Tonight I got on a wild hare...

Hello!
Tonight instead of playing another game or two
of Freecell, Spider Solitaire,
Bridge Baron 19 or Internet Scrabble
while avoiding going to bed,
I decided to create a quilt on Electric Quilt 6.

I view Electric Quilt as a "computer game"
without the violence and with a useful and often lovely outcome.

Tonight I chose this antique quilt
which was made in 1896
and is currently hanging in the Quilt Room
of the Nodaway Valley Histoical Museum
 in Clarinda, Iowa where I am a Board member.

When I looked at my photo, I thought,

 "What a pitiful photo of this quilt!" 

While I worked on it, 

I decided the most appealing aspect of it

 in this photo is the aged antique look. 

It certainly is not the slightly unique, 

but not particularly interesting, blocks. 

But I was not to be deterred, so here it is.

How boring!

So that got me searching for 

and coloring a more interesting block 

and then choosing another nine patch alternate block to complement it. 

After I colored them a couple blues and white, 

I used the "Swap All Colors" tool 

and came up with this color scheme.

I have named this 100" x 100" quilt which has 81 - 9" blocks,

"Clearly you have made your point".

I think it is much more interesting. 

Don't you?

Never one to give up the fight easily and retire to bed,

I decided to reduce the number of blocks

 from 81 to 49 by removing the outside row of blocks, 

revising some of the coloring

 in the alternate blocks along the sides, 

inserting a middle border, 

and enlarging the outer border to 15" 

to keep the quilt at 100" square 

and allow the center 

to fit on the top of my queen-sized mattress 

and only the borders to drop over.

Hmmm, which do you prefer?

I'm glad I skipped my other computer games 

and went for "Electric Quilt."

I always feel more productive. 

If I do decide to make this quilt, 

I can use EQ6 to print off my rotary cutting directions,

 yardages and a printed drawing to select fabrics to match...

or not...as I desire.

I hope you dream of quilts tonight, too.
Carlene

Can there ever be too many green quilts?

On April 10th my friend Barbara Mills and I 

attended the Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group 

which met in Kalona, Iowa. 

The focus of the daylong program was 

"Depression Quilts" 

and each of the 60 attendees

 was encouraged to bring two quilts to share with the group.

 I took this photo of two of the antique quilts 

draped over a quilt stand. 

A comment on the caliber of the attendees: 

These women are well-schooled 

and have gathered many quilts in their travels. 

Each time a show of hands was asked for--

"How many of you have a double wedding ring quilt 

at home that you did not bring?"...the tally was at least 23. 

This is coming from 60 ladies. 

This is in addition to the 120+ quilts they brought that day 

which we all oohed and aahed over. 

The attendees were asked the question over and over--

with a change of pattern name--

trip around the world, Sunbonnet Sue or Overall Bill, 

postage stamp, etc. 

I just wanted to rave about this group

 and share a green quilt and as Forrest Gump would say,

 "That is all I am going to say about that."

My friend Lisa Christensen admired this quilt entitled "Maddox".

Now just tell me the green doesn't make it pop!

I just found this next quilt photo 

on the 2010 International Quilt Festival/Chicago 

(actually Rosemont, Illinois) website 

at http://www.quilts.com/sqf10/enVivo/ 

in the SPECIAL EXHIBITS section. 

You may want to check out these 11 special exhibits. 

This quilt which appears in the "Celebrate Spring! 2010" exhibit 

is entitled "Blazing His Own Trail" by Ann Crowl Meyer. 

In addition to being named the Viewer's Choice, 

it was one of the quilts detailed in the VIDEOS section 

(Celebrate Spring exhibit) 

where closer photos 

and interviews of featured quiltmakers were recorded. 

I just love to look at it.

 Don't you?

But to be honest...
not all green quilts are created equal.
I hope my examples have proven that.

If you are not sold yet,
you WILL BE after seeing the next quilt
I made many years ago.

I found the coleus printed fabric
and purchased solid-colored pink and green to go with it.

Mistake #1.

I decided to "fussy cut" a coleus plant for the center

and border it with the green and pink "delectable mountain" blocks.

Mistake #2.

Admittedly this did give me a chance to practice
 the "delectable mountain" blocks which I do like,
but...really...is this a pretty quilt....I don't think so.

The center square looks more like a human heart than a lovely flower.

Hence the name, "Pepto Bismol Beating Heart."

And the border just doesn't do anything for the quilt...
really...what does do anything for the quilt.

So, this is an example of an ugly quilt...
and yet, a quilt which does serve a purpose...

as a warning to others...

DON'T DO THIS!

So there CAN be too many green quilts!

Learn from my mistakes.

But, of course, we must all make our own mistakes.

 If you have, don't let it break you.

It didn't break me.

I must have made another 30 or 40 quilts since this one.

And almost every one is MUCH better.

Laugh at your mistakes and plan a better quilt.

Until next time,

Carlene

Going green...

I design all the quilts I want to make on Electric Quilt

before I purchase fabric and begin construction.
Here are drawings of two 100" x 100" green quilts
 I am currently working on.

This one features "deviled eggs on a tray".

So far I have hand appliqued a golden orange yolk
onto each of the 23 egg whites

(made from Kona white cotton).

(Two eggs are missing because...

when have you ever gotten the deviled egg tray 

to the table with all the eggs on it? 

People are always grabbing one off

 as you approach the serving table.)

Now I need to applique the egg whites
onto the large piece of "hostas" background.

Isn't this "hosta" fabric (for the tray) excellent!

My current dilemna is to find a way to keep the hostas

from showing through the egg white fabric.

When this quilt top is completed,
I had planned to stencil "paprika" on the yolks.

Someone recently suggested "pepper" instead,

so now I am considering a second quilt featuring fried eggs on a tray

which I might have to name "Over Easy".

If I do make it,

I would probably have to use some brown/tan striped fabric

and add some 3D rippled bacon strips.

(And yes, I do sleep under all my quilts.)

The next quilt I am prepping for is the sheep in the pasture below.

The sheep will be foundation pieced and sashed

so that they can constantly graze on a lush green grass background.



I hope you are going green, too!
Carlene

You just never know...

 

On March 20, 2010 I was speaking about my quilts

 to a group of women who were visiting Clarinda 

for the National Minneapolis-Moline Collectors Convention. 

In addition to sharing stories about more than thirty other quilts, 

I also chose to set up my 96" x 124" quilt named

 "Holocaust: A Hate Movement" 

in the main area of the Nodaway Valley Historical Museum.

 Since men and women were expected at the Museum that day, 

I thought its message could reach a large group. 

As it turned out, we did have 102 visitors that Saturday.

I shared the messages which are built into the quilt

 through blocks, fabrics, text, dimension, texture and quilting. 

Seventy blocks, chosen for their names 

from The Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns compiled by Barbara Brachman,

tell the story of the Holocaust in chronological order. 

The Nazi swastika block was drafted from a photograph. 

Bright colored prints first released in the 1920's and 1930's 

are featured in the beginning of the quilt. 

At the time when life became precarious, 

only solid-colored fabrics were used. 

The chosen colors were black (hate), red (death), orange (fear), 

brown (Nazi uniforms), dark blue (U.S., British and French flag color) 

and light blue (Israeli flag color). 

The four gray border fabrics represent everyday "normal life" (left), 

ashes blowing in the wind (top), 

ashes in the furnaces (bottom) 

and tendrils of hope growing from the ashes (right).

Blocks pieced with their seam allowances 

on the surface (instead of inside) 

reverse the meaning of the original block name. 

For example, the reversed block "Peace and Plenty" 

depicts the lack of peace and plenty at that time. 

Text such as "Where is God" and "Men to the left, Women to the right" 

documents both memories and agonizing concerns. 

Overall hand quilting in three-inch intervals 

represents the barbed wire fences 

surrounding the extermination and work camps.

In 1991 I was inspired by God 

to make this quilt after visiting Yad Vashem, 

The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority 

near Jerusalem, Israel. 

Yad Vashem was founded in 1953 by the State of Israel 

to recognize those killed and harmed during the Holocaust 

and to acknowledge those who worked to rescue the survivors.

The software programs Electric Quilt and Blockbase 

were used to design the quilt layout and print templates 

for cutting out the pieces of the blocks. 

The names of the 77 quilt blocks 

are listed in alphabetical order as follows:

American Homes

At the Depot

At the Square

Attic Window

A Victory Quilt

Boxcar Patch

Broken Windows

Brown World

Children Israel

Church Steps

Churchill

Day and Night

Danger Signal

Depression

Father's Choice

Follow the Leader

Ghost Walk

Hide & Seek

Home Again

Hour Glass

Lost Children

Memory Block (seven - each containing one of the texts below)

..."Men to the left, women to the right"

..."Work will make you free"

..."Break the body, break the spirit, break the heart"

..."Where is God"

..."Whatsoever you do to the least of these my brethren, you do unto me"

..."I was only following orders"

..."Never again"

Next Door Neighbor

Nothing Wasted

Our Country

Path Thru the Woods

Peace and Plenty (backwards)

Peaceful Hours (backwards)

President Roosevelt

Prosperity (backwards)

Railroad Crossing

Road to Paris

Rob Peter to Pay Paul

Salute to Loyalty

Secret Drawer

Star of David

Swastika

Target

The Stockade

Trial and Troubles

Underground Railroad

Victory

I am drawn to tell stories about my quilts. 

This one has been the most difficult so far. 

In addition I have found that remembering history

opens my eyes to the current lack of justice and peace

in so many areas of our world.

 Keep your eyes open. 

Be courageous and speak up. 

You just never know when you might make a difference. 

Do you know of a venue which would welcome 

a short term display of this eye-opening quilt with a serious message?

Peace,

Carlene

Surfing in new waters

This week while surfing, I discovered Rocky Mountain Quilts

(which is located in Maine) which sells spectacular antique quilts.

http://www.rockymountainquilts.com/?gclid=COqA_r-DzqACFRk45wodF0MQzQ

I have included a few, but they have dozens and dozens....

maybe hundreds...of eye-popping quilts grouped by centuries and types such as

Amish, Crazy, African American, Blue and White Quilts, Silk Quilts, 20th Century Quilts, etc.

If you are wishing to be inspired, consider surfing, too!

Carlene

Surfing in new waters

I created this 100" x 100" quilt
(with slightly different inner borders)

after viewing a photo of an antique quilt online.

As you can see, green is a powerful draw for me yet.

What would you use to make the 378 half square triangles--

Triangle Paper, Wonder Ruler or traditional methods?

Also I discovered two more websites of interesting quilts.

On the BBC website I found information about England's

Victoria and Albert Museum current show of quilts from 1700-2010.

Check out the hexagon quilt probably made by a sailor.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8578091.stm

Below is the website where you can view the winners of the

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2010 and 2009.

http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e/quilt/

You know I loved the quilt entitled "Variations of Green" by Chinami Terai

which appeared with the 2009 winners.

http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e/quilt/8/original1.htm

Keep quilting--in your style and with your favorite colored fabrics--or not.

Whatever you choose, I hope you have a lovely spring!

Carlene

Jacob's Extension Ladder

Perhaps you know by now that I like to find quilts that interest me and recreate them on Electric Quilt. Check out this 1870-1890 Jacob's Ladder quilt on the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.

http://explorer.quiltstudy.org/#/quilt/1997.007.0037/

What intrigued me about the antique quilt was there were four Jacob's Ladder blocks in "the" block. First I recreated the quilt up to 100" square in pretty much the colors of the original. However, notice that I did not use half blocks in the top and bottom rows.

 I found this drawing pretty boring. It was hard to appreciate the block. 

 It had popped in the antique quilt, but not in the drawing. 

 When I look back at the original and this drawing, I don't find much different. 

 I think I thought the original quilt's blocks popped because I zoomed in on them.

 But meanwhile, I decided to spice up the colors.

Actually I still don't like it. 

 As it is now, I wouldn't be willing to make it.

What is wrong? 

 Leave a comment if you know what I should do differently. 

 We can all use help. 

 Carlene