Completed: Hand Tied Quilt

Call me a quilt snob, but the idea of completing one of my quilts by tying it just never occurred to me.  It's not that I don't like tied quilts, they just seemed like a bit of a cop-out.  Then I saw this Amish inspired baby quilt by my friend, Edith, and changed my mind.

Edith's Hand-tied Baby Quilt

The technique she used is called "crow-footing."  Some people call it a "decatur knot."  I just call it cool!  There are no little knot ends left on the surface of the quilt top (or bottom), because the threads are buried within the quilt sandwich.  Here is an excellent photo how-to posted by another fan of the technique who merely goes by the Flickr profile, Decatur Knot Fan.  Who-ever you are, thanks!  There's also a great discussion covering all aspects of tying quilts from inspiring pictures of tied quilts to links for tutorials and other tips and tricks over in the Tied Quilts group on Flickr.

Well, at the time I couldn't remember what the technique was called, so I went ahead and made a simple quilted blanket using square knots of lavender embroidery floss on an antique silk sari with a linen backing.  I love how it turned out - tasseled knots and all!

My hand-tied quilt

Inspiration: Anna Von Mertens

Do you ever love someone's work so much it almost hurts you to look at it?  That's how I feel about the work of Anna Von Mertens.  When I saw her quilts in person, the thing that struck me most, as a quilter, was that, although her quilts are clearly works of art, she was showing them in gallery settings on bed-like forms.  Oh, I can't even tell you how much I love the irony of that!

Okay, so here are a few of my absolute favorites (it was really hard to pick just a few), but go over to her site and see the rest. It's like staring into the sun.

Black and White, Shades of Gray, installation view, Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005

The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, March 20, 2160

Jupiter Rising, January 7, 1610, Padua, Italy

Teaching: Split Log Cabin Class - Round 2!

Last week I taught the my second Split Log Cabin class at New Pieces, my local quilt shop here in Berkeley. I had so much fun teaching this group how to make this quilt! Since this class was an evening class on a week-day, I was expecting some tired folks to show up, but these ladies had their rotary cutters out and ready to go.

Wow! These ladies sew fast!

Thanks to Gail for letting me use her photos - as I forgot to bring the memory card for my camera!

If you're in the SF Bay Area and interested in taking the class, you can sign up for the next session here.  I'll also be teaching a class based on my Basket Weave quilt, which will be held in June.  If you're interested, you can sign up for that here.

Blog love

Can the chain letter of quilty blog love come around twice?  Yes, it can!  Waaay back in January, Mari from The Quilting Edge nominated me for the Liebster Award (more details here), and now I've been nominated again by Mary Ramsey Keasler at Fiberliscious! In the spirit of spreading the love, it's now my turn to nominate a few blogs that I enjoy reading.

So, here's the list - go check 'em out!
Toefeather - I am loving the block a day done in solids.  The colors are spectacular!
Aunty Cookie - A blog that makes me laugh out loud and fabric designs that I love.
Pings and Needles - Another funny lady!