Blogger's Quilt Festival

Welcome to everyone from Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival!

 My entry in the Festival is called "Holly Street."  It is a Christmas version of my Third Street quilt which was done in black and white.  I chose this quilt for the Festival because it makes me smile and think.

I had a lot of fun making this table runner, but it felt like a departure from my usual style!  I wanted to make the runner in Christmas colors using a fat quarter bundle that I had fallen in love with at a local quilt shop  (Nancy Halvorsen's "Tidings" line).  As I was working on the blocks, adding the rickrack popped into my head.  I thought "You can't put rickrack on a quilt!  That would be way too cute and you don't do cute!"  However, I was too excited about the rickrack to listen to myself. 

I have spent a lot of time over the past few years, trying to figure out what kinds of quilts I like best and what quilts I want to make.  The quilts I like cover a wide variety of eras and construction techniques.  After looking at hundreds (thousands?) of quilts and images of quilts, I figured out what quilts really spoke to me and where to head in my quiltmaking journey.

So, I am very happy that I have found a quilting style that suits me.  Keeping some of the elements of my style in mind helps me when I am designing a quilt and it isn't looking quite right.  It can really provide direction.  In spite of these thoughts, I am glad to see that I don't have to stick to that style all the time. 

That rickrack still makes me smile every time I look at it!

Be sure to check out all the other entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival and the BQF Flickr group!

Final Sept Mid Mod block

I decided to go with a honey beige color for the applique thread.   The grey and the cream both contrasted too much with the block elements.

Sept Mid Mod Bee

I had great intentions to get this block done and blogged last week - how did it get to be Wednesday already?! 

When I first saw Cheryl's post about what she wanted for her Mid Mod Bee month, I was immediately drawn to this hourglass shape.  The barkcloth images she included led me to choose many small shapes instead of fewer larger ones.  Next, one large "repeat" seemed to be the way to go rather than trying to do a fabric repeat across the block.   As I write this, it seems like I made all these decisions snap, snap, snap.  In reality, it took much longer to decide whether to follow these initial inclinations or to head in a different direction.

Cheryl also requested that the final block be curved.  The shape of the Noguchi coffee table she loves so much seemed the only choice!

I haven't done the applique stitching on these yet.  I can't decide whether to match the thread to the fabric, the background or go with something like a medium to darker grey.  I'll probably do a few samples on some scraps before I make up my mind.  What do you think?

Continuing the improv theme...

Working on Lynette's improv blocks reminded me of the last improv quilting I did.  I made this quilt top at Gwen Marston's Beaver Island Quilt Retreat in 2008.  For those of you not familiar with Gwen's retreat (which I would go to every single year if I could manage it), Gwen chooses a theme for each retreat.  In 2008, Gwen's theme was "Working with Solids."

Approx 46" x 44"

As soon as I saw the theme early that year, I knew I had to go!  Gwen's retreats are four days long.  She begins with a half day demo/lecture and then lets everyone loose to work on their quilts.  There are other short demos during the rest of the time and Gwen is there if anyone needs help or has a question.  I enjoy the focused freedom of the way she runs the retreat.  Also, Gwen is a lovely and inspiring person to be around.

Some friends and I travelled to Shipshewana, Indiana a couple of months before the actual retreat.  My main purpose was to stock up on solid fabric.  Shipshewana is an Amish community and has two wonderful places to buy fabric.  Yoder's Department Store is where I found most of my solids.  Lolly's Quilt Shop is a wonderful place with tons of lovely fabric.

One of the things that I love about Gwen's work is that she makes quilts that are based on antique quilts and she makes very modern "liberated" quilts.  Using this idea as my inspiration, I bought lots of green and pink solids to reflect my love of antique green and pink applique quilts.  (This may surprise some of you, but hand applique was my first love in quilting).  I also bought a group of solids in the fall color range as I wanted to have some flexibility.

After viewing lots of Gwen's inspiring quilts, I decided to work in a liberated log cabin style with some insets into the "logs" and using mostly green with pink accents.  Some of the fabrics look brown or black, but they aren't, they are all shades of green.  I managed to finish the quilt top just before show and tell at the end of the retreat.  Don't ask my why I haven't managed to get this top quilted.  Just always a more urgent project I guess.

More bee blocks...

Lynette from the Bee's Knees VQB sent great fabrics to work with for October's blocks.  She asked us to feature these cute little Munki Munki goldfish and included some other Heather Ross fabric. She also sent some fabrics from the Lantern Bloom line by Laura Gunn.  I remember the first time I saw the large birdcage print in this fabric line - I just wanted to frame it and hang it on the wall! 

Lynette asked us to do improv blocks.  This time, I did NOT plan them out in advance!  I decided to just let them grow.  There are a few things about the blocks I might have tweaked if they had been more planned, but I am pretty happy with them.  I hope Lynette likes them and they work with the rest of her blocks.

Next up - Mid Mod Bee for October!  Then - November is my month for the Mid Mod Bee so it is time for me to make up my mind! 

I hope you are all getting some fun sewing done.  Is anyone working on Christmas or other winter holiday projects yet?  I've seen a lot of them in the magazines lately.

Cobwebs and Batiks

These are Marlene's blocks for September in The Bee's Knees VQB.  The block is called Cobweb and is a Spiderweb variation.  As you may recall, I have not been much of a paper piecing fan.  However, with a little practice behind me, I approached these blocks without too much trepidation!  They went together fairly smoothly.  My biggest issue was starting my line of stitching too late so I had to go back on a few seams and add some stitches to the beginning.  Two blocks is about the right amount of paper piecing for me.  I enjoyed that much, but still can't imagine myself doing a whole quilt this way. 

Marlene chose gorgeous fabrics!   All batiks.  I haven't worked with batiks recently and was blown away by the variety and beauty.  In general, I use crisper colors in my own work, but there were some real winners in Marlene's choices.  As with all the others, I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished quilt.

I haven't forgotten about my own Bee's Knees quilt - quilting it is still on my long mental list.

The Art Institue of Chicago

 

The Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago

 When we were in Chicago on Oct 1 and 2, we had a little free time late Friday afternoon so we whipped over to the Art Institute.  



Eames chair/Nelson clock

I'm afraid I wasn't in the best frame of mind to enjoy art.  Having left home at 8 am, driven to Chicago, and spent the afternoon walking all over the University of Chicago campus, I was badly in need of a cup of tea, some ibuprofen, (I injured my knee last summer and whenever I do a lot of walking it still bothers me) and a short rest. 

Glass child's wardrobe

Unfortunately, my plan to send the girls off by themselves and find a cafe before exploring the Modern Wing didn't work out.  As we were in line paying admission, a museum employee announced that the Modern Wing would close at 5 for a private party - it was 4:40.  So I rushed through trying to see what I could.  Apparently, the only cafe open in the museum on a Friday evening is also part of the Modern Wing!

Noguchi table

Luckily, there are lots of wonderful other sections of the museum to visit.  My first stop was the Decorative Arts section.  Beautiful everyday objects just make me smile. I took some pictures of the midcentury modern area and filled myself with inspiration for my turn in the Mid Mod Bee next month.  It is fascinating how some of these designs are so iconic and wonderful, yet so familiar and "every day."

 

Nelson bench

Among many other exhibits, there was still some American modern art to see and the Impressionists to re-visit.  The girls spent time looking at photography, the miniature exhibit and reading the new installation on the staircase called "Public Notice 3" by Jitish Kallat.

We finished with a good long time in the gift shop!

Thread!

I love looking at my rainbow of thread!  This rack includes my basic piecing and quilting threads.  I prefer Gutermann 100% cotton thread.  I know there are a lot of fancier threads out there, but I like the way Gutermann looks when I quilt with it and it is fairly inexpensive and available.

Unlike many quilters, I attempt to match my piecing thread to my fabrics.  This is partly a legacy from many years of sewing clothing and partly a personal choice.  Since there are so many wonderfully colored threads available, why not match it if I can?

I also usually match my quilting thread to the quilt.  This often requires multiple thread changes but, to me, the result is worth it.  My goal with my quilting is to add texture to my quilt and that is what I hope people notice, not the thread.

Of course, there are exceptions to every general rule and my quilting on LinesFall used contrasting variegated thread!  That is what I love so much about quilting - each quilt is an opportunity to do things differently and try something new.  And...each quilter can make their own choices about what they want their quilt to look like.  The variety is endless!

University of Chicago

My daughter and her friend and I went on another college visit this weekend to the University of Chicago.  Chicago has been high on her list for a while and this visit confirmed it in spades.  I think she would move in tomorrow if they let her.  She'll be sending in her application in the next day or two - keep your fingers crossed!

As usual, I took some pictures of the buildings. While most of the campus is very beautiful, old Gothic architecture (apparently I didn't take any pictures of these buildings), the Regenstein Library has an interesting exterior.  I'm not sure I can call it beautiful, but the overlapping planes are very textural.  You can see how big it is in the side view.  They are building an addition that looks like a very large plastic bubble.  Apparently, it will house several million books which can be accessed by a robotic arm!

  

This is a picture of one of the study rooms in the student union - I don't know if I would get any work done in such an amazing space!

We also managed a very quick visit to the Art Institute of Chicago.  More on that later.

LinesFall

I have had the idea for this quilt for at least a year and a half.  I shelved it last fall due to other projects, but, this fall, it told me it had to be made!  Luckily, it is a pretty small project - it finishes at about 25" x 30".

The color reproduction here is pretty good - the background is a slate grey with a lot of blue.  It reminded me of the color of the sky before a fall thunderstorm.  The flange technique gives the dimension I wanted.

I had several quilting ideas including a zig zag design that I thought would look like the leaves floating to the ground.  I drew a couple of chalk lines in and it just made the whole thing look frenetic!  So I decided on straight lines.  After seeing BooDilly's latest work on Flickr, I decided to do many of them in variegated thread.  My adaptation doesn't have nearly the depth of her work, but I'm pleased with the result all the same.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!