Paula Nadelstern snowflake

Nadelstern snowflake quilt
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

I've been having fun creating photosets over on Flickr. The latest is black & bright quilts but I've gradually been assembling a number of them. (After all, what's the use of having this huge collection of quilt pictures if you don't do something with them?) They're all pretty much works in progress, but there is also:
funny quilts,
holiday and winter, spring, summer, autumn
my favorites

Probably more to come. Oh, I did an applique one too, but I'm too tired to go find the link. It's huge, I have lots and lots of applique pictures.

Holiday Poinsettias

Holiday Poinsettias
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Elaine Henry; shown at the 2004 Dallas Quilt Celebration.

Merry Christmas, y'all!!

Santa Bring Me Quilts

Santa Bring Me Quilts
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Holly Potuin. From the Moda Challenge 2004.

Links and an update

Here's a nice Christmas quilt (and tree!), courtesy of Pooks.

Also, Allison Aller has finished a new piece - see here. It's lovely, as usual. (And how on earth did she attach those rocks?)

I have not managed to do any sewing at all, lately. Maybe next week during my week off I will. And I skipped the quilt guild holiday party last night because I was just too tired to drive up there, so I don't even have that to tell you about.

Actually, though, I do have an amazing quilting success story to report: I haven't bought any fabric at all this month. Can you believe that? I certainly don't need any, but that's never stopped me before. I'm sure it's just a Christmas lull and it won't last long, but for now I'm pleased with myself.

Oh, and my Mom is making good progress. We're supposed to get a verdict later today about Christmas, I believe. She is hoping they will discharge her and we can still go to my aunt's as planned, but we will see.

More cats and quilts

Quizzical Lucy on the Quilt
Originally uploaded by Philosopher Queen.

I was in the mood for another quilt-and-cat photo. (I am a cat-person who is currently without a cat, so I have to get a fix someplace once in a while!) Anyway, in addition to the bonus of the adorable cat, this is a really, really nice quilt. There's something in me that wants to make one of these someday.

Quilt of unknown origin

Colorful Cosmos
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Maybe we could call this an UQO - unidentified quilt object. I have no earthly idea where this picture came from. I've been trying to consolidate all my pictures that are scattered out here and yon, and this was just there. It may not even be a picture I took. Anyway, isn't it cute? I like this quilt a lot. (Which is presumably why I saved the picture.)

Later: I got an e-mail telling me where this came from, and I can't believe I completely forgot this so quickly - it was a quilt that was in our quilt guild auction earlier this year. Quilt by Kindred Spirits; donated to Lakeview Quilters Guild 2005 Auction. Photo by Jim Evans. (And I apologize to Jim for posting it without doing more research to see if I could figure out where it came from!)

Let's Go Girls

Let's Go Girls
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Joan Frantz of Florida; entered in the category Art-Whimsical at IQF 2005.

Be sure and look at the details on this one; they're adorable.

Chinese Food

Chinese Food
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Lisabeth Gutierrez of Rhode Island. From the Tactile Architecture exhibit at IQF 2005.

I was noticing that there are some quilts I really liked that I never got around to posting over here, so here's one of them. I might have some more of them in the next few days.

Mom update: she was transferred today to the rehab hospital, and she will probably be there until Christmas. She's ok, just very weak, and it's going to take some work for her to get her strength back.

my Christmas log cabin

Christmas log cabin
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

This is my own log cabin, which I gave to the guild in a fit of altruism. I'm thinking I might make another one similar to this before too long. (I saw some red and green snowflake fabric the other day and that made me think about it.) Maybe I'll do it as a barn raising and make it square this time, though. Or at least a bigger rectangle. This was a very small quilt.

Holiday Ocean Waves

Ocean waves
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

I'm going to start putting up some pictures of Christmas quilts here and there. I really like this ocean waves, and it's Christmassy but not TOO Christmassy, if you know what I mean.

Oh, and my mom is in the hospital (nothing too serious, I don't think) so don't expect a quilt report tomorrow. I'll be at the hospital instead of quilting.

Mom's latest batik quilt

Batik scrap quilt
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Mom saw a pattern on TV (on Simply Quilts, I think) for a square-in-a-square variation - it's not the ones in the center, I believe, but the ones around that. She used leftover batik nickel squares to make this.

36 zipper blocks

36 zipper blocks
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Four-and-a-half rows are finished - if I'm going to make nine rows, then I'm exactly halfway done.

auditioning a new row

auditioning a new row
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

So here's what I was trying out for the fifth row. I used the first four blocks on the left as they were - I'm still mulling over that fifth one, though.

Christmas wall hanging

Christmas wall hanging
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

I don't know if this is technically a quilt - at least, it doesn't have batting in it, although it does have a couple of layers, as I recall - but my mother had it up when I got there today so I thought I would share! I made this (from a kit) in high school.

Flotsam

Oh my god, this is the most gorgeous crazy quilt I've ever seen. (The best picture is in the flash-based part of her site, but she tells how to get there at the bottom of the entry.) (Found via Arlee at Albedo Design.)


A friend who works in a children's bookstore sent me a link to Winter Lights: A Season in Poems & Quilts, which I now really want to buy:



The same author has a previous book: Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts. I've never even seen either one of these, have you guys? (Of course I don't have kids, or even nieces or nephews in this age group, so I guess there's no reason why I should. But somehow I feel like I should know about everything quilt-related!!)


And it took me a couple of days to notice, but Quilt Channel had nice things to say about me! (Although they called Quilts Galore a "new blog" - hey, man, this blog is over a year old, that makes it practically ancient, comparatively speaking!)

Cats and quilts

Originally uploaded by 3e.

Have I said that I have a new computer? It's very nice, and I'm very excited - I'd better be, since it's my main Christmas present! - but I've been spending a whole lot of time trying to get organized. Instead of files and pictures on three different computers and dozens of CDs, I'm trying to get to the point where nearly everything is on the hard drive, except for backups. I mean, what's the point of having that huge hard drive if you don't use it?

(I also have a DVD burner, but I don't understand what kind of DVDs to buy for it. I need a tutorial.)

So anyway, I'm trying to do some organizing on Flickr at the same time. (Considering that I now have well over 1000 pictures in my photostream, some extra organization is definitely warranted.) And in the process of messing around with that I found my way to the flickr "clusters" - the quilt, cat, bed cluster is just about the most adorable thing ever (except for possibly the cat noses and the dog noses). Does that design that the cat above is guarding look familiar?

(Hint: look here!)

Calculating

I was nosing around over at Quilt Channel and Planet Patchwork after Christopher from Quilt Channel commented just below, and I found a review for a fabric calculator. Now, if this is something you think is a great idea, I don't mean to make you feel bad. I think the fact that this is something I would never use says more about me than about anybody else! I know that a lot of people seem to figure the yardage for their quilts very exactly - but to figure the yardage you have to know exactly what you're going to do, and I rarely seem to know that going in. It's (partly) why I make scrap quilts - if I run out of fabric, I just use something else. But it's also because I don't think I would ever finish a quilt if I tried to do it that way; if I knew exactly what fabrics I was going to use, and exactly what the border was going to look like, I would just get bored and quit. If no two blocks are ever completely alike and you really have only a vague idea what your quilt is going to look like, it's a lot harder to get bored.

I guess you could call it the ADD approach to quilting.

Zipper quilt update

31 zipper blocks
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

A bad picture, but that's better than no picture, right? (I realized later that I'd bumped the camera in the wrong place and the settings were screwed up.) Anyway, I have almost 4 rows done, which makes me a little less than halfway finished. I haven't had time to get much done this month; I'm going to have to get on the stick if I'm going to have this - and another quilt, is the current plan - done by the end of April.

(Oh, and I counted this as 31 blocks because the 32nd one is just a rectangle slapped up there and not attached to anything. And that's because I'm not sure that particular color is staying there. Somehow I keep hating anything I put in that spot.)

Kaffe Fassett Hourglass Quilt

Hourglass Quilt
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Turns out the pattern - or the instructions, really, since there's not much pattern needed - for this quilt is in the November Quilter's Newsletter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mom - cornucopia
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.


I think this quilt is from this book (see picture below), which seems to be out of print.

What am I thankful for? I am thankful that I have finished downloading quilt show pictures. (And once again, somebody please remind me next year not to take so many pictures!)

Hi-ya!

Action Karate Quilts

(Credit for this one goes to Lyn Never over at TUS.)

Sunny Girls

Sunny Girls
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Pat Durbin of California; 3rd place winner in the category Art-People, Portraits, and Figures at IQF 2005.

Made postage-stamp-style.

She also made this quilt, which I linked to down below. It's made in the same style.

A Moment in the Shadows

A Moment in the Shadows
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Deborah Sylvester of California; entered in the category Art-People, Portraits, and Figures at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.

Ladies in Waiting

Ladies in Waiting
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Marcia Stein of San Francisco; entered in the category Art-People, Portraits, and Figures at IQF 2005.

(I believe the notes said the quilter saw these ladies on a bench somewhere in France.)

The Colour of Mud

The Colour of Mud
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Pauline Salzman of Florida; entered in the category Art-People, Portraits, and Figures at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.

I really love the quilts in this category. There are some more great ones coming up - as soon as I get them uploaded.

(I am actually getting toward the end of the pictures, finally, though - believe it or not. I don't quite believe it; I have been uploading pictures forever, and I will continue to upload pictures forever. Or so part of me thinks.)

Quilt TV

Quilt TV
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Linda Taylor and Cheri Meineke-Johnson of Texas; 3rd place winner in the category Two Person at IQF 2005.

Apparently Cheri Meineke-Johnson did the piecing on this - which is complex but only covers a small amount of the quilt, you will notice - and then let Linda Taylor loose with the colored thread to quilt whatever she wanted on the rest of it. I bet that was fun.

Miniature Pineapple

Pineapple Flambe
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Judy Spiers of Mississippi; winner of an Honorable Mention in the category Miniature at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.

Compare with the one below - they're practically identical, except this one is on a really, really tiny scale. She specifically mentions Jane Hall as an inspiration.

The Ultimate Pineapple

The Ultimate Pineapple
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Jane Hall of North Carolina; from the exhibit "In the American Tradition IV" at IQF 2005.

(Now look at the one above.)

Morning is Coming (detail)

Morning is Coming (detail)
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Michiko Shima of Japan; entered in the category Innovative Applique, Large at IQF 2005.

Thistles

Thistles
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Renee Caswell of Arizona; entered in the category Traditional Applique at IQF 2005.

Shimmering Foliage

Shimmering Foliage
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Frieda Anderson of Illinois; winner of an Honorable Mention in the category Innovative Pieced, Large at IQF 2005.

Seven-Petalled Squash Blossom

Seven-Petalled Squash Blossom
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Amy Bright of Arizona; 3rd place winner in the category Art-Naturescapes at IQF 2005.

Yummy!

Agate Beach

Agate Beach
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Pat Durbin of California; entered in the category Art-Naturescapes at IQF 2005.

The Big Apple

The Big Apple
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Therese Bliss of Arizona; 3rd place winner in the category Art-Pictorial at IQF 2005.

This is one of those where you scratch your head and say, "Only 3rd place?"

It didn't look quite this photo-realistic when you were standing up close to it. I guess you need distance to get the full effect there.

Also, pull up the big version and look at how it's constructed - it's somewhat different, but obviously it works!

(And it's not a great picture, but there is another of her quilts here. It's constructed the same way, but it's not as complex.)

Mi Casa, Su Casa

Mi Casa, Su Casa
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Grace Errea of California; entered in the category Art-Pictorial at IQF 2005.

Cuyahoga Bridge

Cuyahoga Bridge
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

I must've been tired last night, it looks like I didn't get the maker's name on this one. I will add it later.

(A last name made it onto the tags, I just noticed - it's Callahan. Later: Kathryn Callahan of Missouri, to be exact.)

Sweet Heart

Sweet Heart
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Noriko Kobayaski of Yokohama, Japan; 2nd place winner in the category Handmade at IQF 2005.

I think this is a lovely, lovely quilt. I really just love everything about it.

I also think it's interesting that the Handmade category is completely dominated by the Japanese. Are they more into handmade quilts than Americans?

Heart's Desire

Heart's Desire
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Karen Luman of Maryland; 2nd place winner in the category Traditional Pieced at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.

Details

Stitches of Life (detail)
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Crazy quilts are all about the details, don't you think? That's why I'm posting the detail picture of this one rather than the picture of the whole thing (which is here). There are also more detail pictures, including one corner, which I love, with the spider web. As I understand it, most crazy quilts have a spider web in them somewhere, it's traditional.

Ebb & Flow

Ebb & Flow
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Adrienne Lindsay of Colorado; 1st place winner in the category Innovative Applique, Small at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.

Sometimes I quibble with the award-winners - often not that I think the winners aren't good, but that I think other things are better. (Of course, I don't judge by the criteria judges go by, either.) But this is a 1st place winner I won't quibble with a bit. I love this quilt.

My Rooster Called Ivy

My Rooster Called Ivy
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Anna Faustino of New Jersey; entered in the category Innovative Applique, Small at IQF 2005.

This didn't win a ribbon? I can't believe that. Because I think this one is fabulous.

Interlude

22 zipper blocks
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

A pause from quilt festival quilts to show off my own - here is the progress on the zipper quilt. I haven't had much time to work on it, but I do think I've made some progress since the last time I've put up a picture.

(Boy, that bright yellow block really stands out. I need to make sure there's some more of those scattered around.)

Best of Show (detail)

Best of Show (detail)
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Best of Show

Scarlet Serenade (Best of Show)
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Here's the "best of show" quilt, finally. I was thinking I had a picture without the light pole in front of it, but that one doesn't come anywhere near showing the whole quilt. (There are a couple more pictures of it in the Flickr set.)

By the way, I am uploading the big versions of these for most of the quilts, so if you click over to flickr and look at the big version you can usually see quite a lot of detail. (I love my new camera.)

Happy Day of the Dead!

Catrina Leaves for the Party
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Leslie Jenison; from the exhibit "QuiltArt at 10" at IQF 2005.

Omega 3 Boogie

Omega 3 Boogie
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Marjorie DeQuincey; from the exhibit "QuiltArt at 10" at IQF 2005.

Note the name of the quilt.

Hansel & Gretel Meet the Witch

Hansel & Gretel Meet the Witch
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Paet Burcham; from the exhibit "QuiltArt at 10" at IQF 2005.

(This seemed to fit in with the Halloween-ish theme I've mostly got going the last couple of days, even though it's not strictly a seasonal quilt.)

Waiting for Spring

Waiting for Spring
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Brenda Smith of Arizona. From the exhibit "In Full Bloom II: Floral Quilts Honoring Helen Pearce O'Bryant" at IQF 2005.

I think this is adorable. I don't think I've ever seen kaleidoscope blocks specifically worked into a quilt as flowers.

Martha's Pumpkin Men

Martha's Pumpkin Men
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Made by Kathy York of Austin. Shown at IQF 2003.

Look at the cute pumpkin!

mypumpkin
Originally uploaded by rexandsharkey.

This is not from the quilt festival - I went looking through Flickr for Halloween quilts and didn't find a whole lot, but I did find this little paper-pieced block!

I think I do have one more picture of a Halloween quilt I haven't posted before - and I have some new Day of the Dead ones from Festival which I will be putting up in the next couple of days!

Vase of Flowers

Vase of Flowers
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Round robin made by M Nelson, G Haegy, C Brand, G Stoecklin, A Dirrig, M Fuchs. Part of the "Stitching the World Together: A Michigan/France Round Robin" exhibit at the 2005 International Quilt Festival.