Discovering Project Quilting - Chocolate Cravings

Do you know about Project Quilting? I just found out about it through Sherry of Powered by Quilting's post. It's 8:30 pm here and the project needs to be finished and posted by noon Central Time. According to the little countdown clock, I have 16 hours to create a project that is related to "Craving Chocolate".

Project Quilting - Craving Chocolate

As I'm writing this, I'm frantically thinking of what I could finish for this challenge. I don't know if you remember but in the Instagram event, 100 hexies in 100 days, there was a week for "Something Sweet". Here's the picture that I posted and what I wrote about it.

"It was the brown fabric with caramel coloured dots that gave me the idea for this. Doesn't it look good enough to eat?"

Week 12 - Something Sweet
#100hexies100days2018

With this in mind, I am going to attempt to make a completed mini art quilt for Project Quilting. See you soon! (This was at 8:30 pm, just before taking Chevy for her walk)

At 2:30 am, I was quite happy with my results. I had done everything that I could since my sewing machine is in the bedroom and hubby was asleep! It's not a pretty picture since my good light is next to my sewing machine.

Chocolate Cravings - progress at 2:30 am

It was difficult to sleep last night because I was so excited.... so it was even harder to get up at 8:30 this morning.

After feeding the dog, (I still haven't had my coffee yet!!!) upstairs I went to my sewing machine. I have to admit that my brain was rather fuzzy so instead of finishing the edges envelope style, I improvised and finished them with a zigzag stitch. I actually saw some great textile art pieces yesterday that were finished this way. Of course, they were mounted on canvas, but still, it worked 😊

Chocolate Cravings

The proof is in the eating....it was great chocolate!

 What I learned

• This was too much fun. I know what I'm doing next January - participating in all of the Project Quilting challenges!
• It would be so cool if I could figure out how to finish a piece before I actually start it so that I could get it right....I'm not sure that this is going to happen, except on major pieces (which I avoid because planning just adds to the pressure!)
• I really, really need a coffee but it's amazing what I can do without coffee...when motivated!

Related links

• Project Quilting's main page
• EPP or English Paper Piecing Fun, December 1, 2018
• Thank you Sherry at Powered by Quilting for introducing me to Project Quilting!

Linking parties

This post will be linked to the Project Quilting, Season 10, Challenge 6 link-up. I did it!!!

Off the Wall, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Show Off Saturday, Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scraps!, Brag About Your Beauties, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Friday,   

I linked up to Sandra's DrEAMi! link because if this isn't a squirrel project, nothing is!

Check out what everyone has made, and make sure to VOTE for your favourite.

Project Details

Chocolate Cravings
Size: 8 ½" x 9 ½"
Materials: Cotton, embroidery floss
Techniques: English Paper Piecing, appliqué, embroidery, free motion quilting

Throwback Thursday - My Colours

From the first Thursday of each month until Sunday, Jenn at a Quarter Inch from the Edge hosts Throwback Thursday! Linky parties. This is where bloggers write about a quilt that was made way, way back. Since I haven't been quilting for that long, for me way back means BB - before blogging.




My Colours is the first art quilt that I designed and made.

My Colours

I wanted to make a quilt that represented ME! My intention was to have it look like a crazy quilt. I did use embroidery and embellishments, but the shapes are mostly rectangular, not crazy. I used some very funky and colourful fabrics. Not bad for a very small fabric stash.

Each block represents something about my personality or my life. There were a lot of flowers since at the time I did a lot of gardening. That was before I got totally addicted to quilting and gave up on my garden. It turns out that the results of my quilting were much more predictable than my garden!

There were also many hearts and symbols of peace - for the hippie that I am, even if I was born at least 10 years too late.

I had a great time shopping for things to include in the quilt. I found a beautiful red hat - for the woman that I am becoming as I age. There were also cool decals and buttons about quilting and nature, including a beautiful glass fish pendant. Many of the blocks were embroidered in the crazy quilt style. The entire piece was hand quilted in different coloured thread.

At the 2010 Quilt Show

It was one of two quilts that I exhibited in my first show with the Common Thread Quilt Guild in 2010.

What I learned:

• Even after all these years, this quilt still represents who I am.
• For many years this wall hanging was in my cubicle. Unfortunately our new cubicles have very little wall space so it's now at home. 
• It had continued to evolve - it has a few more buttons and some postcards pinned to it.
• This was quilted by hand, before I had a sewing machine that FMQ. It would have taken me much longer to make.

I am linking this post to Throwback Thursday! hosted by a Quarter Inch from the Edge,

Floral Fantasy Wholecloth Quilt

It's finished and now hanging at the CTQG So full of love quilt show this weekend. If you're in Ottawa, I hope you'll consider attending. We have very talented quilters. It should be a great show.

Almost finished Floral Fantasy Wholecloth Quilt

I didn't take a final picture of this beauty before it left home because the deadline for handing in the quilts was Tuesday at 6 pm. At 5:40 I was still beading. Thank goodness an extra hour wasn't a problem, but there was no time for pictures.

I've added a couple of pictures at the end of the post, now that I've finished volunteering at the show this afternoon.

This project is based on Cindy Needham’s Machine Quilting Wholecloth Quilts on Craftsy. One of the topics in her course is making a medallion wholecloth quilt, using a variety of stencils and free motion quilting (FMQ). I've used many of her techniques and advice in the last two years. This my second project based on her class - the first one was another wall hanging with tons of FMQ, but all made by following the printed fabric at the back of the quilt. It sounds weird but is so cool! This is a technique that I actually want to make again.

Figuring out what to do with the centre

Here's the process I followed:

• I drew the stencils directly onto the fabric then added the batting and backing. It was nice not to do any piecing!
• To be honest, I had no idea how to quilt this thing. I FMQ around the medallion using a relatively heavy King Tut variegated cotton thread.
• I then outlined the border and added metallic thread through the bobbin. That was relatively easy to do since I only had to stay in the centre(ish) of the outline. 
• Finally it was time to outline the butterflies and add metallic thread to their body. 

I still had no idea what to do with the medallion, so I ignored it. I knew that sooner or later I would figure it out!

Before adding pebbles to the circles of the flowers

I then proceeded to FMQ in straight(ish) lines around the design. I believe these are called match sticks. Since there are many angles to this piece, I just tried to be consistent when changing the angles of the FMQ.

When that was done, I still didn't know what to do with the medallion. I started by FMQ pebbles with metallic thread in the centre circle. I then echoed every second flower with the same variegated thread. Since the flowers that weren't echoed were standing out too much, I FMQ inside them, following their outline. As you can see in this picture, it was starting to look good, but I felt that the circles in the quilted flowers stood out too much so I quilted pebbles.

What I learned:

Floral Fantasy Wholecloth Quilt at the Sew full of love quilt show

• I really wanted to block this quilt as Cindy Needham recommended, but I ran out of time. It really could have used it since the medallion was quilted last and was less densely quilted in some areas. Not good practice but if I had waited to quilt the medallion first, the quilt would still be a work in progress (WIP).
• As usual, this project wasn't planned - not because I didn't want to but because I didn't know what to expect and what to do next. Now that I have some experience, I'll choose my next stencil pattern more carefully, based on how I'll be quilting it (I hope).
• I liked the beads and may add a few more once I get the quilt back.
• This was one of the first times that when I quilted the outline of the border, I should have taken the time to tie off the thread. It was a good quality polyneon thread but it tended to undo. Since I have quite a bit of this type of thread, I will try to remember to tie off my ends.
• I wasn't as careful as I should have been when I FMQ the corners of the quilt. I actually had to go back and sew a few more lines on two of the corners. This happened because I was quilting them at an angle. I'll have to watch out for the corners next time.
• I'm so happy that the next CTQG quilt show is in 2 years! I need a serious break from deadlines.

In front of my art quilts at the Sew full of love quilt show

I have linked this post to the following Linky Parties:

• Lessons Learned with Afton; 
• Off the Wall with Nina Marie;
• Free Motion Mavericks with Muv;
• Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? with Sarah;
• Design Board Monday with Cath;

I have linked this post to Sarah Goer Quilts - Show Me Something with Solids.

Fibre Fling 5 Show

It was amazing to see my art quilts hanging beside other wonderful art and feel that they fit right in! I have to admit that I didn't expect this to happen to me, at least before I retired and got to play and create full time.

It was great to help set up the Out of the Box Fibre Fling 5 art show and sale. Some of the larger pieces were hung on the wall, but there were a dozen free-standing structures to hang the art pieces. I worked with one of the artists to set up the pieces on the structures. What a great learning experience.

I learned what pieces played well together and would look good hanging on the same surface while others did not play nice. See my "What I learned" section below for some basic tips on choosing which pieces should hang out together.


Here is the video of my interview with Liana Voia.

Envelope for "Imagine"

"Imagine" 26½” x 30½”

Even before the show, it was quite the job getting my pieces ready. Each piece needed a good label, a card with information and a photo for display purposes as well as a hanging rod. I always use a dowel, but had to attach eye hooks and then a length of wire to each dowel.

Each piece also needed a container or envelope for transportation to the show. If the piece was for sale then the container needed to look good in case it sold and was taken home by a customer. Here are the envelopes I created as well as the pieces that were in the show.

The envelope for "Imagine" was the largest since it had 2 sections - one for the quilt and the other for a piece of cardboard so that the quilt could stay rigid and not get folded and creased. I couldn't roll it up since it was three-dimensional.

Imagine
Inspiration: Musical Challenge for the CTQG representing the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. The people are holding hands around the crazy-quilted world. Each fabric represents a culture or part of the world.
Materials: Cotton fabric, ribbons, beads, embroidery floss
Techniques: Hand embroidered, machine appliquéd, free-motion quilted, beaded

I made the envelopes for the next two quilts out of a pillow case. You can see that "Woven Landscape" got the edge of the pillow case while "Yellow Kayak" got the end part.

Yellow Kayak

Inspiration: Quilt based on a friend’s photograph of her kayak in the river.

Materials: Cotton fabrics, shoe lace, metal clasp, button 

Techniques: raw-edge appliquéd, free-motion quilted

Yellow Kayak 11½” x 12½”

Envelope for Woven Landscape

Woven Landscape

Inspiration: Playing around with a woven background and creating a whimsical landscape.

Materials: cotton, organza, jute-cotton ribbon, beads, embroidery floss

Techniques: woven background, raw edge appliqué, beaded, embroidered and hand-quilted

Woven Landscape 13" x 17½"

Hockey Day in Canada

Inspiration: Playing with fabric in a winter theme. I finished it on Hockey Day in Canada 2016.

Materials: Cotton fabrics, beads, buttons, tulle

Techniques: raw-edge appliquéd, free-motion quilted, beaded

Hockey Day in Canada  12½ " x 9½"

The envelope for "Hockey Day in Canada" was made from lovely snow flannel with a blue border to extend the envelope. 

Envelope for Hockey Day in Canada

A very practical envelope

I didn't make anything special for the "Memories of the South-West" piece since it was small enough to fit into a plastic pouch and it wasn't for sale. Some duct tape to secure the information to the envelope and it was done! 

Memories of the South-West 12" x 9½"

Memories of the South-West

Inspiration: After a trip to the American south-west, I wanted to create a landscape art quilt, however the photo used as inspiration is from Ayers Rock in Australia.

Materials: cotton, wool and acrylic yarns, embroidery thread, tulle

Techniques: hand appliquéd, embroidery, machine sewing.

During the Fibre Fling 5 show, we had the privilege of being interviewed for a short YouTube video of our work. I was interviewed this morning. After a couple of false starts, it went really well. As soon as it's ready, I will link it to this post and possibly to my blog page - something else to learn to do :-)

What I learned

While helping to put up the show on Thursday, I learned some tips about placing art pieces together. Here is what I surmised:

• A face in a piece will always attract the most attention. Our eyes are drawn to it. To be placed with such a piece, the second piece has to be visually strong enough to command its own attention without distracting from the face. 
• Similar colours in two pieces may help them to "play nicely with each other". There still needs to be enough contrast so that they don't just blend into each other.
• Shapes in both pieces are important. A piece with straight lines may not play nicely with a piece that is mostly curves or more flowing. 
• I also learned that I have pretty good colour instincts. It's great though to know why something works or doesn't work since saying "that it doesn't feel right" isn't the best way to express your opinion.
• As I write these tips down, I realise that these also applies to auditioning fabrics for a project. On the other hand, breaking the rules will often create stress, contrast and interest. It just depends on the effect the artist is going for.

I have linked this post to the following linky parties. Please check them out to see what others are doing. Thanks for stopping by.
Off the Wall Friday; Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Fabric Frenzy Friday; and Lessons Learned Linky

A Successful Quilt Show

What a blast the quilt show was.  We had over 200 quilts on display.  The quality and variety was simply amazing! The ladies who organised the show were incredible.  My daughter and I spent most of our Saturday and Sunday at the show volunteering. That's probably a good thing, since it kept me from spending too much money! 



It's a "snap" + "dragon"



I've been busy getting the quilt show special edition of the guild newsletter ready. It's off to the printer's today and I'll be posting it on our website this weekend.  Here the link to the Newsletters page. It'll be marked June 2012.  

During the show, we had a great sitting area that was decorated as a patio and the displays were a series of rebus. They were quilted puzzles depicting things that grow in the garden. For photos of all of the rebus and their solutions, go to this link and click on "Solutions to Grow a Rebus Garden".  Can you guess what my rebus represents?

I've actually had time to start a new quilting project. It's a very simple, very colourful baby quilt for Sonya's new baby boy. It isn't as fancy as the first baby's quilt but I don't think Alexandre will care.

 I'll be joining a Beginner's Quilt-Along through the Quilting Gallery.  We'll be making a 12 inch block each week, starting June 8th and finishing in September. The quilt will have 12 or 13 blocks, sashing and borders.  I haven't decided what I'm going to use as fabric, but it'll come from my stash. Right now, I'm thinking Christmas fabrics or batiks. The only problem with batiks is that I won't want to give it away!

 

Stay tuned for the adventure and check out the

 Quilting Gallery!