Friday, May 22, 2015

Art Nouveau Quilt For a 50th Birthday

A friend turned fifty recently, which deserves a special memento! At the last Pacific International Quilt Show in Santa Clara, CA this fabric collection caught my eye as a perfect fit for her -- and the result is her 50th birthday present:
Art Nouveau bed quilt for Emily's 50th birthday, 2015. Quilted by New Pieces, Berkeley, CA.
The quilt is composed of a center panel that is surrounded by several borders -- with the corners of the last two borders mitered. If I had to do it again, I would do blunt corners throughout (the peacock figure in the last border ended up not lending itself well to mitering). Also, I had originally wanted custom feather quilting in the cream second border, but unfortunately got talked into just an all-over quilt design at the quilting shop. But, even with these learning experiences, I still think it's quite a glamorous and beautiful quilt(!). The hand of the fabric with the wool bat is luxurious feeling.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Carquinez Strait Stitchers Quilt Show

My Mom and I finally had some quilts in our hometown quilt show: The Carquinez Strait Stitchers "Spring On The Straits", 2-3 May 2015, at the Benicia Clocktower! Each quilt was shown with a brief story attached.

1- My Mom entered her "Home Sweet Home": "A project, out of McCall's magazine, by the Martinez Senior Center Quilting Group. Each of us chose our own fabrics, which made such different looking quilts, but all from the same pattern."
"Home Sweet Home", bed quilt, by Anita Jessop. Quilted by Anna MacAllen.
2- My Mom also entered her "Fractured Stars": "A friend of mine, a beginning quilter, chose this pattern for us to make together. It ended up not perfect, but was fun to do with a friend."
"Fractured Stars", wall hanging, by Anita Jessop. Quilted by B&B Quilting.
3- Together, my Mom and I entered our "Birds All Around": "This is a shared project: Started by Anita as a Christmas present for her daughter, Holly ... and finished by Holly, when she discovered it in the UFOs(!)".
"Birds All Around", large bed quilt, by Anita & Holly Jessop. Quilted by B&B Quilting.
4- I entered my "Raggedy Ann Friends": "I made this in the January 2014 Carquinez Strait Stitchers "Lil' Twister" class, with fabrics entirely from our stash."
"Raggedy Ann Friends", wall hanging, by Holly Jessop. Quilted by Holly Jessop.
5- I started making T-shirt quilts this year, and entered my "Graduate School Memories" quilt: "I went to graduate school in ecology & evolution at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, specializing in sea urchins and marine biology. I decided to convert my T-shirts from that time into a memory quilt."
"Graduate School Memories", lap quilt, by Holly Jessop. Quilted by B&B Quilting.
6- I started this "Pueo & Friends" quilt last year ... but was afraid to quilt it after the applique was done. So, I entered it in the show, which forced me to finally finish the free-motion quilting! I tried a new technique, using a fine netting over the entire quilt. I liked the shading effect from the netting, which made the quilt more like a night scene: "Pueo is the short-eared owl endemic to Hawai'i. Pueo is an 'amakua (spirit animal) for many Native Hawaiians, and a sighting can be interpreted as an omen. Pueo have made appearances in my life in Hawai'i at a number of important times. Pueo's friends are the Hawaiian endemic "happy face" spider, Nananana makaki'i (a pin in the lower left), and the Hawaiian endemic bat (flying near the moon), 'Ope 'ape'a."
"Pueo & Friends", wall hanging, by Holly Jessop. Quilted by Holly Jessop.
7- Our last quilt in the show, "Nene Story", was probably started first, when I still lived in Hawai'i: "My Mom and I took our first paper piecing class in Hilo, Hawai'i, in 2008, and made these blocks of Nene (the Hawaiian endemic goose). This year I put them into a quilt that tells part of the geologic and biologic story of the Hawaiian Islands. These islands arose from a mountain of lava in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, were gradually colonized by plants and animals, and eventually evolved endemic diversity."
"Nene Story", wall hanging, by Holly & Anita Jessop. Quilted by Holly Jessop. Embellished with shells, and glass leaf beads as a lei on the center Nene.