Take along projects

Here I sit in the waiting room.......why didn't I get my take along project to bring with me? I brought my I-pad, so I could check and answer emails. I brought my planner and spreadsheet for upcoming issue designers. I brought my "things to do" notebook, my "bamboo Spark" in case I wanted to play with new designs. What am I doing? Wishing I had some hand sewing along! There is a lady in the corner of the waiting room knitting away on what looks to be a wonderful sweater! I'm getting jealous!

This sweet grand baby Henley is getting a tiny tube put in her tear duct today, so it will quit getting clogged and infected. Grammie is sitting in the waiting room.

I usually have some hexagons to sew, or some applique to work on, but for some odd reason, it never crossed my mind to bring something. What do you have for your take along project?

Share your take along project in the comments!

Have a wonderful day of stitching,

Jeni

 

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The Good Old Fashioned Way

Update on making Deb Eggar's "Floral Abundance"...

Deb Eggar's "Floral Abundance" in Spring 2013 Primitive Quilts and Projects

Judy's Version

Quilt Top = Finished!

I finished the quilt top last night!!!  And I ended up doing it all by hand…the appliqué, and the piecing.

This is a first for me.  Mom and my sisters taught to make quilts on the sewing machine.  While working on Dawn Heese' Somerset a while back, I had trouble piecing the on-point blocks together on the machine.  So I tried basting them instead of pinning.  Then I realized that as long as I was basting them, I might as well piece them by hand.  One thing led to another, and I discovered the joy of sitting on my love seat, stitching away by hand, creating little blocks of beauty one by one.

Last fall (September) I decided to make the “Floral Abundance” quilt from our Spring 2013 issue.  I cut out everything, got it all organized, then got busy appliquéing all the little pieces onto the blocks.  By hand.  When it came time to sew the blocks together, I had no desire to disappear upstairs where my sewing machine abides.  Staying on my love seat, stitching block-by-block,…next thing you know I had rows to build.  And I kept stitching by hand.

Ta da!

 

Now come those 57” borders.  Lots of them.  Guess what?  I stitched them all together by hand!  And I feel so content and happy about it.

I decided to quilt it by hand now.  This will be my second hand-quilting endeavor.  I cut my teeth on a baby quilt last year, and really enjoyed it.

Do you like to stitch by hand?

Speaking of the gold old fashioned way...when our 4-year grandson visits us, we play the old fashioned way.  Instead of playing with technology, we color--WITH CRAYONS ON PAPER!  Here is a drawing of his house, complete with bricks, trees, his daddy's truck, their cat, and of course Julian with his daddy.

Fear not! Primitive is not a color

Good morning friends!

Have you ever looked up the definition of Primitive Art, or Folk Art? If you have, you will find out that color has nothing to do with it! That being said.....most quilters who like the primitive style, usually go with darker or more subdued colors, but I think that is because it reminds them of an old antique quilt! If you look at an old quilt where it isn't worn....in a seam possibly, or an old hooked rug on the backside, where it didn't get much light.....often times you will find bright colors! The style actually is all about character...sometimes what the maker may have been trying to show about his or her life and surroundings. The quilt or rug may have been utilitarian or decorative.

Here are a few examples of bright Primitive or Folk Art style projects that have graced the pages of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.

 

This is Sue Spargo's Folk Art

Karen Bates

Kimber Mitchel, our editor

Buggy Barn

Geoff's Mom pattern

Dawn Heese

Aren't those wonderful?

 

I decided to re-make one of the quilts from my book "Primitive Style" in brighter colors. The quilt is a traditional style patchwork quilt, but it is very dark and scrappy in my book. I also plan on doing a few more of the more Primitive projects in bright colors as well, so be sure and follow along on my Instagram, Blog and Facebook! Here are the two images....I still have a lot of sewing to do!

 

The fabric I used, in case you would like to know, are from Moda....Fig Tree, Strawberry Fields revisited. I used only 5 colors. Aren't they such fun fabrics?!!

Watch for more "Bright Primitive Folk Art" projects being made for my book! If you would like to try some of the projects, you may purchase it here.....

http://www.primitivequiltsandprojects.com/shop/Merchandise/p/Primitive-Style-by-Jenifer-Gaston-x12012447.htm

Have a wonderful day, and feel free to share your Bright Prim projects with us!

Jeni

 

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Winter Storm Jonas

Wow, it’s my turn again?!

I don’t know about you, but we got A LOT of snow this weekend! We closed the office early on Friday, because it was snowing so hard! I believe my yard has almost a foot, in total. My husband, Neal, and I realized Saturday morning, that we were completely out of breakfast food, and we had 3 teenage boys to feed! That meant a trek to Walmart…YIKES! Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Walmart parking lot

I-77 between Williamstown, WV and Marietta, OH

The boys even made themselves a tunnel with the giant mound of snow they shoveled from the driveway! Sorry I forgot to get a picture of that!

The best part about being snowed in, is family time!! Friday night we had dinner at my parents’ house…leftovers! Saturday night we ate there, too…Soup-a-Palooza! I made potato soup successfully for the first time, and my mom made her famous white chicken chili! YUM!

Yesterday morning when I made it to the office, there was a package waiting for me from Kay Harmon, one of our awesome designers! It contained her projects for a couple upcoming issues, and a REALLY adorable sun dress for little Henley! Kay is just too much! THANK YOU!! I will post pictures of Henley wearing her new dress this summer!

One last thing...if you've submitted an email from the "Contact Us" page on our new website, you will get a response, I'm just really behind! Same goes for voice-mails! 

Until next time :)

Kristen

Snow days.. and a pattern for Valentine's day!

January has been cold and snowy so far here in WV! Which makes me very happy... the more snow, the better! I wish we would get at least a foot! It's nice to be able to watch it fall while you're inside under a blanket - reading, watching movies, or stitching!

It snowed a good bit today. My 4 year old nephew, Julian, associates snow with being at my parents' cabin in the mountains. Each time he has been there they always have a lot of snow, so when it's snowing here at home he asks "Are we going to the cabin?" It's pretty cute :)

Valentine's day is coming up and we have a little throw back for you from our Spring 2013 issue. Kathy Cardiff's "Heart's and Vines" is a perfect little project to work on this month to have ready just in time. 

Spring 2013 is sold out in print, but you are able to purchase the digital version for only $6.99. If you only want this pattern, we are making it available for only $4.99 through Valentine's Day! Click here for the pattern!

Frayed Edges

I’m making slow-but-enjoyable progress on my “Floral Abundance” quilt.  I stitch in the evenings while my sweetie-pie husband, Dave, watches TV.  I usually drink a glass of wine while stitching.

The tree is almost undecorated...boo hoo!

3 down, 3 to go!

Having enjoyed all that hand appliqué, I decided to stitch the blocks together by hand.  It feels great...I don't know when I'll ever use my sewing machine again!

Side note:  I learned something about drinking wine and sewing:

1 glass of wine=nice work!

2 glasses of wine = mistakes abound!

Carried away with stitching!

Notice above: I accidentally stitched both sides of the blocks.  A nice thing about hand stitching is it’s easy to rip out.  So I can continue sipping and stitching!

While stitching these pretty blocks together, threads around the edges start to fray. The frayed edges remind me of a long, long, long time ago when I was a little 8-year-old girl in Brownies.  Mom was our amazing troop leader.  She organized all the other moms to teach a project so we could earn several badges.  Mom’s project for us was a Christmas musical.  We sang “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” with hand motions.  I bet it was cute.

Another project for our little Brownie troop was to “make” napkins and table cloths.  If I remember correctly, we used red checked cotton fabric.  We were each given pre-cut pieces of fabric:  a large square for the tablecloth, and four smaller squares for napkins.  Our job was to pull the threads off the edges for a frayed finish.  I’m pushing 60 years old, and haven’t thought of that project in decades.  But as the edges of my “Floral Abundance” blocks fray a little, I’m transported back to that chubby-cheeked little Judy following her Mommy’s instructions to make a tablecloth and napkins.  Thank you, Mom.  How did I get to be so lucky?

Switching to a new topic, let’s talk about our upcoming Summer issue photo shoot.  This marks the 5-year anniversary of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.  I am super-duper excited to tell you that we will do the photography at the same house where we photographed the projects for our debut Summer 2011 issue!  It’s a beautiful timber frame structure made of logs from a barn that was built in Ohio in the mid 1800’s.  (And, if anyone’s in the market, this house is for sale!)  Click here to see pictures of that first photo shoot way back in February, 2011.

Our debut issue:  Summer 2011...where has the time gone?

There sure is a lot going on right now, with the happy holidays on top of everything else.  You might say we’re all a little frayed around the edges—but in a nice way, like the little table cloth and napkins I made a long time ago.

Loose threads from frayed edges.

I wish you the Happiest New Year ever!

Judy