Harmonic Convergence quilts: contemporary and timeless

Ricky Tims' Harmonic Convergence quilt technique has been around for a while, but the results are always so amazing that the technique seems timeless. I was browsing through my iPhoto archives and found pictures of two Harmonic Convergence quilts that my friend, Gerry, pieced and asked me to quilt for her.

Gerry has a great eye for pattern and color, and her piecing is impeccable. I think my quilting did justice to her beautiful workmanship. Take a look... and if you like these quilts, I'll be teaching this class on May 2 at Ready Set Sew in Chattanooga. Join me and I'll walk you through the creation of your own spectacular Harmonic Convergence quilt.

Harmonic Convergence, front detail.

Harmonic Convergence, back view.

Detail of appliqué.

Here is the full quilt (unbound).

Harmonic Convergence, full view.

This is the second in Gerry's Harmonic Convergence series. Like potato chips, you can't have (or make) just one.

Harmonic Convergence, detail.

This one has a unique complementary color scheme with the deep, burnt orange and a powdery light blue. I quilted a combination of circular swirls...

Harmonic Convergence, detail.

... and leaves/flames running on the diagonal. With this complementary color scheme, I changed the threads so the thread color would blend with the fabrics.

Harmonic Convergence, detail.

Isn't the border fabric spectacular? The circles are an excellent complement to the horizontal and vertical lines in the center. Here is the full view.

Harmonic Convergence, full view.

A basting party with the Churn Dashes

My students hit Week 4 of my Beginning Quilting class—basting the quilt in preparation for machine quilting. This is a fun week for me as quilt tops come together and we see final fabric choices for sashing, outside borders and backing. Here is today's Show and Tell.

Louise's Churn Dash

Don't you love the surprise on Louise's backing? She unexpectedly found a coordinating print that was part of this fabric collection.

The backing shows off the coordinating prints.

Sue made her Churn Dash a scrappy version. Last week, she auditioned the layout of the blocks and decided to put the bright yellow in the center. Your eye dances around the other blocks from color to color and value to value. Nice variety!

Sue's scrappy Churn Dash.

The background of the Churn Dash blocks is a Splash blender from Blank Quilting and the border is from the Inspiration collection.

A light backing will show off the quilting.

Sandra is making her Churn Dash for a grandson. Her choice of colors, prints and stripes gives her quilt a masculine look. The dark border will frame it beautifully.

Sandra's Churn Dash is for her grandson.

 Cheryl brought in this 9-patch on point quilt top. The color combination is striking!

Cheryl's 9-patch quilt top.

Everyone in class helps each other basting their quilt tops. With multiple pairs of hands, the basting process moves quickly. This is the best way to baste quilt tops (in my opinion)—with a bunch of quilting buddies!

Group basting is the way to go!

After a discussion about threads—fiber content, weight, color, and reflectance—we did some auditioning...

Auditioning thread color for quilting.

Which thread color do you think she went with—the peach or the mint??

Just about an inch to go...

Completed vest from my
Cool Cotton Vest workshop.

Ever wonder what stopped you from finishing a project? I don't remember what distracted me from finishing this knitted vest...

... but a lunch out with a few knitters who have been in my knitting classes (one of whom was wearing her finished vest) prompted me to revisit this project.

So, last Tuesday I pulled out the vest from its project tote bag (you can't have too many tote bags, I always say), and there was about an inch left to knit on the right front, and a 3-needle bind-off at the shoulders (the left front was finished)! This vest was knit in the round, so there are no side seams. We're talking all of 16 stitches in the row... that decreased down to 14... and then the bind off. Geesh... that was all!

A little over an hour later the vest was finished—including attaching the button, sewing the pocket linings and weaving in the ends.

The yarn we used for the vest is Cotton Supreme by Universal Yarn (so soft!) and the pattern is the Vaill Island Vest by Gwynn Erickson for Halcyon Yarn. The slip stitch garter pattern is easy and rhythmical and the vertical demarcation from the slip stitch is slimming on the body.

Vaille Island vest in Cotton Supreme.

This vest has a side vent detail. The lined pockets were a pattern modification so my students could learn another technique in the class.

Side vent of cotton vest.

Thanks to my knitting students, I have a great new knit vest, one less UFO (unfinished object), and a new empty tote bag... which is a good thing as I just returned from Stitches South.

Stitches South spotlights hand-dyed yarns

"Artful Color,  Mindful Knits" by Laura Bryant.

Stitches South 2013 was a fabulous show once again... with lots of buzz about new techniques, the latest knitwear fashions, tools, fibers, yarns and more.

I attended classes with world-renown knitting gurus Lily Chin, Anna Zilboorg and Rick Mondragon, did my due diligence at the vendor mall (sigh!), and breathed in enough inspiration to make one's head spin.

This year, I decided to attend the Pajama Party (10 pm to midnight) where knitters, crocheters (and a few spinners) came in their PJs, fuzzy bunny slippers and curlers. PJ Party-goers toted their yarny WIPs (work in progress) along with miscellaneous and sundry items for the "Let's Make a Deal" games and antics—knitter's style. It was a blast and winners won some great prizes!

A few of my knitting students and I having lunch at Stitches South.

I met up with a few of my knitting students at the expo. We took a [short] break to get a bite for lunch... then back to the vendors and the show floor...

Back at the vendor mall... XRX, the publisher of Knitter's Magazine and numerous knitting books, and the sponsor of the Stitches expos, always has a booth up front. This year, the XRX booth was spotlighting "Artful Color, Mindful Knits: The Definitive Guide to Working with Hand-dyed Yarn" by Laura Militzer Bryant.

Laura Bryant's new book, "Artful Color, Mindful Knits."

For those that may not know Laura, she is the creative master mind and founder of Prism Yarns and has been hand-dying yarn for 30+ years. A brief demo at the XRX booth on Laura's "Magic Number" concept for using hand-dyed yarns to achieve amazing (and controlled) patterns immediately sold me on the book. (You should have seen the swatches and the garments... OMGosh!) I took a class with Laura 2 years ago at Stitches South, so was familiar with her vast expertise and stunning knitwear designs using hand-dyed yarn. Her book tops this!

Poster showing one of the Artful Color garments.

I haven't digested all the info in the book, but this is a resource every knitter and crocheter should have on her/his bookshelf. It will serve you well as a reference now and for years to come.

The dash into the vendor mall preview for pre-paid attendees.

So, run! Order Artful Color, Mindful Knits: The Definitive Guide to Working with Hand-dyed Yarn for yourself now!