• New Years Resolution

    Posted on by HeleneKnott

    Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday; I eagerly anticipated everything I planned to get done in my 2021 New Year’s resolution. My goals were to finish a bunch of UFOs – this was a challenge issued to my Virtual Small Quilt group, most members posted a list of a dozen or so (and many achieved their goals), my list was over 50 projects, and I just barely made a dent.

    Part of the problem is that I start as many new projects as I finish others, so my UFO boxes never seem to diminish like the magic purses in Fairy Tales that will never be empty. So too, with fabric scrap bags. I make a lot of scrap quilts. I probably made more of those this past year than any others, yet that bag of scraps never seems to diminish – they must be breeding in there.

    My other 2021 New Year’s resolution – to clean and reorganize my sewing studio; I failed miserably to accomplish. Part of the problem is that those persistently pregnant scraps are just not going away. The other part is my penchant for being a depot for fabrics and materials destined for another quilter or fabric artist. I constantly ferry materials from one person to another. My husband has vetoed the idea of those boxes residing in our living/dining room while in transit; I have nowhere else to put them but my studio – and pray I can find them when I can connect with these other sewers. Not to mention the fabrics offered to me for my own stash, I have difficulty saying ‘no thank you.’

    As I said, I did get some UFos done, and here are pictures of those:

    • Freedom Flight – made for Quilts of Valor
    • The Veldt – an Art Tile assemblage
    • Octastrips – one of my obsessive scrap fabric quilts
    • Youth Quilt #1 – made for my guild’s Community Quilts project
    • Youth Quilt #2 – also for my guild’s Community Quults project
    • Jelly Beans Baby quilt – yet another Community Quilt
    • Butterfly Bush Miniature Quilt – donated to a Public Library fundraiser
    • Butterfly Branches – one of my Garden Window Quilts series
    • The Key Goddess – an embroidered talisman doll
    • Transitions – a ‘slow stitched’ study in tidal transtitions
    • Dollars and Change – an exploration into trapunto
    2021 UFOs Completed

    I also made a bunch of Kennel Quilts for animal shelters. These are small 12″ x 18″ quilts that are used by animal shelters. Here is a gallery of the ones I made in 2021, including a paw print design I made as a free pattern available on the group on Kennel Quilts on Needle Spot.

    Kennel Quilts, each measuring 12″ x 18″

    Onto 2022 – my New Year’s Resolutions are: to blog and maintain my website more frequently, to finally reorganize my studio, to start a couple of brand new projects in new techniques I want to try that have been simmering on hold for too long, to finish more UFOs (of course!), and to make my way through boxes of exotic teas I buy and then neglect in favor of plain ole Liptons.


    📂This entry was posted in * Latest Posts Embroidery My Newest Quilts Other Crafts

  • Launching a New Class Series

    Posted on by HeleneKnott

    Dear friends and followers. it’s been way too long since I’ve posted. Wasn’t it John Lennon who said ‘Life happens when you are busy making plans?’

    This past year has been a heck of a year. First the Pandemic, then wildfire evacuations, and a devastating ice storm. We lost about 9 large fir trees, one of which landed on our home – one family crisis after another. All my good intentions about using the Pandemic time to get caught up with everything evaporated. 2020 will go down in my books as the year that never happened; a blank spot on the calendar.

    Ice Storm Damage


    After over a year, my classes are gradually resuming. Some shops have resumed classes – Cedar Ridge in Oregon City and Sharon’s Attic in Aloha. Montavilla Sewing Centers will be starting in the Fall. I am chomping at the bit. I’ve done a little one-on-one tutoring this past year and some Zoom classes, but Zoom is awkward for the individual interaction that some classes need.

    Art Quilts in the Attic



    I’m starting a series of ‘art quilt’ classes I will be offering at both Sharon’s Attic and at Montavilla in Lake Oswego. These are a reincarnation of my classes formerly called Art Journal Quilts. Each class session will be $25 and will teach an artistic technique rendered on a small experimental project. These are techniques and design processes you are not likely to encounter in a traditional quilting class. Each is a small investment in time and materials, to give you a taste of the technique. Enough to see if it’s something you would like to explore in greater depth. This has been a very popular ongoing class series in the past, I’ve been teaching these for about ten years now and hope to build up some healthy participation again.


    At Sharon’s Attic, the series is called ‘Art Quilts in the Attic’ and my first class is on Tuesday, August 24. We will be playing with Zentangle style designs rendered with Pigma Micron pens on a fabric collage dragon. Contact the shop at 503 259-3475 or visit https://www.sharonsatticquiltshop.com/ to enroll if you would like to join me for the class.

    Zen Dragon. Designs drawn with Pigma Micron pen and enhanced with stitchery

    Promises Promises

    Here are some more images of Art Quilt classes to come.


    📂This entry was posted in * Latest Posts Classes

  • Folk Art Embroidery Class

    Posted on by HeleneKnott

    I want to let everyone know I have a Folk Art Embroidery class coming up at Cedar Ridge Quilts this Thursday – November 12. In the class, I teach a variety of fairly simple hand embroidery stitches and ways of combining them into seemingly complex arrangements on wool or felt.

    There are three patterns to choose from – a peacock, a bird or a cat. The motifs can be made into ornaments (perfect to give as holiday gifts) or applied as an embroidered motif to a garment, bag, or quilt – especially a wool applique quilt. Some of the photos displayed are my work and some the work of students – just look at what they were able to do.

    Call Cedar Ridge Quilts – (503) 908-1398, to enroll if you are interested in joining us.

    • Bird – Student work
    • Birds – student work
    • Peacock – student work
    • Peacock – student work
    • Bird – student work
    • Cat-Man-Do – student work
    • Bird ornaments – my work
    • Hand Embroidered Peacock – my work
    • Cat-Man-Do – my work
    • Embroidered Peacock – my work
    • Cat-Man-Do – my work
    • A Plethora of Peacocks – my work

    📂This entry was posted in * Latest Posts