Evolution of quilting style

These are my favorite quilting books.  They encouraged me to be freewheeling and creative with my quilting. 

I love ad-libbing with patterns and fabrics and colors.

  When Gwen Marston died, I made this quilt - remembering her and the weeklong  class I took with  Asilomar in California.     I ususally quote her in my workshops - "If it's too long, cut it off.  If it's too small, add a piece on." 

Recently, I joined a Facebook page and found Jo Anne Merrill-Duckworth, who has evolved a style based on wonky log cabins.   She usually uses one basic color, very scrappy, but with a limited tonal range.  She adds lots of small pieces of contrasting color for visual interest.

My current work in progress is my attempt to do this same thing.    I'm using greens, with forays into blue and yellow.   It will be tagged for my great-grandnephew Rowan, for his high school graduation.

Making these blocks is highly addictive and really satisfying.

Can't wait to start another colorway.

                         

                 

 

Life is a Song

Yesterday I really 'saw' the piece of counted cross stitch that has been hanging on my bedroom wall for many years.   It's at least 30 years old, maybe older.   I made it before  I discovered quilting.

What it says still rings true for me.

 

Bye bye quilts

I had too many quilts around the house.  

Scrap quilt to Donna

This weekend I gave some to my nieces.   Others are tagged and ready to go to my nephew, grandson, and bonus granddaughter

Debbi has mine from Oma

 

 

  

 

Debbi got my wedding quilt from 1996

 

 

Kathy has this one now

 

 

 

Martha chose this one - the Women of the Bible

Michael will get the 12 days of Christmas

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Natalie will get Dear Jane Light 

Kathy  took this one

Donna took the Red, Green, Purple one     

Mike has the first quilt I made 

Jack gets this one





And Granny's Star has been returned to Jack.

Kathy took the one from Gruene

Hibiscus - raw edge applique with thread painting

I recently took a class from Susan Knight and made this sweet hibiscus applique block. 

As usual for a class, I used fabric that I already had, but this time I think it worked well.

Since most of my walls are full, I turned the block into a pillow for the recliner in my living room.
 

Texas Landscape

 When I saw this Moda panel, I was quite taken with it.  I ordered it online and was very pleased with it when it came.  

As quilters do, I made finishing it up into a quilt a lot harder than it might have been.  I made four strips of flying geese, in four different sizes to frame it.  At least I had the good sense to put in cornerstones of bluebonnet fabric, rather than the curved flying geese that I first thought of.  

It's a real pretty little quilt.

Starting my Ninth Decade

 I celebrated my fifth sixteenth birthday.  (I do love the hexadecimal base system. )

Instead of a big party, I had several small ones.   

First, I had a visit from my grandson Jack.  He made a very quick visit from Minneapolis.   We had dinner at his Mom's house, cupcakes with candles, and he gave me a planter with an unknown green plant.  The planter is in the shape of a bull and the plant is kind of ivy-like.   It's growing nicely.

At the monthly  meeting of my Round Rock quilting group, the Pebbles@Round Rock, we had Texas sheet cake for me and Marilyn, who will turn 75 before the next meeting.

On  the day before my birthday,  my friends-of-long-standing Carolyn and Susan treated me, my daughter Martha, and my friend Susan to lunch at Gloria's, at the Domain.   We had a great time.    -

That afternoon,  Tiff's Treats  delivered. cookies from my son-in-law Luke.  Still warm.

That's them on my table with the planter  from my grandson Jack  and the birthday table mat that my friend Rita made for me many, many years ago. 

On the  morning of my birthday, my neighbor and friend Brady brought me a bag filled with goodies from him and his husband Daniel.  A purple plush elephant. Incense.  Body lotion.  Puzzle book.   That was a real surprise.   It's really nice to have neighbors that become friends.

There was a text wishing me a Happy Birthday from my first ex-husband (Dick) and an email from my second (David).

My grandson Aaron called from Louisiana, with several of his children chiming in on the birthday song.

My cousin Shirley, who is 89, called, as did my former sister-in-law Laura.

My sewing friends took me and Marilyn to Austin Creative Reuse on the actual day of my birthday for some shopping and a Tex Mex lunch.   Thank you, Linda, Kitty, and Jude!

My last celebration was lunch at the Top Notch, with my sister Diane, my brother-in-law Frank, and my niece-and-goddaughter Debbi.

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Turning 80 isn't so bad !

Cherrywood Challenge 2023

At last year's International Quilt Festival in Houston,  my daughter talked me into purchasing one of the Cherrywood fabric bundles for their yearly challenge.

The theme was Monarchs, and I had previously done a fragmented monarch butterfly.

The rules are pretty involved.  This is my submitted entry.

Sadly, there were 475 entries for the 200 available spaces, and mine was not selected.

Can't wait to see the display at the Festival in November.

Silliest Portrait Ever

I made this carrot as a wall hanging many years ago. 

While thinking about how to make my "Pfaces" more unique,        I created this one.

Makes me smile!

Blue Eyed Grass

 Earlier this summer, I discovered a street in my neighborhood that was lined with blue-eyed grass between the street and the sidewalk.

This is one of my favorite wildflowers.

Fun Crochet Project

Some time back, I crocheted a bright orange pineapple doily and put it on my coffee table. 

A few months back, my daughter bought a used Honda CRV with a wheel on the trunk  area. She wanted a fun wheel cover, so I made one for her.

Finally on my bed - Dear Jane Light

Dear Jane Light - started maybe 20 years ago.   I worked on it off and on and finally decided to tweak the design.   I substituted blank squares for half the blocks and spread out the border as well.  So it's so much lighter looking than the original Dear Jane.   And much less work. 

It received tepid reviews at the two    quilt shows that I entered it in, but I love it anyway.  It looks better on the bed than it did hanging in a show, anyway.

 

NACQJ Award of Merit

 I entered three quilts into the 2023 Chisholm Trail Quilt Guild show.   Although I won no Guild awards, I was given an NACQJ Award of Merit.  On the accompanying letter, it states that the quilt "represents excellence in design and/or workmanship".   

There were so many gorgeous quilts in that show and I am at a loss to say why mine was singled out, but let me tell you, I am one happy camper! 

Quilt shows are such a great  way to focus on finishing a project and on working to improve one's technique.  The critique forms give honest feedback on possible ways to improve and encouragement by recognizing good techniques and design choices.  

                    Jane’s mother wanted her to become a writer like her idol, Jane Austen.          Unfortunately, Jane is dyslexic.   She now has a thriving career in retail sales, as she has a good eye for line and color

Corpus Christi trip

 Linda and I had a great time on our Corpus Christi trip.   The groupkloved the trunk show,  with lots of followup comments on how much fun it was.

Linda was amazing support.  We enjoyed visiting with our friends, sticking our toes into the saltwater of the bay, shopping at a going-out-of-business fabric store, and stopping at DQs for dipped cones.

Hope to go back sometime.   Both of us were told by our hostesses that we would be more than welcome.

Climate change? Or just strange weather?

This year my Iris plants didn't bloom at all.

But my Columbine did.

Don't know what's going on here....

Trunk Show in Corpus Christi

 This week I will be doing a trunk show of 22 of my Pfaces at the Coastal Bend Quilt Guild.

To see some of my work, check out my new website,  https://judybaumannart.godaddysites.com/ 

My daughter set it up and I'm trying to learn how to edit it.

So far, I haven't been able to add in my latest Pface, Vicki.   So here she is:

Vicki couldn't quit smoking.

Even after her husband died of lung cancer, she couldn't quit.

When she became ill, she refused to move to an assisted living facility because, as she said, "You can't smoke there.  Even in your own room!"

Don't be like Vicki.

                                            I miss you, Vickki, my friend.

Flowers from Luke

 I helped my daughter and son-in-law buy a house last week.   After all the signing was done at the closing, he pulled out a bouquet from under the table.   Thanking me for making it possible to get a new home.  

A week later, they're even more beautiful.

I hope that their marriage will be the same - unfolding into better and better beauty.

Jane

Jane was made using Jane Sassaman's fabric.

Jane’s mother wanted her to become a writer like her idol, Jane Austen.

Unfortunately, Jane is dyslexic.  

She now has a thriving career in retail sales, as she has a good eye for line and color. 

Trees in the Ice Storm

I have two very large Bradford Pear trees in my front yard.   There's a Live Oak between the front sidewalk and the street.   Then in the backyard there is a large Crepe Myrtle in the back yard, two Cedar Elms  behind my fence, and a young Burr Oak in the back also.   All of these are on my 1/10th of an acre!

Last week, while I was out of town, a very unusual for us weather event occurred - an ice storm.

Both Pear trees lost a very large branch, each in the middle of the tree.  The Crepe Myrtle lost about five medium sized branches, all on the back side.   

I called the people who had done landscaping for me before and they agreed to come on Monday.   But they didn't.   When I texted with a query, I got a very vague answer.  

 Fortunately, my brother-in-law asked if I needed help and I gladly accepted.   He and my sister came over and in less than an hour, my broken branches were off the tree and hauled to the curb.  

Now I'm hoping the city will hold to their promise and pick up all of the debris.   I also hope that the trees will fill out and regain some symmetry.  Who knows, maybe the reduced limb count will let more sunlight through and my grass might grow better.