Author Archives: laura west kong

quilt-cation inspirations

Posted on by
2



Every quilt-cation requires a generous serving of inspiration and there’s no better inspiration than sunshine, crashing waves, and white sandy beaches.

Beaches in Southwest Florida are full of seashells. Some people spend hours searching for perfect specimens. After a storm you can sometimes find shells from waters hundreds of miles away. Sifting through the sand I discovered these seashell fragments.

I like the bands of soft colors. They remind me of strip-pieced quilts. Maybe a seashell-inspired quilt awaits, or maybe a walk along the seashore…

What inspires your quilt-making?

Read more:
Quilt-cation
Quilt-cation fabrications

quilt-cation

Posted on by
3


Quilt-cation, all I ever wanted.
Quilt-cation, had to get away.
Quilt-cation, meant to be spent a sewin’

Every quilter needs a quilt-cation every now and then, a getaway full of fabulous fabric and fun. Here’s a great beginning to my quilt-cation, a quilt-inspired piece of art at the Southwest Florida Airport.

Yep, that’s a quilt made from old record albums. Remember those? Here’s a closer look at the stitching:

Whether you spend your quilt-cation at home or in the wild blue yonder, here’s wishing you happy quilting!

What’s your favorite quilt-cation destination?

Read more:
Quilt-cation inspirations
Quilt-cation fabrications

long beach highlights

Posted on by
Reply


And now for the quilts (IQA Long Beach 2011)…

I love this fun tree quilt from the West Coast Wonders 2011 exhibit. It’s neat how you can peek through the leaves. Scroll down to see the wildlife on the back side.

California Beauty
by Felisa C. Lyons
La Habra Heights, CA

From the Hands All Around 2010: International Quilts is a candy-colored applique picture quilt. What a yummy stash Rachel must have!

Village in Galilee
by Rachel Covo
Ramat Hasharon, Israel

And here’s an amazing yo-yo quilt from the Festival Gallery of Quilt Art: Wonders of the World. Be sure to take a look at the detail below the quilt. Painting a picture with yo-yos would be a fun and challenging technique to try. Making all those yo-yos would also be a great take-along project.

Grace
by Shin-hee Chin
McPherson, Kansas

This year I white gloved at the SAQA exhibits, Creative Force 2010 and Sightlines. On my two-hour shift it was my privilege to not only share these beautiful quilts with visitors, but also to get to know the quilts better myself.

Sometimes at quilt shows we get so caught up in seeing everything that we don’t really see what we’re looking at before we snap a photo and rush on to the next wonderful thing so we can take it all in and finish our shopping before the bus leaves. It’s refreshing to take a deep breath, relax, slow down, and examine each detail with your own eyes.

Here’s a video from Luana Rubin of eQuilter.com showing some highlights of these two SAQA exhibits when they were at IQA Houston 2010. See more quilt show videos on the eQuilter video webpage. Or you can check the SAQA exhibitions webpage to find out if these exhibits are coming to a venue near you.

And finally a quote from quilt artist Desiree Habicht, whose quilt was displayed in The Space Between exhibit (Like the SAQA exhibits, no photography was allowed, but the quote is almost as lovely as her quilt).

“In art, the space between allows us a place to rest our eyes. In life it can be the calm between the storms or events. The space between can refer to a positive or negative or a reflection of what is really there.”

kuna-licious!

Posted on by
1


Summer and IQA Long Beach go hand in hand for a terrific time. And this year’s Festival of Quilts did not disappoint. More on the fabulous quilts later. First, the shopping: mola shoes from Kuna Prints. These vibrant, one-of-a-kind shoes are hand made by the Kuna Indians using recycled mola fabrics.

Comfortable and stylish enough for a hike through the largest of quilt exhibits, they’re fair trade and vegan too. The only problem is … which pair to choose?

Find out more about mola shoes, sign up for a newsletter, or order your own fab pair of mola shoes on the Kuna Prints website. Or follow Kuna Prints on Facebook and Twitter.

What’s your favorite pair?
More about molas

button joy!

Posted on by
Reply


Quilter's Home June-July 2011Seen the new June/July 2011 Quilters Home magazine? I just love that cover quilt, Drunkard’s Flower Path, don’t you? Looks like a perfect summer quilting project.

If quick quilty crafts are more your thing during the lazy days of summer, check out the article, Hot Buttons for the latest on whimsical buttons you can buy and fun button crafts you can make. And the instructions for all three projects can be found in the web-exclusive feature, Button Joy (click here to download or view pdf). Learn to make my embroidered button hair jewelry (below), Virginia Robertson’s one-of-a-kind stacked button pins and a decorative button jar.

What’s your summer sewing project?

Share your comments or summer sewing projects!

More Button Projects:
Cover Button Blossoms!
Bloomin’ Button Brooches
Fabric Ribbon Rosettes
Pocket Full of Posies (scroll down for Kurumi button tutorial)
Find Creativity in Everyday Life

crayon fun!

Posted on by
1


Spring by Laura West Kong

A quilt for Earth Day! Spring was made using the Waxmelter Batik Pen, a fun and green way to use up broken crayon bits. (You wouldn’t want those broken crayons to go to waste, now would you?)

Broken crayons go in the top …

(This is the Waxmelter Batik Pen)

…melted wax comes out the bottom.

(The art comes from YOU!)

Color inside the wax-outlined shapes with thin, flowing paints such as watered-down acrylics, silk fabric paint, etc. or dip it into some cold-water fabric dye. The crayon wax acts like a resist to keep the paint where it belongs.

After the fabric dries you can remove the wax by ironing the fabric between sheets of newsprint or paper towels. The heat of the iron melts the wax and the paper soaks it up. The colored lines stay behind! Or if you’re not going to wash it, you can leave the wax right where it is. The wax lines give a neat dimensional element for an art quilt. You can melt regular batik wax, too. I’ve also decorated Easter eggs with my batik pen. Find out more about the Waxmelter Batik Pen and other wax melting tools at the Wax Melting Tools by Twisteez Wire website.

About Crayons
You probably don’t want to use those free restaurant crayons in your batik pen. Some of them got mixed up in my broken crayon box. See the difference below:

Notice the blue and green lines on the left. See the clear areas in the lines and lack of complete color coverage? That because cheap crayons don’t have as much pigment as better quality crayons do. Good crayons have more pigment and will give you bright, clear colors on paper as well as on fabric. The batik pen is easier to use with good crayons too. Sometimes the cheap crayon wax is really thin when melted and can flood out of the tip. The red and blue lines on the right probably didn’t come from children’s menu crayons. If I were to remove the wax off the samples above, the one on the left would certainly leave a greasy stain behind.

If you want some really fabulous crayons, try Prang Soy Crayons. The paraffin wax in regular crayons comes from petroleum, these are made from soy. They’re environmentally friendly, that’s why I’m telling you about them on Earth Day. But that’s not why I LOVE them … I love them because they are smooth, rich, and vibrant. They’re creamy and blend-able without a waxy buildup. I use mine for those cute vintage-y picture quilts that are hand embroidered with a stem stitch and then colored in the lines with crayons.

My Crayon Kitty. I should really finish up the rest of these blocks. Maybe I’ll make that my Earth Day project!

Share your comments or Earth Day projects!

More Eco-Posts!
Tip Tuesday: Give Blood … Get Thimbles
Muse Monday: Quilt A Memory
Bottle Cap Pincushion
Quilt Green 2009
Quilt-Cycle

cover button blossoms!

Posted on by
3


Here’s a fun spring project: Cover Button Blossoms.  Use them with push pins as shown above to brighten a bulletin board, or try a magnet, jewelry pin back or bobby pin finding, or even scrapbooking brads.

Join me Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 6 pm PT ( 7:00pm MT; 8:00pm CT;  9:00pm ET) at Wednesday Night Live in C&T Publishing’s Digital Lounge for a tutorial and more creative fun. Lynn Koolish will also be showing her fabulous fabric clocks. Hope to see you there! :)

sending hugs to japan

Posted on by
1


Quilters are reaching out to comfort disaster victims in Japan. It might feel like spring, or even summer in sunny southern California or where you live, but it’s still icy cold in many parts of Japan. A hand-made quilt can bring warmth in more ways than one. Sending a quilt is like giving a cozy hug from across the ocean.

Maybe you would like to help but are wondering how. After all, it’s a long way from your sewing room to a Japanese evacuee center. Here are four groups that have the logistics all worked out and are collecting quilts for Japan.

*  *  *  *  *

1000 Quilts for Japan | eQuilter and Mission of Love

eQuilter is partnering with Mission of Love to deliver one or more shipments of disaster relief supplies (medical, educational and basic needs) and donated comfort quilts, to the people of Japan. Quilts will be collected at Mission of Love in Ohio, then sent to California. The quilts and supplies will be shipped from California to Japan with the Air Force.

eQuilter suggests small personal-sized quilts for a child or small adult, such as 46″ x 60″, to 60″ x 68″, or 65″ x 85″. Visit the eQuilter website for information on kinds of fabric to use, backing, batting, labels and more.

Deadline: Quilts need to reach Mission of Love Foundation (2054 Hemlock Court, Youngstown, Ohio 44515) by May 7
For more info: eQuilter website
Support Mission of Love by donating money for disaster relief supplies.
For updates: subscribe to the eQuilter newsletter or read the newsletters on the eQuilter website.

*  *  *  *  *

Surfside Quilters Guild and The Calico House
Surfside Quilters Guild and The Calico House are collecting quilts to send to Japan. The quilts will be taken to Vacaville and flown to Japan with Air Force personnel. The quilts will be distributed to disaster victims by a Binky Patrol coordinator in Japan.

Deadline: Quilts need to reach The Calico House Quilt Shop (1243 E. Imperial Hwy, Placentia, California 92870) by April 25.

*  *  *  *  *

Quilts 4 Japan
Gail Hynes Shea and Eve Kushner of Berkeley, California created Quilts 4 Japan to help the disaster victims in Japan. They encourage quilt donors to pin an envelope with a personal note to the recipient. If you send them an email, Quilts 4 Japan will translate your letters into Japanese for you.Collecting: Quilts of any kind for disaster survivors in Japan

Drop-Off Locations: New Pieces Quilts, Berkeley, California;  Shiisha Quilts, Bloomington, Indiana; The Quilters Garden, Fenton, Michigan, Thimble Pleasures, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
For more info: Quilts 4 Japan website

*  *  *  *  *

Project Linus and Soldiers’ Angels
Collecting: Blankets for children in Japan and US families who have been evacuated from Japan to military bases in the United States.
Deadline: Blankets need to reach the Texas Soldiers’ Angels warehouse by April 25.
For more info: Contact your local Project Linus chapter.

*  *  *  *  *

If you are participating in or know of another group that’s sending their love to Japan through quilts, please share it with us!

easy-peazy pet beds

Posted on by
6


Got scraps? If you quilt or sew the answer is probably yes. Some of them you might save, and others may be too small for you to use … or can you use them?

I have just the project for you, an easy-peazy pet bed. You know you can’t resist those eyes!

After all, your faithful animal companion is right there, helping you through your every quilt-making journey. When you finish your next quilt, why not pick up all the fabric scraps off the floor and use them to fill a cozy pet bed or two?

Don’t have any pets? No problem.

Pet beds make a great community service project. In fact, at your next community service quilting day, you can save everybody’s scraps and make pet beds as well. Since I don’t have any pets (yet) these two pet beds are on their way to the local animal shelter.

(This is the part that Eleanor Burns never told you about: what to do with all those pieces of fabric that you so enthusiastically flung over your shoulder in your quest to make a quilt in a day.)

Here’s a pile of fabric and batting scraps that I’ve collected from the past month or so of quilt-making. This was enough to make two beds: one for a dog and one for a cat. A tip from my friend Jessica: If you’re making a cat bed, use soft fabric on the outside because kitties like soft. :)

Easy-Peasy Pet Bed

1.Decide what size you want your pet bed to be and add 1″ all around for seam allowance.

2. Cut two pieces of fabric for the outside of the bed (or use a single piece folded in half).

3. Sew the outer pieces right sides together all the way around the edges with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Leave a space large enough to fit your hand through.

4. Turn the pet bed right side out and stuff loosely with scraps.

5. Fold the open part of the seam allowance under and machine stitch near the edge to close the opening.

(If you make the pet bed cover ahead of time you can keep it by your cutting table or sewing machine and drop the scraps in as you go, keeping your sewing area nice and neat all the time. Although I have to agree with Eleanor, it is really fun to toss the scraps over your shoulder.)

Voilà! Now didn’t I tell you that was easy? Sweet dreams, furry friends.

Add a comment

breezy

Posted on by
3

Here’s a quilt I started in 2006, Breezy. It was a challenge quilt for FFFC and was supposed to take a week to finish. This was one of those “my eyes are bigger than my stomach” situations. It actually took more like 4 years to complete, mostly because I was hand appliqueing the wool felt petals with a few too many strands of rayon embroidery floss … if 1 strand is good, 4 strands are better, right? ;-)

Breezy
by Laura West Kong

So last fall I took it out of the UFO hangar, finished up the remaining hand applique and proceeded on to a much more enjoyable step: hand sashiko quilting with topstitching thread. Now I’m sharing the photos with you. Hope that it brightens your day!

Breezy, detail

Add a comment