I WON A RAFFLE QUILT!!!

Last Sunday I was on my way to a Christmas Party when I found out that I had won the raffle quilt made by the Buda Bee for the benefit of the Onion Creek Senior Center in Buda, Tx. I was so excited I couldn't stop smiling every time I thought about it. I called Monday morning to claim my prize and the ladies that pieced this beautiful quilt invited me to their Christmas potluck today in Buda. The quilt was quilted by Carolyn Hessy and she did a beautiful job quilting it!! I purchased the lucky ticket at the Chisholm Trail Quilt Guild from when the quilt was making the rounds visiting guilds. I can't wait to hang it in my home on the wall over the fireplace.

Thank you Linda Stavlo and the rest of the Bee for such a beautiful quilt and a great luncheon. I will take care of your creation!!   Love it, love it, love it! 

CELESTIAL MORNING-  The quilt won a 2nd. Place ribbon in the group category  at the San Antonio Quilt Show "A Rainbow of Quilts" 2013
Pattern, Cascade by Stitchin' Post.

TEXAS sampler

It has been a crazy couple of months, busy with family, quilts, short trips and just life in general. For the last few weeks I have been quilting this beautiful Texas sampler. It is perfectly pieced and the embroidered elements are exquisite!
The quilting is going slower than I thought but it is one of those quilts that can't be rushed. I will post more photos once it is quilted.

Thanks for visiting!

Capital of Texas QuiltFest 2012

Happening this weekend is the AAQG Capital of Texas QuiltFest 2012, Please click on the link for information about the show.
Although I didn't enter any quilts this year, I have to say that I'm well represented because I quilted
the beautiful raffle quilts made by members of the guild. This quilt is a treasure, all hand appliqued and made with batik fabrics. It took me many, many hours to quilt it and I was very happy with the results.
For more about the quilt click on this link.

So head on to the quilt show and please  buy many raffle tickets. The proceeds help the organization fund their programs for the upcoming year.
The show takes place at the Palmer Center, this is the second year at this venue and it is a beautiful space to showcase incredible quilts, and parking is next door.
Have fun!


1st Place - Open Division Group Quilt Category - 2012 Dallas Quilt Celebration!





  

Quilted Bird and Teaching in Mexico

I knew I had been away from blogging too long when I had to look for the password to access my account! I just couldn't remember it! Needless to say it has been one crazy summer, and that is without even leaving home because except for a quick trip to Galveston, TX in late May I didn't go anywhere this summer.
 I have been busy quilting other people's quilts, going to pool parties and entertaining friends! Lots of visitors this summer, one of the perks of being so close to Mexico!

 But life is about to get serious now that child has gone back to university and I'm wrapping up quilting jobs before my trip. I have a few weeks left before I leave for my teaching and judging engagement in Puebla, Mexico.
Mexico is having its Cuarta (IV) Expo de Quilt and Patchwork and I'm honored to be the guest teacher as well as judging the quilt exhibit. I will be spending a few days surrounded by Mexican quilters and eating delicious food and visiting a city I have never been to. So I have reasons for being EXCITED!
But, I still have a million things to do before heading south of the border. I'm trying to keep to the schedule and not to procrastinate as I usually do.

Since by now you are probably yawning, I'm posting a few pictures of the last quilt I quilted. I hope Lori doesn't mind me posting the quilt but I would like to show you the process I used to quilt this beautiful quilt made with Japanese designed fabrics. Originally, it was going to be entered in the Austin Area Quilt Guild Quilt Fest but its owner changed her mind. It will be entered in other shows though.


This is the image that Lori's daughter selected to be quilted on the quilt (8"  x 11" approx)

  



I traced the bird onto matte acetate using a .01 Micron Pigma pen, once done I  took it to a copy center to be enlarged.

  


The copy center made to copies of about  4 ft x 4 ft each to be able to fit the bird in and reduce the cost. I taped the 2 sheets of paper before cutting the bird.  I outlined  the bird's body, legs,  feathers and small details onto the quilt to get it ready  to quilt.  

 


This is the quilted bird. On each square adjacent to the bird, I quilted Japanese crests and, on the green borders, I quilted free motion designs

  

Finished quilt!



Happy Leap Year and Janis quilt!!

Here I'm, still living in this planet, quilting beautiful quilts for other people and at the same time getting things together to remodel my kitchen. I didn't realize that the kitchen thing was going to absorb so much time and energy. I do realize that I have been enjoying the process!
On the subject of quilting, below is the last quilt I quilted, as you can see a beautiful piece of art. This quilt belongs to Janis Keane, a member of my quilting guild. She will show this quilt in several quilt shows. Truly a show stopper. Good luck Janis!!

UPDATE: Janis quilt won 1st. place in the small quilt (didn't feel small when I was quilting it) category at the Crossroads to Texas Quilt Guild show in Killeen, Tx. March 30, 2012
She also received a 3rd. place at the Georgetown Quilt and Stitchery Show, March 23, 2012.
Well done Janis!!

(Click on the image to enlarge)

A Stitch in Time: Texas Monthly

"Karey Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes have finally completed their life’s work, a massive three-volume history of the quilts of Texas, from 1836 to the present. Here are ten that tell the story of quilting—and our state" By Katharyne Rodemann

I'm very honored that my 2 quilts are part of the slide presentation. One is
"Big on Texas" and the other one is "Texas DNA". They are also included in the book.
Please click on the link to view the short slide presentation.

A Stitch in Time: Texas Monthly

LONE STAR Raffle Quilt - CTQG Quilt Show 2011

  
Latest News: The Lone Star Quilt received a 2nd. place award in the Open Division  at the "Dallas Quilt Celebration"  show in Dallas, Texas on March 18, 2011

                                  


Lone Star Fiesta (c. 2010)

 


Close up of Lone Star Fiesta (c.2010)

 
I'm so happy that I'm finally able to post photos of the raffle quilt I quilted for the Chisholm Trail Quilting Guild, Georgetown, Texas.

The quilt, named Lone Star Fiesta, was designed by  Maureen Scheevel, Lori Wolter, Rhonda Darholt,
Deana Everett Tollerton, and Ramona Griffin.
Pieced by: Maureen, Rhonda, Lori, Ramona, Judy De Los Santos and Missy Shelton.

The above team spent many hours designing and piecing this beautiful quilt. When they were done, it
was handed to me for the quilting part.
I started by making a sketch of the quilt to help me with the quilting idea. I then proceeded to draw the design on the quilt while it was hanging on the design wall. I did  the drawing of the flowers and vines and I mounted the quilt on the longarm machine. Ready to quilt.....
I first quilted the borders  using a straight ruler for stitch in the ditch. Quilting on an angle was a little bit of a challenge, sometimes the machine had a mind of its own. The next step was to quilt the flowers and leaves and then stitch in the ditch the star.  After doing all of that I continued to free motion quilt the background. I used So Fine and Highlights threads from Superior Threads.
People have told me that the background looks like tooled leather.

The quilt was presented to the CTQG members on February 1st. It will be at the Dallas Quilt Show on March 11 through the 13 and to different guilds and quilt stores in Texas up until the CTQG quilt show on Sept. 30th.
For more information on the Quilt Show for CTQG please go to Chisholm Trail Quilt Guild.
Raffle tickes for this quilt are available. $1.00 per ticket or 6 for $5.00. E-mail: martha@delsolquilts.com
I can only accept checks and money orders. Thanks!!

Fiber Arts and Quilt Scene

Since this blog belongs to a quilter/fiber artist it is just natural that I blog about fiber related items. The last couple of weeks have been filled with exhibits and trips to different cities in Texas. It all started with the exhibit at the Gallery Nord in San Antonio. A great exhibit that closed yesterday. The next weekend I spent 2 days in Dallas and the Fort Worth area visiting museums,  then  home to work on a couple of deadlines. On Wed I went to the opening of the Woven Wonders exhibit here in Austin at the Jewish Community Center. The exhibit runs until December 14. Works of several Texas fiber artists are on display.
I spent a day at home finishing some art quilts and the next day I headed to Houston to see the International Quilt Festival. My  friend Carol, my sister and I drove there early in the morning. After a 3 hour drive we arrived in Houston and went straight to the George Brown convention center to see the quilts. After a few hours we took a break for lunch, and then I headed for the exhibitors booths and did a little shopping then back to see the quilts  until I couldn't do it any more. Talk about sensory overload! I met  Carol and my sister at the Hilton Starbucks to have a grande americano before heading back home. It kept me awake on the drive back from Houston. I don't recommend going to the festival and spending just one day there but if time is of essence it is the only way. It had been  a 13 hour day by the time I got home. I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
This morning I wanted to sleep in but I had to go to San Antonio to pick up one of my art quilts from the Gallery Nord, so on the road again for a few hours. On the way back from San Antonio my sister and I stopped at the  Wesley Gallery, they were having their annual Fall fair and we visited with some people from AFA.

Needless to say I'm really looking forward to tomorrow Sunday.

A few photos from the exhibit at the JCC.

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James Edward Talbot

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New Beginning by Martha Tsihlas

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Laura Beehler

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Susie Monday



"Texas DNA"

In a previous post I had just given you a sneak peak of my entry "Texas DNA" made for the exhibit "Blending of Cultures" The exhibit opened up last night so I'm now posting a picture of the whole quilt.
I also want to share that "Texas DNA" won the themed prize.  I'm so thrilled!!
During the awards ceremony, the juror for this event, Liz Good, senior editor of Fiber Arts Magazine, started calling the winners and when she called my name it didn't register, my husband was standing next to me and
he had to nudge me and said something like: that is your name...then I started walking towards the podium to receive the prize. It was definitely a surreal experience...anyways...I'm very excited  because in this kind of events you never know how things will turn out but this was definitely a great evening for me.

"Texas DNA" designed and made by Martha Tsihlas,
55"x55" c.2010

Liz Good and moi in front of "Texas DNA"

TEXTILE TWIST- Fiber Art Exhibit

If you are visiting or live in the Austin Area, the Austin Fiber Artists organization is having an exhibit called Textile Twist at the Tokyo Electron Company.
Over 30 pieces of fabulous fiber art (if I must say so myself) will be on display from February 24 to April 1st, 2010. The opening of the exhibit is on Feb 24, at 6pm. If you can't make it to the opening the exhibit can be seen from Monday to Friday, 9-5pm.
I have 2 pieces in this juried exhibit...one is called "Deconstruction I" and the other one is "New Beginnings"
For this exhibit I wanted to make something that still resembled a quilt from a distance (to honor my background as a traditional quilter) but up close you see how -deconstructed- it is.
I used the same method to create both of my pieces:
I started by making 2 quilts, quilting each one individually, and then cutting them up in random strips. I think this was the hardest part, cutting up a quilt! Imagine that! After the 2 quilts were cut up I put all the strips in the washing machine so they would unravel. After this process was done, I wove the strips to create one whole piece, or quilt per say... Then, the new piece (pinned to death to keep it together) was quilted with straight stitching, vertically and horizontally to keep the woven piece together.
I broke all the "rules" of traditional quilting, meaning that the quilting stitches are purposely uneven, the edges raw, no binding in sight and points that don't match. I had to struggle with "breaking the rules" and at the same time work in a way that the resulting piece would appeal to the viewer.
Most times I don't post before an exhibit but I will give you a sneak peak so you know what I have been talking about.

"Deconstructed I" (c.2010) 48"x70"


"New Beginning" (c.2010) 40"x 52"

Y A Y !!

It has been very hectic at my home. I have been dying to post the results from the CTQG quilt show this past weekend. If you read my previous post you know that I volunteered to make the awards for the show.
My sweet reward was to bring back home 2 of the awards. I won 1st. place in the art quilts category with the quilt "Big on Texas". This quilt is pieced, raw edge appliqued, free motion machine quilted and hand embroidered.
Please click on photos to enlarge....

"Big On Texas" (60" x 72")


Third place went to "Fauna Fantasy" in the -other techniques- category. "Fauna Fantasy" is a whole cloth quilt with thread work.
This blue quilt is very difficult to photograph. I have been told that it is due to the blue color. Anyways, I was thrilled to receive the 2 awards and also happy to know that many people liked the awards I made.

"Fauna Fantasy" (47' x 47")