Bits and pieces

I've had loads of mail just lately:

Postcards from Robin and Vicki in the 3CS Gilded Age postcard swap:



Three more postcards from iHanna's swap. These are from Pam, Laurie and April. Go check out their blogs for some lovely arty inspiration.



And this postcard from Chris, for the Black & White postcard swap on Trading Fabric Postcards:



I've made my first attempt at dyeing using Procion dyes. This is muslin dyed with lemon yellow and golden yellow. I scrunched up and dyed in trays. I think I like the effect:



For April's journal quilt, the challenge is to make a single colour/monochromatic quilt. Can you guess what my colour is going to be?



Oh, and, inspired by this book, I have started an art journal:

A Creative Life

I've been making more postcards for Hanna's DIY Postcard Swap. They are all on a common theme based on this quote from Joseph Chilton Pearce:

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong



I made stencils of crosses; then took some fabric from my scraps box and painted these with black and red acrylic paints. I also experimented a bit with some sequin waste on one piece. Then I chopped up the painted bits of fabric, sewed them back together in a different order and added the quotes. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out, and think they convey the message well. This time, rather than using Vilene and muslin for the backs, I have sewn them straight onto a heavy cardstock using a machine zigzag. It knackers the needle but works fine! So, that's six made, four to go :-). Check out the Flickr group to see all the great creative postcards being made.



I have also made a start on the latest set of Sharon B's Stitch Files. This little sample shows Algerian stitch. I enjoyed working these - I think my favourite is the second row of smaller stitches in a wave pattern. Next thing is to try the stitch on a more interesting background material.



And lastly, I have finished the coin strips for my friend's baby quilt. It's very feminine and muted, not my style at all (!) but think it will go down well so that's the main thing :-)

Spring Comes to the Cabin

I finished my journal quilt for March. The technique for the month was applique. I used hand applique for the stem, and machine applique (fused) for the leaves. The background was made with a leftover quilt block from this quilt. I have called this journal "Spring Comes to the Cabin" a reference to the red square of a traditional log cabin block and because, well, it looks a bit like a vine growing in front of a cabin! (or maybe a giant beanstalk?!?)

I must admit, of the journal quilts I have made, this is my least favourite. I think it's mainly because it doesn't have any particular meaning to me. I like the composition and the colours well enough, but don't really feel like I put much of myself in it. It could be partly to do with the lack of hand stitching. I am beginning to realise that hand stitching makes me feel more connected to a piece.



As well as the journal quilt, I have knocked up a few postcards for iHanna's swap. These are pretty experimental for me. The backgrounds are some Vilene which I dyed using transfer/disperse dyes. I used these quite diluted and the effect is maybe a little toooo subtle. Next time I think I will thicken to make them more paint like. Then I used the embellisher machine to integrate merino wool fibres, scrim and various sheers, and added hand stitching. I have backed them with a muslin stiffened with fusible Vilene. They are pretty sturdy so hopefully will stand up to the postal service!



On my ever-expanding "projects I want to tackle soon" list is making a quilt with solids,so I was quite excited at this weekend's Spring Quilt Festival at Chilford to find this lovely bundle of Kona solids. Even better, a copy of Roberta Horton's "An Amish Adventure" in the reduced section of one of the bookstalls. I can't wait to get started...but first I am must finish piecing my friend's baby quilt...sigh...

Rippin, stitchin, swapping and changing my mind

I mentioned in my last post that I was planning on making a corduroy quilt as a tribute to the Gee's Bend corduroy quilts.  Well, I've started it!  It is very liberated.  I did no measuring and very little cutting, simply ripped the cords into strips of various widths and lengths.  Next I stitched them together into four log cabin-ish blocks, taking strips randomly.  One strip I accidentally sewed the wrong side up but when I looked, I thought "hey, I quite like the look of that!" so I left it.  I am loving the way it looks and feels so far, but I have run out of my thrifted corduroy now!  I may try and get some soft denim to add a border to the quilt, bringing it up to lap quilt size.  But typically, since I've been looking out for some lovely soft denim in the charity shops, I haven't seen any!  So once more, it's "watch this space" to see how it progresses.



I have sent off two postcards for a swap on Lib-Quilters.   Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of them before I sent them on their way...but here's one I didn't send plus one I've made since:





The ric-rac octopus was originally made for the swap but Waif wouldn't let me part with it!

The red and black star is going to a friend who donated some scraps for my hexagon project.

Which brings me nicely to:



I have decided to take a different approach with my hexie quilt. I wasn't quite happy with the flowers. They look nice individually but I couldn't work out how to put them together without a path and not look too random and cluttered. But I didn't want a path cos it would mean making zillions of identical hexies and I didn't fancy that much. So, I am thinking along the lines of a large hexagon star, like a quilt photographed in this Jinny Beyer book.   I am sorting my hexies into light, medium and dark and will define the pattern by value.  I don't think it's going to be a true charm quilt, but I will try to make sure there aren't more than 3 or 4 hexies of the same fabric and that they are not close to each other.  Hopefully I will be able to use the hexie flowers round the edges of the star somewhere - if not they will applique themselves onto something or other, no doubt...

Wonky and proud

Well, you didn't think I would stay on the straight and narrow path did you?

Here's a couple of new house blocks I made.  The orange house I deliberately went for a wonky look (made by tipsy builders as Lazy Gal Tonya might have it!).  In fact, they were so tipsy that the roof doesn't even fit, but hey, who needs to worry about an ill-fitting roof when it's raining glitter?





Buoyed by the liberation of making wonky houses, I decided to have another go at dropping the feed dogs and experimenting with a bit of free motion embroidery.  My lovely sister-in-law got me this book for Christmas and I dug it out and had a go at a bit of stitching.  Here are the two fabric postcards I made as a result:



It wasn't as terrifying as I had thought, but actually pretty enjoyable!  And the fabrics were all from my scrap bag, so low risk.  D

I did learn that I need to cut my fabric background a bit bigger cos they have ended up at less than postcard size.  Who knew a bit of embroidery would make them shrink so much?

Hand Quilting vs Machine Quilting

As I mentioned previously, having machine quilted my Army Star quilt, I don't think I will physically be able to manage machine quilting the Jacob's Ladder quilt, so have been looking at advice on hand quilting.  I bought some "between" needles as suggested in the advice I found everywhere but they are very, very tiny and I don't really fancy my chances with them!  So I was intrigued by this post on Anna Maria Horner's website, where she talks about quilting with embroidery floss.  I think this might be much more up my street.  Mentioning this on the Liberated Quilters yahoo group, Dordogne Quilter Clare helpfully pointed me in the direction of this thread guide written by Lazy Gal Tonya.  Now my mind is surely made up!