Wednesday, December 21, 2011

My Quip – What to Expect From Quilts SB in the Short

Good Day,

And I can guarantee that the majority of our readers are busy trimming, wrapping, cooking, baking, and washing, and cleaning up for the upcoming Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa Celebrations. Many more than likely, you do not have time, because of being “extremely” busy, to breathe, and to read our Blog. Wrong.

It appears that of late there has been more and more readers and visits to Quilts SB… and we thank you very much. Last night Quilts SB received 3 ½ Stars at Top Listed.net and was ranked the highest ever at Rank 8 of the top 50 Quilting Sites. This morning, we received 2 Stars and a Ranking of 23. (It is almost like monitoring the Dow Jones number.)

I thought I would bring you up-to-date at what Andy and I are working on at Quilts SB and what Essbee projects are in the line.

1. The backing has been completed for Dogwood Steps. This California King-sized quilt has been now loaded to the Longarm and we are tackling the quilting. The next steps are the binding and the label. We are very, very pleased at what we are seeing.

2. As mentioned in my last Posting, Q93, Dino in the Window has made it to its new home in South Carolina. We’re waiting for the “Show and Tell” pictures.

3. All 63 blocks for Blue Diamonds, our original design inspired from a Paul Klee painting, have been completed. Now starts the placement phase of the individual and unique blocks. All I will tell you now is that the matrix will be a construction of 7 blocks wide and 9 blocks in length. This one we’re keeping a real mystery.

4. The top for our Civil War Reenactment 1 Quilt is completed. It is next in line to be quilted and in keeping with the tenure of the Civil War era we will be quilting the complete quilt with the Baptist Fan pattern. Next, and waiting to be quilted is Mondrian I. Our idea is to create a possible beveled glass effect in the quilting pattern. All-things-being-equal it should work.

5. And then there is Tampa Lightning. It, too, is waiting in line to be quilted. We are going to try something new with a horizontal quilting line pattern that should give credence to the Lightning effect.

6. Approvals have been received from Richard Tsosie - Silversmith, Goldsmith, and Lapidary Artist, to use one of his creations as the inspiration for our new quilt, The Amulet. The fabrics are spread on the table. Next starts the fabric scanning process and arranging to create our inspired original design.

7. I am now working on a new design based on the work of textile artist Gunta Stöltz. This one will be a trip, especially if I can sit still long enough to develop the parts of the construction and design.

8. A key task is the prep work that will be necessary to prepare our portfolio of Evolution for MQX 2012. Obviously there are critical deadlines to get Evolution ready for its journey to Providence, RI in April and Portland, OR in October.

9. We are also looking at deadlines for three competitions for the first half of 2012: MQX East, Providence – February; Under the Sea, IMQA, Kansas – March; and Star Spangled 2012, HMQS – April.

10. All thought and work has been completed for the announcement in the upcoming new publication of The Local Dirt. All-things-being-equal printed copies of The Local Dirt are targeted to be available December 29.

Our work is cut out for us, but we are enjoying it… And there is fabric in every nook and cranny of this house.

Also check out my new experimental format of my Blog, Quilts SB Test. Certainly would appreciate your feedback.

To see previously posted quilts, there is a visual Grid presentation at the bottom of the Quilts SB page. Move your cursor over any mini-picture found there and click to see an enlargement. Move your cursor to the "Q#" link to see the quilt's details. If the quilt’s title is highlighted in yellow or in red, it has found a home in a collection and is no longer available.

If you are interested, and would like some more information of available quilts, regarding costs, shipping, and insurance, please check our Quilts SB Etsy shop.

If you have any questions and/or comments please feel free to get in touch with me via email.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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