I was glad I stopped by melody Johnson’s blog today as she is talking about how she hangs her quilts. Very interesting!
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Tag: Process
I have to have a way to hang many sizes of quilts, and I change them out often. This system is hardly noticeable since the eye usually sees the quilt first. 
Incremental Progress
I put the first white/background border and the cornerstones on the piece last night and this morning. Intermittently, I have been working on the back. I may have mentioned that I am using some of the leftover fat quarters. I am mostly not using the stripes, because they will be good for the Stars in Stripes quilt that started out as a test that I will probably make into a quilt. It is pretty far down on the list.
This is a secondary pattern that I saw after I put the first border on this morning.
:-( – Not so Happy with the Hand
Afer looking at this hand last night and this morning, I am not so happy with it. The quilting looks off and weird. I think it was the batting that I used. My plan now is to make another one – same design, etc, but better batting and quilting.
I really had trouble with the quilting, because there was nothing to grab on to. I really wanted to use the Glitter, but, as I mentioned, couldn’t get the tension right. My machine better behave or I am junking it and getting a new one! I will try again with straight lines and the Glitter.
The good thing about doing something over is that the second time goes faster. I don’t feel it is a waste; I feel that I am improving the process.
More Squares
Also, during TFQ’s visit, I worked on the Moda squares I got from Hancock’s. I decided on the final arrangement and started sewing them together. More than 20 days later, they are still in the same state. I will get back to it in another month or so.
I decided to get more of the squares, after St.JCN suggested it, and make the piece a little bigger. I was thinking about how I would arrange the new batch of squares. My idea now is to arrange them the same way, but turn the whole arrangement upside down and then sew it to the original group. Since I have not made this decision visually yet, we will have to see once the squares arrive.
Quilt Wisdom from Brazillian Musician
I was listening to Morning Edition this morning (April 7, 2006) and heard a bit of the last segment with Seu Jorge, a Brazillian musician. He said [paraphrased] that Bob Dylan could write a very simple song that was sophisticated in its simplicity.
When I heard this I realized that this is a goal that I strive to achieve in my quiltmaking. This comment coalesced some of my thinking about my quiltmaking. In making blocks to form a quilt design, I strive for a look that is sophisticated in its simplicity. It is not that simple, however, because you have to taking the fabrics, the thread, the quilting all into account. With fabric, and I realized this with the Thoughts on Dots squares, you have to think about the “weight” of the look of the fabric. Does the fabric look or feel heavy or light, sherbety or cake-like?
I would love to hear what this means to you. Please make a comment in the comments field or e-mail me via Artquiltmaker.com.
Forced Creativity: Kissy Fish
Kissy Fish is a small piece that I created so I would have some handwork and be able to try a few things. I haven’t worked on it lately due to time, and didn’t for a long time, because of an injury. In a continuing effort to sew and make progress on my quiltmaking, I pulled out the project and brought it with me to DS’ appointment today.
Every Friday I have about an hour to do something portable and not computer related. I have been bringing blank paper and writing letters. Over Christmas, I brought Christmas cards and wrote those. It occurred to me today that I could bring a portable sewing/quiltmaking project and make some small progress.
In the detail above I have placed slash marks in the area I was able to accomplish in the hour I had to work on it.
One reason I started this project was because of the embroidery articles in Quilting Arts magazine. I thought I would like to try some of the stitches, but am not interested at all in Redwork or an entire project based on embroidery such as a crazy quilt. I also had a lot of beads and thought it would be good to try beading out. Around that time I saw the work of quilt artist, Susan Carlson, on Simply Quilts and was inspired to try both beading and embroidery in a free form sort of way on Kissy Fish.
It is not meant to be a great work of ART. It is meant to be a test piece for me. I hope that it comes out well, but I am giving myself permission to do what I can and screw up if I need to. It is quite liberating to think this way.