The sailboat quilt is progressing well – I’m very happy with how it’s looking. I’m always a little amazed when a quilt looks so much like what I had envisioned! Sometimes if I don’t have the right colored fabrics, I have to compromise. In this case, I’m happy with all my fabric choices.
All of the background (except the water in front of the boat) is fused to a cotton lawn foundation. I’m going to back the hull and sails with an iron-on stabilizer (and leave it in) to prevent the background showing through. I had planned to use a white stabilizer, but when I opened the package, I found I had purchased black stabilizer – which is going to work even better than white would have.
I still have to construct the sails, and the water in front of the boat will be wavier than it looks right now.
At this point, I’m not sure if I’m going to quilt the background first, then add the boat, or attach the boat then quilt it all at the same time. Suggestions, anyone?
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs for WiP Wednesday. Click on the links below, to see many other creative projects.
A new art quilt is shaping up on my design wall. It’s for a new Fibre Art Network group exhibit, titled “On the Wind”. All entries will be 18 x 36 inches or 36 x 18 inches, and of course be an interpretation of the “on the wind” theme. My entry is based on a photo taken on our Croatia sailing trip last fall. I used artistic license to make my quilt more dramatic than the photo – I increased the tilt of the boat, increased the curve of the mainsail, and rearranged the placement of the hills in the background. As usual, I made several versions before I was satisfied enough to print the full-size pattern.
At this point I’m auditioning colors for the background. The boat and sails will be mostly white, with some navy or dark red accents. I’m going to quilt the background first, then applique on the boat.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up to these blogs. Click on the links below, where you will see many other creative projects.
Welcome to everyone visiting from Amy’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival! Many thanks to Amy for hosting and organizing this fun event. I’m linking up to Amy’s site and submitting this entry to the festival. Make sure that you pop over to Amy’s Creative Side and check out all of the wonderful quilts in the Festival and vote for your favorites. I’d love it if you voted for mine, if you’re so inclined.
Category entered: Modern Quilts
Techniques used: freezer paper templates, machine piecing, stitched bias tape, straight-line quilting
Designed, created and quilted by me
Finished size: 36 x 36 inches
I’ve been obsessed with circle quilts for the past few months – I’ve made 5 circle quilts in as many months. This is the first one I made, and it’s probably still my favorite.
The bold large-scale numerical-text fabric inspired me to create this design of overlapping circles. The skinny black bias tape gives it a precise graphic look. It only took me a week to design it, sew it together and get it finished – and I love the result.
Welcome to everyone visiting from Amy’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival! Many thanks to Amy for hosting and organizing this fun event. I’m linking up to Amy’s site and submitting this entry to the festival. Make sure that you pop over to Amy’s Creative Side and check out all of the wonderful quilts in the Festival and vote for your favorites. I’d love it if you voted for mine, if you’re so inclined.
Category entered: Art Quilts
Techniques: photo imaging, fused applique, thread sketching, needle-felting with cat fur
Finished size: 8 x 8 inches
Just before Christmas last year, I received a request to create a portrait quilt of a cat named “Baby”. Bob and his wife Barb already owned two of my Rainy Day People pieces and he wanted to commission a portrait quilt of their cat Baby as a surprise gift for Barb.
I love working on commission projects – especially with a client as engaged and creative as Bob. It was a truly collaborative effort and a rewarding experience.
Bob sent me many photos of Baby to work from. After exchanging several brainstorming emails, we agreed I would print one of the photos on prepared fabric, cut around the edge of the cat’s head, then fuse that to a fabric background. I added lots of thread-sketching of fur, whiskers, etc. and a bit of pen and ink to enhance the eyes.
Bob suggested adding some of Baby’s own fur (which he and Barb saved for the birds to line their nests in the Spring). Bob mailed me a couple of baggies of fur (which really helped with making the thread colors accurate), and I needle-felted the fur onto the quilt around the ruff.
Bob asked if I could make a collage of some of the other photos on the back of the quilt. I didn’t want the quilting from the front to interfere with the photos on the back, so I used 2 thin layers of batting and quilted the front and back separately. Then I fused them together and attached the binding.
It’s a small quilt that includes a lot of collaboration, experimentation, enthusiasm, and fun! I thoroughly enjoyed working with Bob to create this unique quilt.
Here are some of Bob’s comments about our project:
Barb was absolutely surprised and thrilled with the your work. The emotion of seeing Baby was overwhelming, but after she calmed down, she got into the detail of what you had done. She noticed right away the thread painting (certainly more than thread sketching). She really liked the fluff created by the fur. But it was the realistic image that she was in awe of.
I gave it to her on Valentine’s Day . After the emotional part Barb suggested we put it temporarily on the mantel (in a stand) for the evening since we would be in the room. It stayed there for a couple days until it was moved to our bedroom where it has a very prominent spot. Almost nightly one of us makes a comment about the piece, admiring how well you captured the image……we hold the memories of her so dear that we would notice any disconnect. In the weeks, months to follow, “Baby” will most likely get moved to our “family portrait” wall where friends and family can also enjoy the piece.
Just a personal note to you from me…..Thank you for taking the challenge of this project, an idea in my mind that expanded with time and you were able to transfer to fabric. You listened to my ideas, wishes and thoughts to combine what was comfortable for you, to best come up with as a final project. I chose you to do this piece because of the artistic and quality craftsmanship we had seen from other pieces you had made. You know now it was your “Rainy Day” series that originally caught our interest and enjoyment in owning. But this piece (“Baby”) goes beyond “Rainy Day”, as you recreated an image that defined boundaries and likeness. “Rainy Day” is abstract and the images had room for imagination. “Baby” did not, as she was an individual with strong mental images in our minds of 16 years. You caught every part as if you had known her and had the skill to apply those images on fabric with a realistic pallet. You far exceeded my vision on how this would turn out. Thank you for the professionalism and the fun/enjoyment waiting to hear from you as different stages progressed.
This past weekend, I attended a weekend quilt retreat with the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. I worked on several projects, although I didn’t completely finish any – now I have to decide which to finish up first. (Sorry for the blurry photos – some were taken with my cell phone camera.)
First I worked on my entry for the new MQG Michael Miller fabric challenge – ‘plus’ blocks in a variety of sizes. I ran out of fabric, so this one will have to wait until I get more.
Then, I worked on a project I started at a workshop in February 2013. The blocks have been sitting in my UFO drawer for more than a year! I chopped them up, inserted some more strips of colored fabrics, and then sewed them all together. I think it’s ready to be quilted.
Next I pulled out the Converging Corners blocks I won at the last VMQG meeting. I decided to insert skinny black strips at each corner, and I really think it ties all the blocks together. I think it will look great with black binding. It also needs to be quilted.
Although we spent most of our time quilting, there was also a lot of socializing, sharing of tips and tricks, eating, drinking wine, etc. Doesn’t this look like a happy group of quilters?
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs for WiP Wednesday. Click on the links below, to see many other creative projects.
First, I have a finish to show off. My entry for the Modern Metallic quilt exhibit is finished and has been submitted. The finished size is 37 x 36 inches. I called it ‘All That Glitters’. Every fabric has some metallic in it, the bias tape outlining each circle is metallic, and it’s quilted with a gold-copper variegated rayon thread.
As I mentioned last week, I was having a problem with the quilt top not lying flat. I spray-basted the back to the batting; then I positioned the top, but pinned only the center circle. I started quilting from the center, pulling the top into shape as I worked outward – it worked even better than I hoped it would! The spiral quilting worked fairly well – I only had to remove and re-stitch a few inches of stitching in the center where my curves weren’t quite smooth enough.
The Canadian Quilters’ Association has posted all the 137 entries to the Trend-Tex challenge – Modern Ways. It’s inspiring to see that variety of ways the participants used the 5 challenge fabrics. My two quilts are number 119 and 120.
This weekend, I’m attending a weekend quilt retreat with the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. I have lots of projects to work on – a new portrait quilt, a new art quilt, my entry for the new MQG Michael Miller fabric challenge, and several UFO projects.
Plus, I won the block lottery at the last VMQG meeting. I have to make a quilt from these blocks before I can enter another block lottery.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs for WiP Wednesday. Click on the links below, to see many other creative projects.
My circle quilt for the Modern Metallic quilt exhibit is progressing, with some changes.
I decided I didn’t like the original dark center circle or the gold lame bias tape – I wanted a lighter center circle, and darker bias tape. I replaced the dark circle with a yellow-gold metallic print (I keep finding more and more metallic fabrics in my stash!), and I found a black bias tape with gold stripes. I’m using the black bias tape on some circles, and the gold lame on others.
I also ran into a problem with the fabric stretching as I was sewing the bias tape on. With circles there are always bias edges, and I hadn’t thought through how much it would stretch. So I sprayed the whole thing with water, then pressed and prodded it back into shape. Then I fused a light-weight interfacing to the back to stabilize it – I should have done that as soon as I removed the freezer paper and before stitching any of the bias tape. It seems much better now.
I have two more rounds of bias tape to sew, then I can layer it and start quilting. I’m going to try using a gold metallic thread and quilt a spiral in the center circle, and concentric circles in the rest.
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When I first heard about the Modern Metallic quilt exhibit, I didn’t think I had very many metallic fabrics, so I was happy to hear there was some free metallic fabric available from Robert Kaufman for participating MQG members – I received 3 fat quarters of Quilters Linen Metallic (lower right in photo). However, going through my stash, I discovered more metallic fabrics than I expected. I have a charm pack of Fairy Frost, and scraps and small pieces of various metallic fabrics. I even have some gold net and gold lame bias tape. I decided to try to make a quilt completely from metallic fabrics.
I’m still fascinated with circle quilts, so this was an opportunity to make another one. As usual, I drew my full size circle pattern on freezer paper. I knew I’d have to piece some of the circles, as my fabric pieces were mostly less than a quarter yard. I used this technique to sew the circles together. I’ll cover the seams with the gold lame bias tape (you can see it around the center circle). It looks a little over-the-top shiny, but hey! it’s a metallic challenge, right? I started piecing from the center circle, and they’re all sewn except the outside circle and the corners.
I’m not sure how I’m going to quilt it. Maybe spiral quilting, or possibly a grid.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs for WiP Wednesday. Click on the links below, to see many other creative projects.
The Skybridge quilt is finished! It’s 35 x 52 inches. I started working on it just 2 weeks ago, so it went together very quickly – although that doesn’t include the time I spent thinking about and designing it.
It’s based on a photo I took of the Skybridge (part of the Vancouver rapid transit system). I’m so pleased that I could recreate in fabric what was in the photo and in my head. The sense of distance and perspective from this point of view really appealed to me, as well as the contrast of the straight, diagonal and curved lines. But most of all, I love the curve it makes as it swoops down and out over the river. I’m going to title it “Swoop”.
I fused the various bridge units in place using 1/4″ or 1/2″ strips of fusible web around the edges of each unit. Many quilters use glue to hold their applique in place – I find fusible strips on the edges is less messy to work with. However, I realized this wasn’t really going to keep the units in place during the quilting process, as I rolled and tugged and manipulated the quilt.
So I decided to stitch the outlines of all the bridge components before layering the quilt with batting and backing. This meant I didn’t have to bury all those thread ends. It also made it easier to use my walking foot to stitch, thus avoiding problems with skipped stitches in the areas with many layers of fabric. I stitched the bridge components to the background with black thread, and the towers with dark gray.
Then I layered the quilt top with batting and backing, and quilted the sky, clouds and distant hills. I added additional details to the bridge with black thread, and stitched around the edges again. The double lines of stitching give the look of a pen-and-ink drawing – a look I’ve become quite captivated with recently (see my cherry blossoms quilt and kids on swings for examples of this). The last step was to stitch the cables. Now it’s ready to be faced. Then I’ll submit it to the IQF Tactile Architecture 2014 exhibit.
Other news – my donation quilt for the SAQA Benefit Auction is online – it’s on page 1b on the 6th row. While you’re there, check out all the other awesome quilts. And there will be lots more coming. The quilts will be auctioned online in September.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up to these blogs, where you can see many other creative projects:
Lots of progress on the Skybridge quilt. After three days of fairly intense work, all the units are constructed and ready to be fused to the background. And I’m soooo happy with how it looks!
I pinned the sky background to the design wall, then auditioned the bridge fabrics. I cut my freezer paper pattern into pieces, and ironed each piece to the back of the selected fabric.
I used a combination of methods to construct the units – some of the smaller units (such as the smaller tower) will be fused with raw edges. For the larger pieces, I cut the fabric with seam allowances, which I pressed to the back of the freezer paper piece. I fused the turned edges down with 1/4″ or 1/2″ strips of fusible web. The pieces in the very large curved section are sewn together, and just the outside edges are turned under with fusible strips. As each unit was completed, I pinned it back on the design wall.
Then I removed all the pieces from the design wall and laid the background on my work table on top of the master pattern. Luckily, I could see the major lines of the pattern through the sky fabric. I positioned all the units and pinned them in place and made sure they all fit together with no gaps. As I pinned each unit, I removed the fusible backing paper. Once all the pieces were pinned in place, I put it back on the design wall so I could see if everything was straight – the taller tower needs to be straightened, but other than that it looks ready to be fused.
(For those of you who are wondering how my design wall on wheels is doing, it’s fabulous! Here you can see where I rolled it into the hallway to get a better photo of the quilt. I do still plan to post a tutorial about it, when I have more time.)
Today, I’m going to fuse everything in place, then layer the quilt and start sewing. I’ll post about my progress later this week.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs for WiP Wednesday. Click on the links below, where you will see many other creative projects.
