This is the sample for my "Happy Accident" class. I will draw "prompts" out of a hat, and the students will have to incorporate them into their quilts. I used that process to make this little quilt. My prompts were:
Back in 2006, I started a quilt to use up some of my reproduction shirting prints. I added black and red reproduction "Garibaldi" prints and made a period-accurate (late 1800's) pattern called "Lost Ships." The tessellation was cool but the quilt was a bit too somber for my taste. Off it went to the Bend Ronald McDonald house.
(Picket Fence Star, a scrap design for my "Simply Charming" class next spring)
This is a work in progress--a sample for a Photoshop Elements for Quilters class. Don't know whether you can make out any of the detail, but the background is a digital collage made with oodles of brushes and overlays. The critter is a nudibranch (a shell-less mollusk that brings back memories of graduate school days at San Francisco State) from Dover clipart that I tweaked with the pointillize filter. I originally got the idea from a Somerset challenge to create along the lines of the Impressionists. The physical layering and embroidery are in the manner of Judith Baker Montano's underwater scenes.
I came across this scrumptious fabric while rummaging through my bin of green "fancies" (silks, satins, ties, etc.). I found it at a quilt show and obviously couldn't resist. The tag says it was part of a vintage kimono and was either hand-dyed or painted. I assume it is a jacquard weave or something similar since the leaf motifs are raised and flecked with metallic thread.
To Bead! This is my second project made with right-angle weave, although maybe I should say third attempt since I had to make the bracelet twice--the first one was too small, even for my scrawny wrists... Funny how much quicker one gets the second time around!
I whipped up this bracelet last night for our quilt guild luncheon today. Well, "whipped up" makes the process sound quick and painless, but there was more than a little grumbling and cursing before I was done! This stitch (spiral rope) involves multiple thread passes through the center "core" beads, so it works best when those beads have large holes. I had to use a very fine needle to get through the Czech beads I had on hand--Japanese beads would have made it so much easier. The thread only goes through the outer beads once, so this will be a perfect design for the tiny striped seed beads I've been hording.
I just love 30's reproduction prints (I like jelly beans, too!). I started this quilt in a workshop with Gwen Marston from her "Liberated String Quilts" book. It has been quilted for a while but I couldn't decide what to use for binding. I tried several different fabrics but they competed with the border. The yellow is perfect--not too busy, not too bold. I've got another version of this waiting to be quilted (the story of my life these days...)
Just had to include my original to show how different it is from the second version. This one was much harder since I was limited to the charm pack (what ding dong made that rule?!? Oh, yeah, yours truly...). Now I have two tablerunners waiting to be quilted...
Most of the quilts are in the Family Room again this year. Quite a few are traditional red and green Christmas quilts, but there are a few others to jazz things up
Six inches so far, with periodic flurries. It is fairly light so not a lot of water content, but shoveling it is good for an aerobic workout anyway! Yoda turns into a mini-sled dog and bounds through the snow, but Wookie just looks mournful and drags me back to the door (not surprizing since he is only 9-10" at the shoulder...) A perfect day for quilting!!!
Press some fabric! (okay, I know it is strange, maybe I've spent too much time with Vincent!) I prewash all my fabric and actually enjoy trimming off all the "cootie" ends and pressing it. It becomes a "moment of zen" that I look forward to. "'Tis a gift to be simple..."
"I love raw edges!" Who knows if he really would have (he was a pretty tortured soul by the time he painted "The Starry Night"), but working this way makes it easy to add a bit of color here and there, which I hope looks like streaks of paint. At least my sanity is stable enough that I can still work with sharp objects...!
We lost our dear, sweet cat of 16 years today. I will miss her raspy purr, her plush fur, her dainty (almost ladylike!) snores, her thundering runs down the hall. Dearest Annie cat, naps and bedtime won't be the same without you snuggled up next to me. Go in peace, sweet Cat Face...
Deep down, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to exercise. I take the stairs and try to get my 10,000 steps a day in, but if I could avoid working out I would! Which makes today's entry so amusing -- I like the muscles I've gotten since we started seeing a personal trainer! This summer was the first time I can ever remember feeling pretty good about wearing a sleeveless top (we'll ignore the extra poundage along the mid-line...). My balance is improving and so is my posture, so life is good.
This was my demo block for last Sunday's "Simply Charming" class. Many of the fabrics are scraps from a Kaffe Fassett design ("Gridlock") that I gave to Chris's cousin Randi. The soft yellows, pinks and greens were perfect "blond" colors for a very lovely woman. We lost Randi to colon cancer and even though I adore these pastel-bright colors (they take me to a happy place), they will always remind me of her as well.
My first "Simply Charming" Club is this Sunday. This month's project is a traditional pattern called "Broken Dishes" sized for 5" charm squares. This is definitely not your Granny's Christmas quilt! Laurel Burch brights give it a whole new twist. My teaching sample is mostly pastel batiks for a change of pace.
