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I had a fabulous time with family last weekend and managed to get a bit of my Christmas shopping done as well. It was very cold (i.e. sub-zero) during much of my stay in Bismarck. However we still managed an outing to the newly renovated Heritage Center. If you ever make it to Bismarck, it is definitely worth a visit. There were a couple of quilt related items I thought I would share. 
This sewing machine was date 1870-1879. It was given to Ingebjurg Arnason shortly after she immigrated from Iceland in 1878. She used this machine to do the family sewing for her two sons and 11 daughters in Pembina Co. We definitely have it much easier today.
The following photos were from an interactive display on designing your own quilt block or your own bagpipe.
Back to our 2+6 Baby Quilt Along
Here is one of my finished rows from last weeks clue: 
My fried Sherry posted her pinwheel rows on Facebook. She is using kitty fabric from her stash.
Sherry P. Pinwheel Rows
Instructions for the 6+2 Baby Quilt have been deleted.
Happy Quilting. Kari
Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
Art and Stitch Certified Instructor Achievement
Before we get started with the quilt along, I have a quick announcement. I was notified this week that I am now a certified instructor for Art and Stitch. It has been a fabulous experience going through the certification process and I've learned a lot working with Loes and Theo.
Part of the process included writing an addendum for the software. My addendum is entitled "How Do I Quilt This?" If you are interested in reading this, it is on the Art and Stitch website under the Certified Instructors. 
Cover Page of Addendum for Art and Stitch. Click on photo for direct link to document.
Happy Quilting Kari
Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
Elections are next week. True confessions -- this time of the year I completely turn off the TV (or focus solely on HGTV and the Hallmark channels) to avoid all the political ads. This makes me much happier. My political promise to you is that views in this post are solely about quilting. Did you know that quilter's expressed their political viewpoints through their quilts? I thought I would share with you the story behind two political quilt blocks. In 1931, Evalineline Foland designed this elephant quilt block, named for an elephant in the Swope Park zoo in Kansas City. About a week after the pattern was published by the Kansas City Star, the ladies of the Congregational Church made a GOP elephant out of him.  Many of the Stars readers demanded equal representation. The Star responded with Giddap, a Very Democratic Donkey a pattern that remained very popular throughout the Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt years.  I decided to make my own "political quilt" using both the elephant and the donkey. I redrafted the blocks in EQ (cutting down the number of pieces along with the size of the blocks). Here are my redrafted blocks. Here is my finished quilt.  Political Debate by Kari Schell (2010) Anybody want to guess at the names of the other block's in this quilt. HINT: They can also be considered political blocks. Feel free to post your thoughts. Happy quilting. Kari Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
I am back!!!! Who would have thought that vestibular nueritis could take so long to heal. I particularly appreciated my physical therapists that specialize in balance/dizzyness issues. They not only had me working on basic balance and visual exercises, but gave me a number of items to work on to simulate some of my skating and ice dancing moves. Although I am not yet at 100%, I am functioning and am very thankful for that. Back to quilting. Fall is in the air and I am excited to promote my pattern "Come Said the Wind". The pattern is centered around a poem/old children's song. There are two sizes (both wall hangings). The smallest could also be used as a placemat. 
Come Said the Wind 33 x 33
Come Said the Wind 15 x 12
Do you prefer batiks or civil war for fall quilts? I couldn't decide so I needed to do one of each. The blocks in the quilt are "small" --- but really cute. The maple leaf finishes to 3 inch and the Sycamore leaf to 4-1/4 inch. However, don't be intimidated by the size. There are lots of tips to ensure successful piecing of the project. I provide instructions for using a number of specialty rulers/tools. These tools are optional. Instructions are also included for the traditional rulers. Optional Specialty Rulers: A number of people asked me how I created the center panel (with the poem). Instructions are in the pattern -- but I also wanted to provide a video. I also have a free handout explaining the technique. These free pdf files of the verse are also available for Come Said the Wind pattern.
Happy quilting. Kari Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
Are you working on a Sun Rays Quilt? This one took me a bit of time to decide what to do for quilting it. For the cover photo on the pattern, I wanted to design some unique elements to fill the background space. All the quilting was designed and digitized with Art and Stitch software -- although the designs could also be executed with both domestic machines and hand-guided longarm set-ups. Let's start with how I analyzed the quilt top. I will use my EQ drawing as it is a little easier to draw out my designs on it.
I came up with two primary elements to feature in my quilting.
The next step was to add the tan stars design. I used a small tear drop to connect all the elements together. For the partial sashing I did a variation on this same theme.
I then copied the leaf and mirror imaged it. I then connected to the sections. I liked this design as it allowed for some stretching/shrinking to ensure the design fit into my final borders.  Here are a few close-ups of the finished quilt.  Close-up of Block, Sashing and Pieced Border Quilting  Close-up of Border Quilting. In my video last week, I mentioned I was working on a wall hanging sized quilt. Let me share the finished quilt.  Sun Rays Quilt using Softly Spoken fabric from Marcus Brothers This quilt was pieced using the Softly Spoken collection by Marcus Brothers. For quilting the wall hanging I decided to use a pantograph by Jessica Schick from Digitech. I thought it added some nice curves to the geometric piecing. 
Happy quilting. Kari Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
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