Attic Threads & Quilts: December 2014

Once again this fall, I had the opportunity to teach at Hunter Heirloom Quilting in Centerview, Missouri. Visit their Facebook Page at Hunter Heirloom Quilting

As always, owners Amy & Joe were amazing hosts, the students rocked and my Teacher's Angel was, well, an angel! Three days teaching in November and three in December, in a QUILT SHOP, surrounded by Quilters, Longarms and FABRIC, who could ask for a better job???

The classes were all day and most of my students were there for the long haul, all three days. I was able to spend time getting to know these incredible quilters. Everyone went home tired, but smiling. I hope they had as much fun as I did.

First here's the class samples:

Feather Class

Ruler Class

Background Class

Second, a few shout outs. My fabulous Teacher's Angel Penny Gleason Roberts, who just happens to also be a teacher and the designer of the 3D Threader! 3D Threader

And Employee of the Day, Amy, who loaded my samples on all 6 machines in the mornings.

Teacher;s Angel Penny

Employee of the Day Amy

Of course, all my Rockin' students. Sorry to anyone who I missed a photo of.

A great finish to a great year! Maybe I'll see some of you at next year's classes.
Happy Quilting
Ann

I certainly hope that Santa doesn't only bring gifts to faithful bloggers! If so, I think I might come up a little short this year. My only New Year's Resolution was to blog every week, (beside the basics, lose weight, eat better, get taller...) and it lasted thru April, sort of.. The end result is, I have a lot I want to say.

Thanks to friends, I have had an amazing year. I had the privledge of working on a few Quilts of Valor, I won a few awards, I bought a second longarm, the longarm classes I teach have been in demand and a Modern top I quilted was published in a book!!!

Today I want to talk about the book. Last year my friend Casey York asked if I would quilt a top she made for her book "Modern Applique Illusions". I jumped at the chance, I love her quilts. Casey has a background in Art History and draws her inspiration from her love of art. Visit Casey's blog to read her vision for this quilt. The Studiolo While you're there, check out some of her other quilts in the book. She explains her concept for these quilts. I enjoy reading about the thought process behind a quilt design.

Casey and I met for a little brain storming session. With the top laid out between us, we immediately started throwing out ideas. Casey had a definite vision for the quilting, and I saw the direction the quilting needed to go to meet her vision. Our ideas meshed perfectly.

I laid the quilt out on my longarm. I like to look at a top for awhile to get the "feel" of it before I start stitching. I quilt on BeBe, a Gammill Classic Plus Hand Guided system.

Casey wanted the top half of the quilt to be a little more formal and had the idea of a repeating Damask pattern. After looking at pages of Damask wallpaper, I designed a quilting motif I hoped she would like. With a few tweaks here and there, it was ready to quilt. Cross hatching in the background completed the design, accentuating the Damask motifs.

The bottom half of the quilt needed to be quilted in a way that would add the depth perspective Casey wanted. I quilted all the sections smaller at the center of the top with the quilting designs gradually getting larger as they move toward the bottom of the quilt. Casey gives a great explanation of why/how this works in her blog. The Studiolo