and then there were two

Below is one of my guild's raffle quilts for 2012.

and this is the second

  Using fabric, members replicated several historical buildings of Massachusetts.

Tiny squares were stitched into the background to create a water color frame.

The colors and detail are super.

 My job is to quilt them.

And because this is a group project I thought I would invite guild members to follow along in my process.

The first order of business is to decide on the batting....

Because these are art quilts and have some paint, marker, fusing, and delicate fabrics; traditional wet blocking won't work.  So I planned for battings that could take a little heat to be steamed into submission in the end, if needed.  A poly batt doesn't like heat, so I'm going with natural fibers.

I'm going with cotton and wool.

2 batts?!

These are wall hangings so a nice dense, cotton batt will work well.  But, there is some fullness in areas and also some areas will require more quilting than others, so a lofty wool batt will help to fill in the spaces.

You can see below a scrap of wool placed over a scrap of cotton.
It gives a nice loft but is not overly puffy.
The cotton on the back should give it a nice a hang.

The next order is choosing a backing.  Something in keeping with the buildings on the front is a must, but nothing solid.  There will be many thread color changes, starts and stops.  A busy back gives a more pleasing look.

Below is a busy back.  It is a little wild for the look we want on our buildings quilt, but that is what I mean by busy.

Each quilt is approximately 41 x 38.  A solid pieced backing is preferable.  There are many seams and layers to sew through on the top so one less seam on the back would be nice.  

Now, if I remember to continue to post pictures of my process -  you'll get to see the loading of the quilt, the importance of square backs, stabilizing the quilt and more!

-see you again soon- 

= )

. . . the dog days of summer . . .

. . .  it happens every year about now. . . 

time slows 

it gets really hot

and production goes down

I did get some key fobs finished.

Macrame is back you know.

it's a fun summertime thing to do.

so is watching the bees, dragonflies

and the frogs

-wait, what?  

did you say frog days of summer 

or

dog days of summer?

i said dog days!

meet our new little friend-

we get to bring him home in a few weeks.

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

-a good life-

 Today is our Fiberactions challenge reveal day. 

 Departure is our theme word picked by artist Connie Rose. 

My piece is constructed of vintage blocks which were stitched, painted white with artist's gesso and then watered down acrylics.

This is a traditional three layer quilt consisting of a top, batting and backing.  The flowers are painted silk organza and were stitched to the top after quilting.

 The vintage blocks, shown below, were given to me from Cathy Racine.  Cathy is the proprietor of Charlton Sewing Center and hosts a charity auction for our Guild once a year. We have raised thousands of dollars for various causes. 

Cathy included these blocks with something I bid on and told me to make something beautiful out of them, she didn't have the heart to throw them away.

Reluctantly, I took the badly soiled, stained and smelly blocks.

Several washings and soakings later I was able to work with them, but they sat waiting in my cupboard for a year.

There are blocks for at least a good sized queen quilt, but the integrity of them is very weak. They are hand pieced using a variety of thin fabrics and threads.

I'm not sure what I will do with the remaining blocks,

but at least I saved a few from departure and gave them

a good life.

Now head on over to Fiberactions and check out how the others interpreted the theme.

Good Independence Day weekend

spent watching a lot of this

  and this

  hanging out

now it's back to working on this

 and finishing this

Through the Looking Glass -

by Dale Chihuly

Last week I took a field trip into the MFA Boston with my good friends Brenda and Deb. 

A treat the whole day was.  

And the Chihuly exhibit is a must see!

I didn't have a camera with me so  these pictures are unedited taken right off my phone. 

The colors in real life are amazing.

  If you're not careful and forget to look down, you might miss the secondary exhibit. 

The reflection.

And then the sharp contrast of this room where you only look up.

You will never look at an ordinary piece of glass the same way! 

Go see it.

MFA Boston

Promise Ring

 Promise Ring is my friend Sue's quilt, of Sue Pelland Designs.

Sue is an accomplished quilter herself but when she is off  teaching, vending and developing new tools, I do her quilting work.

glenda's quilt

  

This is Glenda's quilt I quilted awhile ago; she brought it Thursday night to our meeting.

I hadn't actually forgotten about quilting it, but I did forget to post pictures.

Glenda has beautiful workmanship and I loved working on this quilt.

I wish these pictures were better, each house and block has a different fill.

I liked everything about this quilt!

:)

summer fun

If you're starting to look for summer time activities to do with kids, you might try tie dying.  I had to dye a bunch of shirts for a kids event and  because I don't have a dye studio or have dyes of my own  I used Tulip dye products bought at the local craft store. The dye and soda ash come already mixed,  there is no measusring or mixing and seems pretty safe to use with kids. You just add water and shake.

I prewashed and afterwashed the shirts in synthropol, but the directions don't tell you to do that.

The colors came out a little more pastel than I thought they would, but I like them that way.

I found this big phat marker also by Tulip. It does what it says it should - writes with a big phat line on fabric.  If you're into fashion graffiti check it out!

 I  threw one of these color catcher sheets in the rinse cycle each time I rinsed.  I don't know anything about them, or even when/where I got them.  But you can see below they did pick up color as they started out being white. 

Tulip has made tie dying an easy and fun project to do with kids. 

Happy Summer!

:)

a peak inside the sketchbook . . .

I'm participating in the Sketchbook Project 2012.  Check it out here for details on how you can participe; it's easy and fun.  Last year I made a book of fabric and thread sketches. 

This year I'm using pencils, pens, markers, crayons and water color pencils.  

 Spring through summer seems to be the time for sitting, waiting, and watching outside, so I want to only use tools I can take in my travel bag.

I've been working along on my book when I'm not at home quilting.

This page accidentally got wet on the go, but I wasn't bothered by it-I just stuck a layer of tissue on it, traced over and I'm leaving it in.  Maybe I'll go back over with some other color, maybe not.

When you get your book you can use it as is, or rebind it.  Mine is rebound, I added a few different weight papers and made some fold out pages.

Go sign up now and submit your book by January31, 2012.  In April the books will begin to tour and this year they will go around the globe!