Red Hen Fabrics

Two summers ago I designed some fabric collections for Newcastle Fabrics. So far I haven't seen them in any of the local quilt shops. Last week, when I stopped in at Red Hen Fabrics I was surprised to see they now stock several bolts from the collection. My fabrics were spread across two tables so I brazenly rearranged their display to put all of my fabrics on one table. Then I dashed home to get a Log Cabin quilt I had made from my own fabric collection. I draped the quilt over the table and put the fabrics on top. Good thing I am good friends with Mary Ann Henderson, the shop owner. She took it all in stride and the display remains in tact. She is always happy to have a quilt made from fabric collections to show with the collections as it helps sell the fabric.

Here is the display at Red Hen Fabrics, Marietta, Georgia

The Log Cabin quilt is in the Barn Raising setting and it is featured in my new book

Log Cabin Quilts, the Basics and Beyond. 

And....the book and the tool. Naturally I used my Log Cabin Trim Tool to make the quilt. Both are available on my website: www.jeanannquilts.com

Sunbonnet Sleuth Week #5

Sunbonnet Sleuth took Easter week off. Now she is back on the job. Here is the 5th clue for this mystery. This week we will be making Square-In-A-Square blocks. There are only 6 of them, so it won't take long!

Next week we will make just 2 blocks, the final blocks for the quilt. Then we will sew the blocks into rows and the rows into the quilt top. The week after we will add the borders and except for the quilting, we will be done!

Hall County, GA Quilters

On April Fool's Day I traveled to Hall County GA (near Gainesville) to present a program and lead a workshop for the Civil War Potholder quilt table runner. Ir takes a bit of gumption to teach a group of southern quilters to tackle a quilt project popular with the Union ladies during the Civil War. But we did it and the quilters learned new tricks and techniques for marking quilt blocks with impromptu "templates" from the kitchen, using their machine walking foot to stitch gentle curves and how to sew their double fold binding with mitered corners, both front and back, on the sewing machine.

It was a lovely day. The Show and Tell is always my favorite part of a guild meeting when visiting a quilt guild. I am always amazed by the creativity of the quilters when they show their finished quilts. Almost always there is a group showing of quilts made for charity. The Hall County Quilts make quilts to be given to children in the hospital. Here are some of this month's donations.

Next came a big surprise for me. Lisa Reichenberg is a new quilter started her first quilt in my Lickety-Split Log Cabin quilt class last October at the Sewing Expo's Georgia Quilt Show in Gwinette, GA. (The class uses my Log Cabin Trim Tool - www.jeanannquilts.com). Lisa showed her finished quilt and I was so proud of her. She used whimsical fabrics with frogs in the quilt along with other bright prints for a really fun first quilt. She is on her way to being a power quilter. Welcome to our world, Lisa!

Rock The Block Workshop

On Saturday I was a student in a quilting workshop, a nice change from being the instructor. There were some 16 quilters in a workshop with Joe Cunningham, or, Joe the Quilter,  www.joethequilter.com.

I don't often take a workshop but this one really caught my attention, plus I have known of Joe the Quilter since I started as editor-in-chief of Quilt magazine some 25 years ago. I have always been intrigued by his innovative quilts so when the East Cobb Quilt Guild brought him to Atlanta for workshops and program I signed up immediately. I am so glad I did!

Here are photos from the workshop. I can honestly say I didn't do the most creative work in the class although I am satisfied with what I produced. I wish I could have gotten photos of more of the quilts because so many of them were really outstanding. I did get a couple of photos to share with you.

Joe Cunningham with Akito who didn't follow the rules for Rock the Block, but really dazzled Joe with her incredible design. Starting with Joe's instructions Akito took off on her own and created some spectacular blocks. 

Here are Akito's blocks in a different arrangement.

Nicole followed the rules to make her blocks but then threw them over and got very creative when sewing them into a quilt. I wonder what she will add next?

I followed the rules to make the blocks except for one thing...I first made fifteen 6" blocks (not pictured) then decided they were too small so I made these fifteen 8" blocks. I have figured out how to use both 6" and 8" blocks in one quilt. Stay tuned.......the finished quilt will appear sometime in the future.

Week #4 Mystery Clue

You had so much fun last week making half-square triangles that I know you are going to be excited about making even more of them this week. There is an added step this week. After making the half-square triangles they will be sewn into a pinwheel block. This takes making the half-square triangles a step beyond the simple units.

Air and Space

A couple of weeks ago I posted an exhibit sign from the Time and Navigation exhibit opening next month at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. I think I mentioned that my daughter and a graphics art staffer designed the exhibit. Here is a new photo of my Heidi supervising the installation of an airplane in the exhibit. Heidi is young woman with red hair standing in the lower right corner of the photo.

To see a slide show of the installation of the many large (boats, cars, planes, spacecraft, satellite, etc) go to this link: http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/gal213/timeandnavigation/scenes.cfm

When you get to the air and space website scroll down the webpage a little bit and click on the column on the right you will see the slide show.  

Zandy's colorful world

Every year my sister, Janet Houts, and I teach a 3 day workshop at Kanuga Conference Center www.kanuga.org in Hendersonville, NC. This year we offered a Log Cabin quilt and a Courthouse Steps table runner using my new Log Cabin Trim Tool www.jeanannquilts.com

Like any quilt teacher, Janet and I absolutely love getting photos of finished quilts that were started in our workshops. Here is one that appeared in my email box this morning.

Zandy Jordan has been coming to our workshop in Kanuga for the past 5 years. She has a fantastic sense of color and how to use it in a quilt. The colors in this quilt are not those that might be chosen by a less courageous quilter, but Zandy is bold and decisive when putting unlike color combinations together. I love the 3 dimensional effect that Zandy's color placement has achieved. The use of dark values, bright, popping orange and red along with calmer colors provide big eye appeal for this quilt. 

Zandy lives in Florida and chose a nautical theme for the baby quilt she made for a young relative. This is her second Log Cabin quilt since the conference.