Oh La La! It's Minick and Simpson

Whilst I have been away in France, my hands have not been idle.  I have managed to complete some more of my little 2 inch cornerstone blocks for my Nearly Insane Quilt.  I have about 85 full size ones to do in total. I have done about 14 so far.

Cornerstones, red spotty fabric
 'Christmas Past' by Minick and Simpson

This has been made quite tolerable because I am using my favourite red spotty fabric 'Christmas Past' by Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson.  Have I mentioned it before?

BTW - It also just so happened that Polly and Laurie were actually at the "Pour l'Amour du Fil" (For the Love of Thread) show, in France, organised by the magazine Quiltmania.

Laurie Simpson and Polly Minick (with The Christmas Quilt)
Pour l'Amour du Fil, Nantes, France 2013

Naturally I had to visit their stand, and they were kind enough to humour me as I showed them my little 'Minick and Simpson' cornerstones squares. They were also kind enough to let me take this photo of them to record the moment - in front of 'The Christmas Quilt' by Laurie Simpson (handstitched, I believe), which features the red spotty fabric itself!
Quiltmania have published their book 'Quilts and Rugs' available from the Quiltmania website, which also features this quilt.

With all the quiet hand stitching I do, it's nice to have a little quilting thrill like this once in while.

"Dear Jane" 150th Quilt Exhibition, Nantes, France

A few weeks ago I was hopping from blog to blog, when somebody mentioned their excitement about entering their 'Dear Jane' quilt into a special exhibition of 'Dear Jane' quilts in Nantes, France.  A little further investigation, and I discovered that the "Pour l'Amour du Fil" (For the Love of Thread) show was being organised by the magazine Quiltmania.
Regular readers will know that I am currently working on my 'Nearly Insane' Quilt, which is of a similar genre to 'Dear Jane', so I was intrigued, especially at the thought of seeing over 100 'Dear Jane' quilts together.


'Dear Jane' 150th Quilt Exhibition, Nantes, France 2013 

I regularly go to the quilt shows in the UK, but this was my first 'European' show, which involved a ferry crossing from England to France and a little trip in our camper van. The exhibit of the 'Dear Jane' quilts was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  As you walked into the room, you could not help but gasp in amazement!  Over 100 quilts, all the same, all different.

There was a Hand- Dyed 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Hand-Dyed Fabrics)
Paula Klein, Luxembourg



There was an Indonesian fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Indonesian Fabrics)
Annie Tromp-Doornink, Netherlands

There was a Low Volume 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Low Volume)
Ineke Marijissen Van der Molen, Netherlands

There was a Liberty Fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Liberty Fabric)

There was a Red and White Dear Jane Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Red and White)
Nathalie Pierre, France



There were the traditional Civil War Fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilts

Dear Jane Quilt (Civil War Reproduction Fabrics)

Michel Galan France

There were modern, bright with black background 'Dear Jane' Quilts

Dear Jane Quilt (Modern Brights)
Chantal Guyon, France



There were modern, bright Batik 'Dear Jane' Quilts

Dear Jane Quilt (Batik)
Diane Rhode and Judy Doenias, USA



And some really lovely, unique colour combinations



Dear Jane Quilt (Greys, Reds)
Rineke Imenshot, Netherlands

Originally, Brenda Papadakis was due to attend to give a talk and run some 'Dear Jane' workshops, but due to a broken arm, was not able to travel to France from the USA.  However, there were many of her ambassadors at the show, and it was fabulous.  The impact of the display was so brilliant, thanks to the organisers and contributors for putting on such a brilliant exhibit. Never to be forgotten.

They were all lovely. Do you have a favourite?

Sharing the inspiration of this lovely event with Freemotion By the River and Quilt Story

See more of my Quilting Adventure here

The BIG QA

Where have I been?
On a BIG Quilting Adventure ...
I will report back soon as I have more time!
Frances

Hand Quilting - Wipe Off Fabric Marker

I have been enjoying doing my Nearly Insane Quilt blocks far too much lately, and felt that I needed to spend some time on hand quilting my red and white pinwheel quilt.  I have got a self-imposed deadline for completing it, which is approaching fast.
Having completed the outlining, I am now quilting the motif in the centre of each square.  I designed the motif myself and made a template out of some heavy plastic to draw around, several months ago. For the first one I had used a watercolour pencil, but having watched a video tutorial by Judi Madsen at Green Fairy Quilts, I thought I would try a Sew Easy Wipe Off Fine Line Fabric Marker to mark the quilting pattern.


Sew Easy Wipe Off Fabric Marker Pen

The idea of drawing in pen on my nice, white quilt, filled me with apprehension, so I have documented it, mainly to remind myself how it went for my own future reference.  Drawing the pattern on was easy enough, as the tip of the pen is really fine - good accuracy. I can never guarantee how long a hand quilting project will take, it maybe years, so I am only doing one motif at a time, as I am not sure how long the pen will last.

Motif marked onto quilt with Fabric Marker Pen

Once I had hand quilted the motif, I dampened a microfibre cloth, and wiped the marks away.  As you can see below, yes, it really did wipe the blue pen marks away! Just like magic!


Wiping off Fabric Marker Pen, with a microfibre cloth

However, when I looked again the following day, I noticed that there were some blue stains lingering, mainly at the points where I stopped the pen when drawing around the quilt template. 

Remaining blue stains, after 12 hours

I have given it another rub, and it seems to have got rid of the lingering blue stains, and I will check it again before I give it its final wash.  I don't want to rub the quilt too much though.  I guess until I finish the quilt, and  give it a good wash, I am not going to know for sure whether it has worked or not.

Here are the instructions for reference.

Instructions:
All Fabric Markers should be pre-tested on a scrap of your fabric first, for both application and removal.
All temporary markings must be removed before ironing or washing in detergent. Avoid direct sunlight or heat.
To remove marks, simply wipe off with a damp cloth, or rinse out in cold water.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 6

It is time for Draw 6 of my Nearly Insane Quilt journey ... and the next blocks are

13 - 43 - 80 - 96

I have already been choosing my colour combinations for Block 43, which at first glance seems to be one of the more 'insane' blocks, and looks like a traditional 'Lone Star' variation.  I don't think I have ever done a Lone Star before. Here are six of the colour combinations which I have come up with (so far) - which Option is your favourite?

Block 43 Nearly Insane - Lone Star Variation

 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 57

I must have tried about 50 different fabric combinations for Block 57 for my Nearly Insane Quilt, using my Electric Quilt software - probably the time it would have taken to make the block in the first place.  There is another Ohio Star in there somewhere if you look closely.
In the end I have used the same pretty Apple fabric that I used for the Basket Block, Block 41, along with some French General fabric and a red daisy print, 'Kimono Ditzy' which I haven't had the chance to use yet.
It was easy to put together as most of the pieces were similar sizes and shapes, I just had to take care that everything was put in the right place.
Another block finished, ready for Draw 6.
Linking with Finish Up Friday!

NUMBER OF PIECES: 45
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1" (25mm) x 1" (25mm) x 1 3/8" (36mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 1 3/8" (36mm) x 1 3/18" (36mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Kimono Ditzy (843) by Henley Studio, Makower UK
French General Favourites - Pearl  for Moda #13526 14
Apple Fabric - unidentified

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 62

Block 62 - Nearly Insane Quilt, with Cornerstones and Sashing

Here is Block 62 of the Nearly Insane Quilt, which I finished stitching last night.  For this picture I have set it against the cornerstones and sashing, just to give you an idea of how it will look when it is complete in the whole quilt.  I have used this block to showcase my Mama Said Sew Moda fabric, and a very fine red and cream zig zag fabric which looks more pink from a distance.

It was not the easiest of blocks to do.  There is a lot of BIAS going on in this block - thank heavens for the paper templates.  I am hoping that once I get the sashing on, it will hold it all in place.  Some of the triangular 'looking' pieces are actually quadrilaterals, and not asymmetrical.  This meant I had to be extra careful to make sure everything was the right way around, so I carefully laid them out in separate piles.  But Sparky came to help, and suddenly all my five little piles of English Paper Pieces disappeared! 

Where was the rest of the block?

 

 

It's great to have help, but Sparky seems to be magnetically attracted to my patchwork block pieces, and saw them as a nice change from his usual resting place - the television remote control!

Anyway, today is 17th of the month, so it is Help for Hexi-Aholics over at Sarah Did It!  Strictly I don't have any Hexi projects on the go, but with all my English Paper Piecing, I think I can make a valid contribution - especially if I showcase my 'Hexi Table'!  (OK, strictly an octagon, but I KNOW they won't be fussy).  If you have any long standing Hexi Projects, pop over there and share it.

 

'Hexi' Octagonal Wooden Table

NUMBER OF PIECES: 52
DIFFICULTY: 6/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 3/4" (19mm) x 3/4" (19mm) x 1 1/16" (27mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 1 3/16" (36mm) x 1 3/16" (36mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Reunion Cherry Sally's Skirt by Sweetwater for Moda #5473
Kona Cotton (Solid Red) by Robert Kaufman
Tangled Threads in Apple Red, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda
Tangled Threads in Apple Red on Cream, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda

Linking up with Freshly Pieced too!

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 87

Back when I was doing Block 92, I announced my change of plan to swap a few of the blocks around, replacing Block 92 with Block 87 as the corner block for the quilt.  Well, Block 87 has come up in the draw this time round, so I get to do a corner block for the quilt.  I have shown it with one of the 6" sash pieces, to illustrate its size.
Only eight pieces in this little triangular block, and not so much time committed to choosing the colours as I know I have four more to make, which I will do in different colourways.

NUMBER OF PIECES: 8 (Corner Block)
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 15/16" (22.5mm) x 15/16" (22.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 1 1/2" (38mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Little Spots Red, Pierres Famous Travelling Circus, Michael Miller
Scattered Red Stars on White (Unidentified)
Red and White Stripe (unidentified)

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 5

Here is the block selection for Draw 5. Again, nothing too bad here - when will those 'insane' blocks make themselves known?
 

10 - 57 - 62 - 87

 

Nearly Insane Blocks 4, 30, 61 with Spring Polyanthus

Above are the set of blocks from my Nearly Insane Quilt Draw 4, Block 4, 30, and 61 .  I thought I would showcase my blocks against our Spring polyanthus. We have had a few warmer days this week, and I just managed to take this picture before the rain started again.  My posts have got a bit out of sync, due to having more time to sew, and less time to update my blog, but I think with this post I have pulled it all back into order.



Nearly Insane Quilt, English Paper Piecing

I have started to gather a good pile of blocks, along with other bits and pieces for the Nearly Insane Quilt, but overall, it only represents about 17% of the total.  As you can see, I have made good headway with the pile of sashing strips, but the cornerstones are falling slightly behind.   So this is a review of my 'Design Wall', and so joining up with Patchwork Times today.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 4

Block 4 - Nearly Insane Quilt

Another block completed for the Nearly Insane Quilt. Block 4 seems to be another Ohio Star 'variation'.  It was an easy block to construct, but choosing the colours for it seemed to take ages, and I am still not sure if I quite got it right.  It is amazing how much of your life you can waste on Electric Quilt!
On another note, whilst out and about at the weekend, I came across this card, which I just had to have  - I think it is a great ' Mission Statement' for my current project.


NUMBER OF PIECES: 33
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1 1/16" (27mm) x 6/8" (17mm) x 6/8" (17mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 3" (76mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Gingham by The Henley Studio for Makower #920
Red Pinwheel Cream Apple Red Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5496 11
"Christmas Past" (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Kona Cotton (Solid Red) by Robert Kaufman