News and Tips
February 13, 2012 A bit of a lapse for news but lots has been going on since last report. We listed our home and 17 acres for sale and are looking to downsize. We would like to stay in the general area but would prefer a ranch walkout. Consequently, for the past year I have been throwing something away every day. It does not have to be much, but just something. Have you ever opened a drawer and honestly answered the question "Do I really need everything here?" So, a major sorting, giving, throwing has taken place. All the family was gathered one time for pizza and looked over the "choice" items for giveaway. Each item with a piece of paper so recipients could place their name. If two people wanted the same item, then Tom did the coin toss. All had a laughable time. Lots of Placemats and Pillowcases were completed for the Des Moines Area Quilt Guild. Dazzling Carsidium, feature article, appeared in the March 2012 issue of American Quilter magazine. Interesting comments on this finished piece are arriving by email. Deep saturation of color of the quilt carried through in the magazine. The many techniques used in producing this art piece made it challenging. Calenda, Pocketsch and Pinosa is my newest completion which embodies fabric construction, freeform cutting, color and design. As in all workshops, a number of techniques are included.
September 30, 2011 Busy days as August came to a close and September rushed on by. The report on the Grandchildren shows Tad enrolled at UNI; Tyler at ISU; Doug at Aurora, IL running cross-country; Corbin in Bloomington, MN with hockey, MNJHL; Brooke junior at VHS; Bryan sophomore at VHS; Matt 8th grade, cross country, trumpet, at Stillwell school; Dakota 7th grade, cross-country, trombone, at Dallas-Center Grimes school; and Elizabeth, 6th grade, choir and violin at Dallas-Center Grimes school. Lots of memories being made as we attend activities and cheer them on. Fargo, ND, was the site for the state quilting festival September 15-16-17. On the 15th was the teachers' dinner, "Meet the Teachers" and the evening presentation with trunks show by Cindy Erickson, the quilt judge for their show. On the 16th I taught Waltzing Nine Patch. That evening we attended a buffet with Barbara Oliver Hartman telling her story followed by her trunk show. The 17th my workshop Whimsical Triangles introduced neat methods for a special ruler. A surprise in the workshop when it was discovered that Carol Wold and I had the same 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Esther Snustad, at Roseau Grade School, just two years apart. The day concluded with a banquet and my lecture on Quilting Journey with trunk show. Thanks to my new-found Canadian quilter friends who marched the many quilts across for the audience. Thanks to class helpers Linda and Barbara. And a huge thanks to Marcia, Muriel and Bridget for all their work getting the quilt show ready, arranging for rooms and schedules, and toting my quilting supplies. Fargo had a wonderful quilt show! A baby quilt was completed for Liam Becker who arrived two months early. His parents and grandparents are all golfers. The fabric for the back of the quilt features various animals golfing. There was enough fabric to fussy-cut out the animals for squares on the front, alternating with quarter-square triangles of red/blue/green. Name and other specifics quilted on the border.
August 15, 2011 Completed Projects It's wonderful to write the word "completed projects". For the Silent Auction for the Des Moines Guild I finished Zhenjoo and the Combovers. This is a small art piece which is the result of opening your boxes of "gifts" - fabrics which have fusible on the back - and working with the various scraps in odd and assorted shapes and sizes. Of course, these are from my Magical Garden Series. Stitching incorporated as usual. Twelve Placemats were completed for the July meeting. Sunflower Surrounded is the art quilt completed for the heart-cancer auction for the Des Moines Guild end of August. The center feature is from a Schamber workshop many years ago. Fourteen leftover blocks form the border. A great variety of quilting patterns adorn the center section as well as the border. Other activities included the Indianola Guild lecture and trunk show. Joanie Zeier Poole presented her lectures as well as two days of workshops. Attending workshops is a great way to expand your knowledge and abilities; support the Guild; and make new friends.
July 14, 2011 Sorting, Filing, Throwing and Giving Away have all consumed the last days. It began with two red chests with narrow drawers finding a new home at Keith and LaGaya's for their music room. That set in motion the cleaning out of four small chests. My goal is to throw away one item per day so you can well imagine that quota was met. Quilting was a bit neglected during this purging session. Ankeny Quilt Guild had their annual show Saturday with quilts and vendors. Quilters enjoyed the ten patterns they learned in my Whimsical Triangles workshop. The Super 60 special ruler made learning a breeze as they explored all the triangle and diamond combinations. Color and placement were discussed in depth. Thanks to Tami and Janeen for all their organization, set up and carry out for the day.
June 15, 2011 Saturday's Wool Works Home Workshop gave the quilters the option of working from my pattern Charposa and the Tripleberries or designing their own flower, vase and leaves. Some of each was included to make a personal piece. Wool pieces were first applique-whipped to the background with Genziana wool threads. Embroidery stitches were added with DMC cotton or other threads. Our drive was to Fairmont, MN, Sunday afternoon with an overnight stay at my classmate Patti and husband Dale Knewtson. Her sister Roberta and husband Dave Ward (also a classmate) were present for a wonderful steak dinner. The Prairie Star Quilters of Fairmont were a great group of quilters as they enjoyed all the possibilities of the Super 60 Sara Nephew ruler. The day adjourned after the early-evening lecture and trunk show.
May 31, 2011 Another Belling event took place over the past weekend as our 4th grandson Corbin graduated from high school. His favorite color of red with the addition of black and white made the Flying Geese pattern effective. Back of the quilt has hockey words. For the quilts of the older grandsons, see Tad, Tyler and Doug in the Quilt Gallery.
May 21, 2011 quilters enjoyed a Colorwash workshop at our home. Sharing precut squares from a quilter who moved out of state as well as my stash, the group was able to delve in immediately with sorting. Their vinyl-flannel design yardage was marked off before class so they were anxious to place a mass of squares and produce an overall design. Colorwash is a great way to learn about color, density and relations.
May 17, 2011 The Newcomers of the DMAQG visited our home and viewed traditional quilts. In the quilting room they observed some of the organizational methods for saving time and keeping neat areas. A quick binding demo for placemats was given. One tip which all appreciated was regarding the "scrap" which is used at the beginning and end of piecing. Instead of a "scrap", why not have stacks of dark and light triangles. Sew a dark and light together instead of your "scrap". That way you are building a bunch of triangles to put into a quilt.
May 9, 2011 Thursday we drove up to Minneapolis for the May Minnesota Quilt meeting. The tour of the Textile Center included the galleria, gift shop, library, dyeing area and weaving area. That evening 125 quilters attended the quilt lecture and trunk showing of traditional quilts. Friday's workshop was on the Waltzing Nine Patch which involved free-hand rotary cutting, special border and a demo on piping. Saturday morning about 150 quilters listened to the quilt lecture and saw the trunk showing of art quilts and embellishments. Flying Geese in a Brave New World comprised the afternoon's workshop and featured no-waste methods with a multitude of blocks available. Thanks, Laura, for all your planning to make the experience memorable. I appreciated the warm Minnesota welcome.
April 27, 2011 Placemats The Des Moines Area Quilters Guild has been active in supplying placemats for Meals on Wheels. A good size for a placemat is 14"x18". This means that 6 backs can be cut out of a yard of older fabric (42"x36"). Some projects which began with all good intentions became UFO's. When taking a workshop, go with an open mind of learning the technique. If the technique has been learned and not enjoyed, make a placemat! If it is worth the project and you LOVE it, then continue on to completion. Many orphan blocks reside in bins because of making too many for the project. When errors occur in the sewing, extra blocks are thrown in the large bin. When trying out new patterns to check accuracy or color choices, these few endeavors often join the bin. Scraps of BATTING work well. Two layers of flannel sheet and one layer of old toweling also provide batting. Placemats are an excellent choice for practicing your QUILTING because of their small size. Likely the recipient will not scrutinize your quilting stitches or design with a judge's eye. I cut 2 1/4" BINDING of assorted patterns and densities, sew together, press in half lengthwise and roll it in a bundle, save in a drawer for future use. Generally all reds (include purple, pink, orange) are bundled together; same with blues or greens or browns. Does it matter if the binding pertains to the placemat? - oh, my, no. Binding is sewn on the back side and then flipped to the front side where you again sew it on by machine. The use of a bright variegated THREAD adds pizzazz to your work. Think of this as a way to neaten up your working quilt studio. Is it permissible to cut up a quilt top from 7 years ago and makes a batch of placemats? Of course. And if you make 12 absolutely magnificent placemats, can these be sewn together to make a quilt! Yes, I did that once, embellished it with buttons and it was juried into a large quilt show. Anything goes. Mostly, think of your smile as you neaten up and think of the smile on the recipient's face.
April 11, 2011 Working With Wool Lots of excitement as I completed Chrysolaria, the name of the wool piece which features a large floral, leaves and background stitchings. Items used in this production include dyed wool; Fassett cotton fabric; Genziana wool thread; Valdani perle cotton; Velvet Rickrack; Sea Grass by Threadgatherer; and Beads. Charposa and the Tripleberry was also finished with a great variety of fascinating fabrics and stitchings. These include the dyed wool; dyed velvet; Fassett cotton fabric; Rio thread by Elin Noble; Valdani perle cotton; DMC perle cotton; Genziana wool thread; Sea Grass, Shepherd's Silk and Chenille by Threadgatherer; Pleated velvet ribbon from Button Emporium; and Beads. Charposa features multi-layered petals and leaves with numerous stitches. Tripleberry has a vibrant gold center with purple berries surrounded by a deep red shell. Contact me for setting up your Wool Designing Workshops. Phone 515 987 4912 email: tbelling@aol.com
APRIL 1, 2011 Today's news and tips will include a few hints about organizing your quilting domain. It is always great to have a designated place for all supplies and equipment. Well said, however, if you don't put anything back or away, what good is that? So for me, anyway, it is a challenge to plan the best use of your space. The greater challenge is to keep things where they belong when not in use. Fabrics: The closet in the quilt room has shelving to accommodate the Rubbermaid large tubs for the fabrics. Fabrics have been folded for two rows, front and back. The thickness of the fold automatically lets you know how much fabric of that color is present. Bins are filled with fabrics of same colors. There are separate bins for colorwash-type fabrics since they were difficult to sort by color. Stripes, dots, music, juvenile, jungle, food, oriental and other specialty types all have their personal bins. Thread: My threads are kept in plastic containers sorted by type of thread. This means that all the Bottom Line spools occupy two containers, etc. One of my splurges tends to be buying the entire collection. A few of the orphan spools are on racks on the wall for decoration and general sewing. Books: Two tall bookcases provide the space for books. One bookcase includes books by author. The other bookcase includes all the embroidery books, drawing books, research books. Additional bookcases are in the guest bedrooms. Magazines: I save all copies of Quilting Arts, Quiltmania, all Japanese magazines, Quilt Life, Quilters Newsletter and AQS. All other magazines I am endeavoring to devour. If there is an article I wish to keep, then this is removed and punched for insertion into a three-ring binder. Sometimes it is a small diagram or picture in which case I razor-blade it and toss into a plastic bin. Consider trading or passing your magazines along to your quilter friends.
Home About JoAnn Classes Small Group Workshops Workshop Schedule
Patterns And Cards Quilt Gallery