Summer Evening Photo Shoot - July Star Blocks

 I can't think of anything I would rather do on a beautiful summer evening than photograph one of my quilts, 

especially when this is the scene that greets you on the other side of the fence!  

(What is it about a meadow scene at that magic hour just before sunset that always makes my heart ache for heaven??)

My friend Susan and her husband own a lovely B&B on West Ridge Road in Elizabethtown and were kind enough to allow me to photograph my "July Star Blocks" quilt on their property.  

I just love this quilt!  

(I can hear my friend Diane saying, "you say that about every quilt you make" - ha ha!)

I think the reason I love it so much is because I hated it when I first got started on it over a year ago.  It's super scrappy and has dated fabrics that I no longer love mixed in with current fabrics that I really, really like.  It was way too much.  I was so looking forward to making this quilt ever since I saw Allison Harris's photos of it six years ago on her blog and had been collecting fabrics for it ever since.  Terribly discouraged, I set it aside.  

But then, I read this blog post re: mixing solids in with prints and what ratio to aim for.  I don't usually work with solids unless it's a large amount of a background solid in one color, and just couldn't envision it.  But, she was right!  I purchased two shades of red, two shades of blue and one shade of gray and mixed them in  with the remaining blocks I hadn't yet stitched.  It did the trick!  I was amazed.

This post by Allison on using solids was helpful too.  

Jackie Padesky's instagram photo inspired  (I actually copied her!) the computerized quilting design done by The Last Stitch Quilting Service.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, isn't it?!

I have a feeling I am going to cart this quilt all over the place this summer, looking for good spots to photograph it with flags or barns (or both!) in the background, but for now, I wanted to at least share these photos and the story behind the quilt!  

(I so want to take a picture of it in the field in front of this barn - wouldn't that be an amazing picture?!! - but not sure I can pull that one off.  In the meantime,  I need to keep my hands on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road!)

:)

35th Anniversary of the OLFA Rotary Cutter!

I recently had the unique privilege of helping OLFA celebrate the 35th anniversary of their rotary cutter!

What fun!
What quilter doesn't love their rotary cutter, and doesn't love the OLFA company?!  I still remember purchasing my first OLFA cutter,  mat, and O'Lipfa ruler in the late 80's - it totally revolutionized my quilting!  My original OLFA mat needs to be put out to pasture, but I can't bear to part with it because of all the memories embedded in it (yes, Robin, I can hear you saying "Let it go, let it go!")!  So, when this opportunity presented itself, I immediately responded, "I'm in!!"  I could picture myself hobnobbing with the celebrities of the quilt world!  :)

Thirty-six quilters/designers/authors were invited by OLFA to submit a quilt block.

The only requirements were that the block needed to contain yellow and needed to finish at 6 1/2" square.  Each participant featured their block on their blogs, along with an OLFA give-away for their readers.  It was fun receiving their blocks, then reading their blog posts (you can read some of them here, here, here, here, here, here, and my favorite one here.)  And, it was especially fun receiving blocks from many quilters whose blogs I already follow and love!  It was fun, too, learning of some new blogs and personalities in the quilt world.  (OK, I know I used the world "fun" too many times in this paragraph, but no other word suffices!)

After receiving the blocks in the mail from each participant, my job was to photograph each block along with the accompanying card, log their comments, then assemble the quilt top.  It was the dream Administrative Assistant job combined with quilting!  :)  It was so much fun opening the mail box each day with an envelope from a well-known quilter. And, I so enjoyed reading their comments;  there was so much love and appreciation for the OLFA company in their words - you could feel the love! 

After the top was completed, I shipped it off to Kathy to do her magic.  Then, Kathy returned the quilted top to me, and I added the binding and sleeve, as well as a label on the back documenting the names of each participant.

I didn't think to add Kathy's and my names to the label.  :(

I have to admit, when it came time to assemble the quilt top, the stressing began!!  It was a challenge to find a way to put the blocks together in such a way that showcased each quilter's distinct style, while at the same time tying all the blocks together in a cohesive design.  We wanted to keep the style modern and keep the focus on the blocks.  

And, we wanted to incorporate the bold yellow of the OLFA cutter. 

Finding the perfect shade of yellow was a challenge!

 As I was assembling the top, I kept thinking of each participant, wanting so much for them to be pleased when they saw their block in the finished quilt, displayed at the International Quilt Market in Houston. I wanted them to say, "that's exactly what I envisioned!"  (Totally unrealistic expectations, I realize!!)  When I sent the quilt top off to Kathy for longarming, I wasn't even sure I was happy with what I had come up with, but we had a deadline to meet, and we needed to keep the project moving along.  (If it had been a personal project for me, I probably would have folded it away and come back to it several years later!)

But, when the quilt came back from Kathy, I almost cried!  Her quilting tied everything together beautifully....

So, how did I get in on such a cool project?  As we all know, it always comes down to who you know!  When I was exploring the possibility of launching a longarm quilting business last year, I stumbled across Kathy O. of Stitch by Stitch on line.  I had consulted with her about the feasibility of a longarm business for me.  My longarm dream never materialized, but we became kindred-spirit friends as a result.  Kathy is well-known in the longarm quilting world, so it was no surprise that OLFA would contact her about the project.  However, she was too busy for tackling the entire project, so she then invited me to join in.  Kathy and I had worked on a quilt together earlier in the year, so I knew I would enjoy collaborating with her on this project.  We even set up a secret Pinterest board that Kathy, Robin from OLFA, and I could view/pin together with our ideas for the quilt.

When it came time to ship the finished quilt back to the OLFA headquarters outside Chicago, I hated to part with it.  (Unlike most quilters, I've parted with very few of my quilts over the years....)  So, with the help of my friend Phyllis, I took it out for a final photo shoot on a lovely fall day.

The quilt will be showcased in the OLFA booth at the International Quilt Market/Quilt Show in Houston this week, then will make its way to the OLFA headquarters in Japan.  I would have loved to been a fly on the wall at Quilt Market!

Thank you, OLFA, for allowing each one of  us to celebrate this milestone with you!

Photo Shoot at Blossom Hollow Farm

My cousin John was kind enough to help me mount some family quilts on their barn for a photo shoot during our family reunion this weekend!

I wanted to take a picture of this quilt at the family farm since it had been pieced by my Grandma Learn.

Before she died, my grandmother gave the unquilted top to my sister Alison, then I machine quilted it for her for Christmas last year.

I have no idea what the name of the quilt pattern might be,

but I love its scrappy look!

I also wanted to take a picture of this quilt on the farm since my mother, my two sisters, my aunt, and my two cousins all stitched identical quilts together over the course of  three years back in the 90's.

We each included a signature block.

I grow more and more attached to this quilt each year!

I had originally hand quilted it with minimal stitching, but just wasn't pleased with it.

So, this year I stippled it, over top of the hand quilting.

Since I used Warm & Natural batting, it shrunk beautifully when I washed and dried it, giving it the vintage feel I love.

I'm so grateful for the quilting heritage from my mom's side of the family!

Quilt Photo Shoot at the Umholtz's

My dear friends Elma & Leo were not only kind enough to let me tack up my quilts on their barn to take some photos this evening, but they also helped me (even though they weren't so sure at first about my vision!).

Photographing quilts is not for the faint of heart!  You have to scout out settings, wait for the right time of day so the lighting is perfect (still haven't completely figured that out yet!), haul out your stepladder and climb up on it, reaching as high as you possibly can [which isn't that high when you're only 5' 2"!], pound nails into a barn wall, then hope everything is reasonably level and what you had in mind.

But it's always worth the effort, and it's always so meaningful to spend time with your quilts in a lovely setting.  Elma quickly caught my vision and served as my "photo stylist".  

I love the Umholtz's property....  They are moving into a retirement community next week, and although I'm happy for them, I'm ever so sad for me - I never get tired of soaking in their property as evidenced here and here.

Enjoy a tour of this lovely property through a quilter's perspective!

(These photos make me want to do an outdoor quilt show with my entire collection of quilts....)

:)