To wash or not to wash...

 Update on Breeze Block Quilt...

I decided to practice my doodle quilting and it was more challenging than I thought... but I got the hang of it eventually.  It creates a lot of movement on the quilt so I can see how it would not necessarily work for every project.

And then just because I don't have enough to do, I decided to see what it would look like laundered.  (look like laundered... love alliteration)

So...

Pre-washed... (and unbound) --- you know that sounds like a title of a book.

Post-washed

And here is a picture of my niece Ella on the quilt.  The moment you lay a quilt down anywhere, guaranteed a cat or a child will be on it in no time flat.  This one clearly belongs to her... :)

*** from doodle to design ***

Today instead of being sucked into the endless vortex of images that is Pinterest (not that I mind, I do adore a good dose of Pinterest)... I decided to doodle. Coffee, lots of paper and a fresh Sharpie, no need to change out of pjs yet.

Machine quilting is experimenting with shapes and designs.  If you can doodle, you can machine quilt. We over think things. Tap into your high school self who endlessly doodled in every available space, whether your notes on foolscap or inside a textbook.  (Aaah the smell of fresh foolscap in the morning...)

It is a word... look it up !     http://www.thefreedictionary.com/foolscap

Recently I have been watching Karlee Porter draw and then quilt her graffiti designs which are amazing.  I have always doodled flowers so this time instead of stopping at a few repeats I carried on until I ran out of space.

Now to practice on the long arm... I feel it is going to be TOTALLY AWESOME !!! Growing up in the 80s never truly leaves you.

Breeze Blocks Abound

Breeze Block Part Two

Creating a business, particularly a new business that you are technically not supposed to talk about until your business plan is approved, is A LOT of work.  The things I did not know that I did not know.  Sheesh!  You may be able to deduce that I am awful at keeping secrets, who knows how much longer I can hold out.

From time to time my creative self insists, well to be honest demands, that she be heard.  My business self (who knew I had one) needs to let her out to play... and the pictures below are what happened in the last few days. These mid century concrete breeze block designs have captured my imagination.  I decided to draft another block...

More math

 

One down... now what to make it into?  I mean how many quilts does a person really need?

Added some more turquoise and decided to quilt it too :)

Using a fabulous feather pillow form from... you guessed it... IKEA !
And here is the link http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80230894/ 

At this point Blake (who has his computer at the kitchen table where he is playing online with a friend) says to his friend, "my Mum is outside taking pictures of a pillow" ... "no I don't know why"

Hopefully this will hold me over for a few days before I have to make something else

p.s. you can only find the buttons you need if you dump them ALL out !

Mid Century MODERN Breeze Blocks

I find inspiration in the strangest places.  One night I could not sleep after being awoken by Falter screaming that awful cat/child yowl, no doubt directed at a raccoon or some other animal going about its nightly adventures.  It was about 2 a.m. and the house was quiet... my mind racing here, there and everywhere.  I decided to peruse Pinterest.  It has become an obsession, all those pretty images.  Minutes become hours.

Not sure how I happened upon concrete breeze blocks, but the moment I did I knew it was a quilt pattern.  These blocks come in so many designs you could easily create a book around them.

Later... not that night mind you, I drafted the block, and after some math difficulty and a test block that ended up wonky, I figured it out.

I have been in Business School for the past month learning how to start a proper business. I am restricted from saying more by the government rules, honestly I am not kidding, but if you stay tuned you will hear more... shortly.

Scrappy Cross... Quilted

 Here are some pictures of my scrappy cross quilt... quilted.

The background is a bright yellow linen that I cannot get to translate well in photos.  My specialty is quilts and as much I think I can do everything, clearly I have much to learn when it comes to successfully using a camera.  Flash shows the colour, no flash shows the quilting... you can see what I opted for.

playing with linear pattern 

the texture of linen is delicious

thread is variegated

I heard modern quilts did not allow for variegated thread... no need to remind everyone what happens when I hear a quilt "rule"

backing fabric and binding done with yellow gingham

The quote is: "I am not afraid.  I was meant to do this." Joan of Arc (apparently, though who can know for sure - being a history major causes all sorts of untold mental grief).

My Pinecone...

I wanted the view of a pinecone from the top...
how it would look if you were walking in the woods and bent down to pick it up...

I love pinecones... their design is infinitely pleasing.  I collect them, in the pockets of my winter coat, in bowls, in glasses, even in my car.

Last week I attended a meeting of the Burlington Fibre Arts group.  I want to expand what I can do, once I get out of the way.  I left the meeting filled with inspiration... any place where people think it is perfectly normal to wrap and cook silk fabric with say, goldenrod, simply to see what happens... is a place I want to spend more time :)

I had some vague idea of what I wanted to try, and the pinecone came to mind... my creative emblem, totem, badge?  It is a shape I have spent a lot of time looking at.

I began with brown fabrics and black wool felt, which I quilted... then I cut out pine cone pieces.  Next a background of green needles... then to composing the pinecone itself and later adding some edging.  There was no plan, I let it evolve and this is the result.  I am not sure what else it needs... or where it is going to lead me.  I will hang it from a small pine stick, and maybe adding another vertically...

That is the beauty of not following rules, nothing is wrong... and everything is right.

The piece is small... about 7 1/2 x 9 inches

Behold the Pomegranate

Some days when nothing else will calm my anxious mind, I know what I have to do... create something.

I have always loved pomegranates, the taste, the shape, the colour.  When travelling in Spain I visited Granada and they were everywhere, decorating every possible surface...



My only regret is that I did not purchase a small silver pomegranate pendant with red stone seeds at the Alhambra. One day I will go again :)

To construct this piece, I sewed strips of red together (like with the tomato), cut the shape free hand, decided on a fabric for the opening, cut 12 seeds and 12 bits of batting and several bias strips to finish edges. As I quilted I decided these bias strips were too fussy and small to properly outline the fruit, and my fingers were at risk trying to hold the bias in place so they went to decorate elsewhere.




The piece was appliqued on the long arm using the quilting to hold everything in place.  It was a interesting experience.  I will definitely do it again.

Here are some details...

There are tiny circles of batting under the seeds to make them pop up a bit...

I used Superior Threads for the quilting... 
variegated Fantastico and So Fine #30 for the dark purple blue stitching - worked like a charm !
http://cottonmillthreadworks.danemcoweb.com/

My pomegranate is to remind me of abundance and wealth.  Time was I viewed finances as a source of unending struggle and perpetual hardship.  However from the moment I started to create this, I had decided my lack state of mind was not serving me anymore and I was so very tired of it.

To abundance !  In all the forms it visits us...