It Simply Can’t Be!

 

 

 

 Nope still no quilting for this girl, and it’s FRIDAY!  Where did this week go? Today I am was at the University of Delaware with my middle son, Noah.  He had orientation. Yippee!!!  The excuses the rest of the week are MIA…

If you read my post No Quilting Game Here, you know that I was in Wisconsin for the US Open.  My wonderful husband surprised me with the trip!  We attended last year when it was in Pittsburgh, and as may of you know I captured a picture of Jordan Speith and myself.  Well, now it is a tradition for my husband and I.  This year’s trip proved to be challenging since the course was a little more wide-spread.   FYI,  Jodan has two State Police officers that follow him around the course…ugh!  Either someone ratted me out and gave him a  heads up that I would be stalking him for a picture, OR Jordan checked out my last post and learned of my upcoming visit.  I’d like to think he actually read my post!

Note the police officers in the pictures, and yes I know one might assume from what they see in the photograph that I was put behind bars for stalking Jordan.

No, I didn’t cause drama, just observing from the grandstand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I kicked and screamed like a five-year old, I did come back to Pottstown, PA.  My temper tantrum quickly ended when I went to Newtown Quilter’s Guild to teach for the day.  They all mastered the Divide and Design so fellow quilters watch out! Take a look at what just one class had these students producing.

Just think this was just the beginning for these talented individuals.  Can you imagine what they will create in the near future? I am so anxious to see what their new skills and creativity brings to their fabric.  With a little practice they will all be unstoppable!

No Quilting Game Here

 

Graduation, a visit from my mother, a charity golf outing AND a trip to the US Open this weekend in Wisconsin…something had to give right?

I am off my game, or maybe I should say my head is NOT in the quilting game. There is no “off my game” about it.  Are my excuses good enough? Never mind, please don’t answer that.  Regardless of my rationale,  I simply did not have my work mojo this week, so I apologize for letting my readers down.  But once again I am proving that this quilter is human. At least I am consistent in that aspect, right?

Sorry folks but the idea of getting another picture of me and Jordan Speith does not bring the words “quilting, longarm, Proline Rulers or blog post” to mind.  I am currently trying to figure out how I am going to get Jordan to smile for the camera AND have me standing next to him.

Trust me if I do happen to capture a picture of, “Jordan and I”, there will be “something” posted for ya all to see! I guarantee my smile will be bigger than the one shown below.

Have a great weekend, and let me know if anyone else is attending the US Open. But please keep in mind I will not let you in any pictures with Jordan and I…sorry but sometimes a girl has to refuse sharing!

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Taking the Beauty Out of Quilting

 

 

A Silver Lining, the quilt pictured above, was a computer aided quilt.  Perhaps you’re asking ” What does that mean?”  For different quilts it could mean different things.  The main motifs of this project were created a while ago, so they were my own design.  I did, however, use the computer to stitch out those and then the rest was freehand.  Why do I bring this up?

Some people think that using a computer means just pressing a button and letting the machine take over.  In essence, the work done by the quilter isn’t as imperative.  Believe it or not some give my “Silver Lining” a raised eyebrow and the “OMG how beautiful” thoughts are immediately dismissed once the fact that this piece was created with the aid of a computer.   Seriously?  Is it really any less beautiful because it was computer aided? I think critics quickly overlook the fact that I spent hours determining where to place the designs or days doing the delicate hand beading that went into the binding.

I recall when the stitch regulators were new to the quilting arena, and we heard the same kerfuffle stuff about them.  Funny how they have since become the norm.  Some folks need to come to reality and realize that there definitely skill required when producing a computer aided design.

Now that I’m on a roll let’s take note of a few more “aides”.

The electronic cutting machines.  Should we consider that cheating, or less than when observing a quilt that has utilized that tool?  There is skill involved in cutting fabric.

Lastly how about the amazing embroidery machines?  I would love to see a show of hands of artists that willingly would love to go back to hand embroidery.  My hand will not be raised!

I would love for quilters to embrace ALL types of quilting.  Especially as we witness the craft of quilting moving into the future.  There is room for all of us, those that love traditional techniques of quilting, those that are comfortable with present tools, and machines and finally those whose minds are filled with curiosity as they experiment with ground breaking products.  No one should be judged for how they achieved their goals and success.  If the design is considered “OMG look how beautiful”, let’s just leave it at that…”OMG it’s beautiful”.

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HS Graduation Brings a Sale?!

 

Yes, it’s another milestone in the Calle family!

Our middle son, Noah, is graduating for Owen J Roberts High School on tonight!  I am so proud and in disbelief as to how fast time has flown by over the past 17 1/2 years.  He will be attending the University of Delaware this fall, we couldn’t be more excited for him and know he will continue to make our family proud.

Why Not Celebrating Education with a DVD Sale?!

While many families are hosting graduation parties I decided to add a little something to my graduation festivities  and host a “Graduation Sale”!

So now through 6/12/17 take advantage of my $20 DVD Sale!

Maybe you’ve been curious on how I come up with my quilting designs.  My Divide and Design method  makes the concept of configuring how to quilt as easy as 1-2-3!  Take all the guess work out of “how to” by utilizing this video! For $20 you can put easy peasy into your design process!

Lavish

Perhaps whole cloth is more your style. If that’s the case then Mastering the Mini will be right up your alley! You will be a master of your own mini after this tutorial!  Yes, it’s just $20!

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Maybe You’re Thinking…

I’m hoping that my previous post put many of you in the feathering mood!  And if I was correct then the logical next step would to create a place to put those beautiful feathers, right? So in order to accomplish that I am providing a short tutorial on the ProSpine ruler.   You will quickly see how simple it is to apply feathers to your design once you’ve watched the video.  I promise I will provide more lessons soon, but I need to remove my never-ending quilt from the frame in order to do create produce more tutorials!

 

I also wanted to show you how diverse the ProSpine Ruler can be; just look at the wonderful shape below that I was able to design with help of this amazing tool!

Now that you’ve watched my little “how to” video, go give it a whirl and produce some incredible feathers of your own! You just might get caught up and find yourself flying through a day of quilting!

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Feathers Create My Happy Place

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feathers, feathers, feathers.  Yes, I do know how to quilt many other things, however, I absolutely love to quilt feathers.  As soon as I had finalized the purchase on my machine I was determined to master the technique of  quilting these beauties.   So, maybe you have just bought your first machine and are having the same thoughts I just shared of loving feathers , or you have a machine and simply haven’t taken the time to learn this technique. Well, then this post will come in handy!  Although this is an older video I thought I would repost it for some of my newer followers, and for those of you that have yet to tackle this motif.

The video I am sharing below is a tutorial on formal feathers, some quilters refer to it as the “hump and  bump”.

 

 

Whether you are new feathers, or just needed a refresher on fine tuning your skills I hope you found this video beneficial.  By the way what are your favorite motifs to quilt?

 

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Memorial Day Weekend Brought Divide and Design

Obviously I’m little behind on what transpired over my Memorial Weekend.  Wednesday I posted on what I achieved Friday, and now I’m filling everyone in on what I did on Saturday.  Sometimes these three-day weekends mess up my whole weekly routine.  Needless to say I  had the wonderful opportunity to teach my Divide and Design class at Ladyfingers Sewing in Oley on Saturday.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that 10 wonderful students wanted to share the morning with me knowing it was a holiday weekend!

I know that I’ve said this more than once, okay maybe eve 10000 times, BUT I LOVE hosting this class.  Most of my pupils were domestic/sit-down quilters that were unsure how to choose quilting for their quilt tops.  But after experiencing this class much of their anxiety and lack of confidence dissipated.

I love when students are willing to bring in their current projects.  The talent and creativity always ceases to amaze me.  The picture below displays the wonderful quilt top she brought in order to obtain a few suggestions on how to enhance the design.

Her appliqué is to die for!  But that is no surprise seeing that it is from Patricia Ritter at Urban Elementz!  If you unfamiliar with Appliqué Elementz, they are laser cut iron on, appliqué, how cool is that! I think I need to do some shopping!!!

Thanks to Ladyfinger Sewing in Oley PA, and those that chose to spend some time with me this past weekend.  It was a pleasure and joy sharing all the magic of Divide and Design with everyone.  I hope you found the method easy; and moreover that now feel you CAN accomplish creating a quilt!

 

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Never-Ending Quilt Lesson #3

 

I had good intentions, and  grand plans of getting a ton done on my never-ending quilt over this holiday weekend.  But as we all know what happens with “good intentions” it did NOT happen.  The weather on Saturday had the golf Gods calling me to my favorite place.  “Lisa, Oh Lisa if you grace my greens with your presence I will ensure that you have an amazing 18 holes”.  I needed no begging and with no further ado I was having a blast swinging my clubs.

Even thought I did NOT provide my 4 year UFO with  any TLC on Saturday, Sunday or Monday; I did get make sure I gave it some love on Friday.  So to ease my conscience I thought I’d share what I accomplished on Friday with everyone…as promised.

I agonized and agonized over what to do in this area of pink.  After a lot of painstaking consideration I eventually reached a decision but not before I mentally put myself through hell.  Thoughts where having a relay race in my mind “oh my, I am going to put the wrong thing here and it’s going to look horrible” and “what if I discover I HATE it, I’ll be picking it out till the cows come home” (sound familiar).  At some point I had a small epiphany.  And that was realizing that this quilt could already be perceived as ruined due to the bleeding that it incurred. Understanding this little notion had me putting aside any further fickleness on my decision-making process.

 

I contemplated many different ideas as to what I should be incorporating in the below portion of the quilt.  The thought of applying feathers was a brief consideration; but it was a fleeting prospect since there wasn’t enough space for them to become a reality.  In addition, the area in yellow just opposite of the pink was intended to feature the same technique, therefore creating a mirror effect.  Now as I reflect on my choices, in hindsight, placing feathers on one colored area and echo lines on the opposing colored area would have enhanced my design.  But if you think I am ripping anything out you are highly mistaken.  As with the bleeding color, this too stays and I move forward.

I’m not in love with the feather motifs that I applied, in fact, those I really did consider ripping out.  But thank goodness I am working hard on combatting my compulsive behaviors; because now they are starting to grow on me. I can’t say I love them yet, but maybe in a few more days we will move beyond the feelings of toleration.

So a few more steps along this adventure have transpired and as I move forward a feeling of excitement is beginning to stir within.  Hopes of salvaging this piece are becoming a possibility.

Lesson #3:  The lesson learned during my Friday quilting was this; prior to Friday the feeling  of being “hopeful” or “excited” did not exist.  This quilt has reminded me that regardless of our initial thoughts and feelings are, there is always hope in what we do.

Are you working on something that has you rethinking your original design?  Have choices you’ve made ended up pleasantly surprising you?

Please feel free to ask me any questions regarding my designs or choices I have made with thread, batting etc.  I’d love to answer any questions you may have.

 

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Happy Memorial Day!

Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

Lisa

You’re a Hard Habit to Break/Make

 

One, two, or three( cannot go beyond three), yes, we all have them.  Habits, whether good or bad, take up space in our daily routine.  I figure after sharing my quilt travesty why stop there? I might as well turn the page on the open book of Lisa Calle.

Bad Habit #1:  While I am quilting I have a tendency to throw all of my thread snips onto the floor.  This then requires me to vacuum up all those lovely little snips at a later date.  Dare I say a much later date, an extended date that I push-off as long as possible.  The consequence of this snip littering has me entering a store with various colors and lengths of thread dripping off my pants.    I look like an episode of Project Runway gone bad, really bad.  I keep forgetting to keep a lint roller in my car, definitely not the way to break my habit but it would allow me to keep an intervention from occurring.

Bad Habit #2:  Making sure my family is fed on days that I am immersed in my studio; which is typically Monday through Friday. Yes, they actually expect to be fed, they are obviously a bit clueless to what the addiction of fabric does to a quilter.  Let’s clue them in shall we…no dinner!

Good Habit #1:   And at this time there is only one that I am going to report, I need to think on a few others (or rather think if I have any others).  Prior to beginning a new project after completing one I MUST clean my studio.  I need to start my new design in an area that is nice and tidy.  But within mere hours I revert back to bad habit #1 as thread snips cover the floor, and various tools/materials take over my work space.

What habits take over your quilting life?  Please tell me I’m not the only one that allows their family to starve for a majority of the week? By the way there is always frozen waffles and pizza in my freezer!