Karen writes about life as a Quiltmaker in Austin, Texas; surviving in an empty nest, marriage, cooking, gardening and (did I say?) Quilting...

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Karen Quilts Life

Working ON...

Have three nearly finished quilts that I turned into the Austin Area Quilt Guild's judged show, which is coming up Sept. 27th.... I'm sure I'll have at least one finished... Here's the run down:
1. Nile Green 1930's "Heart's & Gizzards" pattern top that I bought in Wimberley at the trade days many years ago...Hand pieced, with lovely scalloped triangle edges, however, the piecing was not terribly arccurate. The original maker had GREAT difficulty with the curves, so there were lots of "c" cup areas, and other small defects throughout the quilt that had to be dealt with during the quilting. I decided it should be finished traditionally, and so did a quilt in the ditch.... This was my first hand quilted top, and I learned very quickly why quilt in the ditch isn't such a fun thing! What a challenge. I put it aside with just the binding and scallops to be quilted about 3 years ago to make:

Image hosted by Webshots.com
by karenquiltstexas

Finished the final binding tonight. just need to add a hanging sleeve to the back!

2. The queen sized gold "wedding ring" pattern for my mom's 50th wedding anniversary (in 2003!). The rings are entirely done in gradations of gold flecked fabrics that I collected over several years. Been at it for almost 3 years now... it is a tremendous undertaking. With a brilliant white background, and a Michael Miller Fairy Frost boarder. Quilted with elaborate feathers, and with appliqued swag borders... I am doubtful about finishing this in time. I told mom that if she wanted to, we can enter it in the STate Fair, but I don't think I've made that deadline either!! The fair is usually in October I think! Maybe next year. You can see pictures of these on my Webshots site...

http://community.webshots.com/user/karenquiltstexas

Probably won't be finished. Still needs about 18 inches quilted... another month. Oh pooh....!

and 3. A lovely all lavendar print pieced quilt for my Neice Ginger... it's a secret, so I won't show a picture here.
Needs machine quilting and binding... probably will finish. Will see if "Big Red" is in the mood for some quilting tomorrow!

So, onward to my first quilt show entries... can't wait!