Excerpt from Improv Patchwork: Dynamic Quilts Made with Line and Shape by Maria Shell. As a maker, you understand that there is inherent good in the act of making. You know that making things makes you feel good about yourself and the world. There are three parts to this making—the head, the heart, and the hands. Strive to cultivate all three parts of your maker self. With your head, you learn new ideas—thinking through what you are doing and learning from your mistakes. You manifest those ideas in the form of the quilt. Boulevard by Maria Shell. Photo by Chris Arend. Treasure Map by Maria Shell. Photo by Chris Arend. With your heart, you bring the essence of yourself into your work. Without the heart, there is no love. Your heart holds your deepest desires and meanings. You must actively strive to understand what those things are. Good Vibrations by Maria Shell. Photo by Chris Arend. Road Runner by Maria Shell. Meanwhile, the head needs to listen to the heart. This can sometimes be hard to do. The heart does not always speak in words. You must train your head to listen carefully to your heart, so that they can work together. The hands are the craft of what you do; take pride in beautifully executing your work through cutting, stitching, and pressing. A view of Maria’s studio. Photo by Paul Scannel. Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Liz Heywood - Southampton Strippy I saw this quilt on Pinterest, where I spend the first seven or eight hours of my precious day, drooling. Something about this quilt got to me. No way would I have thought to use that main colored fabric in any of my work, but here it works so well. Brown, gray, dark blue with shots of yellow,, gold and orange. Those inserted rectangles are just great to break up the space. So I am trotting up to the studio and pulling out the most unlikely fabric to try this out. Stay tuned. +++++++ Here's my version. 22x33" Hand dyed cottons, fused and at this point unquilted. I was happy to use fabrics that have been long sitting in the stash, neutrals, both lights and darks, combining them with a few brights.
35" X 22 3/4" Pieced, Rawedged Fused Applique, Yarn embellishments, Machine Quilted FOR SALE
Welcome to finish it up Friday! I finished my quilt! This one took me on quite a journey. It feels so personal and like such a milestone f...
It is with great relief that I can at last say this quilt, due to be entered into the UK Festival of Quilts, is finished. It’s the first time I’ve made a quilt that will be judge…
a gallery curated by oh-cherry-sew
Do you feel it? The winds are changing. A new season is almost upon us. On my last evening walk I watched a flock of birds moving gracefully across the grey sky. Have you always wanted to make a flying geese quilt? I’m feeling geesey.
Yup, that's Freddy Moran! She came to the Seattle area and taught a weekend workshop at Aunt Mary's Quilt Shop. Here she is sh...
I always knew that I wanted to attach straight borders to my la passacaglia. My thinking was that it frames the design, and makes you feel that you are getting a sneak peek at a bigger overall pattern. Fortunately I stumbled across the perfect border fabric back in September. My quilt was already 50% complete by then, but the fabric worked with it so well. The border fabric is Effervescence by Amelia Caruso for Robert Kaufman. I chose the Caribbean colour way, and I purchased it from The King's Fancy on etsy USA. They stock all the colour ways. As I was assembling my rosettes I drew a cutoff line on my pattern. I wanted my quilt to be slightly larger than the one in the pattern to show more complete rosettes. Mine ended up at 54" x 64" before I added the borders. I was careful not to sew beyond that line because I didn't waste time attaching stars which were then going to be cut off. As a result my quilt had fairly straight edges. The sides are harder to align than the top and bottom, but I kept to my plan. Checking the straight edge with a tape measure You can see how my sides are reasonably straight A number of people have asked me to document how I attached my borders, so here is a step by step guide. Please bear in mind that this is just what worked for me. 1. I wanted a skinny blue strip before my fancy border, so I joined the blue strips together first, and then sewed them to the fancy border. That meant I only had to attach one big border to the quilt. I cut my first border, leaving quite a bit over overhang because I wanted to miter the corners. There are a variety of methods for mitering corners, but my quilt was quite stretchy so I didn't want to cut the 45 degree angle until I had the borders on. It would be terrible if the border was too short. 2. I left the very edge row of paper pieces in the quilt while I attached the borders. I pinned the border along the straight edge I had drawn on my pattern. I used a walking foot and sewed right through the paper pieces. The seam line is 1/4" inside the line on the pattern, but that's fine. the paper pieces are still in the edge row of pieces 3. I then checked the border, and once I was happy I trimmed back to a 1/4" seam allowance - right through the paper pieces and all. trimming off the excess with an old rotary cutter 4. I then mitered the corner, which I'm not going to explain here sorry. I suggest you google it until you find a method you are comfortable with. I'm not great at explaining and don't want to put anyone wrong. ready to miter the corners 5. I then removed the paper pieces very carefully. The edge paper pieces had been sewn through, so they had to come out in two parts, and could not be used again. Tweezers helped to get the tiny bits out. And here's the final result. I thought about pattern matching the fabric at the corners, but I've since had it pointed out to me that I couldn't because the pattern is not symmetrical. That makes me feel relieved, because I don't usually like to take the easy way out. Instead I've just tried to make the corner patterns relatively similar so they look good together. You've probably noticed that I haven't really ironed my quilt. It would be impossible to iron all those seam allowances beautifully, and a number of people quote Jinny Beyer as once saying "just iron it flat, don't worry about the seam allowances on English paper pieced quilts". I don't really know whether Jinny said that or not, but it works for me. Some of those pieces have been wrapped around paper pieces for a year, so they hardly even need ironing, though I will give a quick press before I baste it for quilting. The stats: 1. my quilt was 54" x 64" before I added the borders. I made mine slightly larger than the pattern in the book. 2. I purchased 10 yards of the border fabric to get enough of the fancy border to go around my quilt. However, please do not rely on my measurements - you must do your own calculations. 3. I expect it to be approx 72" x 82" once the borders are on. I hope this helps. It's hard to explain all this in writing - it would be much easier face to face. I'm off to tackle three more mitered corners now, and then the hand quilting in the months to come. There's more information about how I made this quilt on the la passacaglia - Millefiori Quilts tab at the top of the page (including links to all my previous posts).
Iowa State Fair -- Quilt Entries
by Misik Kim After working, many pieces are left. I did not throw away them. Put these pieces in the box and were s...
On Jan. 11th, my brother's first solo show opened at the LaConner Quilt Museum... 43 beaded quilts.... 10 years of work by Thom Atkins!!!! To say I am one totally proud sister is a drastic understatement. I took a few pictures with my little point-and-shoot camera. And then the battery went dead. No spare. Good news, however... my beadiferous-fiber friend, Sweetpea's Path, also attended the opening and took pictures with a more advanced camera. She posted them here. You can also visit Thom's website to see more. Better yet, get thee to LaConner. There is NO WAY that any camera can capture the awesome totality of these quilts, beautifully displayed on the museum walls, full size, up close and personal. The town is a fun, artsy town, with nice places to stay, eat and see. There's even a new quilt shop that just opened. The show closes on March 25, 2012. The above pictures are detail shots of Monterey Seascapes. Be sure to click to enlarge these images so you can see all the beady details. You can see the whole seascape on Thom's website, on this page. I think the way he used beads to construct the various underwater flora is utterly amazing. Most of the quilts in the show are for sale, although the prices aren't posted. There's a price list available in the Museum gift shop on the same floor as Thom's exhibit. I'm so pleased for him... two of the quilts, including the one shown above and below, Australian Dreamscape, sold during the artist's reception. Here is a picture of Thom working on Australian Dreamscape in my studio during a visit in July, 2004. And here's where you can read more about it. I bet you'll all be glad to know Thom's book on quilting with beads will be out this fall. I'll post a notice when it is available. The quilt below, which is one of my favorites, is on the cover. The title of the quilt is Tenuous Membrane and it's 25.5 x 43 inches. I love the colors and the harmony of lines! Here's a detail shot. It's not on his website yet. Another of my favorites is My Father's Shadow. Our biological father died in an automobile crash when Thom was 3 1/2 and I was just turning 5. I never thought of depicting our father in this way, but when I saw Thom's quilt I got a massive lump in my throat and a dense coating of goose bumps. It hit home, big time. Here's a detail. The grass is entirely beaded. Here's the page for it. They're all favorites... but one more for you, just a detail... Serenity lives up to it's name... lichen-covered rocks, with moss-covered bases, sit serenely in perfectly raked sand. This picture is just a detail, a teaser, because the whole is not yet on Thom's website. You'll have to go to LaConner to see it.
Welcome to finish it up Friday! I finished my quilt! This one took me on quite a journey. It feels so personal and like such a milestone f...
Okan Arts Quilting & Textile Tours to Japan are open for booking. To learn more +click here By Patricia Belyea TOKYO JP Three days after a traffic-stopping snowstorm hit the most populated city in the world, the Tokyo Quilt Festival opened its doors. Here are oodles of photos from Opening Day so you can vicariously tour the show floor. NOTE: This is only a thimbleful of the quilts exhibited! Most of the credits were listed in Japanese. I have included the artists’ names when they were available in English. original design category—a sampling original design category—the winners Detail: First Place—Jim Hay Detail: 2nd Place—Emiko Yakushiji Detail: 3rd Place— Hiroko Ouchi wa (the essence of Japan) category—a sampling wa category—the winners First Place—Yasuko Anai Second Place—Momoe Kashihara Third Place—Tamiko Mawatari traditional design category—the winners First Place— Rieko Hasegawa Second Place—Emiko Kobayashi Third Place—Kyo Saito invitational category—a sampling Quilt Artist: Sachiko Yoshida Quilt Artist: Mitsuyo Akita Quilt Artist: Keiko Miyauchi Quilt Artist: Toshie Shinohara Quilt Artist: Etsuko Ishitobi show winners Friendship Award—Chikako Akashi Hand Making Award—Toshiko Imai Japan Quilt Grand Prix Second Place—Chiharu Katsuragawa Japan Quilt Grand Prix First Place—Masako Sanada To take a look at the SPECIAL EXHIBITS at 2018 Tokyo Quilt Festival +click here To examine UP-CLOSE PHOTOS of the quilts at 2018 Tokyo Quilt Festival +click here # # # # # ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan. FOLLOW OKAN ARTS ON INSTAGRAM @okanarts
Design wall Monday again. My design wall has been busy since the Texas quilt came down! First up is the Fibonacci quilt for do. Good Stitches. Link to my tutorial is here. I broke my own cardinal rule of bees with this quilt: never ask for a block where it will be critical that seams line up in the end! Sure enough, they were all different sizes, but with a little fiddling I made it work. And after quilting the fiddling won't be noticeable. After getting the Fibonacci top sewn together I had to quickly put together this one for a friend of a friend diagnosed with leukemia. Seems like he went from fine to dangerously ill in just a day :( Scary stuff. The pattern is The Anna Quilt by Jibberish Designs. I put the whole thing together in about 4 hours! he cute fireman fabrics come from the line "All Fired Up" by Dan Morris for RJR Fabrics. Wilson says "Dignity is an illusion." So that's what I've been up to. The fireman quilt is basted and I am hoping to get it quilted Tuesday. Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.
Some quilts shown here are for sale by the artists. I am not selling quilts and receive no financial gain from this blog. Very few of these quilts were created by me. If you choose to reblog, please do not remove the credits. Pastiche & Serendipty Art Blog is found at jbe200.tumblr.com Enjoy!
After spending way more hours on this than I expected, the top of My Small World is now finished. I really feel that I've sewn every piece of this quilt at least twice. It certainly was a challenging quilt to make, and I wouldn't recommend it for beginners. However, I'm really pleased with how my top has turned out, and the effort all seems worth it now. I tried to use more of the types of fabrics Jen Kingwell used in the original version, but I just kept choosing bright fabrics over the more muted fabrics. The process taught me even more about myself and my love of all things bright. If you'd like to make this quilt, I suggest three things: 1. buy the pattern which is now available directly from Amitie Textiles in Melbourne, Australia 2. ask Sew What Sherlock for a copy of the FREE paper piecing templates - they really make all the difference 3. read all the tips and hints posted during the Quilt a Long by Kerry at Very Kerry Berry blog. Of course you don't have to do everything they recommend, but it's always useful to know what others have done. If you're struggling with Part 5, you're not alone. I fiddled around with the rainbow and sunburst for about a week. I used English Paper Piecing, but I then had trouble getting them to sit straight on the quilt. Anyway, they are on now and I won't dwell on the days of fluffing around it took. I love all that green in the farm scene. If you want to see more close ups you can see my previous post here. I'm going to hand quilt it myself with Perle 8 and Aurifil 12wt because I want to accentuate certain aspects of this quilt (and because I need a bit of hand quilting practice before I start on my la passacaglia). For those who asked - Yes, I did show my la passacaglia quilt to Kaffe and Brandon. They said very nice things about it, and noticed all the Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics in it. They mainly commented the use of colour and pattern, but also asked about the English Paper Piecing. Here's very grainy photo of Brandon Malby looking at it. Thank you Sue for the photo. Also - I've received quite a few comments from no reply bloggers lately. If I haven't replied to you, it will be because you're a no reply blogger. I suggest you google how to fix that, or include you email address in the text of you comment so I can get back to you if you're asking a question. Thanks.
Choose an allover dark print for the border and assorted fall tones for the strips for a bed quilt with an autumn feel. Finish this project fast when you machine-quilt a jumbo stipple pattern. The border and background print is from the Ravenwood collection by Jo Morton for Andover Fabrics; the center strip fabrics are from a variety of Jo Morton collections.
I feel like this post should alternatively be called OMG, I finished this freaking beast, let's have a party! Better yet, a fiesta. (Beca...
Welcome to finish it up Friday! I finished my quilt! This one took me on quite a journey. It feels so personal and like such a milestone f...
Kaffe Fassett class at Amitie Feb 2011
Lately, I feel like I have zero focus or direction in my sewing. I have lots of quilts in the works but I just can't seem to make a lot of progress on any specific project. But there is one quilt top that has been finally moved to the "ready to be quilted" pile. And that is my colorwash scrap vortex quilt. Woo Hoo! What was the secret on this one? It was my leader/ender project as I was working on all those other things. So it just quietly continued to grow and evolve as I wasn't paying attention. Lots of tiny blue and purple scraps went into this one. It is hard to believe that almost all of the fabrics are scraps from previous quilts. I think it measures about 50 x 60". I will have to see what I have for a backing because I am sure I have a couple choices for this one. I am hoping to dig around and uncover an oldie that I can finally find a home for. Now, back to my "real" projects! Follow Me on Bloglovin' Follow me thru Email Follow me on Feedly Linking Up: My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread) Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!) TGIFF (Thank Goodness it is Friday Finish) Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or not Friday) Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish it up Friday)
After a couple of weeks of being able to do nothing but hexies I desperately wanted to start a new quilt. I do have a large number of quilts to finish but I just had to do something new to blow ou…
My kids are on spring break this week. The fantastic thing is that it actually feels like spring! Usually we seem to get a snowstorm during this week, so we've really been enjoying the warmth! All the while, I'm still trying to get things done. About the time I find my groove, the week will be over. Yesterday we had a play date with some friends. The play date involved sewing machines for the mamas, which is the best kind of play date! I made this log cabin block. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I should turn it into a pillow or go for a full sized baby quilt? I waffle back and forth. Today I'm trying to tie up loose ends for the fab little quilt swap. I have the mini quilt almost done. I just need to add the label. It measures 21" x 24". About. :) I made a little wonky cross pin cushion to go in with it. I LOVE it! I'm not going to have any cohesive color scheme going on, but I think it's ok. (I can over think ANYthing!!! It drives me crazy!) I also made a quilt block for a community quilt. The color scheme requested was yellow, gray and aqua/turquoise. I really like this color combo...I could have kept going! This one was made and mailed in the same day. New record! So, lots of little patchwork stuff going on here. Just like I like it! I'm being highly ambitious and hoping to get two quilt tops made during the rest of the week. Are you laughing with me yet??? ;) One more thing....over on the Stash Books blog they are giving away a copy of Sunday Morning Quilts! There is a fun little background story about the book, too. You may want to check it out! Hope you are having a terrific Tuesday!
A hugely popular quilt show held every January at Tokyo Dome. For more information visit www.lemfugitt.com.
I woke up this weekend and was overwhelmed by a feeling of achievement. Suddenly, after graduation and so many other big things this year it felt as though I might be catching up with my own life. I am known...
The latest issue of Make Modern is now out! Inside issue 26, you can find my regular Maths & Methods article, this time talking all about fat quarters, what you can squeeze from them, and how we all love a fat quarter friendly quilt pattern, like Geode. You can also find an interview with me all […]
Today we are looking at my Revive Bundle in a Radiate Quilt! The Radiate Quilt pattern is available now in my shop! And the Revive Bundle is here and shipping to stores! I really wanted to show the Revive Bundle in a larger size quilt so we decided on a twin size Radiate! We used 20 FQs and then 1/2 yard of the Caroli
This is an unusual case of my *loving* sections of a quilt but being a bit lukewarm about the finished quilt.
