Crown Royal Quilt

Hi everyone.  Wow, has the time gotten away from me and my blogging habit.  You should know that I’ve been really busy quilting and creating in my studio.  I thought that a good place to begin to catch up would be with my Crown Royal Quilt.

brian-clements-crown-royal-quilt

I finished this quilt last year in October, but kept it under wraps for the most part.  It has been shown at the Yuma County Colorado Fair (of course) where it was awarded “Best Use of Color” and at the neighboring Phillips County Fair in Colorado as well.

On a larger stage… it was exhibited at the Machine Quilters Showcase in Cedar Rapids, Iowa earlier this spring, and I won a faculty ribbon.

Today, my quilt returned from display in Chicago at MQX.  I didn’t win a ribbon, but it’s a great honor to be a finalist, and have your work included in their show.

The quilt features an original design of 84 Crown Royal bag embroideries, carefully cut and sewn into the blocks and borders.

brian-clements-crown-royal-quilt-detail

This was truly a solo work, as I designed, pieced, quilted, and bound this beautiful quilt.  I hope you enjoy seeing it too!

I’ll keep it short and sweet today, as I’m busy with a customer quilt on the longarm, and I should be working.  Thanks for stopping by and checking me out.

Happy Quilting!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Beautiful Embroidery Quilt

image2Hello everyone.  Yesterday, I had the honor of quilting the next quilt by Moda fabric designers, Sweetwater.  I cannot show you any photos, but I can say that they have once again created a beautiful work of art.  You can see a few photos of their new fabric line at their blog.  Sweetwater Blog

What I can show you… is the beautiful embroidered quilt above.  I’m working on it today.

I’ve been working up to this one.  Intricate designs are a natural for custom quilting.  The stitches and the stabilizer add quite a bit of bulk in those areas, so I knew I would have to do a lot of stitch-in-the-ditch (SID) quilting.  I know what you’re thinking… That’s pretty easy, right?  Well, not exactly.  Straight lines are some of the most difficult quilting, since you can tell if it’s not quite straight.  Also, I am pretty particular which quilts will be a candidate for this type of stitching.  If the piecing is not really precise, SID will just accentuate the flaws in the piecing.

This quilt, however, is pieced very well.  I am writing this post, as I’m taking a break.  I just completed the SID, and started the free-motion work on the top border.  The great part about stabilizing the quilt with SID, is that now, I can jump around to any area, and work on it, without the fear of running into a problem with pushing extra bulk into the wrong area.

I think I’ll mostly free-hand this quilt, except for the yellow background areas around the central star.  I think the robot can do a little work too!

IMG_2703image1

I hope you have a great day!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Quilts of the Plains 2015 Photos are posted!

QOTP_2015__0317b copyHello everyone.  I’ve had a great, albeit very busy, week in Wray, Colorado.  With the help of many people, and many area businesses, we pulled off the 16th Annual Quilts of the Plains outdoor quilt show, this past Saturday, June 27, 2015.

We had a great array of wonderful quilts entered into the show, including many from far, far away.  Our Viewer’s selected a lovely quilt by Valerie from Dove Creek, Colorado.  They also awarded a total of 8 ribbons for the best in category voting.  I’ve uploaded a photo gallery of all of the quilts.  I think they all are winning quilts.  Mixed in, you will also see some street and sidewalk shots.  Perhaps, I caught you looking at the beautiful quilts, or driving down the street.  You’ll see the kind of businesses that line our streets, and help to make Wray such a wonderful place to live, work, shop, or even visit.

Of course, photos never do full justice of an event like this.  I do hope it’s a useful resource though, for quilters who entered or viewed the show, as well as a shameless promotion of our town, our people, and our humble little quilt show on the plains in Colorado.  I hope it makes you want to be a part of it in the future.

Have fun looking through the gallery.  I’ve made smaller versions of the photos, so it will load quickly on your computer, phone or tablet with ease.  If you have a need for a more detailed image, I can provide that on a request basis for you.

Thanks for supporting quilting in Wray, and for your continued interest in my life, art and blog.  I’d really appreciate if you could share this with others, and leave a comment when you stop by the blog.  It really adds a richness to the place.

I hope you have been inspired, and this will manifest in your creative life, whatever that may be.

Happy Quilting & Quilt Viewing,

Fellow Quilter,

Brian Clements

Christmastime in Nebraska

Hello everyone.

This past weekend, we tripped to see my family in Central Nebraska.  I thought I’d share a couple of photos with you, of some of the traditional sites that we stop to see.

On Saturday, we stopped in Minden, Nebraska.

Minden Courthouse 2014b 4x6Minden has been dubbed the Christmas City.  Even when I was a kid, we would usually take a trip there to see the lights, and sometimes catch the Christmas pageant.

Minden Courthouse 2014a 4x7

On the way home, Sunday, we stopped at our good friends, the Corey’s.  They were instrumental in helping us get our computerized light show up and running several years ago.  We stop and see them every year, and they always invite us in for some home-made goodies.  This year it was Rosemary’s delicious pizzelle cookies.  Yummy!!!

Corey Christmas Lights 2014a 4x6

If you’d like to check out their display, it runs until New Years Eve.  Shows last about 15 minutes and keep repeating all evening long.  Their farm is located east of Culbertson, Nebraska on U.S. Highway 6&34 and one-quarter mile north on County Road 376.

We had a really nice visit with most of my family.  Lots of chatting, eating and fun…  My Mom showed me some of her quilt projects recently finished and also in progress.

My brother showed me a barn quilt that he’s working on, but more about that in a future post.

Have a creative day!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Keep on Truckin’

Hello everyone.  It’s been a pretty busy couple of weeks.  Thanksgiving is but a memory, and Christmas is heading our way.  I’ve been truckin’, so to speak in my studio.

I’ve been sewing more of my scrap blocks, and now I’m up to 350.  That means only 50 more to go…

I’m also finishing my last customer quilt job for this year.   It is a beautiful quilt, for one of my great quilt piecer friends.  She definitely keeps her sewing pedal to the metal!

I instagrammed a photo yesterday.  I hope you follow me there, so you can see the first couple borders quilting design.  I think it really ties into the fabric motif so nicely.

Well… today was going to be a full day of quilting on that quilt, but I had to change my plans to go to Denver for some supplies for our barbershop.  The new barber is set to move in on Monday, so we couldn’t wait for shipping, I HAD to go to the city!

I did manage to hit three quilt shops while I was there… and I found a great eagle quilt pattern, a couple yards of fabric, and an extra cone of quilting thread, just in case I run out mid-quilt on this current job.

It really was a beautiful day to be out!  I just love these nice December days in Colorado!

old truck in akronI took my camera along for the ride, and in Akron, I spotted this old truck.  I had to turn around and go back…   The door was open to the building behind, and I did poke my head in to ask permission, but nobody was around.  I hope they like how I photoshopped the image.  I just love playing with my photos!

This truck was empty today, and pretty soon, my quilting workload for Christmas will be unloaded as well.  I hope your projects are also coming along right on time!

Happy Quilting,

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

The Edge of Paradise

Hello everyone.  For today’s photo challenge, I’m taking it back to quilting.  The assignment, “to capture an edge”.  Of course to me… I think of the edge of a quilt, the binding.

This quilt has 4 different treatments to the binding, but today, I’m going to give you a detail shot of the flowers, accented by the edge treatment between the center and the border.  I really love color, and the combinations in this quilt are perfect.

bird of paradise quilt wp_1024I paper-pieced this beautiful quilt nearly 10 years ago.  Bird-of-Paradise blooms are one of my favorite flowers, and I just love this design.

Have you tried paper piecing before?  It is time consuming, but the results are such perfect, sharp points.  I’ve learned a few different methods over the years.  If you are curious, a link to a paper piecing tutorial can be found here.  This is the way, I do it nowadays.

Happy Quilting,

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

 

Glass Fringe

Hello everyone.  I’ve had a busy beginning to this Thanksgiving week.  I am a few days behind on the Photo 101 challenges.  I’m going to catch up now.

For Tuesday’s assignment, we were to photograph glass.  Our house is filled with glass.  To be specific, we both collect glassware, and our home has 47 windows.

I just finished sewing 80 more strip sets for my scrappy quilts, and turned off the main studio lights, thinking I’d head to bed.

However, I noticed the awesome fringe on this lamp, just outside my studio in the hallway.  It’s late in the evening, so not much light in the upstairs hallway, except for one of the bulbs in this lamp.  I love the effect that a lone light can play on the mood in the area.

I had to play with my camera.  My favorite things about this photo…

lamp fringe wp_1024

1-the mood the light gives.

2-playing with the juxtaposition of in-focus strands against the out-of-focus ones in the background.

3-the way the layers just lure you into the center of the lamp.

I hope you enjoy this photo too.  Have a great night on this Thanksgiving Eve!

Create something special!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Sunset Lane

Looking South from Sunset Lane
Looking South from Sunset Lane

Hello everyone. For today’s assignment, “Landscape”, I headed out around our great town with my camera in hand. I thought about a shot of Stalker Lake. Umm, not today. I saw the bluffs behind the school, and actually settled on a spot just down the road. I expected to focus more on the cliffs, but the sunshine was bound and determined to take center stage.
I was glad there were a few clouds to add more interest to the gorgeous blue sky.
The dirt road does pull you into the scene, and I love the way the sun rays explode in the sky.
I’d say it’s another beautiful day here on the eastern plains of Colorado.
Have a great day, and be inspired.
Fellow Quilter,
Brian

Kewpies

Hello everyone.  Today, for my Photo101 posting, I’d like to share this “Swarm” of Kewpie Dolls.

My Sister-In-Laws doll collection is very large.  You can’t help but wonder what they might be thinking, Right?

Enjoy this small sampling of some of her favorites.

A few of Ann's Kewpie Dolls...
A few of Ann’s Kewpie Dolls…

Her first doll was made by the Cameo company, and she received Kewpie (We call her “Number 1”) for her birthday as a small girl.  “Number 1” is on the right with the necklace.  If you want to read more about Cameo Dolls click here.

Have a creative day!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian