Peggy Gelbrich's "Wheel Of Mystery" Class

 Setting up.

A roomful of 20 wonderful quilters in a perfect space to have fun!

Sunday was a great day - in every way. The weather was quintessential Fall. Bright blue skies & warm enough for short sleeve- or for some even, sleeveless! It was a fun day of visiting with friends that I had not seen in far too long - my fault for being such a hermit! It was also a day for a great class from fabulous teacher peggy Gelbrich of Yellow House Quilts.

Peggy in front of her Wheel of Mystery quilt

I had taken a class from Peggy some years ago (there are quite a few classes that I would like to take from her). Peggy is an excellent teacher! Her patterns are, for the most part, traditional based, but Peggy's real gift is thinking through patterns and discovering ways to make them more easy to construct. She has mathematical sort of mind that just comes up with brilliant ways to sew patterns. Her other gift as a teacher is her high spirit and her devotion to her students. Peggy never sits down! She is always on the move - walking from table to table, person to person, helping or just chatting - she's a gem!I want to take Peggy's "Pine Burr" class as well as her "Crossed Canoes" class ... oh! and there are more than that on my list! Have a look at her web-site and you may see why I say that!

We used a template set from John Flynn - he calls them "Wheels of Mystery". Marti Michell also makes a template set for this quilt that she calls "Winding Ways". Peggy told us that the difference in templates is that the Flynn templates have sut off edges - making matching easier - she added that of course both would work quite well. I have to chime in that I agree with Peggy - that having the cut off teplate edges does, indeed, make matching easier.

Winding Ways, Wheels of Mystery, has always been a favorite pattern of mine. It makes one heck of a wonderful bed quilt (or wall hanging or sofa quilt). It is, simply a matter of placing light on dark and paring it with a dark on light block. The blocks we made used the templates for a 9 inches  block. I had started a quilt of blue batiks using pattern some time ago and now I think it's time to pull it out and maybe (gasp) finish it - or put it in line behind my Darlene Zimmermann quilt! I like this pattern too because it qualifies, I think, for "slow cloth". It's not a strip, zip and done kind of quilt....yes, I like this slowness in some things!

Here of some of the early blocks that folks made on the design wall. 

Proves the point that, as long as darks and lights are alternated - anything will work!

The quilt above is actually just a piece of paper with a pattern on it from the book "Winding Ways Quilts:A Practically Pinless Approach" by Nancy Elliott McDonald.  I became enthralled with the  bloack placement in this rendition and, of course, had to look up the book which, oddly enough, had been on my wish list for a couple of years!

We were also treated to see a couple of completely hand-made quilts by a member's 90+ year old mother. This is hand appliqued and hand quilted. The other quilt, was a Wheel of Mystery quilt that he mother had made - also all by hand. Unfortunately, I was dawdling and missed the opportunity to photograph this glorious example of the Wheel of Mystery quilt done at it absolute best!

I had a great day. I was reminded of my need for the friendship of these women that a have know for so long now- and I was also really pleased to make some new friends. Having one member tell me that they wished I would come to meetings more often often really touched me - as she said is in a very heart felt manner.  Thank you Mary (our new Guild President!) I sometimes need to be pushed out of comfy hermit shell - and I need to acknowledge that I should always make time for friendships in my life - something that I forget to do at times. I get really involved in my own work and think that I must use all of my free time to devote to them - which I do feel like I need to do because some of my time is lost now thanks to the wonders of dreaded "fibro fogs". Yes, it really was a good day!

Art Quilting Studio: Stampington Does It Again !

I think that Stampington has done it once again. They have managed to publish what I think will be another very successful magazine. Little by little, as my magazine subscriptions come up for renewal I find that I will let one or another 'go' in order to be able to buy another of Stampington's offerings. I never seem to be able to afford their subscriptions, but since I don't plan to throw these beautiful publications in the trash I am not that bothered to have to order issues one at a time online. Their postage is high $4.95 per single magazine - though I think that they do give a break on multiple magazines ordered at the same time. I had pre-prdered Art Quilting Studio some time ago- and have done the same with next, much awaited, issue of Art Journaling that is due out in the Fall. I like being able to know that I will get the magazines I want without waiting to find them in a mainland bookstore.....since I seldom go off island I would most assuredly miss out on most, if not all, of the issues I want!!

Art Quilting Studio is another feast for the eyes. The visual impact of Stampington magazines is what always "wows" me. When I heard that this magazine was in the works last Fall I had wondered what could be new in the art quilting world. I thought I was relatively 'plugged in'. I love 'Art Quilting' magazine as well as Cloth Paper Scissors....and yes, I have every issue of each of those magazines in my stash! What I am thoroughly enchanted about with Art Quilting Studio is that the voices in the pages are from somewhat lesser known artists as well as from some near household names like Sherril Kahn. The articles are interesting & engaging and there are some truly innovative catagories that the magazine plans to have as regular sections so I think that they are really opening this magazine up to many artists who might not have thought about submitting an article to a magazine before.

I loved this article on gel medium transfers -
and the small, meaningful quilts that this artist uses her transfers in are a delight

Quilting Arts magazine has always been a favorite magazine (and will contiue to be I should add) but, at times, I think they run articles - albeit new articles - from many of the same authors. Art Quilting Studio has really opened up the proverbial playing field with this new magazine geared towards art quilting. As I myself have seemingly veered off in the direction of more mixed media lately - and surely a lot more painting - I am finding that all that I am learning is applicable to the work I want to do in some quilts that have been rumbling about and formulating in the back of my mind. This magazine, to me, really speaks to many people who are "cross pollinated" in mixed media, collage, paper arts, as well as piecing and quilting techniques that continue to delight as they push the borders or art quilting.

Well known artist and authoir, Sherrill Kahn,
wrote this really interesting article about using facial wipes as art. Fabulous!

Visually appealing and tremedously informative as well - I found almost all of the articles in this Premier Issue to be valuable to me. Yes, there is space for another magazine about art quilting - and I am so pleased ! Quilts as art are becoming more and more respected and both Art Quilting Studio & Quilting Arts are truly in the forefront of the of our push for r-e-s-p-e-c-t as fiber artists!

Make haste to get your copy of the magaine before it is SOLD OUT !!