Monofilament...Love it or ??

I suppose the jury is still out on this discussion, at least for me.

A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to take a class from David Taylor. I'm sure if you've seen his work you'd recognize the name (or the other way around...). He's an amazing quilter with such artistic sense, and the way he pulls his works of art together are through machine applique using monofilament as a top thread. Makes sense, as the monofilament pretty much can not be seen (both figuratevely and literally). His technique is really quite simple and I have started to embrace it quite a little bit. I almost didn't even take the class once I saw that it was machine applique, but I tried the class anyway, thinking, "I can always stand to learn something new". I did learn something new and am quite glad I took the class. But, that darned monofilament...

To call it a thread may be a stretch. Ha! That's humorous in its own right as that monofilament has quite the stretchy quality to it. I think I like the idea of using it...I think my machine tends to think otherwise. It likes to twist and get tangled and get stuck and then it messes with the tension, so while I'm sewing, I have to constantly watch what the top thread is doing as it's threaded through the machine while also watching where my stitching is going (I think I need more eyes to watch everything)... 

Practice, though, over and over, and listening to my machine, I'm starting to "hear" when the monofilament is tangled and know it's time to stop sewing and give the monfilament some attention (as it's clearly begging for some), and then I can go back to sewing. Thank goodness that machine applique isn't a "sew at the speed of light" kind of activity.

In the end, using the monofilament for machine applique does produce rewards, and like a game of golf, keeps you coming back for more. You make that one cool looking applique item (or golf shot), that you figure, "I've got this", even though you know there's a frustrating part coming (a bad shot, or in the case of monofilament, a tangled mess). You just have to keep on keepin' on, though... As I worked through the tangled messes, I have managed to create a cool rendition of the Earth, using David's technique and the spool of monofilament I received in the class. The creative fun with the technique just opens up another door of design, and I think I'll continue to explore the fun it can produce. My Earth has overlapping colors which help create a transparent nature, along with a large leaf to just change up the shapes and bring in another interesting component that's "Earth-like".

Close up, you can see some of where the stitching got more prominent that I'd like...but...I think it still works...

Despite the frustrations some of our materials provide, sometimes perseverance and practice will pay off. My current piece is for a musically-inspired quilt challenge, so I'm trying to see if I can get my piece put together for our show in October.

Here's my contemporary rendition of the Earth.  I think it's kind of cool with the overlapping, transparent circles. 

Have fun embracing new techniques as you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. As with most things, you just have to figure out how to work with the different technique personalities.

Cheers!

Linking up with Nina Marie @ Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

...and Free Motion Mavericks today. 

 The Race is On…

Here we are - late August and deadlines are fast approaching.  In October, the Guild has its annual quilt show, annual fundraiser auction, and as part of the quilt show, there’s a “challenge” quilt category, which this year is “musically inspired quilts”.  That’s a lot to unpack, there, isn’t it?  Time is short to get everything completed in time.  I’m going to try, though, and see what I can get accomplished. 

It’s a bit surprising to track how long it actually takes to quilt your three-layers on a sit-down machine.  No computer involved to guide you - it’s all you and your harmony with your design and your machine.  Here’s a couple shots of the quilt I’m hoping to finish for the Quilt Show.  There’s definitely things I could have done differently, I think, but I think it’ll turn out okay.  Not a prize winner, but just entering in the show is fun.  What would I have done differently?  For one, I would have used the back side of the printed fabric for the blocks (David Taylor educated us to a front and back side of fabric - not a right or wrong side)...but I didn’t and forged ahead, so it’s what it is.  The Dresden Plates are just more subtle in the design.  I am hoping by heavily quilting the center of each block, leaving the Dresdens minimally quilted, would let the Dresdens stand out a bit more - especially after the quilt is washed.  We’ll see.  Tis a bit of an experiment…  I’m thinking the name of the quilt needs to be “Gypsy” or “Bohemian” or something along those lines…

I am having fun with the free motion quilting, though.  Very freeing to just get ideas in your brain and let go and have fun. I tend to mark a couple of main elements that I want (and where I want them) and then I just fill in around the main elements.

Close up of the free motion quilting I'm having fun with. The applique flowers pull from the background fabric in the block.

Now, the auction quilt.  That’s an earlier deadline, and I just need to get started on the quilting. It’s a wall hanging and this time I’m trying to use some 3-dimensional elements.  Perhaps I’ve captured a sunny fall day in Colorado walking amongst the Aspen trees as they put on their annual show.  It’s a bit conceptual, but I think it’ll work…another experiment, I think. 

I found all this lovely blue fabric and it felt like it would combine to make an interesting “sky”/background for the trees.  If you’ve seen any of the iconic photos of the fall Aspens here in Colorado, folks often times shoot with the deep blue Colorado sky in the background, with the gold Aspen leaves contrasting.  So, now my goal is to get it quilted...like I said, "the race is on...".

Been gone for a while, and hoping to get back to blogging more often as I am shifting gears in life and taking time off from work.  Constant stress is no way to spend every day, so, I’m “tapping out” for a while to see what the universe has to offer.  I took some quilting classes this summer and I’ll share some of those experiences in my next posting.  There’s always something to learn out there and you can be surprised by how much you can use the various techniques.  There’s certainly a world of exploration…waiting….

‘Till next time…happy creating!

Welcome Back! It has been a while...

 

STARDATE:  -299063.82 (or December 8, 2023)

Well, greetings from a long-dormant blog.  Life got crazy starting in 2020 and while folks found themselves in a myriad of unknown situations, life for me somewhat stayed on course as my job kept me monumentally busy (along with life events) and I lost any time really to post to a blog.  I wanted to; thought I’d have all kinds of time, working from home, but this darned software implementation has been a buggar.  Going on three years now, it’s still not implemented.  But, I finally decided, it’s time to stop focusing on that and start getting back (at least a little bit) to those things that I enjoy and love.

So, after plowing through making a large quilt for the annual Guild auction, I am finally finding some time to refocus on some projects (okay, call them “UFO’s”), so I’m happy about that. The Guild also had a challenge to make 12” art quilts depicting one of the seasons.  I worked through many ideas, but ran aground due to time.  In a creative burst, though, I did manage to pull together a couple of small quilts and here’s a couple shots of what I created.

One depicting a cold winter’s walk through the trees during an early sunrise... 

"A Winter's Walk" depicts a winter sunrise in Colorado.  Due to time changes, we actually get to see the sunrise on the way to work, and they're often stunning and deep rich in color.

My first real attempt at "thread painting"

And one depicting fall in all its glory as the Ash trees turn fabulous shades of red, yellow, purple, and still hang on to some green.  The sun and sky shine through, and I attempted to capture that feeling...

It's supposed to hang diagonally so the tree is straight up and down...

Fall was created by piecing the tree and its background together, then cutting roughly ¾” squares of different batiks to make the leaves.  I tried to leave some of the blue and yellow sky shining through to convey the feeling that the sun and blue sky were peeking through all the colored leaves.  That’s what these massive Ash Trees look like in the fall – at least in my mind.  I put netting over the whole thing and quilted through the netting. 

Winter was created by just free-piecing scraps of fabric together.  I somewhat designed this in the spirit of Bob Ross (you know, the “Joy of Painting” painter??!)…he always does the beautiful winterscapes with the sun shining through the winter sky haze.  I think I should have started with the dark sun in the center and moved to light as I went outward, but I kind of like the interpretation that just, well, “happened”.  The distant trees are gray while the closer trees are dark, navy blue.  Then, I attempted to do some thread painting on the trees to try to “shape” them into the round-ish beings they wanted to be. 

Meanwhile, I’m working on pulling old items out of the “I’ll get to it” bin, and actually…well….get to it.  I’ve readied one quilt for actual quilting.  The quilt is one I was working on when my pup passed away…so, it’s been 5 years or so that the quilt has been waiting to get completed. So, hopefully over the next few months, I can make some progress.

 

Cheers & Happy Quilting!

Almost done…

What progress we can make when we chip away at things a little at a time.  Don’t ever think that everything has to get done in one day…the little things do add up, and they add up in a BIG way. 

Slowly, mainly on the weekends, I would take a bit of time and at least quilt one block; maybe two.  And, over the last couple of months, while all staying at home to stay safe from the virus, here I am just about ready to complete the quilting on a quilt I thought I might never finish.   I’m so excited and pleased to at least be getting this completed – after about a year of it sitting on my quilting table and my lamenting at the mistake I had made…  I’ve gotten past that; it won’t be show quality, but maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

The teardrop on the border really sets off the quilt.  Such a fun pattern to quilt, too

My last push was the teardrop quilting around the edge of the border.  I got the idea by watching Christina Cameli – she’s doing daily “draw with me” type tutorials during this pandemic as we’re all eager to continue exercising our creative outlets.  I saw her do the pattern and thought, “hey, I could use that”.  She’d noted that she had done a whole quilt in this pattern and that she “loved it”.  I can see why…after quilting a portion of the border, I have to say, “I love it”, too!  It’s just a beautiful, wandering design that thrives on variation.  I can see me using this pattern on other quilts…

I am quite pleased with the quilting on the quilt…I strove to make the quilting pattern in each block different; so each is unique.  And, I’m so happy I chose to simply use a non-pattern backing for the quilt as you can see all the wonderful quilting (mistakes and all).  I especially like how you can see the outline of the applique pattern among the various quilting patterns. 

Meanwhile, I hit my own milestone on a quilt pattern I have struggled with for years to get right.  I finsihed my 120^th piece and now am ready to start arranging the blocks for my Wheel of Mystery quilt.  I always thought if I could piece this quilt, why, then, I’ve become an accomplished quilter.  I’ve done it – but now, I think I can push for more.

This is only part of the stack of 120 blocks...they're up on the wall, being "arranged"

I have several art quilts I have drawn up and want to work on ( I already started a Paula Nadelstern kaleidoscope – the challenging method), so I think those will come next as I work on getting at least one more of the 5-8 quilt tops hanging on my banister quilted this year.  Paula’s method is time consuming, but really allows your creativity to flow – and you don’t know how it’s all going to turn out in the end.  It’s a surprise, no matter how much you plan…

My first block using Paula's technique.  I'm excited to try more!

Little by little, we can accomplish much. 

Enjoy the little things for they add up to monumental achievements, even if only in our own eyes.

Happy quilting!

"Do What's Hard"

Stardate 2017.130.01

This was the mantra of Karen McTavish – a renowned quilter from Duluth, Minnesota.  Through the local quilt guild, which I’m a member of, I had the pleasure of hearing Karen speak and display a trunk show during one of our monthly meetings.  Karen is a humorous, colorful, wonderful person and is a great speaker, capturing your interest from start to finish.  She doesn’t look like what we’d think a “quilter” looks like, with her long dreadlocks, tattoos, and heavy-rimmed black glasses.  Her amazing microquilting showcases her interesting spirit and her amazing talent.  She showed many quilts and I was struck by how small she would quilt some of her patterns, and the way she would vary the quilting within the quilt.  She might do one part of a block in straight lines, then mix in some of her more custom quilting (“McTavishing”) in the next part of the same block.  This lent interest and texture to each of the quilts she touched.  Her style is amazing and highly inspiring! Here's a couple shots of her quilting...

Hopefully you can see the quilting detail...very small and quite dense, but really added to the texture of the quilt.

More texture - up close.  She noted to keep the microquilting to the solid fabric areas as it gets lost in the patterned areas...

The next day, I was able to attend a Modern Quilting class which she was teaching.  I took time off of work to attend, and it was well worth the expended vacation day!  Two things she said really stuck with me:

1.      Find one or two quilting designs you really like  and then practice them like crazy – master those designs – do them well, and then use that design in the quilts you quilt.  In essence, you develop your own “signature quilting”. I found that piece of advice interesting.
2.        Secondly, she kept reiterating, “Do what’s hard”.  Meaning to not always take the easy route when it comes to your quilting.  Just as the quilt pattern and colors have an impact on the quilt, so does the quilting.  And the actual quilting can really make a pattern pop!

In that same token she really emphasized looking at the quilt, grasping its character, and quilting accordingly.    For instance, she noted, don’t try to quilt intricate designs in a Kaffe Fasset quilt, in part, because the intricate quilting will never show.  Save the intricate quilting for those negative spaces and spaces where it makes sense.  Once you get to those negative spaces, though, “Do what’s hard” – meaning, make those spaces stand above the crowd.
She’d noted there are no real rules in modern quilting – and so you really can do what you want, but in a controlled way. 

Now, while it doesn’t look like I accomplished much from the class, here’s what I did accomplish, with really only about one start/stop in each square block.  

I experimented with some patterns and they just seemed to flow.  I’d used my domestic machine, so I’ll be extrapolating these techniques to my mid-arm machine as soon as I get time (hopefully soon!). 

I was highly inspired by Karen and her attitude toward quilting.  If you ever get the chance to see her speak, GO!  It’s worth it!

I learned a few things that helped me out in my quilting, so I’ll share them with you.

•      Stitch in the ditch around your block areas you want to quilt, then use that outline to help you determine how you want to quilt the inside of that stitched area.
•      Square off.  Whenever you’re working on doing the detailed stitching, squaring off your design helps make the overall design more cohesive.
•      Use thin thread.  In class, she had us using a 100 weight polyester thread.  That’s thin stuff!   But, when you’re doing a lot of backtracking on the quilting lines, the thinner thread won’t make such a “thick line” out of your backtracked stitches.
•      Match thread color to the area you’re stitching.  Those matching colors hide a multitude of sins.  The eye blends the colors and sees through the thread to the texture you created.
•      Look at the quilt overall to decide on your design, then attack it in small sections.  You know, kind of like “eating an elephant”…

Here’s a couple of examples of patterns I’m trying out for a large star quilt I’m getting ready to quilt.  I’m going to give that micro-quilting a go and see how the quilt turns out.  I have a feeling it may take a lot of thread, but I’m ready to experiment.  If you don’t push yourself outside of your comfort zone, you’ll never know what you’re capable of.

I love how the quilting just flows.  And, with the contrasting stars in the quilt (which are angular), this will really add movement to the overall quilt.

This pattern will be for the center of the star blocks.  You can see my "I don't like this" part of the discovery of how to quilt the center part...then I landed on larger leaf-like structures with a bit of echo quilting around them.

A shout out to my sister for taking photos of some of the quilts with her phone (my phone camera stinks!).  She got some great shots of the quilting!!

Linking up this week with folks at Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, Finished or Not Fridays @ Busy Hands Quilts, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Happy Quilting!!

Deadlines...deadlines...

Stardate 2016.344.1

Wow, have things been nuts lately.  Work has been insane, my hockey team is dead last in the NHL, the cold weather has really set in, a lot of my work colleagues are retiring, and between the election, Thanksgiving, and figuring out how Christmas is going to go, I haven’t  had a lot of time to post to the blog. I have been trying to get quilting time in; sadly, there just hasn’t been enough of it.  I’m hoping that’ll soon change – that things will slow down and I can refocus. 

Until then, here is what I’ve been working on.   

With some of the quilting started, I just might make my deadline...

I picked up a chunk of a quilt I had been working on (very off and on) for some time and thought I could try to run the race to the finish line and see if I could get a small quilt made for a friend who is retiring at the end of December.  Sheesh – back in November, it seemed like a good idea.  Forget that it’s a Double Wedding Ring pattern, which, for me, means sewing by hand, which translates into “slow-going”.  But, I figured out I was limited by fabric as I’d started this quilt with just fabrics I had from years ago, so there’s no getting more; once I run out, I run out.  I did run out of one fabric, and did manage to get enough rings pieced to at least make a square quilt.  I’d seen on another blog one gal set a Grandmother’s Flower Garden – with its uneven edges – on a border, so the edges would be square instead of hexagon-shaped, and I decided I could do a similar treatment with this quilt.  So, I was able to “extend” the quilt size by adding the border, then appliqueing the Double Wedding Ring quilt to the border.  I like how it came out and now am in the phase of quilting it.  Somehow, in my grand brain, I’m going to get this done before the end of the year (I won’t look at the calendar as it can be defeating at this point….). 

So, here’s some of the quilting – my brain is trying to figure out how to minimize starts and stops, since they do eat up time, but still have the quilt look good quilted.  I’m still working on that…

 

Quilting in the center is easy, but time consuming with a stop and start each time.  Those pesky melon shapes will require some thought to have continuous quilt lines...

On other notes, I’ve made some, albeit little progress, on my scrappy stars…the dark grey background won out the color wars.  

And the offset log cabin quilt is waiting for its day in the spotlight as well.  Soon…soon…your day will come. 

Now, back to getting some quilting done…

Thanks for stopping by!  Linking up with Myra at Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Happy Friday!

Random Musings in the Summertime

Stardate 2016.203.1

Wow, has life been busy lately...  I don’t know where our summer is going, but it’s moving along very quickly.  The hot temperatures aren’t helping much but the tomatoes growing in the backyard.  I guess, though, I’ll take the thought of fresh tomatoes coming on soon over a snowy, blizzardy day.

I have managed to get some quilting time in, and am making some progress on a few items.  Luckily, the basement stays cooler and it’s a great place to hang out and work on quilting while the sun is beating down on the outside world.

The quilting is all done on the columbine quilt!  Hoo-rah!  I finally got the purple thread in that I was waiting for, and got the purple medallions quilted.  I love how this came out!  I think this really helps set off the quilt and adds interest to the outer fringes of the quilt. 

I did a lot of doodling to come up with the design.  I’m surprised how much doodling helps you contain your thoughts and think about the sewing pattern to get what you envision.  Now to stitching on the binding.  I sew the top by machine, then flip it to the back and stitch it by hand.

I know the faster way is to stitch by machine, but I’ve always liked this method – tedious as it is – because it just results in a cleaner look. That’s just my opinion.  We all do what works best for each of us, and that’s O.K.

I’ve made progress on my heart quilt.  I am trying to get this done to send to the Florida Modern Quilt Guild by their September 15^th deadline.  

I thought it’d be more fun to just do one heart in each color and then let the colors stand out for themselves amongst grays and whites.  It took me a while to figure out the math for the square blocks. Sure, I probably could have gone somewhere on the internet and found a cheat sheet, but I wanted to try to understand it for myself.  I knew I wanted a 12” finished square, but I wanted to create four triangles that would comprise the square.  Cut individually, then sewn back together, I needed the piece to finish at 12”.  So, off I went using Pythagorean’s Theorem and figured out the hypotenuse of the triangle, and then figured out the finished height of the strip set I’d be putting together to then cut the triangles.  After stewing on that for a few days, I finally figured it out and off I went.  

I like how the triangle blocks are interacting with the heart blocks and I’m starting to get excited to see the quilt come together. Still quite a bit of sewing to do, and trying to get the placement of the triangles right, but we all try to find even a precious few minutes to do some sewing or block rearranging.  And, those 15 minutes start adding up in progress.  Which reminds me, I think it’s Victoria Findlay Wolfe who challenges all of us to just spend 15 minutes free-piecing.  I’ve started to do that in order to get another quilt going made of scraps that I just can't decide to throw away.  I’ll get some pictures and start sharing that.  Right now, though, the heart quilt is taking priority.

I hope you’re all finding 15 minutes here and there to do some quilting.  Over even just a short time, you can sure see your progress emerge.  

A Finish, Two Hearts, and Progress.

Stardate 2016.182.1

It’s been hot here in Colorado, and with the heat comes the retreat to the basement where the air is cool.  Of course, all that hanging out in the cool air lends itself for some quilting time, until the sun starts retreating and we can pop our heads out of our prairie dog holes and be outside without crisping up like a strip of bacon.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been diligently trying to get at least one quilt finished for entry into one of our local county fairs.  Being part of 4-H as a kid, I still have an enjoyment for the county fairs and to see what others have been busy working on. Plus, you get comments back on your judged quilts, so you can continue to improve your quilting skills.

My finish is the quilt for a wedding, happening in late August.  All complete (well, except for a tag on the back), this one is ready to enter into the fair.  I really like how the border/edges came out in this quilt.  We’d gotten the invites for the wedding and the colors were pink and teal…so, I think the quilt colors will fit in nicely (whew!). 

Finally a finish!  The wedding quilt is ready to go...all it needs is a name and a label on the back.  

 

A close up of some of the quilting.  I was pretty happy with how the quilting turned out.

With the shooting in Orlando, I’d seen on others' blogs that the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild has an effort to collect either quilt squares or an entire quilt to give to victims & their families and possibly have enough to give to first responders.  The incident was a horrible event that we shouldn’t have to keep reliving in this country…so I was inspired to work on some heart blocks, and see if I could make enough to get a quilt made by their deadline of September 15, 2016.  If you’re interested, you can check them out at their website

Orlando Modern Quilt Guild

  

http://theorlandomodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/

So, here are two blocks I managed to get made.  They’re my own design, using my favorite quilter’s technique (Ruth B. McDowell).  I have to admit, when I made the first one (the red one), it put quite the smile on my face as it felt cheerful.  So, I’m trying to make one in each colorway (red, blue, green, purple, etc…).  Hopefully I can get enough made to get a quilt done for the guild.

And now for progress on the purple & green quilt…I’ve managed to make a fair amount of progress and with a deadline looming, some of the holiday weekend will surely be spent doing some quilting.  You know, some days when your heart just isn’t in it, you just shouldn’t force it.  I forced it not long ago – went down to quilt when my heart really wanted to something else, and the universe let me know it.  I had nothing but tension problems and issues.  Ripped a bunch out and decided to walk away.  After a break, I think I’ll be ready to tackle the rest.  Here’s my current progress…almost done…

Whatever your cause, or whatever your purpose, enjoy what you do and let the smiles warm your face and heart.  It really is amazing to see how much the quilting world puts forth their hearts to so many.  That alone gives me some renewed faith in mankind.  I'm linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts...Ciao!