Author: JayeL

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

Ends n.9

Thursday, after finishing the binding for Red Scribbles, I rummaged around in the pile of leftover batting and edges I got back from Colleen looking for batting that would work for the various donation quilts I intend to send off to Alison.

As I was looking through the excess batting I came across the leftover edges of some recent (and not so recent!) quilts and decided to put together another ‘Ends‘ quilt.

Ends n.9 top finished
Ends n.9 top finished

Thus Ends n.9 came into being. I used the strips leftover from Warm Windmill and Warm Windmill n.2. I am not sure where the strips of dots came from. I think they have been around since at least last year. Perhaps from the City Sampler?

Mostly what I was trying to do was get batting for the donation quilts ready to send to Alison. I have been chomping at the bit to send these off, but didn’t want to use red thread for the Frankenbatting.

Ends n.9 back finished
Ends n.9 back finished

It was great to work on this top and back. I just felt good getting something done. I was happy to finish Red Scribbles, but this felt different. I really felt like, between the Frankenbatting and the donation top/back, that I really accomplished something. I don’t know why since I clearly finished something much more complex and interesting when I finished Red Scribbles.

Blue Improv Donation Top Start

Blue Improv Donation Top start
Blue Improv Donation Top start

After making the most recent journal cover, I continued piecing together my blue scraps. One good thing is that I am also unearthing more strips, so there may be another Blue Strip donation top in my future.

I haven’t yet made a blue improv donation top, so I decided to just go forward with that project rather than making another journal cover. I am sure I will have plenty of scraps to make another one when I am finished!

I am finding scraps from older projects, which is interesting. It is fun to contemplate what I was thinking when I bought and used those scraps. Some are a lot darker than the fabrics I buy now.

I am also finding (this drawer is STUFFED!!!, though getting better) some pieces that have already been pieced together, so those are also useful

Filoli Art

I visited Filoli again the other day. While the gardens were beautiful, it was super hot and not 100% pleasant outing. Still, the company was good, the gardens provided beautiful flowers to enjoy and I got to see some fabulous art.

Kristine Mays Celestial Prayer Meeting
Kristine Mays Celestial Prayer Meeting

Kristine Mays is a local (to me) artist who works with UCSF to raise money for AIDS Research. She has an amazing installation at Filoli of her wire sculptures. They were placed all over the gardens and the location of a garden was a fantastic venue for them. The pieces seemed to appear and disappear depending on where I was standing. It was amazing.

I know the image (left) I posted of the Celestial Prayer Meeting seems to be too far away for you to see anything, but I was trying to give you the impression that I got. From the vantage point in the photo, you can see the whole sculpture grouping, but parts of the figures are gone.

The details of the figures show clothes only. I can see the impression of dancing, which is very pleasant. There is something very calming about Mays’ work.

Thinking about getting the same impression in a quilt, I wonder if the same could be done using tree imagery or with bias tape?

Red Scribbles Top & Back Ready to Quilt

Red Scribbeles Top Finished
Red Scribbles Top Finished

I made a big push and got the top and back ready for the quilter. I am very pleased.

The last piece of bias binding didn’t go as planned. I thought I would applique’ a really long piece all across the top. It didn’t quite work out as I hadn’t planned ahead an there wasn’t a clear path. I filled in some large-ish spaces on each side, but that’s it.

Red Scribbles back finished
Red Scribbles back finished

I delved into my backing fabrics for the back. i didn’t have to do too much fussy piecing so the back didn’t take forever. I am really glad this is done and hope to put something lighter and cheerier up on my design wall very soon.

Door Prize Bag

As mentioned, the BAM meeting was on Saturday. I am in charge of the door  prizes and we are still choosing a winner despite having the meetings via video chat. Ii have a great team and couldn’t put together such great bags without them.

Woven Tote by Carrie P
Woven Tote by Carrie P

We first made items to fill the bag, then partway through the year I asked for volunteers to also make tote bags. To date I had been using random shopping bags,  which isn’t as nice. Carrie, who is actually a glass artist, made the woven tote I filled on Saturday.

It is different than a quilted/sewn tote bag. The texture is fabulous and I love the detail on the handle straps and the beaded bit hanging down.

Finished: Warm Windmill n.2

Warm Windmill n.2 -Finished
Warm Windmill n.2 -Finished

I finished the third Windmill quilt over the weekend. I received three quilts back two weeks ago and I have slowly been working the bindings. Since we have been working on jigsaw puzzles int he evening, I haven’t had as much hand stitching time, so it took me longer than I anticipated.

I sent a photo to my mom and she is excited to receive it even though it is over 100 degrees at her house.

Red Scribbles – First Hurdle

Red Scribbles - mid-August
Red Scribbles – mid-August

I spent some time yesterday working on the Red Scribbles quilt top. I made good progress and am now ready to put the whole top together.

I cut one last rectangle and appliqued bias strips on the rest of  the individual rectangles. I am happy about my progress. I am hopeful that I can finish the top and the back this week, but things seem to be taking longer lately, so we will see.

Tim’s Bag

Tim's Declassified Bag
Tim’s Declassified Bag

Tim has done great work again. He was inspired by Cyndi, another guildmate, so they are making Range Backpacks in tandem. Tim has made three so far and I am very impressed with his work.

The Range Backpack is a Noodlehead pattern. Tim likes it very much and says it is concisely and clearly written. He made some changes after making the first one such as using only SF101 as the interfacing and using a lobster clip instead of a buckle for the closure.

This is the pattern that spurred our discussion of the Hump Jumper.

Design Overview Redux

I talked about this topic back in 2011 when I was asked to do a series for a podcast called Quilting for the Rest of Us. The podcast episode might still be available if  you want to hear a younger Jaye talk about this topic. The companion post was more of a ‘here’s what we discussed’ rather than good information. It isn’t as useful in that format, if you can no longer listen to the podcast.

This post is an overview of design, which will go with a presentation I am planning for my guild. I am providing more information here so it is more useful if you can’t/didn’t attend the presentation.

Many quiltmakers, though not formally trained in art (e.g. an MFA in fine art) have intuitive art sensibilities. (Fearless Design for Every Quilter by Lorraine Torrence, pg.5)

Definitions:

What is design?

Design is a problem solving activity within all the arts, placing or creating subject matter so it is of visual significance and interesting to the artist. (The Quilter’s Book of Design, 2d, pg.xi)

If you think of the creation of an art piece as a hierarchy, content and form are above design. “Content implies subject matter, story, or information that the artwork seeks to communicate to the viewer. Form is purely visual aspect, the manipulation of various elements and principles of design. Content is what artists want to say; form is how they say it.” (Design Basics, Pentak & Lauer, pg.5) Design means to plan or organize. It is the opposite of change. The result is visual organization (Pentak & Lauer, pg.4).

Using Design

Hard and fast rules are impossible because of the varied objectives of visual art. Artistic practices and criteria have been developed from successful works. Guidelines (not rules) exist that usually will assist in the creation of a successful designs. (Pentak & Lauer, pg.5)

“Principles of design are the laws of designing anything! In other words, to have a good design, you should consider these principles for the best design possible. Elements of design on the other hand are things that are involved within making a design. The major difference between principles and elements is that principles are rules you have to follow and elements are things that will help you complete those rules for the best project outcome.” (Homework Help: Art: Visual Arts: Principles & Elements of Design)

Thoughts:

“A good design supports or changes how we live” – John E. B. Dubus blog post Sept 23, 2010.

Judy Martin wrote in her May 2012 newsletter ” My basic philosophy boils down to this: I try to do what’s right for the quilt, not what’s right for me. It might be easier to slap a plain border on and be done with it, but if the quilt looks better with a pieced border, that’s what I do. It might be easier to make it out of 5 fabrics, but if it looks better in scraps, that’s what I do. If it looks more refined with 1-inch logs rather than 2-inch, that’s what I do. If it looks more interesting as a queen rather than a 36-inch square wall quilt, that’s what I do.”

Good design requires practice and is the “result of a successful combination of design elements … and principles…”(Fearless Design for Every Quilter by Lorraine Torrence, pg.6)

Elements:

The elements form the ‘vocabulary‘ of the design (Wikipedia, design elements and principles).

The Elements of Design are the language of the visual arts (this quote/information came from a link that is no longer available). 

The elements are components or parts which can be isolated and defined in any visual design or work of art. They are the structure of the work, and can carry a wide variety of messages (Cornell’s Introduction to the Elements of Design). 

Principles:

The principles constitute the broader structural aspects of the design’s composition (Wikipedia, design elements and principles). I think off this as an architect’s conceptual drawing that gives the viewer the look and feel of the project.

The Principles are concepts used to organize or arrange the structural elements of design. Again, the way in which these principles are applied affects the expressive content, or the message of the work (Introduction to the Principles of Design).

Why Know About Design?

Knowing about design principles and elements helps refine your innate skill.

Design is a way of organizing a piece of visual work. According to the Quilter’s Book of Design, 2d by Ann Johnston, “Design is a  problem-solving activity within all the arts, placing or creating subject matter so it is of visual significance and interesting to the artist.” (pg.xi). I like this definition, because it is understandable and doable. It also isn’t scary for people who have no MFA. When I think about solving a problem with my quilt, I relax about design and try to review the skills in my design toolbox. Remember, though, that “we all have personal experiences, subjective leanings, and differences in personality that make us prefer one thing to another…” (Fearless Design for Every Quilter by Lorraine Torrence, pg.57)

Concept: I use patterns why do I need to know about design?

Color is an element of design. To make beautiful quilts, you need to know about color. If you buy a kit, there may be one color you do not like and by knowing about design, you will be able to replace it successfully.

Balance is a principle of design. If your eye sees an element of the quilt as being unbalanced, then knowing about design will help you adjust it.

Concept: I do not make art quilts, why do I need to know about design principles and elements?

Negative space in fabric: “When choosing prints for a patchwork, think about how they’ll look when cut up, e.g. the ratio of background to foreground and the scale of the individual motifs. Does that small print have so much negative (empty) space that the actual print part won’t show up on half of the pieces? Is that large print so big that the pieces cut from it will look like they’re from entirely different pieces of fabric? (Elizabeth Hartman, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, pg.24).

Borders: does slapping on 4 lengths of fabric work with the design you have chosen or would a bit of piecing enhance your excellent piecing?

Books: when looking at books and evaluating whether you want to spend money on it, you can evaluate the various elements and principles of  design included in the patterns of the book.

End Notes:

List of Elements and Principles of Design taken from a handout from a Liz Berg handout (class through CQFA)

Resources

“However I believe strongly that design is important. A good design supports or changes how we live. When I imagine the specifications of a perfect home for a family, one of the most important design criteria is that the home allows family members in all their uniqueness to thrive: physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Good design is experienced at these levels. Good design allows “a place for everything and everything in its place” including a place for people to nurture themselves, family members, and their greater community.” John Ethan Burke Dubus blog (sadly, the blog is no longer available, but the quote is still excellent)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

 

Various & Sundry 2020 #11

Admin

I have created page that contains all the supplies I like and use. Yes, I have included links and most of them are affiliate links which help support this blog. Right now it is just a list, but I intend to add photos and more commentary as time goes on.

Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools

My guild-mate, Alison recommends Sew Perfect Tables for your sewing machine. Having a flush surface on which to sew is really important for ergonomics.

Barbara Brackman is revising BlockBase (with Electric Quilt) and her Encyclopedia of Pieced Patterns. I have the older versions of both and love having access to all of the blocks. They provide a lot of inspiration. You can still buy the current edition of the Encyclopedia and BlockBase on Amazon. There is more information on the EQ site. I’ll want the updated versions when they come out, but I’ll have to play around with installing EQ8 on my new computer (8 months later!).

I found a fabric shop, Fenwick Fabrics, with a great selection of Kaffe, Anna Maria Horner, KFC, Snow Leopard and Tula Pink. In addition to fabric, they have kits for interesting quilts, books and pre-cuts.

My new favorite Janome machine is the Continental M7! I keep hearing about Sarah’s glowing experiences. It is not in the budget right now, but maybe soon. We’ll see.

I heard about Annie’s Kit Clubs from Stitched in Color. Per the list of subscription boxes I wrote about last time, here is another fabric club. I don’t have a sense of the types of fabrics they include, but they are not off brand. The fabric companies mentioned are all current and have good products.

I was looking for a Hump Jumper and came across Pocono Sew & Vac. I bought a couple of things I needed for my Janome machine. I found the site easy to use, the ecommerce piece wasn’t stupid or janky. It didn’t take me forever to find what I needed and buy it. The integration with PayPal was good, too. The only negative was that it isn’t local. It does look like a small business, though, so there is that.

WovenFuse is a new interfacing that is, supposedly, the same weight as SF101,but is wider at 45″ than SF101’s 20″. The vendor in the US is Barb’s Bags. I could do without the references to God, but I can ignore those. I have a new bolt of SF101, but I’ll keep this in mind for when I need to get more.

Projects, Patterns & Tutorials

Reece from the Happy Okapi blog has a video and more information on the Companion Carpet Bag by Mrs H that I mentioned in the last V&S.

Art Gallery Fabrics has a variety of tutorials from installing a zipper pocket to everything about needles. The titles are all the same, so read the description for the details.

Need to know what you can cut from a FQ? Find a chart on IG.

Need some stitching inspiration? Check out Needle ‘n Thread. Thanks to Sandy over at Quilting for the Rest of Us.

You might remember that Friend Julie and I did a test some years ago of a Laura Wheeler pattern called Snowball Wreath. I was reading Barbara Brackman’s blog recently where I found a post on Laura, and Alice Brooks. This post is really funny (in a  quilt sort of way). She reminded me that neither lady were real, thus neither ever made a quilt in her life!  Thus the crazy patterns and piecing like in the Snowball Wreath. I absolutely not want to pit my two favorite block researchers against each other. I also don’t know the ethics, but there were a couple of blocks Barbara mentioned in a previous post on Alice Brooks, which I found in Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns.

The Million Pillowcase Challenge is 35,000 pillowcases away from reaching one million! 35,000 is still a lot of pillowcases, but how close the project is to 1 million is blowing my mind. All of you who have contributed are awesome!!  Now’s your chance to take a break from mask making and to use up some fabric.

As you know, one of the reasons I have been making the Color Strip quilts and the Color Improv quilts is to lighten the scrap load in my workroom. Tim texted about one of his projects that sent me over to Svetlana’s blog where I found her #100scrapchallenge. She is doing something different than I am, but is using her scraps. I am glad to know someone else is doing something useful like this.

Julie of Jaybird Quilts announced yesterday that she was running a skill builder from September through December, to help you become comfortable with the rulers, pattern instructions, etc before the Nebula Sew-a-Long at Pink Door (kits, etc sold out when I looked) begins. The goal is to help you familiarize yourself with using the Hex N More** & Super Sidekick** (or Sidekick**) rulers, cutting, & piecing shapes from the rulers, so even if you aren’t doing the Nebula Sew-a-Long, this skill builder series will help you perfect your skills at using these rulers. You can also join the Sew-a-Long at Elkhorn Quilts.

Tim pointed me to the Finley tote by Sotak handmade. She has photos of the inside and outside of the bag. I like the shoulder strap treatment.

Parallel Universe is a mystery quilt project by Ebony  Love, Gyleen X. Fitzgerald and Latifah Safir. Did you know all of these ladies are engineers? You know the directions will be clear and correct! The mystery is starting January 1, 2021 and extends for 6 weeks. This project has a kit of fabric and tools you can purchase, if you need them. I haven’t decided if I want to do it. I am leaning towards no, but you never know.

Sharon of Color Girl Quilts has a tutorial up on her blog for sewing a full set in circle. This is  a great skill to have. Dale Fleming has a book** on the topic. I wrote something about the Dale Fleming workshop I took several years ago. Steps on how to set in a circle are included in the Ruth McDowell Piecing** book that I keep trying to get you to buy. It is a really great book if you want to learn advanced piecing skills. Three methods, so try it out.

Face Masks

  • Improved Summer Mask tutorial (video) by Keiko Olsson
  • Judy Coates Perez mask tutorial based on the Improved summer mask tutorial by Keiko Olsson. Judy also has some wonderful fabrics in her new Spoonflower shop that make fun masks.
  • Friend Julie posted an article about a study that was done comparing how masks work when made from different materials. I was thinking that a runner’s neck gaiter might be the best ‘mask’ for use when the gym reopens, but it got very low scores on the study’s test, so maybe not. Not sure how to resolve that issue.

Other Artists

I wrote about Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches in a post last week (?). After I wrote that post I went looking for the quilt that sent me to her blog in the first place. I finally found it in a post of gorgeous scrappy quilts! It is third to last in the parade of fabulousness and has a Jacob’s Ladder type look, but with 9 patches and big squares of scrappy fabrics on point. The first one in the group looks like one of my Fabric of the Year quilts.

Friend Julie has a lot of interesting links to various exhibits on her recent Cornucopia post.

History

Barbara Brackman pointed me to a page that discusses the corporate structure of the syndicate that owned Laura Wheeler and Alice Brooks brands. One of the interesting this about this article/page is that it gives readers an idea of how research is done and how a person has to go about finding information from back in the day. The page was created by Wilene Smith and has a number of fascinating rabbit holes. 

Media, Exhibitions, Lectures & Collections

I recently found a new (to me) blog that is still being updated! Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches is showing off her scrap quilts and has recent post about selecting fabrics.

My friend, Dolores, has a quilt in a gallery in Boulder. They have an online version of the show.

A guild-mate, Geri, has award-winning quilts at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock.

San Francisco Craft Week will be held September 7-13. 130 vendors will be showing and selling their wares. There will also be Maker Meetups, Workshops and Artists’ Playlists. Look at the site for the complete agenda.

Inspiration

I saw some tile on IG that I really liked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Check your local public library for access if you don’t have a subscription

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Hump Jumper

Janome Hump Jumper
Janome Hump Jumper

Do you know what this is? I didn’t either until yesterday, though I have had one, apparently, for awhile. I am glad I never threw it out. At least I don’t think I threw it out/gave it away.

Tim told me that he was using a coaster to manage thick seams on bags. I wanted him to show me how that was done, so we talked about it and then he looked up a video, which we watched and soooo many things became clear. I really have to find my hump jumper and start using it when I am making bags.

SVG Files & Cotton Candy

Friend Julie and I have been talking about her relatively new Cricut. We are doing a sort of test of her Cricut for fabric cutting. She has been playing around with cards, but this started when I asked her if she had cut out fabric from SVG files. When she said no, I sent her an SVG file for the Cotton Candy pouch and said that if she cut one out, I would sew it for her. I kind of wanted to see how the SVG files would work.

Cotton Candy Pouch cut from SVG files
Cotton Candy Pouch cut from SVG files

Recently she sent me some pieces of a Cotton Candy pouch she had cut out for me. I am curious to see how these pieces fit together versus the ones I cut.

Now I have to sew them.

More Scribbles

Red Scribbles - early August
Red Scribbles – early August

I spent a lot of time over the weekend appliqueing bias tape to the Red Scribbles quilt. I feel like I am making good progress and may be done with the top this week.

I was thinking about the red and what a pain the joins are. I wonder if a more tightly woven fabric would work better. I am kind of interested in trying it, though not on such a large piece.

Blue Improv Journal Cover

Blue Improv Journal Cover - front
Blue Improv Journal Cover – front

My blue scrap drawer is finally showing some signs of having some space available. I have been piecing blue scraps together, as I mentioned the other day, in between working on the Red Scribbles quilt. I finally had enough to make a journal cover, so I decided to stop and make a journal cover. I need a quick finish fix and there are more blue scraps for a Color Improv donation quilt.

Blue Improv Journal Cover - inside front cover
Blue Improv Journal Cover – inside front cover

As also mentioned, I hadn’t thought of this as a journal cover, so the piecing is pretty random. I didn’t center any motifs for the front. This is for an older journal just to protect the pages, so it looks ok for that purpose.

As I did this piecing, I wanted to save any strips I found for more of the Color Strip donation blocks (quilts). I don’t know if I will find enough to make another quilt. If not, I can make a few blocks for the rainbow strip donation quilt I am planning.

Blue Improv Journal Cover - back
Blue Improv Journal Cover – back

Though I am making space in the drawer there are still a lot of scraps. The scraps still fill the drawer, but are not crammed in. There is hope, in other words, that I will have enough strips for something else-blocks or a quilt.

I am trying to use scraps that are smaller than 4.5 inch strips, because of the possibility mentioned above. This means that there are a lot of small scraps becoming larger slabs until they end up as a journal cover. It feels good to see the blue drawer emptying out.

I forget how much I like some of the fabrics I have used until I see a scrap. I know I always say that there is always more fabric. I do get attached to fabrics I like and want to email the fabric companies too reprint them when I find a scrap and know it is out of print.

Blue Improv Journal Cover -top
Blue Improv Journal Cover -top

I had a problem (or my own making) with this journal cover. It is slightly too large. By the time I noticed, I wasn’t about to rip everything out into order to trim it.

I thought the slab was the correct size, but I think I forgot to think about seam allowance for the last bit of piecing. Oh well. Things happen.

Starting another Cell Phone Wallet

Start of Paris Cell Phone Wallet
Start of Paris Cell Phone Wallet

I have a favorite dress that was made for DH’s Grand President events. It is the one dress for which I forgot to make a matching cell phone wallet. I have used others, thinking they looked ok, but I like the matching ones.

I still wear these dresses when I go to certain types of events, so this project was sort of on my list. One problem was that I didn’t have anymore of the fabric and it was so old I couldn’t get anymore. At the January CQFA Mini-Retreat, I saw Marie with some of the fabric and asked her if she had more. She found a little more than a FQ and gave it to me. The fabric has been languishing since then. I was on the phone for an extended call and decided that was a good time to start cutting out the piece.

I didn’t have enough of the fabric for the whole thing so I used an AGF solid pink I really like. The outside will match the dress.