Beth Ferrier’s Blog

No, it’s not done, but it is at a point where we can take a prototype picture for the new book. I’ve been stitching away at it all week. As usual, the more I quilted the more I wanted to quilt!

Still to be done are the spaces around the pieced blocks and lots of little circles to fill in the voids between the feather garlands. I need to decide what to do, if anything, with the little space inside the sashing strips. I like the way the straightline stitching in the cornerstones looks like it curves. Perhaps I can reinforce that appearance somehow.

But for now, it’s time to do a mock cover of the new Ribbon & Blooms book so I can show it at the wholesale show tomorrow in Toledo. The book should be available for purchase around the first of September.

The hardest part is taking the first stitch. It’s like writing the first word in a blank book or making the first mark on a sketch page. It feels to me that I am just about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I never know how I’m going to quilt the whole quilt when I take the first stitches. The quilt tells me what to do. I know that sounds all artsy-fartsy, but it’s the truth. I always know where to start, that’s simply doing “ditch-stitching” around the applique and the pieced blocks. That’s the first step for visually pushing the background back and pulling the focus areas forward.

Now often I quilt the fun stuff first, on the applique and in the pieced blocks. For this quilt I decided to use the colorful quilting as reward for finishing the background. Wouldn’t a pile of threads like this motivate you, too? It’s my favorite part, adding dimension and texture to the colorful blocks and applique, adding vein lines to leaves is my most favorite.

But oh, those expanses of white, what to do, what to do? Should I chose an over all design and simply fill the space with loops, or lines or (*gasp*) stippling? I’ve done that on the last few quilts but this one seemed to need something else. Or maybe I was just in the mood to do something else. So, feathers it is, lots of feathers. And just because it’s fun, I’ve adding a few swirls to the feathers, and some ferns too.

With the background almost done, I started in on the color. I still have a ton of work to do on the background, but I have a deadline for showing the quilt and mostly done will do for this first display. I’ve always admired circles used as a fill, but I’ve never felt that I was very good at it. This quilt seemed like just the right place to practice. I’ll use the circle motif in the center of each of the pieced blocks and as fill around the feathers in the background. I figure by the time I’m done with this quilt I will have worked out the circle pattern and have another design in my repetoire of overall stitches.

As I was working on this quilt I realized why I like “improvisational” quilting. Working without marking makes me think. It’s gets me into corners that I need to design my way out of. Even when a motif is repeated the new space for it is slightly different from the last, requiring modifications and, delightfully, new discoveries. Each quilt really is practice for the next one, each quilt teaches me something. Not one of my quilts is perfect, oh, lordy me, not even close, but each one moves me along my journey. Will we ever get past that perfection thing? Does perfectionism spoil the fun for you, too?

The time for experimention is gone, this quilt needs to be quilted! So, back to doing what I know.

After another good pressing, the backing was clamped to the tables in the studio. I swear, this quilt has been pressed so many times, each time with a liberal dose of Magic Sizing, that this quilt is glazed. I’m expecting it to glide under the needle. One last check to make sure that the seams are up so they will end up inside, I sure don’t want to do this again.

Off to my batting stash to cut a chunk off. Kent made this wonderful holder/dispenser for my roll of batting, cool huh? The downside is that once I start rolling the batting it tends to want to completely unroll. I use the top of the closet door moulding to cut a straight path.

The batting is smoothed in place on top of the backing. I don’t clip it into place, it stays just fine. I’m always asked, so I’ll just say right here that my favorite batting is Hobb’s Heirloom, 80/20 cotton.

An hour and a half later and the quilt is basted. I do love the basting gun. It’s so much easier than closing pins. I used to put almost 1000 one inch nickle plated pins into a queen sized quilt. The MicroStitch really doesn’t damage the quilt top. Certainly, after basting this quilt three times, if the basting gun was going to damage it, I would have seen evidence of that, but not a single thread is out of place!

Now to decide how to quilt it. I’ll start with stitch in the ditch around the applique and the blocks, that much I know for sure. I think a trip to the local quilt shop to mull over thread choices is in order. You’d think that with all the time I’ve spent basting and unbasting this quilt that I’ve had figured it out already, but why rush into these things?

There’s always plenty to do when you live in an old house. I’ve been on the road so much this summer that the dust was so thick on my dresser that I swear, in another week, we could have planted crops in it.

Just off my patio outside the studio, I have a very small pond. It’s one of those preformed plastic jobs, just under three hundred gallons, but it gives me so much joy. The three koi and five comets give me lots of pleasure. It’s true, watching fish really does lower the blood pressure.

Today has been one of those days where I have just had to content myself with just being. Some days we can be Wonderwoman, checking every chore off our to-do list and still have enough sizzle to spark when the husband returns from work. Most days we are thrilled to check a few items off our endless lists of chores. Today, I’m just feeling happy to be upright and breathing. Anything that gets done today will be a bonus.

Since I wasn’t making much headway on work I decided to water the flowers in the planters on the patio and in the window boxes. And, while I had the hose out, I figured it would be a good idea to change a little water in the pond.  What a surprise to see that we have a visitor! It’s a big, fat frog, poised near the upper pond.

 He’s a pretty big guy, just the prettiest green you could ever want. I’m guessing that he’s from out of town, our neighbors have a huge pond, right along the edge of our property. This fellow and a few of his closest friends often serenade us to sleep.

 Now that it’s cooled down some and we can have the windows open again, I really enjoy the sounds of the country around us.

I’m not sure what brought this big ole frog over to our little pond, but by the time got back with my camera he had made it to the other side of the pond. I tossed some food in for the fish, but he seemed content to just watch.

It’s been a perfect day for slow dancing, not too hot, hazy sunshine, and the distant calls of song birds on the gentle breeze.

The first step was to repair the backing fabric I so brilliantly hacked to bits. To clean up the ragged edges I just tore the fabric. For most fabrics this will put the edge perfectly on grain, something very useful for the backing of a quilt.

In no time at all I had the bruised edges joined,  and pressed the seam open. I don’t want the bulk of a bump to mess up my quilting lines. I’m planning to quilt the snot out of this project, I’m not worried that the seam is less secure.

Okay, so, as painful as it was to actually follow instructions, I made the leader for the center pole and loaded the backing as directed by the manufacturer. They were kind enough to make the directions easily available on their website, seemed a bit discourteous to not actually use them. Looks good so far, and I even remembered to have the seam side up so that it will end up INSIDE the quilt.

The basting seemed to go so much better this time, but I was loosing confidence as I got closer to the center of the quilt.  I soldiered on, hoping that it would actually work.

But no, strike two. The backing is happy, perfect, not a single pucker. But the quilt top, oh, what a mess, again! What a disappointment.

It’s back to the basting frame for this quilt. The Ribbon & Blooms book is ready to go to the printer, all it needs is a picture of the finished quilt. Using the tack gun means that unbasting is a snap. And seeing the quilt laid out reminded me how pleased I’ve been with how it’s turn out so far.

I haven’t given up on the three pole frame for basting though. I think the idea is sound, I think it’s user error. When time permits I’m going to baste two layers of fabric and see if I can see where I’m going wrong. Any suggestions?

Okay, I’ll admit it. I hate to baste. It is the least fun part of making a quilt, and a most important step to do well if I want the quilting to go well.

For many years I pin basted. Ugh. A queen sized quilt can require almost a thousand pins. It took three days, and a resulted in a very sore back to pin-baste a big quilt.

A few years ago Avery/Dennison came out with a terrific basting gun. The needle is super fine, the tacks so tiny that they hold the layers securely without damaging the fabric. Yippie!

Out came the old basting frame. Retired after using it exactly once to pin baste (the weight of the pins caused the quilt to stretch making it impossible to quilt without puckers on the backing), the basting frame was perfect for tack basting. But it requires lots of space to set up and it’s hard to reach the center of a large quilt There’s got to be a better way.

So out comes the quilting frame. Oh, yeah, I’ve hand quilted exactly one quilt, but I still thought that I needed a frame. Kent built this one from a cool kit from Hinterberg, terrific huh?

So why couldn’t I use it to baste? Seemed like it should work. Since I had never used it (but see how smart I was to already have it?) I had to make the leaders for the poles. My plan was to attach and control the backing, just as when using the basting frame, and then float the batting and quilt top. Who needs that third pole anyway? I quickly pressed the amazing backing fabric that I bought from Sew Batik at the Minnesota Quilt Show. Isn’t it gorgeous? I can’t wait to see how the quilting thread looks on it!

It looked like a perfect plan. The basting went quickly. Oh, how brilliant am I! I was so convinced that the plan was perfect that I  cut the quilt off the frame, trimming away the extra backing and batting and trotted out into the yard to admire my handy work.

To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement. While the backing was perfect, the top and batting a terrible poofy mess. The one good thing, the tacks break free so easily that it took less than two minutes to unbaste the lot.

So now I’m back to square one, only the backing is now about five inches too short. I guess it will have a seam and a story. The great weather forecast means the basting frame will be set up in the back yard. I make these mistakes so you don’t have to. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

As I work away in my studio, basting Ribbons & Blooms, I’ve been entertained by listening to podcasts by Annie Smith of Simple Arts. Annie’s voice is so lovely and mellow. She asks the most interesting questions of her guests. I find that my blood pressure drops just listening to her, it’s such a pleasure.

I don’t have a pod (I’m such a luddite), I just listen to Annie from my computer. I’ve always wanted to meet her in person, to put a face with a name. I’ve just learned that she was arriving in La Veta for taping with the Quilt Show just as I was leaving. Oh darn!

Anyway, I hope you all will tune in, she seems to be such a gentle, open hearted person, full of such interesting observations about quilting and life. My kind of girl.

As we turned onto the final highway to get to La Veta we were greeted with this sign. Now I know that history buffs will have an entirely different set of legends in mind, but for me it seemed a fitting label for a visit with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, two of the most well known, well respected and talented members of the quilting community. My heart jumped into my throat as I realized that I would soon be a part of their groundbreaking program.

La Veta is a tiny little artist’s colony, nestled into a beautiful valley in southern Colorado. There is a charming mainstreet with artist’s galleries, bakeries and a small grocery store. They really do roll up the sidewalks precisely at five. First settled in the mid-1800s, it has all the charm and character of typical western town, embellished with the delightful quirks you would expect to find in a town full of artists.

We stayed at the La Veta Inn, a charming hotel with a friendly staff, that comes complete with ghosts (which we didn’t see) and bears that raid the dumpsters (which we did see!). Deer wander Main Street in the early evening.

The taping takes place in Ricky’s studio/gallery. Imagine having your livingroom (okay, it’s a really big livingroom) taken over by Hollywood and you’ll have an idea of what the gallery looks like during the taping. Wires and lights are strapped to the ceiling everywhere. Bundles of cables snake across the floor to the cameras, tripod cameras, boom cameras and hand helds. This is no “loving hands at home” production. Ricky and Alex have found the best in their field to run the cameras.

The crew is a wonderful assortment of characters, all delightful in their own way. While they are clearly professionals who take their jobs seriously, they also were clearly enjoying their crew mates. It looks like a fantastic team, I’d join in a heartbeat! Check out the blog at The Quilt Show to see all the fun this bunch has behind the scenes. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? It’s not just fun and games, The Quilt Show is the first of its kind and has attracted professionals who want to be on the cutting edge of the broadcast industry. I think it’s totally cool that it is quilters who are leading the way into new technology! Who says we’re just rocking-chair-bound grannies!

I’m told that the taping went well. Truly, I was so focused on what I was doing that I hardly recall what I said or did. My sister, Valorie, who came along for moral support (and a little r&r after the taping), said I did “awesome”. I’m willing to take her word for it. Alex and Ricky were pleased, and the crew made lots of yummy sounds when we were done.

The show will air after the first of the year. Please join The Quilt Show! I’ve been a member since the beginning. The shows just keep getting better and better. The Quilt Show will only survive if we support it with our dollars. Let’s not let it go the way Simply Quilts did. Knowing how responsive this production is to the public, I can say for certain that The Quilt Show is one that we, the audience, truly own.

As I stepped off the plane at 6:10 pm at the Minneapolis airport it was clear that something terrible had happened.

We watched silently as the news of the bridge collapse unfolded on the airport tv monitors.

My love and prayers go out to the families of the injured and missing. For those who have lost family and friends to this capricious disaster, I hold you close in my heart.

For those who walked away, let this remind us that each day forward is a gift to be treasured.

All my love,

Beth

Oh, yeah, I can get my knickers knotted up about my to do list. Great opportunities can swell my head so that I can hardly pass through a door. But nothing, nothing on earth compares to the heartbreaking joy of healthy new baby.

We have been blessed with such a sensible, down to earth mother for our beautiful grandson. His daddy certainly chose well! Our little sweetie has gained a pound and a half an inch in length in his first two weeks. Baby Alex is well on his way to be just like his daddy, and what a wonderful thing that will be.

Time to throw some clothes in my suitcase. I’m off to La Veta. My sister, Lori, will be meeting me there. We are both looking forward to a couple of days where other people cook the food, cell phones won’t work and deadlines don’t exist.