Currents Part 1

about 80" x 80"

The idea started as a self portrait.  I was thinking that quilting runs through my veins, which is at least a little bit true because my grandmother was a quilter.  I started sketching lines with my copic markers.  

After I made this first sketch, I wanted to put circles in between the lines, like little cells flowing through.  The fabrics could be some of my favorite print fabrics that I have collected over the years.  I decided to make a mock up on paper to see how it would look. I used Mistyfuse to press the circles in place and copic markers for the blue lines. Yes! Mistyfuse sticks to paper!

However, sometimes the fabric choices for the circle shapes disappeared into the white background.  So, I added the black dashed lines for handstitching.  It was okay, but my lines didn't look much like veins because they weren't branching out like a real vein.  And, that bothered me. Briefly.  I liked the linear aspects of the line drawing and it was only much later that I realized those lines are more about where I live.  They look like the hill country here in Austin, hills that were carved out by the Colorado River, the aerial view of the river also resembling these lines. I still wasn't convinced that I wanted to do the circles, which lead to the next and final idea.

This was also a bit of a stretch for my piecing skills.  I didn't know how to insert all these little pieces into the center white strip and still keep the big giant curve in it's original shape for the pattern.  Just because it looks simple, didn't mean that it was.  But, it was simple enough to see that it could be done. I would just have to learn how to do it.  And that learning part, well, that really appealed to me. 

If you are following me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen my project to reveal the year long project into 18 days. I will also share those same photos here in a later post. 

Charmed Remix

Charmed Remix

80" x 80"

It is hard to believe that it has been 3 months since I have posted anything.  I have been hard at work, but with other home improvement projects.  Meanwhile, this little quilt had been bothering me. (See previous post.) I had 'finished' it, but I didn't really like it that much, and it felt unfinished.  And it was blocking my creativity. Something needed to be done.  Then I had a flash of an idea that I thought might work, so I did a mock up on Photoshop, and I LOVED it.  Which just meant that now I had to DO it.  I knew it would be a lot of work, and if you are interested, I will show you what I did below!

First step was removing the old facing on the top and bottom of the quilt.  Easy!

Next, I drew the cutting lines across the surface of the quilt in a permanent marker.  Then I stay-stitched very close to the black lines before cutting the quilt apart with my scissors.

After all the pieces were cut, I rearranged the order of the quilted pieces, and looked at it for a while.  It definitely looked a LOT better in the new arrangement. So, I began by stitching the first two pieces together with a zigzag stitch, meanwhile wishing that my zigzag stitch was wider, but it is not. 

The reason this looks so complicated on the photo is because there are actually two passes with the zigzag, one from the front, and the other from the back.  And, they also neatly line up with the stay-stitching I did before cutting the quilt apart. On the back side, I used Mistyfuse on fabric strips first pressed right on top of the seam, and then I put the zigzag stitch on top of that.

I have a lot of experience with this type of quilt construction because we used to do this all the time when we made our group art quilts. However, because this was a really large quilt, and intended to be used, (not just hung on a wall), I wanted the front side to be prettier, and I also wanted those seams to be stronger.  So, I pulled out my original stash and began the hunt for matching fabrics to cover that seam. 

After finding them all, I cut them to size.

Then I chain pieced them together in a long strip.

Pinned right sides together on the quilt and then stitched the cover strip on.

I intentionally made the original cut 1/4" off center, so that when I added this cover strip, the seam would be exactly center of the block once it was stitched on and pressed to one side.

Then I turned under 1/4" on the raw side, and pinned it down with tiny applique pins, and handstitched in place.

Then I repeated all these steps on the other 3 seams.

To complete the illusion and also strengthen the seam even more, I decided to extend the existing quilting lines on top of the cover strip.  It was about this time I was starting to question using so many different colored thread choices. I think I used about 45 different colors.  Nuts!

There were some vertical lines, but most of the new quilting lines were horizontal, spaced approximately 1" apart on 4 different seams.  It made for a lot of thread ends to tuck in.  I didn't think I would ever finish, even though I was so close to the end!

The illusion is complete! Here is a closeup detail of one of the seams.

In the end, it was a huge amount of work.  But ultimately it was worth it.  I really like the quilt now, and I didn't before.  Also, since finishing this one, I have moved on to quilting another one that has been languishing on the shelf.  More about that one later! 

This work not only cured my creative slump, but it also gave more meaning to me and it feels more authentic.  A lot of the fabrics used in this quilt are children fabrics. I love them!! It not only reminds me of the fun I had as a kid, but also the joy I had parenting my children when they were young.  The cut apart blocks remind me of when my marriage broke apart. A broken home represented here by a cut apart log cabin block. Once again I am in awe of the process of quilting and how it connects deeply with a part of my life. In this case, with lots of effort and attention to detail, the quilt was reformed in a beautiful fashion. I like to think the same thing of coparenting and raising our kids, that with lots of effort, attention to detail, and hope, it can be done beautifully. 

Last if you are wondering how bright this quilt really is? Here is a photo of it in front of my house on an overcast day.

 

Charmed

Charmed

79" x 79"

This quilt is sadly one of those that I don't really like that much after it is finished.  I began it with such wild enthusiasm, and then it didn't have the overall visual appeal that I thought it would.  A great lesson for me, one that I am apparently still learning.  But, I believe it is probably a shared experience.  And it is disappointing to spend so much time with it, and then not like it in the end.  

Regardless of my feelings for the overall look of it, I LOVE the closeups of the little fabrics.  And it has hundreds and hundreds of different fabrics! You can see more of these in previous posts from last fall (part 1, part 2, part 3).  It is a quilt that I LIKE getting close to.  And, there are some things I like about the design. For example, I love how the alternating light and dark solid fabrics make the blocks kind of twinkle and move your eye around.  It kind of reminds me of a stack of Starburst candy. 

It is also the first one in a long time that is NOT two-sided.  I found a suitable fabric for the back, and am happy with it.  I also chose to face this quilt and flip the facing to the back.  Each square has a different color attached, and one that is different than the front.  It makes me happy!

Here it is from the front side, folded, with the back and the facings showing a little bit! 

And, apart from my disappointment, it is so lovely to finally have another finish! I have been struggling with repetitive use injuries from obsessive quilting.  My solution is to work on multiple projects that are in different stages. I can work briefly on tasks that utilize different parts of my body.  It is difficult to work this way.  I find that I like completing a project before moving on to the next one.  I had racked up 4 different quilt tops doing this, and then had 4 quilts to quilt, which sort of defies the purpose!  This one is finished.  On to the next... 

Quilt for a Graduating Senior in Foster Care

Nine Patch Plus Block quilt for Day1Bags

This is a quilt I made to give to a graduating senior who has been in foster care. This quilt project required a non-gendered theme, twin sized, and with a pillowcase to go with it.  

It is hard to imagine what a non-gendered theme quilt is. However, the privacy of these teens is of utmost importance, so they could not tell us gender, or match us with an actual person to make something more specific for that individual.  With that, I simply picked colors that I liked and am hoping that it will find it's person!

In Texas, teens normally age out of the foster care system at age 18.  There have been a few changes to some of those rules, hopefully in response to the fact that teens don't go from kid to adult just because they have a birthday.  It's a process.  I wanted to give a quilt as a show of love and support.  A big wrap of love to congratulate the senior who has come so far, and to keep them warm for the struggles ahead. 
If you would like to know more about Day1Bags you can find it here.  You can also contribute in other ways without having to make a quilt if you are interested! :)

quilting

Complements - project

Complements 

project about 80" x 80"

from the outside railing of my house...at least the colors look right in the natural lighting. 
(Please excuse the weights on the top holding it in place.)

It started like this. I was actually nervous about cutting such giant pieces of solid fabrics.  I also was in short supply of a few colors like pink, and turquoise.  So I went ahead and cut with fabrics I already had and decided it looked better with the slightly different colors (though you may disagree).  And, then I decided to mix it up a bit more with a few of the other colors, the red, and yellow, and lime green....

LOVE it!!

Then I worked one color at a time to build up blocks of pieced strips to fill in between the solid stripes.

I love the scrappy look of all these different prints!! The cutting was not the fun part, so many fabrics to pull, cut, and then re-fold.  Sometimes I like to fussy cut, so that I can showcase something interesting in one of the prints even if the scale is small.

Or this one with the cat and birds!

And the hummingbird! So sweet!

I sewed the narrow strips in groups of 10 to make a block.  Each strip is generally cut only 1" wide, though there were a few exceptions! 

More shots of all the pieces!  There were A LOT of pieces!!

Then I sewed the blocks together, and finally sewed the long lines of blocks to the solid pieces.  Easy and fun!

A last shot of a 'behind the scenes' photography shot, I hung the quilt top on my deck railing for the first photo.  When I went back upstairs to take it down, I saw how beautiful it looked through the rails!

Charmed: part 3

Charmed: part 3
80" x 80" quilt top

Charmed, after the swap out

I finished the quilt top!! Yeah! And then I changed my mind....

So I took out the very lovely block (below) that I am so very fond of, and made a new block.  The improvement is vast, and I am happy that I listened to my heart.  This "out-take" will most likely find a new home in a pillow.

I was also hoping that by the time I posted this, I would have a back for the quilt ready to go, but alas, I do not.  I also do not have a sewing machine that I can quilt this on, yet.  My Juki has been broken now for 7 weeks.  But that is a long story, and one that I will save for another day.  

Meanwhile, a great time to talk about photographing bright colors.  It is a lot more difficult than it should be.  Digital cameras "think" the perfect photo is one with people in it, so it adjusts what it sees to try to find some "skin" tones....or so I have been told.  I do find it hard to get the colors right with digital photography.  I used to shoot in the RAW mode, but because of computer "issues" I now do not have a way to open RAW files....sigh... Another good option is to take a photo outside with diffuse natural lighting, but that can be hard because of the time of day and needing a set-up large enough to accommodate large quilts, which I can make, but it is cumbersome and weather dependent.  Today, I am sharing a photo of the quilt top taken on my laundry line, (which is not tall enough).  I took it at twilight, and I am pleased with the colors here.

Overall, the colors look softer and not as harsh and brassy as the photo taken with studio lights. Even minor adjustments of lighting and color can make the overall effect not seem true. I also took a photo of this quilt at noon.  The harsh light and stark shadows are not a good option.  Here is a side by side comparison. 

When I finish the quilting, I will take the time and effort to set up outside because the light is so much better.  It won't be a quick photo shoot, and I will need to take my design walls outside, but it will be worth it! :)

Charmed, part 2

Charmed, part 2

project 80" x 80"

Here are 4 blocks! The whole quilt top will have 16 blocks. And, I am currently in the process of replacing one of the blocks that I did not think played well with the others.  A photo of the entire quilt top will be coming soon!  Meanwhile, I like the way the alternating values of the quilt add movement and kind of make it sparkle.  The bright colors make me think of the fruit flavored chewy candy known as Starbursts. 

From the perspective of the whole quilt on a computer screen, you can not see all the lovely details of the fabrics this quilt is celebrating.  So I will include some closeups of the individual blocks, and the some of the fabrics. A few more:

And some closeups of the cute fabrics!

Love these cute tulips and the hedgehogs!

The lovely pink llama fabric!

Great little owl!

Capybaras!!

I love this bold graphic!

And, there is always room for some Yaks!!

Pop up polar bear! He looks so friendly, as if he is saying "hello there!"

Climbing trees!