Inspiration from the J-Class Regatta, Newport, Rhode Island, USA

The family went on a mini-vacation this past week to Newport, Rhode Island where we witnessed these beautiful boats in action. They are J-Class sailboats. Each is about 125 feet long and they have masts over 165 feet. They are gorgeous and enormous to watch. JK7 Velsheda raced J5 Ranger in two awesome races around the Newport harbor. The regatta, however, continues until Father's Day.


The sheer amount of fabric in the spinnaker is breath-taking when seen under these almost perfect conditions. I wonder what quilting inspiration will come from all the photos of this adventure. Stay tuned to find out!

Here are some websites for the professionals who were along for the ride:
http://newport.patch.com/articles/eyes-on-the-water-j-class-regatta-race-two#photo-6624284
http://www.jclassyachts.com/velsheda/rebuild.html
http://www.sy-ranger.com/index.html

"One woman's trash is another woman's treasure"

Stained Glass No. 1

In the middle of winter a few years back, my local quilt guild had an “Indoor Garage Sale” evening. The idea was to bring all your leftover crafts, sewing supplies, fabrics, books/magazines, odds and ends, baked goods, etc. and try to sell or swap them for something new. There was also a table marked “Free” and it was full of items for the taking. Upon it I found two unfinished Stained Glass Window projects. It seems the maker laid out her fabrics, rotary cut what would become the “seams” of the window, then fused all the pieces onto a light weight fabric and cut it to look like the window you see here:


The twin window, I immediately took and applied Clover fusible gold lame bias tape (see description and website below) to all the “seams.” The results were lovely, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the finished work, which measured about 18 by 25 inches, so I set the project aside.

Around Thanksgiving 2009, I made my $1000 Promise commitment to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (www.alzquilts.org). This past year while cleaning out my sewing room, for the first time in a long time, I rediscovered this project and cut it into the three little pieces measuring about 5 inches by 11 ½ inches each. The middle one has been completed with echo quilting and two soda-tab hanging tags so that it can be hung with either the green or pink at the top.


Warmly Called “Stained Glass No. 1” this quilt is being donated to the AAQI efforts to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. Its sisters will also be finished and donated soon.
I wonder what treasures I'll find at the "Free" table next time.

From http://www.clover-usa.com/

“Easily ironed on to straight or curved fabric designs.
It will eliminate time consumed in making and pinning it in place.
Excellent for use in stained glass quilting, Celtic, applique work or projects requiring the use of (1/4") bias tape.

COLORS IN 11 yards (10 meters) / reel Rainbow, Earth Tones Brown, Blue-Green-Yellow, Teal-Blue-Purple, Black Metallic, Gold Metallic, Silver Metallic, Copper Metallic”