fiberliscious

Has it really been so so many days since my last post?

2011-12-03T13:01:00.001-05:00

Gee, it really has been more than a few days. Where does the time go?
I have been busy, busy. And I really, really have been trying avoid the temptation to start any new projects until I have finished quilting some of the tops. Famous last words, eh? Seems I have broken my vows. To catch up on what's been going on before and after Thanksgiving.

I hand dyed many, many yards of fabric

75 yards of fabric to be exact

Now, if you will, click to jump over to 15 minutes play to read about a project that I began way back in October. It's all about making quilts from recycled shirts, but these shirts are more than just recycled. They have special meaning. Once you read all about it, check back in to see that I have not been exactly true to my vows. I was compelled to make more of the 15 minutes play blocks.

And then I was inspired to make some string stars with the shirts, thinking that it would make an appropriate quilt for the grandson. As the strips of fabric became too small to fit the diamond, I sewed them into new fabric, so I have string/pieced fabric stars.

Now to decide on the arrangement. Shall it be like this?

or this?

or make more blocks for a traditional layout?
Time will tell.

Lest you think that I cannot stick to any sort of commitment, I did complete the

quilting on two tops.

This one I designed using Electric Quilt several years ago. It was all paper pieced by my friend, Laura and was supposed to be included in a pattern booklet that I was involved in publishing with another quilter. Long story short, the booklet didn't happen.

But here's the quilt.

Marriage in the Mountains 62" x 68"

I also completed my reproduction of a quilt made with strips of fabric contributed by 11 friends in the 15 minutes bee . It was great fun to play with all the strips of fabric, arranging and rearranging, cutting, slashing and rearranging again. I quilted it sparsely, so it's soft and comfy, just perfect for a lazy day on the sofa or a picnic in the park.

Real Deal 68" x 76"

And now to pull out another quilt top, get it sandwiched and start quilting once again.

Issues

2011-11-15T21:46:00.001-05:00

I've been practicing a bit of self discipline the past few days. It seems I have a stockpile of quilt tops that are screaming to be quilted. I am certain that none of you have this issue that you feel that it must be dealt with. (pants on fire) That issue along with some health issues have prevented me from being too productive as of late. So I am determined to spend a bit of time doing some sporadic free motion quilting to clear the slate, deal with the onset of other issues and get ready for the holidays. Thus, I have nothing new to show. But wait. I have some old things to show thanks to Mom. She bought this delightful crib quilt years ago. To my mind it is SO SO Fresh Modern. Doncha think?

Fresh Modern Crib quilt from @ 1940s

block from crib quilt

OH, how I would love to find the fabrics that were used in this sweet quilt.

Twin one

No you are not seeing double. These are the lovely twin quilt mates.

Probably from the 1940's as well.

Twin two

What fun, huh? Although I am not normally drawn to these styles,
I am hard pressed to keep at my free motion quilting and not begin something new. There is something to be said about this fresh new/old look. I am re inspired.
Thanks Mom
What inspires you these days?

Explorations

2011-11-02T16:44:00.000-04:00

just to much chaos for me, today


which will calm the chaos a tiny bit?

pink/orange silk won out as the flavor of the day for a 58" x 68" finish

Pulling out all my books showing Gee's Bend quilts, browsing the web for Anna Williams, as well as some of my favorite quilters, it was time to just get on with it. Make a decision to complete this one as best as I could. It was not going to be an Anna Williams masterpiece, nor a Gee's Bend masterpiece, it will just be what it will be. It has been a love/hate affair of sorts, always depending on my mood. There has been difficulty separating the mind and the moods. Try as I might, I was not able to view it with a detached eye. As usual, the emotions won out. It is what it is, I am what I am. Finish this one up and keep exploring.
What have y'all been exploring lately?

Rebel inspiration

2011-10-25T16:27:00.003-04:00

How to arrange

twenty 11 1/2 inch blocks made from silk ties

too structured for me today

I tried integrating reds, pinks and all sorts of other ideas inspired by my fellow bloggers' comments. Nothing felt just right. Except this bright orange linen tie that I had yet to cut apart. Not enough in that skinny tie to last very long. So I had to give up on the idea of the linen, unless I want to stop and hand dye some linen fabric.

I opened one of the storage units that hold

my stash of multi-colored florals

and this Alexander Henry design was looking me straight in the face.

Maybe because of the brisk fall air, seeing pumpkins everywhere I go,

but shades of orange kept whispering to me. And then perhaps the upcoming holiday was hovering in the back of my mind too? I think that Sujata's brilliant use of color was also nudging at my subconscious. The ties were just not quite as colorful as I had hoped.

Now how to put together 11 1/2 inch blocks with 7 1/2 inch blocks. Don't even ask me how I ended up with these disparately sized quilt block units. Let's just say it was therapeutic at the time.

Late one night, perhaps because Kaffe Fasset was in town teaching and lecturing, I opened up one of his books of quilt patterns, "Passionate Patchwork". This may have also been the result of seeing Nifty's blog with the wonderful striped shirtings quilt as well as her suggestion of using black as a connector. Very dramatic, yes? Color issues solved for the moment.

But wait, too much black and too much orange to fill in the spaces, was detracting from the silk. I need to let the silks shine.

so more spacer blocks were needed.

And I won't bore you with the countless

arrangements and rearrangements.

Here is where it hangs now.

66" x 34"

No telling what may happen next. What you see is not always what I end up doing.
Thanks to all for your suggestions and inspiration. It's not over yet.

Ties

2011-10-14T21:17:00.001-04:00

The time has come to do something with all the silk ties I have stashed away. Some belonged to my father, my uncles, my son, my husband, my nephew and others came from thrift shops. I have an over abundance

Then there are the old silk blouses and slacks that I kept saving with the though that they might be back in style one day. Alas, I have tossed the shoulder pads that should be velcroed into the blouses for that 80's look, so needless to say, the fit is no longer very attractive. So they've been cut apart. Let me just say right now, that it finally keeps me from wearing them in public.

Then there are the pieces of silks that did and did not make it into garments

Next step, I washed everything all up and began taking the ties apart

when I needed a bit of "sit down, put my feet up time".

A few days ago, I took rotary cutter in hand and began slicing and dicing

the ties into approximately 2" inch strips.

Like so

Not having much experience with silk, I felt that it should be sewn onto some sort of backing. Making an executive decision, I cut 6 inch squares of muslin for the backing. Now to decide a pattern for the silk strips. Mulling it over and over, it's time to make the next executive decision. Let's sew these suckers down and get on with it.

Like so

All the original ideas that I had are out the window, and now it is audition time

on a silk blouse sleeve, a new look for garments: or maybe not

silk blouse strips, oh so traditional

use the silk ties center sections for sashings, tradition with a twist?

but then, why use all silk; use recycled linen slacks

The original intention was to use silk and only silk. The question of the day, do I want contrast? Tonight, methinks, it is all about the contrast. Dare I go back to both sides now?
Yes, Miz Scarlett, tomorrow is another day.
No telling what it may bring.
I am wide open for suggestion here. Don't be shy

Who's to say

2011-10-06T23:17:00.001-04:00

Maybe I should entitle this post

Venus and Mars

man and woman

night and day
or

positive and negitive
or
back and front

or
to and fro
or
right and wrong
or
left and right
or

opposites attract
or
need I continue?

I like the last one best. Occasionally opposites do attract.

Well to my mind, it worked this time.

so here it is:
Selveges inspired front

Mandingo inspired backing

In any case, I have finished a king sized bed quilt as you go. And my wrestling days are over, let me tell you. Marianne's QAYG method is fabulous, but I won't be doing another king bed size quilt in my life time. Call me lazy, call me a slacker, just don't call me to do another king size quilt. Whatever was I thinking?

Oh, and just for reference here, the Mandingo inspiration

Oh, and just to show the masculine feline approval (or at least I think he approves)

Both Sides Now
Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds * that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I've looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As ev'ry fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

Thank you Joni

back in bizness

2011-10-06T11:30:00.000-04:00

In an attempt to get back into a schedule, I have committed to completing somethings. Notice that I say somethings, as in plural. So here we go. Remember the block that I was exchanging with Sujata way back when? Our theme was to be trees. In case you don't recall, here 'tis:

"Family Holiday Tree"

Sujata's "Snow Falling on Cedars"

Sujata's block is exquisite. An amazing graphic piece that I hope to see again and yet again in an amazing quilt at some point whenever she decides it may happen. There was a story behind her block, but I will let her tell about it.
My block began simply but ended up being a bit more complicated. Long story short, ultimately we decided that we would return the respective blocks to each other for several reasons. It was an emotional decision for both of us, I do feel. What emotions we can connect via the web, right? Tears well up as I write.

At last I felt it was time to get on with it. Is it because of the approaching fall season which always brings the holiday emotions to the surface. Perhaps so, and I did get on with it. I expanded on my family trees. And now, I am thinking out loud here, can it be a year that has already passed? Yup, afraid so. YIKES.

Original block on the right.
Beginning the addition on the left.

and so it grew to a completed panel

I have joined more trees and finished this piece. Yet the cycles continue. As family goes, hopefully, it is never a complete journey. And as friends go, we hopefully continue to expand and connect via the w.w.w. and continue our journeys together. Who knew, huh?

my new friend, Irena

2011-10-05T11:34:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up my Mom has this old "ironer thing" that she used to starch and iron everything from the sheets and pillowcases to my Dad's overalls. Let me just say that we were a well-ironed family back in the day, much to the dismay of my brother and myself, as those starched pillow cases weren't the most comfy place to lay your head.

Mom finally gave up and got rid of the her ironer.

Years pass and and I sign up for a Nancy Crow workshop, which means I need to get busy dyeing more solid fabrics to add to my stash. Dyeing fabric also means lots of ironing. Ironing has never been something I was thrilled to spend time doing.

Guess what will handle one yard pieces of damp fabric like a champ?

You got it!

I discovered an old Ironrite on Craigslist, contacted the owner, and immediately took it off her hands. Let me introduce you to Irena, my new best friend.

a wet wrinkled pile of hand dyed fabrics

placed into Irena's hot arms

looks like this in a tenth of the time it would take if using my regular iron and board

And I might add that she does a bang up job ironing cloth napkins. I have been following my daughter's lead in trying to cut back on consumption of paper products. And since I have drawers full of cloth napkins, that I NEVER iron, we now have lovely crisply ironed napkins at meal times. Now to get to the pillow cases and sheets . . . . . .

Old news

2011-10-02T12:40:00.000-04:00

How do I begin? It seems that I cannot get back into the swing of blogging lately. Maybe it was the long hot summer, or my vacation trip to Portland and Seattle, or maybe I came home from my trip to be overwhelmed with a huge mess in my studio. Way too many unfinished quilts, all my stash piled here and there on the floor, lots of household chores to catch up, chaos of the mind? I would show you how bad it was, but I neglected (er-um refused) to take pictures of my mess.
Now that all is reorganized, put away, caught up, I wanted to share a few pictures of my visit with the Rebels of Seattle. I could not have felt more at home with this warm and welcoming group of ladies. Talk about ~~southern~~ northwestern hospitality! The meeting began with a yummy pot luck lunch on the Sally's deck in a warm, sunny Seattle. I had to really control myself to not go back for seconds and thirds. After all, I was a guest, who brought no food to share. But when everyone brought out their projects to share, I quickly forgot about the food. What a diverse group of talents.

You should see Patty's stripes up close and personal ~ WOWSER ~

Dawn's upcoming project using silk strips

Buffy's amazing use of solids and fabulous machine quilting

Nifty is hiding behind her glorious Madonna that she is handquilting.

If you have yet to discover this multi-talented group jump over the their site and take a look to see more. You will be delighted.

Nifty of http://www.niftyquilts.blogspot.com/and her husband graciously hosted my husband and I for two wonderful dinners and a bit of Seattle sightseeing. Sad to say I was so excited about meeting and getting to know them, that I neglected to take any pictures. But be on the lookout, because I am already looking for cheap flights to the Portland/Seattle area. I am thinking it should be a quarterly trip. And this time there will be less words and more pictures, I promise.

Portland visit

2011-09-19T17:12:00.000-04:00

Hubby and I have returned from parts west recently.

We had a fabulous visit with our daughter and her hubby and at long last got to meet our grandpuppy. Our first trip to Portland was delightful and seems an enticing area to live. There is so much happening, so much to do and see. Exquisite restaurants to satisfy whatever mood you may be in and acres of city parks, trails for hiking and biking, to work off the excess calories. Lots of accessible shops within walking distance of their home, to walk off more calories.

a hike near Mt Hood with Jevan, Casey & Winston

Lots of other shopping districts to explore throughout the city, like this great little shop.

Check out Tanner Goods Retail shop.
Guess who provided the interior design for this hot new spot?
If you guessed that it was my designing daughter, you were right on!
She even designed and made the light fixture for the shop.
tres' cool, eh?
She & her equally talented hubby,
along with their partners design, create, market and sell
top of the line leather items.
Casey & Jevan sweetly accommodated Mom & Dad by giving us a grand tour of Portland. Even the touristy things I wanted to see. Like the Chinese Gardens and the
International Rose Gardens, to mention a few.

Sad to say I didn't take pictures of some of the delightful restaurants we enjoyed, nor the lovely home cooked meals. Guess that means I will have to return, huh?

Oh, yes, a blog post is not complete without showing a picture of a quilt. Am I right?

Vanilla Bean has a new home. And here she is with the proud new owners.

I think they liked it.

Shakerag

2011-09-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

I've done it now!

I am going to Shakerag next June to spend

a week with the inimitable Nancy Crow.

This idyllic area is only a little more than an hour's drive from my home.

So why not, I say. Feed the soul, feed the creative forces within,
not to mention the exquisitely prepared
home grown, organic delights to feed the stomach.

I can't say when I've been more excited, except for week that I spent in the
presence of Ms. Ruth McDowell a few years ago.

I must admit, that I was somewhat terrified after I signed up for the workshop with Ruth, so I spent months making samples and learning her techniques from her books
before I left for the workshop.

I wanted to be prepared, you see.

What began in this workshop was another bloom

I came home so full of self confidence that
I beat my all time recorded for completing a quilt.

This type of design and structure is my passion. It is my own original design from start to finish with encouragement and assistance from Ruth in beginning a pattern. Rather than telling me what and how, she quietly guided me in the direction that I wanted to go and gave me more self confidence in myself that anyone had previously done.

So, now, I find myself yearning to broaden my field a bit. I've never been comfortable working with solids and geometrics, other than coping other quilts.
Or making simple pillow tops.

I want to do grand abstract art quilts and simplifying does not come easily to me on that scale. I am eager to learn and next June seems so far away. But then Mama always said, the older you get the faster time flies. And I've got lots of hand dyeing to do and lots of practice to do before next June.
I better start shaking

Gee's Whiz

2011-09-12T11:19:00.001-04:00

Here is what's been happening with the strips of pieced rectangles that I received from the lovely ladies participating in Victoria's

15 minutes play quilt bee

It all began in October based on the scrappy making fabric concept.

When It was my turn to "play", my original thought was to ask for strips of fabric rectangles sewn together. What I didn't divulge in my request for the strips is my idea for the putting them together. I would sew all the strips together, then cut them apart in "snakey curves". I would then sew in the "snakes" to rejoin them.

Sorta like these inspirational African American quilts:

Rather than actually making a quilt similar to my friends' Real Deal quilt

Once those strips began to arrive, I got a bit lazy. Plus I couldn't decide what color to use for the "snakes". Black snakes, green snakes, copperhead...........

the first strips came from Margaret

a few more from other bee members

And still more

Then I pulled out a few old words blocks that I had made years ago, I just knew it was meant to be. It just seemed to suit the mood of a bee concept. People sharing pieces of fabrics sewn together, inspiring one another, and having fun.

so to here

then to here

But wait there are more strips to come from other players,

it isn't over yet. There could still be snakes.

With so many strips of fabric, I can make two quilts.

Why not? Two for the price of one.

Green snakes,

black snakes,

copperheads,

coral snakes,

scarlet snakes,

even a python

forgive my naivete

2011-09-09T13:11:00.001-04:00

Not being a trained artist, I am constantly attempting to learn more about art, the history of art, design, all those dead artists as well as current artists. You get the picture. Right?

So forgive me. I am going to just show my naivete here and now.

I have been "studying" the artists of the Bauhaus style when a thought occurred to me.
When I look at the textile artists of that school I cannot help but make this obervation beginning with the woven textiles from Africa:

To the weavings from the Bauhaus school:

Gunta Stolzl of the Bauhous School

Gunta Stolzl

Anni Albers

To the African American quilters :

The Quilts of Gee's Bend

And other African American quilters

These may not be perfect examples, but I am going to post this anyway. (Blogger is yet again being uncooperative with my photos) If you have an interest, I suggest a trip to the library or book store to see what similarities you might find. It has been fun for me. This may be redundant to many of you. So please remember, that I am in no way a trained artist, nor critic, but just a woman of a certain age who is enjoying some exploration.

Control

2011-08-13T20:01:00.001-04:00

CONTROL
Let's talk about that. I spent the day whizzing pieces under the

walking foot of my Juki and thinking. I know why I am so compelled to complete this Selvage/Mandingo quilt. Ironically the front is of a circular design and the back is geometric, Which has gone through several design changes.

It is all about making order out of chaos. It always seems to be. Whatever might be occurring in my life, comes through when I am in my studio. When there is too much helter skelter happening in the rest of my life, I must create some type of order. Even though this design is not perfectly orderly and precisely pieced, it is a repetitious pattern of sorts. There is some semblance of control here. Along with a tad bit of design aesthetic perhaps?

As much as I should be completing Ms. Magnolia or Seashells on the Bay,

I have a need to join the ying & the yang and make it mesh. I need to pull other parts together in a harmonious union.
I will be able to get on with the others who are calling to me once that is accomplished

So that is my current reasoning as to why I am not able to complete a project

in a reasonable amount of time

It is all about having some control of my life.

And perhaps more about mental therapy.

And now
even though I seem to have no control whatsoever with formatting blogger
life goes on

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

2011-08-09T18:35:00.010-04:00

pillow fronts

pillows back

selvage quilt front in progress

Mandingo inspired back in progress

family trees are growing

Ms. Magnolia

2011-07-22T17:36:00.001-04:00

In answer to some previous questions:

It all began with this photograph that I took of an arrangement of magnolias that I created
for a bridal shower for my niece.

I traced the portion of the photo that I wanted to use, drew a pattern and enlarged it to 24" x 32".

And the fun began. Selecting and cutting my fabrics to be pieced.
And speaking of pieces:

Someone asked how large my pieces are in some of my quilts.

So, I finally remembered to document the sizes this time 'round.

Here's Ms. Mag with her twin as comparison while I am playing along.

And here they are, just about ready for piecing together. Scary isn't it.

I am always second guessing myself at this point. Until I sew some pieces together, then it becomes a bit more reassuring.

And even more reassuring when she's all sewn together and ready to quilt.

I met my friend Melody at her knitting group on Wednesday and we both did a preview showing of our textile arts. The knitting ladies seemed to really appreciate our efforts! Although Melody's art and my art is vastly different, it is so much fun to be able to appreciate what all of us ladies create. And WOW, you should see some of the spectacular things going on with those knitters.
Maybe one day they will teach me how to knit. . . . .

I could really use some of those gorgeous sweaters . . .

I digress, here's a close up of the center of Mag. I fused tiny pieces of hand dyes and after I've quilted her,
I plan (for now) to stitch some french knots to make certain that those teeny bits won't fall off.
It seems that folks have a tendency to try and pick at fused fabrics,
just to see if they can pry them up.
I would hate to see that happen, so I'll try and nip that in the bud!

Hope y'all have a great weekend and are keeping cool.

I said yes, again

2011-07-17T11:59:00.000-04:00

You cannot imagine how much I dislike the idea of packing and moving. Even packing for a minor short trip would put me in a tailspin. So when I was asked to participate in my home town museum's Appalachian Artisans Festival, I immediately froze. I have never had any desire to participate in a show. That would mean selecting some of my textile art, packing it up, coming up with a reasonable display, making business cards, an artist statement, etc, etc, etc. Yet, the wonderful staff at the

Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland, TN,

has been so supportive of my art, displaying it in their lobby and

selling it in the gift shop for me,

how could I say no. So I said yes.

MY SPACE

I came up with a display idea at the last minute, and schlepped my stuff over

to the museum bright and early Friday morning.

Dreading this past weekend, would be an understatement. But today, let me just say, not only is the dread over, I had a fantastic time. I met some wonderful artists as well as many people who came just to meet me in person. Me?! I really dislike self promotion and being a braggart, but what a confidence booster to find that so many people appreciate what I love to create. And one of the lovely people liked one of my larger pieces well enough to buy it.

SPRING RIOT

The fact that it is not an inexpensive piece, more's the better. As this was the most expensive piece ever to be sold from the museum gift shop and their artisan festival,

or so I've been told.

I have learned a lot about myself this past weekend. For one thing, I discovered that you are never to old to try something new. And, now I have even more reason to spend time doing what I love to do because I must get ready for the Appalachian Artisans Festival in November, as well as preparing for my one woman show in October at the local university.

Appalachian Artisans Festival

2011-07-17T11:10:00.001-04:00

You cannot imagine how much I dislike the idea of packing and moving. Even a minor short trip would put me in a tailspin. So when I was asked to participate in my home town Museum's Appalachian Artisans Festival, I immediately froze. That would mean selecting some of my textile art, packing it up, coming up with a reasonable display, making business cards, an artist statement, etc, etc, etc. The wonderful staff at the Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland, TN, has been so supportive of my art, displaying it in their lobby and selling it through the gift shop, how could I say no. The past coup

the last bloom of the season

2011-07-04T21:20:00.001-04:00

I was compelled to cut the last one. It was already beginning to get brown spots and the beetles were having their way with the edge of one of the petals. I spontaneously snipped it, brought it into my studio and placed it in shallow dish with a bit of water. I placed it on top of my inherited aunt's cedar chest so as to enjoy the beauty and fragrance all day.

In case you might ask, I adore magnolia blossoms. And I have been tempted forevermore to create an art quilt depicting a blossom that I could enjoy throughout the year. In the south, we use the leathery leaves from our magnolia trees to decorate our house all year long. But only in the late spring and early summer are we captivated and delighted with their most magnificent blooms and enchanting fragrance. So here's the teaser for my next quilt. It is not nearly as large as the last one, but a challenge, none the less.

I drew up the pattern for Miss Magnolia on Friday morning, selected my fabrics and played around with the whites for a while. Not to be neglectful, I felt obliged to at least begin quilting on Ms. Lantana.

In the midst of my intense machine quilting today, my husband ventured into the studio, "er-ah, are you ready for lunch/?" Which translates, "come make my lunch for me." While he was lingering in the doorway, he casually mentioned the number of projects that I have on my walls. Well, yes, there is a bit going on around in my AADD mind which somehow leaps onto the walls. One of which is an online quilt bee in which I am participating over at Bumble Beans 15 Minutes Play. You must make the jump over there to see what is going on with that. No need in me being too redundant, yet again. Victoria has set up a wild, wacky wonderful playground which has enticed me to play along.

Oh, so, back to my wall. I just received a delightful package from Beth with the requested strips for my 15 minute play project. LOVE 'EM

Thank you so much Beth. They are perfect.

And Margaret posted hers on the 15 minute blog, which I cannot wait to receive. Luscious!

What I failed to mention in my request on the 15 minute play blog for said strips of fabric rectangles, is my ultimate goal for said strips. Which I am anxiously awaiting from 9 other lovely ladies. Yes, yes, I know you think that this is going to be a simple repro of the elegant quilt of my friend that I have been lusting for. But I have some secret designs in mind for this beauty, which will be reveled at a later time.

Eeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiii

I see fireworks as I type.

Happy Independence Day to All

2011-06-30T17:51:00.000-04:00

Remember those pillows that I made a while back?

. Encouraged by Melody, I am trying to stretch and flex a bit more. I have been playing around with my hand dyed fabrics and commercial solids. I can not be so presumptuous as to compare myself with such a artist as Mel. But then, coming from the age old mindset of waste not, want not", what shall I do with these bits of flexations?

hand dyed blues, plums, and chartreuse, shot cotton and grey cotton

light grey & black cotton and white sateen cotton

hand dyed Dijon and white sateen cotton

It would seem that they are just the right size for pillows. So why not?

It is just another obsession of mine. I call it cuddle art.

plays well with others

pillow front

pillow back

Have any of you been flexing and stretching lately?

Phases

2011-06-27T20:05:00.034-04:00

Not to be redundant, but does anyone else encounter this dilemma
when working on a quilt of your own design?

Phase 1: Brilliant inspirational visions

Phase 2: Fascinating fabric choices

Phase 3: What the heck was I thinking

Phase 4: Oh, yeah, this might work

Phase 5: What the heck was I thinking

Phase 6: Oh yeah! It's coming together just like I planned

Phase 7: What the heck was I thinking

Phase 8: Whew! This might work after all

Phase 9: How in the world am I going to quilt this thing

Phase 10: To be determined

closing in

2011-06-24T11:18:00.000-04:00

All of the little pieces are sewn together. Now to join the larger sections and she'll be ready to quilt. I may let her hang for a few more days to see if I need to make any last minute changes that my eyes haven't yet caught.

Hope every one has a wonderful weekend.

The Real Deal

2011-06-20T16:37:00.000-04:00

My friend Laura and her hubby enjoy auctions.

They always finds the BEST DEALS ever.

Check out this beauty. I feel certain that it is of African American origin from Tennessee. Or at least one of our bordering states. It is made from ginghams, chambrays, corduroy, twills, wool tweeds & plaids, florals to mention a few. I was immediately in love with this quilt ~ wonderful soft colors and great graphics.

The backing is a ticking stripe and it is quilted, quite nicely,

in the traditional Baptist Fan pattern.

Although it has been patched here and there, it is none the worse for wear, considering that it must have been a utilitarian quilt used every night. Laura and Steve graciously allowed me to share this beauty. I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as I. And of course, it is on my list to reproduce.

And while I am on the topic, I wanted to share another local African American quilt which was shown in the local museum quilt show a couple of years ago. This one, also, is on my list to reproduce. Isn't it lovely?

Hope y'all have a wonderful week, full of great deals.

Cover Girl

2011-06-14T16:43:00.011-04:00

Thistles is a cover girl!

The wedding weekend

2011-06-07T12:32:00.000-04:00

It was a wonderful weekend. I could not have captured it more delightfully than my daughter, Casey. If you would like to see why I haven't had a lot of time to blog or stitch recently, jump over to

www.thekidcollective.com

for the weekend update

And click here as well.

for a look at her new favorite old quilt.

I suspect that she will have more to show in the coming days. I know that she took tons of photos, so I am anxiously awaiting what she might have for us. Casey is an interior designer working in Portland, OR. She also works a full/time part/time job her with partners at

Tanner Goods

creating lovely items. Their flagship shop just opened,

and guess who designed the interior as well as designed

and built a creative chandelier for lighting this new shop?

Needless to say, Mom and Dad are very proud of her many accomplishments.

And I would like to shamelessly suggest to anyone in her area in need of an interior designer, you couldn't find anyone more talented than my daughter.

My new/old coffee table

2011-05-31T17:57:00.003-04:00

Last summer my cousin's husband, Joe, ran across a mother load of old factory carts sitting out in a lot in our hometown. They were all in pretty bad shape, but he was able to purchase a couple at a great price. After showing me his deals, I immediately ran over to this lot to pick one up for myself. Alas, the owner decided that he didn't want to part with any more of his carts for the price that my cousin paid. He had raised the price 5 fold. Feeling quite disappointed, I just couldn't dig that deep into my pocket for something that I would have to completely restore, I returned home with no cart.

A few days later, I went out my back door to find this cart.
Joe to the rescue!
The picture doesn't do the paint color justice.
It wasn't blue, it was florescent blue.

Despite my protests that he should not feel obliged to share his luck with me, he insisted.
The cart sat in our garage collecting assorted piles of stuff for several months. A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was about time to talk our friend, Phillip, into sandblasting the metal parts for me. He and my husband, Steve, took the whole thing apart and sandblasted it, put it back together and Steve sprayed the metal parts with a sealer. I sanded and varnished the wood. And the family room is now graced with my new/old favorite piece of furniture. I can't take the credit for the idea of using this old cart for a coffee table, but if you click right here, you will see the very pricey inspiration. Needless to say, my version ended up costing . . . . well let's just say, if you move the decimal point over to the left 2 digits, you will get the idea.

Thanks Joe, Phillip and Steve.
I am thrilled with my new coffee table.

If I could put time in a bottle . .

2011-05-30T20:16:00.000-04:00

At last, I have been able to find a few hours to work on Ms. Lantana. You might notice a distinctive line in this photo. That is because I have sewn the top left section, but the lower section is only partially sewn together. It seems that I am having a bit of an issue with my drawing/pattern for the full bloom in the section on the right. When I made my original pattern, it was, if you might recall, quite a bit smaller than the finished piece. Thus, as I began to cut my fabric from the enlarged pattern, I also began some redrawing. Note to self: I must learn to perfect the pattern before embarking on a piece of this complexity. It seems that this has resulted in quite a bit of confusion for me. I seem to enjoy torturing myself by making things more difficult than they should be. But then, as I always say, I do love a good challenge. Or is it a case of putting the donkey behind the cart? Sigmund would have a field day with me, huh?
Oh, and there is another reason that I had not been paying attention to Ms. Lantana. I was in a panic. It seems that I was running very low on my hand dyed orange, yellow and green fabrics. That resulted in having to clean up the space in my garage and reassemble my dyeing studio. Now that I have my freshly dyed fabrics to work into the mix, I am back with a vengeance, for a day or two at least.

OH! to be able to spend 12 uninterrupted hours a day, 6 days a week in my studio.
C'est la vie.

moving along

2011-05-30T19:38:00.000-04:00

more on my log cabin with posies

2011-05-20T17:50:00.001-04:00

At the requests of a few nice folks, I am going to post a few more pictures and details of Ms. Posy.

Someone asked if I would show some close ups of the flowers. It just so happens that I have a couple of
in progress pictures from my design wall.

I began by making log cabin flowers.

These began with an approximately 1 1/4 inch hexagon center snipped with scissors and no pattern. I sewed 1 to 1/ 1/2 inch strips of fabric around the hexagon. These posies ended up as hexagons, heptagons, and octagons approximately 4 to 6 1/2 inches in size.

For these particular posies, I began by freely cutting ,with my scissors, a hexagon approximately 2 inches x 1 1/4 inches. More or less. Because with no rulers or patterns each hexagon will be slightly different in size and shape. I then cut various sized wedges ranging in size from 4 inches to 1 inch. Again, more or less. Choosing 2 to 5 wedges, I sewed them together, to have "petals" to the approximate size of one of the sides of the hexagon center. Then I was able to stitch them onto one side of the hexagon of corresponding size.
I continued this process until I was happy with the design/shape of the posy.

I had so much fun with these, I wanted to experiment with a few more types as well as leaves

Here is a collage of several as they look in the completed quilt. All stitched down with free motion zig zag style, raw edges, a bit ravely once washed.

Someone else asked about sizes of the log cabins in the border.
I took my cue from the background in it's original state

Realizing that I have very loosely interpreted the traditional log cabin block, I can only say I made them in sizes ranging from 7" x 6 " to 9" x 12 ".
These were then trimmed to fit the finished width of the border which is
6 inches wide .

Again, it was fantastic fun. I can't say which parts of this quilt I had more fun playing with. I can say, in readdressing this process, I am inspired to make another spontaneous, unstructured,
flying by the seat of my pants, no holds barred, sunshine day.

And it just so happens that I have a background all pieced up and waiting in the wings for splashes of color.

Have a weekend full of sun and fun, y'all.

my cinco by hand

2011-05-18T02:10:00.000-04:00

At the tender age of 62 years +11 months, I have decided it is high time to learn a bit about hand quilting. I have tried in the past, but never stuck with my attempts long enough to actually get the feel for it. It seems I just did not have the required patience to practice, practice, practice. After a few minutes of quilting, I would become frustrated because my stitches weren't blue ribbon perfect, and became a quitter. Not a quilter. What was I thinking?

This is a quilt I finished a few years ago, when I was using other people's patterns. It is Cinco de Mayo, by Karen Stone and I just loved all those happy colors and fabrics. I did change the arrangement and made mine into a bed size quilt, as in 110" x 110". I got it all ready to machine quilt by stitching in the ditch. YIKES. I do hate stitching in the ditch by machine. And that was precisely what I felt this quilt was calling for. So I dragged it out from under Juki, spread it out on a table in my sunroom was inspired to take needle in hand.

Yes, yes, I know, you are all saying that I have now officially lost my mind. But you know, the mood was just right. It is something I can sit down and relax with (or learn to relax with) and my awkward and uneven stitiches don't show up (too much) among all those fabrics and tiny paper piecing. I am actually becoming hooked on this process. What is the saying about teaching old dogs new tricks? Dog gone it! I am not going to be an old dog yet.

Check back in with me around 2016.

for Mallory Kate

2011-05-17T22:50:00.000-04:00

Quilt label (front)

Mallory Kate (front)

Mallory Kate (back)


machine quilting closeup

quilt care label

Mallory's mom chose the fabrics to coordinate with the nursery decor and asked for a simple quilt that could grow with her into her "big girl" bed. I made it into a twin size so that Mallory will enjoy using it for years to come. She is a month old now and is a beautiful, sweet baby. I hope I am still around to see her carry it off to college.

Navy Airman

2011-05-16T14:31:00.000-04:00

My nephew just graduated from Great Lakes Navy boot camp this weekend. He will be an asset to the Navy and to all around him. He is a very intelligent, responsible young man and will be a leader in his field very soon, of that I am certain.

Carter W. Hancock second from right with his new mates

I cannot express how proud I am of my sister's youngest son and I know that she is proud of him as she looks down on him from above.

Carter and his lovely friend, Sarah

my cinco by hand

2011-05-14T18:32:00.000-04:00

At the tender age of 62 years +11 months, I have decided it is high time to learn a bit about hand quilting. I have tried in the past, but never stuck with my attempts long enough to actually get the feel for it. It seems I just did not have the required patience to practice, practice, practice. After a few minutes of quilting, I would become frustrated because my stitches weren't blue ribbon perfect, I became a quitter. Not a quilter. What was I thinking?

Check back in with me around 2016.

for Mallory Kate

2011-05-11T11:03:00.000-04:00

Quilt label (front)

Mallory Kate (front)

Mallory Kate (back)


machine quilting closeup

quilt care label

A Southern Bridal Shower

2011-05-07T11:47:00.088-04:00

After the storm, life is returning to normal for many of us. My niece, Sarah Beth, will be married in June. To celebrate the upcoming event, I hosted, along with my cousin, Lora, a bridal shower at my home. We decided on a very traditional, southern style, girlie party with all the fixings. Mom and I polished up the silver and washed the crystal. I washed and ironed the linens. Lora and I made made yummy finger foods and champagne punch. I trimmed the blooms and leaves from the southern magnolias and dogwoods for decorations. It was so much fun to do something special and girlie pretty. It was a such a sunny, happy day.

Lots of lovely ladies dropped in bearing gifts for the bride to be.

the bride and her grandmother

And of course quilts were involved. The bride and groom were happy to finally get their hands on this quilt that I had custom made for them.

I do think it was a huge success. And now we are all looking forward to the wedding.

And while I wait, I guess I will fill part of the time getting back into my studio and getting my hands on some fabric.

a long and winding road

2011-04-30T15:42:00.015-04:00

Just when you think that you can take a deep breath, things are all under control and you will have time to spend doing the things that you enjoy, it all comes crashing down. I, personally, have good news to report for most of my family and friends. But there are so many not so lucky. I have found pieces of homes and family possessions scattered over my yard and neighborhood from the horrific storms of April 27, 2011.

My son's yard in the Chattanooga area.
He was one of the lucky ones.

my favorite quilt shop

Sew Bee It

Ringgold, Georgia
not so lucky

You can view more pictures of destruction in this area
by clicking here if you are inclined

My great friend, Martha Steele, has been helping in salvaging as much as possible and was able to recover many of the quilts hanging in the shop, including one of mine. Many of the ladies, along with Martha,who are employed by the shop owner, Gloria Black, have dug in and begun helping her to recover whatever is possible in the shop. They are also pitching in to assist the rest of their town, which was almost totally destroyed.

I know that quilts are not a priority in this time of crisis. However, it is just a small indication of how all of the surrounding areas in southeast Tennessee, northwest Georgia as well as Alabama, Mississippi, and other parts of the south have joined together to help one another and begin the long process of restoring, healing, and recovering.

Please keep everyone in your heart. It will be a long road ahead.

just so you know

2011-04-18T15:18:00.000-04:00

For the past week I have been in a coma of sorts. Don't be alarmed, not a medical coma, but a technical coma. First my computer got a virus and crashed. Bought a new PC, got it up and going within a week. Yippee, back in the high life again. Or so I thought. Next it seems that the new computer was already having major problems. Back and forth to the shop where I had made my purchase. Not the computer's problem, it seems. It is issues with AT&T in my neck of the woods. Next my telephone and Internet goes totally out of commission for 168 hours, give or take an hour or two. The solution was quite simple, however, AT&T just seemed to keep putting me on their back burner day after day and almost put me over the edge of sanity. I knew I was spending far too much time on the Internet. But I didn't realize how addicted I had become to my PC and the WWW. Or how much I depended on the www for all sorts of things. Maybe now, for the time being, or until it rains again in southeast Tennessee, I am reconnected. Whew! Enough of that rant.

Now it seems that since I couldn't constantly hop over to my PC and check on what is going on in the world, I did spend much more time working on pieces in my studio. I actually got lots accomplished. I even cooked a few nice dinners, and got out and exercised a bit. I am feeling so much better today. I have been able to check in on my friends to see what I have missed. Y'all have all been really busy out there. Wow, have I got a lot of catching up to do.

Let me show y'all a bit of what I've been up to since I've been on my high tech hiatus. Remember my last post about my lantana? I have made several creative decisions, gotten several hundred more pieces cut, and some sections sewn together.

This is one fabric choice for the background that I ruled out. Although the picture makes it look a bit better, the deep blue and purple was far too overpowering in real life.

I took my background clue from one of the names that lantana is also known by, "sand verbena." I made some design changes, since I choose less busy fabrics for the background. That meant much more piecing, but why not make it more complicated somewhere along the way, as is, far too often, my modus operandi.

And here is where I am today. About 500 pieces (or more) (who's counting) later.

Got several more things accomplished, which I will show and tell at a later time. If I don't loose my connection, yet again.

my Lantana has begun to grow

2011-04-05T15:10:00.000-04:00

Deciding to begin with the most difficult sections seems to have been a good idea on my part. I wanted to be certain that the teeny pieces would have the desired effect. And be worth the effort. Try as I might, I just could not come up with a more simple pattern. I am certain that Ruth McDowell could easily simplify it. If she saw what I was doing, she would likely run screaming from her computer. I also opted, rather than use all commercial prints, stripes, dots, etc, as I normally love doing, it was time to cut into all those hand dyed fabrics that I created last summer. This would give a different look to the piece.

Working on the first section, I had serious doubts.

The next section, I am thinking that maybe this was not a such good pattern after all.

Stressing out over values and selecting just the perfect color was another issue. I had to constantly remind myself that I was not striving

for a photographic image,

but an interpretation using geometric shapes.

(You should see all the post it notes covering the ironing surface, my machine and the design wall. Being of a "certain" age seems to bring on a dependency on such items.)

is that pathetic or what

A few days later and I have pressed on and I am thinking that it could be worth the effort.

So here we are. Some on the tiny pieces have been sewn together. Which is not what I normally do. Since they are not much bigger than my little finger nail, I was afraid they would get lost in the shuffle. So why not go ahead and stitch them up. If one of these little sections doesn't look quite right, I can always remake it. Once I have all of my small sections made, then I will sew them into larger sections. When all the sections are sewn together,

it should be about 76" X 60".

Unless . . . . . .

I only use half of the pattern for this piece and save the other half for another quilt.

Or it could even become a triptych.

Three small quilts rather than one large quilt.

Oh the options.

I am now thinking that as the larger sections are sewn together

Ms. Lantana will look even better.

Methinks that these sunny colors are just the anticdote for rainy day blues.

I keep forgetting how nice it is to sit down and write myself right through the angst of the unknown. Gotta put up a post-it note for that too!

what's next

2011-03-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

I shot this photo a couple of years ago at our cottage in north Florida.

Thinking that it would be my next project.
The time has come, at long last to begin my next project.

This is going to be one of my most difficult pieces to date, because I want to try and highlight each of these blossoms within the blooms. What caught my attention, initially, were the buds.
I was fascinated by their unusual shape.

After taking umpteen pictures, I chose a few that weren't too blurry and printed them off. From those pictures I chose 4 (so far) blooms that l liked and arranged them for my sketch which would become the basis for drawing the pattern. Here's a peek at the progress.

Because of the tiny pieces involved, I drew it out on a 19 x 24 inch piece of paper. I laid a piece of tracing paper, the same size, over the drawing to begin working out the pattern. Got a bit done, but it could be simplified, unless I decide that I really want to piece it this way. I played with an enlarged section to see how this might play out.
I normally used multiple commercial print fabrics, but this time I want to use mostly my hand dyed fabrics. Since I did all that fun dyeing last summer, it is high time to cut into them. And I found that I had gobs of fabric that would work perfectly.

Now to enlarge the entire drawing. And thanks to my friend, Melody, I now have use of her overhead projector. She generously offered and I gratefully accepted. Thanks Mel. No more trying to explain to the clerks at the enlargement booth at the local office supply chain how I would like to have this enlarged. "Oh," they would ask, "is this for stained glass? It will be beautiful". "No", I reply, " it isn't a stained glass, it is an art quilt." At which point, they would smile blankly and dismissively then totally ignore my requests for enlargement size.

Yes, yes, I know. The last quilt was no rules, seat of the pants fun. But I have fun drawing patterns as well. I just have fun challenging myself. I so enjoy trying something new each and every day. Beside, I've got two other seat of the pants projects on the design wall to keep me loosey, goosey, when the mood strikes. And I've got a new toy to play with to boot. I'm off to play with the projector. I promise that I will do my best not to break it, Mel. I am soooo excited.

It started with this

2011-03-22T18:11:00.003-04:00

it started with this

it ended up like this

Don't you think that it would make a wonderful rug for my family room.

If only everyone would remove their shoes before walking on it.

I named it

"not your prim and proper log cabin with posies inspired by the ladies of Gee's Bend"

I followed no rules, no patterns and broke most of the right and correct methods of piecing,applique, quilting, and binding that I possibly could.

It was most fun I have ever had in making a quilt.

I highly recommend this method.

TGIF

2011-03-18T20:57:00.001-04:00

Thank god it's Friday.

Although when you are retired, every day is Friday. Well, almost everyday, some days are not so Fridayish, some days it seems as if I need to get an outside of the home, paying job for a bit of relief. Nah, not gonna happen anytime soon.

Let me start over:

Thank god it's finished:

I think that I actually had more trouble photographing Vanilla Bean, that I did working with a neutrally colored design. Forty odd shots later, this is the best I could do.

The quilt as you go method was so, so cool. It was almost a shock to realize that once it was all stitched together, it was completed except for stitching on the binding. I am so hooked on this technique. "Beanie" finished up to a whopping 68" X 82".
What began as playing around with linen scraps left over from making slacks, jackets, blouses, along with all types of scraps of batting,

resulted in a lovely coverlet for someone's bed. Probably not my bed, alas,

as Miss Annie-cat's claws would reek havoc with the coarse, linen weave.

The QAYG method easily allows for straight stitching feed dogs up style. Which is what I did with Beanie, since there is no way I can stitch a straight line free motion style. But now that I have gotten this under my belt, why not try a bit of free motion quilting on the next piece.

Got this Fresh Modern style piece in the works, which I had originally planned to straight stitch. However, it just seemed to be asking for a curly, loopy design and off I go. Best laid plans never seen to work for me. Nothing could be easier than free motion quilting on a piece that is only 12" to 15" in width. Even though it is 62" in length, it is much more easily manipulated under Juki. In no time at all I've gotten one panel all quilted up. Great practice for my free motion skills.

Only four panels to go, add the QAYG border, and voila', instant quilt. Let me tell you folks, I am sold on this. In case you missed my previous post on what I am talking about, and you have an interest in giving this a go, jump over to The Quilting Edge.

Marianne has the best tutorial on how to.

It's the weekend, go have some fun!

aren't surprise gifts the best ever?

2011-03-08T15:26:00.000-05:00

This surprise arrived yesterday.

From a delightful lady, Emily, a.k.a, Joanie Appleseed.

She practices random acts of kindness, something that this world needs more of.

This piece of sunshine will be a constant reminder to me of this fact.

If I am feeling blue, I can look at this and be instantly uplifted.

Thank you, Emily Douglas, from the way down bottom of my heart.

You are an inspiration in so many ways.

I hope that life is repaying you a thousand fold.

And the winner is

2011-03-03T18:34:00.000-05:00

I have arranged and rearranged and then rearranged again. Trying to find the right balance. It is difficult for me to do when playing with monochromatic neutrals. I settled on this layout. But to add color or not to add color. I do so love to play with color and pattern.


One suggestion I received, during the agony of trying to decide whether to add color or not to add color, came from Sujata. Why not try adding some delicate saffron slivers rather than the strips with the tiny bits of colors. I loved this thought. As I tried playing around with this idea, the light bulb went from 75 watt to 150 watt. This piece does not need any color. What was I thinking? Each block is quilted in it's own pattern, as if it were a separate piece of fabric. It needs no more than that. She had gently led me back to my original thought, which was a soft, neutral quilt. Thank you Sujata. Isn't it wonderful to have so many good friends to help you find your way back home?

And VANILLA BEAN it is

Joining the individual blocks were a breeze. Joining the longer strips of blocks, not so easy. Well, the joining part was easy. I did enjoy the challenge of hiding the joining strips. And the challenge of fitting all the odd sized blocks together. Since there is no busy pattern to hide the strips, I didn't want them to be in your face.

Guess you can still pick them out, but hopefully I've made it a bit tricky to see.

Now you've got to quilt these joining strips and that involves more manipulating. But then, it still beats quilting the whole quilt. I could get used to this.

I could have this whole thing completed by next week, if I stick to it.

But there is this other project that I keeps asking for rearrangement. She provides a nice break when I begin to be a bit twitchy from sewing straight lines and cramming all that linen under the sewing machine throat. Here is what she is feeling like today.

What does she make you think of?

Hopefully not a Las Vegas showgirl's head dress.

We'll she how she feels tomorrow.

I have been Leibstered

2011-03-02T18:22:00.000-05:00

Marianne over at The Quilting Edge has presented me with the Liebster Award. I am so honored to be recognized by her, as she is quite the talented artist. She continues to inspire me with each post. And, I might add, teach me a thing or two as well.
Here are the rules:

Tell your readers who tagged or nominated you.
Add a link to their blog.
Pay it forward!!! Award 3-5 bloggers who you think deserve this award.
Inform them and post directions to your blog
Pick blogs with under 300 followers

As there are so many talented quilt artists out there, it is quite difficult to choose only a few. I would really like to give a shout out loud to all of you out there and say that y'all are just plain wonderful folks. Since rules are meant to be broken, I guess I could do just that. However, being a bit lazy when it comes to typing in all the links to all the blogs that I check in on through out the days and weeks, I would probably end up with carpel tunnel syndrome. So let me just say that from all y'all, because I have always tried to follow the rules, I have selected some ladies, that I would like to pay it forward. Just because.

Click on each of their names and see why I chose them:

LeeAnn
who just keeps on coming up with wonder upon wonder

Emily

who I have renamed Joanie Appleseed because she is constantly spreading the seeds of happiness, cheer and thought provoking wisdom

Stacey
who blows me away with her designs and use of color

I promise that you won't be disappointed when you jump over to see what they have going on.

adding some toppings to the vanilla.

2011-02-23T18:54:00.000-05:00

So, I have quilted all of the individual blocks.

I think it was the most fun I have ever had in doing machine quilting. Well, at least not nearly as stressful as maneuvering a big quilt under my Juki. Most of the blocks have similar, repetitive designs but on the occasional block, I just had to stitch something a bit different.

So now comes the big decision. To add or not to add.

The bits 'o color strips.

I had all but decided to only use the goldish bits and already dubbed her as Butter Brickle, I just had the feeling red was going to be too abrasive. Not that I think red itself is abrasive, because there is nothing better than red in a quilt. And I am thinking that the blues and greens were adding too much contrast. I just had mono on my mind. Or perhaps because it was warm and sunny outside, I didn't need any added color. But today was cooler and not so bright, I thought to try again. I needed some reds and greens and blues. I think I will let her hang a while longer and see what happens during the next few days.

Do you ever think that the way you make a final decision on something creative

just might be based on your mood at the time? Or the weather?

And now I am so in the mood for color. So I took 3-4 steps in my studio

and turned to my other design wall.

Another design idea for peacock colors. Using this as my inspiration.

it has been a vanilla week

2011-02-18T21:28:00.000-05:00


Monday

Tuesday

Friday


sample of a quilted block

Finding that linen, linen/cotton blend and linen/rayon blend fabrics tend to be a bit slippery, I am happy that I decided to begin this project in the quilt as you go manner. Also finding also no matter that I cut several the blocks the same size, once they are pressed and quilted, they are no longer the same size. So the remaining blocks, or about half of them are just random sizes. That makes for more challenges, as in how to connect all the blocks nicely. Hopefully I will be able to vary the joining strips to accommodate the size differences, using some of my bits o' color strips. And hopefully makes for a more interesting design.

As I was quilting the blocks, with absolutely no preplanned idea of what I would be doing from minute to minute, it dawned on me, that it had the feel of American Indian piecework designs. Or so it feels to me. Which led me back to my original inspiration, which I had forgotten all about. It was a Pendleton blanket that my daughter had posted on her website,

click here,

as a nice Christmas gift for someone special.

If you check out that blanket you will see

colored stripes on an off white background.

And now I am ready for chocolate, strawberry, peach, lemon, lime, pineapple. . . .

ANYTHING WITH COLOR!

Hope you have a weekend full of sunshine and color.

being neutral continues to be a challenge

2011-02-13T17:18:00.003-05:00

Thursday's progress

Friday's progress

Sunday's progress

I won't be boring by posting the umpteen other arrangements.

Maybe just use one color in the strips,

or perhaps stay totally neutral, like my original commitment,

or make many more multi-color strips to play with.

Or rearrange all of the blocks, yet again.

Or better yet, slash all these blocks and then rearrange.
Oh yeah, at this point the measurements are approximately 50" x 60"
and I am shooting for a finished size of around 66" x 78" or lap size.

a foto-less friday

2011-02-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

Even after all the encouragement from everyone on my neutral state of mind, I just kept spinning my wheels today. I made a couple more blocks, then began another peacock block, then couldn't even muster up the courage to quilt some more on my log cabin posy quilt. So I decided it was time to clean up my studio. That always helps clear the cobwebs. Then I also decided it was time to rearrange my studio. Sorry, no studio pictures of the before. I started dragging things around before I thought to take a quick snapshot. I am still not completely happy with the new arrangement, but as my Mother was quick to point out, I have too much stuff in this room. I bit my tongue and did not mention to her that I had been planning to move my studio to our spacious basement apartment where she now resides. Ah, well, it is all for the best.. Anyone want to buy a gently used sewing machine? Or actually three? Or a nice little featherweight, which has only been out of it's travel case a very few times in the last, er, perhaps, uh, 30 years? Indeed, I do have too much stuff.

And I am so happy to have Mother close by. She will be celebrating her 91st birthday next Tuesday. Can you just imagine? She is 91 years young, still driving her own car, doing her own thing, but yet complaining that she just can't understand why she isn't able to do as much as she used to be able to do. We should all be so lucky. We will celebrate her birthday with her favorite meal. Meatloaf, macaroni & cheese, green beans, sweet corn, fried okra, mashed potatoes, cornbread, ~ all done southern style of course. Many of the items which were frozen and canned from the summer garden. Oh, and apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream and cheddar cheese for dessert. This is a sample of the meals that I ate almost every day of my life for 18 + years. All from our dairy farm and vegetable gardens.

On to other things. Baby Evie arrived today, a bit early, but healthy and beautiful. So I really should get back to work on her peacock quilt. Her momma will be much to busy to collaborate on any quilts for a few months. At any rate, she was happy to see what I had started and gave me the go ahead on having my way with it.

Tomorrow I will be meeting a small group of ladies who want to organize a Modern Quilt Guild in the Chattanooga, TN area. This is so exciting, let me repeat, so exciting, for me to be able to meet others in my area who have similar interests.

And last but not the least. I received delivery of a wonderful gift. Snow falling on Cedars. From Sujata. It is on my design wall. Awaiting my inspirations. But radiating such emotion. I feel from our communications that we have so much in common. Receiving this piece from her connects us in even more ways. It is a gift from her heart and I will treasure it. Isn't it a wonderful world? Just like Louis Armstrong sang:

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Songwriters: Thiele, Robert;Weiss, George David

I've committed to be neutral

2011-02-10T17:45:00.001-05:00

I am off and running with the neutrals. With bits '0 color.

Using the quilt as you go method, but doing it my way, I've been playing around. Trying to prevent myself from over thinking the thing. Y'all do know how difficult that can be. The first block is pretty cool, so I went ahead and quilted it. Just to see how that process works, but the real reason is because I have no patience at all. I couldn't wait to jump into the thing. The second block is a bit better, so I quilted it too. Yippeee this is fun, so I play with number three block. Number 3 is cool, but doesn't work for me with number 1 and 2 when I put everything on the design wall. Let's make block four and five and see how that goes. In between each one I am placing them on the design wall and scratching my head, looking for a way for them to fit together. Changing and rearranging. And yes, over thinking them. Here is where they stand at this point.

Now I have fully realized that I must get on with just making the blocks, throw them up on the design wall (unquilted) and see where it takes me. No more worrying that I have too many lights, too many * darks*, not enough white. The more blocks that I make, the more I learn and the more Gee's Bend-ish the seem to feel. Well, Gee's Bend without color. Ya think? At this juncture I am open for any and all opinions.

* the tones on my computer screen show more contrast between the fabrics than they actually appear in person. The darkest strip is actually a light shade of oatmeal.

Just so you know

2011-02-09T12:44:00.000-05:00

When I posted my previous blog, I wasn't sure if my friend, Sujata, was ready to be exposed! And I had not yet received her block. Let me tell you, I am constantly hovering around my mailbox the last few days, anxiously awaiting her package. If case you aren't already aware of this prolific and extremely talented artist, take the time to check out her personal blog, her group blog, and her Flickr portfolio. When I ran across her photos of her amazing quilts, I felt a whole new world had been opened to me. I am constantly amazed at her talent and the volume of works that she produces. She has such a wonderful style and talent with color. So when she asked if I would like to exchange blocks, I was nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. What could I possibly create that Sujata would appreciate. Very deep breaths, rolling of the shoulders, fingers drumming. Obviously, I must agree to participate. How could I refuse!

Can you just feel the snow falling on the Seattle cedars?

I can't tell you how happy I am now to have accepted her offer. I think that it has helped me grow a bit more with my designing. And to receive something so very special from such a generous and kind person to hang in my home means more to me than I can express. We are both approaching each other's blocks with some trepidation. But in the end I know they will both finish wonderfully.

Mean while, waiting for just the right inspiration to arise, so that I can add to Sujata's block and make it into a quilt, I am keeping busy with other items. Here's a hint.


For Tonya's word blog


just so you know my final decision

Since my daughter did agree as to how much she liked the subtle tones and simple designs, I am playing around with that idea. Of course, I must add just a few hints of color. It is beginning as a combination influenced by Carol Taylor, Yoshiko Jinzenji, and The Quilting Edge tutorial. I am going to give that quilt as you go technique a whirl. By the way, if you haven't already taken a peek at Marianne's quilts, you don't know what you are missing. Isn't this blogging thing just the best ever! Why did I ever think that I wouldn't enjoy this.

My family tree

2011-02-07T20:00:00.000-05:00

A while back, a new friend suggested that we do a block exchange. I would make a block and send to her and she would make a block to send to me. We would then each complete the other person's block as a finished quilt. As both our families are environmentally conscious, we decided to use trees as the theme for our block.

I have never done anything like this and to be honest, I was very intimidated. She is such a skilled, talented designer and quilter. I am not sure that I could make something that she would appreciate or even like! Even though she said, "no stress, no time limit, just when ever the mood strikes". Still I had an immediate brain freeze.

It was almost Thanksgiving. Family holiday dinners and celebrations are coming along quickly, but wait! I had a vision. I was compelled to make this block in the midst of all this helter skeltered activity. It took almost no time at all to make my sketch, grab some scraps and do some quick free piecing.

The holidays passed and I had not mailed this off to my friend. One day as I was critiquing the block, still hanging on my design wall, a thought suddenly occurred to me. I realized why I was so compelled to get this completed in the midst of frantic holiday preparations. You might notice that there are four tree trunks in this block. One block for each family member: father, mother, daughter, son. The tree on the left is spaced slightly apart from the other three. The branches from the three trees on the right seem to be stretching out toward the tree on the left. My daughter lives across the country from the rest of our family and would not be home for the holidays this year. She would be spending the holidays with her husband and his family. Was this a subconscious effort on my part? All the while I was making this block, I wanted to extend it to include many more trees to complete the picture. But we had set a size limit. I would have to save this idea for another day. In the mean time ~ this block has gone to my lovely friend to share a part of my heart and my family. And I am looking forward to receiving her block. A gift from her heart and her family.

Do you ever have those moments, when you look back at something you have created and realized that there was a deeper, unconscious force that causes you to create ? What colors to choose, how to relay to others what you are feeling?

good books

2011-02-05T18:14:00.000-05:00

After visiting Jacquie's blog I must talk about it. She is working on this incredible minimalist quilt and had referenced one of my favorite artists. I have been ~~drooling~~, slobbering through Quilt Artistry ~ Designs from the East by Yoshiko Jinzenji for months and months. If I ever decided that I would resale this book on eBay I would have to note that it was a bit crinkled and looks as if it had been dropped in a tub of water. Then a couple of weeks ago, I received Yoshiko's latest book, Quilting Line + Color. It is going to look the same way in no time at all. Of course these are two books that I will never part with. They are so soothing to page through. Even if you don't like the minimalist style, they are both worth checking out, in my humble opinion.

I have had some wonderful linen and cotton fabrics laying on my cutting table waiting for the right moment. They have been there for about, er, ah, well, judging by the dust, 6 months. As much as I would love to make a quilt for my bed in white Jinzenji style, like this,

it would never, ever do. With two cats and a husband who, although they love all my quilts, they just don't seem to get the fact that I would like to try and keep them clean. While the four or five colorful quilts that are currently piled on our bed

don't show cat hair, grease, coffee and food stains, an all white quilt would not survive.
I learned that lesson from a previously white matelasse. Let me rephrase:
I would not survive the stress of constantly trying to keep it clean.
As you can see, I don't even bother making our bed anymore.

So back to the fabrics that I am going to use ~~~ I think ~ ~~ My bedroom walls are greige. They've been that way for er, oh, um, a couple of years, or more. Waiting for just the perfect complimentary bed coverings. Currently the bed quilts are in a constant state of change, as is the wall decor. Why is it that I can always give a quick and easy opinion when a friend asks for decorating advise at her house, and I can never make a decision at my house? Do you have that problem? Sorry, I am rambling around again.

So here are my fabrics:

Linens with a few Kona cottons. Various shades from charcoal to pale gray.

What I would really love to use would be this:

All white/oatmeal/neutral linen. Perhaps add bits of deep grays here and there. Then lots of lovely stitching.

Sigh...........

Maybe I could settle for something like this:

That just might hide all the cat hair and coffee stains. Ya think?

Maybe the answer would be to make the grays quilt for my bedroom. Wait a minute!
A light bulb moment. I can throw in some bits of hand dyed and shot cotton in terra cottas, turquoise, eggplant, fuchsia etc, etc, etc.

It may not have such a cool serene feel, but in the long run, I think I might like it even better. Maybe I am not too much of a minimalist after all huh? I am not too sure how long I can live without lots of color around me.
I could always make the white/neutral quilt for my minimalist daughter's bedroom/guest bedroom. It might stay a bit more clean if it is only used a few times a year. Plus, I'll still have the books to drool over whenever I feel that urge.
Thanks for helping me work through all that. And if you have a chance,
be sure to check out Jinsenji's books.

Thursday thoughts

2011-02-03T13:00:00.003-05:00

Having offered to make a quilt for a baby due in a few short weeks, I asked Momma-to-be for her thoughts on colors, fabrics, theme and so forth. I was excited to hear of her choices. First of all she asked for dots, stripes, paisleys using the colors of kelly greens, turquoises, soft yellows and browns. The next request not only excited me but challenged me. Her family has peacocks and she has always loved those birds and their colorful plummage. So she suggested that I might perhaps use a peacock symbol of some type on the quilt - nothing complicated, maybe something similar to the NBC peacock. WHOOOOAAAA Momma! What am I gonna do? I first thought of using my hand dyed solid fabrics. Something abstract and free along the lines of Gwen Marston. But maybe that is a bit too intense. So back to dots, stripes, paisleys. After many, many sketches, the best bet is go to the machine with my scrap bags. Begin with the "eye" of the peacock feather and work my way through a block.

Here is the result of my intuitive process, placed on a piece of fabric that I had batiked last summer, when it was so miserably hot and I was wishing for cold weather.

(When will I ever learn ~ be careful what you wish for.)

I think the best way to continue this is to make a few more blocks and see where it takes me. Lots of ideas swirling around. I think I know where it will go, today. We'll see what happens.

progress on other projects

2011-01-24T14:54:00.000-05:00

I thought that I was certain as to how I wanted to quilt my posy quilt. I had practice stitched all the ideas that I had sketched out. Got everything ready to begin the machine quilting, then as I sat down to begin, something else took control and here is what it said. Tiny round and oval seeds all over the quilt with ghost flowers sprouting up randomly amongst the seeds. I generally dislike the quilting process, machine or hand, as I much prefer the design aspect. But for some reason I have become obsessed with this one. It has become a joy to just sit and move the needle over the fabric and see these little designs take shape. Who woulda thunk it?


back side

I love the way it looks on the back. Using the different colors of threads to match the top fabric color gives it an interesting look, don't you think?

There could be a hidden meaning in all this, because I do need lots of practice with my machine quilting and I had predetermined that I would be machine quilting great gran's string star repro quilt. I want to duplicate the quilting patterns on GGM star quilt. Perhaps by the time that I finish making thousands of tiny circles and ovals, I will, just maybe, have gotten a bit better and become a bit more patient. Patient enough to make her proud. Not to say that I am there yet, but who knows. It could happen.

the original GGM


my version ready for quilting

My quilts are going to be featured for one week at my home town museum during their quilt show and I do want to have enough new pieces completed for the show. So I have been plugging away Nothing like waiting until the last minute to complete the quilting part, huh? So wish me luck. I hope to have these both completed before mid March. I'll let y'all know how that turns out. Meanwhile, I better get busy........

Done & DONE

2011-01-23T20:08:00.000-05:00


it's not gonna rain on my parade

The Aspens at Muddy Pass

for Sarah Beth & Kyle

marking the big event

Florna

Not much to say lately, because I've been getting a few things completed at long last.
Sorry about the photo quality. The more pictures that I take the worse they get.

I Got Tagged

2011-01-09T13:24:00.000-05:00

I'm IT. Well not that kind of IT, but I was tagged by Lisa, who was tagged by Jan-Maree. Then Lisa tagged me. So check out Lisa's blog and see what great things that she is doing. And while you are there, don't forget to see who else she has tagged and take a peek at all her followers and followees. What fun to discover exciting new and creative bloggers.

Since I was so honored, I'm going to continue to share the award and name some fellow blogger friends who I'm sure would love your company also.

If you choose to participate, the rules are:

1. Tell who tagged you.

2. Add a link to their blog.

3. Award 3-5 bloggers who you think deserve this award.

Inform them & post directions to your blogspot.

Please don't tag people who already have 300 followers.

The goal of this award is get more publicity to blogs that are good, but not so well known.

So in the spirit of the award, I am tagging Sujata, Heather, and Valerie. I hope you will check out their blogs and enjoy them as much as I do! They are wonderfully talented artists.

Cheers

Happy Days

2011-01-07T11:58:00.000-05:00

I sketched

I colored

I designed on EQ

I was not happy

I ripped

I slashed

I cut

I auditioned

I stitched

I added all the leftovers and rejects

I added a bit more

I am very happy with the

back door of my log cabin posies quilt

It has a new name

Not your Prim and Proper log cabin with posies

And for the first time ever, ever, ever in making a quilt

I have an idea of how I want to quilt it.

Hello 2011

Happy days are here again

So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last

Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on
From now on ...

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So, Let's sing a song of cheer again

Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

[Music and Lyrics by J. Yellen and M. Ager]

Happy New Year

from a late bloomer

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T17:11:00.001-05:00

I spent the better part of New Year's Eve cleaning up my studio. Although I didn't finish all those UFO's in 2010, I am still resolved to get them completed by the end of 2011. (HA!) Famous last words, eh?

I pulled out this quilt . It is a mystery quilt from Electric Quilt.com that my quilt guild did several years ago. We were even featured on the EQ website with some of our almost completed quilts. I am thinking to myself about what could I do with this quilt if I finished quilting it.

I realized that even though I never make New Year's resolutions, I could challenge myself to make more cuddle quilts. There are far too many children who live in shelters without any parents or siblings. This is something that they could have as their very own. Something that they can wrap around themselves and feel that they are being hugged and loved.

So I got this one all ready for quilting.

But wait, while I was cleaning up a stack of fabrics I found a fat quarter that I didn't know what to do with. It was just rows of kittens. OH! Why not cut out each kittie and free-piece strips of fabrics all around each one. The first block took around 15 minutes, maybe less. So part of New Year's Day was spent piecing this quilt.

Now to get it sandwiched and ready to quilt. This is a first for me. Making a quilt in less than 6 hours. So I should be able to make one each month. What about you? Can you do a quilt each month?

I hope that each child who will receive these quilts will feel the love that I felt as I sewed each and every stitch. I hope that it will help to make them feel more secure and know that they are cared for. I hope that it will give them hope for a happy and bright future. I wish for them a happy and bright future. So now, I know what to do with all of my other unquilted tops. There are far too many children of all ages who need to feel love.

Getting all dressed up

2010-12-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

Did you ever start to get dressed and realize that you aren't satisfied with what you are wearing and how you look? Then change outfits several times? Come on now, I will just bet that you've done it more than once. I know that I certainly have. On many, many occasions. If it doesn't feel good, or look right to me at that moment, I just won't wear it. Often I must change my top or my pants or my shoes several times before I am dressed for the day. Same thing with Posy here: This is where she began

I thought she was just a bit too plain Jane. No pizzaz. She needed some flowers to surround
her log cabins.

Something was just still not quite right. I loved her new look, but kept thinking that something was missing. Plus the thought occurred to me that she might be more useful in a queen size.

I could add borders. I considered charcoal and ivory when I snapped this picture with the top laid out on my tile floor. It looked pretty cool. But then when I actually added large triangles around the actual quilt, she screamed NO NO NO. Way too contrived.

So I tried making some other types of blocks - large blocks so that she could be a queen size quilt.
Now she shouts

HELP ME, I AM BEING OVERPOWERED BY GIANT LOGS AND POSIES. Okay, got the message, she just does not want to be queen size. She is just going to be what she wants to be. So I tried once again. The thought occurred to me that she began as my experimental version of the Gee's Bend house top. This brought me around to another thought, "make more Gee's Bend style blocks for the border." After trying big chunks, big strips, wavering between no border/yes border, I made lots of improvisational, free pieced blocks, using only the scrap fabrics from the background. I trimmed these blocks to 6 1/2 inches in width and left the length whatever it happened to be. Got all those placed around the quilt and thought to myself, STOP THIS MADNESS. And I went to bed.

Got up this morning still obsessing. I remember a posted comment from Margaret suggesting that I have the posies spill over into the border. "Why not give that a try?"I think Now I am back to making more posies and leaves. And if this doesn't work, I will have quite a few blocks to make into another quilt.
So here she is trying on a few new posies.

She is still not totally happy with what I have done to her. Still a bit unsure of herself and her new look. Is she a bit overdone? Sorta like way too much lipstick and rouge. Perhaps I should let her rest for a while and go play/obsess with some others. Anyway, she isn't scheduled for any public appearances any time soon. If this look doesn't grow on us, we can always try something else. Tomorrow is another day.

Progress

2010-12-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

It makes the world go 'round. I think? If one does not progress then one will surely die a lingering death. Progress always makes me think of a Joni Mitchell song; Big Yellow Taxi. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." She is one of my heroes. An artist. A true artist to my way of thinking. Anyone who can write such exquisite lyrics and music, as well as paint incredible images is just brilliant in my book. Which brings me 'round to this. In my somewhat smallish hometown, we are progressing. In a couple more years, or less, we shall have a new airport. Not a large, commercial airport, just one to accommodate private jets. It will accommodate the captains of industry who must travel from far away places to our small city. New industries that will make solar panels, cars, appliances, even shipping all those "cannot live without items" from Amazon, to name a few. It will assist in providing new jobs for our depressed economy. All those things that we need to progress. So, why am I spouting about all this? The airport will encompass the land where I grew up.

I took a walk over the property a few days ago. The huge equipment has already uprooted the trees where I used to play as a child. A huge, old oak tree, with roots extending on all sides had been cut down and hauled away for prime lumber. As well as all the other oak, hickory, walnut, cedar and poplar trees. These roots had provided the "house" for my acorn family when I was 8 or 9 years old. I would "dust" out all the leaves and debris and have a glorious, multi-level dwelling for my entire acorn family amongst those huge oak roots. This walk caused quite a few tears.

The farm where I grew up, where my brothers and sister grew up, where my mother grew up, where my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great grand-parents lived is no longer a family farm. This is one of the few structures standing and will soon be gone as well. This project will assist in the progress of our county and region. It is progress. Ann and Lucius moved from Clay County, NC to Bradley County, TN. Many of their descendants are still here. Including me.

And progress we must? Reproducing my great grandmother's quilt. And in doing so, I am progressing in my own way. I can only hope that it is the right thing that we are all doing.

"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

Binding those ties couldn't wait

2010-12-11T11:39:00.003-05:00

No matter that I had resolved that December be the month to finish all those projects that I have hanging around in my studio. I could reduce the tension in my shoulders and neck if I would just get out those pieces that are languishing around and complete them. I have placed them in pretty boxes on top of the cabinets that hold my fabric stash. My thought here: let's make them look nice even if I can't finish them up. I am making a bit of progress, though. And if I am not able to empty those pretty boxes, I will be able too enjoy seeing the pretty boxes. (Is there a song in that somewhere?) So these two small ones are fini.

Look out! Here comes a fiberliscious package of recycled shirtings fabrics from a new friend, Lee Ann. All the way from Seattle. She was so gracious to share her wonderful fabrics. And it seems as if she used a microscope, or maybe even ESP, and sent exactly the fabrics that I would need to make great grandma's repro quilt work. As she says, the older, used pieces add so much. Of course I was compelled to jump right into the this. UFO's, get back! Me gots a new project to begin.

The fun part: trying to reproduce a similar look in this new quilt. The not so fun part: doing all that precise piecing. The string piecing seems to be a no brainer. However, it has been so long since I have done actual, traditional type quilt blocks, I had forgotten why I lost interest in piecing/quilting in the first place. I just cannot seem/seam to sew a straight line. No matter that each part of my puzzle/block appears to be precise, when I begin to sew it all together ~ %&*@*!!!%^#&##. . Well, then, this will be the challenge for the new year. I have committed myself to do this thing and do this thing, I will. Isn't that the reason for steam irons? Press and stretch that sucker into shape! Jeeze, Louise! What would Great Grandma and Grandma say about this? And please, do not mention anything about this to Ma. Once it is all together and quilted and washed, who will know the difference ~ right? It is gonna be okay. And I can still make it fun.

great grandma's original star

TA-DA!

my repro star

Ties that Bind

2010-11-30T20:30:00.008-05:00

One of the good things about moving, as in moving your possessions from one place to another, is that you rediscover things to which you had previously never given much thought. No, I am not moving, but Mom has moved. Almost. We have almost gotten all her stuff settled into our/her basement apartment. She has been a collector of things. Lots and lots of things. And one of the things that she has collected over the years, has been quilts. She was not a quilter, but she does love quilts. And of all the lovely quilts that she has in her collection, I have rediscovered one. We have determined that my fraternal great-grandmother must have made this one.

Rumor has it that great-grandmother did not get along very well with her daughter-in-law, my grandmother. It seems that my grandmother used this quilt as a padding under her nice, white linen tablecloth for Sunday dinners. She had obviously trimmed it down just to fit her dining table, as there is no binding, only four raw edges Get the idea? Boy, was she 'dissin' her mother-in-law! And, this same quilt was used by my mother under her nice, white linen tablecloths for her holiday dinners. I always loved the nice cushion that it provided as we laid out the china and silver on the table. And it absorbed any noise as well as the wet rings from the iced tea glasses as our large family dined. A very nice table protector, indeed.

Now, I have discovered a new relationship with this quilt. As stained and ragged as it might be, I think that the calico fabrics could possibly be from the mid 1800's. It is beautifully quilted, although I do not know she could have made those tiny stitches through such an extremely thick and heavy batting. Never the less, I want to make a replica of my great grandmother's quilt. I never met her, nor my grandmother, but this can be my way to connect to these steel magnolias. I find myself conjuring up stories of their past. The strings that tie us together.

So I am off in search of fabrics that will closely resemble the originals in this quilt. Most of them look to be from shirtings of that era. There are blacks, blues, purples, golds, reds, greens. Of course they are very, very faded and many of the fabrics are in shreds. But that only adds to the fun. Wonder what those ladies would think of all this? Scraps, strings and stars.

Pillow Psychology 101

2010-11-23T19:45:00.003-05:00

I have this passion for pillows. I am not sure where it originated. I have made hundreds of pillows in my life time. I have made pillows will the nice cording all around, embroidered with all types of imaginable designs. Pillows with expensive trims and fringes. I've made custom ordered pillows for folks. From ring bearer pillows to sea shell pillows. I've sold my one of a kind pillows in shops and to friends and family and anybody who would buy one. Simple pillows and over the top pillows. Pillows out the wazoo. Just a bit over the edge with pillows am I.

Why? I ask myself. Well, when you have all those beautifully coordinated pillows in your chairs or on your sofa or on your bed, they look so pretty and decorative. Kicked up a notch. Welcoming. Homey. But then someone sits on said chair or sofa and the pillows instantly become a nuisance. What do you do with this awkward blob of fiber? Folks are always squirming around in their seat, trying to adjust that pillow so as not to offend their hostess. Others just toss them out of their way. Now comes my big question. Is there a pillow psychology? I often find myself doing this amateur analysis thing when it comes to how folks react to pillows. For instance, does the person who tosses the pillow out of his/her way with reckless abandon have no regard for personal property and is only concerned with their own personal comfort? While the person who discreetly moves the pillow aside and gently places a hand on the edge of the pillow, says this is so pretty, it's in my way but I don't mind. I appreciate what you have done. Then there is the person who plops down on the chair and forces the pillow into submission under their body weight. Guess I have as much fun watching people as much as I enjoy playing with fabrics. I am weird that way.

How do you feel about decorative pillows? I've tried it without them, but I don't like it. More is better in my book. Then I had this thought. There are quad trillions of design ideas that I want to try. From the Amish, Mennonite, Gee's Bend, playing with new techniques and making my own designs, to the traditional pieced and appliqued designs, to free pieced fabrics. So why not go play with all of those ideas. Perk up my house for the holidays, for every day, for each season, with pillow art. And if someone is not comfortable with all that fiber lumped on their backside, that will just give me more fodder for my amateur analysis.

pillow back

pillow front

pillow back

Even more fun when you make the back as interesting as the front.

pillow front


pillow backs

pillow front

I am thrilled that I have discovered a new way to try out all those designs that are constantly rumbling around in my head. And productive as well. While playing around for a few minutes a day, I am satisfying my creative needs while accessorizing my chairs and the sofa. And by the way, I am using goose down and feathers as forms. That way, when folks sit in the chair or on the sofa, the pillows will politely shape themselves around what ever form is needed.

monthly colors

2010-11-22T14:22:00.003-05:00

Every time I check out 15 minutes play website, I am inspired. Victoria has generously provided a wonderful spot for quilters to gather, play and show & tell. Now I am fortunate enough to be able to participate in Victoria's online quilt bee with 12 very talented and creative ladies. This is a first for me and I am totally hooked.Each person has been assigned a month of the year. When your month arrives, you must choose an idea for making scrappy blocks. Each person, will then, make blocks along that idea, send them to that person and post them on the website. It has been so much fun to see all the blocks from all the ladies as they are posted. What has been a plus for me is the inspiration that I get from everyone. For instance, the choice for November by Nifty Quilts was scrappy block all in red fabrics. I sent these 3 blocks to Nifty.

Once I began making these quick, fun, blocks, I couldn't stop. I had to keep making more. The same thing happened when I made October blocks for Victoria's month This has inspired another idea. Now I am thinking that I could make scrappy blocks for each month of the year. But as an added idea, choose a color for each month of the year. For October, I would make blocks using only blacks fabrics. Reds for December. Then make more blocks for November using golden yellows, January might be blue. You get my drift? And as another added bonus, I already have a short stack of single colored scrappy blocks that I've had laying around for a couple of years just waiting for more.

I had even made one into a pillow. Most of the scraps came from this quilt. All nicely coordinated, huh?

This picture shows the back of the pillow. Rather than sewing it permanently "closed", I like to make one side lap over the other. Plus, it is fun to make a band that slashes across for added appeal. I usually end up liking the back more than the front.

More to follow on this monthly theme as well as on the pillow theme.

A weak moment - Part II

2010-11-21T14:34:00.004-05:00

So. It is over. And it wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it was going to be. After all, those ladies love quilting and I do know most of them. They did ask me to explain how I do what I do.
I was prepared as I was ever going to be. I held on to that podium for dear life, adjusted my reading glasses and before I knew it, it was all over. It still isn't easy speaking to a group of people about yourself and what you do. Now it seems that I find myself thinking that I wouldn't mind doing this again. Scratch that.

The sample has been completed and then I was inspired to do another ~ a set of leaf portraits, as it were. The maple leaves were machine appliqued while I decided that the dogwood leaves would be pieced. Once I learned the Ruth B. McDowell technique of drawing a piecing pattern, I have abandoned ye ole applique technique. Although the initial drawing and pattern making is much more involved, the sewing goes much more quickly. I realized this as I worked on the applique sample for my presentation. Although my Thistles quilt was done with mostly machine applique using the same process as the Maples, and I enjoyed making each petal and piece , I find that the pattern making and piecing has a more appeal.

Let me pause to give a bit of credit where credit is due, the artists who have inspired me through their instruction books. I have found that I learn more easily in my own space and in my own time by using the quilting and art quilting books that are available. I have a rather large library of those. The main artists that have inspired me to design and create several of my award winning quilts include: Ruth B McDowell, Barbara Olson, Katie Pasquini Masopust, Carol Taylor, and Vikki Pignatelli. Of course there are so many other quilt and textile artists that I admire, but these ladies have provided excellent sources of inspiration in their books as well as their art. I don't know that I would have ever figured it all out on my own, had I not bought their books and spent countless hours studying and drooling over every page. They empowered me to give it a go and develop my own style and technique. I suggest that you check out these websites as well as their books. There are much more instructive than I.

So enough rambling. Now on to the completion of the maple leaf sample. Once all the pattern pieces have been cut out, ironed onto the fabrics and pinned onto the cartoon, it is time to glue.
I usually begin with the background pieces. Looking to see which pieces will be mostly covered by the others, I select one and check to see which edges need to be turned under. First I will clip any curves that need to be clipped, then using a mini iron,

I press the seam allowance that over the edge of the freezer paper, and let cool a bit. Then gently lifting the freezer paper, I use Elmer's Glue Stick and lightly touch the edges to be turned under. Next, turn under that seam allowance and press to dry the glue.

Choose the adjoining piece, matching the registration marks and slide it into place with the folded edge covering the raw edge. Add a touch of glue to secure the pieces into place, fold the freezer paper back onto both pieces and lightly iron down.

I continue in this manner until I have several applique pieces glued together. Lay them onto the Sulky Totally Stable cartoon and press in place, checking to be certain that all the proper seam allowances are folded under and glued together. At this time I go ahead and machine applique some of the pieces in place.

Once all of the pieces are in place on the Sulky foundation, I will finish the machine applique. Next I will gently tear the Sulky from the back of the piece. I don't worry about removing every bit of the Sulky, because I don't want to stress the seams.

TA-DA! Ready to be quilted

Here is the dogwood leaves under construction, showing my piecing pattern.

And the pair ~ still waiting to be quilted.

a weak moment

2010-10-27T20:45:00.051-04:00

To say that I do not like to stand in front of a group of people and speak would be a huge understatement. The thought of being a public speaker creates waves of panic in my mind. No matter that it might be speaking to a group of people that I know very well, many who are close friends, my heart begins to pound fiercely in protest. You would think this silly, I think it is ridiculous, never the less, there it is. Along with that predicament, there is this idea that I have; that for a person to speak publicly about what one does indicates to my mind that one actually knows what one is doing. Nowadays I rarely do the same thing twice. When I am in the midst of a project, I usually don't make conscious decisions about the process. It has always been an intuitive thing, based on what I've seen or read, or what I might be feeling at that time and place. (yeah, ok, call me moody) Now comes the ringer. I was asked to present a program to my quilt guild on how I do what I do when I make an art quilt. I was so flattered that I agreed to do it. What was I thinking? Or better yet, why was I not thinking? The words "no, thank you just the same", didn't come out of my mouth. My mind was saying, "no way, are you crazy?" and my mouth was smiling and saying, "well yes, of course, I would be delighted."

Regardless, the time has almost arrived and I have spent the last 3 days trying to figure out how I do what I do and put it all on paper. After typing for 2 hours, non stop, which resulted in 4 single spaced pages in size 10 font, I realized that I had only just begun. Where do I go now?

When I asked a friend to read over those four pages (I owe her big time), she said many kind words, but then she delicately suggested that it would be helpful if I had an actual sample to visually enhance the process . As usual she was correct. No matter how I wrote and rewrote instructions on technique, it didn't make sense, even to me. The clock is ticking and I have procrastinated far to long. Well, the best place to go would be to my drawing board, and my fabrics. I need to physically reproduce my methods step by step, which will result in a sample design. I don't have time to do a large piece and I normally do not make small pieces. But then, maybe this could be one of those small pieces that I could hang in a local gallery to sell, at a reasonable price?

So here goes.

I grabbed some maple leaves that are falling from the spectacular tree in our front yard.

Then I chose 3 leaves and arranged them on the bed of my copy machine, punched the enlarge button, hit copy and out comes the basis for my pattern. Simple Simon, huh?

The next step is to trace the these leaves with a pencil. I use vellum for this step as I have found that it holds up to wear and tear, as well as being able to easily see through for tracing.

Now to add a few more design lines. Once I am happy with the design I will go over each line with a black Sharpie Fine Tip Marker.

One of the most important things is to label every piece on the drawing, which, incidentally is known as a cartoon. I use numbers, letters, or a combination of both, to suit whatever I've got going on. Once this is completed, I'm good to go onto the next step.
I am really getting excited now and I've forgotten all about having to do this presentation about it next week.
(footnote: if the size of the paper doesn't meet the requirements for the size of the finished piece, simply cut and use masking tape to afix additional pieces of paper to the drawing.)

For the actual pattern, I tear off a sheet of freezer paper and tape it, shiny side up onto the cartoon and trace all the lines with my Sharpie.

Once that is accomplished, I turn the freezer paper over to the dull side, retrace all the lines and label all the pieces exactly as the pieces are labeled on the cartoon.

And the finally, but one of the most important things, is to make registration marks. See all those little red marks that are slashed across every single line. This does try my patience, but having skimped on this step before, I learned that I won't be skimping again. This way you are able to fit the pieces together nicely when you begin to sew all those pieces together.

Another tip: using another colored marker, draw around all four edges of the piece. This helps you in cutting your fabric pieces for the edges on the straight grain of the fabric. Which in turn helps with distortion of the edge of the fabric piece.

One more tracing needs to be done onto Sulky Totally Stable, This is iron on, tear away stabilizer which is used when I begin to place and sew the piece together. Using a fine tip Sharpie marker, once again, trace the design on the shiny side of the Totally Stable.

Now comes more fun. Choosing the fabrics. Oh, the possibilities. But time's a wastin', so make a choice and get on with it. Having all those fabrics from my summer of dyeing in the garage, (it was a scorching, hot summer and I was about to die on several afternoons) I decided it was past time to put them to use. This pile includes old shirts, sheets and scraps of gray, blue and natural fabrics that I was experimenting with.

Terrific background material.
I don't think I was wrong here.
I'm doing what I love best. Selecting fabrics for each piece.

I like to begin with the focus of the piece. Being the maple leaves in this case. Using my small paper scissors, I cut a few of the pattern pieces from the freezer paper. Select a fabric and iron the pattern piece onto the back of the fabric.

Cut out the pattern piece with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Pin each piece onto the corresponding space of the cartoon.

Continue in this manner until all pattern pieces have been cut and pinned onto the cartoon.

Are you following all this?

This is as far as I gotten today. It's been a long day. I think my brain is saying that it is time to shut this project down for a bit. Not to worry, I'll be back with more in a few days with more details and techniques.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Where have I been?

2010-10-22T15:21:00.000-04:00

Where have I been? Up a tree, out to lunch, over the edge`you get the drift. . . . . .

It has been well over 2 months since I have taken the time to put thoughts into words. In that amount of time there have been too many thoughts, many better left unsaid and so many I wish I could remember "because they were so brilliant"! (This said with tongue in cheek). Well, actually I did write down thoughts in a separate travel journal, as my husband and traveled through the north west for a few weeks during August and September. I'll not repeat all that, as who wants to spend their blog time reading about other folks' vacations. However, I did take a multitude of photos and was constantly inspired by all the flora and fauna I would never see in the south east.

There are now so many more wall quilts in my mind, I think that my brain is in total overload. Where do I start? Better question~when do I start? Do I wait to finish up all those pieces begun months ago? Am I still inspired enough to complete them? I do realize that at least one of those MUST be completed, as it has been promised. So I've sucked it up and ~~worked~~ played away on this one. I decided that I should go ahead and do a preview showing of the lap size top for the future owners. Just in case it turns out to be something that doesn't thrill them. I showed it as being a prototype, just in case it was way too unstructured for their tastes.

Well, its seems that they were delighted with everything about the quilt. WHEW! Now I can't wait to finish it up. And I am rejuvenated as well. Can you see me grinning from ear to ear? Now to squeeze in some time to dye the fabric for the back of the quilt. This one is really personal and I want to do something very special for such a special young couple.

In between all the latest life occurrences and family crisis', my mother has finally decided that it is time to leave her home of 52 years. This has been an extremely difficult decision for her, as she is a very independent lady. Among other concerns (she is now 90 years old) the hustle and bustle of the city is literally moving into her back yard. So I've been busy repainting and sprucing up our basement apartment. Mom is movin' in. It will be a huge adjustment for her, I am certain. But I look forward to having her so close for so many reasons. Perhaps I can persuade her to attempt a bit of hand piecing to occupy her time - when she isn't working on her Sudoku puzzles, hanging out with her friends, and going to exercise classes.

Once we get Mom established in her new digs, I am hoping to get back into my studio and play around with some of those travel photos. I have really been missing the opportunity to do some sketching and pattern making for a new art quilt. I've come full circle here. Think I've gotten it figured out as to when to start on a project, the most difficult is deciding which one to finish first!

Quandary

2010-10-10T14:07:00.000-04:00

Quandary: Obsessive purchasing of Kaffe Fassett and Rowen designer fabrics.

Solution: Jump to Victoria's new blog for inspiration from that group of designers.

Results: Oh what fun it is to sew.