graphic quilt

I just finished this quilt. It started by doodling on graph paper. I love the high contrast with the black & white fabric. It would make a great quilt for a beginner to make as it is really just a fence rail pattern. I love the combination of black & brown. This is more a golden brown. The complex pattern in the border fabric adds another element of interest.
The binding (I think IMHO!)works as a final frame matching the inner thin border. simple but effective. Machine quilting is still a big challenge for me. I feel like I'm starting over every time I attempt it. practice. practice.

needlefelting

I like needlefelted work but prefer if all those little holes are not visible. Beryl Taylor always writes clear, concise instructions for projects that have such visual interest & depth. Her latest is in the Jan/Feb 08 issue of cloth, paper, scissors.
I had started working on my felt piece for Carmi's swap with a plaid mohair scarf. I bought the scarf at the Toronto Clothing Show but found it too itchy to wear. It was felted onto wool felt and felted to a piece of cotton velvet. circle of wooly yarn punched in & painted fusible ironed on.this is what it looked like at that point.
many more layers- copper & blue foil, punched sheer from an old skirt, a sprinkle of bo-nash & a layer of orange chiffon. then machine stitched, sliced & diced & the edges finished with yarn.
when I was cutting it up I realized it looks like rust or patinaed copper. Is patina a verb or a noun? both?
as a bonus the back looks great too.
this is the front scanned

and the back

Finished with it

This is a quilt top I started years, many years ago as a gift. It is or I should say WAS my guilt piece. It is no longer appropriate for its original intent. I have finished with it - I finished the top to the easiest size and all the extra blocks, strips, every scrap of fabric from the project is now gone. I donated it to our guild for someone to quilt & then it will be donated.

more finished

I started this in 1999 after a week camping in Algonquin park with DDs. I read Larry McMurtry's Comanche Moon. so I'm calling it Comanche in Algoquin. cheap striped stuff from F-land & upholstery fabric with butterflies. I still love diamonds and may do something on a smaller scale like this one in Mark Lipinski's magazine.

work fast

I'm trying to work faster. taking less time to mull over decisions. also reduces the chances of abandoning a project in favour of the next great thing!! This was from a book called Quilted Projects from scraps and stash
spend a good portion of the time I had looking for that darn box with the watercolour squares. Can't remember if it was taken away in the great purge! Into the scrap heap, cut 2" squares. wanted to use foil adhesive for the swirls but it takes too long to dry. used 3D fabric paint.

another one finished

in cleaning up my studio specifically UFO's using the mantra- finish with it or finish it - this one was a keeper. The block had the tree and leaves done, from eons ago, I don't even remember where I was living when I started this!! added a cute little bird, wavy border, binding & it is FINISHED!!

fast & finished

I'm trying to work freer, faster & funkier. No measuring, no matching just fun. Start with a favourite fabric - Kaffe Fassett - cut out a hole, back with water soluble stablizer & stitch back & form, change threads. as long as all the threads intersect they will still be there when the stablizer is washed away.
PS how do you spell stablizer? stabalizer?

gathering swirls

a small page (6x6")
the gathering swirls represent our habits, beliefs both negative and positive that make us who we are.
wonderful little bits of foil under tulle & machine stitched

storm at sea wallhanging

This is a wallhanging I made at a workshop years ago with a quilter from Hamilton I think. Its been that long. Traditional pattern but unusual method putting it together. again memory is sketchy on the details. The leaf fabric was bought in Florida and reminds me of cabbage leaves. Free motion quilting - lots of it.

wildfire

This is a wallhanging that I finished this weekend. I took a class through Quilt University with Linda Schmidt called Elements in Fabric. It was a super class. I worked on water & fire. It includes lots of things I've never used before- Angelina, Tinzl, tulle, foil all to give wonderful light & heat of the wildfire.
The branches in the foreground have lots of thread painting & my new free motion quilting skills got a workout!

paper inchies

I've finished my paper floral inchies for a swap. I started with a napkin in my favourite green colour with gold damask highlights. I made this more durable by adding a layer of cheesecloth with glue using Beryl Taylor's instructions in
Mixed Media Explorations.
added a backing then cut it into inch square pieces. the edges are done with a gold krylon pen. silk flower petal glued down and the centre done with micro beads in gold & copper. 40 of these will be off in the mail. It will be fun to see what I get back.

fabric inchies continued

what a great surprise. My fabric inchies were selected on a group to be the homepage picture for a week. Its a fun, creative group that holds an Artfest every weekend. You enter a picture and the previous weeks winner selects from the current weeks entries. cool eh? Anita picked my fuzzy little pieces. Anita's piece selected for Artfest was a journal quilt of one of her many animals -Mona. Her blog has lots of photos from her farm. I still think it is the best place to raise a family.

fabric inchies

I need to make some inchies to trade--some in paper & some in fabric. I don't mind making them because you can start with 1 larger piece then cut it up. This is the same wool and yarns I used for the charms. The free motion embroidery is granite stitch. It is easy to do, effective for texture. I can see why it is so popular.
I left the little tails of yarn used to trim the inchies. I quite like them that way. I've made 28 of these little guys. now off to make the paper ones.

another tuck

This is the third high tech tuck I've finished. I think this is my favourite especially in vertical rather than landscape orientation. Reminds me of a Carribean holiday!

I think the next tuck I make will be on a different scale. I have a fabric with large swirls of orange & greens that I want to use. After that I am all tuckered out!

its a charming life

all thing small have taken over the swapping community. Inchies from paper and fabric charms. I need to get mine out soon. used the new toy to felt some yarns & wool roving to felt.Then free motion machine embroidery with variegated thread. The leaves are from felted organza then ironed to flatten.
The charms are about 1" wide & 1 &1/2" long with an eyelet. theme was Mother Nature & colours were blue,greens &sepia.

another one bites the dust

yup another UFO is done! I can't get over how fast machine quilting goes once the right needle, thread, tension etc is sorted out!
A little wallhanging from a pattern by Mary Sorensen.

another high teck tucks

a second sample to show the guild next week. The first one is here. I'll be teaching this twice, once at a quilt shop and then to the guild. The border fabric is slightly different than the tuck fabric- I used inadventently used it for something else. The bind is the same as the background. THe binding is done completely by machine but I think I may go back to a hand sewn binding - give the best finished binding IMHO.

finished in 1 day!!

A record has been set. I started and FINISHED this wallhanging TODAY. (insert roaring crowd here)

The turquoise and black are actually 3D tucks that stand out from the background fabric by Paula Nadelstern. The tucks are then folded to form the wave of black across the piece. This is a technique by Caryl Byer Fallert called High Tech Tucks. It was featured in Fons & Porter magazine Sept/Oct 06.

It is sewn onto the batting to prevent any linger UFO labels.

look at me sew!!

Yet another UFO bits the dust. Yup another finished piece, another watercolour. my own design with 11 assorted fish.

another UFO done!!!!

I'm on a roll now. After a wonderful lesson on free motion quilting by M at the guild workshop day, I was ready to tackle a real piece. A strip-pieced watercolour wallhanging made oh at least 10 years ago!
Done, Finished, Finito Yah !!!!
for someone plaqued by UFO's it feels great. I had the big box out and have plans for many more UFO's to become WIP and ultimately finished.
what a great start to the year.