Midwest Gold

Corn--it's the gold of the midwest. The US is the world's largest corn producer and consumer. Iowa and Illinois are the top two producers by state. In this quilt, the corn (full ear and cross section) are visual lessons in how to roughly calculate corn yield. It’s a formula based on the number of kernels per row and the number of rows on an ear of corn.

Machine decorative stitches are used as background quilting in the yield sign and as tire treads.

Three ply yarn is separated and one strand is couched down for the corn silk.

The 2012 drought has devastated Indiana, with all 92 counties designated as primary or contiguous disaster areas by the USDA as of August 15, with the lowest estimated corn yields in more than 20 years. Having just returned from a road trip through Indiana we saw mile after mile of corn fields ruined by the drought. It was a strong visual reminder of the importance of farming and corn in particular.

Yellow Stuff

The Geneva, Illinois Concours d'Elegance is an annual classic car event that's a "can't miss" event for me and my husband. This year I was delighted to see three yellow beauties all in a row. Enjoy!

Hand Quilting

Since the year 2000 I've been machine quilting to maximize the quantity of quilts I can produce. For quite a few years before that I hand quilted and love the unique relief resulting from the individual stitches.

For travel I like to have a handwork project. I've been making very slow progress on this piece for the last eight years. Although it isn't finished I decided to post images as I just spent some time stitching on it this week when on a trip to see my mom. She calls it my travel quilt. It shows up with me every time I visit. The pattern is "Breadfruit" by Elizabeth Root in her book Menehune Quilts . . . the Hawaiian way.

Yellow Stuff

Sometimes all it takes is a bit of yellow to really liven things up. Imagine these flowers without any yellow. They'd still be beautiful but they wouldn't have that extra zing.

24/7

24/7 is a quilt about time measurement featuring our glorious sun. The sun is the star at the center of the solar system. Almost perfectly spherical, it consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields. Life on earth could not exist without the sun.

The ring of blue and orange is made of 60 sections representing the ticking of 60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour.

The stars in the blue background stand for the world time zones with the Prime Meridian at the 12:00 position & the International Dateline at 6:00. The outermost ring is made of 365 multicolored strips representing the days in a year. The checkerboard fabric strips are spaced every seventh strip to indicate Sunday, the first day of the week. Leap year is depicted on strip 365 with two pieces of fabric (one a leaping frog).

Each clock around the sun declares the hour with dark blue hands. Here's 5:00.

What a universe we live in, a showpiece of the genius and power of Almighty God.

Yellow Stuff

My sister, Becky, has a magic touch in her garden. This charming setting greets visitors at the entrance to her driveway. The magic continues throughout the entire property. Not only are plantings lush and healthy, there are whimsical touches around every corner: rusty hanging lanterns, bicycles, cute critters, benches, arbors . . . it's a feast for the senses. Note the sign on the chicken coop: Maximum Occupants 400 What a labor of love and a privilege for me to enjoy it on my last visit.

Buttons on Board

My sister generously let me use her vintage buttons to embellish this small wall quilt. A few buttons, like the blue one, are painted metal. This quilt began after I learned the basics of thermofax screen printing from Maggie Weiss. If you ever get a chance to take a class with Maggie, go for it. She's a fabulous teacher and lovely person. The fabric featured in the circle is my button design, printed on commercial marble batik. Check out the National Button Society link where you can learn about classification of buttons for competition! Yes, like quilt competition, there is button competition!

Thank You

All quilters owe a big Thank You to so many individuals who inspire and teach us. This tiny quilt, smaller than a placemat,was made several years ago as a gift for a Chinese friend. It's based on the marvelous work of Jane Davila. Click Here for Jane's site loaded with creative energy. The applique is fused, trim and yarn binding are couched. I learned the yarn binding technique from Wendy Butler Berns. The text ("Xie Xie", the Chinese character for thank you) is done on a lightbox with Pigma pen. Talk about fast and easy. Many thanks to Jane, Wendy and so many other quilters who help us "hone our craft." If I wasn't so absorbed in getting a large quilt completed (more on this later) I'd be tempted to design some placemats for my kitchen table.

Yellow Stuff

My "Happy Chappy" rose. I have two of these bushes.

"Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn't room for any other thought." - Sophie Scholl

This quote intruiged me so I found out more about the author. Sophia Magdalena Scholl (1921 – 1943) was a German student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans. As a result, they were both executed by guillotine. Sobering. Horrific. I stopped to count my blessings and really look at my rose. Enjoy these other lovelies blooming in my yard.

Here's another "oldie but goodie" -- a Carolina Lily quilt, machine pieced and hand quilted. Plain fabrics really show off the quilting. Classic quilt patterns are always fresh and remind us of our rich quilting heritage.

Splendor of the Rajahs

Made in 1989, Splendor of the Rajahs (designed by Joyce Schlotzhauer) is one of my few hand quilted pieces.


Although I love the look of hand quilting it's extremely time consuming so in the interest of productivity I switched to machine quilting in the year 2000. But I have to admit there's just something extra special about hand quilting.

Yellow Stuff

Earlier in my yard . . . the beauty of blooms . . .

Anchor

Happy Easter!
Arms of Love is my "Holy Week" quilt as it reminds me in symbols of the death and resurrection of Christ. He is the truth that anchors my life. Here's a close up of the anchor in the larger quilt.

Sometimes you can reuse an image in another quilt. Different fabrics create a new look in Into the Deep.

The Palm

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week in Christianity, commemorating Christ's entry into Jerusalem as the crowds waved palm branches.

I thought I'd post another image of Tropical Radiance, a quilt based on a traditional block called The Palm.
The palm block makes a strong statement in sharply contrasting colors and values.

Quilting Contrast

When choosing quilting motifs keep in mind the use of contrast to create interest. Here a curvy meandering style is juxtaposed against an angular straight-line style. Variety adds spice.

Encouragement

There's much to see in a tree . . .

The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert

Playing With Color

Tropical Radiance is featured on Joen Wolfrom's informative color blog. This post discusses the strength that dark shades add to a design's visual impact. As Joen points out, these principles apply to interior design as well. We need dark shades to stay grounded.

Be sure to follow Joen's blog for tons of information and inspiration. Never stop learning!

AQS blog: Stash Talking

Please visit the latest AQS blogpost: Stash Talking to learn more about The World and my fabric stash.

AQS blog: It's a Real Zoo!

Here's another clever title and blog from Jan Magee on the AQS blog about my quilt The World.

AQS Quilt Views and News

My quilt, The World, is the subject of this cleverly titled (The World According to Rachel) short blog today on The AQS blog: Quilt Views and News. You can see more images of The World on my posts in July and August 2011.