Episode 162: More Big Star

Welcome to this archive episode of the Off-Kilter Quilt Podcast (Where a Straight Line’s a State of Mind). My name is Frances, and I’m your hostess.

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Where I am in the quilting process … click on the pic for a better view:

bigstarquilt3

bigstarquilt4

bigstarquilt5

An interesting doctoral thesis about quilts on display, if you have a few hours (or days):

http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2468&context=etd

This week’s Save Our Stories story from the Quilt Alliance:

http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/qsos/interview.php?kid=14-31-ECB

Barbara Brackman’s Civil War Quilts site–worth it for the photographs alone:

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

Have a great week!

18 Replies to “Episode 162: More Big Star”

  1. PEPPER CORY is a blast … she use to live and teach up here in MI and is well known around these parts. She is delightful. Pepper has a class on CRAFTSY; I think I have it in my classes … I had taken classes from her along time ago when I first started to learn how to quilt….. NONNIE

  2. Barbara Brackman and Jinny Beyers used the same sources but worked independently. Brackman developed the number system much like library coding. The blocks are organized into like styles .. is stars, 4 patch, 9 patch…. etc. Drawings looked like hand drawn. Developed in 1993. Both books list all the names and publications where the blocks were first found.
    .
    Jinny Beyers block organization is based on grid system and design elements. She is known for designing her own blocks, quilts and methods. The book discusses the various sources of the blocks….ie Nancy Page newspaper and catalog offerings, Ladies Art Company, Laura Wheeler and Alice Brooks. She also include many of the blocks she designed. She has several sections of the book dedicated to explaining how to draft and design your own blocks.

    Both books are worth while but Jinny Beyers book is still in publication. Barabra Brackman book was republished a couple of years ago… Hopefully they will publish a third edition in the future.

    NONNIE

    Love your quilting…. YOU ARE WAY TO HARD ON YOURSELF.

  3. I have been enjoying your podcast for a long time and regret that I haven’t been leaving comments. Thank you for all that goes into the process as well as the pictures and links on your blog. Your podcast could never be too long!
    Suzanne

  4. Enjoying your podcast as always. The quilting on the Big Star is really coming on.
    I’ll be at Paducah next week with 2 of my friends, Linzi & Kay. We leave from Glasgow, Scotland on Monday morning and will arrive in Paducah on Tuesday afternoon in time to attend the Prize Giving ceremony. Kay had 2 quilts accepted in to the show and last week one of them was used on the show’s website to advertise the show. Isn’t that brilliant especially since ” The Horse and its Rider” commemorates a very historic Scottish battle? Linzi and I are keeping our fingers crossed for Kay. You never know she might be among the prize winners!
    I’ve been meaning to tell you about a book I read recently which I thought that you might enjoy. “H is for Hawk” was written by Helen Macdonald after the death of her father. It’s about how she trained a goshawk to fly for her as she recovered from her father’s death. I know that it doesn’t sound that entertaining a read but she is a beautiful writer. I wouldn’t say that it is a book that you could read a lot of at a time, more one that you can put down and pick up again when ever you like but her descriptions of the countryside, her hawk etc are beautifully realised. It won the Costa book prize last year here in the UK>

    1. May I say I love, love Scotland. Truly one of the most beautiful countries on the planet. A wee bit of envy here in L.A. coming your way. Enjoy Paducah. How fine.

  5. The quilting looks fantastic! I really love the gray.
    It’s killing me that I’m going to be in Kentucky during the Paducah show, but still over 3 hours away with not a minute of spare time for a side trip. It’s just wrong!

  6. I haven’t been able listen to your last couple of podcasts but I wanted to “drop you a line” anyway. I finally knuckled down and bought myself a FitBit (it’s still charging), and was wondering where the groups of people are? I know I’ll probably be dead last on any leaderboard, but, hey, I can only go up from here, right?

    Looking forward to hearing what you’ve been up to. The new gray quilt looks really nice!

    (a.g. lindsay)

  7. This was such a lovely podcast. The birdy sounds from your porch made me feel as if I was there. L.A. is a mecca for birds; however, I think your backyard beats everyone here. It sounded like the aviary at the L.A. Zoo.

    Your comments on the war on drugs and what it has done to the disenfranchised are important. It is easy to say “they” had it coming, but the circumstances and opportunities of many of the young people are complicated and much more than it looks like on the surface.

    I do like the Big Star quilt. The modern quilts have grown on me and I always just love the energy and determination of the young. It was the best part of being in the schools for me.

  8. Omigosh, I flippin’ love this quilt! And your quilting lines look uh-mazing.

    Great episode. Love the podcast. (Teehee)

    Begging.. I mean, gently prodding, for comments works. I always comment in my head, but this time I actually made it here to comment in real life. Yay me! Yay us! Yay quilts!

  9. Oh! And by the way, I agree, Pepper Cory does indeed rock. I met her at market and she is phenomenal. So easy to talk to, wonderfully talented teacher, and I adore her fabrics, the ‘peppered’ shot cottons.

  10. I don’t know, Frances…your best friend Annie Smith might get jealous of your new best friend Pepper! Lol!

    Love, love, love the quilting on the big star quilt. I get scared of lots of negative space because my quilting does NOT look like yours. Busy scrap quilts allow for low talent quilting!

  11. I haven’t been able to listen to the last 2 podcasts yet because I’ve been listening to Ghettoside on audio that I got from my library (commute time is when I get to listen to podcasts and/or audiobooks). I just wanted to thank you for recommending Ghettoside. It was a heavy read (listen?) and depressing and sad, but wow. She does a great job of tying in today’s violence to the history of this country’s terrible race relations. By telling their stories, she gave an identity to all the victims of violence and made us see them as real people instead of a statistic. Maybe that is part of the answer to preventing this kind of violence – to show the humanity of all the people involved. Maybe it’s also the increased public assistance, as one of her experts says. What a timely book, especially with all that has happened in Ferguson and Baltimore and elsewhere. Obviously just sending more police to these areas is not helping in most cases and I think this book shows why. I thought she got mired in details at some points, but still a great book. Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts on the book and thank you for recommending it! (First time commenter here.)

  12. Hi Frances, great post, I love hearing about all your adventures with Quilt History and the quilting in your sewing room. I also love hearing about NC which I love so I love your Foodie recommendations and about Durham because it is a city in NC and I need some City Therapy! Too much out in the ‘country’ here though I love it so much. Enjoy listening to the birds in the background when you are recording. And hear my birdies here outside compete with your birdies. All the best and keep it up love your podcast.
    Bermudagirl

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