No. 29

No. 29

55.5" x 40"

Today's work features that horrible threat to relationships, miscommunication. The one that creates hurt feelings that linger even after the miscommunication is discovered and corrected (if you are lucky enough to find out...). And it all hinges on the ability to trust, something created from birth to about age 1. Simultaneous parallel talking without listening surely cannot help.

 

No. 29 was inspired after I made No. 18. I think the words that we say have a strong impact on relationships, so I wanted to do another version. What does this piece say to you?

No. 18

The design process started by arranging the paper cutouts on top of No. 18, to try to see what size the piece would be. It's a good starting point, but needed just a few adjustments.

After the top was completed, I tried another round of design...

Yeass! This works great! On with the quilting. I did not have backing fabric for this one, so I cut up some fabric from my stash and made a floral patchwork on the back. Here is a shot of the machine quilting in progress.

And one of the machine quilting of the stem after the applique was finished.

The handquilting, and the 1/4" tape for marking the lines. I really like using this tape because it bends around curves (unless they are too small), and you can keep moving it until you get a line that you like.

 

A chaotic scene from the back as I attach the hanging tube...

And last, a detail shot.

No. 28

No. 28

40" x 40" 

  

Next up in my series of quilts about relationships....Leaning in, to the overlap, the sweet spot, the place where interests or experiences overlap. Choosing to share your time with another person. A nod to that moment when you meet a new friend or lover and discover the things you have in common, and it miraculously brings a little joy to your heart. 

Note: I really like the way this one resembles a bow, like the relationship is a little gift to your heart, and theirs. 

 

The process photos.

I was working on this quilt at the same time as I was repairing/remodeling a room in my house. I thought is was interesting the that wall color was the same as the palette I chose for this quilt. Aqua blue everywhere!!

(Note: You can see more of this remodeling story on IG.)

 

Stitched blocks sewn for the background.

 

I really like it at this stage announcing it's pure color and minimalism... 

The shapes that will be appliqued to the surface.

Before they were pieced, trying to find strips of colors to make a gradient. This is a challenge with commercially available solids.

Dumping out my pins to make them easier to select for pinning the shapes to the now quilted background. I really like the simple texture of the quilting lines visible in this photo.

Then the hand quilting with embroidery floss, and trying to design quilting lines that fit my narrative.

Finishing up the quilt with some binding and an edge shot showing the 'stem' hanging over the edge and wrapped to the back. 

the backing is leftover fabric from my fabric line many, many years ago

No. 27

No. 27

65" x 33"

 

This work in my relationship series is about avoidance, or possibly mutual avoidance? I find this one very personal. As I try to show up and face the good and the bad, I find it frustrating when I am faced with avoidance. As I get older, I realize that it is a self protection strategy, and I have become a lot more forgiving. And while looking for insight, I have discovered that I also have used avoidance in sticky situations. I am also very astutely aware that timing and kindness play big roles in conflict resolution. 

 

After sewing the half square triangle blocks for the background, it is fun to change directions and work on the applique shapes. I like to use gradients to show movement. I grabbed a color palette from my stash, and then carefully selected choices for the stripes in this piece.

 

After piecing the stripes, I press the edges under, and hand baste. Then they are ready for applique.

Then the hand quilting. I usually wait until they are appliqued on the piece before thinking about the design elements of the hand stitching. I might play with the masking tape on the quilt to try out different ideas, or possibly sketch some ideas. This one took about 15 sketches before I arrived on one that I really liked.

It is frustrating to make such wonderful selections of thread choices, in this case, another gradient, and then have it barely show up. For this piece, the thread gradient looks better in real life than in my photos of it. Yet another reason to see fiber art in person!

 

Next, the binding. It is machine stitched to the front, wrapped around the edge and then hand stitched to the back. I love these little clips for holding it in place while I hand stitch it.  

It also feels FINISHED when I get to this point, but it's not. It still needs a hanging tube and a label on the back. And it is truly finished when I take the photos and post it here! I ran out of backing fabric to use for the hanging tube, so I opted to use up some of my hand dyed batiks that I made a long time ago.

Here's a view of the entire tube section:

No. 26

No. 26

60.5" x 42.5"

Affectionately known as "pursuit". 

The background palette:

This one had a lot of design challenges. To determine the size of quilt I will need, I usually lay out the pieces on the floor or sometimes on top of another quilt that has the half square triangles for the background. Then I know the relative scale of the piece and how many blocks I will need. In this case, I used the humps and some blue painter's tape.

The original idea began with 4 quadrants like this:

...which was fine, but not great. This set of fabric choices in this array made me astutely aware of the lower right corner. It looked too dark to me. I tried rearranging the pieces, it was still not good. And it may not be obvious, but at this point, the blocks are only sewn into long strips, so I rearranged them vertically.

Ooooh, I liked this a lot better! It did require some "unsewing", and "resewing", but the results made it worth it. 

Then I drew my paper templates, cut them out and arranged them on the background. I will arrange, and rearrange the pieces until I see what I like, taking photos along the way to compare the options.

This was the original idea.... And, it is also nice, but it does not convey the feeling I am trying to evoke with this piece. The subtle directions of the 'humps' makes a big difference in the conceptual content. This one reads as "swimming along together". Also, a nice sentiment, but not what I was aiming for. 

Once I switched the top and bottom, it worked a LOT better. 

Like the others, the quilt was quilted, then the shapes were appliqued on top, and then more quilting. I love this 1/2 inch masking tape to help mark the lines I will sew.

A few shots of the hand quilting:

 

It is interesting to me, to start with a vague idea, and then watch it evolve as I make the quilt. Things change, ideas get threshed out, until everything is perfect!

Love how this looks in my aqua room!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No. 25

No. 25

35" x 54.5" 

 

This piece is a reminder that the relationship I have with myself, affects the relationships I have with others. Working towards self knowledge and acceptance helps to center me and ground me. This one also reminds me of the expression, "bloom where you are". 

 

The quilt.

Every time I look at this, the top half feels smaller than the bottom half. I have foolishly counted the blocks multiple times to confirm that they are the same size. And, so, I learn more about colors and their relative weights....

 

A closeup of the quilting:

If you look closely, you can see that the quilting threads are different colors in different directions. I always worry a lot about what color of quilting thread to use. And, I usually find that it doesn't really make too much difference....perhaps I am wrong about that?

 

The handquilting:

I tend to pull the quilting thread too tight, which causes massive tension problems. And so, I use the hoop to keep the tension even. As for circles, one of my favorite ways to mark them is to draw them on freezer paper and iron to the surface of the quilt. After quilting, they peel right off, and then I can cut it to the next smaller size, and iron it on again. The hand quilting is probably my favorite part of this process and I am always sad when I finish it.

 

The path not taken.

I love this color palette! I tried inserting these into the blue hump shape and it looked terrible. It was so terrible, and so wrong, and yet the colors are so pretty. It surprised me by taking a different tone than I wanted for the piece. So, they did not get used. I did save them, perhaps for a future quilt?

No. 24

No. 24

60" x 35"

Affectionately known as Rainbow Sherbet, because of the colors, ha ha!

Conceptually, this one is about moving forward together, the joy of being together, walking hand in hand, side by side. Forces in the universe propelling forward two individuals into We. Community or family often starts with just two people.

A few images of the construction:

I don't usually stack the rows while waiting to press the seams, but this time I did. I found the vaguely architectural vibe really interesting!

After the top is finished, it is time to baste the backing and batting layers together to make the quilt sandwich. I found this cute "love letters" fabric for the backing and just knew it was perfect for this quilt! I did not realize that it had this lovely message on the selvage, really perfect!

Next up, the machine quilting. I planned to do much denser quilting on this one, but when I saw this emerge from the beginnings of the quilting, it felt complete to me, so I stopped. Sometimes more does not mean better....(note: many quilt judges will disagree with me on this point).

Either before or after quilting, I will check my paper template on the background. I do this to both check for scale, and to check the placement. There is still time to make my paper templates larger or smaller, or opt for a larger background by adding another row or column of blocks. 

The paper I use for the templates comes in a big roll from a home construction store. It is a little bit thick and I usually press the paper first in order to make it lie flat while drawing and cutting the shapes. The neat part is that the paper give me a nice edge to use while pressing under the 1/4" seam to make the shape ready for applique. 

Here are two of the humps, edges pressed under and basted, and pinned in place.

I like these flower head pins to hold the large applique shapes in place mostly because the pieces will lie flat together while hand sewing. My FAVORITE applique pins are the super tiny ones. Unfortunately, those are incredibly hard to use when pinning the applique to an already quilted quilt. It is too thick and too many layers for those tiny pins.

They are also very sharp and pokey while hand sewing. A lot of care is needed to avoid small stabs...

The last step is the hand quilting. I had significant difficulty with the thread choices on this quilt. I picked the perfect colors, and then after quilting, they mostly and unexpectedly disappeared. So I pulled them all out and tried white thread, which also did not show up. Ultimately, the black thread was the only thread that I could still see after quilting. It is interesting that even when I make the best choices, I am still wrong sometimes. Sigh... However, with the black thread, I noticed the option to make a less obvious choice for the binding fabric, which I loved!! (look back at the first photo!).

This is also the first quilt in this series where the hand quilting lines extend beyond the appliqued shapes. I kinda dig it!!

No. 23

No. 23

70" x 34.5"

This one is an exploration of distance in a relationship. It sits on a field of yellow and green, both fear and growth. How do healthy relationships manage distance? What are the forces in the universe that cause two people to run in opposite directions?  For me, it asks the question, "How do I deal with distance in relationships?"

It reminds me of the quote from Kahlil Gibran, "let there be spaces in your togetherness". Such a powerful concept of love.

And, I love conceptual work that asks questions, vs. giving answers. 

The construction of this one follows all the same steps as the previous, so I did not take very many process photos.  Here are a few for you.

Selecting thread from my thread box.  I LOVE the variegated thread hand-dyed by Laura Wasilowski. 

Here is the 1/4" tape applied in wavy curves for the hand stitching. 

And, a close up of the finished project.  It is subtle, but there are three hand stitched lines of each color thread as they slowly get darker towards the 'stem' on the right. 

And the last one, which conceptually, I also love, is the quilt turned upright.

Because the lower half is darker, it looks vaguely like a reflection. And so the meaning of distance in a relationship could apply to the distance you have in relationship with your self. How well do I know myself?