zig zag quilt blocks new orange

zig zag quilt blocks new orange, a photo by nanotchka on Flickr.

Everyone has been asking for orange Chenille-It and it's finally on it's way! I'm working on a new version of my Zig Zag Chenille quilt for a show in Del Mar California next week! I can't wait to get my hands on some of that orange!! Here is a preview of the blocks. I'm working with some Riley Blake and a little Kaffe Fassett spots. I love the combination...I think the booth will really pop with color!!

Fresno Fiber Arts guild workshop on Faux Chenille by Nannette Holmberg

One of my students from a recent workshop with the Fresno Fiber Arts guild shared some of her step by step pictures with me.  I thought you might like to see her progress on the Chenille-It Blooming Bias shrug that she made in the workshop.  It really is fun to see these simple strips of bias transform from the rolls to a finished jacket.  Here she has laid down her first layer of bias and is preparing to lay down the second onto the water soluable stabilizer.

The jacket is all stitched and constructed....Ready to be washed and dried!

After washing her jacket looks , feels and wears just like a sweater!  Beautiful job!  I can't wait to see more of the finished projects.  Many of the jackets and vests in the class were the layered and stitched "Faux Chenille" technique.  I hope to share more of them with you soon!  Thank you Fresno Fiber Arts Guild!  I had a great week end with you!

Birds on a wire pillow/Salt lake City longarm quilter

a few fall birds, a photo by nanotchka on Flickr.

Making a few new pillows is a great way to change up your decor a little. I love to decorate for the seasons and bring the seasons into my favorite rooms like the kitchen and the living room where I can welcome guests with something new and fresh every few months. I made this pillow for an online pillow swap and couldn't help making a couple for myself! I love any excuse to make something with a few of my signature birds, doing some fussy cutting and a little thread painting!

T--shirt scarf/longarm quilter salt lake city

tshirt scarf grey, a photo by nanotchka on Flickr.

After raiding my garage and pulling out as many t-shirts as I could find, I spent the week end making scarves! These were so much fun to make! I found lots of versions of this fun scarf on Pinterest and added a few touches of my own! I experimented with making some fabric flowers with my scraps and loved the results so much that they ended up as embellishment for my scarves! I made over a dozen in lots of colors and prints!! I thought they would be fun for my studio "open house" that I'm hosting this week! Stop by and say hello!

daffodil vintage fabric quilt/salt lake city longarm quilter

daffodil quilt, a photo by nanotchka on Flickr.

This fabric has quite a history. I was involved in saving the only arts/crafts center in Salt Lake City. The Pioneer Craft House was about to be sold off and the contents being gathered up to be mostly given away or thrown in the dumpster. The historic arts and crafts cluster of small charming and historic buildings was founded in the early 50's by Mrs. Beesley who loved every form of the arts with a passion. Her puppet theater and puppet collection was extensive and priceless to those who knew of their value and had been confirmed when I took a few of them to the "Antiques Roadshow" when it came to Salt Lake. And yet it was all on the chopping block. the good news is that after 3 years of negotiating and getting a bond from the county we were able to save the buildings but of all her many art collections the only one that remains intact for now are the puppets. Everything else was recently sold off at a garage sale by Salt Lake County who obviously didn't know what they had! The buildings will remain but the charm and the history are all gone.

When we were first working to save the center, closets were being cleaned out and drawers that hadn't been opened became my job to clean out. Mrs. Beesley didn't throw anything away! There was even a box of shoelaces from the 50s that someone had donated and they say she used them to teach women at the prison how to weave. Weaving and textiles were another one of her passions so there were closets and drawers filled with cones of yarn and stacks of textiles. One closet was full of sample books and stacks of sample fabrics from a large local furniture store and interior design house that had long since closed it's doors. It was all labed for the dumpster and so instead of taking it to the dumpster, I filled up the back of my van and made multiple trips to my studio until it was out of their way!

This was one of my favorite pieces that remined me of the 60's and 70's years of the "flower child" and woodstock! The look was so very retro and I had been pulling it out every once in awhile just waiting to give it new life. There were two panels that I joined with bright orange ric rac and put it on the quilting machine and just started to play!

I used a high loft batting to give it dimension and to make the daffodils and butterflys pop! I think it will make a fun piece for the wall in a little girls room or as a bed throw! There will be more pieces from the "Pioneer Craft House" Collection in the future!

vintage butterflys/salt lake city longarm quilter

vintage butterflys, a photo by nanotchka on Flickr.

I used a batting that would make the flowers and butterflys on this vintage fabric panel pop! The colors were wo bright and the butterflys soooo retro that I just knew it had to be quilted!!
I spent the afternoon just playing with my longarm machine and just free motioned this "flower child"-like design.

qiana quilt/Salt Lake City longarm quilter

qiana quilt, a photo by nanotchka on Flickr.

This whole cloth quilt is made with fabric that I used for Bridal parties when I had a Bridal Shop in Salt Lake City in the 80's. The fabric is Qiana. they stopped making this luxurious fabric in the late 80's because it became more expensive to produce than silk! I bought up alot of it because it had the look and feel of silk but was wshable! This Qiana is a very fine knit so I backed this quilt with a fine soft tricot to keep the whole quilt soft and silky! I love the puffy result and the elegant look and feel! The challenge was putting the two knits on the longarm frame and not stretching it to death when I rolled the quilt!

The sheen of the fabric gives such a luxurious effect that I can't wait to do more! What a great gift for the holidays to just about anyone! I have some unique colors as well to work with so it should be fun to make a few more. I used a rayon thread for the quilting that also adds to the elegance of the quilt.

Drop by the studio and touch this one!