Work Quilt #2 - Finished!

Finally finished my 2nd "Work Quilt"! (My fingers are very relieved!)


Now, I have tried sooooo hard to get the colors accurate.... almost to the point of insanity. Proving very difficult as the shot cotton seems to constantly change and shift colors depending on the angle it is viewed and how the light hits it. Some days it looks more green to me and some days more blue. But that is one of the things I love about shot cotton!


Looking at my monitor, the red squares are showing up more bright then they actually are... in truth they are more of a brick red, actually being woven with a rust weft and a purple warp! (who-da thunk?) I believe that quiet purple warp helps this particular red fabric get along very well with the surrounding blues and greens.


This photo above seems to be the best as far as color accuracy.... of course every monitor is different. (I am working on a Mac, but just looked at these pictures on my daughter's PC and surprisingly they looked very accurate on the PC. Again... who-da-thunk? Never-the-less, I love my Mac!) ...But I digress... back to the quilt...

With a little math I have estimated that there are approximately over 15,000 hand stitches in this piece, which after washing now measures 40" x 41.5"



Not wanting to use up my shot cottons on the back side, I instead choose solid Kona fabrics, giving the back a more contemporary feel...


If you look closely at the back, you can see small patches of horizontal stitching where the patches on the front have been quilted down. I like that subtle variation.

This "Work Quilt", at least for now, is another keeper.... I want the Work quilts in my possession so I can refer back to them as I continue on this series. The next one is in the planning stages, but I also want to make some smaller, related pieces to put in the shop.... Oh my. These are a bit more labor intensive then I am use to. If only I could get by on 2 hours sleep!

Drive by Inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere, and happily quilt ideas pop into my head like Jiffy Pop popcorn over a campfire.


This modern studio art quilt was inspired by the colors of yellow taxis cabs, school buses, roads and road signs, thus the name, "Drive".


I love the minimalist modern design and bright colors of this quilt. Makes me happy!


Drive measures 20" x 24" and is available in my Silly BooDilly Etsy shop.

I also would like to thank everyone who left a comment on my Wonky Star Tutorial, for the Bushfire Quilt Project. I am delighted that it was of help! I've put a link up to access it over on the side.

Have a delightful weekend everyone! xo

Spring Quilt... Two Stitches Forward, One Stitch Back

If this quilt had been a baby, it would have been born breech, because it was a difficult quilt to birth.


Don't ask me why, as I have no idea. The piecing was a simple piece of cake, and the quilting should have been as well, but for every two stitches I took, another one had to be ripped out.


If it could go wrong it did. Broken threads, mysteriously faulty tensions, me getting off track from spacing out, (or more like glazing over in pure fatigue).


It was a true exercise in going with the flow, and keeping my sense of humor, (which at times I didn't do so well with. Good thing it's winter and the windows are closed, otherwise the neighborhood kiddies riding their tricycles outside may have been somewhat traumatized by hearing the slew of profanity flying from my mouth.) Maybe it was just the universe's way of reminding me that as much as I might wish it to be spring, it's the dead of winter and I better just except that!


But seeing as this quilt is suppose to be a celebration of spring, I tried to quilt it as such. Stitching horizontal points above to represent blades of grass, and straight rows below to represent the farmer plowing the field behind our house.


The majority of the quilt is stitched all over in my new favorite wavy stitch to represent the fluttery path of butterflies, and new growth emerging from the awakening garden beds.


Remember the piece of yellow from my previous post, that I had hacked off the front when piecing the top? Well, waste not, want not. It survived and was added to the back of the quilt!


I am happy to say the pain and frustration was all worth it in the end as I am very pleased with the final outcome, (but I am keeping my fingers crossed the next project goes more smoothly!)

Spring Quilt is currently available in my Silly BooDilly shop.

Winter Quilt

I had planned to be a sewing whiz this weekend, completing all of my unfinished quilts. Great plan but I got side tracked a bit when I slightly threw my back out, (from lifting up Molasses)... she may be short in height, but she is long in body... and 45 pounds of wiggly Molasses may be good for my soul but not for my back. All I can say is thank goodness for heating pads, pain killers and Mo's sweet face!


I was determined to get something done though and did finish this quilt. It looks very nice against the bare robin's egg blue walls of our dining room, which need a little something, so I plan on hanging it there. I especially like the big F & M , (do you see it?) on one of the feedsack strips. Hubby and I got married in the F & M College chapel, so the quilt has a bit of personal symbolism in it, which makes me happy!


The colors in the quilt remind me of winter, so that's what I am calling it.


Here's the back side. You can better see the various quilting stitches I used all over the piece... zig-zags, wiggles and straight stitches. (Wiggles... now there's a very technical term!) xo

Small String Study

In an on going effort to use up my leftover scraps, I have begun making little quilts such as the one shown here.

I always have left over strips, and small pieces of batting laying around, and they lend themselves wonderfully for making little "string" pieced quilts, which give me a fun and safe place to explore line, color interaction and various stitching ideas.

Plus I love to work on a small scale!


Expect to see more of these sprinkled here and there on my blog and in my shop, as they are a bit like eating potato chips, you can't just stop at one, (truth be told, when it comes to potato chips, I could easily eat a whole bag without even blinking!)

This Small String Study Art Quilt measures 8 1/4" x 15 3/4". Perfect size for a small space that needs a little something!

Note: This quilt has been sold.

Building an Improvised Quilt

Last month, when I finally got to see the quilts of Gee's Bend up close and in person, I was most delighted and energized to see how freely the quilts had been built. The Gee's Bend Ladies sometimes compare constructing a quilt to building a house. Lots of the quilts began with a square or rectangular piece of fabric. This would be the base, or foundation of the house. Strips, (like walls) are added to all of the sides. And from there more is added... a bit of this and a bit of that... building the quilt up... no pattern... everything improvised.


This made perfect sense to me, because I never work from a pattern, they completely confuse, and I admit, bore me! (At times, when working with different publishers, I have had to create patterns for pieces that I have already made, drawing up diagrams and writing step by step directions on how to make one of my pieces. This always makes me feel a bit awkward because it is so contrary to how my mind actually works.)


Keeping those Gee's Bend quilts in mind, (specifically the one's which started with a basic squarish shape) I began to construct this Flower Garden Art Quilt. I decided to only use scraps of fabric which were left over from some previous projects, and made a pact with myself that once the scraps were used up, I would stop... and that's just what I did!


I started with the center square, next added on the strips, and just kept building and adding until my scraps were used up.


I also noticed upon observing the Gee's Bend quilts, that the hand quilting on the pieces were often done in arcs. I decided to also quilt this piece in arc shapes, but used machine quilting, as that's what I perfer.


This is the back of the quilt. You can really see the quilting here. I just use my regular sewing machine and a walking foot, (a special foot that helps all of the layers feed evenly through the feed dogs.)

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I would absolutely love to see the creativity that could come from every sewer if patterns were thrown out! Just imagine the wonderful array of originality in design and construction that would be unleashed on the world!

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NOTE: As I was writing up this blog post, Jacquie over at TallGrass Prairie Studio was on a similar train of thought and had already posted the day before about her great idea Project Improv, a quilting collaboration that shares in and supports the efforts, process and results of those wanting to make improvised quilts of any size! Each participant is encouraged to make a project for themselves and to also make and send in a 12.5" improvised log cabin block from one of 3 selected color combos. The individual blocks are to be sewn into quilts and donated to charity. I think this project is a great idea, and I will be participating in the challenge and donating a block in Orange and Pink. I encourage anyone else who is interested to go to Jacquie's blog and join in on the fun! (Last I checked I believe she already had over 70 people respond to her post!)

Goals for The New Year and Study in Blues and Red - Utilitarian Inspired Modern Art Quilt

Yay! Over the holidays I did find time to finished the quilting and binding on the quilt from this previous post.



I've named her "Study in Blues and Red".





Back...

This utilitarian inspired modern art quilt is available in my shop for anyone interested!

(For better viewing click on the pics!)

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I have been thinking, as many of you have, what my goals for this New Year will be. I narrowed my focus to three things, which I hope to apply to all areas of my life:

Explore More
Fear Less
Simplify

Keeping these goals in mind I am hoping to apply them to my quilting by...

~ Exploring more with color interaction, construction and quilted stitch.

~ Not being afraid of what people will think, or fearing whether or not the finished work will be liked and accepted. (This is a hard one because obviously one always hopes that ones work will be liked and accepted, but thinking about it can also be a real roadblock to creative exploration.)

~ Simplifying the creative process by not over thinking everything, and allowing things to come together in a more random way.

I hope to be creating and posting lots of new work throughout this year, (I have some more pieces already finished and waiting patiently in line to be photographed) and am looking forward to discovering what I learn and where it takes me!

New Years and new beginnings are so exciting, don't you agree?!

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PS. Don't forget to help save Handmade for our Children! Check out my last post for more information, or click on the Handmade Toy Allowance link on the right.