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.
I finished two of our quilts within days. That is hard to believe, even for me. There is a show coming soon, next week in fact. And then another show two weeks after that. So these are done just in time. I'll post more information about the shows for those of you who are in the Seattle area.
Starburst is the first quilt shown above. It started as a challenge between us. Each of us made a center piece and passed it over to be added to. This one was started by Amy.
This challenge quilt was started at the same time. Ths is Little Star. Both of these quilted pieces are wall hanging sized.
Late last night I took the last stitch to finish "Wheels." I love to use metallic thread to quilt, and this one was very challenging. I love the overall 'feel' of this quilt. It is playful with lots of movement. I can think of other colorways I'd like to try - one with black and golds with an Asian influence is what I might do next. There is a pattern coming soon as well, the next in our line of quilt patterns, available at Etsy.
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.
My trip to the Umbrian region of Italy happened almost a year ago. And so, it took some time, but here it is...the last stitch just taken on the binding. Amy designed the blocks with that trip in mind...and I framed it with borders and quilted it. I can't help remembering the food and colors and sounds of Italy when I look at this...
I'm working my way through the colorful stack of UFQ's...all of them at different stages of being complete...and all of them needing to be quilted. The next one will be a familiar colorway for our work...and a photo of it under the needle will be forthcoming...
Ahhh.....the weather has changed, and the rain and fog has kept me inside. Finally I have the time to work on several H2T quilts waiting to be quilted. This one is breathtaking.
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...
A few days ago I visited my friend Judy in her studio. Judy is a whirlwind and swirl of creative activity and movement. Her barn studio is packed, crammed, and layered with quilts, fabric, books, and threads. It is a feast for the eyes. Just to stand there and take in the symphony of colors and line and textures makes my happy. Judy has a longarm quilting machine which takes up one end of her studio. I find it fascinating to see what she is quilting on her machine. On this day she was finishing one of her own quilts, a lone star design with an explosion of bright colors. Behind her longarm are two walls of shelves with hundreds of cones of threads. There are at least fifty oranges to choose from, and maybe twice as many blues. On one end of her machine is a large silver pin holder which is atop a stand....I always look. The pins tell a story about the quilts she has worked on. I see purple and yellow headed pins today. I look at the bin of trimmings, hoping to find bits and pieces that could maybe find their way into my fiber art.
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!
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.
