But the BIG draw to the quilt shows are obviously the quilts.  I tend to be attracted to those thathave bold and bright colors.  I also LOVE spikes!!  As part of the faculty, I had the honor of awarding a faculty ribbon to the quilt that made my heart sing.  How cool is that?? Then I really had to look at the quilts with a different sort of eye.  But in the end, the bright and bold won out.It wasn’t about perfection for me, as I didn’t have that type of criteria that a quilt judge would have to utilize.  So I just said… “What do I like the best?”.  Here are some photos of quilts that really caught my eye.  The last quilt is the one that was awarded my ribbon.

What do you think?  What types of quilts attract you at a show?  Pieced, appliqué, a combination of both, machine quilting, hand quilting?  I would love to know what you think.  Leave me a comment and tell me your thoughts!

Until Next Time…

Jackie Kunkel

cvquiltworks.com

I believe that sometimes they think they are helping. You know when they hop up next to the sewing machine and place their head on the arm or stare at the needle going up and down. When I am binding, they find the need to play with the thread too.

Oh and the worst is, if the design wall is not free and you use the floor…. they need to become your new design team by running across the blocks and totally rearranging the layout. The exact layout that you spent over an hour placing carefully there and were completely satisfied with at the moment.

But I don’t think this is exclusively to cats, I do think that other pets do this as well. A while ago, I ran a contest on my Facebook Page called Pets on quilts and invited people to post photos of their pets on quilts. While there were many dogs and cats there was also a bird and I believe a bunny. Oh and sometimes people even make quilts especially for their pets….

Do you have a pet that is constantly attracted to your fabric or your quilts? I would love to hear about it… just leave a comment and let me know.

Jackie Kunkel

cvquiltworks.com

For many of us, sewing is an escape from our daily duties of the day. This week was different for me, it was also a way for me to ease my mind and do something I enjoy while also bringing comfort to those in Newtown, CT. I began by helping to spread the word about the collection of pillowcases for the children survivors at the Sandy Hook Elementary school. I posted it on Facebook and also on my blog. The word has gotten around.

Then I sat down to sew 4 pillowcases to send off. I made 2 for girls and 2 for boys. It actually made me happy to know that 4 children may have smiles on their faces and be comforted by the pillowcases that I made. As one commenter on my blog said… “they hope their pillowcases help the little know that humanity does exist.”

I was so excited that I finished them in just a few hours, I couldn’t wait to get them in the mail. Package and shipped, I know by now they have arrived and will be delivered soon. Even if I couldn’t be there to wrap my arms around these children, I feel I am doing this with my gift to them.

Later on, I also did some sewing for a new quilt that will appear in Simple Quilts and Sewing. My cat, Pavi, knew I was feeling blue and had to help me. This was some of the best medicine for me. Having my helper and sewing, it doesn’t get much better.

I also took to playing with scraps this week as well. Making these mini blocks with my African fabric put a smile on my face and I can’t wait to make more!!

In conclusion, although I had difficulty coping this week, I found solace in sewing. I can only hope that the families in Newtown find the same solace in something at a time not too far in the future. In the meantime, they remain in my thoughts daily.

Warm Regards,

Jackie Kunkel

cvquiltworks.com

Batik fabrics were chosen, then I needed to provide them with yardage amounts.  The yardage amounts were sent to Island Batik and the fabrics were sent onto me.  Let the fun begin!!!

This was one design that I could not wait to see growing and coming together.  So, wait no longer… with a nice sharp rotary blade in hand, I made that first cut into the fabrics!  Oh, did that feel good.  Then came the first stitches, that felt even better!  Everything kept coming together and my excitement was peaking.  The geese were made the quarter square triangles, the sashing… everything was laying out so nicely.

Now to join all the segments… oh what fun I had.  The quilt top was now together and just so nice and bright and shiny new.  Backing was pieced and ready to throw onto the long arm.  I knew I would use a variegated thread that would play so nicely with these fabulous batiks.  A little custom quilting will do the trick. I was right, the thread really complimented the batiks to a “T” and made the custom motifs just shine… looooooving it!

Now to bind it.  I just knew it had to be HOT pink for the binding. One of the geese fabrics were brought out to the binding and framed it up just right.  The final quilt, so aptly named by the Quilt Magazine team, Island Breeze.  I boxed it up and sent it off to Deb and they took my quilt on the best photo shoot ever!  To the beach… oh to have been there with it, a girl can dream can’t she??

I was in shock and soooo honored when I was told the quilt made the cover!  Do you believe it????…. my quilt!  Wow, that was the best day ever.  I was happy dancing all around the house, my family was tickled too.  Then a week later it arrived… the actual magazine, in the flesh… so to speak!  What a sight… the cover, just gorgeous!  I can’t thank the team at Quilt Magazine enough for allowing me to contribute this very special design (to me) to your publication.  Thank you, thank you!!

Not only did it make the cover, but they also have a line drawing available on their site that you can download as a PDF to fill in your own colors.  How cool is that?  Also, you can purchase the kit to make this fabulous quilt in my online shop, Canton Village Quilt Works.

Thank you for allowing me to drone on and on, but I just can’t contain my excitement!  Now, if you haven’t seen the quilt, enjoy the following photos.  Tell me your thoughts on Island Breeze… Are you as excited as I am??

Jackie Kunkel

cvquiltworks.com

There is just something about batiks that make me want to cut them up and sew them back together.  They fall into all the categories that I mentioned above, plus they also have great variation in colors with each fabric you look at.  No two are the same.  You just can’t find that in any other fabric, except maybe hand dyes (which I also love and covet)!

But I digress, this is about Batiks.  If you don’t know a lot about Batiks, here is some quick info… They are made with a wax resist technique usually using a chop or stamp.  This chop has the design (kind of like a rubber stamp but made of copper).  The chop is dipped into the wax and then pressed onto the cotton fabric.  Then the fabric is dyed.  Where there is wax the dye will not be absorbed, thereby creating the pattern or motif on the fabric.  This can be repeated until you get the color and design just right.

Most batiks are produced in Indonesia and then imported.  They are truly unique.  To work with them, as a quilter, they are heavenly!  They not only have saturated color but also retain a crease really well when you press.  They are some of the biggest sellers in my shop too!  But once a batik is gone you usually can’t get it again as they are that unique.

Have you every tried batiks?  What types of projects have you made with batiks?  Leave me a comment letting me know  your thoughts on batiks! If you haven’t tried them yet, I sure hope you will now.  I wanted to share with you several photos of some of the projects that I have created using batiks.   So here you go…

Jackie Kunkel

cvquiltworks.com

Being able to meet the fabulous designers behind all the beautiful fabric that we purchase and see the latest and greatest fabric lines that they have created for us.

Seeing eye catching quilts that have been made with the newest fabric lines.  Some just leave you wanting to go home and make a dozen or so…

Being able to walk around and view all the colorful and delightfully designed booths.

Eagerly anticipating walking the quilt market floor with hundreds of your closest friends.

Meeting up with friends, new and old.

And last but not least, coveting those wonderful things that someday you might have in your own home.

What would you like to see at Quilt Market?

Got to love Quilt Market… Here I come!!

Jackie Kunkel

cvquiltworks.com

Some of the things that I love about paper piecing is the accuracy that you get. There is really no wiggle room for error. If you can sew on the line you will have a perfect piece every time! How cool is that? The only drawback to paper piecing is ripping the paper off when you are done.

When drafting my own, I use a newspaper weight paper or the paper that comes on the roll that you can find at the big box hardware stores. It is brown and comes in widths of 12” or 18” for a low price of around $4.00 or so for an unlimited supply!! There are also newspaper weight paper sheets that you can feed into any printer that are available through your local quilt shop too. This way you can make multiple copies. Judy Niemeyer patterns have all the papers that you need pre-printed.

Once you get going there is a definite rhythm to it and you get spectacular results. My advice about paper piecing, if you haven’t tried it definitely do so, but begin with something easy.

Have you ever tried to paper piece? What is your favorite type of piecing?

Jackie Kunkel

One of my favorite colors is yellow and the daffodils are in all their glory right now. Here are a few of mine with that bright, beautiful saturated yellow you look for when making a bright quilt.

Another favorite color these day is orange. As luck might have it, I actually have an orange Azalea. It isn’t blooming just yet, so this photo is from last year right around this time. Interestingly enough my Azalea is no where near this point yet.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to visit a Dale Chihuly exhibit and I can’t begin to describe his fabulous use of color. I was so inspired that day by his wonderful works of glass art, that I just wanted to start to play with fabric right away. If you ever have a chance to see his work, do it… fast… you won’t be disappointed.

In my normal daily routine, I am constantly inspired by my thread collection and my fabrics. It is a quilter’s heaven to me! Lots and lots of saturated color exists everywhere in my studio. I am lucky enough to be able to walk into this room on a daily basis and have these wonderful items at my finger tips.

So, in conclusion, where do you get your color inspiration from and which is your favorite color? I would love to know!

Jackie Kunkel

The first one is a Hunter’s Star Quilt. I actually used two specialty rulers, the Petite Rapid Fire Hunter’s Star Ruler and the Tucker Trimmer. These two rulers made it super easy and quick to make these difficult blocks with a beautiful result.

Another one is the Lil’ Twister ruler. This made tessellating pinwheels a snap to make. No fussing! I made two versions a silk, seen in my previous blog post, and also a striped one that I named Peruvian Pinwheels and is now residing with my friend in Peru!

The 9 Degree Circle Wedge Ruler is also a fun one. I just made a quilt using this ruler and it was all strip pieced, but formed a dresden of sorts. Instead of completing a circle, I made a design decision and used quarter circles so that the quilting could take center stage.

Last but not least, I am making a quilt with a BRAND new ruler that hasn’t been released yet! It is going to be released a Spring Quilt Market. So I was asked by the designer to test the ruler and all I can say is… it is fantastic! It makes a very traditional block that is not that easy to make, easy!!

If you have any tools, techniques or ideas that make quilting quicker and easier, I would love to hear about it! Leave me a comment and share your insights.

Jackie Kunkel

Within the past year or two, I have begun developing a little bit of a silk stash. It started when my brother and his wife were living in China and I became the recipient of some lovely silks. The first ones are printed like the ones you might see in kimonos. Just gorgeous!! These may end up in a a
crazy quilt. Then I began to collect the silk dupioni’s. I can’t tell you how much I love them.

Yes, silks do fray an unbelievable amount. But that is easily remedied by using a very lightweight fusible interfacing for stabilization. This drastically cuts down on the fraying before cutting. Then they become a dream to piece into a quilt.

You can see some of recent silk acquisitions here:

I am not much of a blue person and have very little in my stash, but couldn’t resist these wonderful Caribbean colors. They take me to a much warmer place. Here is a photo of my tessellating pinwheels done all in silk dupioni. It is reminiscent of Amish colors, but the silk gives it a more elegant feel.

So if you haven’t tried using silks yet, you should give it a go! I know that you will love them. But don’t forget that lightweight fusible interfacing, you will be glad that you did!! I would love to hear about your silk projects, if you have worked on any. So go ahead and leave me a comment!!

Jackie