After the last group projects for Quilts for a Cause, Inc. they asked me to design a quilt pattern for them that they could market. So, Twist 'n Shout was designed. Carol Crago and I worked on making the quilt and it was then quilted and shipped to Arizona where Quilt For a Cause, Inc. took over, wrote the instructions and is now selling it from their site. If you haven't gotten a copy, I hope you'll do so......the proceeds go to women's cancer. Visit their site and order your copy today. Thanks!
Color is such a wonderful thing. We all have certain colors we like, but some get confused as to what colors are and how to use them together. Knowing about colors can help you, if you'll learn just a few basics.
There are only six colors. Three primary colors and three secondary colors and everything else has to fall into one of those categories. If someone said to you, "I would like to have a quilt made with Brown, Pink and Cream." You would be able to say back to them that those were not colors. And, you would be correct. So, if someone wanted Brown in his or her quilt, which color group would that fall into? What color is Pink? Or Cream? Let's go to the beginning. When we were in first grade, we were taught the primary colors. Do you remember? They are Red, Blue and Yellow. The only other colors are secondary colors and that happens when we add two of the primary colors together.
For example:
·Red and Yellow make Orange, Red and Blue make Purple, and Yellow and Blue make Green.
.By the way, White and Black are not colors.
That is a total of 6 colors, RED, YELLOW, BLUE, ORANGE, GREEN AND PURPLE and that's all you get. Everything else is called a Hue*, which means deviation from pure color. It's no wonder we get confused about all this when every color manufacturer has a special name for each color they come out with. So, what color is brown?
I'll explain.
·Of the six colors we have, there is a light, medium, and dark version of that color. After all, if there were no light, there wouldn't be color at all.
·Think about yellow - It can be so light that it appears to be - Cream It can be so dark that it becomes Brown - So, the Brown and the Cream in the above-mentioned quilt both become Yellows.
·What about the Pink? How do we get what we call Pink? We start with Red and add White to it. That's all Pink is. So the colors that person really wanted her quilt to be is Red with light and dark Yellow. Since Red and Yellow are both primaries, they will look wonderful together. I can guarantee you that the finest paintings completed by the "Old Masters" were never painted without the three primary colors.
If you ever see a quilt with colors you just absolutely love, but have trouble seeing what's really there. Ask yourself these 4 questions:
1.What color do I see? (Has to be one of six)
2.What hue is it? (It can be a pure color or a hue – you have to figure out which it is)
3.What tone is it? (Is it light, middle value or dark)
4.What intensity is it? (Is the saturation of color - an emerald vs. an olive)
Working with color can be so much fun. Have your favorite quilt shop teach a class on color if you want to know more or are having trouble with it in your quilts.
*Hue is a two-word color. For example: A pure color would be RED - a Hue would be an Orange/Red, Yellow/Red, Purple/Red.
Lynda Hall
NOTE: The quilt shown above is Snow Trails....the colors used were Red (pinks) and two values of yellow (light yellow-cream, and dark yellow-brown)
Only a two hour drive from home I packed up early on Saturday morning and arrived in Brandon to find 19 gals ready to get to work. I had them precut their pieces - using templates no less! I know, I know, no one likes templates, but like I told them, make friends with templates; you never know when you need one!(Scrappy is done best this way!) They had read all the instructions in the pattern and were ready for a fun day of just sewing! They had chosen SHOTGUN WEDDING as their project and I was very impressed with their results. I couldn't wait to share pictures with all of you.
I drove back down to Brandon Monday evening to speak at their meeting and I forgot to take my camera. I was totally surprised to see how many of these gals completed their tops. I'm hoping many of them send pictures to share in the parlor room. Raedene already has and I've posted her quilt top there for you to see.
I want to say THANK YOU to the Brandon Quilt League for inviting me to come play with them and to say how much fun I had. You all did a wonderful job! Lynda
Sarah sent me this lovely version of her Shotgun Wedding. She told me it was a Romantic Shotgun Wedding! Thanks Sarah. The following two pictures were also sent by Sarah. These pictures were taken at the Monday night Show 'n tell meeting. Guess who forgot her camera that night?!
Sara sent me a couple of pictures to share of the show 'n tell at the Monday night meeting of their league. So many of the girls had their tops made by then and were ready to share with others their accomplishments
Another show 'n tell picture. I hope as the girls complete their quilts that I will receive more pictures to share. Thanks again for a wonderful time spent with your league
This years event almost doubled last year's retreat and it sounds like many more will be coming next year. Everyone has a great time.
Rita's staff is always on hand to make sure every teacher/student has what they need. Each day there is a special lunch prepared by these same staff members....and oh my! It's great. And, Edie's desserts are to die for! I hope some day you'll be able to come play with us in Lee's Summit at Quilter's Station. I know you will have a grand time. Below you will find some pictures I took while there. (More pictures to come soon!)
Rita Briner and me in front of Quilter's Station. We all start to look a like wearing our t-shirts that are available. These gals design the T-shirts and each year they are different. What is really nice is that you don't have to bring lots of clothes to wear and it gives you more room in your suitcase for all the wonderful goodies you find there. I haven't gotten that under control yet. Big Bertha always costs me money at the check in counter at the airport because she weighs so much!
Laura, me and Donna standing in front of the Honey Bee's and Butterflies. The wall hanging that was made at PMW.
Honey Bee's and Butterflies was a wallhanging I made for this event. It's made out of homespuns and wool for the basket handle and flowers. The flowers can be cut free hand! (However, the pattern will have templates included) Hmmm, I wonder if Rita has any kits left?
Amy, me and Sue posing after the nine patch qeese class. Be sure to ask the girls how easy this one is. They practically had the whole top made.
This nine patch geese quilt is in the "My Yesteryear Collection" booklet introduced at spring market in Minneapolis. I bet if you're quick, The gals at Quilter's Station would be happy to make up a kit for you. www.quiltersstation.com
back from l to r - Donna, Sharon, Nancy, Sue, Cathy, Sandy, Sharlyn. Front l to r Kendee, me, Mary.
The girls in the Wool table rug class had the best time free handing all the pieces they needed to make their rug. A lot of them made the long version of this, but some needed to have a different size. Everyone did a great job. The 3 pictures below are the ones I made for the class......after that you will see pictures of the table rugs the girls made.
A mile long table runner made out of wool was the project for this class.....but other sizes were offered as well. The next two pictures will show you two other sizes.
Not everyone made the same sized rug. Long and skinny is fine if you have the space, but sometimes you just need a square shape. Also, check out the fact that the background is two different fabrics.
Nancy needed an extra large table rug. It turned out really fun. Normally one to cut from templates, Nancy free handed each of these pieces. Enlarge the picture to see how she did the end pieces. How fun!
These same quilts can be seen right now at Merricks DBA Ben Franklin's, 100 Coles Drive, Marquette, Michigan. If you are in the area these quilts will be there until October 2nd.
Our little Rebecca is our only grandchild, for the moment, and this year she will be 2. For Grampa and me she has been a wonderful blessing and we are enjoying her so very much.
These are pictures from Christmas 2004. I hope you enjoy visiting my home and perhaps when it's Christmas time again this year, I will update the pictures.
Donna and me at the house before we left for the airport
This picture was taken of Donna (left), jeanne and me at the airport at gate 33. We had a good flight.
I stayed by the luggage outside while Jeanne and Donna were inside. There was this car and an older looking Pick up. I knew we had lots of luggage, but I sure was hoping they didn't come out with the keys to the pick up.
Family Branch Class
Burning the Midnight Oil Class
Primitive Sketches Class
I just returned from Wichita where I taught two all day classes and spoke at their afternoon and night meeting. You see, this guild has around 900 of the most delightful members. Here are a few pictures taken while I was there.
A special thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me be a part of your group and letting me show you all 38 quilts in my pattern line.
From left to right, Mary Hutton, me and Lisa Johnson. This picture was taken in Lisa's new quilt shop in Wichita...The Picket Fence. I hope if you're in the area that you'll stop by and visit.
Monday's class made Tying the Knot. from left to right - Merlene (This was the very first quilt block she had ever made, Mary, Debbie, Gizelle, Kathy and seated - Brenda
Wednesday's class was Burning the Midnight Oil - from left to right - Mary, Brenda, Sherry,Sandy, Pat and Lynne. Seated is - (l)Barbara and Linda
Nancy, Etta and Charla were there to meet me at the airport. They took me to lunch and then a wonderful tour of their city. We even went to the Metal Arts Museum, where Nancy volunteers. This is where this picture was taken.
After our tour of the city, there was just enough time to quickly change clothes, load up all the quilts, meet several other members for dinner and go to the meeting.
I'm not sure of the actual attendance, but the room was packed. The meeting is held in a church. The facility is great for a class because of all the wonderful light and space.
Auntie Bean's Stalks was the quilt everyone was working on. It was so much fun to see everyone's fabric choices. While teaching the class, we also had some discussion about color.
Everyone gets instructions regarding the construction of the block. There are no inset seams in any of the patterns I create....I think some were surprised at how easy this pattern really is.
It was fun to see everyone sharing their fabric pieces with each other. The color choices were very interesting. It was great to see some thinking outside the box and doing it their way. I loved seeing some of the pinks being introduced...after all, pink is nothing more than red with white in it. Oh, and those plum/reds (purples) are what's so good with what color? I'll let you think about that one. And, everyone that chose to make their Auntie Bean's Stalks with other colors gets an atta-girl from me! So many people will not make a pattern unless it looks just like what's on the cover...What's up with that?
Each time someone would finish a block, everyone would want to stop and check it out. You'll see several pictures of finished blocks on the design wall.
It was great to see everyones interest in what other people were making. It's that kind of sharing in a class that is wonderful. We learn so much for each other.
I told everyone that if everyone in the class just finished one block there could be a couple of quilts made that could be raffled off to a couple of lucky winners....I had no takers! Then we talked about 3 blocks being a wonderful table runner.....some liked that idea. I wonder if these gals can pick out the ones they made? There are 3-4 different student's blocks hanging up.
It was great fun being with everyone that attended the class. A couple of people had to leave before this picture was taken, but you can see that everyone did it their way! How fun!
I'm told that no one would believe I was in Memphis unless I had my picture taken by the Elvis sign at Graceland. See, I was there! And, I also signed my name on the Graceland Wall.
Thank you to all the members of the Uncommon Threads Quilt Guild for inviting me to their meeting.
And, a very special Thank you to Charla and Tom for having me stay with them while I was there. I came home with such fond memories and friendships I will cherish forever.
