Next!

Oh boy! I'm down to the last item on the October to-do list! There's definitely something to be said for having a short list. I have some other things on my to-do list for today, and so I don't know whether I'll get started on this or not. Next up is Block 3 for the Wind in the Whiskers quilt. This one is called "Tiny Tim".

It has only a few fabrics, which will make the process less complicated. I'm still griping about how the patterns are printed, however. I'll say more about that later. It requires a picture I haven't yet taken.

But before I can get started on that, I'm going to force myself to the pool today, and then I need to go to the grocery store. Our friend, Chuck, gifted us with some wild chanterelle mushrooms (wild is the only way to get them), and let me tell you...chanterelle mushrooms are a treasure, to be sure. In exchange for hunting down the mushrooms, I'm cooking him a dinner of Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto tomorrow night. 

It's one of the very best dishes that comes from my kitchen. I showed you how to make it a while back. You can find my post right here. So, all of that to say, that I need to get all the rest of the ingredients in addition to filling up Mother Hubbard's cupboards with other foods. I've been away from the grocery store for far too long, it seems. 

But before I do all of that, I wanted to show you a few (actually, more than a few) pictures from last night's guild meeting.

First, our guild raffle quilt was revealed. There were several names suggested, and the membership voted to name our quilt "Orange You Beautiful". It still needs binding. It was designed by member Mona, and quilted by member AnnMarie. The blocks were distributed and created by many of our other members. 

After our break for snacks (because we were voracious at this point in the meeting), we were treated to a trunk show of the quilts of Patti Hyder. Patty will be doing a two-day workshop for our guild in January.

She is a local quilter, designer, and instructor. You may recall when I wrote about her while reviewing this local quilt shop (sadly, closed now). She became a quilter, designer, and instructor while raising her three children. She explained that she found it difficult to follow a pattern, and that caused her to begin designing her own patterns. This next quilt was her first pattern.

She showed us a number of quilts made from specialty rulers that were popular at one time. I believe she said this next quilt was from a "wedge" ruler.

You'll notice in these pictures that Patti is a master at scrounging scraps and trash and using all that she has available in her stash to make multiple original designs. She also showed us a number of quilts with irregular edges. This next one was finished, but she decided it needed a little more oomph,

And so she attached it to what is essentially a whole other quilt underneath.

Here's another example.

She is a great fan of letting the fabric speak to her, telling her what to do or when to use it and in what quilt. I don't know about you, but I've had no luck whatsoever getting my fabric to talk to me. Even when I go all Jack Bauer on it, it still keeps mum.

Obviously, I must be doing something wrong.

Amazingly, Patti told us that this next quilt...

is from the same pattern as this quilt!

She was pointing out that depending on the fabrics, you can make a design element do whatever you want. She is also a master at cutting apart blocks in a different way and sewing them back together to create something truly unique and interesting.

She discussed how she has adapted her teaching methods to create the look of paper-piecing for those who hate paper-piecing.

And a technique for doing curves without tears.

She encourages letting the fabric do all the work in her designs. I was especially intrigued by those squiggly lines on the right side of the quilt below.

They're made from ribbons of fabric.

Many of her quilts featured ethnic and cultural prints. Recall this quilt mentioned above 

where I mentioned her use of scraps. Here, you see the same fabric on the front

and the back of this quilt.

I loved her use of bright colors and the way she can piece things together to create such unusual elements.

She does a good amount of painting and hand-dying to create her quilts.

Here are some of her Asian-inspired designs. 

This picture really doesn't do justice to this one. There was bead work on the cascades of flowers that made it sparkle and shimmer in the light.

Here are some more of her Asian quilts.

Patti was fond of saying, "this was just an experiment," or "I made this in a day." This next one, for instance, had some of us in the back of the room giggling. It's a reverse applique...made in one afternoon. One afternoon! As if!

I was intrigued by her use of paint. In several of her quilts, she spiced up the backgrounds by dipping the edge of a credit card in paint, and then stitching over the lines. Very pretty. 

This is her Northwest Sunset. So pretty.

This is an example of a technique she'll be teaching in her workshop. 

She told us several times that she sometimes bought fabric because nobody wanted it and she felt sorry for it. These giraffes are made from one of those fabrics. Aren't they adorable?

Here are those same giraffes with a different fabric.

Her elephants were inspired by a button.

Here are some more elephants, and some of them have three dimensional ears that can be lifted to reveal the quilt underneath.

Here's another of her quilts for people who don't like paper-piecing. When she finished with this one, she felt it needed something more, and so she created the quilt behind the quilt.

Here's some more fabric she purchased because she felt sorry for it. Patti's vision is truly amazing.

I just liked this quilt. It reminds me of Hawaiian surfers, even though there are no surfers present.

Patti told us that these coyotes were singing to her in the night, and she actually got out of bed to make this quilt. She calls it "A Little Night Music".

This one is stained glass applique, and I believe this pattern is for sale on her website.

She told us she attended a class once. She thought the class was to be about animals, when it turned out to be about portraits. Her classmates brought pictures of children and grandchildren, and she was there prepared for animal quilts. She said she hunted through some pictures she had along and came up with this ostrich from an ostrich farm she'd visited. This quilt is the result. 

I found myself enticed by her use of gradient fabrics and trees. This one was especially appealing.

Look carefully at it, and you can see that the background fabric is just cut into strips and turned upside down or right side up, depending on how you look at it. A simple design, but so effective.

Finally, here is a good example of her hand-dyed fabrics.

So, it was an impressive trunk show. So many designs, so many different quilts, all from this one very talented woman.

And with that, I've pretty much used up my morning. I'm determined to get to the pool, and so that's it from me today. I hope you enjoyed this show.