Maturing twins and other things

quilted

I've finished quilting the challenging twins and intend to have it squared, faced & sleeved by next Wednesday's mini-group meeting. Then they'd be ready to hang at the next EBHQ community show. I've learned a lot from this project. More about that later.

No more quilting projects before my October trip. But I intend to continue with fmq each day by quilting more little 4x4 samples of Leah Day's beginner-intermediate designs.

In the meantime, I'm preparing for a two-day dyeing feast with my friend Pat. We'll combine a couple of exercises from True Colors with Carol Soderlund, to dye neutrals in dark and medium-dark values. All one yard pieces - at least 26 yards total. A real dyeing experience (as opposed to little sixteenths last year (here and here).

I'd rather be in the studio (or the garden) but I'm actually doing some housekeeping. It's starting to look presentable for my critique group which will be meeting here next week. I clean for a reason!

Three is a lovely number

Quilt Therapy, my minigroup, issued a challenge to create a small quilt by 9/19/2012 for an upcoming community show. That's what I'm working on. 

Challenge parameters:

• size: 18x18
• colors: 50% to match three paint chips, and
• theme: three. 

Paint chips, mostly randomly selected:

red-oranges, yellow-oranges, & darkest neutral purples

Fabrics to match. In keeping with the theme, I'm using a 3x3 format - aka 9-patch. 

 paired squares

The number "3" makes a great shape. I selected a font, printed it large, enlarged it further on the copier, then cropped and traced for interesting mix of related shapes and positive/negative spaces:

patterns

Then I randomly paired patterns with fabric and outlined shapes with free motion stitches. Trimmed extra layers away - a raw edge reverse applique technique.

Then the fun part - arranging the squares in a 3 x3 format. This is similar to an exercise in the June shapes workshop with Terry Jarrard-Dimond posted here and here. From the trimmed layers, I made a polar twin 3x3 and arranged it in the same order:

arrangements v1, polar twin on left

Then rearranged in a dissimilar order:

 arrangement v2, related but not twins

Rearranged again in dissimilar order with some parts traded:

arrangement v3, traded parts

I really enjoy this design-play part of the process and could go on forever. Play more? or go with one of these? I've gotta put it together soon and get quilting. That deadline is looming!

Succumb to fmq practice

I thought free motion quilting was for others, not for me, but I've changed my tune. Admittedly I'd resisted for a long time. How to get there without so much work?! Now that I've succumbed to daily fmq practice, I'll get there eventually. Here's proof that it has ruled my studio time.

You'd think a simple change in direction to create a checkerboard effect would be easy. It was.Until I spaced out and discovered many squares later they didn't alternate properly anymore. Then it got ugly. In the few tedious hours it took to un-stitch several squares, I could've finished them all! Thenceforth I marked the direction of each square and quilted in one direction only. Thus avoiding or aborting further mishaps. It's now ready for binding:

fmq'd mini whole cloth with trapunto

This Ohio Star would make a good pillow:

fmq'd Ohio Star

The pink one just needs a filler around the perimeter . . .

waiting for fmq around perimeter

. . . or maybe not. 

Now is a good time to get moving on a group challenge due in mid-September. An opportunity for design-play once again plus another opportunity for fmq, of course. 

Really good news: the machine quilting workshop with Sandy Ciolino is a go! Yay! This also means a get together with a Michigan friend for a trip to Toronto! Yay for that too!

Twisted & girl-y

Camera is working but flash is not. The only way to take a photo is without the flash. Either a repair or a new camera is in my future. Hmm, which will it be? Meanwhile I'm making do without.

My fellow Quilt Therapists and I are make quilts for Ani Simm's Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Ahh, an opportunity to make something small and not too challenging.

My contribution: a twisted log cabin, 9" square and paper pieced. I wanted to try one. Thankfully only one. More would drive me bonkers.

Only top finished so far. So girl-y in pink and black. So not me. But someone may love it.

Do do do do do do do do do did

A challenge from my quilt minigroup: interpret wings in an 18"x18" quilt.

I could do this – have a few months.
I could do this – it won't be very big.
I could do this – use prints from my stash.
I could do this – try something new.
I could do this – a free motion quilting opportunity.

I found an origami-like crane pattern. I've never paper pieced, but how hard can this be? I could do this! After much trial and error – and tedium – I made six 6x9 blocks. Place them in a simple 2x3 grid? yech! Arrange it more improvisationally? I could do this! More trial and error and it is ready for quilting.

I came up with a my own filler design. Yes, I could do this! No way could I have done it a few months ago. Thanks again Leah Day - see also this previous post.

 

Finish the quilt in time? I could do this!

First one I've ever free motion machine quilted. With my very own fmq design to boot! I did it!

Quilt therapy

My quilt mini-group has been meeting since July 2008 without a name. We finally came up with one in August. In our monthly meetings, we give each other hurrahs as well as tough love. Just like group therapy! And we all agree quilting is therapeutic. So we are now the Quilt Therapy Group!

A few months ago we started a group mystery quilt. One of us had the plan and directed the other nine. My turn was at toward the end. This is what I received:
My task: add half the borders and corner blocks. What to do?! Maybe containment and repetition. So here's what I passed on:
The top is done and we're sending out for quilting & binding. Then we're donating it to a charitable organization.

What's going on

I joined a minigroup of quilters through the local quilt guild, EBHQ. With a wide range of experience, the challenge would be keeping the more experienced ones interested. We agreed to at least start by working through The Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterson. Not in sequence though.

Started with the chapter on piecing. Here's my four-leaf sampler from Piecing Workshop by Ruth McDowell.
And a nine-patch using double cutting methods from Quilting Outside the Box by Sandi Cummings with a free-pieced center block.






I can't see making wall hangings out of either of these samplers. They will morph into throw pillow covers. At least they'd provide an opportunity for machine quilting. Maybe even FMQ.

Our second chapter was on collage. Due to life, I have nothing to show for this.

Third, working with photos. This from the pear pattern provided in the book.
A more complicated piece based one of my photos.

They're small, so-o-o hand quilting? No border either, just a binding.