JULY 30, 2012
I think some quilts are meant to find us. Once they do, they lead us down a marvellous path of discovery we never imagined. Such was the case for Bill Volckening, aka Willy Wonky Quilts, tomorrow’s blog hop stop.
Bill is an avid collector, blogger, author, quilt dealer and purveyor of some really neat quilting related items. Bill started collecting quilts in 1989, when he had an opportunity to attend an invitation only sale of antique quilts, curated by Shelly Zegart. It was a pivotal moment for him as he saw quilts in a whole new light: that they are great works of art worthy of hanging on a wall. Needless to say, at that same sale, in his words he “fell hopelessly in love” with a red, white and green “New York Beauty” quilt. Of course he bought it!
Bill’s first quilt! Mid-nineteenth century, Kentucky.
What he could not know at that sale was that he would come to amass a collection of over 200 quilts, nor that with his 50 New York Beauty quilts he would be creating the most comprehensive group ever assembled of this pattern. His generosity of images and information he shares on his blog have helped me gain a new appreciation for the multitude of variations possible with this one pattern. These two quilts below, from his collection, simply make me weak at the knees. And of course, aren’t all those little spikes made from small pieces!
Some of his stunning New York Beauty quilts are featured in the August/September 2012 Quilter’s Newsletter. And 30 to 35 of his quilts will be on exhibition next year at the
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. Mark your calendars and declare a road trip!
A rare breed of collector, Bill’s collection has remarkable depth, clearly informed by his keen eye and formal art training. His quilts span from a late 1700’s wholecloth to contemporary quilts, like one of his latest additions, a 1960’s upholstery sample quilt, with a vast array between these two. Recently, Bill has added “quilt maker” to his resume. His first quilt hung at the quilt show in Sister’s Oregon a few weeks ago and won the viewers choice award!
Bill’s blog is enthusiastic, energetic and engaging, and I will continue to follow his quilting adventures with great interest!
House of Wonky, Bill Volckening, 2012.
If you are visiting this blog for the first time, be sure to check out
my ten week giveaway celebrating the launch of my new website and blog. For a chance to win, leave a comment at my inaugural post about your favourite quilt from one of our books.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Stitching!
JULY 24, 2012
This week’s Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts blog hop stop is Jan at Be*mused. Jan’s colour sense, design sense, and taste in antique quilts, make her posts “must reads” on my list. She sent me a preview of how she is interpreting “Across the Pond”, and well, when you check out her post, be prepared for an “omg” moment! I can hardly wait to see her whole creation!
Do you pre-wash your fabrics? I don’t. I did for a bit, but with all the fabric flowing into my studio, frankly the thought is daunting. It really is an all or nothing proposition … either you sew with all unwashed or all pre washed. You can probably guess why I have raised this. Cardinal rule in my studio and in classes … no open beverage containers near fabrics or quilts. Yes, there was a spill. Yes fabric was affected. Yes, it was a quilt. Yes it needed to be washed. Yes … the red fabric in the quilt ran … into the white shirting beside it … of course!
Research pointed to two products that could possibly help. Color Catchers and Synthrapol. I had success with the first, but will share what I found out about both. Color Catchers, found in the US in the laundry aisle of your local grocery store, absorb and trap excess dye and prevent the dye from being re-deposited on the fabric. (Thank you to purveyors CS and MV for helping out this Canadian!). I used six sheets per wash and it took three washes, but that did the trick! You can see in the photo above that each time the catchers caught less and less. Synthrapol works on the same principal, washing out excess dye particles and keeping them in suspension, preventing them from staining other fabrics.
Since I don’t want another heart in the mouth experience, I think pre-washing is in my future. A tip from a friend is to clip the corners of your pieces before you wash them to prevent unraveling and to indicate to yourself afterwards that the piece has been washed. Sounds like I could tackle this on a per project basis. Brilliant!
So, do you pre-wash your fabrics or not? I’d love to hear your comments.
JULY 18, 2012
Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts is going into second printing! Thank you to everyone for your amazing support and for buying our book. If you haven’t got your copy yet, you can buy one here.
And today is the start of the blog book tour! For those of you who haven’t guessed yet, the teaser photo last week was the handle of my stiletto. Click on over to the first stop on the tour, at Sew, Mama, Sew!, (a great online resource for fun fabrics and a blog filled with interesting sewing projects) and you will find a tutorial on using this handy tool and tips for sewing with small pieces.
The stiletto is also great for getting nice sharp corners when you are turning your binding. Here is an excerpt from Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts that explains how:
“At each corner and with the seam allowance turned under, fold the binding to make a 45 degree angle. Hold a stiletto at a 90 degree (right) angle as shown to help create the crease for the second fold. Fold the angled corner to the back of the quilt, matching point B to point A as shown. Use a straight pin to hold the corner fold in place. Make two tiny stitches to secure the corner and continue in this manner to slip-stitch the binding in place. If you’re going to put your quilt in a show, be sure to slip-stitch the mitered corners too.”
To get nice sharp corners on your binding, use a stiletto to “tame” the layers of fabric as you turn the binding to the back!
You will find more helpful hints and tips in Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts … along with some spectacular quilts!
And finally, tune in today to
Mark Lipinski’s Creative Mojo from 3 pm -5 pm EST. I am one of Mark’s guests on his show and we’ll be talking quilting and small pieces and having way too much fun! If you miss the show, you can download the podcast
here!
Thanks for stopping by, have a great day …
& Happy Stitching!
JULY 10, 2012
Welcome! New website! New blog! And lots of wonderful news! I am so excited to share it all with you!
Where to start?
First, I want to tell you about the amazing “Small Piece Aficionado (SPA) Society”.
I decided to found the SPA Society, as a place to gather online, to celebrate quilts made with small pieces and small blocks, and as an opportunity to honour those quilters who have completed small piece or small block masterpieces. Membership is free and open to all who appreciate these amazing tiny pieced works of wonder and commitment. As a SPA Society member you can add the initials SPA proudly after your name (it is a self granted degree), and know that you are in good company! There is a badge on the SPA Society page (in the navigation bar above) that you can use on your blog or website to let others know of your passion for small pieces!
I also know the effort, passion and commitment of those quilters who have completed small pieced or small block masterpieces. I wanted a way to recognize and celebrate these quilters and their quilts. The SPA Society page is just that, a way to say “Bravo!” To become an honoured member of the SPA Society, send me a photo of your completed quilt from one of our books or magazine projects, and have your quilting magnum opus posted on the SPA Society page. Oh, that sounds kinda glamourous! And as an honoured member, go ahead … flaunt your Hon. SPA designation with carefree abandon! You deserve it! Click the tab in the navigation bar above to see what recent inductees have been up to!
Next, all aboard for an amazing blog book tour for Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts!
The tour starts July 18th with ten stops over ten weeks! You will be dropping in on some extraordinarily talented and enthusiastic bloggers, quilters, and antique quilt lovers. Each stop will be something different: tutorials, reviews, interviews, Q&A’s, a closer look at some antique quilts, and some spectacular interpretations of quilts and blocks from the book! And at each stop on the tour one lucky winner will receive a copy of Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts! Thank you to my wonderful publisher, Martingale, for their support of this tour.
Be sure to follow along and check out each of the stops:
You will find me here, with informative posts, tips on batchwork patchwork, favourite tools, ways to stay organized while you are sewing, some behind the scenes peeks at museum archives, tutorials … oh and some amazing quilts are bound to show up! Here’s a sneak peak of what is in store next week:
Have a great week and Happy Stitching!
