Whew! It's Been a Busy Summer!

     Goodness me! I feel so very fortunate. I have had such a fun and busy summer that I don't even know where to start!

     This past month I have been working on a custom quilt order that I got through Etsy. My client wanted the pattern of this quilt:

Galapagos

     With the palette from this quilt:

Sand and Sea Glass

 
      It sounded easy, but when I went to buy fabrics, I realized that there are places for 17 fabrics in the Galapagos quilt and, I don't know how many colors in the Sand and Sea Glass quilt, so it was a bit of a challenge to get all of the colors represented.

     This is the gradation that I ended up with----> 








     So, now the quilt top is pieced and ready to go to Regina to be quilted.

     I have this quilt hanging in landscape orientation, because that is how it will hang on the wall of her new home.

     In addition to that I had a wonderful time at my booth at The Yellow River Jam, which is a festival that happens every October in my lovely town of Porterdale. It involves kayak paddling on the river in the morning, followed by an afternoon of live music, food, and artists booths in the park beside the river. So Much fun! My dear friends Mary Beth and Eleanor joined me for the weekend with Mary Beth's pottery,  and we had so much fun!

     In September, I went to spend some time with Baltimore Heritage Quilters Guild. I did a trunk show there, plus I taught an A Maze Zing class. It is so much fun to see all of the color variations they came up with! 

       I had such a lovely time with this group of ladies!


     BTW: I will freely admit that I am not the most tech savvy blogger around. When it comes to technology, it seems like I am always struggling and bungling. I just started an Instagram account. I am excited about this because it means that in future I can post class photos to that account directly from my phone on the same day as the class, instead of waiting until I get around to uploading photos to my computer. Maybe now it will not take me a month and a half or more to post photos from my classes. Hope springs eternal anyway! Now, if only I can get my Instagram account to add my posts to my Quilt Designs by Candace page, instead of my personal Candace Hassen page.... one day.....


     So that is what I have been up to lately, I hope your summer has been fun filled and productive. Thanks for stopping by! Linking to Oh Scrap! and Main Crush Monday
     
 

Moving Right Along

Since my main goal for the week has been setting up the loom for the next rug, there hasn't been a whole lot of time for sewing around here, but I have managed to fit some here and there.

 I am almost finished with the 4th section on the Rose Garden Quilt. I really need to do some research to find a more interesting name for this quilt. I can't wait to see the 4 sections sewn together as a big square. Maybe by next week. 

I have the next quadrant of Julie's quilt laid out. Now that I only have one quadrant left, I could see that I needed to make another strip set, so I cut, and started sewing that.
The bottom half is already finished, and folded in half since this design wall isn't wide enough.

The place mats I am working on take 2 different strip sets for each place mat. Last week I had a sewing day with Eleanor, and got them all sewn. It was really nice to have some one to visit with while sewing those long boring seams. I didn't have enough of one of the fabrics I chose, so I had to substitute in something different next to the light blue fabric. There will be 2 place mats made from each of the 3 prints. I think that will make a nice variation. There will be a coordinating table runner, and potholders, but I am not even sure what block I will use for the table runner, and the potholders will be random made from the leftovers of the place mat strip sets.

 I bought some new shelf units for my sewing room. Isn't is just wonderful to have new shelf space in the sewing room?

 
I am getting ready to do a trunk show for the Madison Station Quilters, in Madison, Alabama next Thursday, so if you are in the area, come and let me show you some of my quilts in person. 

So that is what I have been up to lately. Thanks for stopping by!

Section #3 Complete!

Last week I had a lovely time, doing a trunk show at the York County Quilter's Guild, in SC. It is always so much fun going out into the world and making new friends. I really appreciated how welcoming they were. Shout out to Jane in particular for putting up with me in her home, and entertaining me in such fine style. She even MADE me some scones which were TO DIE FOR!

Since I wrote last I finished the rug I was weaving, I am getting a new one this week. We had a workday in the community garden this past weekend. It was a good feeling, to start getting ready for summer planting season, and getting the first mowing out of the way. I won my tennis match (by default, but I'll take it).

So more to the quilty point: I finished section #3 of my rose garden quilt. Here are the 3 finished sections on the design wall:

Section #4 is laid out, and I have started sewing on it.

This will go in the blank space to the left, on the bottom. So that puts me at more than a third of the way on this quilt.

I have half of Julie's quilt sewn together:

A dear friend of mine bought a house last week, so a special house warming/wedding gift is in order. I didn't really meet her until after she got married. She married the son of a good friend of mine, and I am just now getting around to their gift. I thought a set of place mats, table runner, and potholder set might be nice. Here is a photo of a "prototype" place mat:

I am not sure if I want to leave the side borders so dark like that, or if I will make them narrower, and add another, lighter border. 

Hope all of your projects are going well.

I am linking up with Design Wall Monday 
Oh Scrap!, Moving it Forward Monday
Main Crush Monday 

Lots of fun projects to see!
Thanks for stopping by!

Quilt Con

A couple of weeks ago I had the extremely good fortune to give a program for a fun and hospitable group of ladies at the Staying in Stitches Quilt Guild in Statesboro, GA, and then teaching a class to another wonderful group of ladies at a quilt shop called Quarterdeck Quilts in Springfield, GA. What more could a girl ask for? How about being 45 minutes from Savannah the day before Quilt Con was scheduled to start there? You know what they say-timing is everything! I hadn't really thought about going to Quilt Con, but how could I pass up THAT opportunity when I was so close by?!!! I am so glad I took advantage of that situation. Sandy from Quarterdeck Quilts was kind enough to set me up with some perfect directions from Springfield, and off I went!

Here are my favorite quilts from Quilt Con.
Please forgive me if my photography is not the best. I was trying to photograph around  many people, and also trying to stay out of their way as they also enjoyed the show. 

I don't usually think of myself as being particularly modern. I love some of the brighter, designer prints, and I often like to see how I can tweak tradition; but though I loved seeing these quilts, I just don't have the soul of a minimalist. These quilts just seemed to be made from a different point of view somehow.


Bling, by Katherine Jones
I was amazed by how much this quilt looked like a faceted jewel,even before I read the name. I love the subtle use of neutrals.

Lawn Diamonds, by Sarah Schraw
I am a sucker for solid quilts, always have been, and this one is so graphic and beautiful. There is just something about those narrow diamond, and all of those fine points.

The Northern Flicker, A Quilt and a Bird, by Sarah Lowry
I love the palette, texture, a movement on this quilt.

Going Rogue, by Julie Elliott
I am always love a pineapple quilt, but it is even better to see  someone move the colors around in unusual ways.

Organic Mid Century Mod, by Laura Bennet,
also, Jessica Levitt, Jessie Aller, Neva Asinari, Ashley Bander, Tracy Baird, Ruth Bass, Nicole Folino, Michelle Kachan, Janet Schoenfeld, Robin Tillsworth, Colleen Wiest

I love the colors in this quilt too, and they did such a great job of evoking the designs of the mid century. It reminds me of my childhood. (Ooops! I am dating myself!)

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a few of my favorite quilts from Quilt Con!

Thanks for stopping by!

Progress and a New Start

Actually, I am supposed to be weaving today, but the yarn color needed to be adjusted, so I get a free day of play! It's like found money-you hardly know what to do with it first!

Anyway, I have made a bit of progress sewing together the section of my Rose Garden quilt that I laid out last week.

My washing machine bit the dust, and through a series of moving, and other flukes my across the street neighbor ended up with an extra washing machine, and she gave it to me-so I had to make her a quilt. Since she was in the process of moving at the time it took a little while to see what colors the quilt should be. I happened to have this quilt out.

She liked this quilt, and the colors in my Rose Garden quilt, so I took those ideas, plus my memory of what her house had looked like before she had packed it up. The last month I have been gathering fabrics, and cutting/sewing/pressing strip sets for her quilt. I have been looking forward to laying a portion of the quilt out to see what it will look like.

So that is what I have been up to lately, plus a little bit of getting ready for spring gardening. Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up with Patchwork Times , Oh Scrap!,  Monday Making and Move it Forward Monday Lots of fun inspiration! 

New Section

I am back home from my trip to the Staying in Stitches Quilt Guild in Statesboro, and Quarterdeck Quilts in Springfield. It was a really fun trip, and I had a great time and met lots of wonderful quilters. Sandy has a lovely shop with many fabrics I hadn't seen around my neck of the woods. It truly had me wishing I had deeper pockets. 

And there was a bonus. I really hadn't given it much thought, since I was focused on all of the new things I had been trying to learn how to do at home, but it was brought to my attention that we were only 45 minutes away from Quiltcon in Savannah. How silly would it be to miss that when I was so close?! So down to Savannah I carried myself, and boy, am I glad I did! There were a lot of beautiful quilts. I think I will make a future post with my favorite quilts from Quiltcon. 

Right now though, I am excited about the new section of my Rose Garden quilt(working name). I have just laid it out on my design wall. You can see the drawing for this quilt in my last post. This section is the lower, right hand corner.

This is the first section I have put together that isn't a diamond. I can't wait to see what it looks like with the others. I really love working on this quilt. All of my small units are sewn together now, so this is about to stop being a "portable quilt". I will need to have my thinking cap on to layout and sew these sections together. Between traveling, visiting with friends, and watching Netflix, I have gotten most of my HST and 4 patch units made. I even took a couple of hours last week to walk down to our local riverside park, and sit at a picnic table and trim units. Winters in Georgia usually have some mild days, but this winter has been so much milder than normal. 

My view from the park bench:

I love our riverside park, and I am so grateful that I can just walk to it.

That is what I have been up to. I hope things are going as well for you. 

This week I am linking up with Patchwork Times.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Did on Retreat, and Why I Love Love Love The Jacobs Ladder Block

This is a project I have been very excited about for a very long time. 

Many years ago. I saw this photo in a book titled Quilts, by Ljiljana Baird.

It is an antique quilt created by an unnamed maker dated to 1870. I really love this quilt, but anyone who knows me at all know that the chances of me voluntarily limiting myself to 2 fabrics, let alone 2 solid fabrics are slim indeed. 

But, this quilt was always in the back of my mind as an idea I wanted to do something with.

A couple of years ago I wanted to make a special wedding gift for a young women who is very dear to me. I thought it would be a good opportunity to play with this block. The colors of her future bedroom were to be turquoise and brown, so I got right to work on the computer to begin playing with color placement. Long story short, I came up with an idea for Kimberly's wedding quilt, plus about 200 other drawings!

Obviously, not all of them are keepers, and some of them are so similar to each other that they aren't worth bothering with. But it made a real impression on me with regards to how versatile this block can be. I had some many ideas that I really loved! Here is a photo of Kimberly's wedding quilt.

I have really wanted to submit this as an idea for a book, but I knew it was going to take years to make 12 or 13 quilts, since these quilts, though easy to make, are pretty time consuming, and I had none of them made. I have been trying to think of another way to share that information. 

I thought it might be fun to post one drawing a week, just as a drawing, then maybe self publish them as a book sometime in the future. Before I did that, I thought it would be a good idea to make at least a couple of them to see what they look like translated into fabric. Maybe I should call this "My Jacob's Ladder Project". 

There are so many things I really love about making these quilts. I love the almost infinite number of different designs you can get, once you start playing around with color placement, and rotating the blocks. Then, you can add another set of variations by either using all the same block, or alternating with a "B" block. The difference between the A block and B block is the position of the lights and darks. The antique quilt in the book, and Kimberly's wedding quilt both have an A block alternating with a B block. I am not sure if one of these options is a true Jacob's Ladder block, and the other isn't, but I have spent a good deal of time playing around with both options. 

Since these quilts are made entirely from half square triangles, and four patches. These are simple, basic units that are easy to make, and have many "portable" steps. By portable steps, I am referring to steps you can do even if you do not have a sewing machine handy. For example, cutting units from strips, pairing, marking, pressing, and trimming. When you DO use a sewing machine to do the sewing required on the units, you can just run them through the sewing machine, quickly and easily, instead of spending time to figure out where you left off. You can make these units even when your brain is tired, or you don't have very much time to work, or when part of your brain is doing something else, like visiting with friends, watching TV, or keeping an eye on the stove. If you are a fan of Bonnie Hunter, you can use them as "leaders and enders" while you are making other quilts. 

Eventually, of course, you will have to put your thinking cap on to make the units into blocks and layout the quilt, but until then, it is just a matter of making the right number of units in the color combinations that you need. 

I have started a couple of these quilts, but set them aside because this one was really pulling on my imagination. I just couldn't wait to see what it was going to look like, and if the colors were going to work like I hoped. Another reason is because I had to do some traveling, and the way this quilt is laid out really lends itself to working on these "portable" units.

I have written some about getting the units  ready to take to retreat in this post.

Unfortunately, I didn't get all of the units done, so I was still making 4 patch units while I was laying out the sections at retreat, which really slowed me down. That said, I am so excited with the way my colors are working! Since I am dealing with 4 values, pink, coral, red, and maroon, I wanted to be sure that the pattern was showing up clearly. 

So here is a reminder of what my drawing looks like.

 

I have this drawing divided into 9 sections, 5 of which are centered around the 5 diamonds, and the 4 corners.

Here are 2 sections I made while I was on retreat. 

I started with the center section, and the center-right section.

That is what I worked on at retreat. 

Next week I will visit The Staying in Stitches Quilt Guild in Springfield GA, and teach a Sonja's Windows class at the Quarterdeck Quilt Shop in Springfield GA. Stop by and see my quilts in person if you are in the area!

I hope all of your winter projects are going smoothly.

Thanks for stopping by!

Retreat Was Wonderful

Retreat was wonderful. It was so much fun seeing friends that I only get to visit with once or twice a year, and seeing what they are working on. Here are just a few highlights of what was happening around the room throughout the weekend. 

 This is Tracy, who was kind enough to stand beside her brilliant string quilt. Luscious no?

A Fabulous Baltimore Album, made by Joyce.

 I just love Barbara's version of my A Maze Zing pattern. It think it's neat that she did the opposite of mine, and made the wide border the constant, and varied the narrow border. Can you believe those are dinosaur bones on that wide strip? Even though it is constant throughout the center of the quilt, it adds so much movement, and interest, I just love it. What a perfect choice. The asymmetrical ombre border is such a fun surprise!

Another fun quilt made by Barbara. Love her  fabric choices.

Donna's stunning One Block Wonder.

I am usually not a big fan of panels, but this quilt, made by Shelia, is so serene and wintry, even I can't resist it.

I love Bonnie Hunter's 2016 mystery quilt. This one was made by Lynne. Here is another started by Mary George. (We have to call her Mary George to distinguish her from 2 other Marys in the group).

They look so different when they are not in repeat. I have always loved what Bonnie Hunter does with alternating blocks.

This is Ivy's first quilt. She is making a much more color coordinated version of my Lightning Strikes quilt. I took the photo too early. It is just after half done here. She had ALL of the blocks made and up there before we left. Hopefully, I will get a photo of it all in one piece soon. (Maybe next retreat?). Not bad for a first quilt, don't you think? BTW, I will be teaching that block at Quarterdeck Quilts in Springfield GA, on February 22.

Mary Beth made this beautiful quilt for her daughter. I love the focus print that looks like a slightly different framed painting in each block.

This is Mary on the left, and Dana on the right, working together to make a couple of fringed bags. I have probably mentioned in passed retreat posts, that Mary is the one who is kind enough to bring us all together every year.  We sure appreciate it!

Here is a quilt Mary was working on:

What rich beautiful colors!

Another blogger, and friend, Sandy Gilreath came by to visit us, and wrote about it on her blog here, so if you want to see more beautiful quilts from this retreat, check her post out.

I will write about what I worked on at retreat on the next post. 

That is what I have been up to. Thanks for stopping by!

Mr. DeVille, I'm Ready For My Closeup

At long last I have a couple of quilts to photograph. They are not the best pictures I have ever taken. I was in such a hurry to finally get photos of these quilts, that I went ahead and took the photos even though it was a sunny day (which I prefer it to be cloudy), and worse yet, it was windy. I will get some better ones when the weather cooperates better, but here they are.

Burgeoning Springtime:

See how the right side of the center block looks washed out? That is my friend Mr. Sun at work.

Hoopla:

I have also been hard at work writing patterns for both of these quilts. I decided to give myself a new challenge when I wrote these. Instead of just using Microsoft Word for the writing, and hand drawing the little figures, I am laying out the pattern, and doing the drawings in InDesign. I have never done this before, and I will confess, it has been a bumpy road, as using a new computer program always is. Hopefully, I will get good at it one day.

I have also been helping my friend Eleanor start up a booth at an antique store. I have been helping her gather, clean, and arrange items. So far I think her booth looks really pretty. It is booth #165 in a place called Gigi's in Griffin GA. Here are a couple of photos of what she has put together so far:
 

 That, and a little bit of getting ready for retreat, is what I have been up to lately. I hope you are having a pleasant January. Another month is almost here! Thanks for stopping by!

Hitting the Ground Running for the First Weeks of 2017

They go by so fast! Here is what I have been up to since the first of the year.

I have been working on finishing the 3 quilts I got back from Regina, late last year, adding bindings, labels, and sleeves. That is pretty pleasant and relaxing when you are tired, and brain dead. Especially after you get the machine sewing part done. I should have some finished quilt pictures done before too much longer. 

I am also getting ready to go on a quilt retreat with some of my very favorite people in the world. Hooray! Hooray!

Quilts I want to work on at retreat:

 

It is time for this quilt to get done, especially since it only has 16 rows left before it is there. I am really looking forward to seeing it finished, but I work on it less than others because it is less portable than the next quilts I will tell you about.  

 I have started another quilt in my Jacob's Ladder series. Or as I like to call them: "Quilts comprised entirely of HST and four patches". Now THAT is portable. During the holidays, I cut out my pieces, and paired them with a mate. I have been sewing the units together in the evenings, when I am tired. Then, when I go to visit friends, I carry a box of the units, with a small, portable ironing board, and iron, and sit and press, as we chat. I already have all of the HST done. When I get the four patch strips pressed, I will have to cut them into 2 units, then sew the center seam to make a four patch.

 

Here is my Drawing.

The colors of this quilt make me think of a rose garden. I want to make as many HST and four patches as possible before retreat, and start building the blocks at retreat, where I know I will have large blocks of sewing time.     

By the way, here is a curious question. Do you notice that my text is centered in this portion of the post? It is not because I think that it is artistic. I have been trying everything I can think of for the last 15 minutes to get it to justify to the left. I have pushed the text down from the quilt photo above. I have gone up to the icon and clicked the left justify button at least 50 times by now. I even justified the quilt photo to the left, hoping the text would follow along. No dice!!! If anyone knows what this is about, I would love to know! For some reason this blog post is just not a left justifying frame of mind.Go figure!

I have also been trying to sew together some strip sets for the remake of this quilt.

 Okay, so the photos will justify to the left, but the text will not, maybe later?

Keep calm and carry on.

What else have I been doing the last couple weeks? Working on my technological skills. Can't you tell? I did successfully add a tab to the top of this blog that shows my speaking and teaching schedule for the year so far. I also added the rest of my quilts, classes, and patterns to my stand alone website:quiltdesignsbycandace.com

As with so many things lately, it took a day and a half to figure out how to do it, and then another half day to actually do it, but I did it.Yippee! That is one thing I can check off my New Year's goals list. 

I have edited my guild program. I had to move some things around since I added some new quilts. 

I have written 3 Youtube video scripts, and spent some time watching Youtube videos about how to make Youtube videos. I confess, I am a bit nervous about getting the editing right, not to mention, having to see myself on camera.  I don't even like to hear myself on tape!

I have started writing the first of several patterns that need to get written. I have sworn that I an going to learn to use InDesign, or something similar, so I can use the computer to draw the figures, instead of doing that by hand. At the rate things are going, that should be exciting.

So that is what I have been working on. I Hope the first few weeks of 2017 have been good to you, and you are accomplishing what you want to get done. Maybe by next post I will be able to justify to the left again! Check back and find out.

Thanks for stopping by!