Pin It Weekly #269

Happy Weekly! Here are some recent quilt pins that I found. All modern, because you know, QuiltCon is happening right now!

Flying Geese anyone?

All of these are on my "heart, quilts" board. It's getting oh, so close to 9,000 quilt pins. Isn't that something else?

Hand-quilted art pieces ~~ a beginning

Having finished "Sunset in Utah" and needing some handwork for our trip to Nashville for QuiltCon, I've already pulled together another little quilt. Another sunset, this one is quite different from the last. 

I thought you might be interested in what these look like before I start quilting. I make up a quilt sandwich, starting with the backing and batting. The size depends on nothing, really. I just make it whatever size I want or need for the project.  

I begin laying the strips of fabric down overlapping edges so that I can stitch both at the same time and keep the batting inside the piece. When the batting is completely covered, I pin the strips down with lots of quilting straight pins. Then it's off to the machine to baste everything together. 

I just put in a few lines of big stitches perpendicular to the strips and try to catch each strip at least twice. Anything that can move needs to be controlled, so I either put in a few hand stitches or go back to the machine. 

I like the raw edges that ravel while I'm working on the pieces, so I rarely sew strips together and never turn the edges. And it's ready for quilting.

Sunset in Utah ~~ finished!

I have been enjoying working on some small hand-quilted pieces lately. They take as much time as they take. There's no pressure to get anything a certain way because I just quilt it the way I put it together: improvisationally and intuitively what might be a straight line of stitching today, could be a curve tomorrow. Everything depends on the mood and moment of having the needle in hand.

While we were traipsing around the Midwest, we visited Salt Lake City, Utah, then moseyed down Hwy. 191, mostly homeward, with day breaks at Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Lots of beautiful scenery in those wild places, along with sand and cacti and sunsets. When I think of Utah, I fondly remember the pink and purple sunsets and wanted to capture that in a small quilt. Still drawing on my memories, this is my rendition. 

After I framed this piece, I hung it on the thread board (upside-down!) where I could see it and remember to take photos at some point. I liked the way it contrasts with the thread and decided to grab one picture here. It turns out that getting close-ups while it was hanging here was quite easy, so I clicked away.

The lines of stitching are meant to help move the eye and also to suggest the floating clouds and sky. Some lines follow the shapes defined by the colors. Others move in organic waves.

While I kept the thread colors true to the fabric colors--purple on purple, pink on pink--I didn't match the fabrics exactly. In fact, dark and light thread mingle and shift to mimic the movement of clouds.

I remember the colors starting out with the darkest pinks gliding above my head and gradually getting lighter as they turn into lavender purples. Streaks of rich, deep purple breaking through.

Of course, this is my sense of the natural beauty of the sky. If you were to look at a photograph of this precise moment, you would probably see something different. Although I took a photo, I can't find it. 

What do you think? Honestly, of course. Does this rendering feel like a desert sunset?

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: graphic lines

In just a few days many of us will be traveling to Nashville, TN, for QuiltCon, which begins on Thursday. I pray that you all have safe travels and that you enjoy the show. If you're planning to attend QuiltCon on Friday, let me know. (Leave a note here or email me at mary.marcotte@gmail.com.) I'd love to meet you, perhaps for lunch, and to have a chance to get to know you in person. It's almost always better, don't you think?

Enjoy these quilts and over 8,000 others on my "heart, quilts" board.

This [familiar] Old House

I read just about anything with words that comes into the house. Books, magazines, whatever. Doesn't matter. It's the words. They are like pecan pie...they call my name. 

So when This Old House came in, I picked it up. The last page of the magazine is always an article titled "Save this Old House," which includes a picture and information about an old house that is for sale and needs lots of TLC. 

This month I thought the picture looked familiar. I took another look. Hmm. I read the words. And they told me exactly what I already knew. This old house lives in Moreauville, a small town in Avoyelles Parish, about 20 miles away.

A transom and sidelights
surround a large single door
on the wide, deep porch. 

Dr. Eugene Amet and his wife immigrated from France and built this house in 1856. The woodwork trim, which was added later, is unbelievable. 

View of addition which includes a large
kitchen and several other rooms

Gingerbread trim around front porch

  My hope is that someone will purchase and save the house. It's perhaps one of the oldest homes in our parish. It comes under the umbrella of the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation (LTHP) which will assist new owners in restoring the 3,576 sq. ft. home.

(R) right side view of back addition
(L) side views of original house

Do you think the home has a chance of being bought and preserved? Would you consider restoring an old building if the opportunity arose? I just need the money!

Pin It Weekly #268

I missed last week's PIW because I was volunteering at Beta convention. Now that it's over, and I've recovered, I'll help babysit grandies while we pass the crud around like we're playing hot potato. Ryder is in the hospital, Marley and Sophie both are running fevers, and Milly's little nose is raw from being cleaned so often.

Let's meet a couple of new followers, shall we? Maria das Dores Lima's boards are all titled in Portuguese. I translated them using Google 
so I could figure out the language. (I'll assume that Google is correct.) 
Here are a few of her pins:

Sofia Luchita is big on travel! She has almost 50,000 pins on her travel board. Check it out:

Jesseka is just as interested in words. She has several boards with memes and posters and, well, phrases of  all sorts about all sorts. Here are a few:

And there we are. New followers, new pins, new ideas!