We will be closed on Monday, May 29th, in honor of Memorial Day to remember those who have served our country with pride. We will reopen at 10 a.m., Tuesday, the 30th.
Author: Jinny Beyer
Happy Summer
It is always exciting to go to the spring and fall quilt markets. This year was no exception. There are always old friends to meet and I even ran into Maria, one of my Ukrainian friends, who promised to give my best to all my friends in Ukraine.
I held a schoolhouse segment where I introduced my new mini stripe fabric, and the Amber Waves and Miyako fabric collections which will be arriving soon. When they do I will share some new projects to make with these collections.
There were lots of great patterns that I brought home to make with some of my fabrics. Look for these in future web specials.
Being gone this time of year is difficult. I came home to an abundance of strawberries in my garden. I plan to make one of my favorite pies for our Memorial Day family get together.
This is the time for fresh strawberries so give my recipe a try.
Fresh Strawberry Pie
Single layer 9-inch pie crust
6 cups freshly picked strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
½ cup water
4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
Bake pie shell. Mash enough berries to measure 1 cup. Mix sugar and cornstarch in two-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in water and mashed strawberries. Bring to boil, stirring constantly and once it is boiling continue stirring and cook for one minute. Set aside to cool.
Carefully spread cream cheese in the bottom of the pie shell. Fill the shell with the remaining berries and pour the cooled sauce over the berries to completely cover them. Let set in the refrigerator at least three hours.
When raspberries and fresh peaches are ready try this same recipe with either one of those fruits, or try a combo with peaches and raspberries. For the combo, I make the cooked sauce from peaches only and then put both fresh peaches and raspberries in the pie shell and garnish with raspberries…….delicious!
Happy Summer!
A Story from the Staff: Our Mysterious Adventure
Some might say that just working for Jinny Beyer is an adventure in itself. Yes, we love being a part of this behind-the-scenes glimpse of the quilting business watching fabrics and designs from conception to the finished product. We get to meet and speak with people from around the world every day. Jinny herself, though, makes it fun and brings her spirit of adventure not just in her quilts and fabrics but even into things like surprises for the staff.
In the past, we’ve been surprised with glass blowing lessons, beat-the-clock shopping, Japanese temari and mystery dinners. This year, she did it again. The date was set for this past weekend. It started as a Christmas gift idea but the weather probably wouldn’t cooperate in winter for an outside event so it came as a huge surprise outing in May. We were told to not wear loose clothing and what we did wear should be cotton. Tie back long hair and bring fireplace tongs. We figured it would involve fire but other than that we were stumped.
We met with fireplace tongs in hand and headed off just down the road a bit from the Studio to our secret destination…Pig Pen Pottery. Jinny thought that since color is so important to us in all our work, it would be fun to experiment with color in other fields of art.
Jinny has known Laura Nichols, our potter, for years. She is a founding member of Great Falls Studios, an organization of more than 100 artists in the Great Falls area, and is well known in the community. She lives in a wonderful historic home, the same house that she grew up in and her studio is just steps away in a small house her father built for his parents. Laura is also talented, patient and lots of fun.
Since time was limited and there were 10 of us, Laura had a selection of unglazed pots waiting for us. Our job was to choose two pots and decided which glaze or combination of glazes we wanted and how to apply them. We could dip, pour or paint them on. Once that was done, into the kiln they went.
Since only about six or seven could be fired at a time, we got to try our hands at throwing a pot on the wheel. Only one of us had any experience (or talent) but it was fun just the same.
We also had the opportunity to take a walk around Laura’s beautiful property with her dogs and two goats in tow!
When the pots were finally ready, we removed them from the kiln, rolled them on a bed of wood shavings on top of sand and then put a galvanized bucket on top and let them slowly cool. We were surprised to discover that what they looked like when we last saw them was not what they looked like when the bucket was removed. It was for each of us a wonderful surprise to see the finished pot in the end.
Yes, Jinny pulled off another big surprise and once again treated us to a fabulous adventure.
The Birth of a Fabric
Usually a fabric is chosen to work with a specific pattern or design. In the case of this story, the reverse was true.
As you all know, I love to work with border print fabrics and other prints with mirror imaged motifs. When we select a border print to go around the outside of a quilt or to use inside the quilt, we often have a lot of leftovers. I’m always looking for ways to use these extra bits.
About a year ago I decided it would be fun to use up border print scraps in six pointed stars. I used our 2 ½” acrylic template. Six identical pieces were needed for each star. I sorted through scraps to come up with a color scheme and began making stars. It was such fun to see all the different ones and how the design changed depending on the placement of the mirror images. All the kaleidoscopic results kept tempting me to do more.
Then the question came of how to sew the stars together. I thought of joining them with black diamonds.
However the stars kept calling to me that they needed a narrow border around them. So I thought of cutting a narrow border from one of my border prints. This Corsica border seemed perfect with my colors.
I only wanted to use this small bit that is outlined here.
In order to get the border next to each star, I had to break the diamond into four smaller pieces so the diamond could be completely surrounded by the border. Two are cut one direction and two are reversed.
I began sewing the stars together with the “border print” diamonds.
After I sewed several together, I realized that if the quilt was going to be a decent size I would need anywhere from 12 to 15 yards of the Corsica border to get enough of that small stripe for all the diamonds.
That is when I thought of designing a fabric that was only made up of the small border with black in between. It takes about a year from the idea to the fabric and finally this week the Mini-stripe fabric arrived. I did it in five colorways.
I remade the quilt with a larger (3”) diamond template and the new mini-stripe. I am thrilled with the outcome.
I’m calling the quilt Arabic Tiles, have created a pattern and also made an acrylic template set to make cutting the diamonds easier.
You can use all your leftover bits and pieces of border print, or we have also made a kit in the colorway shown here. There are two sizes……wall and double
Margot, one of our customers, has already started using her scraps to make stars. She said it is addictive and so much fun to see how different each one can be.
For the Arabic Tile quilt, you only need two yards of the fabric for the diamonds joining the stars instead of 15! I’m dreaming up all kinds of other ways to use the fabric as well. Stay tuned for more projects and let us know if you find innovative ways to use it as well.
Having Some Fun This Spring!
We are starting to gear up for our Quilters’ Quest Shop Hop in November. All of the shops are taking sign-ups for their buses, so if you want to leave the driving to us, be sure to get your name on one of the lists. Check out the website at http://www.quiltersquest.org/
Do you want to see a little fun? Become acquainted with the shop owners who take part in the Quest and learn more about this fun-filled event by watching our video. We had great fun filming it and hope you have as much fun watching it!
Our staff had even more fun this past weekend. Elaine, one of our staffers, taught us all about boro-style needlework. “Boro” simply refers to a traditional Japanese method of mending, as well as the mended pieces themselves. The photos shown here are before and after shots of a piece that Elaine did for a bag she made. The boro stitch is essentially a running stitch but it creates wonderful texture.
There was also classroom fun on Saturday when I taught a wonderful group of students hand quilting. I set up my large quilting frame and they had the experience of quilting on both a large frame and a hoop. I have been excited about the resurgence of hand quilting and love teaching the class.
Spring is so beautiful! It is hard to stay inside. This year the conditions are perfect for a nice crop of morel mushrooms. I made up a recipe for stuffing for them and it turned out so good that I want to share it with you. It would be good for any stuffed mushrooms.
Enjoy the recipe and get out and enjoy the spring!
Stuffed Morel Mushrooms
3/4 cup non-fat yogurt
½ lb. Bob Evans “hot” sausage browned and crumbled
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup grated Swiss cheese
2 spring onions, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely crushed
Mix all ingredients together. Remove the stems of the mushrooms and carefully wash them, leaving them whole. Using a small spoon or narrow knife, push the filling into the mushrooms, filling them as full as possible. Bake for 10 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Quilting Questions
I will be teaching hand quilting at the Studio this weekend. I love teaching this class because I only hand quilt my quilts and I love passing this skill along to others. In preparing for the class, I was reminded of the questions I am frequently asked about the topic. In an earlier blog, I talked about my favorite products but there were a few other areas I didn’t address. What color quilting thread should I use? Do I change the thread color when quilting over different fabrics or do I just use one? And then there is the most frequently asked question at the Studio concerning quilting: how should I quilt my quilt?
Let’s start with the last question first. My absolute favorite way to quilt and what I use most often is outline quilting which is to quilt a little bit more than a quarter of an inch around every patch. Why “a little more” than a quarter of an inch? That’s because if I try to do exactly a quarter of an inch I would probably be hitting the bulk from the seam allowances which would make my job much more difficult. By quilting a little bit more than a quarter of an inch from the seam line, I will miss those extra layers of fabric. I eyeball the quarter-inch but, if you prefer, you can use a quarter-inch masking tape made for quilters as a guide.
When I get to the borders or in areas with large-scale prints, the design decision is easy. I let the printed design on the fabric dictate my quilting design.
Now, concerning thread color and whether or not to change thread, I would have to give the very unpopular answer of “it depends.” First of all, I don’t like to use bright colors. I like the look of more muted thread colors. Here are the colors I use most: a grey-blue or teal being my favorite plus ecru, black and rust.
I try to use the same thread throughout but I do sometimes change. An easy decision is using black on black, tan on tan, etc. When choosing a thread color, I tend to go a little darker than the fabric I will be stitching on. I pick up the darker lines in the fabric.
For more information, you can refer to my book, Quiltmaking by Hand. But above all, remember that this is your quilt. There are so many possibilities. Experiment, try new colors and products and find what works best for you.
Never a Dull Moment
This is one of my favorite times of the year. The Virginia bluebells are in full bloom along the Potomac River in Great Falls National Park. Our native redbuds are announcing spring with their brilliant violet flowers, the onions, potatoes and early vegetables are planted in my garden and we are already enjoying the early spring greens and winter onions in salads.
That is not to say we don’t get surprises. Last week, I was teaching my Diamonds class at my shop. We had just begun the class when all of a sudden our shop phone rang, I received one of those alerts on my cell phone and I received an urgent text message from my son-in-law in Oregon (who works on mapping at the U. S. Geological Survey)…all of these simultaneous alerts (including alerts on phones of the students) were telling us that there was a tornado warning for Great Falls and we were to seek immediate shelter.
Now we were all on the second floor of our building and could see the suddenly ominous black sky. We all hastily retreated to the basement of our building which houses the utilities. Space was crowded and we got to know each other up close and personal. It was amazing how, not only calm, but jovial the students and staff were in this cramped and dusty place.
Within 15 minutes the danger was over and we resumed the class. The two Canadian ladies, two from West Virginia, and one from California who had traveled here for the class along with the locals were quite excited to let all their friends know about our little adventure. We did learn that several small tornados did touch down not too far from us.
Working with diamonds is one of my favorite classes to teach and they all made great progress. It is a wonderful opportunity to work on both design and color. Here are some photos of them hard at work and some of the results.
Half Square Triangles
The half square triangle is certainly one of the most used shapes in patchwork. Have you ever thought about how many different arrangements you can make by simply putting a light half square triangle next to a dark one and then arranging them in as many ways as possible?
Here are just a few examples that are in my book, The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns.
With my interest in all things patchwork, imagine my delight when during my recent visit to the International Patchwork Festival in Sitges, Spain, I encountered 55 benches with decorative patchwork tile designs, all made with half square triangle tiles.
I was walking with my son, Sean, along the promenade that runs along the beach when I saw the first bench. I remarked on how neat that was. Then sixty steps later there was another one and another after sixty more steps. Before long I realized that each bench was different, with a different design.
We walked for about a mile and a half and altogether I counted 55 benches, all made with half square tiles. Each dark triangle was paired with a light one to create a square and then those squares were arranged in a variety of ways—48 squares (96 half square triangles) along the back of each of the benches.
Some of the benches appeared to be newer than others. Each bench had decorative tiles on the sides that corresponded to the designs on the backs of the benches. The older benches had spaces for 10 squares (20 triangles) and the newer ones had spaces for 6 squares (12 triangles).
So far I have not been able to find any two benches exactly the same. Some had duplicate designs on the back of the bench, but maybe the colors were reversed or the design was upside down on one of them. Also I found benches with the same design on the back, but one was an older style with places for 10 squares on sides of the bench and the other was the newer style with a spot for only 6 squares. A few were the same design but with different colored tiles.
I only made the discovery of these benches on our last day in Sitges. I wish I had had time to study them more carefully. I photographed most all of them and show 30 of them here.
I would like to know the history about these benches, who came up with the idea, how old they are, etc. If anyone knows, please let me know.
Meanwhile, how many other arrangements can you come up with using the same configuration of 10 square tiles across and three down?
Studio Staff Projects, Part II
As we left you last week, we still had projects from about half the staff to share with you. One of our favorite things in the Studio is when customers stop in to share their work with us or send us photos through email and Facebook. Here then, with Jinny just back from Spain and probably still jetlagged, we are turning the tables and sharing our projects with you.
Linda quilted up a storm and now has lots of binding to do with more handwork involved on this lovely soft-edge piecing. (Jinny has a great video tutorial on this technique on our website.) But her more important job these days is completing an Elizabeth Hartman pattern called “Fancy Forest” for a special request “Boho” baby quilt for her new granddaughter who is due next month.
You may not be surprised to learn this but, yes, even our accountant is a quilter. Julia is piecing blocks for an on-line mystery quilt. The name of the mystery is Meadow Mystery by Cheryl Brickey. She chose fabrics from her stash and the completed quilt will go to a military patient at Fort Belvoir Hospital.
Dana sent her photos and her story. We decided to let her tell it: “When I married Alen, I knew in my mind that for our 10-year anniversary I wanted to make him a double wedding ring quilt in our wedding colors- red and purple. I have had the Judy Neimeyer pattern for ages along with the fabrics, many of which are Jinny’s. So, we celebrated our 10-year anniversary last October and do you know what he got…a picture of the pattern and an IOU. I felt guilty and decided I better start working on it. I was a bit intimidated as I had never paper pieced before and it just didn’t sink in with me but I decided to give it a try. This pattern is written so well, I am now hooked and am quite enjoying the process. Now every time Alen comes into my work room and sees me working on something that is not red or purple, he’s like “hey what about my quilt?” I told him let’s shoot for 20 years!!!”
In addition to the quilt, Dana saw a high-end designer jacket with cats that was well out of her price range. She purchased upholstery material, broke out an embroidery machine that she’s had forever and added her own personal touch to the back to make this chic jacket.
Rebecca proudly boasts of making progress on her UFO pile. She says she “finally” quilted this one and is sewing the binding on. It is pieced with batiks using a pattern by Carrie Nelson, from the Another Bite of Schnibbles book.
Judy is trying to finish the quilt from a Kaffe Fassett workshop back in October. She had all the squares up on the design board and kept rearranging them, finally deciding how to put it together. The border also changed three times until she decided the big flowers worked best. She’s also working on a BOM from an online blog using Kaffe stash fabrics.
And, finally, Cathy recently finished this top framing it perfectly with a Milan border print. Along with that, she put the finishing touches on this Midi Bag which was a Weekly Web Special last fall.
Thanks for letting us share our projects with you and don’t forget that we always love to see yours.
Studio Staff Projects, Part I
While Jinny catches up after teaching in Spain, we, the staff, are taking over her blog. This past weekend, we celebrated National Quilting Day, a day to “appreciate and to recognize quilt makers, along with all of their long labor, love and skill that goes into the making of each quilt.”
We also hope that you take the time to celebrate the camaraderie of quilters. For generations, quilters have come together to share more than stitching…but, oh, how we love our stitching. Here at the Studio, we share our projects, give praise, offer advice and learn from each other. Here, then, is a look at what we have under our needles.
Elaine purchased an incomplete quilt top on eBay a few years ago. She calls it “Scrapple” because so many of the pieces are SO tiny! Fabrics range from the 1890s to the 1930s. She completed the top using antique fabric from her stash. She didn’t like her first attempt at machine quilting so she removed all of it. It took her several hours! It was then re-basted and quilted using a home-made spiral stencil. Now, she says, “I love it!” That’s quite a lesson of sticking with something until you think it’s right.
Diane has been furiously stitching away on her La Passacaglia from Willyne Hammerstein’s Millefiori Quilts book. This amazing quilt contains only Jinny’s fabric. Diane and her quilt will appear on The Quilt Show later this year.
Our newest staff member, Elizabeth, is almost all done with this one. The pattern is called Rock Candy by Jaybird Quilts. The fabric was from a scrap bag of Jinny’s batiks. It is hand pieced and quilted.
Some of us like to have both machine and hand work projects going at the same time. Nancy made this this cute little table topper as a carry-around project. Does it look familiar? Check out Elizabeth’s project above. It’s hand pieced and made with Jinny’s Malam batiks and 60° diamond template. She’s about to machine quilt it while hand stitching the binding on a baby quilt.
Many of you saw the staff tuffet class on our Facebook page. Lura just finished hers. Nice! She’s hand piecing these rose star blocks for a wall hanging for her sister using vintage Jinny borders. She also continues to make pie trivets/potholders which are great gifts. She’s discovered the perfect “crust” fabric is Jinny’s Palette #112.
We are sad to say that Marion will be leaving us this summer to return to the Netherlands. Before she goes she’d like to finish her toothbrush rug started in a Studio class last fall.
Kelley has three projects going. As a member of a pincushion club with a group of quilting friends from Virginia, Arizona, Texas, and California, she learns new skills on one small project each month. She is also taking part in the “Primitive Triangles Sew Along” with Lisa Bongean using Jinny’s Casablanca collection. The blocks finish at 4”. And then, of course, there’s her Farm Girl Vintage from Lori Holt which just needs the binding completed. Her quilt has 56 blocks that finish at 6”. She asks, “Can you tell I like small pieces?”
Well, when we started this it seemed like a nice little blog post but we soon became aware that we, as a group, have a lot of unfinished projects that we are currently trying to finish up. Can any of you identify with that? Check back next week for Studio Staff Projects, Part 2.