In the Works

Seems like I haven't posted many quilty things on the blog lately so unless you follow me on Instagram it might not seem like I'm quilting anymore. Trust me though . . . I am. Several different projects are actually in the works.

In the fall, I'm scheduled to do a presentation on quilt-as-you-go techniques to my guild. I have very little QAYG experience but have always wanted to learn. Since the quilting part is my least favorite thing, I've often wondered if QAYG might be a good solution to my 'fear of free motion'.  FOFM.  No better way to learn something new than by committing to demonstrate it to others. Wish me luck.  : )

I have a disappearing 9-patch that is pieced and ready for quilting. Fell in love with this print that I picked up last year and then filled in with various yellows, pinks, corals, and oranges. These are the big 9-patches before cutting them up. As you can see, I added lattice to the blocks after seeing this quilt by my friend Elizabeth of OPQuilt. My blocks aren't as big because I wanted more blocks for more variety while still having a relatively small lap quilt.

This is how it looks pieced into rows. Next up will be a new to me quilt-as-you go method done row by row.

I have also pulled out all my old fruit and veggie fabrics. I plan to use them by making napkins, QAYG placemats, maybe even a QAYG picnic quilt. Given their end use, I decided to prewash which I don't usually do. What a mess of threads that made!

I still have one more small load to wash and then I'll get started. Summer is the season when I use fruit and veggie dishes as part of my kitchen/dining decor so these will fit in nicely. Just need to get them done before summer is over.

For the last several days, my studio has been swimming with fabric in aquas, dark teal/blues and chartreuse as I cut for a bento box quilt. Years ago I became intrigued with an aqua/chartreuse color scheme I saw in a gift shop and have been collecting fabrics ever since.

Initially I couldn't decide what quilt to make with this collection. I've always wanted to make both a bento box quilt and an x-plus quilt. The bento box won out because it fit quite well with the QAYG technique I plan to try. I'm using a modified version of the Modified Bento Box Block tutorial by Film in the Frig. I changed up some of the strip widths to better showcase the large scale prints in my fabrics. Seeing this quilt by Anne of Play-Crafts also helped me decide on this design because the color scheme is somewhat similar to mine.

Once the pattern was chosen, the cutting began. I pulled lots and lots and lots of fabrics. And the mess grew and grew. Then it was unfold. Iron. Cut. Cut some more. Cutting was way more time consuming than I expected once I began to consider which fabrics to cut into which widths. In many cases I cut several different widths from a single fabric but in some cases I didn't have enough for more than one width. Here are some of the first strip combinations.

My original plan was a large lap quilt but once my daughter saw the fabrics she feel in love and this has doubled in size to a queen. I have 12 blocks sewn and quartered and 13 more to go. That means more cutting and more fabric combinations for the new blocks. Slowly I'm getting there. Right now it looks like this.

This one will be a long time in the making since I'm doing a QAYG for this too. It will certainly be a good test of making a large quilt using QAYG methods and I'm more than little apprehensive about it. Wish me more luck.

I'll share more about my exploration into quilt-as-you-go after the presentation. It should be an interesting experience with plenty of pros and cons along the way. I was quite surprised at how many different QAYG techniques there are once I started researching. Marianne at The Quilting Edge is the master as far as I'm concerned. Her work is amazing. She has some good tutorials on her method which you can find here.

 Have you used QAYG techniques and if so, do you have a favorite method?

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My Journey; Four-In-Art Quilt #2

Time has run out.

Today is the day we all reveal the second of four quilts in our year long challenge as part of the
Four-in-Art group. The theme for the year is Urban and for this quarter the topic was Structures.

I knew right away I wanted to do something with highway overpasses. My daughter and I had the pleasure of taking three trips in the past year. First was a long road trip from Colorado through Kansas and on to Indiana and Illinois. Next came a trip to Portland where we were both amazed at the dizzying height of the highway bridges over the river. Lastly came our trip to Houston and Quilt Market. Houston has more than its share of roadways and being in the wrong lane can definitely take you off in unintended directions.

This last experience in Houston is what made me decide to go with overpasses for my Structures quilt. With one single wrong lane we found ourselves heading to Galveston instead of downtown Houston. Then with another quick decision we thought we were back on track heading to the convention center only to see it as we drove by. Before we realized it we were then headed to Oklahoma. Another quick decision and we were off the highway altogether. Surprisingly we managed to get to the convention center just a few minutes later than if we had taken all the right turns. Needless to say we had plenty of road challenges along the way as we drove through unfamiliar territory.

This mini quilt was no different. It was a challenge right from the start as I made my way through unfamiliar territory. And the journey was not without a few wrong turns.

I posted earlier this week about my procrastination on getting started. For various reasons I really waited till the last minute. I knew it would mean more if I pushed the concept further. Further in terms of technique. Further in terms of the underlying personal meaning. I had an idea but had no idea how to piece it so I simply put it off. Hope I've learned my lesson when it comes to procrastinating.  : )

In the end I'm pretty pleased with my results. My quilt represents the craziness of real roadways as it was based on a real highway image. But it also represents the ever changing directions of my personal quilting journey.

I've been quilting for over 15 years and in that time have gone in many different directions. When I first started, I did my share of traditional quilts. I've also explored impressionist style quilts. Along the way I fell in love with Kaffe Fassett fabrics which had a big impact on my style. More recently, I've ventured into the creative world of modern quilts. Looking back I still love them all and am even growing more resistant to the labels. I'm trying hard to make what I like. What inspires me regardless of the label.

Below is the first large quilt I ever made. A traditional 9-patch floral. Please excuse the poor quality photo. It's an old quilt and a pre digital era photo.

This is another 9-patch showing the direction my quilts went when I discovered Kaffe.

With these influences in mind, I incorporated a bit of fabric from both of these quilts to express the journey I've been on. Fabric from the first quilt plays the part of a more distant road while the Kaffe fabric road dominates. The use of grays are a more literal interpretation of the many other roads and also allude to the many directions my quilting has gone over time. I enjoy using solids but after awhile I crave prints, especially the big bold prints.

So with all this in mind, I give you "My Journey".

The paths this little quilt took me on were many. Sometimes simple. Sometimes quite confusing. It looks simple but most definitely was not. A great learning experience that pushed me to utter confusion at times. I'll post next week about the technique, the mistakes and what I learned.

In the mean time, please take a look at all the other wonderful quilts that came from this challenge. There are 7 other very talented quilters in our little group and I am always amazed at the variety of ideas everyone comes up with. That's part of what makes this all so fun.

Amanda at What the Bobbin

Nancy at Patchwork Breeze

Carla at LollyQuiltz

Elizabeth at OPQuilt

Betty at Salt Ayer on Flickr

Rachel at The Life of Riley

Leanne at She Can Quilt

Hope you have enjoyed My Journey!