Needleworkers Rock My World

A year or so ago, I was approached by Essex County Needlecraft Guild about a lecture and  workshop combo. I'm always terribly giddy when I open happy email about a guild wanting to hire me to talk about myself and hopefully inspire quilters to try new things, and this was no different, but with one notable exception. ECNG (not to be confused with Energy Management Consulting Group in Canada, who apparently come first when one Googles "ECNG" despite the fact that their name should be EMCG and I am going to be confused about that for the rest of the day) was not a quilt guild, but a Needlework guild. It said it right there in their name.

What exactly was a Needlework guild? Would there actually be quilters? Should I bust out the crewel work teddy bear I made at age 9 to prove I was one of them? If only I hadn't sold it in my last yard sale. Now you are dying to see it, but sadly it is too late. Who knew I'd regret letting it go for a dollar?

Needlework in this guild is, unsurprisingly, defined by "anything done with a needle," and when I met them on Wednesday of this week I was greeted by a roomful of 100 knitters, embroiderers, tatters, crocheters, needlepointers, and yes, quilters. The only needle activity that seemed to be absent from the fray was "professional splinter removal." Although I would not put it past these ladies to let someone with that skill join in. It sure would make for some interesting show and tell, anyway.

ECNG was so many things beyond a room full of needle lovers. They were a hearty group who were completed unfazed by the snow that fell all.day.long. which I found unbelievably refreshing. They had the best show and tell ever, because there were so many different art forms represented. Those who weren't quilters were just as enthusiastic about the idea of "Perfection is Overrated" in whatever craft they preferred, proving we all just need a little more forgiveness in our own work no matter what our media. And last but not least, they were hands down the Best Dressed Guild I have ever met, possibly because many of them had made their own dresses, scarves, sweaters, etc and they had me wishing I had polished my boots the night before. Not to scare any future guilds I may speak to, but the bar is way high now, and if you are not dressed to the nines, you won't come close. It was delightful all around.

I wasn't sure how many members might be interested in a quilting workshop, so I had suggested to the program chick that maybe an Embellishment Sampler class might work well; members could learn some cool techniques to use on other projects, and maybe discover a new product or two.

I won't lie. There may have been Jewel-It involved.

My sample for the workshop. You may have seen this before. Humor me.

I structured the three hour workshop to include several of my favorite simple but elegant embellishment techniques: couching, gathered ribbons, iron on threads, beading using Jewel-it, and my favorite new invention, 3D petals and leaves. Everyone had to bring a simple quilted quilt sandwich to attach their pieces to; I will remain mute on whether all ten people did their homework, but nine of them were able to start the first embellishment technique right away.

We started with the 3D leaves, which I figured since I just came up with them by accident myself would probably be a new thing for everyone.  

We all worked well sharing the iron. I love how quilters are just so nice.

Might have been nice of me to move my suitcases so Barbara had more legroom, huh? Love her two-colored flower, though.

The 3D petal technique really is so much fun, and really quite easy to master as long as you aren't afraid of singeing your fingers with the iron. These ladies did a great job with it their first time out!

Look how great these look!

 The next technique I showed was the simplest one, but everyone was quite enthused by it as it just is one of those things that is so simple and yet awesome. The gathered ribbon technique was embraced by all, I am thrilled to report not one thread was broken in the actual gathering process, and Susan did a lovely job of sewing hers on first.

Someone has to be the winner.

This photo was snapped at the end of class to prove that even those who didn't arrive to class prepared (see, you never live it down, do you?) were able to finish most of the techniques. Here we can see how this quilt, which may have been my favorite for the fabrics, will eventually look when the beads are glued and the cord is couched.

It's very "Pond Lily Classy."

 I'm actually considering making my first video (!) and showing the 3D leaves and petals technique. What do you think? Would that intrigue you? Would that scare you? Would you watch it only to see if I am as wacked in person as I can be on here? Would you try such a thing in your own work if you could see it done? I'd love to know. This would be a larger venture for me than the average person sine I am such a complete moron when it comes to technology, so do help me decide if it is worth the trouble!

Thanks to ECNG for a lovely day of quilty, needly, and guildy fun!

 

Cloudy with a chance of Jewel-it

We're in the last few hours of 2011, I've officially rid the house of 8 year olds and replaced them with two 9 year olds, the new electronics are miraculously working, and I'm ready for a festive NYE celebration of fondue and falling asleep by 10:30pm. Just call me the party animal that I truly am.

I had a little fun this morning, and by that I mean "I found it fun, but you will likely find it almost as pitiful a way to spend time as passed out on the couch at 10:30pm" creating a cloud of my labels for my posts over the last 16 months of blog ownership. You can find it over to the right under my lecture info but ahead of the popular posts. You might even find your own name if you are lucky.

Creating the cloud taught me a few lessons:

1. I need to be better about labeling. I mean really, only THREE labels for Jewel-it?

2. I am Terri Sontra's biggest fan, apparently.

3. I crack myself up with labels like "hot mailcarriers" and "corneal damage".

So as much as I hate New Year's Resolutions, I am going to try to be good about labeling my posts in 2012.

I'm also going to attempt to keep my studio organized - it's not QUITE as fab as I first showed you 8 weeks ago, but it's still pretty good and I'm proud; keep ongoing projects to a manageable number so as not to become overwhelmed and give up on them before finishing (yep, that was a problem this year); take an EQ class at Quilt University so as not to have to ask inane questions; and use the color red in a quilt because apparently I hate red. So far this seems fairly manageable. But give me a month.

Anyone have any more exciting resolutions or advice?

Last minute crafters unite

We're in the final countdown to Christmas week, or as we call it in the Helfter household "Cakefest (insert year)". With three birthday girls eight days apart and Christmas smack in the middle it's nothing if not a caloric extravaganza to strike horror in the hearts of personal trainers everywhere around here this time of year, so it's good that I am able to find little last minute projects to work on that allow me to unstrap the feed bag now and then. Impressive how I brought that back around, huh? There was a moment there where I didn't think I was going to be able to do it.

When I cleaned out and rearranged earlier this fall, I found several UFOs. I know. Can you even imagine not finishing every project you start? What would be the point? Horrors. Anyway, one thing I've done for years is to turn orphaned blocks into little quilts or even tree ornaments, and I've made a few this year. Wanna see?


Don't those trees look familiar? I only know how to grow one kind of tree, and it's the funky kind. These guys are all about 3" tall at the most and I just think they are so cute.


I'd make an amazingly consistent tree farmer, wouldn't I? Doesn't putting them on a red background make them all that much more stunning?


Imperfect snowflake, anyone? I should stick to tree farming and leave snowflake making to the water fairies. I do like the red/white contrast, though.


A close up of the beads in the middle confirms what we have all feared: I'm going to have to mention Jewel-it in a post again. Because I clearly was out of my head with fever or something when I made this one, I decided to (wait for it...you might want to be sitting down...) SEW these beads on. "Why?" you ask in horror. "Why would she ever do such a mad thing as thread a needle and sew on a bead when she is the president of the Jewel-It Fanatics Club?" Your questions are well justified and the answer is thus: I truly have absolutely no idea. I don't recall my thought process here and I would like to think that is because there was not an actual sane thought going on, as evidenced by the fact that I chose to use red thread with clear beads. Really? What kind of wacko am I?

One who needs to stick to gluing, that's what kind.

My final project for the season, which I'll have to show once they are done, is turning three wooden beds into retreats worthy of the American Girls. Eva wants "Julie's bed", the one with the hippy beads hanging down, and I'm pretty sure this is a job for Jewel-it. Paige and Greta want canopy beds for Emily and Marie-Grace, which means some sewing of curtains, and with any luck I'll be using thread to coordinate with the fabrics. But this being me, don't count on it.

If you've gotten this far, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading this blog this year and supporting me in all the ways that you have during 2011. I have so much fun writing it, and hope to be able to keep connecting with all of you on a regular basis in 2012. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and if I don't see you before then, I'll see you in 2012!

Poinsettias I could never kill, no matter what - Christmas Quilt Show 2011

It's time again for SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Show http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2011/11/2011-christmas-quilt-show-welcome.html- . I love seeing all the fantastic creations and being able to share a little Christmas cheer with quilters everywhere. It makes the internet feel small and cozy this time of year.

Okay, the sappy part is over. Here's my entry for this year!

One of my favorite parts of being a quilt designer is being able to play God and create flowers which will never die, because in real life I am a nightmare when it comes to keeping them alive. For no flower is this more true than the seasonal poinsettia. I have many memories of pots of poinsettias, lush and dewy, gracing the mantle of my mother's living room and the sideboard of the dining room throughout the Christmas season and into Lent most years, finally to be thrown into the woods by Good Friday.

Sadly, I did not inherit the poinsettia nurturing gene. When I buy a poinsettia, it is lucky to make it one week in my home before it starts to wither, drop leaves and petals, and start whimpering "Help...help...get me out of this house of torture and let me warn all my friends to hide when they see a redheaded lady in a Rendezvous pull up to the garden center."

My only hope was to create some out of fabric, and several years ago I did just that. Behold my "Winter Whites" wall hanging pattern by EvaPaige Quilt Designs, designed for the black thumb quilters we all know and love.


In this design, I used one of my favorite modified stack and slash piecing techniques with several fabrics of similar tone and value in a rich maroon for the background, then added white and cream petals via machine applique. My petal templates are big and loopy and easy for beginners while still looking enough like a real poinsettia petal to keep the garden club satisfied. For this particular sample, I machine appliqued using gold metallic thread, probably swore up a storm while doing so because metallic thread hates me although it was years ago so I can't be exactly sure, and beaded the centers with pink beads as shown in the next photo.

Three guesses as to what I used to attach the beads. If you don't know, welcome to my blog! You are clearly a new reader and I am delighted to have you! (It's Jewel-It, of which I am an obnoxious supporter.)

This fall I was introduced to the joys of making this quilt in silks when a silk vendor at my guild's show asked if I might make them a sample for their vending purposes. They picked out the silks they wanted me to use, and I will admit I was a little skeptical at first when I saw how different it was going to look from the original since the tones and values were much more disparate. However, in the end, it's different - in a harlequin-esque kind of way - but really quite gorgeous in it's own way.

My apologies for the weird angle of the photo. I hope you can get the idea.

This is one of my favorite patterns, and I would love to give one to a lucky commenter below. I'd also love to have you vote for "Winter Whites" if you love it like I do in SewCalGal's Viewers Choice contest this weekend.

Thank you for stopping by Quilting Hottie Haven. I hope you come back frequently for more fun and inspiration!

Storming the Festival

I recently returned home from Rochester NY, a town famous for two things:

1. I was born there.

and

2. The Genesee Valley Quilt Festival.

Since they were not planning any parades in celebration of my birth 40-some odd years ago, the Quilt Fest was going to have to do for a reason to return. So a week ago I hopped in the car on a dreary afternoon and headed down the Massachusetts Turnpike, rocking out to all sorts of 80s music on the radio and generally enjoying the moments of solitude before driving boredom was sure to set in. I needn't have worried. Not an hour into my drive, the sky opened up like a car wash, the winds were insane, and hailstones started hitting my car. I couldn't see two feet in front of me. Then, stuck 8 miles between exits off the pike in either direction, my radio starts beeping the National Weather Emergency beeps that normally are reserved only for tests in the middle of Elmo's World because there is a Flipping TORNADO in the vicinity. I had about 5 minutes of sheer panic attack not knowing where the hell to put myself and the car, and just kept going because everyone else on the road was doing the same. Visions of the 30-ish quilts belonging to myself and other members of NEQDC in my car cycloning over central Massachusetts filled my head - and then it was over as soon as it began, blue skies ahead. I later found out that yes, there was an F3 (does F stand for flipping? Because it should.) tornado less than 20 miles from where I was at that moment. Well, played, mom and my other guardian angels. Well played indeed.

So, as Cary Flanagan, one of my NEQDC colleagues who joined me on the trip (although she took the wimpy way out and drove through only beautiful weather the next day) noted, I can now "say for sure that neither hail, nor rain, nor tornados will keep me" from bringing EPQD to the masses. But I must admit I hope never to have it happen in such a dramatic fashion again. And my heart goes out to all those in MA who lost their homes or worse that afternoon. It was a freakish thing and truly terrifying.

Anyhoo, on to the show! Genesee Valley Quilt Guild is a 300+ member guild and they truly know how to put on a show. Over 1000 quilts, several traveling exhibits, a fashion show, two live auctions, and my personal favorite, the Iron Quilter competition. I was chomping at the bit to participate in that one; quilters were given 5 hours to create a quilt, start to finish, including quilting, binding, embellishment, sleeve and label , and when I tell you these quilts were A-Maz-Ing I am not giving them enough credit. Holy insane talent.

New England Quilt Designers Cooperative was one of 41 vendors at the show. Terri Sontra, another NEDQC member, and I arrived a day early to do set up and I must say we did a fantabulous job. If you have read our "Strength in Numbers" article in The Quilter (shameless plug), you will recall we often refer to setting up even a double booth with all of the samples from six designers as trying to fit 10 pounds of sugar in a five pound bag, and this time was no different. Thankfully we did have another show going on in Connecticut (where member Barbara Chojnacki was doing a bang up job representing us), so this time we were down several samples and that actually was a blessing. I snapped these photos toward the end of set up:

Note "Beth's Embellishmenty Corner," where I spent much of the weekend demo-ing my favorite glue, Jewel-it, and selling it by the truckload.

The show was held in the RIT Field House and was way cool to look down on from the upper track area. See that marquee on the left? It's a little blurry, but it says "New England Quilt Designers Cooperative" - all the vendors were scrolling all weekend long. Very cool. If you wonder where the people are, well, we'll admit this was the slow day, but these photos were also taken during the fashion show, so most people were sitting at the very end of the room enjoying that event.

Despite the tornadic experience of getting there, I'm so glad we participated. Not only was it a fun show, but I learned two very important things about the women who worked the booth with me:

1. Cary Flanagan (Something Sew Fine Design) unwinds in the evening with a Port and Orange Juice cocktail which is actually quite pretty.

2. Terri Sontra (Purple Moose Designs) has as crazy a life as I do and her dog receives a pension from the state of California. Love it.

God only knows what they learned about me.

Little did I know that