University of Florida vs University of Tennessee

ready to be quilted with orange thread perhaps

Free for All

Sometimes I just must take a break from free motion quilting and the piecing of tiny, intricate curvy slivers of fabric.  So, I started a list of projects that have been on the back burner for far too long.   Several of the projects are free for all pieced blocks intended for some of my family members.  I can intermittently play with basket full of scraps rather than spending my time on non productive activities.  If ya know what I mean.

These blocks are for a young great nephew who, despite living in the middle of Big Orange University of Tennessee football land, prefers to cheer for the arch rival, University of Florida. Okay, so UF colors are orange and blue.  UT colors are orange and white.  I began with orange and blue four patch for the centers.  Next I pulled random strips of solids for the basket and started sewing them on in a sorta log cabin rotation.  A few times I might forget which comes next in the rotation and haphazardly sew a strip wherever it happens to land.  It's a free for all fun way to brighten up a rainy day.

Oh, and just in case he might change his mind one of these days, (or earn a scholarship to UT) I began to throw in some bits of white near that orange.  We won't mention that fact to him, so mums the word.  Hmmmmm - note to self - add more white...........

totally fiberliscious

The excitement continues.  See what I received by mail the other day!  My very own autographed copy of

DRUM ROLL ........

TA-DA.................

I am completely thrilled with Victoria's book filled with delicious eye candy.  The layout seems more innovative than lots of other books on quilting.  For instance, the center section of this book has all sorts of ideas on making your own improv blocks based on the good ole basic traditional quilt blocks.  These ideas can certainly jazz up your repertoire in the use of fabrics and colors.  What fun.  

There are tons of scrumptious examples of quilts created with "made fabric" blocks from 15 Minutes Play groups interspersed through out the book.   Victoria has successfully gathered quilters from over the world to share blocks with one another to fulfill each individual's ideas of their own quilt.  Each challenge could keep me busy for years.

Of course there are Victoria's own superb quilts.  Whimsical, witty, colorful, striking, totally deboxed are some adjectives that come to mind as I flip through page after page of 

15 Minutes of Play

If you are looking for inspiration, got nothing to do with that bag of little scraps, bored with the same old stuff, and feel the urge to play for just a few minutes every day, this is your cookbook.  Easy peezy recipes. Laid back ingredients. Results guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart for a lifetime. 

Oh, and I must confess. Not only am I promoting Victoria's book, but just wanted to let you know that one of my quilts is in this book.  (page 63)  And, I was a block contributor to quilts made by 15 Minutes of Playmates.  Yeah, I am totally shameless.  

Thanks Victoria

I look forward to your next book.  

Oh yes, and your upcoming fabric collection!  

Your next move is to order this book here,

cuz I am not showing any more photos.  

Don't want to get nabbed for copyright violations.  

heehee

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

Originality

Recently some friends and I were talking about originality.  As in, there is nothing original in this world.  I do agree with that.  As much as I try to create an original quilted piece, and I occasionally think that, aha!, by jove I've done it.  I've only to go as far as my laptop and find that the little black sliver of fabric I've inserted into one of my last quilts to make the blocks line up has already been done!
Yet, that seems to inspire me to try and try again. 

I do enjoy a challenge.

The past few days I have been playing with triangles.  Nothing new there.  But just maybe.  If I take my pattern from the last piece, 

and play around with the lines in a new sketch, I'll find another way of doing this motif.  (Am I really going to do a series?)  Yeegads!

First I cut 1 1/2 ", 1", and 3/4" strips of black and white fabrics, using my ruler.

Next, using my scissors, no measurements, no rules, I cut little triangles from multiple colors.  I decided to sew alternating black and white strips on two sides of the triangles.  Need I mention that it became addicting.  Here's what I have got so far.  

Although I didn't stick to the sketch, I am enjoying the way it is going.  So far this is some good therapy and some good fun.  It makes me happy just to look at it.  Not too sure where I'll go from here, but I like the idea of the colored triangles being different sizes.  Little bits of color.  Zig zags.
Original?  Maybe not in the worldly scheme of things. but for me, definitely yes.  Geometrics.  Series.  I would have never dreamed that I would be doing this.

Now that I've gotten several triangles made, I'll sew them together and see what happens.  And I am not going to stress over matching them up perfectly, as they are all just a bit different in size.  To my eye, that is what will make it more interesting.  But then, that's just my opinion.  Life is good.  Maybe not too original, but still good fun. We'll see what tomorrow brings.  

Explorations

just to much chaos for me, today

which will calm the chaos a tiny bit?

pink/orange silk won out as the flavor of the day for a 58" x 68" finish

Pulling out all my books showing Gee's Bend quilts, browsing the web for Anna Williams, as well as some of my favorite quilters, it was time to just get on with it.  Make a decision to complete this one as best as I could.  It was not going to be an Anna Williams masterpiece, nor a Gee's Bend masterpiece, it will just be what it will be.  It has been a love/hate affair of sorts, always depending on my mood.  There has been difficulty separating the mind and the moods.  Try as I might, I was not able to view it with a detached eye.  As usual, the emotions won out.  It is what it is, I am what I am.  Finish this one up and keep exploring. 
What have y'all been exploring lately?

Rebel inspiration

How to arrange

twenty 11 1/2 inch blocks made from silk ties

too structured for me today

I tried integrating reds, pinks and all sorts of other ideas inspired by my fellow bloggers' comments.  Nothing felt just right.  Except this bright orange linen tie that I had yet to cut apart. Not enough in that skinny tie to last very long.  So I had to give up on the idea of the linen, unless I want to stop and hand dye some linen fabric.   

 I opened one of the storage units that hold 

my stash of multi-colored florals

and this Alexander Henry design was looking me straight in the face.

Maybe because of the brisk fall air, seeing pumpkins everywhere I go, 

but shades of orange kept whispering to me.  And then perhaps the upcoming holiday was hovering in the back of my mind too?  I think that Sujata's brilliant use of color was also nudging at my subconscious.  The ties were just not quite as colorful as I had hoped.

Now how to put together 11 1/2 inch blocks with 7 1/2 inch blocks. Don't even ask me how I ended up with these disparately sized quilt block units.  Let's just say it was therapeutic at the time.

Late one night, perhaps because Kaffe Fasset was in town teaching and lecturing, I opened up one of his books of quilt patterns, "Passionate Patchwork".  This may have also been the result of seeing Nifty's blog with the wonderful striped shirtings quilt as well as her suggestion of using black as a connector. Very dramatic, yes?  Color issues solved for the moment.

But wait, too much black and too much orange to fill in the spaces, was detracting from the silk.  I need to let the silks shine. 

so more spacer blocks were needed.  

And I won't bore you with the countless

 arrangements and rearrangements.  

Here is where it hangs now.  

66" x 34" 

No telling what may happen next.  What you see is not always what I end up doing.
Thanks to all for your suggestions and inspiration.  It's not over yet. 

Ties

The time has come to do something with all the silk ties I have stashed away.  Some belonged to my father, my uncles, my son, my husband, my nephew and others came from thrift shops.  I have an over abundance 

Then there are the old silk blouses and slacks that I kept saving with the though that they might be back in style one day.  Alas, I have tossed the shoulder pads that should be velcroed into the blouses for that 80's look, so needless to say, the fit is no longer very attractive.  So they've been cut apart.  Let me just say right now, that it finally keeps me from wearing them in public.  

Then there are the pieces of silks that did and did not make it into garments

               Next step, I washed everything all up and began taking the ties apart

when I needed a bit of "sit down, put my feet up time".

A few days ago, I took rotary cutter in hand and began slicing and dicing 

the ties into approximately 2" inch strips.  

Like so

Not having much experience with silk, I felt that it should be sewn onto some sort of backing.  Making an executive decision, I cut 6 inch squares of muslin for the backing.  Now to decide a pattern for the silk strips.  Mulling it over and over, it's time to make the next executive decision.  Let's sew these suckers down and get on with it.

Like so

All the original ideas that I had are out the window, and now it is audition time

on a silk blouse sleeve, a new look for garments: or maybe not

silk blouse strips, oh so traditional

use the silk ties center sections for sashings, tradition with a twist?

but then, why use all silk; use recycled linen slacks

The original intention was to use silk and only silk.  The question of the day, do I want contrast? Tonight, methinks, it is all about the contrast.  Dare I go back to both sides now?
Yes, Miz Scarlett, tomorrow is another day.
No telling what it may bring.
I am wide open for suggestion here.  Don't be shy

more on my log cabin with posies

At the requests of a few nice folks, I am going to post a few more pictures and details of Ms. Posy.  

Someone asked if I would show some close ups of the flowers.  It just so happens that I have a couple of
in progress pictures from my design wall.

I began by making log cabin flowers.

These began with an approximately 1 1/4 inch hexagon center snipped with scissors and no pattern.  I sewed 1 to 1/ 1/2 inch strips of fabric around the hexagon.  These posies ended up as hexagons, heptagons, and octagons approximately 4 to 6 1/2 inches in size.

For these particular posies, I began by freely cutting ,with my scissors, a hexagon approximately 2 inches x 1 1/4 inches.  More or less.  Because with no rulers or patterns each hexagon will be slightly different in size and shape.   I then cut various sized wedges ranging in size from 4 inches to 1 inch.  Again, more or less.    Choosing 2 to 5 wedges, I sewed them together, to have "petals" to the approximate size of one of the sides of the hexagon center.   Then I was able to stitch them onto one side of the hexagon of corresponding size.
 I continued this process until I was happy with the design/shape of the posy.  

I had so much fun with these, I wanted to experiment with a few more types as well as leaves

  Here is a collage of several as they look in the completed quilt.  All stitched down with free motion zig zag style, raw edges, a bit ravely once washed.

Someone else asked about sizes of the log cabins in the border.
I took my cue from the background in it's original state

 Realizing that I have very loosely interpreted the traditional log cabin block, I can only say I made them in sizes ranging from  7" x  6 " to   9" x 12 ".
 These were then trimmed to fit the finished width of the border which is
6 inches wide .

Again, it was fantastic fun.  I can't say which parts of this quilt I had more fun playing with.  I can say, in readdressing this process, I am inspired to make another spontaneous, unstructured,
flying by the seat of my pants, no holds barred, sunshine day.

And it just so happens that I have a background all pieced up and waiting in the wings for splashes of color.

Have a weekend full of sun and fun, y'all.

for Mallory Kate

Quilt label (front)

Mallory Kate (front)

Mallory Kate (back)

machine quilting closeup

quilt care label

  Mallory's mom chose the fabrics to coordinate with the nursery decor and asked for a simple quilt that could grow with her into her "big girl" bed.  I made it into a twin size so that Mallory will enjoy using it for years to come.  She is a month old now and is a beautiful, sweet baby. 

adding some toppings to the vanilla.

So, I have quilted all of the individual blocks.

 

I think it was the most fun I have ever had in doing machine quilting. Well, at least not nearly as stressful as maneuvering a big quilt under my Juki.  Most of the blocks have similar, repetitive designs but on the occasional block, I just had to stitch something a bit different. 

So now comes the big decision.  To add or not to add. 

The bits 'o color strips.

I had all but decided to only use the goldish bits and already dubbed her as Butter Brickle,  I just had the feeling red was going to be too abrasive.  Not that I think red itself is abrasive, because there is nothing better than red in a quilt. And I am thinking that the blues and greens were adding too much contrast.  I just had mono on my mind.  Or perhaps because it was warm and sunny outside, I didn't need any added color.   But today was cooler and not so bright, I thought to try again.   I needed some reds and greens and blues.  I think I will let her hang a while longer and see what happens during the next few days. 

Do you ever think that the way you make a final decision on something creative 

just might be based on your mood at the time?  Or the weather? 

And now I am so in the mood for color.  So I took 3-4 steps in my studio 

and turned to my other design wall.

  

Another design idea for peacock colors.  Using this as my inspiration.

Just so you know

When I posted my previous blog, I wasn't sure if my friend, Sujata, was ready to be exposed!  And I had not yet received her block.  Let me tell you, I am constantly hovering around my mailbox the last few days, anxiously awaiting her package.   If case you aren't already aware of this prolific and extremely talented artist, take the time to check out her personal  blog, her  group blog, and her Flickr portfolio.  When I ran across her photos of her amazing quilts, I felt a whole new world had been opened to me. I am constantly amazed at her talent and the volume of works that she produces.  She has such a wonderful style and talent with color.  So when she asked if I would like to exchange blocks, I was nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof.  What could I possibly create that Sujata would appreciate.  Very deep breaths, rolling of the shoulders, fingers drumming.  Obviously, I must agree to participate. How could I refuse! 

Can you just feel the snow falling on the Seattle cedars?

I can't tell you how happy I am now to have accepted her offer.  I think that it has helped me grow a bit more with my designing.  And to receive something so very special from such a generous and kind person to hang in my home means more to me than I can express.  We are both approaching each other's blocks with some trepidation.  But in the end I know they will both finish wonderfully.

Mean while, waiting for just the right inspiration to arise, so that I can add to Sujata's block and make it into a quilt, I am keeping busy with other items.  Here's a hint.

    For Tonya's word blog

 

just so you know my final decision

Since my daughter did agree as to how much she liked the subtle tones and simple designs, I am playing around with that idea.  Of course, I must add just a few hints of color. It is beginning as a combination influenced by Carol Taylor,  Yoshiko Jinzenji, and  The Quilting Edge tutorial.  I am going to give that quilt as you go technique a whirl.  By the way, if you haven't already taken a peek at Marianne's quilts, you don't know what you are missing. Isn't this blogging thing just the best ever!  Why did I ever think that I wouldn't enjoy this.

Happy New Year

I spent the better part of  New Year's Eve cleaning up my studio.  Although I didn't finish all those UFO's in 2010, I am still resolved to get them completed by the end of 2011.  (HA!)  Famous last words, eh?

I pulled out this quilt .  It is a mystery quilt from Electric Quilt.com that my quilt guild did several years ago.  We were even featured on the EQ website with some of our almost completed quilts. I am thinking to myself about what could I do with this quilt if I finished quilting it.  

I realized that even though I never make New Year's resolutions, I could challenge myself to make more cuddle quilts.  There are far too many children who live in shelters without any parents or siblings.  This is something that they could have as their very own.  Something that they can wrap around themselves and feel that they are being hugged and loved. 

So I got this one all ready for quilting.

But wait, while I was cleaning up a stack of fabrics I found a fat quarter that I didn't know what to do with.  It was just rows of  kittens. OH!   Why not cut out each kittie and free-piece strips of fabrics all around each one.  The first block took around 15 minutes, maybe less.  So part of New Year's Day was spent piecing this quilt. 

  Now to get it sandwiched and ready to quilt.  This is a first for me.  Making a quilt in less than 6 hours. So  I should be able to make one each month.  What about you?  Can you do a quilt each month?

I hope that each child who will receive these quilts will feel the love that I felt as I sewed each and every stitch.  I hope that it will help to make them feel more secure and know that they are cared for.  I hope that it will give them hope for a happy and bright future.  I wish for them a happy and bright future.  So now, I know what to do with all of my other unquilted tops.  There are far too many children of all ages who need to feel love. 

Getting all dressed up

Did you ever start to get dressed and realize that you aren't satisfied with what you are wearing and how you look? Then change outfits several times?  Come on now, I will just bet that you've done it more than once.  I know that I certainly have.  On many, many occasions.  If it doesn't feel good, or look right to me at that moment,  I just won't wear it. Often I must change my top or my pants or my shoes several times before I am dressed for the day. Same thing with Posy here: This is where she began

I thought she was just a bit too plain Jane.  No pizzaz.  She needed some flowers to surround
her log cabins.

Something was just still not quite right.  I loved her new look, but kept thinking that something was missing.  Plus the thought occurred to me that she might be more useful in a queen size.

 I could add borders.  I considered charcoal and ivory when I snapped this picture with the top laid out on my tile floor.  It looked pretty cool.  But then when I actually added large triangles around the actual quilt, she screamed NO NO NO.  Way too contrived. 

So I tried making some other types of blocks - large blocks so that she could be a queen size quilt.
Now she shouts

HELP ME, I AM BEING OVERPOWERED BY GIANT LOGS AND POSIES.   Okay, got the message, she just does not want to be queen size. She is just going to be what she wants to be.  So I tried once again.  The thought occurred to me that she began as my experimental version of the Gee's Bend house top. This brought me around to another thought, "make more Gee's Bend style blocks for the border."  After trying big chunks, big strips, wavering between no border/yes border, I made lots of improvisational, free pieced blocks, using only the scrap fabrics from the background.  I trimmed these blocks to 6 1/2 inches in width and left the length whatever it happened to be.  Got all those placed around the quilt and thought to myself, STOP THIS MADNESS.  And I went to bed. 

 

Got up this morning still obsessing.  I remember a posted comment from Margaret suggesting that I have the posies spill over into the border.  "Why not give that a try?"I think   Now I am back to making more posies and leaves.  And if this doesn't work, I will  have quite a few blocks to make into another quilt.
So here she is trying on a few new posies.

 She is still not totally happy with what I have done to her.  Still a bit unsure of herself and her new look. Is she a bit overdone?  Sorta like way too much lipstick and rouge.  Perhaps I should let her rest for a while and go play/obsess with some others.   Anyway, she isn't scheduled for any public appearances any time soon.  If this look doesn't grow on us, we can always try something else. Tomorrow is another day.