Kay'z Quiltz

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2012

2012-05-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

I almost forgot that it's that time of year for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

My featured quilt this year is my thread painted warbler. This is my favorite wall quilt and recently won an Honorable Mention at the Sauder's Quilt Show in Ohio.

I made this wall hanging for my sister, Jenny, this last Christmas. She had hinted around for several months that she wanted me to thread paint her a bird. I had made several other thread painted birds and it was about time I did something special for her.

I designed the feather for Jenny and also gave her the pattern to use. Jenny is very talented quilt artist and she loves feathers like I do. I'm looking forward to seeing her feather designs in the future.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Please don't miss my weekly post--I usually don't do two posts in one day!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

More on the Sauder's Quilt Show & Microwave Fire Alert!

2012-05-20T19:07:00.000-04:00

At the quilt dinner I met my sister's friend, Jean

Jean loves feathers like I do. Just look at her beautiful wall hanging!

Jean, you have inspired me to try making my own feathers in fabric.

Check out the new technique of adding beads. I'm not sure that I would have been brave enough to cut my wall hanging apart, but the Jean's results are amazing!

Congratulations Jean!

You are a true artist and I would love to take a class from you!

Another quilt artist, speaker, teacher, and author is Karen Kay Buckley

She did a talk on her quilts and we had the opportunity to see her applique quilts in person.

These quilts make you absolutely speechless.

I bought her book called "Earthly Delights"

If you are a beginner or advanced quilter, this is a perfect book to have in your quilt library.

I just love all the details that Karen puts into her quilts.

Thank you Karen for sharing your talent with us!

Here is another winner!

My friend, Linda, made this donation quilt. It won't be at any quilt shows, but it will be loved and slept under by some sweet child that needs some love and warmth.
Any quilt made in love of another person is always a winner!

I want to alert people to please stay in the same room when your microwave is running. One evening my husband, Dean, was served "a flaming baked" potato! Actually, I had left the room for 5 to 10 minutes and had the potato on auto cook. I was only in the next room. We were very blessed because the damage was only to the microwave and the potato. It was a little smoky, but everything aired out quickly. There's a new microwave in our kitchen and I certainly don't leave the room!

Happy Quilting & Safe Microwaving!

Kay Lynne

Sauder's Museum Quilt Show & Happy Belated Mother's Day

2012-05-14T13:12:00.000-04:00

The pictures above do not do justice to the beautiful hand quilted quilt nor the sweetest lady that I ever met at a quilt show. Her name is Velma Camp. She won the "Best of Show" and "People's Choice" award! Congratulations Velma!

This is my sister, Jenny, in front of her "One Block Wonder" quilt. Notice the third place pink ribbon in the picture below. I have many fond memories of helping teach Jenny how to sew. She is nine years younger than I am. Congratulations Sis on a beautiful quilt.

This is my first Judge's Choice award! Mom had talked me into entering a few quilts and to my surprise all of them came home with a ribbon. It's fun to win a ribbon, but I quilt for charity, friends, and family. I love quilting because I have made so many friends through quilting. You can see more winning quilts at: http://www.saudervillage.com/Creativity/quiltshow_winners.asp

The quilts that are not listed are winners to!

"If someone has love in their heart and wants to make a quilt for someone special--it's always a perfect quilt!"

My Mom and I had the opportunity to go to the quilt winner's banquet and I won a fabric bundle for next year's quilt challenge. The challenge is called "Veiled in Mystery". I bought some more fabric to go along with the challenge. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. It will be a mystery until next year's quilt show :)

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Thank you for everything you've done for us!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Cincinati International Quilt Show & Gone Farming

2012-04-27T19:59:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful time in Cincinnati. All the quilts were beautiful. Above is a quilt called Autumn Breeze by Akiko Kawata.

This quilt is called Spring Full Bloom by Michiyo Yamamoto. This quilt is really a must see in person quilt.

We had a wonderful time in Cincinnati and came back home with enough inspiration to last us the whole year!

This is what I've been doing this week!

Gone Farming!

Happy Quilting & Happy Farming!

Kay Lynne

Wordless Weekend

2012-04-15T21:00:00.000-04:00

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne

Still Working on the Wallhanging, Spring's Here, & Where There's Smoke There's Dean

2012-04-08T14:32:00.000-04:00

I thought that I would have a finished wall hanging to show you this weekend, but spring activities made me too busy to sew.

I was just about to walk out my back door and noticed a Cardinal and had to take a picture of him. I bet he didn't realize how close I was.

My husband had a little excitement yesterday. He wanted to burn some wheat stubble to make my job working ground easier. Things were going well until the wind kicked up and it got out of hand.

Our neighbor was nice enough to take his cultivator along the edge of the field to contain the fire.

I wasn't home, but driving up the T road I couldn't see the house for a minute or so. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, but when I made my left hand turn on our road I knew the house was okay. It was all white smoke and I knew it was a field fire, but for about a minute I let my imagination run away with me!

Firemen showed up and the excitement was soon over.

Dean will be teased for a while and owes the fire department ice cream, but we're both glad to have friends to call on when we have a problem.

Hope you're all having a great day on this very special day of Grace!

Happy Easter & Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

March Free Motion Quilt Challenge Results & Farm Update

2012-03-31T09:07:00.000-04:00

I had a lot of fun reading through Ann Fahl's tutorial for the Free Motion Quilt Challenge.

I would like to thank Ann for sharing all your information and taking time to do a tutorial. I highly recommend Ann's book called "Dancing With Thread".

Whether you're a beginner or an advanced quilter, it is always a great opportunity to learn new things from other quilters. Practicing is also cheap therapy. I think there should be medical studies on how quilting improves overall health. It's hard to describe the joy making a quilt for others.

Today I used 100% Egyptian Cotton from Connecting Threads. I used batting from Fairfield that is called Nature Fill batting. It is 50% rayon and 50% cotton. This actually the first time I used this type of batting. I'm pleased with the results. I'm not sure if I like the idea of rayon in my batting, but I have an open mind.

Quilting designs are everywhere if you're looking.

Our winter wheat looks great and the weather is warmer.

Dean is getting farm machinery ready for Spring planting.

Last week we lost a neighboring farmer, Tom.

Our farming community will certainly miss Tom and his happy personality.

Our family has been blessed with Tom and his family's friendship for many years. He will certainly be missed by everyone in the community.

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Firemen Thread Painting & Farm Activity

2012-03-24T17:24:00.000-04:00

My thread painting is coming right along. I would like to thank Randy Roberts a photographer that has given me permission to thread paint his copyrighted photo. I have been trying to work at it one baby step at a time It's hard when the weather is warm and there is so much to do.

My husband is rearranging farm equipment so he has room to work on the planter.

Backing a grain combine header into the barn with a pickup truck is not an easy task!

After several tries and hand signals from me, it finally was backed into a perfect spot.

Even though the fields are barren right now there has been a lot of activity at our farm:

mountains of paperwork from taxes,

planning what we're going to plant,

hauling grain to the elevator,

buying of fertilizer,

buying of seed,

and many activities too numerous to mention.

Hope you have a wonderful week and see a wonderful sunrise like this one we seen this week.

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Quilting Retreat & Thread Painted Firemen Sneek Peek

2012-03-17T11:24:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I spent time making a donation quilt at our quilt club's retreat. It was a relaxing, noisy, and great time with friends.

My friend, Jo Ann, had been wonderful in letting us use her basement--Thank You!

Yes--that is me in the picture below :)

Here are some of the finished quilts that have been made by our quilt members.

Guess who was at the retreat! My blogging friend, Sandi, from Sew in Peace!

I'm working on a new project. The photographer from my local newspaper had taken a neat picture of the firemen that were fighting the fire and he has given me permission to thread paint his picture!

Here is a sneak peek!

I received a few personal cake decorating tools that I used at the bakery and to my surprise my books actually were in good condition.

One book had gotten a little damp and smoky, but I let it air out for about two weeks and dry ironed the pages. It will be ready to be used again. I would like to thank Steve and Debbie for their thoughtfulness in salvaging my personal tools. This has been a really rough time for them and for them to think of me and my coworker's personal items was really thoughtful.

I miss my bakery family which also includes more customers than I can count.

If I have an errand in town, people are always stopping me asking when the bakery will reopen. The outpouring of concern and love has been overwhelming!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Taking A Break

2012-03-12T12:15:00.000-04:00

This week I am taking a break from writing a post.

Everything is just fine!

The world is going a little too fast and I need to slow down and take care of me and my family.

Since the fire, I've put all my emotions on hold so I could be useful and my emotions are now catching up with me!

Things are good and I never knew there were so many angels out there that care.

Now I just want some quiet time to count all the blessings that have happened in the last two weeks :)

Happy Quilting and God Bless!

Kay Lynne

A Quilt of Blessings, One Last Goodbye, and Looking Forward

2012-03-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

Since the fire at the bakery last week, I have witnessed one blessing after another. Next month I am going to teach a thread painting class at Sew Nice and to my surprise through word of mouth I received enough donation quilts to fill the trunk of my car for the people left homeless after the fire. I saved one back to deliver to a very special 92 year old lady named Ruth. She always came to visit me in the bakery and a wonderful nursing home took her in after the fire. Ruth was extremely happy to see me and showed me all the things that suddenly appeared in her assisted living apartment. The outpouring of love is just wonderful. She will certainly keep warm because she had already received two other quilts. The quilt above is a lap quilt so it will be perfect for her to use on a chilly evening watching TV.

I just had to stop uptown for one last goodbye to the place that I worked at for so many years. There have been many wonderful memories made in the bakery section of this building. I'm hoping that my boss can reopen the bakery. If he cannot, I'm still a better person because Steve, coworkers, and customers taught me so much. There's much anger and grief because of the fire, but I have seen so many blessings that have happened because of the fire.

So my bakery family is looking forward and not backward. We will see what the future will hold and I would like to thank you all for your prayers and emails :)

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Ava's Quilt & Other Events

2012-02-25T13:04:00.000-05:00

It is finally finished! Ava will get her big girl quilt very soon!

It has butterflies!

It has hearts to show how much she is loved

Please be sure to click on the picture above to see all the fine details.

I also sewed on cancer caps for a dear friend that is going through chemo.

I also lost my job at the bakery this week because of a terrible fire. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt. I'm feeling a little heartbroken right now because my bakery family is in a whole world of hurt, but there are wonderful people out there that are trying to help :)

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

In Special Memory and Honor

2012-02-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

Many years ago I made these quilt blocks for a class I was teaching. It became a UFO in my closet until a Sandi at Sew in Peace told me about Alycia and the Quilts of Valor organization. What caught my attention was Alycia's heart for the wounded soldiers and the need of 60 quilts per month.

It bothered me that the need was so high--are these people forgotten?

This brought up memories of my cousin, Steve, who died in the Vietnam War. I was only a child, but I remember how this loss affected my Aunt and Uncle.

Some soldiers like my cousin lose their life, but many others come home with wounded bodies and minds. I pondered about Sandi's excitement and pulled this UFO out of my closet and thought that this quilt needs to be with one of our wounded and not hiding in my closet!

Alycia will soon receive a shipment of quilt tops for her to quilt with her long arm to help show our wounded soldiers that we really care :)

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Feathers in the FMQ Challenge with Diane Gaudynski

2012-02-11T15:35:00.000-05:00

Here is my practice piece for the FMQ Challenge. Thank you Diane for taking your time for the wonderful tutorial for the FMQ Challenge. Diane's quilting was first introduced to me in 2006 at the International Quilt Show through a lady in the vendor's area selling a book called "Quilt Savvy Gaudynski's Machine Quilting Guidebook". Domestic machine quilting was not new to me and I had even taught machine quilting classes, but Diane's book started making me think outside the box of meandering. Her book also made me feel better about taking my Bernina darning foot to the bench grinder several years before out of frustration--my husband though that I was crazy at the time until he understood what I was doing. Being able to see what you're quilting is a good thing. Diane's wonderful book also introduced me to flowing feathers that reminded me of my Grandmother and her quilting friends that were always hand quilting a beautiful quilt in the school basement during my grade-school years.

I've been quilting feathers for several years now and I really enjoy sitting down and only drawing a curve on my quilt and filling in the rest free hand. Yes--you can do it! I started with a sketch pad and practiced drawing and practiced and practiced and more practice. The next step I did was potholders. I learned that potholders make wonderful gifts and they don't have to be perfect. The ugly feathered potholders went in my kitchen drawer to be used for everyday. Eventually I worked with bigger projects with feathers.

My feathers are a little different than Diane's. I backtrack my plumes, because I thought that my stitching wasn't good enough. Now I think that it looks good either way. I usually backtrack my stems and Diane has me thinking that quilting in a vein really isn't that bad.

Your feathers and my feathers will never look exactly like Diane's because we're all unique people and that is just fine! I'm thankful for all the quilters out there that are willing to share their feather posts.

Happy Quilting and Happy Feathering!

Kay Lynne

More Florida Adventures

2012-02-05T18:00:00.001-05:00

Last week I told you of some great quilt shops in Florida. Well there's more!

This was my first visit to the Fabric Warehouse of Lakeland. I was amazed by all the fabric and the friendliness of all the employees of the store. The store owner was really nice to let me take pictures of her fabric.

They also had a very large classroom with a quilting class in session. I was given permission to take pictures of the class, but I didn't want to disturb the class or the teacher. This store was really impressive and I would come back to visit again. The 4H sticker on the front door also caught my eye. It's great when people encourage the next generation to sew through being a 4H sponsor. Thank you to all the ladies at Fabric Warehouse for a nice visit!

Another favorite quilt shop in Lakeland is Patchwork Pig. They have a large, large selection of fabric in a beautiful building. I love the hardwood floors, displays, and beautiful ceilings. If you own a Bernina, you will recognize the hum of Bernina sewing machines sewing up some beautiful quilts in the back classroom.

Now last and certainly not least, Rainbows End quilt shop of Dunedin. It's well worth the trip to see all the fabric and lots of notions and you can shop online at their website.

Some of you may ask which one is my favorite--well all of them! They are all small business people with all wonderful personalities that are trying to make a living in economic hard times. I'm happy to give them all my business as well as my quilt shops in my home state. Thank you ladies (and a few gentlemen) for making our quilt shop hop a success!

We didn't spend all our time in fabric shops. We also went to the flea market and just enjoyed each others company.

Thanks Mom and Dad for having me--I had a great time!

Flying home the clouds looked like quilt batting--or am I just quilt crazy!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Free Motion Quilting Challenge, Academy of Quilting, & Shop Hopping Florida Style

2012-01-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

Above is my practice piece for the Free Motion Quilting Challenge January tutorial. It has been a long time since I've done leaves. I would like to thank Frances Moore for a wonderful tutorial.

Want to learn more about quilting online? I found the
Academy of Quilting!
Ruth is the teacher and owner of this web site. The upcoming classes look great and best of all--you don't have to leave your sewing room to join in all the fun!

Above is a picture of a favorite quilt shop in Zephyrhills, Florida called Quilter's Quarters. My Mom and I've visited this quilt shop the last few times I've been in Florida and it's always a pleasure doing business. There are many samples in this store and my Mom had made a Diamond's Jubilee quilt because of the wonderful sample that was hanging on the wall last year.

Another must great quilt shop that I really enjoy stopping by is Quilts on Plum Lane located in Dade City. They even let me take a picture of this vintage Singer sewing machine. This store also has wonderful samples hanging up for inspiration. Thank you for the great visit!

I'm running out of time so I will post more on my Florida adventures!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Friday Night Sew In Results

2012-01-21T11:11:00.000-05:00

I did my Friday Sew In early because I'm out of town. My quilt club is doing a block of the month this year and this is my first block. These are these fabrics that I'm planning on using. I have so much Christmas fabric that I think it's a good idea to start using it up.

I am also making a donation quilt along with my sister's 4H quilters. Please stop by Jenny's Blog to see our future quilters. It's great seeing the next generation quilting and sewing.

There are borders to add to this quilt. I will have more pictures of this quilt as time goes on.

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Butterflies, Feathers, Blowing Snowing, a Wedding Cake, & 200 Cupcakes

2012-01-14T20:04:00.000-05:00

Here is a sneak peek of the lap quilt I am working on for my great niece. I will post more pictures in the near future when it is done. It will have butterflies, feathers, and hearts quilted on it. There has been a lot of experimenting with different colors of thread. Ava is four years old and I'm sure she will love the bright colors.

The weather in Ohio has turned cold and wintery. We were blessed with some wonderful warm weather during the holiday season, but now it's cold here and the snow is blowing!

My week has been really busy at the bakery!

I decorated this wedding cake and my coworker did the 200 cupcakes! I wasn't really sure if I liked the colors, but I think it turned out great!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Mom's Donation Quilt

2012-01-07T14:14:00.000-05:00

Here's a quilt that will sure sell a lot of raffle tickets! My Mom wanted to make a donation quilt to raise money for their local church and she also wanted to make a black and white quilt. I watched the birth of this quilt from the very beginning! Last year we were in a quilt shop called Quilter's Quarter's in Zephyrhills, Florida. They had a beautiful black and white quilt hanging on the wall and Mom said that this is the donation quilt I want to make for the raffle. It's now all finished and on display until the raffle this summer.

If you're interested buying this beautiful pattern called Diamond's Jubilee by Nancy A. Smith, visit Quilter's Quarters web site.

Thank you Mom for letting me post about this beautiful quilt!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Buddy the Beagle--Thread Painted

2012-01-01T18:00:00.003-05:00

Buddy is my sister's dog. Em gave me some pictures of Buddy this summer and hinted that I should try to thread painted something different. So I decided to give it a try.

Buddy came to life one stitch at a time. I stitched in his eyes first.

I had a hard time trying to get his nose just the right color and shaded correctly.

I still need to practice on my shading.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of Buddy coming to life.

Happy New Year & Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne

Thread Painted Warbler

2011-12-25T18:00:00.002-05:00

I wanted to do something special for my sister, Jenny, for Christmas. She has hinted around about wanting a thread painted bird from me. I wanted to a little bird that fitted her personality and I picked out a Warbler, which is an Ohio bird.

I used water soluble stabilizer on the top and bottom of my quilted wall hanging. I was so surprised at how this prevented the puckering so I didn't have to use a hoop. Its fun to see how a little colored thread and a sewing machine can make a little bird come to life.

I want to thank

Vic Murayama
for giving me permission to thread paint his picture.
Vic made a trip to Ohio this year and took some wonderful pictures of Ohio birds.

Hope you are enjoying the Holiday Season where the birth of forgiveness started a long time ago.

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Circle Quilt is Finished!

2011-12-17T16:17:00.000-05:00

It's finally all quilted!

I'm happy with the mixture of feathers, circles, and leaves. The random circles with the small meandering really make the circles come forward in the border.

There's no boring back to this quilt. I had too many blocks so I added them to the back.

The kids loved their Christmas present and I'm so happy :) They asked me if I wanted to keep it for a while so I could show it at a quilt show--I said no. It was made just for them to enjoy!

We had a wonderful time together this week. I even had both my sons together at the same time even if it was a brief time. (The time was so brief that I didn't get a picture of all of us together.)

My sister, Jenny, and Rob even came over for a visit. We don't live too far apart, but between her job and mine it's hard to get together.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Come back after Christmas--I will be posting about some more adventures in Thread Painting!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

A Starry Christmas Night

2011-12-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

Since I shared some of my Christmas wall hangings last week, I decided to share a banner that a friend of mine and I were asked to do for a local church. My friend, Audrey, and I were asked to come up with a Christmas banner that was blue to match the other decorations in the church. Audrey is a wonderful artist and hand drew the shepherd, stars, and wording for me. I picked out the fabric and done all the quilting with silver metallic thread.

I added buildings and palm trees.

The Shepard needed some sheep to watch.

The finishing touch was the beads that were added to the stars. Time passes by so quickly--I think this was done about eight years ago.

I will be joining the Free-Motion Quilting Challenge in January.

If you're interested in Free Motion Quilting, sign-up and join me!

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas Season.

Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne

Our Quilty Christmas Decor

2011-12-05T12:45:00.000-05:00

Over the years I've made a few Christmas items that I've actually kept. Above is a stocking that our quilt club made together last month. It's fun to make a simple project with friends.

These wall hangings have spent a lot of Christmas's with our family. I made them many years ago and you probably can date them by the fabric. The ceramic Santa sitting on the floor is over 30 years old. He was painted by me during my painting phase. Now I paint with thread, which I enjoy much more and it's not as messy! The Santa wall hanging below was embellished with vintage buttons and a vintage belt buckle from my great grandmother's buttons.

In my family the girls quilt and my Dad loves to make scroll saw items.

Below are the wonderful results of his work.

Thanks Dad!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Quilting Circles & Being Thankful

2011-11-27T13:20:00.000-05:00

In my spare time this week I've been quilting circles. One of my quilt club friends had given me an idea...

She has an embroidery machine and she uses Glad Press'n Seal as a stabilizer and tears it away when finished. I wondered in my mind if it would work in free motion quilting. The wrap is tacky and patterns can be traced through with a fine tip pen without a light box. So I tried it and it works great! The plastic stayed in place while I quilted and tore away just fine. (Please keep in mind my free motion stitches are close together and it may not work for you if you stitch farther apart.) Any remaining plastic easily was removed with my fingernail.

I also just chalked in my circles, which worked just fine, but I think with intricate patterns this technique would work great! I still like to free motion quilt with very little marking.

I've had some time to think about all the blessings my husband and I share and it makes me very thankful for all the family and friends that I have.
I'm also thankful for You--my quilting friends.
You all have enriched my quilting experience and you've made the quilting world a whole lot smaller.
I think this crazy world would be a lot better place if more people would share their love like quilters do through donation quilts.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne