Gorgeous Quilt is Done–365!

As the sun shone through the windows this morning the quilting design became more visible and I thought I’d finally be able to get a photo where you could see it..

I took a lot of photos and this shows it best.

It has been so long since I designed this quilting design I have no idea how I came up with it – but I am quite sure I did several pages of sketches.

It unifies and connects the lines created with the pink strips in the piecing.

You might even be able to see the detail better in this gray scale image.

Yes, this is the 365th quilt I have finished in the years I have been quilting. It has been almost 45 years since I finished the first successful quilt.At that time it was extremely difficult to find fabrics, batting and other quilting tools. I used scraps of fabrics from clothing I had made and a cardboard template to trace around for 2 x 4 inch finished pieces. My, how times have changed!

I guess my average time then to make a quilt is 45 days! This one was in the works for 15 years – start to finish.

Another Gorgeous Happy Quilt On My Design Wall–Ready To Be Quilted!

This quilt started as a prototype for a design I wanted to teach. It didn’t look at all like this and it didn’t work for the class. One of the benefits of making quilts is so often the solutions to a design problem are so much better than the original idea. The only one of my quilts that ended up in the wastebasket was my very first. I had just started to sew when I was 13 and had no idea how to make a quilt. I just started sewing various shapes together. That was a long time and over 364 finished quilts ago. It also was well over 100 works in progress ago. I am making some progress finishing these works in progress now that my studio is organized again.

This is the original photo of it. It was not a pleasing composition and was more difficult than what I wanted for the class.

By seeing the reworked quilt on the design wall as I worked on other things in the studio I came up with an appropriate and also easy quilting design to complete it.

I love this quilt and can’t wait to finish it.

Father’s Day–Quilt Made For Our Dad’s 75th Birthday

When my Dad turned 75 I had the bright idea for the family to make him a quilt.

I had a lot of help!!!

The rest of the family signed the signature strips and I cut and pieced and quilted the entire quilt.

There are 25 signature squares in the quilt.

If a family signature quilt was made today there would be more than twice as many blocks.

He would have been 97 years old on his birthday in February 2012.

A Gorgeous Quilt–Ready For The Finishing Steps–Hand Sewing

I put a four inch casing (rod pocket) on both the top and bottom of this quilt. Of course the one at the top is where I insert a slat to hang it.

I also like to insert a slat in the bottom as that helps the quilt hang better.I will sew both ends to the quilt and also the fold at the lower edge. There is 1/2 inch of extra fabric in the outer layer of the casing which then allows you to insert a slat and not have it show on the outside.

I have added a double layer of bias binding around the entire edge of the quilt on the front.

It will be brought over to the back and hand sewn down. I will line up the folded edge of the binding with the stitching line that attached the binding.

I have all my supplies ready to do the hand sewing. It is just a matter of time before this quilt can be added to my list of completed quilts!

My Studio: Accessories Finish The Room

As I have spent time in my newly reorganized studio my thoughts turn to using some of my quilts and other items as accessories and decorative items.

Since my studio has a lot of windows and the long design wall it does not leave a lot of wall space to hang things. I have to think of other ways to hang quilts to make the room complete.

One solution I have come up with is to use a tension rod to hang a piece of felt to cover a bookcase.

I have pinned two quilts to the felt. This also makes it easy to change the quilts I display any time I want.

A French wood printing block and this quilt hang on the far right of the office area of the studio. Visible from the workspace in the office is the side of this bookcase. I had four 8 x 10 glossies printed of some of my quilts. I framed them with very simple black frames and they made the side of this bookcase so much more attractive.

Making my space beautiful and colorful inspires me when I am creating.

Often we have to think out of the box not only when creating art, but also when decorating a home or studio.

I hope this will give someone else some ideas.

Quilting Tutorial–Marking Difficult Fabric–Part 2

For the triangular spaces I had left to quilt on the each side of the quilt I chose to use straight lines. The piece didn’t call for any more curved quilting lines.

I used a ruler and my Chalkoner to mark a set of lines to quilt on one of the triangles.

The next step was to quilt this set of lines.

Using the even feed foot I am continuing quilting all the lines I have drawn.

To stitch the second set of lines 1/2 inch to the right of the first set I put the needle in the far right position and followed the first stitching with the left edge of the presser foot.

I drew the second set of lines on the other side of the triangle the same way I drew the first set.

I stitched all the lines starting at the inside edge of the triangle section and finished at the outer edge of the quilt.

I stitched the drawn lines first and then set the needle position to the far left and stitched 1/2 inch away from the lines.

This shows the complete quilting on one of the triangles. I did one triangle at a time from start to finish.

By the time I finished each triangle you could no longer see the lines I had marked with my Chalkoner.

I really enjoy the quilting process. I enjoy doing the stitching and I love to see how the quilting that is done in harmony with the quilt adds so much to the piece.

I feel like I am on the home stretch with this quilt as I only have to trim the edges, bind it and add casings to both the top and bottom edges

Quilting Tutorial: Marking Difficult Fabrics–Part 1

When I showed the quilt I am finishing for Jessica’s room I had questions about how I was going to mark the sections I had yet to do.

They were very legitimate questions as the background fabric is one of those that is hard to see marks on.

Add to that the fact that there is already a layer of wool batting behind the fabric because most of the quilt has already been quilted.

These are my 2 favorite things for marking quilting lines.

The Chalkoner has a wheel at the bottom and it dispenses a very fine line of chalk. I only use the white powder as the colors were difficult to impossible to remove.

I have had mine “forever” and had to do a Google search to find a source if you are interested in this.

http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Item_ID=1164&Store_id=516&page_id=23

It can be refilled. I have never used up the chalk in my original one.

I also use the Clover tailor’s chalk that you can get here.

http://www.jinnybeyer.com/ax_commerce/detail.cfm?productID=4DE6731FFD019FB1D65C773F3A2DFAA9

You may have other favorite marking devices but these work better than anything else I have tried and I probably have tried them all!

I made a pattern for my quilting lines from a piece of heavy template plastic. I laid this on one section of the quilt and marked all the horizontal quilting curved lines.

I used the Chalkoner. By the time I finished quilting you could no longer see any of the marking. I sometimes have to remark some areas.

I then did the same thing for the vertical curves. It is not easy to see the quilting on the pictures of this quilt. To me that is not a big deal. The quilting design enhances the design of the quilt. To me that is what quilting should do, not shout so loud it overpowers what you have created with your piecing.

Stay tuned and tomorrow I will share with you the way I quilted the triangle sections on the edges of this quilt.

In case you haven’t seen the entire quilt I’m adding a photo of it.

Using My Entire Design Wall

I am fortunate to have almost 30 feet of pinable design wall in my studio.

This means I can have a lot of work on it at one time.

Some of the work is in the early stages. Others are ready to be layered and quilted.

I often have several pieces pinned on top of others as it is a good way to keep them wrinkle free and also be able to find them!

I often hang finished work on the design wall – both to photograph and just to enjoy and decide what I want to do with it.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you have probably seen all these at one time or another.

I also can study things and make design decisions, come up with quilting designs or make a decision if a piece is worth going ahead with.

Another benefit is I LOVE color and having work on the design wall surrounds me with color – in a variety of colors and color combinations.

If you are a quilter you might want to think if there are any other places in your studio or home you can hang work while you are working on it.

Could you cover a bookcase with felt using a tension curtain rod to hold the felt in place?

Could you tape an almost completed piece to a place on your wall with painter’s tape?

Could you layer work on your design wall like I do?

Put on your thinking cap and let me know what ideas YOU come up with to increase your space for a design wall.

A Gorgeous Quilt – If I Do Say So Myself!

This is the quilt that suddenly moved to the top of my list of quilts to finish.

It is the perfect quilt for Jessica’s room.

The quilting is finished with the exception of the triangles on each side. I have a pattern designed for those areas. It is not so easy to mark a quilt when the batting is already in place, especially wool batting.

Once it is marked the quilting should not take long. I am not sure if I will be facing this or adding a matching binding. Bindings are so much easier and I think it will stabilize the edges better. Of course I will  add a casing at both the top and bottom so it hangs perfectly.

It will finished approximately 62 inches square.

Almost A Potato Chip Quilt!

My friend Pauline sent me this photo of a quilt she made using the idea I use to make a potato chip quilt.

This is what she had to say about it:

Kinda, sorta a potato chip quilt?

After seeing your tutorial, I thought "what a great idea!!"

I made a 3" wide strip that ended up just over 216 feet long. Then, I folded the strip and sewed it using the potato cop directions. I used 3" strips & a longer length so I would end up with a quilt 80"x80".

Still didn't make a dent in my black & white strips I cut for my last quilt ;-)

Hers is bigger and there are no chips.

She has so much going on and she did it masterfully.

Pauline LOVES black and white and you might guess it when you see this quilt!

I have to say “I absolutely LOVE this quilt.”

This method is a great tool in your quilting tool box. What are you going to use it for?

“New To Me” Wall Unit Ready To Enjoy

Some of you know I am an eBay enthusiast.

I purchased this 110” Dyrlund wall unit on eBay. I would guess it is somewhere between 30 and 50 years old. I love Scandinavian furniture. It is not perfect. The middle lower section has some surface imperfections on the top and one door won’t open. Other than that it is in great shape. I bought it because it had such a beautiful design. All the doors are tambour doors.

The pieces were taking up almost my whole living room when I returned from Florida 3 weeks ago. There were at least 25 different pieces that had to be put together to create this finished unit.

Yesterday it was set up in guest room 2 – or as I now call it – Jessica’s room!

After it was set up I filled the various cabinets. There are still several empty sections. It had a lot more storage room than I expected.

I then shopped for accessories to put on it. My shopping for accessories is done in my house! I look around and see what I have I can use.

On the floor I have this rya rug I purchased on eBay several years ago. The colors are very muted and there is some lavender, burgundy and many neutral colors in the rug. I found the vases and the tray in my other guest room, where they weren’t adding anything to the room. The tall art doll came from my dining room.

The music boxes came from a cabinet on the opposite wall of this room. The other accessories were on the cabinets that were previously in this spot. I am sure I will still do a little tweaking of the accessories I used, but for now it is done.

I will hang a quilt on the wall adjacent to the cabinet on the left. It is not finished so it is moving up to the top of my “finishing list”. It will be perfect for this room.

I hope Jessica enjoys this new wall unit in her room.

Contemplating A New Shibori Composition

Looking at all my fabrics I have dyed this season arranged together gets my creative juices flowing.

I am fortunate to have a lot of design wall space so I can have multiple pieces under consideration at the same time.

I rarely work on one piece from start to finish.

This is a close up of the fabrics I am using as I create this piece.

If you look carefully you will see I am using the fabrics that are second from the left, the middle three and the second from the right.

The three center fabrics were originally one fabric I underpainted. Then I cut that piece in 3 and pole wrapped each piece individually.

I am using two different fabrics as separating and border strips. I am trying to decide which ones I like the best. It is also possible I might use something entirely different.

The colors are much softer than what I ordinarily use in my work – with the exception of the red.

I also remembered I had some multicolor rick rack. I inserted that in one of the seams to see if I like the effect. the jury is still out on that idea and unless I have at least 2 more packages of it I can’t do it.

I like to share pieces as I work on them. It is a good record for me. It also gives you some insight into the way I work and how I get where I am going, with many detours along the way!

All 200 Fabrics I Dyed Recently!

I am laying all my fabrics I recently dyed on my ironing table. I thought I could take a picture of all of them, but I can’t get up high enough to get them all in the picture. Almost all of them were arashi shibori dyed on PVC poles. Many were dyed more than once.

It is going to take me several pictures to show them all to you.

By having them all laid out like this I can see what I have and I can start using them to design more compositions.

200 pieces of fabric are a lot. Some pieces are a half yard or more. Others are fat quarters or notebook paper size.

Whatever size they are, they are all exciting to see – IMHO!

I overlapped these more so you could see a wider range of the fabrics in one photo.

This shows some of the fabrics that were larger pieces. The patterns on many of them spanned the width of the fabric.

My goal was not to dye as many fabrics as I could. I was just trying to get a good assortment and a variety of types of fabrics.

I also usually mixed up too much dye so rather than throw it out I just kept dyeing.

If you try to count them and don’t find 200 it is because I have already used quite a few of them.

You have now seen them all. Stay tuned for some closer views!

I love all these fabrics and want you to enjoy them doing this puzzle with my favorite cut!

Family Bridal Shower

Sunday we had a Bridal Shower for my nephew Dave’s fiancée.

It was held at my SIL Mary and brother Bill’s house on the lake.

Tara is opening gifts and her sister is doing the recording of the gifts.

It was hard to get a picture of Mary as she never stood still. She was not standing still as I took this one either!

 

Some family members watching Tara open the gifts.

Tara with her gifts

The men were also in attendance but not often in camera range.  Some of the men and the kids actually braved the water. The pontoon boat made several trips around the lake.

It was a lovely shower. It was so good to see everyone and to meet Tara’s family.

The food was outstanding, as usual.

Mary and Bill did an outstanding job hosting this fine occasion.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again at the wedding next month.

Shibori Quilt–I Think I’ve Got It And Studio Progress Report

I would guess I have done at least 40 different arrangements trying to come up with a final composition.

I am quite certain this is it. I will be able to start sewing this together this week.

There may be a slight amount of tweaking the proportions, but I’m pleased with it.

I was able to study this as I reorganized the studio. How’s that for multitasking?

This is the cutting, sewing, and ironing areas.

That studio reorganization project is semi-complete!

The important things are arranged. Like the quilt, I still will have to tweak the proportions as to where I have some of the furniture. The new arrangements is functional and looks good.

The supplies are in their new homes. Now if I can only remember where things are when I need them. Hopefully I put them in the most logical places!

The lounge furniture is positioned for conversation, relaxation and a place to sit and read, do handwork or observe things on the design wall.

I am still boxing up the donation fabrics. I also have some things that I no longer need in the studio that need to be moved to other rooms.

Still More Potato Chip Quilts From Australia

Wendy Luff cut strips from her stash and added double zinger highlights. She was surprised at how easily it went together. 65” x 75”. Professionally quilted by Kay’s Quilts.

This is Duck Egg Blue by Kay White who used a Moda jelly roll in duck egg blue, golds and caramels with zingers in hand dyed accents. 60” x 70”. Professionally quilted by herself.

Susan Camm used a jelly roll of 25 fabrics, then added in a further 15 plus borders etc from her own stash to make a bed-sized quilt 69” x 75” called Pink Jelly. Professionally quilted by Kay’s Quilts.

Accented with Raspberries and Leaves is the second quilt by Wendy Luff. She used a Moda jelly roll of fabrics which included white, spots, green and red. It has a polar fleece back to make it really snuggly.

One of the things that makes all these quilts so successful is the choice of the “chips” or zingers.

I believe these were all shown at the Queanbeyan Quilters Exhibition.

I will have one more post showing more quilts from this group. What an enthusiastic group!

Potato Chip Quilts Are Alive And Well In Australia

My tutorial for my potato chip quilt made it to Australia and is thriving if these quilts are any indication!

Thanks to my friend Cassandra I have many new ones to show you.

I’ll share some today and more another day.

Autumn Toned by Robyn McPherson used an autumn toned Moda jelly roll to make this quilt, adding in two highlight squares between strips, one square in wide wale corduroy and one square in the border fabric of autumn leaves. 69” x 75”

For from Sky blue to Indigo Robyn McPherson used two packs of 20 Bali prints cut as 2 ½” strips in blues from indigo to sky blue, then added dyed fabric accents. 60” x 75. Professionally quilted by Kay’s Quilts

Robyn McPherson used a Moda jelly roll in natural colours highlighted by Dalmatian spots in positive and negative. 69” x 75” Professionally quilted by Kay’s Quilts.

Robyn McPherson used 30 strips of various creams, from buttermilk, yellow through to caramel. Interspersed with fussy-cut squares of gold-painted African style fabric. 69” x 75”. Professionally quilted by Kay’s Quilts.

The Kay’s Quilts mentioned as the quilter is not me!

Robyn seems to be the most prolific of the Potato Chip quilters so far!

Her selection of fabrics for each one is so unique.

Thanks Cassandra for sending me these photos and writing the descriptions for me.

If you missed the tutorial for the Potato Chip Quilt you can find it here:

http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2011/04/sunrise-sunset-quilt-tutorial.html

The name of the version in the tutorial is Sunrise – Sunset.