Progress and Fun

Fibre Fling 6 - A Success!

I took most of last week off - to quilt, rest and then to volunteer at Fibre Fling 6. It was the ultimate holiday - taking time for myself, quilting, reading 2 books (that's how I rest), spending some quality time with my young adults and hanging out with fibre art and artists.

As I was talking with visitors and fellow artists at the show, I was so excited - I swear I was high on life and art!!!

Here are some of the things that I played with this week:

I have been wanting to make a couple of neutral lap quilts for a while. For the last year or so I've been increasing my stash of neutral fabrics.

More Take 5 Quilts

Anyone who knows me will wonder how I could make a neutral coloured quilt, but since I made the Bali Back Flip quilt and the Orange Peel Runner in neutrals, I must say that I've really come to appreciate them. I find them so classy and zen. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't work for very long without some real colour, but a change of scenery is not a bad thing :-)

All of the fabric strips for the quilt

The pattern I chose for the first quilt comes from More Take 5 Quilts by Kathy Brown. It's called Take 5 Loves Coffee Milk.

I don't usually cut all of my fabric before I start the quilt, but in this case I had no choice since each block requires pieces from all of the fabrics.

It took me a while to get the hang of the pattern because I had substituted some of the colours and had to translate the pattern to my fabrics.

Once I got the hang of it, it went really well. Just a lot of straight seams and no matching or points. My kind of piecing! Since the blocks are 14½ ", they sewed up quickly. It was also interesting to see the different colour combinations. I love the dark fabrics on the outside the best. I think that it's going to make a nice quilt.

Different block variations

More blocks

I've now completed 14 of the 20, 14½ " blocks required. The pattern is much larger than I need, but I'm going to make all of the blocks and then decide what to do with the extra ones. This might be my chance to make a partially pieced back. I've ordered and received the backing fabric - it's the wide backing and was on sale. Gotta love it!

Needle Felting

After participating in a Needle Felting Play Day last June, I had bought some supplies but didn't take any of them out until this week. I have to admit that I did so to justify buying a few more supplies - the shop is close to the Fibre Fling 6 venue!

On Saturday, between errands, I took over the kitchen table and played! Turns out that mixing different coloured threads, wool roving and fibre is really good for my artist's soul.

My first piece was made purely for fun. I wanted to use a merino wool and roving mixture that I purchased this week. It's so beautiful and soft that all I want to do is snuggle up to it! It reminds me of a scrumptious sherbet :-) I think that I've completed the needle felting part, but I would like to embellish it with beads. I have no idea how this piece will progress, but I'm sure that it'll come to me.

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The second and third pieces are for an art piece that I had hoped to make for the Colour Unboxed Exhibition. It wasn't made for the show, but I bought the fabrics I wanted and I still think that it's a great idea. Now that there's no pressure, I will probably make it. There are bound to be more shows that will need art quilts :-)




Fibre Fling 6

The view as visitors walked in to Fibre Fling 6

Here are a few pictures of Fibre Fling 6. Two of my pieces were in a great location - visible just as people walked into the room. Do you see them under the wonderful multi-coloured piece?

Sifting Pebbles was made by my friend and ex-colleague Kathy. Isn't it lovely?

Kathy created the copper wire knitted basket that is treated with patina in a workshop led by Sayward Johnson. The basket is displayed on a raw silk background to highlight its delicacy. The piece reminds Kathy of sifting sand and pebbles on the beach.

I just have to share this last one - it was created in honour of the 20th anniversary of the Out of the Box artist group. Véronique free motion quilted zentangle designs that she then shaded with water colours. I just love it!

Out of the Box celebrates 20 years!

What I learned:

• It seems that I don't need wine to get high - I just need to attend and participate in an art show! Great to know :-)
• Cutting fabric is the perfect thing to do when I'm sick with a sinus cold and can't lie down. That's how I cut all of the fabric for my neutral quilt. I made sure that I was well organised and then cut the fabric while listening to the audio version of Inheritance, the 4th book of the Eragon Series by Christopher Paolini. I don't read, or listen to, a lot of fantasy, but this series rocks!
• There's nothing like guilt to motivate me. In this case I don't mind since I did end up felting.

Featured Links:

• Bali Back Flip Lap Quilt (January 2, 2016)
• Orange Peel Table Runner (February 3, 2016)
• More Take 5 Quilts by Kathy Brown
• Needle Felting Play Day (June 8, 2016)
• Colour Unboxed Exhibition (January 24, 2017)
• Artists: Sharon Collins, Elaine Quehl, Sayward Johnson
• Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Linky Parties

See what other quilters are making by visiting these parties I've linked up to: Main Crush Monday, Monday Making, Moving it Forward Monday, Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, MOP Monday, Finished or Not Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop? Off the Wall Friday,