Showing posts with label Project Quilting Quarantine. Show all posts

Saturday, April 03, 2021

Week 1 of #AtoZchallenge2021Quilt (Art)

The #AtoZchallenge2021Quilt started April 1 and I posted my first three letters on Instagram. If you didn't catch them, here is a recap.

A is for Art appliqué

The piece is A White History of Art and the image that I used to illustrate Art Appliqué is the close-up of the representation of The White Girl by Whistler.

It was created for Art with Fabric Blog Hop, Fall 2018. It is based on a BBC series called History of Art in Three Colours. This piece is an interpretation of the White episode and the picture below portrays The White Girl by Whistler.

Representation of a Symphony in White, No. 1:
The White Girl by Whistler

Here is an image of the entire piece. If you're interested in reading more about it, see Related links below.

A White History of Art

B is for Batik

The piece is called Peek-a-boo Red. It's totally hand-stitched with embroidery and beading. Peeking out from behind the curtain, you can see the batik hexies.

It's one of four mini art quilts that I create for the Summer Fibrations Art Show by the Out of the Box (OOTB) Artists Group which was held at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte Ontario in June - July 2019.

Peek-a-boo Red with Batik Hexies peeking out from the curtain

C is for Couching and Cording

The piece is called BIG Mandala to Help Heal the World. It was created for the Project Quilting Quarantine 2020. I made my own cording and then couched it down between the different parts of the Mandala.

Hand-made cording that is couched down

BIG Mandala to help heal the world - PQQ 2020

What I learned

I am very impressed that I was really organised and ready to post all of these without too much effort.
I don't generally like to post on Instagram because I have to write all of the information, including # tags on my phone. It's a really pain. It's not perfected yet but I wrote all three posts in a Word document and copied the wording for all three in an email. I was then able to go back to the email, copy the text and post it in Instagram.
I'm actually getting better on my phone, switching from one window to the other....that always made me nervous but I'm better at it now.
Posting from Instagram to the #AtoZchallenge2021Quilt linking party with Frédérique at Quilting, Patchwork, Appliqué using my phone was more of a challenge. I don't think that the problem is with InLinkz (who were very helpful) but with Instagram. Even now I'm wouldn't know that it was linked if not for going on the computer to check.
It's definitely a learning process and I expect to be an expert by the end of April 😊
I'm really glad that it's a really long weekend so that I'll have time to prepare for next week, and maybe even more!

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Fun FMQ samples at Free Motion Mavericks

Hi and welcome to week 278 of Free Motion Mavericks. I finally have some free motion quilting (FMQ) to share with you as well as a Big Mandala finish. Yeah! 😊

Sample FMQ

After so much hand stitching and then quilting with my walking foot, I was getting desperate for some FMQ time!

I've been watching Angela Walters' latest FMQ Challenge on YouTube. She is doing some fun variations with the serpentine design, including a Plume Feather (links are in Related links below). I've been wanting to try the plume feather so this was the perfect opportunity. Here are my first three practice pieces.

Third Plume feather with a border

First Plume feather

Second Plume feather
within a diamond

FMQ the serpentine design is not my favourite, but again, now that I've practiced it, it's not so bad - and it is versatile, especially with the variations that Angela suggested.

Practicing the serpentine design and adding variations

The serpentine design with feathers and a lotus flower

All of the borders above, including the diamond outline were done with my FMQ ruler. It's getting a little easier to work with.

Big Mandala & April OMG finish

I made this improv pieced Mandala for the first week of the Project Quilting Quarantine. Since the rules were slightly elastic because there were no prizes, I posted it even if it wasn't quite finished. I just had some beading and final FMQ to add. This is also my April One Monthly Goal (OMG), so it needs to be posted soon!

BIG Mandala beaded

Details of the FMQ leaves in the last ring

What I learned

It was good to see improvements in my Plume feathers through the three pieces.
I'm still struggling with the serpentine design. It seems that sometimes I get it and other times not so much.
Angela said that it's easier to do the serpentine design in a smaller space such as 3" - 4" rather than 5" - 6". She's right - it's easier to keep the shape in a smaller space, but still not easy for me.
I took my finished picture of the Big Mandala before I FMQ the last ring. When I realised this, I went back to take more pictures but it was very blustery - so only the detailed picture has the FMQ on the last ring.

Free Motion Mavericks

Thanks to everyone who linked up last time! There are some great quilting and quilting events to keep us productive and sane going on. Have you joined in any of them yet? Last link up Sandra of mmm! quilts had a lovely finish, even if she can't get it to her daughter quite yet. If you didn't see her Storm at Sea, go have a look!

Storm at Sea by Sandra of mmm! quilts

It's your turn.

Sunday, April 05, 2020

BIG Mandala to help heal the world - PQQ 2020

It would seem that the Project Quilting is not quite over. It's been extended to Project Quilting Quarantine (PQQ) 2020! Same fun stuff but with no sponsors and prizes, so that means that it's a little more flexible (good thing because my project is not quite finished!)

A BIG Mandala to help heal the world

A Mandala is the Sanskrit word for "circle". It can be a very sacred if created by monks, but it can also be a wonderful creation to focus meditation. You may have seen them in colouring books for helping to reduce stress.

I created my BIG Mandala as a meditation tool to help heal the world. It would seem that at this particular time, the inhabitants of this small planet we call home are in need of healing...

I'm going to keep this simple since I have 45 minutes to post before the deadline! I'll include more details in my final post, hopefully within a week or so.

Making a BIG Mandala for PQQ

I've been wanting to make a Mandala for a while. The quilted mandala is loosely based on the article, Patchwork Collage Mandalas by Rebekah Meier in the Quilting Arts magazine of October/November 2018 (see Related links below).

In my research, I found that green in a Mandala is the colour for healing the body and that blue is for self-healing (among other things). That's why I chose to highlight these colours, especially in the scallops.

I also used very specific free motion quilting (FMQ) designs to help to keep it simple (to aid in meditation) and to signify healing.

Quilting symbols that could signify life and healing

Creating hand-stitched cording to match the healing colours; adding
green and blue scallops for healing the body and the self; and
FMQ lotus flowers and the eternal flame.

This is the Mandala so far. It still needs some beading, FMQ around the last circle and some trimming around the edge. I haven't quite figured out the exact finish so I'll be posting again with more details once it's finished.

BIG Mandala to help heal the world

What I learned

Well, I still haven't learned to make a deadline when there is an out, but I do want this to be a beautiful finish. I will be using it for meditation.😊