Today's project was to quilt this small piece, "Orange Segments." It is a variation of a new Here2There pattern designed by Amy. I love working with this pattern and exploring how the use of color can change the feel and look of the block. I love that it looks complex, but goes together easily.
Time to work on my projects is fit in where I can around the busy schedule with the grandboys. Today I had a few hours alone, so I worked on my next piece which is due on the 15th. I spent days finding my voice in the prompt, and then a scramble to pull fabrics and seam the pieced parts. I cut out big flowers, first heaping them as a bouquet at the bottom, and then finding a balance as a chunky border on that great Kokka green background. I will move this and adjust that, add something new, change a line and add feathers. This is the beginning of it's 'becoming'....
This is the back of the quilt I'm quilting now. Starburst is a collaborative challenge we worked on in a round robin between us. I will post the finished quilt in a few days.
Another stunning collaboration! I have finished quilting the center squares and frames, and now I'm ready to do the star points. Then there is a border of pieced 3" blocks...some are tiny pieced stars, some are floating squares...it will be a beautiful wall hanging when finished, and just in time for the home studio show and sale in a few weeks.
Our latest collaboration and next pattern is under the machine being quilted, as new ideas are swirling for the next project. This one gave me moments of grief when I switched to metallic thread in the outside border...I broke 5 needles in 15 inches of stitching...and eventually figured out that if I slowed down to a snail's pace and took the curves of the loops slowly, the machine (and I) was happier.
A block made from "A's Triangles" H2T Pattern.
I spent the day sharing two of our patterns with eight ladies at a Camano Island Quilt Guild Workshop. Each quilter choose one pattern and made a block or two or half dozen in her colors. The time flew as we shared, talked, measured, cut, made decisions, sewed, ate, and laughed. Yes, we ate. Thank you Lana for the best homemade chicken noodle soup I've ever tasted. And thank you everyone for the smiles while you played very hard.
These two CIQ participants made their "Italian Fields" blocks in their favorite colors.
Three more colorways using "Italian Fields."
I dropped in on Judy yesterday. The first thing I did was check out her pin holder over on her longarm quilting machine. It is exciting, isn't it? There are pins here from the quilts of Kaffe Fassett and Freddy Moran, two of my favorite quilters. This bowl is magnetic and sits on one of the braces of her machine...it is about 6" in diameter. Judy said she bought hers at an auto supply store...I think I have to have one.
There is always inspiration in Judy's studio..she was considering what color of thread to use on a quilt...
There were quilts on her design wall. This one is her friend Dana's work....
This is Judy's...
And this is me quilting on a current project...
Amy and I send a lot of stuff back and forth through the mail. On its way south is a box with bits and pieces of projects we are working on. One baggie in that big box has these two jelly rolls. If you visit fabric stores, you are familiar with jelly rolls. These are my jelly rolls. The mostly black and white one is a collection of 2" strips I cut from fabrics we are working with, and the orange one is a collection of 30 pieced strips I made which will be joined with Amy's strips to become a beautiful quilted piece.
When this quilt top arrived in the mail from Amy, I knew it would be fun to quilt. This is just a peek at the palette Amy used, one of our favorites. It is ready now to have the binding stitched on.
The machine is my industrial strength Juki 98E...the Janome is in for much needed service. If you have ever sewn with the Juki, you know that it is the race car of sewing machines...It takes my undivided concentration to keep the path of the quilting line ahead of the needle. The automatic thread cutter on the foot pedal is the best!
After two weeks away on vacation, I couldn't wait to get back in my studio. This quilt makes me smile. The sweet bird sketches from our journals are framed in lush greens and blues...and the quilting lines add a bit of whimsy and texture to the pieces. My Janome 6600 is being serviced. So I'm using my industrial strength Juki 98E...it is so fast...using it is like playing chess...I have to think two or three moves ahead of the needle...But I love how it moves on the fabric. And, that foot pedal thread cutter is amazing...
Amy and Opal are two artists living in different states on the west coast who have teamed up to create fiber art together. Their journey and process is captured here.
