Starting The Journey From Wearable Art To A Qullt

 I spent about 6 hours today taking apart this jacket.

All I removed is this one small section of quilt blocks,

When I make something it is never going to fall apart and that is why it took so long.

The journey has just begun but I am anxious to see the result.

The Vest Became a Quilt

 

One of my current quilting projects is making quilts from some of my wearable art.

This quilt used to be a vest. This is the first of the 12 pieces of wearable art I am repurposing as a quilt.

I no longer do style shows so I selected these pieces that would make interesting quilts.

Stay tuned to future blog posts as there will be more.

Another Garment Will Become a Quilt

 This garment is a perfect choice to become a quilt. Stay tuned as it could take a while.

I have a lot of pieces of my wearable art that are becoming quilts.

Creating Quilts From Wearable Art

My newest activity is creating quilts from Wearable Art from my style show.

I no longer give style shows and many of these garments will make great small quilts.

I am still in the process of taking thing apart so you may not see finished quilts for a while.

I Just Connected With This Beautiful Model

This beautiful model enjoyed posing in my airport coat.
The rest of the story: I used to wear this coat when I travelled.
I was on the people mover at the Atlanta airport and a man started talking to me. I was beyond the age where men started conversations with me to get to know me. He was intrigued by my coat.
This happened repeatedly when I travelled and often they would tell me their wives would love it.
It is a version of my slashed jacket pattern.
The subtitle is: My If I Wanted To Meet A Man In An Airport Coat!
No I don't want to meet one!

My If I Wanted To Meet A Man In An Airport Coat

I mentioned this coat on Facebook yesterday and my friend Nancy Dunnavan asked me if my coat had been on FB. So here is the blog I wrote about it.
It is being modeled by my DIL Julie who is Greg’s wife.

I talked about this coat some time ago, but did not have a picture to show you.
The weight is similar to the weight of a trench coat, but it is so much more fun to wear than a boring old trench coat!
This is what I said on the previous post:
I posted about a coat I had made from my Slashed Coat/Jacket pattern. The subtitle of mine is "My If I Wanted To Catch A Man In An Airport Coat".
I didn't want to and I don't want to. But every time I wore it men would stop me and ask about it.
The first time it happened I was on the people mover at the Atlanta airport. A man struck up a conversation with me, which surprised me since I was past the age where men hit on you! He was very interested in the coat and very complementary about it.
This continued to happen each time I was in an airport and I was flying a lot back then. It was the perfect weight to go from cold weather to warmer weather.

This is the now famous coat.
This particular one was made with 4 layers of cotton.
The base layer is slightly heavier than a quilting cotton.
Layer 2 is a carmel color quilting weight cotton. (as are all the other layers)
Layer 3 is what makes this so fun and funky. It is made from diagonal strips of red, black and rust alternating in no specific design.
Layer 4 (the outer layer) is an olive quilting weight cotton.
Using 100% cotton is what allows these layers to fluff out when the coat is washed. It is one of those garments that just gets better and better the more you wash it and dry it in the dryer.

Both the front and back have a neat asymmetric design.
Since there are no seam finishes or edge finishes this is a relatively quick coat to make. All the lines are stitched in one direction and there are no extra patterns added to the stitching which also makes this a quick project.
I have made several other variations from this pattern, both jacket and coat length.
They all get a lot of attention each time I wear them.

Olympic Cowls

This cowl was made from one of my Olympic Gold Medal pieces of silk double georgette fabric I dyed.
The construction only took about 10 or 15 minutes after I had the machine threaded and the first seam pinned. It’s beautiful, drapey and one of my best colors to wear.


Once that was done I made this one with a piece of semi-sheer printed silk I bought in Austin, Texas when Frances Holliday Alford took me shopping when I visited her about 12 years ago. It is another one of my best colors.
I am going to feel so great when I wear these.

Breathing A Sign Of Relief

I do send a lot of packages USPS. I love their tracking reports via email messages.

Recently this doesn’t seem to be working for me.

You may have heard about the package that was supposed to be here in 2 days, took 9 days and was never scanned along the way after it left.

I sent this garment to Houston for the Quilt Knit Stitch show that will be held in Portland, Oregon August 13-15th.

It is a retrospective show of some of outstanding garments from the Fairfield Fashion show over the years.

I did not get any notifications while it was in transit.

I was so relieved to see it had been delivered when I checked the computer this morning. It DID arrive in the Priority Mail 2 day time.

The ensemble is a coat, top and skirt.

They are my original designs.

The top is an adaptation of my No Sweat Checkerboard Shirt pattern. The main fabric is a fine quality cotton sateen. I used twice as many colors as the pattern calls for and used narrower strips.

For the coat I combined parts and details from several of my Blue Ribbon Patterns and created a new original design. The coat is hand quilted with 1/2 layer of batting. It is lined in a slippery fabric to make it easy to slip on and off.

The skirt is an original draft to compliment the coat.

I am not sure what year this appeared in the show. My friend who was with me at the opening of the show said it got the second most applause of any of the garments in the show. I was thinking it might now show well on the runway but I was definitely wrong. Almost all the other garments that year were those popular at the time jewel tones with lots of glitz and glitter. I designed it as a garment that really was wearable, yet stunning.  It travelled for a year and came home in perfect condition.

Although I won’t get to see the show in Portland I hope some of you will and if you have a chance to take a photo to send me you will have my  undying gratitude.

My Wearable Art Patterns

I’ve had a request from a friend to show the patterns from my pattern company

Blue Ribbon Patterns.

Almost all of them (and the most popular) are the wearable art patterns.

I’m going to share some of them with you on this post.

This photo was taken at a style show of my designs in Michigan. It features my 5 models and myself. In case you don’t recognize me I’m third from the left.

Some of the garments are one of a kind, although they may be based on one of my patterns and others are direct creations from my patterns.

This is the cover of my No Sweat Checkerboard Shirt.  It was the best ever selling wearable pattern for over a year in the country.

Here is another shirt made from the pattern.

My Prairie Point vest was consistently a winner. I did the pattern after a friend who didn’t do wearables said she’d make it if I did a pattern.

She made several of them and so did thousands of others.

All of my patterns were designed to flatter the figure and came is vanity sizes XS, S, M and L.

In my opinion no one is an XL.

This group of ladies took a Great Spirit class from me (maybe in Indiana!) and sent me the picture of them wearing their shirts. It’s always a pleasure to see students complete projects.

I’ve shared just a few of my patterns here and hope to share others some time.

Fairfield Fashion Show Garment

This is the other garment I designed for the Fairfield Fashion show years ago. The patchwork fabric is composed of fabric using my original technique of Tubular Spiral Patchwork.
The sleeveless coat is my original design pattern.
In addition for all the solid color cottons I included some copper and silver gold lame. I placed them between similar colors so as not to interrupt the color flow.
I also created an original design black polished cotton jumpsuit to be worn with it.
A flattering design for any figure.
It will never go out of style.

It debuted at the IQA Quilt market in Houston that year.

It then also was shown at IQA Festival. When it was modeled at the IQA Festival it was very special for me. My parents were visiting my brother's family in Houston and my Mom was able to see the show with me. We were seated at a special table with designers with garments in the show. I think Judy Murrah was at our table.

It travelled for a year to shows and conferences around the country.

It was selected as one of a few garments to travel to the show in Europe the next year. If I remember right the show was in Austria.

Grandmother/Granddaughter Collaborative Quilt

When my granddaughter Dana saw the quilt her older sister Heidi composed with my extra polyester double knit blocks she wanted to make a quilt too.

I was not about to make any more polyester double knit blocks, yet didn’t want to disappoint a 4 year old!

So I got out my unfinished blocks and let her compose them in a way that satisfied her. (Don’t tell her but I did have to add some spacer strips!)

Of course I sewed it together.

She chose the backing fabric.

We had a long arm quilter quilt it and I finished it with a binding.

This was made about 20 years ago.

I think she really loved that backing fabric.

About the same time I was making Glad Rags for my granddaughters.

She picked her own fabric and wanted it all made from just one fabric.

Since the time she was a baby she had watched me work on my design wall. I think she thought anything made from fabric belonged on the design wall.

Here is the jacket pinned on the design wall.

You can see how proud she was of putting this on the wall.

I don’t think she ever wore it as she must have somehow thought one didn’t wear things we put on the design wall!

She has created several quilts herself in the intervening years and I will share them with you soon.

Wearable Wednesday

As I was thinking about the Violet Vest I made I remembered I had made another vest years ago with almost the same colors.

The design and fabrics are quite different. At the time I made this one it was very hard to even find good solid colored fabrics.

I think this one was sold.

Here is another vest I made in similar colors. This is my Texture Vest pattern. It has “wrinkling” and stitching with heavy thread in the bobbin, a slashed band and a shirt tail hem.

The length and styling make this a very flattering style for all sizes.

One of the presentations I used to do was a style show of my wearable art. This is a group of models from one of them.

You may recognize the Almost Crazy Vest from the pattern front.

I hope I am inspiring some of you to create your own wearable art.

Violet Vest Visit!

This is the front of the vest. I think you can see that I used all the fabrics I used in the vest for the binding. I sewed them together and did a bias binding which allows you to shape the binding to the curves.

 

Here you can see the back. You can also see the lining as the points from the front hang below the back in the photo.

I’m quite pleased with it.

I think the fact that I made it with what I would call zero waste (after squeezing a pin cushion and a small quilt out of the scraps too small to use) makes me even prouder of what I accomplished. I do not intend to make zero waste a habit though.

Violet Vest Leftover Fabric

I had planned on showing you the finished vest today. I did the hand sewing on the binding last night while I watched the Oscars. I still have more than half way to go.

So instead I’ll show you the fabrics I have leftover.

I photographed these on my 12 inch square Olfa matt to give you an idea of how big they are.

I call these “scraps too small to use”!

But wait……….. I have bigger scraps too…………..

 

Yes, these are the BIG scraps I had left after the vest was bound. The strip of the stripe was all the extra binding I had.

I don’t think I’ve ever cut it this close on a project before. Being able to make something and make it work while working so tight can only be accomplished with my history of sewing for years and years.

Of course I’m not done with this fabric yet. Stay tuned to see what I do with the leftovers!

Vest Variation In Violets!

When I finished making my new jacket it put me in the mood for making wearable art.

This is a section from the center of the back of the vest I started yesterday.

I am using my Almost Crazy Vest pattern to make it.

It looks NOTHING like the pattern. All of my patterns are flattering basic shapes and this was the perfect style for the piecing I am doing.

This is the picture of the original Almost Crazy Vest from the pattern front.

I am piecing this directly on the lining. I don’t want a heavy warm vest.

I have also started piecing the fronts. I am working from the centers out to the side seams. This will allow me to keep the most interesting parts of the design where it can be seen.

I hope to finish the piecing today and possibly get the entire vest finished.

I Guess The Weather Woman Wanted To See My Coat!

I didn’t expect to be able to wear this coat in Florida since out temperatures have been in the 70’s and 80’s.

Today we expect a high of maybe 50 and we haven’t reached it yet at 2:30 p.m.

So guess what I wore to the grocery store?

That’s right………….

Mystery Project Reveal!

I have completed my mystery project which used the silk that used to be on my pillows.

This is a jacket I made from my Blue Ribbon Pattern 116 Slashed Jacket.

This is a close up of one section of the jacket. You may be able to see the colors of some of the pillows I recycled into this jacket.

The base (or inner layer) of the jacket is black silk noil.

The outer layer is a soft rust dupioni silk.

The many layers between them are composed of the silk from the pillows and a collection of small pieces of dupioni silk I had.

In some places there are as many as 12 layers and in others just a few.

One of my goals in making this was to only use fabric I had on hand. I became reacquainted with my fabrics when I did my recent studio reorganization.

If you would like to see the various layers I created you can see them at this blog post:

http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-colorful-mystery-project.html

I really enjoyed creating this jacket. It has been a while since I created any wearable art, but I think there will be more in the not too distant future.

I am really going to enjoy wearing this jacket. When it is on a body it drapes so beautifully.

I hope you enjoy finding all the colors from the pillows as you work this puzzle!

One More Airport Coat Variation

I am sharing one more variation of this design.
The others I have made are either not here or have been sold.


I made this one jacket length without the collar.
I used a woven fabric for the base and knit fabrics for the 3 outer layers.

Base Fabric - a textured cotton dress weight
Layer 1 - a tan and cream loosely knit cotton sweater knit
Layer 2 - an olive cotton single knit
Layer 3 and binding - a teal and olive acrylic sweater knit


I choose to do a chevron or V design with the stitching on this jacket, a very flattering line.
The stitching lines are three quarters of an inch apart.
The sleeve, front and lower edges are finished with a simple 1/2 inch binding using the sweater knit.

This is a great weight for fall and early winter.

Because of the slashing of the fabric the garments made from this pattern are very drapey and flattering to all sizes.

My If I Wanted To Meet A Man In An Airport Coat Variation

This coat is made from the same pattern as the one I showed you yesterday.
For this one I used the following fabrics:
1. Base - woven Buffalo check cotton fabric
2. Cotton osnaburg
3. Caramel color hand woven Guatemalan stripe fabric
4. Loosely woven black and cream wool plaid
Binding and seam covers - Black cotton


This is the back of the coat.
You can see I did a more complex stitching design on this coat.
I also spaced my lines 1/2 - 3/4 inches apart. The coat yesterday had lines stitched 1 inch apart.


This is a closeup of the stitching detail on the back of the coat.
You can see a strip of black on the back of the collar. This is what I call a seam cover. All the seams in this coat are covered this way.

The coat is totally reversible.

It is also very warm and comfy to wear. It is as warm as a fur coat - and in Wisconsin in the winter a warm coat is a necessity.

Yes, even with the one layer of wool, this coat is very washable and gets better the more it is washed.

Constructing this coat was much more time consuming, but well worth the effort. It looks great on any size or shape person.

I think you'll enjoy piecing this puzzle together!

My If I Wanted To Meet A Man In An Airport Coat

I talked about this coat some time ago, but did not have a picture to show you.
My daughter in law Julie was nice enough to model this for me so I could show you what it looks like.


The weight is similar to the weight of a trench coat, but it is so much more fun to wear than a boring old trench coat!

This is what I said on the previous post:
I posted today on Quilt Art about a coat I had made from my Slashed Coat/Jacket pattern. The subtitle of mine is "My If I Wanted To Catch A Man In An Airport Coat".

I didn't want to and I don't want to. But everytime I wore it men would stop me and ask about it.

The first time it happened I was on the people mover at the Atlanta airport. A man struck up a conversation with me, which surprised me since I was past the age where men hit on you! He was very interested in the coat and very complementary about it.
This continued to happen each time I was in an airport and I was flying a lot back then. It was the perfect weight to go from cold weather to warmer weather.


This is the now famous coat.
This particular one was made with 4 layers of cotton.

The base layer is slightly heavier than a quilting cotton.
Layer 2 is a carmel color quilting weight (and all the other layers) cotton.
Layer 3 is what makes this so fun and funky. It is made from diagonal strips of red, black and rust alternating in no specific design.
Layer 4 (the outer layer) is an olive quilting weight cotton.

Using 100% cotton is what allows these layers to fluff out when the coat is washed. It is one of those garments that just gets better and better the more you wash it and dry it in the dryer.


Both the front and back have a neat asymmetric design.

Since there are no seam finishes or edge finishes this is a relatively quick coat to make. All the lines are stitched in one direction and there are no extra patterns added to the stitching which also makes this a quick project.

I have made several other variations from this pattern, both jacket and coat length.
They all get a lot of attention each time I wear them.