Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
The top is finished. It came out to be about 60″ x 84″, which I think is a great size. No, it isn’t bed sized, but it will be a good couch, snuggle quilt.
I cut the border pieces to fit each block and sewed them on to the blocks, then sewed the blocks to each other. It was pretty easy to match up the seams using this modified ‘chunking‘ method. It is somewhat scrappy within both colors – interesting, but not psychedelic.
On to the back
I went to Portland last week and had a very quilty time with Amanda. We made our own shop hop. Amanda looked up a bunch of shops and we decided which ones to visit together.
I had planned to spend more time with the YM, but he told me at the last minute that he was going on tour with the Wind Symphony and wouldn’t return until after I left. As a result, I invited my mom to come along and we had a good trip.
Mom spent a lot of time with an artist she met so I was free to roam local quilt shops with Amanda.
The first shop we visited was Holly Hill. It was closed (on a Wednesday?!? WTH!?) so we were only able to look in the window. Someone in the shop kept waving at a us and finally came to the door and said they were closed. We knew that, being able to read the sign. She asked us if we had checked their FB page and we said no. We told her that we had checked the web page and it was not up to date. Later, when we looked, she had had someone update it. I never check FB pages, do you?
The first shop we were able to enter was The Speckled Hen. The decor fits in with the name of the shop. There are a lot of chicken themed decorations. It is a small shop, but really crammed with fabric and quilty items. Sadly, a lot of the fabric was brown and beige – Civil War and repro type stuff. They had a good selection of chicken fabrics as well. The shop also had a good selection of non-brown 1930s and 40s reproductions as well.
The shop did have a great line by Janet Wecker-Frisch called She Sews Sea Shells by Quilting Treasures. I liked (and Amanda did, too) the mermaid with the diving suit and would have bought a print with just that motif. Unfortunately, the diving suit was only on a panel.
There is something about the steampunk nature of the diving suit that was appealing. At this point in our adventure, I was trying to be reasonable about my purchases, so I didn’t buy any.
I didn’t buy any fabric, but I did buy a retro style apron pattern. I had never heard of the company before. I liked the style of the garment, though the pockets aren’t large enough. Also, the pattern uses really a clever layout for cutting. I can’t wait to try it and bought some fabric to make some gifts.
There were two ladies in the shop filling kits, I think. I am not sure the owner (I assume it was the owner) realized we weren’t retro fabric people, because every time we looked at a display, she told us the price and the designer, etc. It was kind of a hard sell that was somewhat useful, but also a little off-putting.
One of the things she mentioned was her sale on magazines. She mentioned Primitive Quilts, but also Simply Moderne. I was tempted, but I have a lot of magazines in my to-read pile, so I didn’t buy any.
I bought some gifts in addition to the pattern.
Contact info:
Speckled Hen Quilts 503-678-3368 25455 NE Boones Ferry Rd Aurora, OREGON 97002 TUES-SAT: 10am - 4pm Closed Sunday & Monday
This is the last block before I put the quilt together. As with the others, I like the way it came out. I think I might like to consider making a whole quilt using Sarah’s technique, eg cutting much larger pieces, arranging them, calculating the background and then sewing the whole quilt together. I could possibly use this technique with the FOTY patches, though it might not be necessary.
I took a class at A Work of Heart Studio in San Jose last week. My mom has been talking about learning the Zentangle technique, so I took her as a Christmas gift.
The class was 2 hours and we drew two tiles (3.5″ x 3.5″ squares of rag paper). In the course of the class we learned several patterns. The technique is a lot simpler than the finished product looks and I don’t think you need special powers to make a tile like I have drawn above. I followed the directions and piece by piece the finished tile evolved.
I went to Dick Blick with my mom and Lil Sissy (they both had gift cards) and bought some Illustration Board ATCs. I have been drawing some more Zentangle patterns on those. I drew the first sets of patterns over and then started trying a new one.
This method reminds me of the type of drawing and materials I used when I did the Creative Prompt Project Responses.
Block 5 is complete and n.6 is in process.
I think I will make 6 total. They are 24″ blocks, so the 6 will make a large lap quilt.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Voices In Cloth 2018 Show Celebrates Quilting Diversity in the East Bay
Albany, California, 11 December 2017 – Returning to the beautiful Richmond shoreline at the historic Craneway Pavilion on March 17-18, the region’s largest non-profit quilt show will have lots to offer anyone interested in quilts, textiles, sewing, wearable art, and more. Voices In Cloth (VIC) 2018 will feature demonstrations, delicious on-site catering, specialty vendors, two special exhibits (over 100 art quilts & a curated show of contemporary Korean textiles), as well as scores of quilts by East Bay Heritage Quilters (EBHQ) members.
http://www.ebhq.org/quilt-shows/vic2018
CONTACT:
Ryan Young, East Bay Heritage Quilters, 510-484-6118 rufusrastus@gmail.com; http://www.ebhq.org/
Hours: Saturday 10 – 5, Sunday 10 – 4.
Tickets: 2 day admission $15; 12 and under free. Advance purchase price $10 before March 2. Buy ticket(s) online http://vic2018.brownpapertickets.com/
Show location: Craneway Pavilion,1414 Harbour Way South., Richmond, CA.
Driving directions and map
Parking: Free on-site parking.
Accessibility: Wheelchair and stroller accessible.
Our name suggests tradition, but our biennial quilt show is broad, and is neither juried nor judged. The efforts of each individual quilter, whether beginner or experienced – traditionalist, modern, or art quilter – are equally valued and enjoyed on their own merits.
Make a day of it and visit the fascinating Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, immediately adjacent to the Craneway Pavilion, or take a stroll on the Bay Trail after you see the show.
ABOUT US
East Bay Heritage Quilters is centered in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. We are a non-profit quilt guild founded in 1978. http://www.ebhq.org/
Our purposes are to:
For more information, contact: Ryan Young, 510-484-6118; rufusrastus@gmail.com
I started in on some new donation blocks for the guild.
I am still working through the dregs of my donation bin patches, so some of them are a little strange, but I am committed to using the fabrics I have cut before I cut more.
Not sure how many more I will make before the meeting, but I will try to make more.
Even though he expressly said he had enough Hawaiian like shirts, I couldn’t resist making DH another shirt with Cal fabric.
He calls it his bowling shirt, which is a little annoying, but it is his shirt.
I am planning to enter it into the fair this year.
I made a list of projects I had in process in my journal and found a lot. Seeing them on paper seemed to galvanize me in a way that seeing them here did not. I like having them here as it makes me accountable, but the combination of paper and bytes works for me.
One problem has been that I have had my design wall set up since last January. I have been using my small design wall, but really need a larger one. I have been hoping to sell the Pind Design wall (you know you want it!), but no luck so far. I finally spent time on New Year’s Day setting it up.
For whatever reason, the first project I put up was the Ta Dots and Stripes quilt. Yes, that is the new name.
I started working on it as a donation quilt using the Leaders and Enders method while I worked on the Planned Improv blocks. I made some progress, but it is easy to get confused about where what goes.
I found some more dots and decided to make another row of HSTs, so I prepared them at Sew Day and sewed them when I got home. It will make the quilt a little larger.
I thought the quilt would be a donation quilt, but after I sewed a number of the sections together, I think it will become a Niece-phew quilt for one of the nephews.
Tim is quickly becoming a quiltmaking rockstar. He got his new longarm and is back in the saddle. He seems to have found his place in quiltmaking. I think he is a quilting savant! If he isn’t at this moment, he is quickly working his way to that level.
He brought the Terrain donation quilt to Sew Day on Saturday and it really looks great. He quilted the sashing differently than the blocks. The sashing has the feathery swirl-like things and the blocks have a sort of cathedral window design. I commented on that style the last time we talked about quilting and the way Colleen quilts my quilts.
He decided to try it out. I am so impressed with how well he did the first time he tried it. He said that it took much longer than an all over pattern, but was pleased with the results.
He trimmed and applied the binding to the quilt at Sew Day, using the leftover backing to make the binding. It is really great to collaborate with him! I just have to piece donation quilts faster. 😉
I am working very hard on this piece as I don’t want it to get stale. Block number four is another winner.
I decided to get my quilt house in order and see what kind of a year it would be with regard to quiltmaking. A few years ago, I cleared out my UFOs and after that I started new projects with near-wild abandon. I don’t think this year will be either of those years, but I want it to have healthy doses of new projects and clearing out the old.
Finished 2018 Quilt Projects
Yes, I already have a finish for 2018
Finished 2017 Non-Quilt Projects
Doing Good
Blocks are in process, but nothing so far
In Process
The ‘In Process’ is used to denote projects on which I am actively working or pretending to stitch. I try not to put away projects, because that will ensure I never work on them.
Still WIPs
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled. A nicer way of saying UFO is a WIP. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
Ready for Quilting
In Quilting Process
Binding
Nothing at the moment
Hunting and Gathering
Other
What’s on your list?
I am still a little bit a loose ends with quilts. Not sure why, but there it is. That doesn’t mean I am not working. I am. I am working on bags, but I thought it would be a good idea to have something other than an empty design wall in my studio while I worked. FOTY 2017 came to mind. I’d like to get it out of the Hunting & Gathering stage and to Colleen sometime before I am 80.
I was thinking subway tiles. I have been worried for awhile that the patches were too big and wouldn’t fit on the design wall. When I saw the stack of patches, I thought that I might actually get them all on the wall for once. No such luck. The white and grey stacks as well as a few light pinks and violets are still on my cutting table.
I did an ok job getting the colors up that I could fit. Not perfect, but ok. There is a lot of moving around that has to happen before I can start sewing.
I like the size of the patches and don’t really want to cut them down, but that means that I have to figure out a different way to arrange them. The design is simply not large enough. Right now I am toying with the idea of getting a section arranged, sewing it together, then working on the next section. I just don’t think I have it in me to cut up all those patches.
The Friday creativity posts will return soon.
Yay! I finished a quilt on the first of the year! In fairness, most of the work was done last year and I just had the binding to sew on. I couldn’t quite finish it in 2017, so it counts as my first finish for 2018. 😉
I started cutting this last year after buying the layer cake at QuiltCon in 2016.
I made the top, as you might recall, at the Quilt Retreat relatively quickly.
Now it is done and I will take it to Portland with me next week. It is a gift for one of the people that helps out the YM.
I have immersed myself over the past couple of weeks in the Planned Improv process. I finished block 3 a few days ago and am pleased with how it came out.