Well, hello there! What a busy couple of months our family had. So much has happened in my life since last October. I passed the bar exam, moved, had a baby...and that was just through the holiday months. Things are quieting down and I'm now turning to a bit of sewing.

I bought fabric for the quilt design I showed you in my last post. 

I was able to match the colors pretty well to what I chose in Electric Quilt. These are all Kona solids purchased from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I ordered black printer ink today (because I'm currently out of it) so I can print out my patterns and start piecing this quilt. All the fabrics have been prewashed and dried since this photo, but they are still waiting to be pressed. 

If you follow my page on Facebook, you might have already seen some of the other projects I've been working on. I'm setting up a permanent sewing space in the new house and so as a result, I have been going through boxes and boxes of sewing supplies. I found some old blocks I made years ago, and you may have even seen them if you've followed this blog that long. I think I made these with the thought of completing a Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt. I must have lost steam and moved on to something else, and good thing, because my piecing wasn't all that phenomenal here. The seams are bulky, and I must not yet have really been into machine quilting because now that I know better, I put a lot of effort into minimizing bulk. I picked a few of the better blocks and squared them up, which inevitably means I will lose some points or create some floaters. But it will still be a fun short project to put together so I can get to the part I love the most, which is the machine quilting.

Today I have some housework and errands to run, and then I'll try to squeeze in sewing time. The plan is to get this machine quilted on my Juki, but I've been having some trouble with thread looping on the underside during free motion quilting. I had it serviced recently but it's still giving me trouble. I suspect it may be a threading issue. That will take some experimenting to resolve. Regardless, I have to decide if I want to add borders with applique, or whether I forgo the applique knowing this piece doesn't have the best piecing to warrant so much effort. 

In the meantime, if you want to see more frequent updates as I go along, you can watch for posts here.

A Return to Quilting

 Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

I wanted to share not only an update, but some creative developments too.

A lot has happened since I last shared. I graduated from law school, have started a new job that I love, got engaged, had a baby, and have another baby on the way. My fiancé and I are scheduled to close on our forever home at the end of the week, we're planning a wedding at the end of next year, and needless to say, there's just a ton happening in my life at any given moment. 

Sounds like a good time to start a sewing project, don't you think?  

A combination of lack of time and lack of space has prevented me from doing much sewing over the past few years. I'm not sure exactly what inspired me, maybe sewing a few projects for my daughters for Halloween, or pulling out the half dozen sewing machines that lay around my house just begging me to start a new project. Or maybe it was sorting through boxes of old quilts and fabric and sewing notions that have been boxed up in my garage for several years. Something, or maybe, all of these things, inspired me, and so I started playing with Electric Quilt and thinking about what I might make if I were so inclined to make something. Anything.

The fruit of my sorting and tinkering and day dreaming resulted in a project. I started designing a quilt with the goal of entering it into a few quilt shows. The quilting landscape has changed dramatically since I was last actively sewing. Shows have gone defunct, publishers have gone out of business, and it seems as though the online quilting community moved from Blogger to Instragram and now are all moving directly to Facebook! For the record, I am on all of those platforms, but there's something I still enjoy about blogging. But I digress. 

There's no name for my quilt yet, a necessary practice for identification in shows, but one that always felt a bit foreign to me. What I am  sharing here will just be the framework for a more elaborate design. 

I am inspired by Margaret Solomon Gunn's quilts. She creates designs with a great mix of piecing and applique, which I'd like to try my own hand at. I'm finding that I want to create quilts that I would eventually want to hang around my home afterward. With that in mind, I've decided blue's are going to make up the base of my newest project.

It's been so long that I wasn't even sure where to order fabric! I found Kona solids at Missouri Star Quilt Company that coordinated with my color palette. With hope, they will be true to the image on the computer screen. I'm looking forward to cutting and piecing this quilt in just a few short weeks.

The next step will be to plan out some applique. I think I want delicate flowers or vining. Or maybe both. I'll have to think on it for a while and then draft something.

In the mean time, I'd love to hear from any quilters who are still out there blogging with me! With any luck, it won't take me an entire year to post another sewing update. 

A Long Overdue Update

I have periodically visited this blog and reminisced about the quilting business I once had. It still floors me to look back and recognize that there have been so many changes! Like many of you with Covid-19 keeping us all at home, I've been lurking around the internet in my old familiar hangouts.

I made a very long and rambling video about a year ago and gave a brief update on where I've been. The truth then was that I wandered a bit because I wasn't really sure where all of this was going, but now I'm a little more certain.

Over the past four years I have still been doing mom things with my four children. I have teenagers which has been the most difficult and challenging experience as a parent. I cut back from full time work to part time to go to college because I recognized pretty early on that it was necessary to get a degree to support myself long term and such a large family. I earned a modest income with quilting, but the resources to continue as I had were no longer available to me, and so I had to make some tough decisions. I loved what I had built with quilting, so it was extremely sad for me to see it go. I took a job by pure chance as a legal assistant and learned immensely during my time there. The experience combined with friendships and connections made in that role inspired me to pursue law school.

Returning to school has been difficult but more rewarding than I could have imagined. My experience has been unique as a mother and nontraditional student. I balanced my children's lives, my own work life and school life, the loss of my mother in the midst of the most difficult time in my life, and now navigate the unique experience of finishing my degree during a pandemic. I was active in school and took on leadership roles in many student organizations and tried to volunteer in my community whenever time allowed. I learned so much about the world - and that there is so much more to it than what I previously understood. It was not always graceful or pretty or perfect. I lost sleep and was at times grouchy and short tempered. The dishes often piled up, dinners frequently consisted of anything quick and microwaveable, and there was definitely not time to be the kind of mother, daughter, friend, or partner that I wanted to be. As one who goes through significant life changes does - I grew and evolved- and hopefully for the better.

So here I am exactly two weeks from being finished with a Bachelor of Arts in English! I have been accepted to a number of law schools and have chosen The University of Akron's Law School to complete my legal education. My oldest is graduating high school and headed to college this fall. My youngest will be entering kindergarten. I made it through with the support of new friends, the faculty and professors at the college, coworkers, my small but loving family, and old friends who have supported me since grade school. Just when you think the world is hard and cold and will eat you up and spit you out - incredible people show up and remind you that the world is also full of compassion, love, and those with a desire to make it a better place.

Very little sewing has occurred but I have not abandoned it entirely. I have been creating art, mostly as a way to relax and curb the anxiety of all the uncertainty we are experiencing, and to express the hardships and joys that I've experienced through the years. 

I have so very much enjoyed blogging about my sewing endeavors and creating friendships along the way. Some of you still follow me on Facebook and have been my cheerleaders through all of this - and I am so grateful for you! 

While it looks like a sewing business is no longer in my immediate future, I am still drawn to sewing and artwork and creating. My competitive nature might even inspire me to enter a few competitions and learn new techniques. 

I have thrown around the idea of creating a new blog or revamping this one. For now, I will leave it as it is. I will not be taking in quilts again, and any projects will likely be small. I have loved sewing and quilting, but law school is a long term commitment and so my energy is going to be focused on that for the time being. In the meantime, I will try to periodically drop in and catch up.

Until the next update - take care!

Progress on the Unnamed Whole Cloth Quilt

One more week until school resumes. I have been working diligently in my spare hours in an attempt to establish some semblance of organization so that I have a permanent creative space. Things are coming along. The long arm is set up - with two of the bars loaded onto the frame incorrectly so, with help, I hope to swap them around and get my machine up and running this week. I wonder if I will remember how to load a quilt?

Many years of memories had been tucked away in boxes and piled around my long arm. Though I turned it on a few times, and more than once attempted to sew, all of those feelings were not quite ready to be sorted through. I have finally begun that process, and purging things I no longer need to hang onto. I suppose this is one of those spring time rituals many of us share. The daylight lingers a little longer in the evenings, Christmas is finally over, and it feels as though it is time to start anew.

More work on my unnamed whole cloth. Above you can see the full view. It is not very big, a wall hanging size. I used a fat Moda solid fat quarter on the top in a minty green. Full disclosure, I did use a filter to help highlight some of the detail. When finished, I will take photographs in natural lighting to share with you the truest representation of this piece.

This quilt is entirely free hand, no marking, just play. I have such an appreciation for well planned designs that pay special attention to size, shape, consistency, and balance. Show pieces have always been my passion and fascination; the ultimate goal to aspire to. This quilt, however, follows no rules. The complexity in its quilting is a bit paradoxical to its free form nature.

The plan to finish is really no plan at all. I love fancy schmancy things and fancy schmancy quilts and so I think this calls for beads and some painting. Many faces twist and turn with a puzzled look as I explain that I will paint my quilt. I see it as a canvas waiting for emotion to be applied. The painting will add shading and dimension and mood - and with hope add to the overall feeling of  the piece. The goal is not to cover or alter the quilt, but rather, to enhance the feeling it invokes.

For those who are curious the makeup of this quilt, I have shared that the top is a Moda solid fat quarter, the backing an inexpensive calico from likely a box store, and the thread is a mix of cotton on top from Connecting Threads and Glide which is a popular shiny polyester thread. The batting is two layers of Hobbs 80/20 which has become my favorite go to quilt batting and what I use for virtually everything. Though I enjoy long arm quilting, this was quilted on a Juki TL-2010Q sit down domestic sewing machine. For quilting enthusiasts, this is the model that came out shortly after the Juki TL 98, the machine that became infamous among members of the quilting community through the instructional videos of quilting legend Sharon Schamber.

Currently, this piece is blocking on a craft table I have unfolded and allowed to dominate the kitchen. As I have mentioned, I no longer have the space to sew that I once had, but difficult circumstances have never proven to stop me from pursuing my interests. Besides, it's the evening and no cooking will happen until tomorrow. Let's hope it dries quickly.

Other things on my mind: I have yet to figure out how to reply to your comments. Let me tell you I loved reading your comments! It feels so nice to be welcomed with such warmth back into the quilting world. Creative people love to share, and even more we love eager spectators to our crafting sport. So know that I appreciate your words, and that you have taken time to visit. Once I have a moment to sort out the glitches I will try to respond to your kind contributions.

A New Year and Many Changes

It has been a few years since I last posted - my oh my! Where has the time gone?! I must be honest that it has been less than easy to look back over this blog and all of the memories contained within it. Many changes have occurred since I last shared with you all. I have not been quilting really at all - and if you are curious as to why and follow the Pumpkin Patch Quilter Facebook page I have shared a little bit of back story as to the reason I have been away. For the sake of my family and my own well being, that is all that I want to share at this time - and my time away from the quilting world. My heart is full with the warmth and kindness with which you all have welcomed me back, I truly thank you for that!

Currently, I am going back to college full time and attempting yet gain to finish that undergraduate degree that got away from me so many years ago! My days are extremely full and busy, but I am having a wonderful time learning and growing. My children are growing too - and it is incredible to witness.

Quilting was difficult for a little while but I am thrilled to find myself again inspired again to sew. I am not really sure to what capacity I will continue my quilting business. I am in a new home - and my long arm is still not up and running. My hopes are to change that here over winter break.

In the mean time, I do have the Juki set up and have been dabbling. Here are a few photos of what I am currently making.

This is free hand doodling basically. I am using cotton thread on top that literally was just laying around and happened to match - it is from Connecting Threads. In the bobbin is Glide in an off white shade. Doubled the polyester batting - just some scraps. The plan is to paint this a little - and then who knows what.

My schedule is hectic so if you email, forgive me for taking a little time to respond, but I assure you that I will respond. So many things have happened during my absence, and one of the things I was so very saddened to discover is that Machine Quilting Unlimited is no more! What a wonderful publication that magazine was and it will be greatly missed. I suppose I have a lot of exploring to do to see how my favorite quilters have changed and grown!

Playing Catch Up!

It has been a very busy August into September for the Smith family.  During August I wrapped up the month finishing as many client quilts as I was able to work on so that I could take a nice 4 week long stretch away from quilting to get the kids settled back at school.  The end of the month into September we also were able to enjoy our bi-annual Disney vacation!  School is now back in full swing and we are even in the middle of the quarter.  Interim reports were just sent home - I can hardly believe it - and the weather is starting to really feel like fall.  That means it is quilting season!  This is my absolute busiest time of the year. 

I am still co-designing for Urban Elementz and if you missed it on Facebook we do have a new design collaboration available!

It is called Mystic by Patricia E. Ritter and Valerie Smith.  It was based off of the original quilting I designed for Lisa's Jungle Abstractions quilt shared in my last post.  I am really excited to use this one as it has such great unique texture.  Take a look!

I have six quilts all waiting to be completed IMMEDIATELY so I better get to work.  Playing a game of catch up after a nice relaxing break from quilting - looking forward to getting a chance to play again.  I hope I still remember how to turn my machine on!  :)

Happy Fall and Happy Quilting!

Quilts and What's Happening in My World

Finally, the weather is beginning to cool down.  The hot summer days pushing us out of the house and into local air conditioned establishments are beginning to fade.  School starts next week, football and cheer leading are back in season.  The Husband's last softball game of the year was last night.  It's just about FALL!

I love fall so very much.  Not only the cool weather but the beautiful foliage we are treated to every September through November in north east Ohio.  I can already see orange and yellow tinges starting to take hold on the leaves.  I'm so ready for the show mother nature puts on every year.

I always have quilts to share, but I do love to share some of the other fun things happening in my world too.  Our semi-annual Disney trip is just around the corner.  I haven't made nearly the number of costumes for this trip as I have in the past, but I did make a dress!  I made the dress known among Disney bounders and Cosplay enthusiasts as the "mouse made dress" for my 5 year old.  I think it turned out so beautiful!  Even if garment sewing isn't my strong suit!

Here is a little collage I made to share the dress and my daughter twirling herself silly in it.  I just cannot wait to see her wearing this in front of Cinderella's castle!

Other projects for our trip are in the works, but I did also manage to find time to squeeze in these mouse ears for the girls.  This one is Ariel themed - my amazing friend made us these "dinglehopper" hair clips to wear and they worked perfectly with their mouse ears!

Tonight I'm hoping to finish up some ears for the baby and Elsa/Frozen themed ears my 5 year old has requested.  I almost didn't make anything this time and my almost 11 year old was devastated - she tells me "mom!  Half of the fun is dressing up!"  I'll make crafters out of these girls yet!

Other big happenings - I broke down and bought my dream camera!!!  This was a big purchase for me.  The biggest I have ever made on something entirely for myself outside of my Juki.  While quilting and sewing are my absolute life's passions (outside of my family of course) - photography is sort of instant gratification for me.  It's a nice break from quilts that can often take months or years to complete, and of course it allows me to document my beautiful babes!  I've had it a total of six days now and I've put it to good use!  Here are a few of my favorite shots:

I am finding I really love black and white!  I ordered a few 8x10 prints that are scheduled to be delivered today, and I cannot wait to see how they turned out.  Photography is visual like quilting and art so I feel like it's a totally great fit for me.  Of course, a new camera means new and more detailed images of QUILTS!

So here (finally!) are a few of the quilts I have been working on this past month.  I will have to break it up because I've already gotten quite photo heavy in this post

First is Lisa's Jungle Abstractions Lion Quilt (pattern by Violet Craft).  I have seen this top created in a number of color ways but this one in particular is really my favorite.  Those aqua's with gray are just so striking.

I really tried to replicate fur but in a quilty way!  I didn't want to be really literal, it's a fantasy "abstract" quilt so I think (hope!) this design did the trick.  Because it is a very geometric quilt I didn't want to lose the angular feeling with feathers and swirls - so in the facial structure of the lion I tried to maintain that feeling.

For the eyes I left some areas of white ditched and not quilted to give him some dimension.  Paired with pebbling I think it is very effective.

 

Lisa's lion quilt was in the 65" range - I don't have her paperwork in front of me or I'd give better measurements!  We used Glide thread in Auqamarine in both the top and bobbin, and Lisa sent along her own cotton batting lower loft batting.  For this one in particular I don't think a second layer of batting would have really added a lot.  Certainly I like to see a lot of dimension, but this quilt has SO much happening that I think it looks just as beautiful with a single layer of batting.

Another couple of quilts finished up this week are this pair of baby quilts I worked on for Darlene.  She is going to add applique over top the already quilted pieces - she chose the pantograph Monkey Jungle by Melonie Caldwell for Urban Elementz.

I worked on a few more quilts but being my next post will likely be a little more fall themed I'll save them!  I hope everyone is quilting up a storm in blog land!

- Valerie