The Value of Quilt Shows by Donna Hussain

Star Spangles by Donna Hussain
A quilt based on an Islamic design.

Many women remember snuggling in bed on cold winter nights under quilts made by their moms or grandmothers. They become quilters because they want to give similar gifts of love and comfort to their families and friends. While making their first quilt they learn basic sewing skills. Other quilters have a lifetime of experience at the sewing machine. In all likelihood they sew clothing, Halloween costumes, doll wardrobes, band uniforms, and prom dresses in addition to quilts. In quilt competitions this group of quilters has a decided advantage over sewing novices because judges grade both the construction skill of the quilt maker and her artistry. The winners of major quilt shows are talented artists who have mastered sewing techniques for quilt construction and choose fabric as their medium of expression.

Featured artist gets premium space at a quilt show.

These artists deserve the prizes. (The awards advertised for the Pacific International Quilt Festival in October, 2009 is $18,000 in cash and prizes.) At shows all quilters flock to the winning quilts to study their construction techniques, their use of color, and their embellishments, their thread play and quilting patterns, the design of their borders, they way they portray their theme in abstraction or minute detail, a view from afar or through magnification. There is much to learn by the study of displayed quilts. In the process we less talented quilters harvest ideas for future quilts of our own.

Quilts displayed at a show inspire
other quilters with color, technique and design.

To be juried into a major quilt show like the American Quilters Society spring show in Paducah, or the International Quilters Association’s fall show in Houston is an honor for the average quilter. We don’t expect to win, but are thrilled that other quilters will view, and hopefully admire, our work. Acceptance into the show is a way of validating the growth of our creativity and the improvement of our quilting skills.

Most quilt guilds sponsor an annual local show for the display of their members’ quilts. The show is usually the highlight of the guild’s calendar year and its major fundraiser. Space is rented to vendors to sell fabric, books, and quilt supplies. Sometimes judges are hired; sometimes not. Judges usually give two encouraging comments and two suggestions for improvement on the judging sheet for each quilt. The advice can be very helpful even though I tend to scoff upon receiving a comment like “Quilting corners need improvement” telling myself that there is nothing wrong with my corners. But you can be sure that I pay close attention thereafter to corners when sewing my quilts.

Quilt shows are a lot of work!
Here the quilt frames are being raised.

Other advantages of guild quilt shows include giving members a deadline to finish quilts in progress and a place to display their talent. The show certainly promotes quilting to the local community. A guild is usually energized by a show because it requires so much work, so much involvement of its members. New friendships are made and bonds between members are strengthened.

Guild members develop friendships while
they take a break in preparation for a quilt show.

I recommend that all quilters join a local quilt guild. Novice quilters are always welcome. They are usually surprised at the support they receive from more experienced members. The sew and show portion of monthly guild meetings helps beginners decide which style of quilting they favor and which color combinations they like. Most guilds offer inexpensive quilt classes that help beginners master quilting skills. In quilt shows most guilds include a category called “First Quilts” to encourage novice quilters to display their quilts.

Quilts hung in a show might be in many categories,
giving both the novice and the expert chances at recognition.

Although my quilts have been juried into a number of national quilt shows I have never won a large financial prize. My only claim to fame was becoming a finalist in the contest Reflections on Heritage sponsored by Quilters Newsletter Magazine in 2002. The quilts of the forty finalists traveled together as an exhibit to Quilt Expo VIII in Barcelona, Spain in April, 2002, then on to the Houston show in the fall on that year.

When I first read about the contest I speculated that my quilt, Star Spangles, which coincidentally had recently been completed, would be the only entry representing a Muslim heritage. Since I was sure the contest organizers wanted a balanced representation of cultures, I figured my quilt would be a shoo-in. Allowed seventy-five words in the application I wrote:

My husband was born in India and raised in the Islamic faith, while I come from an American Christian family. I try to represent our mixed family heritage in quilts for our home. The pattern for this quilt was taken from a tastir panel (a line pattern, a geometrical motif) that is typical of the beauty of Islamic ornamentation. But the creation of this quilt required the inspiration of my two Kansas grandmothers who passed on their love of quilting to me.

Husbands offer both labor and support,
"Your quilt is going to Barcelona?"

How excited I was to receive official news that I was selected as a finalist. I told my husband that I wanted to travel to Barcelona to stand behind my quilt to hear the comments of viewers. “What?” he said. “Why would you want to do that? You don’t even speak Spanish.”


California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.


The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

The Value of Quilt Shows by Donna Hussain

How to Make Clamshell Quilt Templates and Sew Curved Seams by Donna Hussain

"Lamplight" by Donna Hussain

Quilt completed after completing a clamshell class by Monica Calvert.

When learning to quilt I easily mastered sewing quilt blocks with straight line seams on my sewing machine. All I had to do was place the fabric pieces right sides together, then line up my ¼” sewing machine foot with the edge of the fabric for stitching. There are hundreds of quilt blocks that require such minimal sewing skill.

Straight-line stitching, the basic skill required to make any quilt.

To machine-piece a quilt block with curved seams, like Drunkard's Path, requires more skill. As a novice quilter, I joined a clamshell class given by Monica Calvert at a quilt shop near my home to learn her curved seam techniques. I had no intention of actually making a clamshell quilt until Monica demonstrated the amazing versatility and design potential of the block during class sessions.

Clamshell Row

A template is used to cut clamshell shapes. Clamshell templates can be made at home using graph paper and a compass. Draw three circles with the same diameter as illustrated below. Circles with a 9” diameter are recommended for starters. As you gain skill in sewing curves you can work with smaller clamshell shapes.

Drawing a Clamshell Template

Cut out the clamshell shape that you have drawn on the graph paper. This is your template but the graph paper is too flimsy for practical use. Use the paper cutout as a pattern to draw the clamshell shape on light cardboard, a manila folder, or plastic sheet. A clamshell template cut from these materials will be stiff enough to last for repeated use in drawing clamshells on fabric.

To make fabric clamshells place your template on the wrong side of fabric and draw the template’s outline with pencil or pen. This line will be your stitch line so make sure that the line is dark and easy to see.

In cutting out the fabric clamshell you must allow for a seam allowance, so cut the fabric ¼” away from the stitch line. For ease in later sewing, it is helpful to widen the seam allowance to 3/8” along the pointed tip.

Drawing and Cutting Lines

To practice sewing clamshell blocks together:

• Select two fabrics. Cut out two clamshells with nine inch diameters from each of the two fabrics.
• Sew the pointed ends together of one color set as illustrated below. (The red clamshells.)
  

Preparing to Sew Clamshells Together

• Mark the mid-point of the convex curve of the clamshells to be inset. (Blue clamshells). You can determine this mid-point by folding the clamshell in half.
• The next step is to inset the blue clamshells into the concave curves of the red clamshells, as illustrated. To do so, place the sewn-together red clamshells face up. Turn a blue clamshell face down so that the stitch line on the back side is visible. Poke a pin through the mid-point of the blue stitch line through to the midpoint of the seam joining the red clamshells together.
• Join the ends of the red and blue seam lines together with pins. Divide the space to be pinned together in half again and again, each time poking the pins through the blue stitch line to the red stitch line. Many pins will be necessary to flatten out all potential puckers.
• Machine stitch along the seam lines removing pins as you go.
  

Pinning Clamshells Together on the Stitch Line

The design possibilities using clamshell blocks are endless. Keep adding clamshells by sewing convex curves to concave curves until you reach the size you want for your quiltop.

Possible placements of clamshells in a quilt design.

You can vary the fabric and color of the clamshells or cut clamshells from fabric pieced together. I suggest that you draw a clamshell grid like the one below and experiment with different coloring patterns using crayons or felt pens.

Clamshell Grid

When using clamshells you may mix the blocks with other patchwork blocks or appliqué sections.
The shape of four clamshells sewn together reminded me of Indian designs, of oil lamps hanging in a mosque. In "Lamplight", I used a black clamshell to represent the lamp base. I visualized perforations in the lamp sides to allow light to pass through. I quilted a candle flame in the top clamshell which is pieced. All of the blocks beneath the arch are nine-inch clamshells, though some along the sides were trimmed to make a straight edge. I consciously used darker fabrics for the area under the lamps, and lightened the background colors close to the flame. The purpose of the Islamic arch in the quilt is to place the lamps in context.

Give clamshells a try. They are easier to sew than you may think!



California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.



The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

How to Make Clamshell Quilt Templates and Sew Curved Seams by Donna Hussain

How To Make Bias Tubes For Quilt Top Appliqué by Donna Hussain

The most common use for bias tubes when making quilt tops is for the appliqué of stems in floral bouquets. The tubes can also serve as window sills, chair legs, door frames, vines, fence posts, tree trunks, and lettering. I have also seen the tubes used to appliqué woven baskets, a jungle gym, the reins of a horse, and the rope of a swing. My favorite use of bias tubes is to sew interlacing designs on quilt tops. (See previous post, Interlacing Design for Quilt Borders)

Interlacing Design Using Bias Tubes

Although bias tubes can be purchased at most fabric stores the colors are limited and buyers generally have only one choice of tube width. Sewing your own bias tubes has many advantages. You can choose tube fabric from your stash to match the colors of your quilt. The cost of making tubes at home is minimal, and you have a variety of width options. In this article I describe the construction method I favor when sewing home-made bias tubes.

A bias tube begins with a strip of fabric that is cut on the bias. Why cut on the bias? Because bias strips stretch. In most quilting projects the fabric is cut on the straight of the grain to avoid stretching so that quilt blocks come out square. In bias tube appliqué stretching is an advantage. It allows you to appliqué the tubes in curves and circles without puckering. In addition, the threads on a bias cut do not unravel as they sometimes do when fabric is cut on the straight of the grain. So I favor tubes made from bias strips for straight-line appliqué as well as for curves.

A common method of making a bias tube is folding a strip of fabric with right sides together, then stitching the raw edges together. The sewn tube must then be turned inside out to hide the seam, often a struggle. I recommend an easier process for sewing the tubes, the use of bias bars available at most fabric and quilt stores. Bias bars are available in plastic and metal (your choice) and usually come in packets with at least three bars of different sizes ranging from 1/8” to 2” wide. For most of my projects, I favor the ¼” bar which makes a ¼” tube. The width of the bias bar you use determines the width of the tube you sew.

Metal Bias Bars

To make a bias tube, start with a square of fabric cut on the straight of the grain.


Align the 45 degree angle mark on your plastic ruler with the edge of the fabric. Use a rotary cutter to make a bias cut.



Measuring from the bias-cut edge, cut strips of fabric for use in making bias tubes. The strip width will depend on the width of the bias bar you are planning to use. Here is a helpful rule of thumb:

Strip width = (bias bar width x 2) + ½” (for seam allowances)

For example, if you are using a bias bar ¼” wide, cut 1 inch wide fabric strips.
( ¼” x 2) + ½” = 1”)

You are now ready to sew bias tubes from the fabric strips. Here are directions.

1. Fold each bias strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Press.



2. Raise your sewing machine needle to the up position. Place your bias bar in a folded, pressed fabric strip. Place the bar and strip under the presser foot aligning the fold with the outer edge of the foot. Adjust the needle position to the right of left as necessary to encase the bias bar snuggly. Once the needle position is set remove the bias bar. If you start sewing before the bias bar is removed from the folded fabric you risk breaking your needle.

(If your sewing machine does not have the feature of a movable needle position you can move the folded strip to the right or left of the presser-foot edge until the needle encases the bias bar snugly. Remove the bias bar. As you sew, try to keep the same distance from the fold to the edge of the presser foot.)

3. Sew the length of the folded strip keeping the fold aligned with the presser-foot edge. The use of lightweight thread will reduce seam bulk.



4. Re-insert the bias bar into the sewn tube. Trim the raw edges as close to the stitching as possible (1/8” or less).



5. Twist the seam to the middle of the bias bar. With the bar in the tube, press the seam allowance flat against the tube. Both metal and plastic bias bars can be safely pressed though the metal bars do get hot. Be careful.

6. Remove the bias bar and press the tube again, once with the seam side up, once with the seam side down.

When you are ready to appliqué a bias tube to your quilt top you have several options for hiding the two raw ends of the tubes. You can simply turn under a tube ends and stitch them in place. Or you can hide the end under another appliqué element such as a flower petal. Sometimes ends can be sewn into seams.

If you use bias tubes in innovative ways in your quilting, please leave a comment. I would like to hear from you. If you have photos of your work using bias tubes, leave the link so we can all come visit!

January 19, 2010

A reader asks "When you need an extra long piece of the bias strip & you are sewing them with wrong sides together, how do you connect the pieces to get a longer piece?"

When crossovers needed to hide the introduction of  a new tube segment are far apart (as illustrated below) an extra long bias tube may be necessary in order to sew an interlacing pattern. 

Quilt diagram

This extra long bias tube is made by joining two (or more) bias strips with a seam.  This joining must be prior to pressing the strip in half lengthwise in preparation for making a bias tube. Unfortunately this seam will create bulk that will reduce the tube’s flexibility for sewing curved designs but will work for straight line sewing.  I minimize the bulk by placing the two strips at right angles with right sides together, then machine stitch a diagonal seam.  Trim the seam.

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.



The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

How To Make Bias Tubes For Quilt Top Appliqué by Donna Hussain

Donna Hussain's Sewing Circle: Exploring the Art Quilt

Art Quilt Workbook: Exercises & Techniques to Ignite Your Creativity

Jane Davila & Elin Waterston

This past fall a group of my quilter friends met to form a new sewing circle to focus on the creation of art quilts using chapters in Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterson for reference and inspiration. While the women at the meeting were accomplished quilters, most were traditional quilters with little experience making art quilts. Everyone wanted to learn basic design skills used by artists who focus on quilting as their medium of expression. And all wanted to experiment with composition and the addition of different types of materials to our quilts. A group of art quilt novices, we thought, would provide support and encouragement as we challenged our creativity and learned new quilting techniques.

After much discussion at our organizational meeting we agreed on the following:

• We would study a chapter of Art Quilt Workbook each month, and each make a small quilt (9 x 12 inches) using techniques described in the chapter. (The small art quilts below are the results of my exercises.)
  

Symmetrical Balance (attempted)

• At meetings we would discuss the chapter and display the small quilts we had designed and sewn. We would also watch the video that accompanies the text, do exercises at the ends of the chapters, and invite members to do technique demonstrations at our meetings. We hoped that each member of the group would complete eight to ten small quilts by the time we reached the last chapter of the text.

Depth

• The circle would be open to everyone, quilters and non-quilters, quilt guild members and non-members. Should the membership grow, we planned to form additional circles with the same agenda, giving members the freedom to choose which group they wanted to attend.

• We agreed that individual quilters would choose a theme and/or color scheme to give unity to their series of 9 x 12 inch art quilts. I chose India as my theme because I have many appropriate fabrics in my stash.

Found Objects (Indian coin, mirrors, tikka)

Here is a report of our progress after four chapters, four meetings.

We have two groups with a stable core membership in addition to others who join us on occasion. Many of the women have difficulty meeting the target of one small quilt a month; many have their own interpretation of the 9 x 12 inch size restriction. Some members are free spirits whose quilts evolve and stray from their original intent. When completed their quilts have no reference at all to the assigned book chapter. My quilts start with a brainstorm. Later, after my quilts are completed I try to find a chapter in the book to fit. But all of us are having fun exchanging ideas, learning new skills, admiring each other's work, sharing snacks, and making new friends.

Isn’t that what quilting is all about?

Fabric Collage

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.

The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.
.

Donna Hussain's Sewing Circle: Exploring the Art Quilt

Teaching Quilting in India by Donna Hussain

Main building, Nasr School
Hyderabad, India

A few years ago I received an invitation to teach quilting at Nasr School in Hyderabad, India. The invitation came from my husband’s cousin, Begum Anees Khan, the school founder. Starting with a small nursery school in the 1960's Anees slowly added students, extended the curriculum, built classrooms, and acquired property to expand the school. Today Nasr School enrolls over three thousand students from preschool through high school on five Hyderabad campuses.

Classroom building, Nasr School

Students on the way to school.
Hyderabad, India

Although I have taught quilting here in the States, I questioned my ability to teach abroad. Would familiar quilting supplies be available in India? What level of quilting should I teach? How long would I need to stay abroad to make my teaching worthwhile? Anees was at a loss for answers to such questions since she had no quilting experience herself. “Just come,” she wrote. “Once you are here we can figure out how to proceed.”

Despite my misgivings, the challenge of teaching in India was too enticing to resist. In early January 2006 my husband and I flew to Hyderabad for a seven week stay. We became part of Anees’ family living in her home on school grounds. I taught hour and a half sessions of beginning quilting twice a week to a class of 12-14 year old girls. I also taught quilting to two groups of women, mostly teachers, two afternoons a week. I had a busy social schedule as well: formal house calls to all of my husband’s relatives, dinner parties, weddings, and other family celebrations.

Morning assembly at Nasr School

Primary school students

High school girls, Nasr School

Classroom at Nasr School

Twenty-seven girls signed up for my quilting class. The sewing classroom was large, but sparsely furnished. There was a small teacher’s desk, eight “new” treadle sewing machines for my quilting classes, and benches for the students. I asked for the addition of six large tables, bulletin boards, and irons and ironing boards, a request immediately granted because of my relationship with Anees.

Quilting classroom

Students at work

Unfortunately, the “new” treadle sewing machines were a disaster, at least in my classes. Most of the girls needed instruction in their use and time to practice on the machines. Since the treadles were easily jammed with thread and inoperable most of the time, I taught them how to piece and quilt by hand.

Cranky treadle machines

I brought plastic rulers, cutting mats and rotary cutters to India in my luggage. Before my departure from home I debated whether to do so. It seemed reasonable to teach students the easiest, most accurate ways of measuring and cutting fabric. But would it be wise to teach the use of tools unavailable in the Indian market? Hyderabad is a city of seven million so I thought quilting tools might be for sale in the city if I could only find the right shop. A relative spent hours and hours driving me around the city to look for the tools with no success. Fortunately, most of the girls in my class said that they had relatives living the Middle East, England, and United States who could send them quilting supplies on request. I donated the tools I brought from home to the school on my departure.

In driving around the city I also looked for cotton or wool batting like we have in the States. None was found. However, I did find a thick polyester batting that might be used if split. In one small shop I met a quiltmaker who was doing hand quilting for a client using layers of thin rubber sheeting as batting. I used flannel for batting in the small quilts I made while in Hyderabad.

In winter months Hyderabadis like to sleep under soft full-cloth bed quilts that are filled with cotton held in place by rows of large hand-sewn stitches. The cotton is so light and fluffy that workers in shops where the cotton is sold wear masks to protect their windpipes and lungs from fuzz in the air. When dirty from use, the quilts are taken apart, the used cotton fill is discarded, and the fabric sandwich is washed. The fabric is then refilled with cotton at a shop.

Shop for cotton fill used in bed quilts.
Hyderabad, India

Once classes started, I taught the girls to measure and cut fabric, and how to sew together quilt blocks. We focused on four- and nine-patch blocks and those that included half-square triangles. The girls then practiced how to assemble a variety of quilt blocks using paper and fabric cutouts. It was my expectation that they would then choose a pattern and start making a small patchwork quilt top in class using fabric brought from home. To my disappointment few girls actually started a quilt project. Instead of learning the final steps in quiltmaking by doing, the girls watched me demonstrate how to add borders, batting, and binding, and hand-quilt with a hoop.

Members of my adult quilting class.
Hyderabad, India

My classes for adult women were much more successful. All of the women had sewing experience, and all wanted to learn as much as possible about quiltmaking before my return. While some of them wanted to make quilts for their families, most were teachers who carefully took notes in class hoping to pass on knowledge of quiltmaking to students of their own. The women didn’t want a slow-paced class that allowed time for practicing new techniques in the classroom. They preferred that I spend all of the class time introducing new material. At the next class they would bring me samples they had sewn at home to show me that they had mastered the skills that I had demonstrated in class.

My husband and I enjoyed our stay in India. On my return, however, I keep reviewing my experiences including all of the teaching mistakes I had made. I could have done better. Last Fall my spirits were bolstered by an e-mail Anees sent to me with pictures attached showing girls in Nasr School uniforms sewing patchwork blocks onto school tote bags. None were my former students…my girls must be nearing high school graduation by now. However, Nasr School’s sewing teacher was in my adult class.

Girls sewing patchwork
Hyderabad, India

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.

The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

Teaching Quilting in India by Donna Hussain