Off the wall Friday 5-17

Starting a new project but only have the bare start - It's going to be a zentangle in response to the word hope and I "hope" that I don't screw it up, now that I've said I'm doing it.

I've lightly penciled in a sketch and will outline all in black, then divide up some sections and quilt my little heart out, getting into the "zen" of FMQ ing.

 

I also need to work on some cupcake pincushions to sell at the quilt show in June. They've been sitting here for a month like this.

 

My mom just finished this fishing quilt - 540 pieced pieces! Did I mention she is a bit of a crazy person?

It's gorgeous and precise. She is such an accomplished piecer - great job, mom! Look at all the pebble quilting on the bottom brown part.

And this is all HAND appliquéd and HAND quilted! Yes, people still do that and she does it very, very well.

 

We met today in Vergennes,VT and had a nice lunch in a park with a view of these falls.

Beautiful spot.

 

A quiet moment between friends pattern

A Quiet Moment Between Friends

19"x19"

I finished my downloadable pattern for a quiet moment between friends - finally! It takes longer than you think to make a pattern / tutorial. The pattern part is easy, it's the tutorial with the photos and trying to get the directions down. I want to be thorough but yet not go on and on, which I tend to do. I try to think like the person reading this is a beginner so I may go into more detail than I have to but then I want beginners to be able to do this. With this pattern, in the beginning I laid out the basic measurements so that someone with a lot of experience in this type of fusible appliqué can just print the pattern and go.

 

Then after I finish, I like to make the pattern again from what I downloaded as if I purchased the pattern to see if it works. Above is the version with the cartoonish dog and cat. I'm still working on the binding yet.

I'm happy with how this pattern came out. You can purchase on craftsy here

Or etsy here

The cost $4.50 on craftsy and $5.00 on etsy (etsy takes a percentage and craftsy does not so I suggest going there) craftsy is a wonderful site if you've never been, I highly recommend it. Their video classes are worth the price and they do have some that are free.

 

While I'm on the pattern making kick, I am starting another one. This will be a simple lake landscape that can be embellished to the makers preference using cut out novelty fabrics. For instance the airstream and little cabin above.

This one I'm working on today, getting some of the measurements and photos together. It's a nice rainy quilty type of day off today so I can play with my "lakescape"

 

 

What! Does that mean no walk?

;-)

 

Art and Soul

Art and Soul is a one night art show with 1/2 the proceeds of any art sold going to a local charity. This year it's Echo, the lake Champlain education center and I just finished 5 art quilts to hopefully be selected to enter in the show. Since I put my H(art) and soul into all my quilts, this show appealed to me. They need to have something to do with Echo's mission which is to educate people about the lake and the area around it. So here's what I came up with.

The waterfront near burlington, that little lighthouse is sort of a landmark down there.

 

Lake Champlain - camping is a great way to enjoy it

 

The lake again with a bear - we've had a lot of bear sightings around here lately

 

I know, this is not the ocean - it's Vermont! But did you know that just a few million years ago this area was covered by the ocean? And sea urchins were all over the place.

 

And my personal favorite - the sand dollar.

 

Wish me luck with the art and soul show and if that doesn't work out, I'll be putting in my etsy shop.

Quilt On!

 

Purple sea urchin shell

Would you know what this was if I didn't tell you?

If you've ever walked a beach to collect shells and were lucky you probably have a few of these in your collection as do I. Problem is, what do you do with them? So in the box they sit. At least this one can be hung on the wall.

 

Here's a close up. I used Leah Day's ocean current quilting design and probablly stuffed the thing to much because it was a bitch to quilt around. I did learn to use the closed hole free motion foot since the open one kept catching on the shell.

This was my inspiration photo, not exactly the same but if I wanted exactly the same I would just hang the photo on the wall now wouldn't I?

 

This was very different but I had fun and that's what this quilting business is all about , don't cha think?

 

Quilt On!

 

WIP WED - what the hell is it?

I have an idea

First I painted this

Then began quilting it like this

White ,thread change and a purple marker

Then added this dark thread and may have screwed it up. At this point last night I stopped, needing a fresh start. I may just thread paint the darker so you cant see the under fabric much, or try to make the screw up a shadow somehow? I know this is a wierd one.

And no I did not hijack this vehicle. I am not crazy or drunk (well maybe alittle crazy). You will see when it's done ;-)

Any guesses?

Hint #1. I'm going to cut a hole in the middle and applique onto a dark background.
Hint #2 - think beach

Wool landscape

I'm linking up at Nina's off the wall Friday. Check out all the very creative quilters linked up there every Friday.

I've been experimenting with some of the felted wool I've been collecting.

 

This is a simple little landscape of lake Champlain where I live.

Wool is really good for appliqué, it doesn't fray once it's washed and shrunk and since its thick you don't really need to use batting.

 

Disadvantages include the limited colors you can find , it doesn't take paint well and my quilting stitches seemed to sink in so it's hard to see. I did try a thicker thread just below the mountains and it stood out more (note to self)

I tried melting some sheer fabric and then tacking it down for leaves but don't really like it much.

Any suggestions on tree leaves?

Hmmm, I just thought of the lazy quilters post last week showing her dryer lint from felting all her wool.

Wonder if that would make leaves / foliage?

Hmmmmmmmmmm :-)

 

Quilt On

 

Snowy April afternoon update - finished it!

 

Decided to add some yarn for foliage and it gave it that extra oomph needed. A vintage button from my grandmothers button box finished it off.

Now I can link up to Friday finishes :-)

 

WIP Wed

I have lots of things in progress and nothing finished, but this is WIP Wed - right? So I'm right on track:-)

This simple Lake Champlain landscape of the Burlington waterfront is almost quilted. I may want to add a tree or something yet but will decide after the quilting and trimming. I love that sky/ water fabric.

My twitter friends helped me decide on this yellow for a moon, but the red sky is just..... Well red

So I threw some paint on there to blend it, just a little. Still wet here, may be different when dry but so far I think it's better, not so "in your face"

This morning I started playing with some of the wool - haul from last week. I cut off just a sleeve from each coat, one pant leg to make it more manageable. We shall see what becomes of it. Experimentation shall ensue later today :-)

Well, this is taken later, since my original post couldnt be posted because of technical difficulties. Embellishing could be fun on this:-)

And of course my biggest work in progress is the beautiful "summer girl". I've learned she's a digger and I now have lots of holes all over my backyard , some of them with various dog bones and toys buried beneath. Thank you to my friend, quilter, blogger, and dog trainer extraordinaire - Glen for her advice.

Her blog Quilts and Dogs is a really good blog to follow by the way. She has this wonderful sense of humor that makes me smile.

I would link her blog here but I'm using this free app called craft draft since blogsy is crashing and I dont see how I can link with this. Google quilts and dogs - youll find her and youll be glad you did :-)


Quilt On!