Last week, I asked for advice from my readers on how I should finish the quilting on this one. I received a lot of comments, with a wide variety of suggestions for the quilting. Thank you so much to everyone who commented!
I decided to continue the narrower quilting (1/4″ apart) in all of the outer gray sections. I left the colorful center section with straight lines 1/2″ apart. Then I added a narrow zigzag stitch outlining the center section, to emphasize it even more.
Untitled by Terry Aske – detail
I’m really happy with how it looks now. It finished at 25″ by 39″. My next dilemma is a title for it. I’m calling it Untitled for now. I’m thinking about Re-imagined Asymmetry or Asymmetrical Re-imagination. Any suggestions are welcome.
Untitled by Terry Aske 25″ x 39″
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It was the end of July when I last posted about this quilt. I finished quilting the straight lines 1/2″ apart in early August and since then it’s been hanging on my design wall while I considered options for additional quilting – perhaps more vertical lines closer together, or maybe some horizontal straight lines. Here’s how it looked then.
Aug 3 – 1/2″ vertical quilting completed
And there it hung for 2 months while I worked on other projects. A few days ago, I got back to it. I decided to add more straight line quilting in the solid outer sections only – leaving the center section as is. I started with the lower left quadrant, quilting between the previously quilted lines, so now the lines are 1/4″ apart. I liked the effect, and posted some photos on Instagram.
lower left quadrant has additional quilting lines
Sandi H. suggested that I should add quilting to the top right quadrant, but leave the upper left and lower right as is and see how it looks with a mix of narrow and wide quilting. That sounded like an interesting option, so I next added quilting to the top right quadrant. Here’s how it looks now.
quilting lines 1/4″ apart in upper right and lower left quadrants
And here’s a closer look.
quilting lines 1/4″ apart in upper right and lower left quadrants – detail
Now I have a dilemma. I like the way it looks now, but I think I will like it even better with narrower quilting in all the solid gray sections. So I’m looking for opinions. What would you do?
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My three little seahorses are finished. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the finished quilt. Or read through for information about my construction techniques.
Here are my three seahorses about a week ago, temporarily fused to parchment paper, and pinned to the background with layers of tulle pinned behind and over them.
3 little seahorses, pinned in place
I debated whether to add the tulle under or over the seahorses, or both. Also, how many layers of tulle. I found the tulle dulled their bright colors a bit, and decided it would be better to have the tulle only under the seahorses.
I layered the seaweed fabric with batting and backing. Then I added one layer of tulle and basted around the edges. I quilted around the seaweed shapes. Then I added more strips of tulle and quilted them – some strips have one additional layer of tulle and others have 2 or 3 layers. I think this looks like sunlight shining into the water.
one layer of tulle, seaweed quilted
more layers of tulle
I thought it might be difficult to fuse the seahorses to the tulle. So I fused and then stitched each seahorse to a piece of felt – now they look dimensional and even more colorful! Then I trimmed the felt very close to the seahorse. Here they are pinned in place.
seahorses fused and stitched to felt
seahorses pinned to background
Then I quilted around the edges of each seahorse through all the layers. The edges of my mini quilt are faced, and the finished size is just under 12 x 12 inches.
Three little seahorses, by Terry Aske
I need to put a label on the back and get this in the mail, as it needs to arrive in Florida by the end of October for the SAQA Florida region exhibit Fresh Fish. I’m shipping from Canada and the mail can be quite slow these days.
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I’m working on a fun little mini quilt for the SAQA Florida region exhibit Fresh Fish. The theme is fish or other underwater creatures, realistic or imaginary. The size is no larger than 12” in length or width.
While searching my stash for suitable underwater background fabrics, I found this 13 x 13″ fabric sample. It seemed almost perfect, except maybe too white. So I tried covering it with some aqua-blue tulle. In the right photo below, I’m experimenting with 1, 2 and 3 layers of the tulle. I think I’ll use a variety of layers.
Regarding underwater creatures, I think the seahorse is one of the most unique and interesting looking. When I searched for information about the colors of seahorses, it seems they come in almost every color. And since this can be imaginary, I used some of my brightest fabrics for the seahorses. Here are the first two. I plan to add a third one.
Seahorses in progress
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I want to share a couple of online quilt shows you may be interested in viewing.
Check out the first annual Everyday Objects Quilt Show 2020 conceived and organized by Brandon Wulff. I was intrigued when I read Brandon’s call for entry, and I had a lot of fun going through my quilts looking for ‘everyday objects’. You can see all the entries here, and you can vote for your favourites until September 29.
Two of my entries to the Everyday Objects Quilt Show
SAQA Benefit Auction – There are almost 500 submissions this year to the SAQA Benefit Auction. Each year, SAQA invites each of its members to create a small 12 x 12 inch piece of art and donate it to the online auction. The auction is SAQA’s premier fundraising event and is taking place online from September 11 through October 4. All proceeds help support SAQA’s exhibition programs, publications, and education outreach.
This is my entry for 2020. The title is TILT. My artist statement: A study in black and white, focusing on contrast, line, balance and movement.
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Last week, I started working on my quilt for the annual art exchange of the Fibre Art Network. You can see my inspiration photos and initial fabric selection in last week’s post.
As I said last week, I decided to just pin the background fabrics in place rather than fusing them down (my usual technique). Then I straight-line quilted them to the green felt base. I was pleased that when I was finished quilting, I only found 2 pieces on the floor that had fallen off! I just placed them on top of the other pieces and added a few more quilting lines.
Then I started playing with the flower fabrics. I decided to cut the squares smaller and scatter them around (photo 2). I felt I needed more colour variety, so I added orange (photo 3). Then I added purple (photo 4). As I was adding colours, I was also rearranging the other pieces – this part can be a little addictive, and I had to force myself to stop before I totally covered the background!.
the evolution of my fabric selections for wildflowers
At that point, I applied a tiny bit of fusible web in the center of each flower piece. This was sufficient to keep them in place while I quilted around the edge of each square.
I fused fabric to the back of the felt base to give the piece more body (and coincidentally cover my messy tread ends on the back). I finished the edges by zigzag stitching with green thread.
Here is my finished piece. I think I have successfully captured the essence of the wildflowers that were my inspiration.
‘Colours of Summer’ by Terry Aske
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I’m working on a journal quilt (8.5 x 11 inches) for the annual art exchange of the Fibre Art Network.
My first step was to look for a source of inspiration. I scrolled through my photo collection, and found myself drawn to the bright colors of summer flowers. Here are a couple of my favorite photos.
I decided to create an abstract garden scene and grabbed my scrap bags. I’m building my composition on a piece of green felt. Once satisfied with the layout (middle) I removed the flower fabrics, so I can stitch the green pieces first. I’ll add the colorful flowers later.
I like to experiment with small quilts – because if the experiment doesn’t work, I can always start again. I decided to just pin the green fabrics in place, and stitch them to the felt backing without glue or fusible. I figure if there’s a problem, I should be able to cover it up later when I add the flowers. I’m stitching straight lines about 1/4″ apart, adjusting the width as necessary to catch the raw edges of the pieces.
I plan to have this finished in the next couple of days.
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I’m about halfway done quilting vertical straight lines on my re-imagined quilt. I started quilting in the middle and worked to the right, quilting lines 1/2″ apart. I’m marking the lines with my yellow gaffer tape. Now I’m quilting from the middle toward the left edge.
Here’s a close up ‘glamor shot’ of the quilted section.
I have a few ideas for additional quilting – perhaps more vertical lines closer together, or maybe some horizontal straight lines. I’ll finish this quilting first, then consider some options for additional quilting.
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Last week, the top half of my quilt top was sewn together. This week, I finished piecing the bottom half. I was very pleased that when I sewed the top and bottom sections together, all the lines were straight. (I had anticipated that I might have to un-sew and re-sew a few seams to achieve that, but it wasn’t necessary.) It’s about 26 x 40 inches.
Here it is on my design wall, ready to be quilted. I’m thinking vertical straight lines, about 1/2″ apart.
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I played around with the blocks on my design wall from last week (left photo below), and thought about what color to use for the background.
I settled on a dark gray background for the upper left quadrant and light gray for the upper right. The top half is now sewn together (right photo below). The bottom half is subject to design changes as I sew the blocks together. I’m thinking the same dark gray background for the lower left, and a medium gray for the lower right – but that is also subject to change. I’m really enjoying this improv process!
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