Vancouver MQG is having a notebook cover swap with MQG Victoria. Amy Dame wrote a fabulous, very detailed tutorial. It was very easy to follow, and even though I haven’t made a notebook cover before, mine turned out very well. I even added the bookmark and elastic closure.
It’s a secret swap, but I’m sure more than one person said they liked rainbow colors (which is right up my alley)!
Here’s the front and the inside cover.
And here’s the back and the other inside cover.
And I just have to boast about my brand new great-nephew, Henry, who I met last weekend. He’s such a cutie! Here is Henry on the quilt I made for him, and with his doting Auntie Terry.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
The photo on the left is how the abstract modern portrait quilt looked when I posted about it last week. I still wasn’t satisfied with the fabric selections for the groom’s neck and ear, so I changed them again. I also decided the first background was too dark, so I changed it to a print with more white and less black. Then I nudged all the pieces into place and fused them to the black background.
I quilted only in the black lines between the colors. This added some dimension to the faces. On the black & white leaf fabric, I quilted more densely to flatten it a bit. You can see the quilting lines on the back of the quilt. I added a thin black binding to finish it off – and of course, a hanging sleeve and a label.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
On the left below is how it looked last week. I found a medium gray fabric that works well for the groom’s shirt. And a black & white floral fabric for the background. I decided the groom’s face was too yellow and green, and needed some other colors. I changed the neck fabric to a blue fabric. I like the color but it’s too light as you can see in the black & white version. Even though I’m using surrealist colors, value is still important.
Next, I tried a slightly darker blue, which I’m happy with. I also changed the fabric for the ear. I think both ear fabrics I’ve tried are too dark, so I’m going to find a lighter one. Then I will be ready to fuse and stitch.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
Here’s my entry for the annual SAQA Benefit Auction. Every year, many of SAQA’s members donate 12 x 12 inch square quilts which are displayed online, and auctioned in September and October. The auction has a dual purpose – to increase the recognition of quilts as art and quilters as artists, and to raise funds to support SAQA’s exhibitions, publications, and education outreach activities.
You can see the quilts here. Currently there are 4 pages of quilts. Keep checking back because many more will be added during the month of May.
A couple of weeks ago, I showed my sketch and some possible fabrics. I knew which fabrics I was going to use for the tree trunk and foliage, but I spent a lot of time auditioning fabrics for the background. Once I finally made my fabric decisions, I assembled the background, and quilted it before adding the tree.
Then I fused the tree trunk and foliage into the background, and did more quilting. I then spent a lot more time auditioning binding fabric. I’m thrilled with the end result. It’s called ‘Happy Purple Tree’.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
I’ve made a lot of custom portrait quilts, but my clients usually request a fairly realistic looking portrait. I made a self-portrait a few years ago in an abstract/pop art/Picasso/cubist style (as you can tell, I’m not really sure what style it is, but when I search with those words, I see portraits that look similar). When my Dad admired my self-portrait, I made one for him too. But this is the first time I’ve had a request from a client to make a portrait in this style.
My client says that every year for their anniversary she asks an artist to create an interpretation of their wedding photo. Their collection includes a zombie version and one done entirely in Lego! And now she’d like to add one of my abstract portraits.
This is the process I’m using. I edited the photo with the Picasa pencil sketch effect, then printed it to the full size of the portrait – 11 x 15 inches. I placed a sheet of tracing paper over the pencil sketch and drew the outlines and added design lines.
Then I traced the individual pattern pieces onto fusible web. I cut a piece of black fabric and started auditioning fabrics – the fun part, but also the most time consuming. It’s important to have a good range of values and colors, but it’s hard to tell until they are all together on the design wall which fabrics will work and which won’t.
I started with the bride. I decided it would be fun to use white fabrics for the bride’s veil and dress, and realistic dark colors for the groom’s hat and clothes. I probably auditioned twice as many fabrics as I used, and I changed my mind a few times about some of the fabrics, but I’m happy with the colors below. I made sure I had good value differences by converting the photo to black & white.
Then I started working on the groom. My first selection of colors looked too cool, so I switched a couple of fabrics for warmer colors. I love the star fabric I used for the hat. I think the gray shirt might be a bit too dark, but I love the effect of the stripes. I may have to go shopping for a slightly lighter gray stripe fabric.
At this point, none of the fabrics are fused to the background (which is why some of the black lines have inconsistent widths). The background area, which currently is black, will be a lighter color – but there’s no point in trying to select a background fabric until I’m sure of all the others. I’m going to leave it for now, and see what I think tomorrow when I look at it with fresh eyes – and also see what my client thinks.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
I’m working on lots of projects right now, but none of them are at the point where I have any good photos to share, so instead I’ll show you some sample blocks I’ve been working on for an upcoming workshop I’ll be doing for the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild in May.
I’m a little obsessed with circles – you can see some of my circle quilts here, and I’ve developed a few techniques that make it easy and quick to construct perfectly round circles. I’m happy to be sharing my techniques with my very own guild.
Here are a couple of samples I made – they are about 12 inches square.
And here are some more designs I’ve created on the computer, but not yet created with fabric.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
I added skinny black binding to the city quilt, and I really like how it looks. I’m still thinking about a title for it – I was considering: City Night; Night City; Bright City; Dark City. Now I’m thinking City Lights.
The top for the low volume baby quilt, last blogged about here, is complete. I fused the words and zigzag stitched around each one.
I’m going to back it with the bright lime green cuddly fleece in the photo below, and bind it with the text print. I was thinking of quilting it with straight lines in a triangle shape, but now I’m thinking horizontal lines about 3 inches apart.
I have lots of other projects in the design stage, but nothing exciting to show right now. Hopefully, I’ll have something to show in a few days.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
A few days ago, when I started working on my cityscape quilt for IQF Tactile Architecture special exhibit, I thought the deadline to submit entries was April 17th, so for the past few days I’ve been focusing all my attention on that quilt. It’s finished, except for the binding. And of course I’m having a problem picking a title – I’m considering: City Night; Night City; Bright City; Dark City. I was preparing my entry information when I saw the deadline is actually May 17th! So now I have more time to come up with a title and description, but at least I won’t miss the deadline.
Meanwhile, I’ve switched my attention to my entry for the annual SAQA Benefit Auction. Members of SAQA donate 12 x 12 square quilts which are displayed online, and auctioned in September and October to raise funds to support SAQA’s exhibitions, publications, and education outreach activities.
I decided to make a tree quilt in bright, cheerful, unrealistic colors. Here’s my sketch and some fabrics I’m considering.
When I’m finished this one, I’ll get back to all the other projects clamoring for my attention!
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
Last week I spent a delightful and productive couple of days with my sister Anne working on our collaborative quilt. We wanted to add some embellishments and hand-stitching. It’s so much easier to make design decisions when there are two of us – not as much dithering as when I do it myself.
When I left, Anne was still working on the hand-stitching, so I don’t have a photo of the finished quilt. But to give you an idea, below you can see the upper right corner before embellishment, and after.
The theme for this quilt is Fire. Our next will be Water (and we plan to do Earth and Air as well). We’ve decided to make the next one the same size (about 22 by 52 inches). The color palette will be blue with bits of bright contrasting colors. We made a sketch of our design idea – horizontal strips with curvy piecing, with a large contrasting vertical curve the length of the quilt. We’re each going to do some piecing for the horizontal sections, then when we get together again we’ll arrange them on the design wall and decide what to do with the vertical part. While Anne was hand-stitching the Fire quilt, I started piecing a small section for the Water quilt.
Just before I left to visit Anne, I decided I just ‘had to’ submit an entry to the IQF Tactile Architecture special exhibit. Because the submission deadline is just a few days from now, my entry will have to be simpler and more abstract than my entries in the last two years – Swoop and Inside the Tipi. I decided to make a city scene using some fabulous metallic prints I’ve been saving for that purpose. Here’s what it’s going to look like.
In other news, my entry to the Quilting Arts ‘Birds of a Feather’ challenge was accepted, so it’s on its way to the magazine for photography.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
Work continues on the collaborative quilt. I’ve quilted more straight lines in black and a copper-gold variegated thread. Tomorrow I’m taking it to Anne’s so we can decide on the next steps. Some options we’re considering are:
adding square or rectangular patches from the fabrics we printed, painted and dyed together
hand-stitching – possibly to outline the discharged and/or foiled circles
binding the quilt with a black fabric, or finishing it with a facing
We’re also going to start planning our next collaborative project – something in blue this time.
I was notified last September that several of my quilts were included in a new book by Sandra Sider – 1000 Quilt Inspirations. But until I received my copy this week, I didn’t know which of my quilts were included, only that one of my Rainy Day People pieces was on the cover.
It turns out that 7 of my quilts are in the book. This is my favorite page of the book – it includes 4 of my quilts.
I’ve flipped though the book quickly, but need to go back and look again at all of the wonderful quilts in the book. If you see this book in your local bookstore, take a look. I think you’ll like it.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.
