Saturday, February 28, 2015

More Quilt Faire Pix

Our Featured artist this year was our very own Mike McNamara or Mac as we all affectionetly call him.  You might recognize his name as he is one of the featured Men in Joe Cunningham's book "Men and the Art of Quiltmaking".   I am a great fan of Mac the person as well as his work!  He has been a steadfast pair of helping hands in our guild for 20 years and I love his free wheeling improv way of designing and making quilts!  I hope you enjoy these pix of his quilts (just a sampling of his most recent work).


DW #18- Sophisticated Lady- Notice the two arcs of yellow / gold through the quilt.

Mac adds some patches or a few curved pieces of yellow/ gold fabric in each of his double wedding ring quilts to make a nod to the name.  Sometimes you have to really look to see where the fragments of the rings are!
Ring # 20
Detail of #20
Rings #15 
Detail of #15
Rings #1 
Rings #19 
Rings #17
Rings # 17 - detail, Where does he get all these crazy fabrics?

Here are the "weeds"
Detail of Laurie and Bobby's Quilt 
Notice the traditional blocks mixed in!
See the scotty dogs?! 
I find Mac's quilts completely entertaining!!   And you might have notice all of the quilts pictured here are either gifts or charity quilts.  Mac is a very generaous person!
More pix in a few days!
Cheers, Claire W.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

My Local Guild's Show: WOW!

  It was my local guild's 35th annual Quilt Show last weekend and I'm happy to say it's one of the best   we've had in recent years!  I've got lots of pictures to share;

 I'd like to start with one of my favorite's of the show...
Isn't it beautiful!!  And all hand quilted! 


This quilt was part of a retrospective of quilts made by our current President.  Here are some more... 













Wowser!  What a talented women and I'm thinking that last quilt must have been hand pieced and look at the amount of hand quilting in all of these quilts, really impressive!
More pix in a few days!
cheers, CW

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentines Day!

I posted a picture of this quilt a couple of years ago, but it's still my favorite Valentine quilt.  I put it on my bed for the entire month of February!  Valentines Day is really just to short!
I just love that crazy fifties novelty fabric!  It reminds me of my childhood. 
The hearts read " Dream Date"  but as a gag I glued a little of the pink over the "Date" and wrote 'Fabric'  because isn't that what Quilters do?!
Happy V-Day!
cheers, Claire W.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Flattery Will Get You everywhere

For Xmas I gave my daughter-in-law table runner which her mother very much admired  and she said if I should feel like making her a holiday runner (any holiday would do) she would be most appreciative!  
Since Our mutually Grandchild  lives in Indiana and we live in California,  Grandma Dawn is the Grandma in residence and picks up Ari early from day care a couple of times a week.  This is a situation for which I'm somewhat jealous but also very grateful that Ari has a loving grandparent near by and (tho' it's a fine facility) as a result spends less time at day care.  So when Dawn made the not so subtle hint I was flattered and I figured it was a nice way to say thanks for being there for Ari!  And since Valentines Day was around the corner...
It's a simple design made entirely from scraps but I don't think Table 
Runners need to be to complex, they are usually partially covered by center pieces etc.
I really like the heart fabric.  I had to piece two scraps to make the big heart but you can hardly tell?! 
 Here's the back,  I quick turned the top to avoid a binding. Sometimes I sew all the way around the edge and then cut a slit in the back to turn it right side out and then steam- a- seam a patch (in this case another heart) over the slit after quilting to finish it off.  Easy peasy!
I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day full of Love and Surprises!
Cheers, Claire W.

Happy Mother's Day!

Be ye Mother, Daughter, Auntie or whatever, enjoy a day for yourself ! To often we rush around taking care of everybody else Today is for Se...