Art Quilts

Table Runner

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Table Runner

Moving quickly. I have the background assembled and I can immediately see a problem I want to fix – that dark strip in the bottom left corner has to go! Needs to be lighter. I’m not sure about the second one- I think it may be OK.

The circles are pinned in place for the moment – looking at the photo I can see I want to move them about some more. I’ve also decided the whole thing will be an appliqué work – I’m not going to fight to insert the large circles into the background! So I’m moving along.

Tomorrow I’ll take all the circles off, and reposition them, overlap different ones, underlap others. But first, I need to take that dark strip out!

I also need a piece of buckram to stiffen the runner so it will hold its shape when I hang it horizontally. I’ll pick that up tomorrow, as well.

Circle Quilt #5

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Circle Quilt #5
Quilt Back

I actually started this quilt in the middle of May; I got sewing on it on June 18 (a month ago). I finished it last night (label and hand sewn hidden binding)!

Now I’m ready for the Art Labs show in Parrsboro, Aug 10-30.

I should be able to hang four throw quilts, including this one. I’m calling my contribution to this 2-person exhibit “Circles”.

Circle Quilt #5
Circles On Pink
Drunkard’s Path #5
Planets and Moons

In reserve I have two others:

Skyline #3
Study in Blue / Green

There’s also a narrow wall in the gallery where I may get to hang this small piece

Circles #4

I have time to create one more project – this one potentially will be a table runner, although if it gets hung at all it will be hung horizontally. Approximate dimensions – 45″ x 15″. An assembled background of five 9″ blocks in much lighter grey fabrics than Circles #4, each block with an embedded whole circle finished with appliqué embroidered circles, wherever.

Circles #4 is the only time I have tried embedding an entire circle in a background. I will give it another go just to get better at the technique.

I have until August 5 or so to complete the piece – that should be enough time.

Better get going!

Quilt Top Finished (almost)

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This is the cause of my problem! I finally figured it out yesterday.

My circles aren’t quite circular! I thought it was because I’d cut my quarter circles out a bit large then trimmed them smaller. I wondered whether my sewing was accurate enough. Neither of those.

My problem stemmed from the template I was using to cut the quarter circles! You can see the radius at the edge is 6 1/2″ from the corner to the circumference. But look at the centre radius – from corner to circumference is something like 3/16″ too short! So every quarter circle I cut, was flattened at the mid-point from the seams, and making the “pointy” bits happen at the seams.

I partially solved the problem by trimming the end points 1/1 6″ which helped round out the shape, but if you look closely at the finished quilt top you can still see the irregularity.

To compensate for my not-quite-round circles, I decided to appliqué smaller circles at strategic points – some are placed to eliminate the “pointy” bit at the seams, others to pull your eye from the flattened circumference.

I collected batik bits from a couple of scrap boxes, a range of light beige with a bit of contrast. These smaller circles are obvious but not blatant. I think this will rescue the quilt top. These small circles are pinned in place for now while I think about placement for the next couple of days. I will fuse them in place when I’m satisfied with the placement. I will also edge stitch them with decorative stitches and rayon thread.

If I didn’t mention the lack of circularity, you might not have noticed it, but I think you’d still feel a niggling something about those circles. This way, there’s more to look at and the eye isn’t drawn to that abnormality quite so much.

Because I’d cut all the pieces before I began sewing, the only real solution would have been to discard these pieces in a scrap box to reshape for a different quilt, and start from scratch with a more accurate quarter circle template. I had used all I had of some of these fabrics, I’d have had to redevelop the colour scheme; I’d have needed to order more crackle for background, come up with another stripe background fabric.

Not happening.

I am going to reshape the quarter circles on the back. I can get away with that, because I haven’t cut any “L” shaped pieces yet. So whatever template I find in my collection (or one I will make from template plastic) I will use to reshape the “pie” pieces and cut the “L” pieces. The sewing will be much easier than it was making these blocks!

Finally Underway Again

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I got accepted to show at Art Labs in Parrsboro from August 10-30 this summer. I’m sharing gallery space with William Forrestall – an interesting juxtaposition. My textiles with his drawing/painting.

That means I should have wall space for four throw size quilts, possibly one small wall piece. I’ve decided to focus on “Circles” – I have three circle quilts in my stash and enough time to create a fourth.

I started working on this new quilt three/four weeks ago – I came across a photo of minimalist square quilt of overlapping circles against a light background with a lot of open background. The image appealed to me so I drafted a rectangular version on graph paper, pulled a bunch of contrasting batik fabrics from my stash, numbered them, then distributed the numbers on the circle elements in my diagram. I counted the number of solid blocks, the number of drunkard’s path blocks using the background, the number of drunkard’s path where two circles/fabrics overlapped.

Then I started cutting the pieces I needed – a 9 block x 11 block quilt top (5 1/2″ finished blocks) – 99 blocks in all. I still had background fabric to cut when I went to Toronto for a week. I got back last Thursday – finished the cutting and over the weekend I began laying out a pair of rows carefully following my diagram!

Yesterday, I started sewing, today, I finished the 22nd block – I now have two rows – those with grey diamonds on white. I had decided to have a stripe in my background – the remaining background will be constructed using a grey/white crackle print which blends with the grey diamonds in tone so it will take a careful observer to notice the stripe in the background. I don’t think it’s going to stand out.

When I finished the 22 blocks in the stripe, I laid out the blocks on either side – they’re now ready for stitching.

I discovered I was having a small problem with my circles not being precisely circular! I began with the four blocks at the bottom of the photo. I’m leaving them alone for now, but I have a hunch I will take them apart and reconstruct them – I figured out how to piece the drunkard’s path more precisely as I went along.

I was surprised by the lack of circularity – it’s not a problem I’ve encountered before but it happened this time because I’d cut my pieces large, intending to trim them, and that affected the curvature of the seam. I lost the full arc where the four blocks would have joined after I trimmed the finished blocks. As I continued, I trimmed the pieces before stitching them together, consequently my later blocks today are more obviously circular. That purple “circle” at the bottom is definitely going to bother me – I have enough fabric to redo those 4 blocks.

With four columns stitched I will have 4/9ths of the quilt top completed. I’m anticipating it will take about a week to assemble the 99 blocks I need for the quilt top.

I haven’t even begun thinking about a back yet.

An Update

I shared a photo of a gorgeous red kantha bedspread several weeks ago and described what I was hoping to make with it.

Last week a friend came for lunch and we were looking at the various projects I had sitting around.

I had the kantha laid out and she fell in love with it!

I gave it to her – she’ll use it herself or pass it on to her daughter!

That coat/jacket I was going to make – crossed off my list!

Thank goodness! It was beginning to feel like an albatross. I’m happy to be rid of it.

“Bubbles/Balloons ?” Finished

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I didn’t think I’d ever manage to finish this piece! It seems like I started it forever ago – I began on Jan 16 with a couple of inset circle blocks. Three days later I had the layout pretty much established and I couldn’t go any further (trump was sworn into office the day after that, and all hell broke loose…).

I picked it up two weeks ago and edge stitched the appliqué circles and then was stuck again – should I also use decorative stitching around the large inset circles or leave them unembellished?

Three days ago I decided to try some embellishment – sat at the machine and immediately broke the needle (!), then didn’t like the particular stitching I started. It took close to an hour to remove what I’d done.

The next day I tried again and managed to embroider the large, lower-left circle, both inside and outside; stuck again. Yesterday, I was determined to get the rest done! I actually did.

Today, I added the binding. I’d chosen the black fabric with the small circles to tie the whole together and hoping a dark binding would lighten the piece (not as much as I’d hoped it would).

Now I’m looking for a name for it – something that highlights the bright circular shapes. Any ideas?

Bubbles

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Bubbles!

This is where I am at the moment – 21 1/2″ x 18″. There are four insert circles, the smaller circles are fused raw edge appliqué. Although I’ve ended up with an even number, the distribution and colour feel comfortable.

I’ve been auditioning fabric for a thin inner border and a wide outer border – no luck. Everything I’ve tried – light fabrics, medium fabrics, dark fabrics – all look wrong. I think the piece is telling me to end here and finish with a facing, not a binding!

The next question is whether to quilt or not. I need to do decorative stitching around the appliqué (and possibly outside the inset circles, as well) – I have to wait until I’ve finished the stitching the appliqué to decide.

The point of this effort was to expand my technical know-how – to see how difficult it was to do an insert circle. Definitely not a beginner skill. After five circles, I’ve decided the sewing works best for me with the background on top, just four pins to hold the 3/6/9/12 positions, sewing slowly, one small section at a time, so I can align the opposing curves as closely as possible and still maintain a 1/4″ seam.

I’m not giving up on this idea – I still want to make a table runner and a quilt using it – it’s a matter of deciding whether to use pieced backgrounds, as I’ve done here, or a subtle print/batik throughout. I have to audition some fabric to see what might work.

Inset and Appliqué?

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Bubbles?

Four inset circles with appliqué? This is all an experiment. First, the blue background doesn’t add anything – it shows I want to stay with greys, lights and blacks. That block also shows I don’t want pieced circles – I want to use the large prints from my Kaffe Fasset collection – I like the statement each circle makes.

Second, three of those inset circles are not too bad, one is kind of wonky – an appliqué over the wobble would hide the imperfection. Also the piece is stark without the smaller circles – I can’t see trying to inset them, much too difficult – the bigger the circle the easier to inset, I’m finding. I’ve also been moving the circle around in the square, rather than place it at the centre. Will continue doing that.

I also wanted to sew four blocks together and inset a circle at the intersection – there aren’t enough blocks here to try that. I may have to add another couple, making the piece longer, to see whether I can add an inset circle at the intersection. This has become an experiment going in directions I wasn’t expecting.

I have enough here for a fibre wall piece. I want to replace the blue and see what I have . I haven’t nailed down precisely what I want this to be – stopping at this point and finishing the small piece will let me start over.

I’ve been scouring Pinterest for “circle” and seen a lot of very interesting ideas for quilts made with both insert and appliqué circles. I need to review the images I’ve collected and rethink where I’m trying to go with this project.

Inset Circles

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I decided to try inset circles – an extension of Drunkard’s Path (a square with a contrasting pie-shaped piece in one corner. With an inset circle you cut a background square then remove a circle; cut a contrasting circle 1/2″ larger in diameter, then carefully line up a few markings and inset by sewing a 1/4″ seam. When pressed you get a pretty good inset circle. (These two blocks are 9 1/2″.)

I’m playing around with this idea in a number of ways. In the first block (left) I created a background from two pieces of fabric, cut the circle from the centre of the block, then inset a strong contrasting circle. In the second block (right) I offset the piecing seam for the background as well as the centre of the circle (which in this case was the offcut from the first block!).

I’m playing around with scraps – just to see what happens. I had a better idea of how to manage the fabric when sewing the second block. I need more practice. I want to cut my circle insets from pieced fabric assembled using curved seams. In block #2 the circle was pieced across the diagonal simply because that was how I’d assembled the first block background.

My next experiment will be to piece the background slightly offset, but the make a more intricately pieced fabric for the circle. We’ll see how that goes.

I’m not sure whether I’m working on a quilt or a fibre art piece – I will have a better idea once I’ve made several inset circle blocks!

Recovered

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Recovered Balans Chair

I’ve had the fabric, and a pattern to cut out the seat, hanging around my computer room for close to two months – just couldn’t get around to actually recovering the chair.

Today.

I managed to get it done today. In the end, I used the leftover fabric I had kept in my closet from the last time I recovered it (at least 20 years ago). There was more than enough for the seat and two kneeling pads. I used leftover batting to pad the seat and pads – they’re padded enough to soften them but not so much that it’s puffy.

The whole job – unscrewing the seat and kneeling pads from the frame, removing the staples from the previous covering, serging the fabric raw edges, placing double-sided tape on the seat and kneeling boards, stapling the new cover back in place, and reattaching seat and pads back to the frame – took me about three hours (with a time out for lunch).

This job is crossed off my “to do” list; now on to the next.

I have a floral fibre piece that’s been hanging around for at least 18 months – it needs a ton of thread painting. I barely started when I began the piece up. I’d hoped to have it finished so I could show it at the Craig Gallery – I didn’t get to it. It’s now at the top of the list, along with two other fibre pieces I’ve been wanting to do for a couple of years.

Green Bay
Lighthouse Park

Both pieces are composed of a couple of photos. I’ve set up a mock up to suggest a potential layout of each piece.

In “Fall Day at Green Bay” I intend cropping the rocks on the right and expanding the water between Deb and the rocks a bit. I want the content of the piece to end up around 15″ x 12″; framing will add to the dimensions.

In “Five Islands Lighthouse Park” I want to focus on the five islands which will mean playing with the perspective somewhat. The positioning of the large red Adirondack chairs with Joy and Dave will be determined by how that whole background shapes up. Again I’m aiming for a 15″ x 12″ pieced image, framing outside of that.

I’m still in the walking around and thinking about these two pieces phase; not quite ready to begin pulling fabric from drawers and boxes. In both projects I am going to have to paint white fabric for the sky. I’ll mix acrylic paint, dilute it, and brush it on white cotton/poly (which takes paint better than 100% cotton). I don’t have any in the house – that’s something I have to pick up in the next week.

There are a couple of potential garments also hovering in the back of my mind – I’m resisting them. I feel a need to get more art on the go.

Sold!

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On Sunday I took down the Craig Gallery Exhibit (can’t believe the three weeks went by that fast). I was collecting the tags on each item when I discovered a red dot on one of the quilts – SOLD! That was a surprise. From the start I wasn’t sure about pricing the quilts (and other pieces). Looks like I wasn’t out of the ball park after all.

Not only did I sell a quilt, I sold one of the wall art pieces, as well as two 6×6 floral pieces (one has been sold twice – a friend of my sister Donna wanted the same piece that another person had already bought; I wasn’t able to say “No” to her so I’m creating another; that’s actually three of the 6×6 pieces sold).

All in all, a good outcome for a show of this size, in a location like this. A lot of visitors dropped in, they all spent more time looking at the quilts and other fibre art pieces than usual, and all left with smiles. When I was in the gallery visiting with friends who’d come to see the exhibit, all sorts of people either eavesdropped on what I was explaining, or came over more overtly to join the conversation. Everybody I spoke to was very engaged and interested in how my art was constructed.

I learned from the Exhibit that I’m creating art!

Pieces sold:

SOLD – Craig Gallery
SOLD – Craig Gallery
SOLD (Craig Gallery)
SOLD (Craig Gallery)