Halfway There

I've made 53 blocks out of the 100 I'll need for my queen-size Flowering Snowball quilt!  

The more I make, the more I enjoy it.  

Actually, I've made several more, but edited out and unpicked many.  

The black and gray ones had to go.

You can see lots more beautiful Flowering Snowball quilts here.

My "Spring Equinox" quilt has been hanging at the Edmonds (Washington) Conference Center.

It's been in very good company with some other gorgeous quilts for the last few months.

I can't believe how small it looks on these large walls!  It's queen size.

It's coming down next week, and there will be a fresh collection of quilts there.

This is lunch recently with a friend who has a bountiful organic garden.  

Almost too pretty to eat!

Sunset seen from the ferry in the San Juan Islands.

Ah, summer!

Quick Baby Quilt

A neighbor family had a new baby recently.  

It was a great opportunity to use a bag of gifted 2.5" squares,

And this yard of sweet floral fabric.

The quilting is in the ditch.

 It will be a fun "I spy" quilt for the baby's 4-year-old sister.

I've also been slowly working away at the Flowering Snowball.  

The goal is 100 blocks for a 90 x 90" quilt.

Thirty-six done!

Learning from a Japanese Master

Sachiko Yoshida, a master Japanese quilt-maker, and several of her students 

from Japan were at the LaConner Quilt Museum this week!  

I was fortunate to spend an afternoon in a class taught by Sachiko.

The class was on Japanese family crests.  

This is Sachiko's class example.

Each of us were given a packet of vintage kimono silk from Sachiko's collection.

We were instructed to lay out the pieces exactly like the class example.  

Then we were instructed to hand-piece part of the background.  

We used templates to draw stitching lines on the back of the fabric pieces.

Her students helped us a great deal.  

They could hand-piece as fast as a sewing machine!

It took a lot of concentration.  Looks like one participant had to take a break!

This is how the background is supposed to look when we're done.  

The seams are basted to the side with thick white thread before they're ironed.

This helps to stabilize the delicate silk.

The Japanese student who was helping our table used this sewing kit.  

I definitely need one of these!

There's a fantastic show of quilts by Sachiko Yoshida and her students 

plus many other Japanese quilt makers, 

at the LaConner Quilt Museum through October 5.  

Wish I could show you photos, but they didn't allow them.

You can purchase a show catalog from the museum.

Happy 4th of July weekend!