"Where Is Cornelia?"

Hi, I am continuing to work on my "Where Is Cornelia?" wall hanging.

After using colored pencils in the background of my "Where Is Cornelia?" quilt, I found matching metallic thread and added some stitching on the edge of the flowers. 

They are already fused onto the background so the stitching is only ornamental. (See all the things you can do to avoid actually finishing a project!)

My next search was for interesting, complimentary fabric that I could use for a binding. I came up with this after rejecting several other choices. The curving lines seem to add to the center design without competing with it. So, on I go.

But.....

Wait!

The fact that the fabric was cut along some of the swirls inspired me to start thinking in a new direction. What if I added some of the swirls to the edge of the design? 

(Yes, I know, another way to prolong finishing it!)

Maybe next week????

If you are interested in making your own version of 

my pattern "Where Is Cornelia?"

it is available for purchase on my website.

Linked to Off the Wall Friday

Tuesday's Tile - A Time for Trying and Learning

Quilter's Tile - Striped Grass

8" x 8"

©2013 - Sharon V. Rotz

Lately, I have been working on several challenge projects. The fun part of challenges is the big reveal when everyone gets together for a time of show and tell.  Because this time has not yet come, I cannot show you any of my larger recent projects.

With that in mind, today's project is a small one that I have been hand stitching in my spare moments. The base is a gel print which I made last summer when my world wasn't filled with the blasts of another snow storm. Over this background, I have worked lines of chain stitches for my "grass". 

It was an unexpected move to use grey for the seed heads. The color seemed to have no relationship to the rest of the piece but the more I did, the more I liked the combination. Again, my small Quilter's Tile gave me a chance to try something new.

When it came to finishing the project, I wanted to repeat the color combination. What would stripes of grey and green look like?

Without the perfect fabric in my stash, I found two fabrics and cut a strip of each to piece and re-piece to create a striped fabric.

How will this look with my embroidered center?  Too much? But, you don't know it you don't try so I continued on.

With the curving lines of the grass in mind, I curved the borders and stitched them on.

Oh, a bit too wide and pretty powerful!

Trimmed down a bit, maybe not too bad. 

A top and bottom binding added on.

What did I learn?

The color combination worked for me.

I would leave more space around my center, it seems a little squished in.

The border is fun, but still could be narrower.

But the biggest thing that I learned is to try it.  

Have you tried something new this week?

Linked to Off the Wall Fridays

The Beginning or the End?

 

What triggers your quilting excitement?  Is it the thrill of breaking into a new fabric collection? Or is it the satisfaction that comes with using up all of the fabric?

I just couldn't wait to see what I could do with these bright and cheery Moda fabrics-- Comma Mini Charm Packs and the coordinating thread by Aurifil.

Out popped house after house, and with the addition of only three of my stash fabrics, I completed this wall-size quilt top.

To set off my 2-1/2" fabric squares, I chose a rich hand-dyed wool from The Wooly Lady. I also added a grey plaid homespun and a pearl grey polished cotton. Three different textures and finishes to create depth in the piece.

Now I was down to just a few narrow strips of my fabrics and used them in the borders.

There I did it. To my great satisfaction, I used it all.

Well, almost. I did have a small square of fabric left, less that an inch in size. 

I was conflicted, should I find a way to use it also?

In a bold 2013 movement, I gently placed it in the trash.

Linked to Off the Wall Fridays

Snow and Orange? Oh, my!

As they say "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" and indeed it is after a snowfall that blanketed our little corner of the world. Nothing can rival God's beauty.

But, inside I am still thinking orange as I work to finish my Nine Patch Quad (as you can see the name stuck).

I searched through my fabric and came up with this option for the borders. The dark color sets off the quilt top and makes the darker colors in the center pop up. The border also helps to control the brilliance of all that beautiful orange.

I squared off the top and was surprised at how little needed to be trimmed considering the unevenness of the blocks.

After sandwiching the top, batting and backing, I dove into quilting. At this point, I think all the quilting will be vertical. Will that work? I quilted some pod shapes. I don't know, are they good or bad?

Even with all my questions unanswered, I do love the way that the satin weave of the Kaufman Radiance picks up the light and emphasizes the hills and valleys created by the quilting.

Continuing on................

Linked to: Off the Wall Fridays

Three Things I've Learned while Quilting

detail - Blue Broken Star

1. I quilt better before lunch. Maybe my head is more clear in the morning. Maybe as it gets closer to lunch the hungrier I am and more focused. Maybe after lunch I am lazier. Maybe after lunch I should nap, yes, like a cat sleeping in the sunshine.

Spring Leaves

2. If I start with a larger piece of batting and backing, I can change where the center of my quilt is (hence the opportunity for uneven borders and bindings even at this late stage).

Lizard Tails

3. The quilting brings fabric to life. We, as quilters, have the golden opportunity to easily add texture and dimension to our work. This is what other artists strive for on a flat, one dimensional canvas.

It's Been Framed

Open Sew Meets Laundry Day

15" x 19"

Sharon V. Rotz

Now that it's time to finish my quilting project, I thought it was time to try a new approach.

Instead of a traditional binding, I wanted to attempt an organic, curving edge. This could be finished off with a satin stitched edge.......... at least, it could in my head. The first step was to free motion stitch a curving line that would be my edge. I then did a open zigzag stitch over the line. The edge was trimmed as close as possible to the zigzagging. The final dense satin stitching was done over the previous stitching to complete the quilt edge.

Was I now done?

What would happen if I layered this onto another fabric, as if I was mounting my organic quilt onto a frame?

After tearing into my fabric stash, I came up with a batik that made my little quilt sing. Because my original quilt was already quilted, my border had to be quilted as well. I ended up basically making another quilt, complete with batting and quilting which would serve as my frame. The little quilt was pinned and topstitched to the center of the batik quilt. I am now finished.

Would there be another way to achieve the same effect? Of course, there is always another way. But sometimes, one step just leads to another and another. It's the fun of the adventure that lures us on.

Quilted and Finished (At Last)

Untitled

(for now)

22" x 26"

Sharon V. Rotz

I know both you ...and I ....thought I would never finish this small landscape. But, I did it! Even if the process was a bit unconventional.

I do dominate "quilter detention". Before the quilting in the center of the quilt was finished, (We all know this is the "correct" way to work on any project.) I had the borders quilted and, yes, half of the binding stitched in place.

As you see, I did go back and finish quilting the center. You gave me thoughtful suggestions about the border and I will keep them in mind for my next landscape quilt, but I am satisfied with the border as it is. To me, it frames the landscape giving the impression of one looking out a window or perhaps through the bushes. There are multiple ways of solving any problem and the joy of being the creator of an artwork is that we can pick and choose from those options. We may make the best choice or not, and that is always a subjective decision -- hurray for art critics! The main thing is that we are unafraid to try a new or different approach.

But, again, I would love your input. What suggestions do you have for a name for this quilt?

Back to Quilter Detention

There are rules. There are definite rules about how things are to be done. There are rules about the order of quilting a project. And, none of those rules state that you can quilt the borders before the center of the quilt.

Another rule broken ........and............ I'm off to quilter detention.

(When I think about it, I've probably spent a good deal of my life there.)

My story is this: I didn't feel like quilting the center.

I stitched along the dark strip dividing the center from the border. I then started on the center but was more excited about "smooshing" down the border to see how it would look when it was quilted. Since the quilt was stabilized with the stitching between the center and the border, would it really make a difference which got done first on this small project?

What do you think? How long do I sit in detention?

What's Good? What's Too Much?

I've added borders on my landscape quilt. I wanted to try "string" borders. I used a muslin base for each square (or rectangle) in the border. I stitched and flipped narrow strips until I completely covered the muslin. It was lots of fun because you get to play with an assortment of fabric and use up small scraps because, of course, we never want to throw anything away.

I felt it gives an abstract look to the edge of the quilt. Perhaps, you are looking through the leaves into a sheltered forest spot. But, does the abstract border claim your attention, drawing it away from the center of the quilt? Is it too much?

Discovery

As I was going through a box of fabric, I found this landscape which I started many years ago. How it got folded up in a box of fabric I don't know. This is what happens when you clean, things get put away never -- well, almost never-- to be found again.

Many quilters would probably recognize the style of this piece. Natalie Sewell and Nancy Zieman have made it quite popular over the years. Although, it may not rank up there with some of the more detailed landscapes of Natalie and Nancy, I do like the piece and think it deserves to be finished. And, finished is always good.

I have already added a narrow strip of dark brown to outline the piece and will have fun thinking up unique borders.

Do you have a treasure waiting to be found?

Finished, Or So I Thought

Potamogeton Rising

67" x 48"

Sharon V. Rotz

There I was sewing on the rod pocket. All that was left was stitching on the label. I finally got to the end of this project. You have been watching and know it has been dragging on for a lengthy time period. (Of, course, I couldn't leave the center empty like I last mentioned.)

I layered the border over the quilt center and stitched in the ditch to attach the border. A little measuring and a chalk line to keep things straight and it was a pretty simple application. The piece truly looks like it was "framed".

So now, I'm done.

Well, like so many times in the past, God has other plans for me. He plants little seeds in my head. I try to ignore them because I'm DONE. These little seeds start to grow and I can't chase them away. Finally, I give in and I'm NOT done.

In this case, it meant sewing small beads all the way around the quilt border like tiny air bubbles in the water. Did I mention, I refer to Potamogeton by its nickname Pondweed?

Tomorrow I will post the finished, finished quilt. Or at least I think so, God willing.

The Emperor's New Quilt

Hurray, only four more corners to go (upper right in photo) and my border will be finished. I remember the day I thought I would never finish my quilt with its normal four corners. Never again!

I bound the inside and the outside of the border. The outside of the quilt binding was done in a very traditional method, wrapping a folded strip around to the back of the quilt and hand stitching. The binding on the inside of the border was just wrapped around to the back of the border. I did not have to clean finish this edge as it will not be seen.

I'm thinking I should just attach my border to boards and hang it as is and call it "The Invisible Quilt".

Have I been reading "The Emperor's New Clothes" to my grandchildren one too many times?

Corners, corners, corners

I've decided to sew the pieces of the border together in an uneven pattern and add the border after I quilt it. I'm wondering if this will work but I'm now committed to trying it. It is light weight, small and easy quilting since the center of the piece was not attached. At least that was one positive to this crazy experiment.

Was I thinking when I chose to make the edge uneven? Of course, not. At least I wasn't thinking about the 60 inside and outside corners that I would soon be binding. If this turns out, it better be super.

I will be binding both edges of the quilted border, the inside edge and the outside edge, before I add the border to the completed quilted center. Please, tell me this is going to work.

Adding Borders

I haven't posted anything about my pickle dish project lately but I have not forgotten about it. After I quilted the entire middle section of the quilt, I am now going to add borders around the outside of the quilt. I found some interesting decorator samples that I am repurposing into an unexpected border frame.

Because the center of the quilt design is quite simple, I thought a creative border was a perfect way to finish the quilt. I could piece all these together into a nice straight fabric border but wouldn't it be more fun to vary the positions of the pieces up and down to create an uneven edge? What do you think?

What do you think?

Should I have left off the red flanges on the redwork blocks? Should I have made the quilt square instead of going for a more unusual shape? (See Friday's blog for the photo with the flanges.)

When laying out the blocks and stitching them together, I felt there should be more red to emphasize the outline of the redwork blocks. A solid border didn't seem like the best solution. Ever exploring the options, I came up with the red flanges. I liked the more dramatic shape, so I finished it that way.

Did I wander off? Or did I come up with a more interesting quilt? You be the judge.

Collaboration Quilts

Off the subject of scrap quilts -- or is it??

Have you ever worked on a quilt with another quilt artist? My good friend, quilting teacher Chris Lynn Kirsch, and I have worked on several quilts together. We've found it to be a very rewarding experience and pushed us past what we could have accomplished alone. This quilt "Goyne Round in Circles" is now traveling with the New Quilts from an Old Favorite contest sponsored by the National Quilt Museum (AQS) in Paducah, KY.

Because we live several hours apart, Chris and I sent the quilt back and forth as it progressed. Chris created the center based on the traditional block - Burgoyne Surrounded. I loved the use of circles and the fabulous hand-dyed background. I added the border using multiple fabrics in blue and yellow/orange. Mmmm, this brings to mind 'scraps', doesn't it? Just can't get away from them and the punch they bring to a quilt.

We both shared in the machine quilting and were so pleased with the results. If you have not tried working with another quilter, I definitely recommend it. Not only will you be stretched to try new ideas but you will be blessed with a wonderful friendship.

English Flower Basket

The reds and browns of English Flower Basket combine with a leaf print in the background making this a wonderful quilt to display in the autumn. Unique borders make this quilt something special.


Often in our quiltmaking, we are so involved in the center of the quilt that when it comes to the borders we have lost our enthusiasm and go for an easy solution. Yet, dramatic borders can add so much to the quilt.