And the Pendulum Swings Back

I started as a traditional quilter and then ventured into more contemporary art quilts. I've been very happy creating original works but since I found these unfinished blocks, I back at traditional again.

This week, I've been hand quilting on my three blocks. I have decided to finish each one individually.

I have quilting done on this one

and I'm presently working on this one.

Will they soon be done? I really don't think so because they have been crying out for some hand embroidery.

Just because they are already quilted won't stop me from adding more detail to the blocks. I seldom drive in a straight line but love to wander off the path. I have no worries, I will still get there in the end.

Linked to Off the Wall Friday

And the Race is On.................

I am finishing the quilting on my star quilt. I am also near the end of my spool of quilting thread. Will I have enough to finish? Will I run out before the stitches are all completed?

Now, I am obsessed. I must stitch as fast as I can before I run out. Logically, I know my speed will have no effect on the outcome. But logic doesn't seem to matter.

The Race is On.

What will I do if, or when, I run out of thread. Will I scurry off to the store to buy another spool of matching hand quilting thread? Or will I complete the project with other thread knowing that I am at the point in my quilting life that I seldom hand quilt and probably will never again need the new spool?

The mind races as do the fingers.  See you at the end of my spool.

O.K. I Confess

Yes, I was back in the kitchen again. No, not to cook!

Someday, I'll stop long enough to do that, too.

I was back in the kitchen for more quilting supplies.

This is how the story goes. I'm on a mad quest to finish some of my long neglected projects. In the midst of hand-quilting a broken star quilt, I realized that I don't have a quilting plan for the border. Fancy that, me not having a plan!

I was looking for a design that will curve in and around the star points which I've already quilted. Of course, I didn't have a quilting stencil that would fit the space.

I did find two templates that I thought had possibilities. 

Here is where my kitchen quilting supply comes in.

Freezer paper to the rescue.

Using a good size piece, I traced through my points. I could just see the points and feel the outlines enough to do this. Then I laid out my two templates, added some curving lines and a few extra leaves and I had a pattern. With shiny sides of the freezer paper together, I pressed a second layer of freezer paper to the back of my pattern.

I cut the pattern and placed it on my quilt and I'm ready to trace around it for quilting. 

I find this quick and easy freezer paper template is sturdy enough for several uses, certainly enough for the four corners of my quilt.

Happy quilting!

Tuesday's Tile - Pink Stones

Quilter's Tile - Pink Stones

8" x 8"

©2012 - Sharon V. Rotz

I've been enjoying quiet summer moments playing with embroidery stitches on a quilter's tile. I started the tile several weeks ago. Since that time I have been adding more and more stitches until each stone is showing off at its finest. 

Some stitches are very simple. I've found even a simple Cross Stitch can add appeal. Adding spaces between the Cross Stitches gave them a different look.

Some stitches are a bit more complicated. Although it looks more complex, an Open Cretan Stitch is quick to learn.

Even a common Running Stitch can be eye-catching and effective. Is this nothing but a larger quilting stitch?

Covering only a portion of this stone with a stitch dramatized the whole stone. The Open Fishbone Stitch is shown here. Does this look like a pine tree to you?  Hmm.. store this idea away for another project.

I can see further uses for this stitch.  The Wheatear Stitch may pop up as underwater vegetation. The wheels are turning in my head.

The stones are all decorated and my little project is finished off with hand quilting and a traditional binding. With a large diversity of stitching, I think I will enjoy this tile for a long time.

Please, Do Not Touch

Please Do Not Touch.

How often have we been to quilt shows or exhibits and seen these words? Of course, it is meant to keep dirty little finger prints off precious handcrafted treasures.

But it is because of the very tactile nature of quilts that we are attracted to them. We love the feel of fabric and adore the relief of the quilting as it adds highlights and shadows to our work. Painters work hard to re-create that very look in their artwork.

As I was adding french knots (or more specifically, candlewicking knots) to my quilt, I found myself unconsciously rubbing my hand across the knots. I was so enjoying the texture I was creating.

I love color and fabric design so I usually feel connected to my quilting through sight. Today, I am connected to my work through the sense of touch.

Hand stitched details

I am adding some close-up shots because I realized that it is really difficult to see the details of my quilted tile, Lavender Grass. Often my work is noted for color combinations but in this piece, the stitching is more noteworthy.

It was enjoyable to try a new combination of stitches and threads. The green background was free motion quilted (stitching with the feed dogs down) so it was easy to move the fabric in an up and down motion creating the grass (and securing the layers together).

A pale lavender sheer was heated to the point at which the fibers started to melt and deform, giving it an interesting bumpy texture. This can be done carefully over a heat source such as a candle. There is a little experimentation involved, too close and the fabric melts entirely or, worse yet, becomes a glowing fire. (See why a save environment is important!) Just close enough to the heat and you will have get a randomly textured surface that holds its shape and doesn't ravel, ready for your moment of creativity.

I used my sheer for the misty look of the spent grass and added hand stitching using 2 stands of embroidery floss. For the dainty yellow flowers, I used pearl cotton in my needle and make colonial (candlewicking) knots.

To complete the upper portion of the tile, I changed to a silver metallic thread in my needle and hand stitched using a back stitch. This stitching is difficult to see on the photo, but it not only serves to quilt the layers together, but adds barely noticed grass skeletons to complete my roadside image.

Have you experimented with a new technique today? Do you have a stitch or method to share?

Waiting for Paint to Dry

O.K. maybe it's not paint, but the wait is just as long and just as boring. After creating tree trunk fabric yesterday, I had a whole day to wait for it to dry so I could try my idea. Well, that's way too..ooooo long. When you are inspired, you are ready to take action.

In the meantime, I chose other fabrics to try a small quilted piece. Inspired by the 8.5" of rain we have had in July, (maybe overwhelmed by it is a better description) I'm working on recreating the scene out by studio window. No rules, just fun piecing and hand-quilting with large stitches to depict the rain.

Check back to see how I finish the piece.

And, back to my tree trunk fabric, maybe a series of tree quilts? or... am I done with the subject? Have I lost the moment?

Speaking of Red

I've completed my redwork table topper. Even though this is a smaller project, it was a work in progress of a considerable amount of time. Initially, the four redwork blocks were stitched together with five solid red blocks. To me, this was too ordinary and unexciting. Maybe this was why it was never finished. I removed the solid red blocks and added pieced blocks made of a variety of reds. Now it captured my attention and I could move on. I machine quilted the red pieced blocks and hand quilted the four hand-embroidered redwork blocks.