Creative Prompt #297: Umbrella

Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Definition: “An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The word parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain. Often the difference is the material; some parasols are not waterproof.

Umbrellas and parasols are primarily hand-held portable devices designed to shield an individual from sun or rain, and are sized for personal use. Today, larger parasols are often used as fixed or semi-fixed devices, used with patio tables or other outdoor furniture, or as points of shade on a sunny beach. The collapsible (or folding) and internally supported umbrella, the direct predecessor to the modern umbrella, originated in China.[2][3] and had sliding levers similar to those in use today.[4]

Parasols are sometimes called sunshades. An umbrella may also be called a brolly (UK slang), parapluie (nineteenth century, French origin), rainshade, gamp (British, informal, dated), bumbershoot (American slang).” (Wikipedia)

item of lightweight architecture

Rihanna Umbrella

golf umbrella

umbrella hat

patio umbrella

Umbrella Corporation is one of the world’s leading biotechnology conglomerates.

umbrella insurance

Christo and Jeanne-Claude umbrella project

Art Under the Umbrellas shows are one-day events located in Old Town La Quinta from 10am to 4pm on designated Saturdays, Fall thru Spring.

lighting umbrellas

 

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.

#TBT: Early Tarts

I don’t often have something to show for Throwback Thursday. I received a box back from ScanCafe and I found an early photo of the Tarts Come to Tea. It is amazing to see how it has progressed and to realized that the quilt is still in process. Sigh.

Early Tarts Come to Tea
Early Tarts Come to Tea

I started this quilt pretty soon after TFQ and I made She Had to Have Her Latte and I was still thinking that novelty fabrics would be a good idea.

Those novelty fabrics were jettisoned at some point, but some of the elements stayed. Even some of the placement basically, stayed.

I also started out using much darker fabrics.

I do still have that vase, which I like and may make into another applique type quilt.

I am not sure how I feel about these improvisational pieces now. Clearly, I am having trouble finishing the Tarts, despite keeping it on the list.

BAMQG Donation Quilts

I went to the BAMQG Sew Day last Saturday. We had a great time making Hawaiian themed quilts. We made 10 tops and 5 backs. Kelly was on back detail, so she did most of them while others of us did the tops.

5 Hawaiian Quilts
5 Hawaiian Quilts

These quilts are for a family who lost their beloved mother/grandmother recently. The fabrics are from her stash and some from curtains and her mumus. All are Hawaiian prints.

Our Work
Our Work

Gerre and I worked together. Gerre was already sewing away when I got there. I stepped in and began ironing and pinning and we ended up making the top (left).

Angela arranged the whole project and picked the pattern. I was grateful that it was pretty easy. She is great that way and figured out fast that if we wanted to get these done this century they should be easy. Also, as Frances says, the Muggles don’t know.

I don’t think this is a terrible pattern at all and I don’t mean to imply that it is. Simplicity is wonderful. The black/dark grey really sets off the bright Hawaiian fabric. I think that people who are unfamiliar with the process can appreciate simpler patterns much better. Not that they aren’t capable, but if you don’t sew, it is hard to appreciate the work that goes into something complicated.

Gerre & Jaye in contemplation
Gerre & Jaye in contemplation

Gerre and I did have to contemplate our piece. We wanted some variety in the fabric despite all the orange we had to work with. The picture above shows the piece laid out on our design floor right before we were were going to sew the sashing.

Hawaiian Back
Hawaiian Back

The backs were pieced with big pieces and they came out fun, because of the motifs on the large Hawaiian prints.

Once the backs were made, Angela distributed batting and Gerre and I moved on to Postage Stamp blocks. We made 16 and I will piece them into another donation top.

This back was made by Peggy and I like the combination of the diamond pattern and the large leaves.

Some people will take the quilts home to finish then bring them back for others to quilt.

Gerre is going to quilt ours while I bind the Pink T quilt, then she will give me the Hawaiian quilt and I will bind that one. She has a goal of quilting a certain number of charity quilts this year and I intend to help her! We work very well together and it is great to have a sewing buddy at Sew Day.

Our own personal Girl Scout
Our own personal Girl Scout

We also had our own personal girl Scout present. She came to keep us supplied with cookies. I think she also took an interest in our sewing. We have to tempt the young ones and Amanda is doing a good job on that account.

 

 

B&GTBDQ

I am finishing up a BIG report at work. I only have a few hours left on my contract, so I sent off the draft to my client and then closed it up and didn’t look at it anymore. I felt like I had reached a stopping point where I had done enough work and could be rewarded.

So, I sewed.

Black & Grey Donation Quilt pre-sashing
Black & Grey Donation Quilt pre-sashing

I got busy putting the sashing on the Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt. I starting marching across the design wall sewing one seam at a time. I used the Stepping Stones blocks as my leaders and enders, so made double progress.

The first part of the chunking was sewing the cornerstones to the sashing and sewing the sashing to the blocks. There are a lot of cornerstones and a lot of sashing in this quilt. I am still working on both.

I am making progress, however and that is a good thing.

Playing in Maryland: Prints Charming

Prints Charming
Prints Charming

I really am a most demanding houseguest. All I want to do is sew or look at fabric and quilt shops when I travel. Fortunately, my SIL was willing and able to feed my frenzy. She came and picked me up on Saturday morning from the hotel in Baltimore and then we headed back to her house to sew. On the way we stopped at a new shop, Prints Charming.

I liked this shop. In general, I thought the feel was good. They had a lot of nice fabrics in my style and colors. They had a good assortment of tools, notions, patterns and books and a longarm that people could rent. The shop is in a new mall, so the building is brand,spanking new and that adds to the feeling of fresh and clean.

Prints Charming front of shop
Prints Charming front of shop

In the corner near the window is a lighthouse quilt that we also saw at Patches in Mt. Airy. There is a sea theme that pervades quilt shops in Maryland. They are on the Atlantic and seafaring, as well as various Navy related activities go on there, so it makes sense. Plus the whole crab thing.

Anyway, that lighthouse quilt is interesting (not interesting enough for me to make, but interesting) and I enjoyed seeing two different versions. I liked the one at PC fine, but I thought the background used in the Patches version added more interest.  In the front of the shop photo, you can see the longarm (Handiquilter, perhaps?) and some of the patterns and books. If you are working at the longarm, you have your back to the front window of the shop, which is seen in the top photo.

The shop still had some of their Christmas stuff out. Mostly it was panels around the counter. Good idea to start early, if you are planning Christmas gifts IMO.

Prints Charming: front to back of shop
Prints Charming: front to back of shop

I stood near the longarm, kind of in front of the main door, to take this photo, which looks to the back of the shop. The table in the bottom left of the photo has kits and panel kits.

I am kind of interested in this resurgence of panel quilts. I got a panel when I bought some Kate Spain Christmas fabric, but I didn’t think that much of it. You might recall that I didn’t want to waste it, so I put it on the back of the Frosted Stars Leftovers Quilt. I have seen some really pretty panels lately. There was a peacock one that was very tempting. I don’t really begrudge people for wanting a quick quilt and using a panel. I think it is interesting and wonder if there is an AQSG article about it?

I didn’t get a good photo of their featured, new fabric, which you can see part of in the middle right (above). They had great fabrics in that section. I found a paintbox print that I plan to use for a set of gifts. (famous last words, right?).

Prints Charming Back of Shop
Prints Charming Back of Shop

I really liked the self made jelly rolls and pre-cuts that Capital Quilts had. The colors were just so fantastic. Prints Charming had a nice array of the kind shops buy from Moda as well. I am always so tempted by the small cute little bundles of pre-cuts, but I rarely use them so I let the shop keep their Jelly Rolls.

The area shown in the picture with the pre-cuts was in a bit of disarray. it wasn’t terrible, just not as tidy as the rest of the store, which was VERY tidy. One of the ladies said that they needed, desperately, to get rid of something and clean up that area. I can’t fault them. Every space (house, shop, cubicle) has a junk drawer. 😉

Prints Charming: Fabric
Prints Charming: Fabric

I guess what I want in a quilt shop is fabric. We have already established that I don’t need more fabric, but I do enjoy having a wide variety of colors and patterns from which to choose.

Prints Charming had a good amount of fabric. Not only did the have a good number of bolts, but they also had a wide variety: 2 brands of solids (not American Made Brands), batiks, novelty, tone-on-tones, flannels, modern, baby/kid fabrics, some 30s, I think and a section of nautical/ocean fabric.

I didn’t ask about whether they cut fat quarters. They had plenty out. I thought the range of colors they had tended towards brighter rather than muted, though I did see a small section of browns. I don’t know if there were other Civil War-colored prints there as I zoomed right by after looking at a coffee print.

One fabric we found was an architectural drawing of boat plans. SIL bought enough to make a shirt for her DH. We discussed cutting it out, but decided we had better finish the other shirts first.

Prints Charming: looking towards the back
Prints Charming: looking towards the back

I also noticed that they had a lot of examples and class samples hanging in the shop. I thought the hanging quilts made the shop look warm and friendly.

You can see some of the class samples on the back wall. That is their pattern section as well.

Back by the patterns were two more exits and another cutting table. One exit (right) led to a nice clean restroom and connected the shop in some way (I didn’t explore) to the condos above. Can you imagine having a quilt shop right downstairs? I would love it and be totally doomed. DOOMED!

If you are heading to Maryland, I would recommend a visit to this shop. I found some nice stuff to buy and I am sure you would as well. (says your personal Temptress!)

You can find Prints Charming at:

11711 East Market Place, Fulton, MD 20759
(301) 490-2342
Website: http://www.printscharmingqs.com/

The GPS directions were pretty good. Even with all of the roundabouts we were able to find it.

Octagon Nine Patch

Octagon to Snowball Blocks
Octagon to Snowball Blocks

I am starting to think I should call this quilt the Snowball Nine Patch. Even though I think of the original shapes as octagons, I am turning them into snowballs. It is probably too late since, by now, I think of this quilt as the Octagon Nine Patch quilt, but it is a thought.

Also, what is it with Nine Patches all of a sudden? First it was the Rick Rack Nine Patch and now I have, as planned, added nine patches to this quilt.

Octagon Nine Patch Detail
Octagon Nine Patch Detail

I felt like I needed to add some nine patches to the octagon/snowball pieces to see some progress. I know I am making progress with the ever increasing number of octagon/snowball pieces, but I needed to see more. Making new scrappy blocks meant cutting a whole bunch of additional squares. Still, it was very gratifying when a couple of nine patches came to fruition.

I am trying to decide if I need more cool colors. I used a lot of the cool colors on the Russian Rubix.  From the top photo, it looks like enough, but when I look closer I see the same fabrics over and over, then one of the circle blue octagons and one of the violet/light purple with the squares and rectangles line drawing. I don’t know how many octagons I will need as I don’t know how large of a quilt I am making. I am trying to restrain myself and wait to cut more until I can put this on the large design wall to see what I see. At this point the quilt (with 64 Snowballs only) will be 208″, which is a respectable size. Adding the Nine Patches will, I think, double the size.

I am getting to the point where this is starting to look like something. Perhaps this will become my number 1 project soon.

Fabric of the Year 2014 – Early February

FOTY 2014 - Early February
FOTY 2014 – Early February

Here are the most recent patches. I can’t decide if I am going to keep cutting until I start laying out the piece on the design wall or if I should stop now.

The CQFA Retreat will be in May this year, but I certainly don’t want to wait that long. On the other hand, I haven’t chosen a shape for FOTY 2015. Lots to do.

Creative Prompt #296: Tower

Tarot card

Coit Tower

Sutro Tower

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.

We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.

Definition: “A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.

Towers are specifically distinguished from ‘buildings’ in that they are not built to be habitable but to serve other functions. The principal function is the use of their height to enable various functions to be achieved including: visibility of other features attached to the tower such clock towers; as part of a larger structure or device to increase the visibility of the surroundings as in a fortified building such as a castle; or as a structural feature as an integral part of a bridge.

Towers can be stand alone structures or be supported by adjacent buildings or can be a feature on top of a large structure or building.” (Wikipedia)

the Two Towers, Bologna

water tower

storage silo

Uhrturm, Graz, Austria

La Tour Eiffel

Tower Market

tower defense

Devil’s Tower National Monument

The Tower (IMDB 2012)

Tower of Power

Tower Hill Botanical Garden: Operated by Worcester County Horticultural Society, this garden features several distinctive theme areas.

The Tower District is Fresno’s dining, arts and entertainment district.

Willis Tower, Chicago

Hoover Tower, Stanford University

Twin Towers

ivory tower

Fire towers

Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

computer towers

 

 

February To Do List

To Do List:

  1. Quilt Christmas table runner
  2. Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed (I did wash a few more loads of fabric in December and am pleased to say I also cut into some of that fabric) ;-)
  3. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in main bath
  4. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in second bath
  5. Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote (gift-due Holiday 2013- sigh. Missed 2015 deadline as well) – found the pattern, which is a good start.
  6. Make 3 notepad covers (gifts)
  7. Day in the Park backpack variation
  8. Sew Bon Appetit apron
  9. ATCs for CQFA January Meeting – meeting was cancelled and I have until February 28? I have found some fabric for the backs and marked it
  10. Make back for Pink T Quilt
  11. Make binding for Pink T Quilt
  12. Fix button on DH’s California shirt

To see the 26 Projects Lists, which list quilt WIPS, visit the December Current Projects update. Last month’s to Do List has a couple of changes, which is heartening.

All small items, prior to those completed in December 2014,  have been completed since November 4, 2013. This is a new list for 2015. You can find the list for 2014 and previous on the last post.

Finished in 2015:

  •  Make two bags for gifts
  • Dragon Box (gift)

 

Playing in Maryland, pt.3

There is a lot of creativity happening in Maryland. No, I am not surprised.

I have to say that I was really inspired by everything I saw. I love Tanesha’s mummy owls. I love the way Torie uses batiks. I really enjoy the way Rick has incorporated leaded glass panels into his house to make the house unique.

Round Robin Returns

BAMQG Round Robin
BAMQG Round Robin
BAMQG Round Robin detail
BAMQG Round Robin detail

Remember when we started the round robin project?

My round robin came back after a long vacation! It went through two moves of my various round robin-mates. Kathleen was able to work on it during the past few weeks and I just got it back yesterday!

It is so bright and cheerful! It is also completely unexpected. I guess the point of a round robin is to work with other people and see how they would work on your project.

I was expecting the rows I created to be continued out into the border, but instead Kathleen added these very cheerful pinwheels and the checkerboard border.

When I saw the pictures of the piece I thought it was very small, but the piece turns out to be quite large – well on its way to being a twin or larger quilt.

I think it needs more and Kelly has agreed to work on it. I think I have to look at the design thus far some more. I also need to see what else the design needs in case it comes back to me and I want to make it bigger. I think I would like others to work on it, in addition to Kelly, though, if I have the opportunity. We’ll see who I can round up.

BAMQG Round Robin detail
BAMQG Round Robin detail
BAMQG Round Robin detail
BAMQG Round Robin detail
BAMQG Round Robin detail
BAMQG Round Robin detail

Design Wall Monday

Design Wall February 1, 2015
Design Wall February 1, 2015

I think that my design wall looks exceptionally turquoise this week. There seems to be a sufficient amount of pink, too.

It looks really different from the last time I posted, partially because I have been sewing. Though different is probably the wrong word; it looks more – more of everything.  More octagons, more Stepping Stones.

  1. Same old four patches, though I have actually sewed a few.
  2. More Fabric of the Year patches
  3. A folded paper wreath that I made a long time ago. I really wish I remembered how to make it. Even extensive Googling didn’t help. If you know how to make one, let me know.
  4. My birthday card from Crafty Garden Mom.
  5. Finished Stepping Stones blocks.
  6. Octagon snowballs, being slightly overlapped by an in progress Stepping Stone.
  7. Flying Geese (below) blocks.

 

Rick Rack Nine Patch

Somethings things conspire to seduce me into a project that was not in my plan. In this case, SIL #2 had me using her Accuquilt to cut the leftovers of the shirts into pieces she could use later. She asked me and I was happy to do the cutting, especially since she was sewing buttons on one of the shirts.

This task made me think about my ever increasing amount of scraps. Despite my active efforts to use them, they seem to multiply anyway.

Then Torie showed me Bonnie Hunter’s Rick Rack Nine Patch and told me how she was doing leaders and enders, making the 9 patches that would end up as a Rick Rack Nine Patch quilt. Hhmm.

You can see a really good example at Lisa’s Kreativseite. Don’t be scared. She writes in German and in English. There are some examples on Bonnie Hunter’s site, but it is from her book, Adventures in Leaders and Enders.

I’d have to cut up a lot of scraps, but I am thinking about doing it anyway, partially due to my overfull scrap drawers. I have other leaders and enders projects (can you say Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Quilt? What about Octagon Nine Patch?), but somehow using the Accuquilt and really cutting up scraps appeals to me right now.