Celebrating 20 Years of Quilting Bliss!

I had a realization a while back - I made my first quilt in 1993. That's 20 years ago! That got me thinking that I need to do something to celebrate. In the past 20 years, I've made countless quilts (literally!), learned  many techniques, joined a few guilds, made tons of great friends, wrote 4 books, contributed to several books and magazines, hosted and online quilt-along and edited 20+ books for others and guess what? I'm just getting started!

Wanna see my first bed quilt? Brace yourself!

My first quilt - ugly, but well-loved! I made it for my then-3-year-old son when he moved from the crib to the big bed! It's been on his bed ever since.

I think it's time to retire it, though. It's got holes, the binding has come off 90% of it and, well, it's just plain unattractive by my standards now! But what is wonderful, my son is now 17 and he still likes it and wants to use it! He knows that nothing like a quilt says "I love you!" (If you did the math, you realize that this quilt was made in 1998. My first quilt was a wall hanging in 1993, this is my first bed-size quilt. I  can't seem to find that wall hanging right now. When it shows up, I'll post a photo of it.)

This is my most recent quilt (applique of course!). This is all I can show you for now, but just wait until September! I'll show you more then.

So to celebrate two decades of quilting, I thought I'd share with you what I've learned over the last 20 years. Starting today I'm going to share with you all my tips and hints about quilting. They will be practical, philosophical and some will be just plain silly! Some you will have already heard before and some, I hope, will be new-to-you. I will post the tip of the day on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/42quilts. Be sure to hit "like" on the 42 Quilts page if you haven't already so you don't miss any! If you don't do Facebook, I will do a tip round-up every so often here for you. And just so you know, I probably won't post a tip each day, but I will post several a week. I don't think I could handle the pressure of posting a tip daily!

Join me on Facebook for a quilting tip of the day!

Please join me as I share with you what I know about quilting! And as always please post your comments. I love hearing what you have to say!

Finish-Up Friday!

This has been a fabulous week! I actually had a lot of time to spend in the studio. (It's really my unfinished basement, but everyone should call their quilting space their studio!) And you know how it is - sometimes you need quantity time before you can have quality time. And what quality time I had! Here's the rundown of the UFOs I finished this week:

Heritage Sampler - Black
Finally! This is a class I taught last year (or two years ago?). It's been put together except the borders this whole time! I offered the quilt in black and white. I was planning on finishing up the white one this week as well, but I discovered I don't have enough red for the outer border. So it will be done as soon as I get to the quilt shop. They are for my boys who still have their 3-year-old quilts on their beds (they are 16 and 17 now!) High time for an upgrade I think!

Potholder
Just a fun little thing I made a long time ago. It just needed binding. It may be too cute to use! Can you read it?

Fish Pillow (class sample)
I'm teaching Invisible Zigzag Applique at a few places coming up in May and I decided my samples needed to be updated. Here's the fish pillow made with my $17-a-yard Birch organic fabric. I'm so glad it turned out well!

30s Sampler (throw)
Honestly, I barely remember making this quilt much less when. It's at least 4 year old. It just needed binding. I am so not 30s repro fabric anymore, so it's going to the Lee's Summit Quilt Guild for a charitable donation!

Two fetal demise pouches
This is the charity project the KC Modern Quilt Guild does on an on-going basis. I find it very difficult to make these, knowing what they are used for. But I know if it can help bring any kind of softness to an unthinkable situation, it's worth it.

Modern Monday!
YES! The top is done! I'm so happy with it! I will get it quilted up and use it as a throw quilt.

And I demoted a project OFF my UFO list - a red and white triple feathered star! Sometimes you've got to let go of a dream! Although, this is on my bucket list, I just am not interested in precision piecing right now. I first planned this years ago and a month ago or so I actually started it. But as I got the inner star done (which took 12 hours just for this one section), I realized this just isn't as much fun for me as it use to be. I have so many other ideas, I decided to just let this one go - for now anyhow.

So as great a week as it was, I still have two to go: Traditional Tuesday and Dear Jane.

Here's my Traditional Tuesday blocks somewhat laid out by value. I wanted the darker ones on the diagonal down the center and the lighter ones on either side of that. Honestly, these blocks just aren't very attractive to me. I wish I had stayed true to my original vision and kept them all shades of blue. I'll keep this up on the design wall for a day or two and mull it over, but I might demote this project off the UFO list, too.

And finally my beloved Dear Jane!
Here she is - all three volumes! I have all 169 blocks made and probably about 1/3 of the triangles. I have no intentions of finishing the rest of the triangles, so I have to come up with an interesting way to set them together. There's a few ideas floating around my head I just need some time to set aside to get it done. It's been 10 years since I started this I guess a few more won't hurt. But it has to be done before I die so the kids won't throw these binders full of wonderful little gems out!

So I'm happy - just two UFOs! Now what's next?...

So...what's been going on with you?

Well, seems once again I've let a large gap happen since my last post. A fact that was brought to my attention in the produce section at the grocery store Friday. I ran into my friend, Margaret, and she told me she goes to my blog every day and it never changes! Yikes! Well, here you go Margaret, this post's for you!

So, just exactly what have I been doing? Well, first and foremost in my life, soccer season has started again. With two teenagers playing, my evenings and weekends are pretty much spoken for. But, that's really no excuse, we're all busy right? Also, work has picked up, which really sucks away blogging time! (Many of you know I have the best job in the world - I edit quilt books for KC Star Quilts.)

But, what I have been doing that you want to know about? Well, I got an iPhone and you know what that means! Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! If you are a social media junkie, check out my stuff:

Like me at 42 Quilts I post far more often on Facebook about my quilty goingson than anywhere else right now. Check it out!

My twitter handle is @JeniferDick
Instagram is jeniferdick (I'm not as active on Instagram yet, but I have an account and will follow you if you follow me!)

What else? Oh yeah, I've been talking to guilds and teaching applique:

Here I am at Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild in Garnett, Kansas. I look like I'm scolding them don't I! We had a great day. I showed them a retrospective of my quilts from beginning to modern, and I taught them Invisible Zigzag Applique. Great group of ladies!

In May I head to Rogers Arkansas to talk to the new Modern Quilt Guild and teach some more applique at The Rabbit's Lair May 3 and 4 AND I teach applique at the Bernina Sewing Center in Kansas City May 16. I hope you can make to one of those events!

And I've been joining every on-line 5" charm swap I can find!

Look at these wonderful little gems! On the left is the rainbow (and gray)  in modern fabrics, the right are brights in traditional fabrics and the bottom are Amy Butler squares.

I love the versatility of these 5"ers! They can be cut into halves or 4 - 2 1/2" or anything else! I like them for small applique shapes. I can get a huge variety of fabrics for scrap quilts without buying all those different fabrics. What's not to like! I have two more I'm waiting on - a Denyse Schmidt fabric 5" swap and a layer cake (10") rainbow swap. Whew! That's a lot of fabric! Look for fun quilts made with these fabrics coming soon!

And lastly, I've added a link so you can buy my books directly from me. Just click one of the covers on the left and it will take you to the shopping cart. Bonus: if you buy any of my books from me, I'll autograph it for you!

So what's next? I have a couple of big announcements coming up over the next few months. I can't mention them yet, but I can give you a hint - could it be another book? I wonder????

Stay tuned!

Snow, Life and Quilt Con!

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted! It's been so crazy here - since Feb. 13 the kids have had just 2 days of school. First it was 4 days off for a school holiday, then the stormageddon hit. We had roughly 17"-18" of snow over two weeks. Makes for a lot of quality time with the kids, but not a lot of quality time with my sewing machine!

Also in the mix was my trip to Austin for Quilt Con. If you don't know what Quilt Con is, it was the first ever quilt show and conference held by the Modern Quilt Guild. I have never been to a conference quite like this. I've been to Paducah and I've been to Quilt Market, but this was so cool! I'm back more enthused, inspired and energetic than ever! I have so many ideas swimming in my head, I can't get them down on paper fast enough. I didn't take classes, but they had a lecture series of the industry's top people - Denyse Schmidt, Weeks Ringle & Bill Kerr, Amy Butler, Jacquie Gering and on and on and on. it was like sitting through the bust guild meeting ever, every hour! Many of the lectures are on Craftsy for free. Check out Mary Fons' lecture - it addresses the modern/traditional divide. Good stuff for all quilters!

Me and "Handyman" from my book Quilt Retro.

I was honored to have a quilt in the show - Handyman from my book Quilt Retro! It was in the Modern Traditionalism category (a modern quilt made from a traditional block). There were some great quilts in my category and competition was tough. I didn't win and I'm okay with that. But, I can't wait to get my judging critique to see why!

Here's some more pictures from Quilt Con.

This is the Windy City quilt made for Jacquie Gering when she left KC for Chicago. Does it look familiar? It should! It's the inspiration for Modern Monday!

Here's my block! Does this mean I had TWO quilts in the show????

Here's my roomy - Jan - with her quilt in the group category! She didn't win either but it looked good with all the others

This quilt was in my category and it knocked my socks off! I thought it would win for sure, but no ribbon for it either! (Didn't catch the name of the maker, sorry about that.)

No show is complete without its controversy. I thought this quilt was fascinating. I love quilts that push boundaries. People were equally shocked, offended and intrigued!

And the food was fabulous! (Yes I take pictures of food!) These are fish tacos.

Gumbo and red beans and rice with room-service beer!

Crepes and iced tea! Haven't had a crepe in years - yummy!

The next Quilt Con will be in 2015 and you'd better believe I'll be there!

How to Hang a Quilt - Update

About a year ago, I posted How to Hang a Quilt. Since then, I have discovered a couple of new tricks that make that method even better. Back then, I recommended Command brand hooks that look like this:

What I found over time was that they just aren't strong enough to hold wall hangings of a certain size - about 30" x 30" or larger (more or less). They only hold .5 lbs each. The quilt I showed in the original post weighs 1.5 lbs and along with the baseboard I used for hanging it was just under 2 lbs. It held fine for about 2 weeks, then the hooks kept falling off the wall along with the quilt!

I was really bummed because I thought I was really on to something with this! So this past Christmas I was in the stocking hanging isle at the store and I saw these:

I think I sang a round of Halleluiah right there in the store! Not only do they hold 2 lbs each, they are clear! I tried them at home and not only do they hold well, they also hold the baseboard in flush with the wall. With the other hooks I had to bend them to get them to cooperate. These are turn-key ready, no adjusting required. (There are small ones that only hold 1 lb. each, make sure you get the medium size that holds 2 lbs.)

To hang a quilt, follow the same instructions from the previous post, but use the different hooks and a piece of baseboard no shorter than 1" tall (I prefer 1 1/4" tall) - any shorter and the hooks will show.

Attach the hooks to the wall and hang the quilt. It really is that simple!

Here's how it looks from the front - perfect!

I use a 1 1/4" baseboard (found at lumber stores) rather than a dowel rod for three reasons: 1) it doesn't sag in middle, 2) it hides the hooks better and 3) baseboard comes in long lengths. I've never found dowel rods longer than 36", which is too short for many of my quilts.

This quilt is hung with a dowel rod. You can see how the hooks show and there is a slight bump where the hook protrudes a bit. I will probably eventually swap it out with baseboard, but for now, it's okay. The quilt is in a dark corner of my living room and from my easy chair, I can't see the hooks! 

To weigh your quilt, first weigh yourself and note the weight. Then weigh yourself again holding the quilt and the baseboard you'll use to hang it with. Subtract the two to get the weight. If it's more than 4 lbs, you might want to look into another way to hang your quilt or try using 3-4 hooks.

If you try this let me know how it goes for you! I'd love to hear if you think of improvements to this method!

Do You Miss Modern Monday?

I know I do! If you're suffering from withdrawals, I have a solution for you. Over at Patchwork Posse, my new friend Becky is starting a sew-along. It's not as  intensive a time commitment as Modern Monday, which I think we can all sigh a big sigh of relief about, but it's just as fun nonetheless!

It's the Round Robin Winter Wonderland Sew-Along row quilt! Twice a month now through July, she'll post a new row with instructions - all with a winter theme. The rows are all designed by special guests and you guessed it, I'm one of the designers! So is my good friend Tammie of Crafty Tammie. My row won't be until June, so I have plenty of time to ponder what I want to do. You might just see some applique!

The first row was posted today so go check it out and see if you'd like to participate. She has a flickr group so you can post your blocks or just see what others are doing for inspiration and other eye candy.

And speaking of Modern Monday, I'm STILL not finished with the top (or Traditional Tuesday for that matter!) I hope to work on them both later this week. Stay tuned to see if I really do!

I'm in McCall's Magazine!

Haven by Jenifer Dick (60 1/2" x 72 1/2")

I'm so happy today to tell you I have a quilt in the March/April edition of  McCall's Quilting magazine! This quilt combines my favorite things - solid fabrics, over-the-top quilting and a great back story!

The design is inspired from an Amish quilt I saw in a book - American Quilts: The Democratic Art by Robert Shaw. The version in the book is called Lattice Crib Quilt c. 1930. I was drawn to it for its Gee's Bend quality - no discernible plan to it but somehow it's cohesive anyhow - and so darn appealing! I am drawn to chaos, but I just can't seem to translate that into my quilt designs. My designs are ordered and well planned. I think I get that from my dad - nothing less than perfection is acceptable! But I love looking at these old, wonky quilts and drawing inspiration from them even if mine end up looking nothing like the original!

Lattice Crib Quilt c. 1930 from the collection of Faith and Stephen Brown

My version uses the same block but that's where the similarity ends! I dug though my solids looking for color combinations that look good to me. I'm in love with blue right now, so I knew that would be the main color. I chose 3 gradations: light, medium and medium-dark. To offset the calming quality of that much blue, I looked to the opposite side of the color spectrum - to the warm colors. I chose red, orange and two shades of yellow. These warm colors give just the right balance to the cool blue.

Haven is made from just one block - only the color combinations change.

Haven is totally balanced, meaning there's nothing wonky or "off" about it. That lead to the fabulous quilting. It was done by Angela Walters and is a wonderful blend of modern and traditional. I love dense, overdone, over-the-top quilting! Angela's has the unique ability to analyze a quilt top and see quilting patterns that others don't see. She created a medallion look to the open spaces in the center four blocks and repeated the same pattern, only smaller, surrounding that. It creates the illusion that the blue squares are the blocks and the red, orange and yellow stripes are sashing - totally hiding the true block. I love that!

The borders are quilted in a feathered design, which has always been one of my favorite quilting patterns. Although not very popular in modern quilting, I still love them and use them whenever it makes sense. Here the curvy, feminine feathers contrast with the rigid, angular shapes of the blocks giving some balance to the quilt.

And what's the great back story? I was instantly drawn to the Lattice Crib Quilt when I saw it for all its visual qualities, but what really made me fall in love with it is the little detail mentioned in the one-paragraph description: made in Haven, Kansas. That's the small, south central Kansas town, 200 miles from here, where my husband went to high school 30 years ago! What are the odds that this anonymous Amish quilt from a town of 1,200 could find its way to me? That's how Haven got its name - Haven to honor the original and Haven meaning home!

If you want to read more about this quilt, head over to Pickledish later today. And Angela is talking more about the quilting at Quilting is my Therapy for those who want more insight into her design process. And of course, you can buy your copy of McCall's Quilting with instructions to make your own version of  Haven!

P.S. Not only is the quilt in the March/April edition, it's on the cover! Check it out: