This is the last quilt I’ll do on my Voyager before it gets taken down and delivered to Laverne in Southern Illinois. This quilt is for a new customer, Mary. She does fantastic work. I’m doing a freehand feather vine in the outer border and a panto (feather meander) on the rest. I like how it’s turning out. Here’s a sneak peek..
Okay. I can’t hold back! I just found out I got a teachers choice ribbon for my quilt Winter Garden at the MQS show in Overland Park this week. I belong to some Yahoo groups and on one of them I had asked if anyone was going to the show to take some pics of my quilt hanging there. One of the members, Tim, said he would snap some pics for me. He just posted a message on that forum and I won a Teacher’s Choice Ribbon!! Ok, seriously, can you hear me squealing with joy!!?? Hahahaha. To top it off, he got the news directly from Karen. Here’s his note on the exchange with Karen:
“Joy, I found your enntry # 325 hanging in the whole cloth section. I was on my way into the building and stopped to chat with Karen McTavish for a few moments. I explained your request for a few photos of your quilt hanging in the show. Her response: “That is really creepy!” She pulled out a pack of smokes with your quilt # written on it. She gave you a teachers choice award! Congrats! I’ll upload the photos when I get back to Tennessee.”
Ok. Seriously. How AWESOME is that!!!! 
I’ll post a pic of the ribbon when I get it in the mail.
What’s up next on the frame? Only practice muslin. I have a gal coming to my house Sunday to look at my Voyager and frame. If she buys it, then I’ll be taking it down and installing it at her house. I’m not sure how long it will take to get my A1 delivered after that, but will keep you posted on that news. Wish me luck on the sale!!!
While in Paducah, I purchased a new presser foot for my Babylock sewing machine. The gal demonstrating this foot had me hooked literally in seconds. She sewed a drunkard’s path block with no pins whatsoever! Yes, I said “no pins!” After watching her do this feat twice, I bought one on the spot. I had already purchased a template for a drunkards path earlier in the day – I’m planning on using it on a red/white quilt.
So, the real test came when I tried it for myself. I had a couple of false starts, and had to reread the directions on their site, but I actually finished two of these in seconds!! Below are pics of the template I purchased, the curvemaster foot, and the finished blocks. You can go to http://www.curvemaster.biz for more info. The foot comes with attachments that will fit most machines.
I love this little quilt by my friend Cheryl. Bright batiks and a geometric layout make this a wonderful modern quilt. I decided to quilt the outside border with beadboard, the orange border has a line of funky flowers as do the inner poppy squares. The blocks surrounding the poppy squares were quilted randomly with an array of pumpkin seeds, wavy lines, curvy lines, flower strings, watery lines, swirls and circles. The end result is a pretty, modern look to this bright, graphic quilt.
Batting used was Legacy 80/20 blend. Threads were turquoise Signature, #469 So Fine (burnt orange) and gray Sulky.
UPDATE: I sold my Voyager today. Laverne from southern Illinois is the lucky gal who gets my trusty machine. Right now, the plan is to deliver it to her house on June 9. I’ll be sending in the check on my new machine and hopefully can get it delivered soon afterwards. Thanks to everyone who showed interest. Laverne – you’re the early bird on this one!!
——–
Yes, that’s right, I’m selling my Voyager. While I was at Paducah (looking at my quilt hanging there!), I finally had an opportunity to test drive the last machine on my list – the A1 Longarm. I absolutely fell in love with it. When Elaine, the rep at the booth, told me the price, my jaw about hit the floor. I walked away, but came back a few hours later and gave her a deposit to hold it for a few months. In the meantime, I really do need to sell my Voyager. It has been a great machine and will make a good machine for someone else. So here’s the deal:
Voyager 17, LOADED – $3500, including delivery/setup within 100 miles (negotiable). Details are listed below the pic:
| Hinterberg Stretch Frame |
Included in original pkg. |
Add-ons |
|
| Bowers Lifts (I love these – they make advancing fabric much easier) | $65 | ||
| Stylus board that has the grooved patterns for hearts, wavy lines, etc. | x | ||
| Pantos, rose/leaf and an overall pattern (can’t remember the name). | x | ||
| Laser light for stylus at rear. | x | ||
| Two sets of zippers. One set is attached to the leaders. (the 2nd one makes it easier to switch out a quilt on the frame before it is finished). | $80 | ||
| Set of 10’ poles with leaders attached (value $150) | $150 | ||
| Set of 6’ poles with leaders attached and extra roller ends attached to make changing them seamless | $200 | ||
| Center leg support | x | ||
| Dowel rods (for supporting the side tensioners away from the carriage) | $0 | ||
| Voyager 17, includes: | |||
| Fat foot | $50 | ||
| Regular foot | x | ||
| TBQ hopping ruler foot | $100 | ||
| Finishing Touches hopping ruler foot (also have extra parts for repairs if needed) | $65 | ||
| 100 bobbins | $40 | ||
| Needles (new in packages, size 16, 18, 19) | $40 | ||
| Bobbin cases – I think I have 4 or 5, some have pigtails, some with pigtails and backlash, some with just backlash, and some plain. | $100 | ||
| Toolkit for everything (frame and machine) included | x | ||
| Extra needle plate covers (2) | $20 | ||
| Extra tension spring assembly (for parts) and replacement o-rings for carriage | $0 | ||
| Laser Light that attaches to front handles (do pantos or trace outlines from front) | $50 | ||
| Micro Handles (from Finishing Touches Studio), includes allen wrench for removing | $100 | ||
| Side grips (4 total) | x | ||
| Additional LCD light attached to head (in addition to the regular lamp that is included). | $25 | ||
| Power Strip attached to SLR by Velcro (for management of wiring) | $25 | ||
| Extended large base (for doing ruler work) (value $55) | $55 | ||
| Extra handles with controls for doing pantos from rear (don’t have to switch the handles out) | $200 | ||
| Hinterberg/Voyager manual, also has extra docs printed from website | x | ||
| DVD for Voyager maintenance | x | ||
| Bobbin Winder (included) | x | ||
| Towa Gauge for L-size bobbin cases | $70 | ||
| Thread: | |||
| I have some King Tut and various brands of thread that I’ll include. | $50 | ||
| Batting: | |||
| I’ll throw in some leftover pieces for testing purposes | $0 | ||
| Delivery/Setup | |||
| I’ll deliver and setup at your home (within 100+- miles) | $250 | ||
| Will include Linda Taylor’s book “Ultimate Guide to Longarm Quilting” | $30 | ||
| $4,299 | $1,700 | ||
| Value of original package and add-ons | $6,064 | ||
| Total cost | $3,500 | ||
| Contact: Joy Voltenburg, Sullivan, IL (217) 273-5536 | |||
I’m traveling by bus with a group of quilters to Paducah this Saturday. I cannot wait. I have never been to the quilt show in Paducah and am looking forward to it SO MUCH!!! To top it off, I have a quilt hanging in the show there! I’m so excited to see it hanging there amongst the jaw-dropping quilts I have seen that are going to be there. Another quilter in my area, Thelma, has two quilts hanging there. I remember her quilt from Judi Madsen’s blog. I drooled all over that quilt online and I’m thrilled to be able to see it in person. If you’re going to Paducah, look for my quilt, Sunflower Stars #932.
I haven’t posted in a while, for no other reason than I have been avoiding the computer. So, let’s play catch up.
The latest quilt hot off the frame is for Donna. This is a quilt she’ll be teaching a class on in a few weeks. I loved the fabrics. I was kind of torn about how to quilt this one; but decided to quilt the “blank” blocks in between the pinwheels the same as I did the pinwheels. I was stumped on how to do these with as few starts and stops as possible, but was able to do each row in one pass. I do like how this came out. The quilting design wasn’t going to show much because of the business of the fabrics, but it does give it nice movement.
The next quilt is a totally awesome lavender crosshatch quilt. What makes it even more awesome is that it was done by an 81-year-old woman! This was a stamped quilt where the x-hatching and the quilting design was stamped into the cloth. The blue markings will fade over several washings. I followed the stamped design pretty much, except I did double lines instead of single and I echoed all of the crosshatching around the border where the design didn’t have any quilting at all and also in the center medallion where the design stamped a series of concentric circles. I love how this turned out. I also bound it for her.
And finally, a gorgeous Moda BOM with embroidery for Audrey. I decided to do diagonal crosshatch over all the embroidery blocks as well as behind the center tree block. The stars all were treated the same, with a leaf design in each corner.
I’ve always liked painting and when I first saw some of Irena Bluhm’s quilts, I was fascinated with the process. While in Milwaukee at the Showcase last August, I picked up a sample dragonfly from her and talked with her about the process. I purchased some Prismacolor pencils, some brushes and a bottle of Delta Ceramcoat textile medium. I found that the textile medium really blended the color and pushed it around some. I lid how the dragonfly turned out, but didn’t want it to be just an orphan block, so I created two flower panels and added trapunto to them. I also cut away the batting from around the dragonfly block to give it trapunto also. I then arranged them together with purple and yellow fabric. I like how it turned out – now to find a place to display it! I think I’ll try this again, I may want to try some different paint mediums though.
Those are the locations two of my quilts are going!!! Winter Garden was juried into MQX East in Rhode Island – a national quilt show in April. AND Sunflower Stars was juried into the Paducah Quilt Show, also in April! OMG! REALLY?! Seriously!? What an honor to be accepted at both places. My quilts will compete against some of the BEST in the world! I have no illusions of winning a ribbon, but can you imagine how many people will see my quilts!
After April is finished, Winter Garden will go on to MQS in Overland Park, Kansas in May. I’m planning on entering it in some other shows later this year also. I just got the appraisal on it today, also. THANK YOU Halleye Bone! For my appraisal and for showing me around St. Louis to some fabulous fabric shops.
Well, almost done. I still have to trim, soak and bind. I’d like to block it, but I don’t have the room to do that. Overall, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. The problems I had with this quilt were plenty – my hopping foot broke (thank goodness for spares), my bobbin case was faulty, my bobbins were out of round, and my needle plate needed sanding. So it wasn’t just one thing that was wrong, it was several. I figured out everything by the time I was 2/3 of the way through it. I ripped out one section because of bad tension on the back, but I’m hoping that washing the quilt will help hide the rest of the tension troubles.
Ok, I need a name. Garden Party? Winter Garden? White Garden? Hmmmm. Need to think about it a bit more. Now, to get the binding ready so it can soak with the rest of the quilt and then hopefully I will have settled on a name so I can get the label done.
