Tag: Teri Lucas

Way back, a whole

stack it up 2seven weeks ago I participated in Cheryl Sleboda’s Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop. Rearranging, tidying up and making the space much easier to function in the room.
One of the goals was to give myself access to the window. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that I’m short, and therefore have a limited reach. When the weather is lovely having the window open while I’m stitching. Having the option of the a/c is such a good thing. The problem was one of the tables was right in front of the window, and while in the process one of the Singer’s ended up in front of the window. Not quite the intention but clearly needed to think this through a bit more.
Problem solved it moved to another location allowing me to move the radio, and a table lamp to the top of the closed sewing machine.
My cutting table is now to my right, which somehow gives me great pleasure. Once I have other things in situ there will be pictures. Right now it’s in a bleeping, unsightly mess that is still giving me oggida.
Books, paper (class handouts etc), and a few other things are going to my office, two floors down. It’s a bit of a pain as I work however the end result will be good. I’m going to take a very hard look at what I have in a couple of places to keep or let go. Thankfully I have a couple of guilds to share fabric, patterns, and other stuff with.
Watch Instagram to see the quilt I’m working on today, a digital print from Hoffman by Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero. This is so dang pretty.

Happy Quilting,

Teri

did ya ever?

img_20161119_111224Have a night where you didn’t sleep so well for no particular reason? It’s happened on more than one occasion, being a woman nearing a certain age I’m sure this will again. This usually happens when there is something to do the next day, like get up early and be coherent. Wild and crazy dreams woke me up every two hours. Sheesh!

That was bad enough. I checked into facebook where I saw a picture of an alligator nose coming up through a toilet bowl. Not a big deal, but in my sleep deprived mind memories flooded my brain of the trailer in which we resided in North Las Vegas and someone sharing stories of scorpions being found in toilets. I was five when this happened. Five. I still remember this and shudder with fear of going to the potty without some adult making sure everything was okay.

And it doesn’t help that as I write little flashes of memory of some neighborhood teenager telling me about seeing Jaws at the movies. Okay that’s fine. The vivid imagination leading to nightmares and falling out of bed didn’t help.

What has all of this to do with quilting? Well, the trip into the City was to meet up with a friend and get a sneak peek of a quilt shop that will open. At some point there will be a facebook live, but today wasn’t the day. Spending time with my friend was important. Then I met Cathy at Sarabeths! I had pineapple and mango waffle. Oh how decadent! I’ll go back there for breakfast again.

20170614_131401The 1000 Postcards for Peace facebook page is live. Please feel free to join us. Debby shares the thought behind the project here.  And the Facebook Live vid we did. It’s a beautiful story, and a good way of adding something beautiful into the world. Will this solve the problems? No. But it is healing for the maker. It is a moment of creativity, and prayer. As quilters we know how much quilting can heal wounded hearts, warm people, offer comfort. And so we stitch on.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

 

it all started when

it all started when

20170614_190345 (1)my sweetie put the a/c in the window this morning. The last few days the desire to quilt several things has been held at bay while waiting for the a/c or the temperatures to cool down. Both happened today offering the opportunity to stitch. First up I made a postcard for the 1000 Postcards for Peace, which will be mailed tomorrow. The day was kind of icky news wise and had something of a big letdown so making the postcard was just perfect. I’m heading into the City to meet up with some friends and thought “hey, I’ll make one of them a little quilt!” Well, I didn’t quite finish but it’s giving me lots of ideas.

I chose a bit of gray Cherrywood as the front and back of the quilt; one layer of silk, and one layer of wool batting. This piece will be about 8” square, so no basting.

The quilting started with the pentagon in the center, just started stitching that to see what would happen when…per usual playing with thread was top priority. And then I have this thing for tiny stitching, though you may know that by now.

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Tiny bubbles are always a good choice in a quilt, after finding the right spot, and choosing the appropriate Tiara Silk (Superior). Wouldn’t you know it little bit of thought and watching the thread and getting the red where I wanted it was possible.

In the bobbin I have Kimono Silk from another quilt. Using the finer thread in the bobbin makes dense stitching possible.

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Opening the thread drawer I saw the Quilters Silk a 16/3 ply, grabbed the size 100 stop stitch needle because it’s thick stuff. This thread made an appearance on Shine Your Light. As this thread is very present it’s great for outlining, and allows from background stitching.

The fun part of stitching this, was hitting that creative quilting zone.

Remember I mentioned that my sweetie put the a/c in? Well, that sent the sewing room into a bit more of a tizz than necessary. Oh heck I need to tidy up again. Part of it is premarket prep when I tried making that skirt that turned out not to work so well and working on the Cherrywood Challenge, and working on a quilt for Pinwheels.  So Friday will be a bit of a tidy up before stitching.

All that’s left is binding, probably facing, and figuring out what to do with it.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

Oh! Join the fun on Lucy’s Nickles, we’re starting our next quilt very soon.

Instagram: @terilucas
Twitter: @terificreations
Facebook: @terilucasquilts

 

Arsenic & Old Lace, Chocolate cake and a long arm

Arsenic & Old Lace, Chocolate cake and a long arm

 

Debby Brown has a Handi Quilter Avante in her studio, and on occasion when needed she lets me use it to baste my larger quilts. Yesterday I basted two quilts Arsenic & Old Lace pieced by Keith Dommer and Supernova in Chartreuse designed by none other than Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero. A&O L has lived in my studio for a while as life has happened. As I basted yesterday thoughts of quilting came to mind – which is such a good thing oh the thinks you think when you think quilting. Keith uses elements including hexagons, circles, and old linen, well leaving me with great blank space to work in. When he sent the quilt I looked up the color of arsenic gray, yellow, and black all come up and then there are shades of blue and acid green leaving me a lot of room for interpretation here.

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Now when I get to Supernova I don’t have a particular plan in mind however as I write decision made, whew. I need more fabric. She says, shocking no one reading this missive.

Kindness and gratitude matter. Both are a balm to wounded souls. They are a cup of cold water to someone who is in need of refreshment. A cup of coffee with and a good chat with good friend. Lemonade on a hot summer day. These things are all refreshing.

Sometimes we have challenges in life, challenges in our communities. Friends have troubles. Things are going all icky in the greater world and the events trigger awful memories. Things at work go all haywire in so many ways and we need a word of encouragement and support.  We might see all this happening and want to do something about it. We may not be able to fix it, but we can be there through our words.

While I was at Debby’s we had a facebook live with Joliene Williams. Joliene supplied me with Girl Scout Cookies. First I’ve had in a looooooooooooooong time.

Debby Brown and I are starting a project called 1000 postcards for peace.

In the next week or so I’m starting a facebook page that will be a place to offer ideas, share experiences and support those in our life who might need a little support or a little something because we can. I’ll post again here once the page is up, and directions are available.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

And then she said

lily-pond-nybgThe first Lucy’s Nickles Quilting Group is coming to a close. I have one more motif for this particular quilt. The quilters who have participated have done a great job and have been game. We’re going to start the next quilt fairly soon. I know what we’re going to work on. Feel free to join us in the group: Lucy’s Nickles.

By the time you read this I’ll be chatting with a friend who has a retreat center about the logistics and possibilities. You might remember from I’ve gone and done it now that I’ve added a retreat to the possibility of available classes. The thought of working with a small group of people, for an extended period of time is really appealing. My own personal memories of retreats with a great retreat director flood my mind and heart with the good personal work we did. Quilting is much the same way, good personal work of the mind and heart. And Veronica if you’re reading this we still have work to do.

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We all have that one friend. You know the one who knows what’s inside your head even if you have the Big Idea and the words are all wibbledy wobbledy. She puts them in the right order. Well, now I won’t exactly tell you what she said as that doesn’t matter so much as what it allowed me to finish something. I’m being vague. The cool part is that I’m excited that I finished this project in short order.

There was something about Quilt Market that seemed to renew and refresh. I suspect there is more there. The cool thing about this project is that if I get it great! I’m thrilled. If not I’m happy because I put it out there in an unexpected way, with unexpected timing.

This is the life.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

This might be fun!

IMG_20170529_144837_780A few weeks ago I offered to make a quilt for Maria from Pinwheels, you see she has some new Oakshott cottons of the striped variety. Before I get there Pinwheels is now open in Hurleyville, NY. Check out this facebook video. Congratulations Maria I will get there soon and oh I have an idea!

The stripe makes me quite giddy. The tone-on-tone stripes and the texture of the Oakshott have the potential for adding so much to a quilt top, and in a way that will prove so much fun.

20170529_160044-1I started stitching Monday afternoon using a layering and free-form cutting technique that I used to make the quilt for the Cherrywood Challenge. Cutting, stitching, layering, cutting, stitching, rinse repeat. Just the beginning stitching is producing some lovely results. Layering the fabrics and cutting the curve to produce this drunkards path block…not bad at’all.
I’m using Superior’s MicroQuilter for the piecing of this project and am rather chuffed with the results. But wait! There’s more. I currently have 7 other blocks stitched together, and a few more pieces of the stripe, there will be more cutting, stitching in a curvilinear kind of way.  I can hardly wait to see how this works. It’s so lovely finding joy in quilting once again, enjoying the boundless opportunities to explore piecing, shape, and adding quilting later.

When I started writing this post, the idea for the quilt came into full-view, getting me all giddy and excited. A smile on my face, hands going a mile a minute, bringing the quilt into focus. This is the stuff of the quilting world that I love.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

Quilterly Writers Block

Quilterly Writers Block

I’m a quilter. And by that I love to free motion machine quilt. On and off I’ve had to work through the equivalent of writers block. I just. couldn’t. quilt. Those moments were tough but often led to something that would pleasantly surprise me. Whew.
Would it surprise you that, while I’ve been quilting on and off over the last few years,  I haven’t really done anything original, inspired, intentional for a long time. I’ve dabbled. Made a few small pieces. I’ve looked wistfully at the pile of quilts in need of time, attention, and breath.

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Cherrywood van Gogh Challenge

he last few years the need-to-dos have taken, necessary, priority over the gee-I-get-to-dos producing a level of fatigue not previously experienced.

I can assure you this has not been the most pleasant experience. Quilting is something akin to breathing. An exchange of oxygen, and carbon dioxide that gives life, helps clear the thoughts, work out whatever is going on in daily life. The need to do list has not changed, however the stress that built up from the need-to-do’s, has started to recede. I’m beginning to breathe deeply.

Overall quilt market was good, there’s still follow up to do. There were a few very difficult moments. Long about late Wednesday afternoon I stopped what I was doing, headed up to the sewing room and started the Cherrywood challenge. Cut, stitch. Cut, stitch. Cut, stitch. Rinse, repeat until this piece said, “I’m complete.” I’ve added a border bigger than currently needed because I have a habit of quilting densely and shrinking a quilt.2017-05-28 12.42.34

Well then this happened. A while back I had a give away on a post offering to quilt a small piece for one of the folks who commented. I knew it would take a little while and let the winner know that as finishing a quilt or two and getting ready for Market were the higher priorities. The winner said she likes red, so red Oakshott it is. Teeny tiny stitching makes me happy, so teeny tiny stitching all over this eight inch square quilt that needs trimming, facing, signing and sending.

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The back is as pretty as the front. This is making me think that trimming it up, and running a tight satin stitch along the edge might be a better plan.

As I’ve quilting a friend has repeatedly said, “the dam is broken!”, creativity has free reign. And these two pieces are evidence that the water is flowing, I’m breathing the air. My heart is full, and there are plans afoot for a couple of other projects.

I love quilting.

Teri