Monthly Archives: September 2016

Saying “Goodbye” to my Longarm!

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Are you tired of moving all that fabric and batting through the throat of your domestic machine?  or thinking about doing quilting for a business?  I have a great machine for you!  I’m selling my 2011 A-1 923 Elite  longarm machine.  It has a 23” x 9” throat space with Stitch Rite Stitch Regulator and Ergo-grip adjustable Handlebars.  You are able to adjust the handle bars to an infinite variety of settings…and the right and left adjust independently of each other.  It is on a  10’ steel table with swivel castors, a batting access lifting lever, a batting storage bar, and has the Ergo Lift hydraulic lift system with remote control so you can sit on a stool or stand while quilting.   If you want to do pantograph work, it has a laser light and stylus and I will throw in a dozen or so pantographs.  It comes with the king base for ruler work and a ruler hopping foot and I can provide a few rulers and circle templates.  It uses the larger Type M bobbins so you don’t have to change bobbins as frequently. There is a separate bobbin winder that just needs a belt to work.  Included is  an assortment of needles (dozens) from 14’s to use for monofilament, silk, or bottom line, 16’s for SoFine, 18’s for 40wt such as Glide, King Tut, etc,  Jamie Wallen’s excellent DVD on “The care and feeding of you’re A-1 machine” which does a terrific job of explaining care and trouble shooting, a set of “leader grips” for pinless and quick loading of your quilt, and side clamps for side tension. That is hundreds of dollars of extras!   This was my personal machine and only used for my quilts and a few friends’ quilts. It is a very smooth running machine and has been well cared for.  I will be taking it down next week to make room for my new Bernina Q24.  Purchaser is responsible pickup, transportation and setup costs.  Location:  Paradise, TX.   $5,000.  If you are interested or have more questions email me at  jackie.wildoaksranch@gmail.com.

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Fun, Fast, & Liberated Quiltmaking!

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I have loved every minute of the 12 month journey of Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine/Michael Miller fabric block  challenge; and have grown leaps and bounds with regards to my creativity as well as expanding my skill set; however, after finishing the intense piecing and quilting on my final quilt composition I needed to do something creative, fun, fast and immediately gratifying!  I had gotten Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quiltmaking II some time ago and had been watching her class on iQuilt, so I decided to do a liberated rail fence!  I dove into my pile of fabrics and scraps  and in two days had the main body of the quilt done.  It is such a fun and free process, designing and improvising as you go.  And it is liberating!  I haven’t finished adding the final border, but wanted to share what I have done so far:fullsizerender-18

One of my goals for the next year is to work on doing more minimal quilts (that sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it!), so  earlier this week I got Gwen’s book Minimal Guiltmaking.  I have poured over this, and have been very inspired.  There were many of her students’ beautiful works in the book and I thought what fun to do a retreat with her.  Looking at her website, I found that this is her last year of teaching, and on a whim looked to see what her schedule was.  Unbelievably, her last retreat before retiring will be in 3 weeks at the MADELINE ISLAND SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (MISA) in Wisconsin and there was one spot left!  I think this is fate!  The topic is “Small Studies” and I am going!

Final Blocks of the Modern Quilts Unlimited Mag/Michael Miller Fabrics Block Challenge!

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With the last few blocks to do, the challenge was to  design blocks that would complement the patterns and colors of the other 9 blocks and create a harmonious and cohesive quilt.   The final quilt challenge will determine whether I succeeded in this task.  The quilts will be posted by Nov 15th and voting will go from Nov 16th -30th.

June’s block was Drunkard’s Path (below left).   This traditional block is simply a quarter of a  circle set within a square.  There are many, many ways that these can be set to make a block or quilt.  As you can see in my modern version (below right), Drunkard’s Bull’s Eye, there are numerous drunkard’s path subunits  in each quarter circle gradually enlarging from the center outward with alternating light and dark.  The light colored fabrics were graded from light to darker as you moved from the center outward  which gives it incredible depth and a luminous quality.  It just seems to jump out at you  while at the same time it recedes into the distance.  This was my favorite block of the 12, and  I can see a large one-block quilt in my future!

The final block of the challenge was Jacob’s ladder.

JacobsLadderBlock

This block when put together in a quilt, can create some beautiful secondary patterns.  Just search Pinterest for Jacob’s ladder quilts and you will see a beautiful mix of traditional and modern takes on this classic block.

 

I played around quite a bit with this one, and below are several drafts of potential blocks designed in EQ7.

But in the end, I decided to make it a little simpler than the original and give it the look of an actual ladder.  I reversed the colors on either side of the ladder and I love the contrast.   The turquoise,  purple, and orange also complement two of the other blocks…Sailing the Chevron Sea and ZigZag BowTie.  My version of Jacob’s ladder won the last block challenge.

Contemporary Jacob's ladder

I had one last block to create.  I wasn’t able to do the rail fence block during the month it was featured, so I had a chance to design a block to balance the colors and pattern of my Spiral Pinwheel block.  The “Rail Fence in a Rail Fence” does a great job of complementing the pinwheel block, and I was very happy with the result.  What do you think?

Rail Fence in a Rail Fence                          Spiral Pinwheel

TaDa!  Below are my twelve blocks!

 

Ironically, I thought the due date was Sept 10th, so I was frantically working to get it finished. For the last few months of the challenge I was already playing around with  the layout on my graphics program, and was doodling with the the quilting motifs for each block on my iPad.  That sped things up a lot.   The piece was on the frame and I was quilting it when I checked the site to see if anyone had already posted a finished quilt and low and behold, found that it was not due until Nov 15th!  I was so relieved!  I had to go to Maryland to help my daughter haul two horses to North Carolina, so I had plenty of time after my trip to finish it.   I’m super happy with it and can’t wait for the big reveal in November.    Here is a sneak peek of some of the quilting:

Stay tuned for voting Nov 16th to Nov 30th to vote in the final Quilt Challenge!