There's no place like home, there's no place like home! It was so good to come home yesterday from a family reunion, even if the first 30 minutes after arrival had me answering "What's for dinner?", breaking up an argument, cleaning up a scooter accident, and performing first aid. The kids were great for the entire 6 hour drive with the aid of a very good audio book (The Search for Wondla)
Whenever we go to these reunions, we almost always take the same route through Virginia and West Virginia and so have a favorite visitor's center that we stop at to stretch our legs and such (exit 139 on I-64). It's become a family tradition.
They've got a little gift shop there and I found some quilty goodness there. First the traditional quilting books in the WV history section. The Standard Book of Quiltmaking and Collecting, Facts & Fabrications-Unraveling the History of Quilts & Slavery
, and then an actual quilt kit!
Then there was this little feast for the eyes. John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads made into a children's picture book and illustrated in a quilt-like style!
I remember singing this song at the top of my lungs when I was young and dreamed of living in the country.
What a cute idea!
I actually find a lot of inspiration in the illustration of children's books. Below are two of my favorites.
The Quiltmaker's Journey (also the Quilt Maker's Gift which is MIA in my daughter's room) and The Mess.
Love these books--- The Mess is more beloved for it's message of a quilty mom and a creative daughter.
On the way to the park to visit with my mom's side of the family, we passed several barns with painted quilts on them. I wasn't able to safely pull over to get pics though. There was a crazy quilt version that I almost turned around to get a picture.
Then there was a lovely photo quilt in the park's restaurant. Look at the loop-d-loops, some continuous curves and a great leaf design in the sashing!
Above, my little guy is standing in a huge natural rock bridge formation. And below are all three of my sweeties.
Tomorrow, I'll be back to my quilting and posting the winner of Karen McTavish's new book!
All of these books are available through Amazon, though I didn't link to all of them.
More of his work can be found here and there is more visual art to tickle the eyes and imagination on Behance.
Quilting is really a form of line art, some is detailed, like thread painting, some is more to impart texture.
I've shared one of my favorites here before, Johanna Basford, and she write a little on not computerizing her hand drawn artworks, which is a little bit if what I feel about my free motion quilting in a quilt world that is more and more accepting of computerized quilting and embroidery modules that can stitch with precise machine perfection.
Having once balked at the proliferation of machine quilting for several years before I took up my own free motion quilting, I do wonder if I am perfecting my skills for a technique that will also fade away eventually.
I know that for me, I love the freedom of FMQ and know that I won't have the same joy in programming a computer to stitch out even the most amazing designs.
Another week has come and gone and I'm just not sure where the time goes! Not only are we nearly done with this month's free motion quilting adventure, but summer is flying by and I'm off with the kids to my mom's family reunion. This year we're off to Kentucky. Each year my mom's siblings and their kids, and now their kids, get together at a state park with a hotel and we spend a couple of days talking, hiking, and swimming.
It's a lot of fun for the most part, though travelling with three kids is a bit of a chore for me. Hubby can't go again this year, but last year the kids traveled really well, so I have high hopes for this year. It's an interesting time for me as my cousins are mostly in their early 20's while I'm in my early 40's and my aunts and uncle are hovering around the big 6-0. I feel a little like the odd man out. Not a quilter in the bunch either.
But we're here to talk quilting!
I saw a neat grid-based design on Pinterest, I think, but can't quite remember who to attribute it to. Nor do I know what it's called. I think it might be something that Cindy Needham has done before. It looks like a garden lattice. I think it might be my new favorite of all free motion quilting grid-based designs.
I used a one inch grid for this design and stitched the lines of the grid as well as the continuous curve shapes. When I finished with that part, the centers really popped the most. Then I went in and filled in those centers with a square, spiral-type design. That flattened out the centers and caused the curved portions of the design to pop, resulting in a lattice effect. Above, you can see what it looks like with the centers filled and unfilled.
This design would look fabulous worked around a floral applique or in the background of a whole cloth quilt.
My big tip for keeping the curved part of the design fairly uniform and well-shaped? As soon as you curve out halfway, focus your eyes not on the stitching but on the next corner that you are stitching towards. Your hands will naturally come to that corner.
I shot a video of this design too! I had to learn how to splice two videos together since somebody asked me for a graham cracker in the midst of filming.There's always something new to learn! I have hopes that this learning will help keep my brain sharp though I have my doubts some days!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting! Please show us all any grid-based designs you've been working on by linking up below. Don't forget to leave a comment on my "Art of McTavishing" review post to be entered in the giveaway.
For the linky this week, link up a post of grid-based designs you've done, if any. If you haven't done any, now's the time to draw some out, start a new practice piece or even try them out on a quilt!
Some quick rules:
Keep your post relevant to this quilt along please. Spammy posts will be deleted.
Make sure you link up to the individual post, not your home page as nobody wants to have to search around for the post if they're a little late to the party.
Reciprocate! Link back to this post somewhere in your post or use the clickable blog button in your sidebar. You've got to dance with the one who took you to the party, so make sure you link back.
Don't be a wall-flower. (Talking to myself here too. In person I am so stinking shy!) Visit the other links, be sociable, and leave comments.
Please make sure you leave me a way to contact you if you are a no-reply commenter, especially if you ask a question.
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I'm linking up with Connie's Linky Tuesday. Go take a look!
One of my favorite free motion quilting designs is McTavishing. Quilter extraordinaire, and design creator, Karen McTavish has updated and expanded her original book on her namesake design.
When I was planning the first Free Motion Monday series which featured McTavishing, I learned from Karen that this book was nearing release but wouldn't be ready for my series.
She and her publishers were nice enough to send me a review copy when it became available and it's fabulous!
In addition to a lot of material from the first edition and the original DVD, there's quite a lot of new information, including an all new DVD (featuring my unrequited love, George) and a new swirly version! Here's information from the publisher's website:
The author's namesake stitch makes a quilt look and feel as if it has motion and texture. The inspiration for this style of quilting comes from Art Nouveau artist, Alfonse Mucha. Author, Karen McTavish, adapted Mucha's curvy, stylized art form into a free-hand background filler quilting design. The effect was electric on the quilting community and in judged competition.
Mastering the Art of McTavishing instructs the quilter on adding this technique to any quilt or garment, from traditional wholecloth to contemporary art quilts, for use by hand, domestic machine, or longarm quilters.
Lessons from the author combined with interviews of accomplished hand and domestic machine quilters on the DVDs* give the reader an unparalleled view of the quilting process. Every aspect of how to use McTavishing is compiled in the book and in the accompanying DVDs*.
The book is softcover, full color, 128 pages, includes TWO DVDs, and retails for $27.95.
After working on my McTavishing sampler above during the series, I can't wait to work on the swirly version! You can see the rest of my McTavishing series posts on my Free Motion Mondays- A Quilting Adventure page.
Mastering the Art of McTavishing, 2nd Edition is full of beautiful quilts by Karen and many of her students. There are plenty of pictures and instruction for her namesake design plus several other designs. It's a must have book if you don't have the first edition, and has enough new material to justifying adding the newest version to to your bookshelf next to the original too.
, and then an actual quilt kit!
(also the Quilt Maker's Gift which is MIA in my daughter's room) and The Mess.
