picture.

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This Festival was initiated in 2013, by Barbara Kirk, owner of Esther’s Fabrics on Bainbridge Island. Barbara was inspired by the joy and beauty of the annual Sister’s Quilt Show held outdoors in Sisters, OR and wanted to put on a similar but smaller venture on Bainbridge. The Bainbridge Island Modern Quilt Guild collaborated with Esther’s Fabrics and other local businesses make this happen.

Here are two of my favorite quilts.

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On the left is Temperance, by Marybeth O’Halloran. Marybeth writes, “I am a Leo, so of course this pattern spoke to me. It is entirely paper pieced, with almost 200 individual paper pattern pieces.” The pattern is The Lion by Violet Craft. On the right is Chromatic Hex Flowers, also by Marybeth O’Halloran. “This project was done long distance with my creative friend Jenn Rhoads. She moved to New York State, and so we mailed fabric and finished blocks back and forth. This is my finished quilt from those exchanges. I modified the pattern, Hexie Garden, by Atkinson Designs.” Marybeth is an accomplished long-arm quilter on Bainbridge Island – here’s her website.