Family of Strong Women

“Family of Strong Women” is completed.

Inspiration came from the work of Segolaine Schweitzer.  I saw her work at the Sydney Quilt show in 2018 and was absolutely fascinated by her work.  Her medium is primarily wool whereas I used cottons, lace and linen, but the layering/embroidery inspiration was certainly from her.

Six generations of family and friends, over 70 names and birthdates embroidered on it.

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Bits and pieces layered.  Antique Sanford linens, upholstery fabric, an embroidered broach that my mom made for me about 25 years ago, lace and doilies from a couple friends, ribbon, a needle felted piece from my friend Elizabeth, tea dyed/stained new fabrics, a few painted fabrics left over from Voluptuous Woman.  Hand big stitch quilted with 12 weight floss.  The back was pieced with larger pieces of fabric that I tea dyed/stained.

I thought it would be heavy – but it is surprisingly light.  Probably largely due to the fact that I used Quilt Lite, a woven interfacing used in mens suiting, as the batting.

I enjoy doing these personalised quilts.  Quilts with heart.  Quilts that tell a story.  Yet to do is a label for the back.  I’m planning to make an envelope and then print the names and the story behind the quilt onto photo paper and then tuck those into the envelope.  That’s the plan anyway…

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Ruby May finish

This is such a sweet quilt.  I really love it.  And, in spite of it being fairly traditional, I really enjoyed making it.

The background is Essex linen.  The Liberty of London fabrics were scraps given to me by my friends Sue & Susan (THANK YOU AGAIN!).  I used dissolvable ‘stuff’ and a glue stick for the EPP.  YLI Silk thread for the applique.  The pattern is from Cutting Cloth with modifications by me.

I wasn’t crazy about the embroidered flower applique center on the original pattern (too puffy) so I tea dyed the lace and put that on at the inner edge.  I still wanted the embroidery though so I added it in the spaces between the flowers.  The quilt wasn’t QUITE big enough so I added the border with the 1/2 circles.  Oh, and the crochet pattern was a bit too heavy for the yarn I was using (a baby llama & Lyocell blend from Marie at Mulberry Tree) so I adjusted that also.

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The quilting was done on Sweetie (Sweet 16).  I finally tackled doodle FMQing on something where every stitch shows.  Thanks Sista K2 for the courage and ideas.  I had absolutely no plan for the quilting.  Each time I sat down, I would just glance through my book of ideas and dive in.  It was a lot of fun.  I was sad when the FMQing was finished.

In the minds of some – this could actually QUALIFY as improv.  Yes, I started with a pattern – but I made it my own and just let it play out as I did it.  That’s sorta ‘improv’!

Not sure what the destination of this quilt is.  First I’ll wash it and see what happens to the dissolvable ‘stuff’ and the crochet edge.  Then, I might enjoy it for awhile.  Perhaps I’ll hang onto it on the off chance we have another girl child in the family (sorry Kris F).  It would be a perfect little girl quilt.

 

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Current UFOs

I might need to shift gears and pull out my paints for awhile.  None of my quilting projects are tripping my trigger.  They are long term projects that I’ve lost enthusiasm for.   A few of the traditional ones are in the ‘bleh’ category.  The improv ones are past the design stages and into the finishing stage which then leads me to the question of what to do with them when they are finished.

Here are pictures and discussion of my current UFOs.

Long Time Gone by Jen Kingwell.  I’m doing this as a block of the month.  I like the fabrics (Japanese taupes) and the pattern is fine.  It’s just that it’s someone else’s pattern.  It’s like doing a ‘paint by numbers’ painting.

EPP diamonds.  I started this a couple years ago to test out the Eppiflex product.  Love the product (and Danni!) but EPP hurts my hands.  And, this is turning out so BORING.  SO traditional.  I might need to follow the advice I gave a friend about her UFOs…put it in a box, tape it shut and put it in the garage or under a bed until I want to work on it again (if EVER).  Or give it away.

My Favorite word is.  This is embroidery on fabric that my friend Candy gave me – graduated starburst-like shades of grey from light to dark.  I started doing freeform embroidery on it with the gorgeous Cottage Garden Threads.  In the center, I plan to embroider my favorite word.  (Any guesses???? lol)

EPP bag.  A pattern I bought at a local quilt show.  1″ hexagons out of left over Liberty fabric.  I’m using linen for the main bag.  It’s finished except for putting a string through the top.  Another ‘what am I going to do with this’ project.

Orange Kantha.  I do love this one.  It is simply a 1 & 1/2 meter chunk of fabric that I bought at Always your Design in Dell Rapids, South Dakota last year.  I LOVE the fabric and didn’t want to cut it up so I’m Kantha stitching it.  It may take a lifetime as the rows are about 1/2″ apart.  I like everything about it – but it’s rather boring work.  And, it feels like I will never get to the finish line.  I save it for days when I need mindless work or when watching cricket.

Camelot.  I started this one on a whim earlier this year.  A group of us went to a quilt show and I found this gorgeous William Morris fabric line that HAD to come home with me.  VERY traditional.  Trish Harper had this pattern in QuiltMania magazine a few years back and I had it the back of my mind that I’d like to do it someday.  This fabric seemed to be the perfect fit.  Plus, a friend had a bag of WM fabrics to share with me so I could make it really scrappy.

I have 14 of 16 circles finished.  I’m still not sure on the background color.  I like the scrappy neutrals but I also like red floral and the red tone-on-tone.  I like hand piecing – but the quilt itself is feeling rather boring.  I keep wondering how I can add an improv/modern slant to it.

Indigo and Lime Green improv.  I like this one.  I need to dye a back for it and then quilt it.  I have the back pieces prepped and ready for an indigo dye session – hopefully soon.

She Was Loved 3.  I like this one too.  It’s next in line to be quilted.  The first picture doesn’t show the completed top – only the background fabric.  This tryptic might need to find a place on the wall somewhere in our home.  I really like it.  It feels like art to me.

Ruby May.  Ahhhh, Miss Ruby May.  Liberty fabrics appliqued on linen.  Embroidered motifs with Cottage Garden threads.  It really is a quilt that wanted to be hand quilted – but hands are hurting and Sweetie was calling.  I started doodle FMQing this one a few days ago.  I’ve always wanted to be able to doodle with quilting but have let fear of sucking get in the way.  Well, I finally dove into the pool of doodling.  And on a fabric where everything shows.  It’s turning out ok.  I’m probably close to ‘over quilting’ it – but that’s the way it goes.

Houses, houses, houses by Yoko Saito.  I love Yoko Saito’s work.  And I’ve always been drawn to this pattern of hers.  Not sure where I’m going with it but I enjoy the freeform cutting and applique.  The blocks are 5×6″.  At one point, I thought about doing a couple quilted pieces to recover Mr. W’s reading chair.  I’m using the same color palette for this one and Long Time Gone so I could combine them for that purpose.

I think that is the extent of my quilting UFOs.  TIme to sit in front of the fire and keep warm before deciding which one to work on today.

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April this -n- that

Here’s what I’ve been working on:

Bro’s and Sista’s (Brother’s and Sister’s from the book Kindred Spirits (Yellow Creek Quilt Designs) – It’s ready to hand quilt.  It’s sitting in the tv room waiting for me.  It’s ALMOST cool enough in the evenings to sit with this BAQ on my lap.  I’ll be using Big Stitch technique with size 12 Finca perle cotton thread.  Circles.  Freeform circles.  Last night while catching up on my blogs, I ran across the idea from Tim Latimer Quilts.  Time to start forming a callous on my naughty finger again.  This is a King Size so I’m guessing it will take me all winter.

Mr. W’s favorite reading chair has sprung a leak so I’m thinking to make a slipcover for it from an extra quilt.

Below are the blocks I have so far for The Splendid Sampler quilt by Jane Davidson & Pat Sloan.  They are 6.5 inch blocks.  Two per week for a year.  Did I mention **free**?  I’m using batiks from my scrap bag.

Below is my version of The Circle Games by Jen Kingwell.  Two borders finished (appliqué circles) two to go.  I’m really enjoying the appliqué work.  Think I need to find another appliqué project once this one is finished.  I’m tempted to start on the Quilty 365 project – or perhaps my version of it.

Next we have my next 2 projects from Sherri Lynn Wood‘s book on Improv quilting.  The first one is called Rhythmic Grid and the second one Patchwork Doodle.  They are both in the preliminary stages on the design wall.

And finally, we have my version of Sue Spargo‘s Magnolia.  Again, two borders finished, two to go.  This quilt is such a RIOT of color but I’m really liking it.  I am enjoying learning new embroidery stitches from Sue’s book Creative Stitching.  I’ve also been drooling while looking at her book Stitches to Savor – an amazing coffee table book of her work.

 

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Progress on Magnolia

I don’t think I’ve posted much (if anything) about Magnolia.  It’s a pattern by Sue Spargo.  I’m using wool that I dyed using Dharma acid dyes.  The top picture is my version.  The 2nd picture is the quilt from her book.  

I’m whip stitching the wool onto the background with the Aurifil Italian threads (Lana wool) that was my prize from Primitive Quilts & Projects.  The thread is so lovely to work with.  It blends into the wool pieces beautifully.  And, with 48 different colors – I’m spoiled for choice.  (Thanks again Primitive Quilts & Projects for choosing me as the 2nd place winner in the Primitive Quilt Exhibit 2015 original design category.  Deadline for 2016 submission is May if you’re interested.)

I wasn’t crazy about the house in the centre of Sue’s version so I did a wonky house using an image I found on Google as my inspiration (see below).  The picture was posted on this BLOG and attributed to Tonye Belinda Phillips.   I’ve never heard of her before but you can bet I’ll be stalking her blog to learn more about her!  I like her style – totally.

I nearly have all the wool appliqué done on the centre and the first border.  Next steps 1) embellish with thread and maybe beads and 2) dye wool for the next border.  I’m thinking to go with the neon/lime green.  I have about 8 plaid wool skirts to deconstruct and then dye.  I want to vary the color of the fabrics slightly so plan to add a smidgen or two of blue and yellow to the basic green dye and see what happens (thanks Mr. W for the suggestion).

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