Presenting at Schoolhouse in Houston!

My book - "From Ensign's Bars to Colonel's Stars" will be out in November 2014! and I'll be talking about it at Schoolhouse in Houston next week!! Stop by and check me out on Friday 24 OCT at 3:10 in room 361F. See you there!
This is a close up of Colonel's Star, come and see the entire quilt and several more quilts from my book!!

Schiffer Publishing guest blog

NEWS Author and patriotic quilter Renelda Peldunas-Harter guest blogs Head over to the Schiffer Publishing tumblr page for a guest post written by Renelda Peldunas-Harter, author of the upcoming From Ensign's Bars to Colonel's Stars: Making Quilts to Honor Those Who Serve. #

Baaad Sheep Exhibit!!

Quilts for the "Baad Sheep" exhibit are starting to come in!!
Look at "SAY MY NAME".
Is it Walter White baaad or what?!?

 

 

 

Can't wait to see what comes in next!!

Row By Row

If you are anything like me you have been collecting the Row By Row patterns from local and regional quilt shops!!

My favorite one so far has been from "The Scrappy Apple" in Winchester, VA!! The theme this year is 'seasons' and Kelley Bova, owner of the Scrappy Apple, designed a really cute winter scene complete with snowman, evergreen trees, snowflakes and a quilt!!

I have collected six patterns so far and hope to get to a few more quilt shops before the end of the month!!

Sheep Behaving Baaadly!

Sheep Behaving Baaadly! Come join the fun!
Northern Virginia Quilt Consortium (NVQC) - not to be confused with any other quilt consortium especially the Virginia Consortium of Quilters - is sponsoring its first traveling quilt exhibit!
We are very excited about this idea and hope to see an interesting quilt submission from you!
Check out the rules and email me if you are interested.

Announcing:

 

Northern Virginia Quilt Consortium (NVQC)

Quilt Exhibit: Sheep Behaving Baaadly

I. Background: I saw a fun exhibit featuring cows called “MOO-STON Cow Stampede”! (Check some of them out below). I think that there is something inherently intriguing about animals and the idea for this exhibit was born. I have the hemisphere’s largest ‘sheep’ collection (collected in travels by myself, my three brothers and assorted relatives and friends) so it would be a natural the first animal selected for this series would be sheep. The challenge is not just to create a caricature of just any old sheep, but sheep exhibiting naughty behavior or sheep behaving baaadly, hence the name “Sheep Behaving Baaadly”. The quilt should be fun to make and to look at!

II. Specifics: Must be a 3-layer quilt which can be easily stacked and folded to fit into a 20” x 24” box with other quilts and mailed.

          a. The Sheep:

          The sheep-shape should be the main figure, the focus of the quilt. The sheep body will be shaped either roundish or oval shaped. The head will be round or oval also. The figures at the left show some different combinations of body and head shapes. The sheep’s simple shape will allow the ‘baaad’ or naughty to pop out!  Embellish to your heart’s content!

          b. Quilt:

                   (1) Size: The quilt can be any size between 20” x 24” and 40” x 48”. It must be able to be folded into a 20” x 24” box.

                   (2) Label: All quilts will have a label with: Quilt’s Name, quilter, date, e-mail & phone number of quilter.
          c. Due dates:  A picture of the finished quilt and application form (please request application form from Renelda before sending picture) is due NLT 8 October 2014 to r.peldunas@comcast.net.

          d. Write-up: The write-up will include:

                   (1) Quilt Info: Quilt Name, quilter, date, email.

                   (2) A 100 word or less, write-up about the quilt may include inspiration, explanation and quilting techniques/embellishments.  The write-up appears on cards next to the quilts. 

                   (3) Quilt group or guild association (if any).

III. Juried: The NVQC board members will jury the quilts to ensure consistency with theme. Results will be announced by 10 Oct 2015. Finished quilt is due to Renelda 15 Oct 2014.

IV. I am seeking a Corporate Sponsor for our exhibit.

(These three quilts were photographed by Renelda Peldunas-Harter and are meant to convey the fun nature of this challenge, not to be copied or for any other use.)

V. Additional Info: Contact Renelda at r.peldunas@comcast.net or 540-338-0338.

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, vol 7!!

 I'm very happy to say that I am have another block in the latest edition of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks!!

                                                      My name is Renelda and I've been quilting for several years (OK - over 30!).  I love to design quilts, especially using geometric shapes.  I'm standing in the office of the Loudoun Breast Health Network in front of a huge pink quilt (2012 Text on Textile Exhibit, International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX) which I made and hangs in our office!  (We are an all volunteer, 501 (c) (3) non-profit).  I'm also working on a quilt book to honor the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces - if you are interested look for details in the blog and email me.

         The block in Volume 7 has been, quite literately, years in the making.  I have been creating Bargello quilts for over 25 years and when I've tried to 'help' my friends catch Bargello fever, everyone complains that it looks too hard to do.  So I simplified the process - how could I possibly simplify a Bargello?  What if instead of long rows of little blocks I made actual 4" x 4" or 12" x 12" blocks?   And then joined them together?!  Sounds simple?  It is!  I call them 'Julep Blocks' and they are very easy to make!   

My block is block #686 'Spring Julep', page 64, it is a 12" x 12" (finished) block which can be assembled in many ways.

The quilt to the right appears in Volume 7's "Designer's Gallery" on page 12 - it is a mini-gello (small Bargello) entitled "Spring Julep" and it measures 11" x 11".  It is made from four scaled-down Julep blocks each rotated and joined together.  The mini-quilt blocs have some special construction techniques to aid in their assembly, but they are so cool to put together!

 

       The quilt to the left, "Mint Julep", (69" x 69") is made from 20" x 20" blocks and give the appearance of motion.  The larger the 'Julep' block, the larger the quilt!!

       Julep blocks and quilts have more 'pop' if you have one or two fabrics that really stand out.  Look for several light fabrics, several mediums and a few dark fabrics.

         The quilt on the left measures 41" x 41" and was done using a Moda Jelly Roll.  Jelly Rolls can be good to use if they have enough contrast, this one had the red, white and blue I was looking for.  That is not true of most pre-cut 2 1/2" rolls.           



          

      The quilt to the right is another mini-gello measuring 14" x 14".  It is composed of 100% scraps - mini-gellos are great for up-cycling your scraps!!



           If you are in the Northern Virginia/Maryland/DC area check the schedule below for when I'll be speaking in May and June several area quilt shops about Block # 686!!  Carolyn Goins, block # 666, 'Counter Spin' and I spoke at a local quilt shop when we both had blocks in 100 Blocks, Vol 5 and it was such a huge success we decided to branch out to the entire metro area!!


          My brand new 'helper' Smudge just came from the Loudoun County Animal Shelter last week and already she is a "big" help!  She is what we call a 'love sponge' - she'll suck all the attention she

can get from you.  She has already shed, I mean provided a protective coat, on many of the quilts going into my book!