Color!

"Through a Glass, Darkly:  An American Memory" detail

On this gloomy damp grey January day I am in need of color!  The bright reds are put away after Christmas and softer fresh light colors are around me.  Spots of intense blue and lovely yellow really brighten the house and my mood.  Color is one of those things for quilters that is very important indeed.  

Years ago in 2004 I wrote an article for Quilter's Newsletter Magazine that was part of their series on quilt artists and their take on color and how they used it.  At that time I had a lecture titled "Mud, Wonderful Mud!" as well as a class that helped others see drab, dull, muddy shades as vital to a true color balance in many quilts and other art.  

In the photo below of a quilting sample done on one of Caryl Bryer Fallert's Benartex fabrics the blue stands out, the surrounding "mud" colors are rich and warm and let the blue steal the show.  

I always spoke about these mud colors with tongue-in-cheek as I know for many color is something you don't joke about; favorite colors as well as the ugly colors are absolute.  Lines are not crossed. I know quilters who will not allow purple in the house, much less in a quilt.

However, I do believe we can always expand our horizons and perhaps a little "mud" is just what you need for 2017.  Forget Avocado Green and Harvest Gold from the 70's; we had an avalanche of those colors in every aspect of our lives, and this really created an aversion to any color resembling these two prime suspects. 

But it is a new year, warm lovely colors are perfect in our work, and you might surprise yourself by the result of their inclusion.   Below is the article, judiciously edites/updated here and there,  and some photos that will help illustrate my points for the use of mud.....

Color as I See It  

by Diane Gaudynski

The azure blue sky, the white marble courthouse with a sea of steps leading down to the sunny street.  A beautiful woman in purple running down the steps. Handsome leading man waiting for her at the bottom, arms filled with luscious red roses, dressed in his well-fitted military uniform of deep bronze khaki.  Hollywood pulled out all the stops to insure everyone would zero in on the important parts of this scene, punctuated with bright color to draw the eye.  However, as I watched, I thought to myself, "what gorgeous khaki in his uniform!"

"Sixteen Baskets of Mud" 1997  

I gave in and let myself use army green for the border and lots of mud from my extensive collection for the baskets.  Bright "pretty" colors were saved for the top triangles in the baskets.  This little quilt set the mud wheels in motion.....and another variation, below, made for a piecing class.

Color and quilting are the two items in a quilt that are immediate and nonnegotiable.   Designs may be open to interpretation, patterns come and go, but the color of a quilt is its hallmark.

We refer to our quilts by their color:  my red quilt, the blue and yellow one I made last year.  Quilting provides the three-dimensional texture that makes a design seem new and fresh, but it is color that supports the quilting, showcases it, and shouts, "Look at me!"

Above, some of my quilts in an exhibit in 2010 at the National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY

When asked what color I am using in a quilt, I invariably describe it with a word from nature or food:  goldenrod rather than yellow/gold; cappuccino rather than tan.  Colors that might be overlooked or termed "uglies" have always provided me that delicious, necessary backdrop for the more universally acceptable hues such as red, blue, and purple.  The ugly colors that I refer to as "mud" give my quilts their particular signature.

"October Morning" 1999

A liberal use of rich and warm mud browns, which I described as "chocolate,"  as well as dark olives and russet colors for the pieced blocks are striking against a cool serene lilac background in this traditional Delectable Mountains quilt.

My natural tendency toward messiness has led me to interesting color discoveries.  Once I stepped on a piece of gold fabric after it spilled out of an overturned bin and I left a dusty footprint on it.   That gave me the idea of including it with other colors already chosen.  Another time, seeing two pieces of fabric unintentionally next to each other in a drawer, looking wonderful together, gave me an idea for a two-color quilt.

A tidy quilter may have simply re-sorted them and not had the opportunity of seeing an unusual color combination.  Be open to the unexpected.  Throw fabric around, see where it lands, and discover how strange combinations can look terrific.  Look at scraps thrown haphazardly in the wastebasket for inspiration!

I tend to pick the "off" shades of color.  Rather than a pure hue, I look for the slightly skewed version of it--dusty purple instead of clear purple, dark teal instead of turquoise, chartreuse or army green instead of grass green.  These colors give a quilt character and let the brighter colors stand out.

"Blossom's Journey"  

Dark green border and gold, brown plaid, and chartreuse set off the turquoise and bright reds in the fabrics in this 45" square wall quilt.  Detail, below.

Although my quilts reflect my love of subdued tones, I also like to include the bright zing of an indigo bunting or the brilliant red of a cardinal.  Here in the Midwest, real-life color can be a sea of murky tones interspersed with bright spots of intensity.  Brights look more important when surrounded by murk and gloom.  The cardinal can be seen from a distance in the brown and grey branches and dead grass here in winter.  

One of my first award-winning quilts caused a sensation in 1996 because the background was light khaki.  The local newspaper wrote that the "award winner" used fabric the color of men's pants, of all things, in her winning quilt.  The next year the the paper touted me in an interview as "the mud lady."

Other quilts have come and gone, but all have a bit of dull color included.  

"Red Square" Detail

I like to give the eye a resting place, provide a warm feeling natural to fiber art, and let the brighter, pure colors come forward, using these "mud" neutrals as a counterweight.  Everything from soft gold, cashew, and khaki to the deep browns and greens work for me, providing the necessary mortar of neutrality to hold a quilt design together.

So much time and effort goes into making a quilt; one of the rewards is admiring our fabric choices as we work.  It's an added pleasure having others tell you how much they love them too.   

~~~~~~~~

"Shadows of Umbria" detail; machine quilting in mud is delicious!

Season's Greetings

This humble little tree is lighting our home with birds, nests, and crystal, tempting Oliver and bringing Christmas joy and peace.  It has been put away for several years, but Oliver is now mature and only gently touches the crystal ornaments and watches them move and reflect the lights, and he doesn't seem to notice the birds perched here and there or some of the fallen nests from storms brought in to save and treasure.  Perhaps if the birds actually moved he would start stalking them!

We've had snow, mountains of it, and frigid temps, but are happy to be snug and warm inside.  I've been cleaning, decorating, and baking just a few big yummy oatmeal cookies.  I have long since stopped doing anything fancy, and keep it simple and delicious.  

Below is another look at my Delectable Mountains wall quilt, showing some of the quilting and the richness of the colors.  I like the heavy old rose sateen as a background color, but the fabric weight was a bit much for the lightweight piecing fabrics.  The large triangles are a rich mud color hand dyed sateen so there was quite a bit of weight in the piecing junctions. 

I quilted the backgrounds with gold silk thread (not metallic) and that added an overlay of rich color to offset the cool rose in the fabric.....I like it!  I did do a sample with matching rose thread and it sort of died and looked flat and lifeless.  There is nothing, repeat, nothing like quilting a sample with your choices before beginning on the actual quilt.  It has saved me from making major mistakes so many times.

Oliver is helping me with all this exciting activity, and his favorite new thing is my lovely Polar Bear snow globe, a mother and two cubs.  

I've always loved snow globes but never found one that was just right.  This one jumped into my line of sight recently while I was shopping for something entirely different (probably something way too practical to recall), and it enchanted me.  I didn't realize until I had it a few days and tipped it over to read about it that it had a key on the bottom, which I turned and now can hear Silent Night tinkling away as the bears sit in a whirlwind of snow. 

At first Oliver watched the bears, then checked out the snow when I shook it, and finally the music, and now simply sits and watches, enjoying it.  He is a gentleman of a cat.

Thank you all so very much for the incredible comments on my last post; they warm my heart and make me realize anew how special an experience I had as a quilt teacher.  

May your holidays be happy and bright, the New Year everything you wish it to be.  Peace,

Diane

Celtic Bubbles as Background

I have been practicing Celtic Bubbles around a flower I quilted several years ago to see if I liked making this design smaller to use as a background, rather than as a design in itself with the lines spaced farther apart in each spiral.  

Here you see how the design nestles around the large simple shapes of the flower, and it wasn't too hard to do.  The ruler gives you a guide as to the size of the quilting, the flower, and the background spacing which is a scant 1/8".  It is time consuming, but then so are tiny bubbles or pebbles, stippling, little bananas, any closely spaced background technique.  

When I taught this design I always suggested beginning with a scant 1/4" spacing, something your brain is so good at estimating from doing piecing, and continue with this spacing until you have mastered the technique.  It is by far the easiest spacing for almost everyone, and the easiest to do on a home machine with limited space.  

When you feel confident, then try some bubbles with decreased spacing, or make them larger, whatever is your inclination.  Keep in mind it is far easier to quilt large circles, with more space between the lines of stitching, on a longarm machine than a home machine.  It is easier for me to go smaller on my home machine than bigger, always.  So keep that in mind.  However, some quilters naturally tend towards larger designs and spacing, some do better small scale.

What I like about doing these spirals is they begin in the center and are so controlled as you quilt.  I never felt like things were getting away from me, but I could go fairly fast too the bigger the spiral became.  Doing the same shape/technique over and over really helps you improve quickly and gain confidence.  It goes faster than you would think and stays interesting for you, never boring.

One reason I find it fun to do is that each spiral shape has to bump into something already quilted and you have to resolve the design so it looks layered, looks as if it is peeking out from behind the flower, feather, another spiral, etc.  It isn't hard to do this, but takes control to slow down as you approach a line of stitching, stitch over it to get to the point where the next round of the spiral should appear.  

This control makes the design look very precise and intricate, gives it the "wow" factor.  If you are sloppy and just mush things in or miss your travel stitching the design becomes just lines and stitches and you lose the clarity of the floating spirals all layered in the background.

For the tutorial on Celtic Bubbles please see this earlier blog post.

Some things I discovered:

• If there are little nooks and crannies, long skinny spaces, odd spaces where it would be exceedingly difficult to add arcs or continue the spiral design, simply fill these with echo quilting, small bubbles or pebbles, tiny stippling.  As I echo the focal point quilting (here, the flower) I filled in some of these odd areas as I went.  The last echo of the design will be with the color thread used for the Celtic Bubbles so traveling will not show.
• Begin at the center of each spiral, being careful not to start too far from another bubble or something you'll bump into.  If you do start too far away, the spiral will become very large indeed, and more difficult to do, and will stand out from the others.  However if you want larger and fewer spirals, the farther away you start one from a completed one, the bigger it will become.
• Speed is important to keep your control.  I begin with a nice even slower speed to establish the circle shape, then speed up the machine to keep up with my hands as they go faster to keep the big smooth circles going well.  If you speed up your hands to make the larger arcs, the stitches will get way too big if you don't speed the machine too.  If stitches start out very small and get very large by the last circle it means your machine was not keeping up with your hands.  Work on it and it will become natural to speed up the machine to keep up with your hand movement so you get smooth spirals from the center all the way out.
• I seem to do my Celtic Bubbles counterclockwise.  I don't know what that means......!  But, it just feels natural.
• You can gradate the sizing of these and begin with larger ones, with greater spacing, then slowly decrease their size and the spacing.  This would give you a more artistic effect, perfect for pictorial quilts or art quilts.  Experiment!  Try different thread colors on your fabric to see what looks best before you commit.

I hope you give these a try and learn to love doing them as I do.  I wouldn't fill vast spaces with tiny ones, but these work so well in a small area to set off quilting or applique.  

It's a sunny cold day here in Wisconsin, with more snow from overnight, and Oliver is sleeping on the bed near me with spiked fur on the top of his head from the faucet water running off his head as he drank.  I usually remember to smooth it down, but it has dried into hard spikes, the punk cat look.  He is such a sweetie.

Keep quilting!  A little bit every day is a very good thing.

Diane

Is It Really 2015?

Washing Dishes with Oliver

Can I really have missed most of 2014 due to one stressful event after another?  Seems to be the case, but I hope to get back to my favorite pursuits in 2015; I have missed quilting and everyone I spent time with in my classes and travels.  My very best wishes to all of you and hope this will be a fresh and great start for you as well.

My days have become filled with routine, and mornings are devoted to washing dishes in the morning light, cleaning the kitchen, paying bills, checking email, all with Oliver's help.  He loves to get right down in the sink, have a long drink from the faucet, then oversee everything that goes on.  He seems to think two retirees are pretty exciting most of the time, but every now and then gives me that look, wondering why we don't have some action around here!

On New Year's I put away Christmas, the sun came out briefly, and Oliver and I cleaned and bagged and swept and dusted.  Oliver loved it, everything was different and new, even old familiar things were in different places.   We added spots of color and soft white everywhere, so much fun.

He checks out the kitchen island, below, to make sure he still has his fresh grass next to the brightly colored pottery.  He is looking at all this as if it still should be the familiar Christmas tree and is very wary.  Of course, he tried to put his head in the blue pitcher.........

He did not nap all day, so that evening fell into an exhausted sleep on the couch, content and happy with all we accomplished.

And then there is quilting and what has become of it; Oliver misses the excitement of the forbidden territory of my sewing room, and I miss it too.  Alas, due to health problems and injuries I haven't quilted in a long long time.  

I didn't know if I still could quilt, but a week ago it was time to find out.  I spent several days cleaning my sewing room, clearing it out of "stuff" piled everywhere, put all new things on the walls, re-set the clock to the correct time, hung a 2015 quilt calendar, put a new cover on the ironing board, swept the floors that still need washing, and looked around.  I felt like a quilter again.  It was time to oil my machines and see if they still worked.  

Everything I did, all the things I organized and went through, brought back memories of my quilting and teaching days.  I found so many lovely gifts from my students and friends, and yes I keep and treasure all of them.  Below are just a few that were on the top of the piles of things to be sorted, all lovely and special to me.

There will be a major recycling day for me with all the old papers, handouts, magazines, etc., that I have no need of now, but in my mind I was remembering all the wonderful classes, the events, the quilters I have met and worked with over the years.  Ah, nostalgia, sweet but sad at the same time.

My machines worked fine, but definitely needed some TLC.  I swabbed, oiled, cleaned, and then ran them with straight stitching and cotton thread for a long time, mindless row after row of beautiful stitching.  

It felt good to settle into my familiar chair, hear the hum of the motor, notice the light scent of sewing machine oil.  I had the lights on and the warm pools of light made the room so comforting, a haven on an icy winter day.  I knew the next day I would drop feed dogs and give some FMQ a whirl, see if I could still do it, just go for it.  

"Tres rusty" is how I would describe my quilting skills, but oh my, it all came back so quickly it was amazing.  I had to stop so that I wouldn't have sore muscles or eyes, but I wanted to keep on quilting some samples I had layered.  I did easy things, difficult things, fun designs, demanding work, just to get my brain awake again and the coordination back.  I will write more about what I discovered doing this free motion quilting in a future post soon.

I have quilted each day since then, and yes my hands ached from injuries and problems I've had over the past year or so, but each day they are better.  I know if I want to make a quilt it will be a long process, as I must pace myself.  But that is fine; I have no deadlines, it is just for me.  My work looks as good as ever, even better because now I am not rushed, am more careful and enjoy the slower pace.

Oliver is so happy, he has checked out all the nooks and boxes, stacks of fabric and old quilts, and now he has developed a nice routine that involves circling the room, sitting on a stool by the window to check the outdoors, then curling up on some quilts in an extra chair and napping away as I do this and that.  He is no longer the naughty kitten attacking the thread as it went through the machine, but he still must be watched out of the corner of my eye.  He is a dignified but unpredictable 5-year-old.

When we are done for the day, it is time to make some homemade pizza, try a new dough recipe, and fill the house with spicy aromas until it is time to pop it out of the oven and enjoy the deliciousness of all the flavors and textures.  I had fresh spinach and artichokes, and the next one had fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella too.  So yummy, even Oliver tried some melted cheese.....

More on quilting to come, meanwhile know I am still here, just not teaching or traveling right now, and send you my very best wishes for the New Year and for your own quilting!

Diane.....and Oliver

Little Treasures

Lately the most delightful surprises have been appearing in my mailbox!  Quilted postcards from far-off places, feathers that are beautiful, messages and drawings on the back that touched my heart have arrived, all showing me the spectacular results of my tutorial for SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilting Challenge!  They are truly an unexpected delight.  

The first one, above, appeared in a stack of bills and sale fliers, hidden away, and when I sifted through the stack I almost yelped when the colors, texture, beautiful feather in the postcard were revealed, WOW!  This one is from Tina Gilly in Pensacola, FL, USA,  and I thought it was a "group thank you" card......until......gasp.....another one arrived!

Postcard #2, above, is done on a champagne colored silk, and is the only one that picked up some smudges from the mail sorting machines.  It is lovely, and is from Liz Gates in New Zealand.  I shall try and clean it.  Great pearls in the spine!

Then there was a bit of a pause, until the THIRD one arrived!  Below, a beautiful feather from Marelize Ries in South Africa, quilted with a shimmery silk thread in a soft teal on a deep teal fabric, love the color choices, which look deeper and more mysterious in real life.

On the same day, a fourth card also arrived, this one in a tiny striped fabric and accented with coloring to make it visible.  It's tough quilting feathers on print fabrics, but yet we tend to use many prints in our work, so using art supplies to highlight them is a good option.  Below, card #4 from Dorothy Matheson in Texas, USA.

Then some time passed and I thought that might be the end of feathers-in-the-mail, but no!  Postcard #5 appeared, below, a beautiful feather variation with curls in each feather and a string of "pearls" on the spine, very nice.  It is from Alice Ridge in Virginia, USA.

And.....the next day.........Postcard #6 was delivered by my now admiring mail woman, who probably wonders why, how, what are these beautiful things!!!  It is on the loveliest citron shade of fabric, quilted with chartreuse thread, so pretty.  Thanks to Barbara Crumpton in Malaga, Spain for this one!

When you look at all of these feathers and quilting styles, it is the way it was for me as a teacher to go from student to student in class and see all the differences in work, how each feather is unique to the quilter, much like our handwriting.  Even if feathers were traced using a stencil, same one for each person, the results would vary, reflecting the style of quilting and of course color choices with threads and fabrics.   You are the artist here and you make these a reflection of yourself in quilting.

I am so pleased that so many used my tutorial and learned on their own, without verbal help or even videos, without a teacher there to help with any problems.  You all forged on yourselves and came up with amazing results, and I am very proud of each of you.  Thank you so much for the postcards, they will become a treasured collection for me.  

Summer is here, but it has been gloomy, damp, dank, cloudy, rainy, icky here.  My hands stick to the laptop, the dishes do not dry in the rack.  We entertain ourselves with bird seed on the front step, which I did for the birds all winter, but now for the rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels, as well as the occasional sparrow.  They feed every morning, oblivious to Oliver peering with killer intent through the glass, tail thrashing.  Ah, the life of retirees.....

Geeky tip:  I am now used to Windows 8, no problems at all, fast and easy now that I have figured out its rather convoluted ways.  I use Google Chrome for my browser and like that better than IE.  I set the zoom on my new HP laptop at 150% to view my blog, and at 125% for all other pages with no problems and bigger everything for these older eyes.  

Hope you enjoy seeing these quilting samples, and are inspired to get back to working on your own quilting, making it better every day.............!

Diane

Autumn Leaves already?

 

Every year about this time the leaves turn glorious shades and begin falling, and I begin a quilt project inspired by the colors around me.  Above, detail from "Shadows of Umbria," made "just for me" one autumn, because I simply had to dig into my fabric and work with these colors.  I always do.

 

It has been so long since I've posted that I almost forgot I had a blog, but today I have some spare time and decided to check in and see what's going on in Blogland. 

I've been enjoying retirement, although it seems life is as busy as ever, but no travel deadlines for me now, no packing stacks of quilts, samples, and handouts.  Life is at my pace and that is good.  I'm keeping up with quilting, what is going on, new machines, fabrics, styles, people.  And every now and then Oliver and I spend some time at the machine doing a bit of quilting too.

 

 

 

Oliver turned 4 in August, and we celebrated with a bowl of fresh guacamole which he loved helping to prepare (he adores fresh veggies, especially sweet corn this year, the silk, of course).  His godfather visited and brought him a playstation that he uses many times every day and loves it. 

 

 

 

And adventures he has had!  He made his escape from the house for an entire hour one day by figuring out a way to slither through the opening in the sliding patio door.  I came down to see him OUTSIDE, looking IN!  He couldn't get back in on his own, and how he squeezed himself into that opening I'll never know, but now that has been revised and I believe he will stay in the house from now on.  I had a few new grey hairs from that little escapade, and perhaps his innards are slightly compressed too.

 

I visited Bigsby's Sewing Center in Elm Grove to see what's new, and had a great time with Riley, their saved kitten, now a large sweet cat, who showed me how to work an IPad.  He has a game where he chases the pink mouse and he even knows how to swipe the screen to go to the next game.  Ah, cats.  Smarter than we knew.

 

 

 

Recently I held a small class for two professional quilter friends and it was wonderful to experience teaching again.  We quilted, laughed, shared and had two good days at our machines.  During that time there were many things that came to mind about quilting and I will list some of them here for you to consider too:

 

I know this is something you have heard over and over, but clean and oil your machine (if oiling is appropriate for your brand/model) frequently if you quilt or sew often - I do it every 3 or 4 hours.  After a big project, be sure and do this thoroughly.  The bobbin area is especially important, get rid of lint and gunk, shine a light in there, and gently get all the lint, threads, "stuff" out.  Clean thread guides on top too.  Then add a drop of oil where metal rotates around metal in the bobbin/hook area, slowly run the machine to distribute it, and remove excess.  Quilt or sew a bit on a sample to work out any excess. 

 

 

Above, using my microbrush (or a cotton swab, and a brush is good too) to clean the hook area.  After all lint and gunk is removed I add a drop of fresh sewing machine oil here.  Note the warning on the machine telling operator to close the door!  I have to remind those in my classes to do this all the time.  Just shut this door and things will be good.

 

If you hear strange noises in the machine or suddenly your tension is not right and no matter what you do can't be adjusted, you might have something damaged in the bobbin area.  Stop; don't continue quilting if a noise alerts you or if stitches look bad.

 

In our class we discovered a metal part on the bobbin case had been damaged on an older Bernina.  Once it had been repaired the machine worked perfectly.  Many quilters have an extra bobbin case on hand or perhaps one comes with the machine and you can try that to see if it solves the problem.

 

Bobbins can become damaged or bent through use, over time.  Try a new one, wind it, see how that works before you assume the worst.

 

Don't always blame your skill level or inexperience for something that isn't working right on your machine.  It can be something very tiny, maybe that you can't see, that could be causing the problem.  Many times the simply re-threading top and bottom of machine, checking to make sure the bobbin is in correctly and wound correctly, cleaning in the bobbin area, all might fix the problem.  Replace the needle, try another spool of thread if you have one, a new bobbin wound with fresh thread.  All these things are tiny tiny problems but added up can cause huge issues with free motion machine quilting.

 

When you are shopping and see new exciting products, make sure they can be used in the way you plan.  That gorgeous thread might not work in the top of the machine, only the bobbin if at all.  What needle will work best with it?  Ask the people at the store for advice; a specialty quilt/sewing store will have trained people to help you. 

 

We had fallen in love with an assortment of threads, but Rosemary said it did not work well in the machine even though it would thread ok, the "twist" of the thread caused problems.  So we put that back and looked for other delightful choices.

 

Try something new with your quilting.  Set yourself a challenge to research and come up with a new technique or design that you can add to your next project.  This not only adds interest to the finished quilt, but keeps you interested in your quilting.  It's so much fun to draw something, figure out how to quilt it, make some samples, practice it until you are proficient, and use it in a real quilt. 

 

We tried some grid-based designs, zentangle ideas, freehand florals.  You need more than loopy backgrounds for quilting designs; some focal point motifs are important too.  Many floral designs can be done with some sketched in guidelines or a starting point, then add  freehand petals, details, leaves, echoes.

 

Below, a grid-based background I tried around a feather.  It appears to be on-grain squares, but in reality it is on-point squares stitched first, then each filled, one at a time, with a log cabin style spiral technique.  It was a bit tedious, went faster the more I did, and I love the finished look, so definitely will be adding this to my projects.

 

 

 

 

I hope you are taking some time for October's bright blue skies, and autumn leaves if you have them where you live.  It is one of the highlights of living in Wisconsin, the vistas of color as you make the turn in the road and see nature's glory for a fleeting time each fall.  Even a bright red leaf fallen on the sidewalk is a chance to marvel at color, composition, design. 

 

Enjoy, and keep quilting!  Your work gets better every day.

Diane

 

Taken Aback

Last winter I retrieved a "never finished" quilt top from the year before, fixed some piecing errors, added a border and skipped anything more I had planned.  I wanted it DONE, kept it simple, layered it, and quilted it.  I pride myself on no UFO's.

The quilting was a chore.  The fabrics fought me.  The metallic/silk thread sounded bad when I quilted and did strange things right before my eyes.  It was distracting and I didn't enjoy it.  The background fabric with tiny piecing added huge knots of seams underneath.  The sewing machine broke, a spring fell out as it tried to get over the lumps.  I kept quilting.  I didn't need the presser lifter, I had the knee one to use.  The lever kept falling off and landing on my quilt.  I kept going, I wanted this thing DONE.

Knowing it already had problems, I spent way too much time quilting it. 

After it was finished and I dipped and swirled it in tepid clear water to remove marking, I had more problems with a hand dyed fabric that bled.  Then there were some skewed tiny triangle pieces from the quilting process so tips went in all directions.  Generally I thought it was not the best, would keep it for a class sample maybe.  I haven't even given it a name.  It is a Delectable Mountains pattern, about 43" square.  Detail of quilting, below, and from the back.

Last week while doing some photography I needed a warm neutral backdrop, and saw the back of this quilt rolled up in the corner on the floor, in total rejection.  I picked it up, pinned it to the wall, backside showing. 

I was so taken aback!  I love the back as a wholecloth and I have left it hanging on my wall and enjoy it so much.... from the back.  I think this fabric might work for a wholecloth design and might give that a try on another quilt. 

Meanwhile I'll enjoy the lumps and bumps of thread here and there on the back, lots of traveling where the thread build-up is a bit much, but the look of it is very pleasing.  Somehow the feather fronds look so elegant "in reverse." 

Lesson:  Try to make the back look as good as you can.  You never know when it will be the front!

Hope your Monday brings you a tiny bit of quilting time, and maybe some fresh veggies.

Diane

Oliver was actually yawning here, after I woke him for his birthday photo, but he does look extra fierce!

Observations while quilting.....

Hello everyone, it's nice to be back on the grid, although there are always changes at Blogger and now I have to re-learn a few things, and remember my password too, eeeek.

We've had severe drought, over 100-degree temps, miserable miserable summer days here in Wisconsin and most of the Midwest.  It is a temperate 80 today and a bit of green coming back from a recent rain.  A failing AC finally died and we had to wait for repairs during some of the hottest nastiest times ever, wondering how we ever survived in the past without it. 

We LOVE our wonderful repairman who had it fixed within 20 minutes, cool lovely air flowing in again.  Oliver didn't know why he was so miserable, but soon he was bouncing around again.  We were too.

After that, a deadline for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative and their celebrity auction fast approached, so I closeted myself in my sewing room with Oliver settled on the comfy chair stacked with my old quilts, and made a small quilt for this event.  I shall post links and info when it is all online, as the quilts will be amazing by fabulous quilters you know and love. 

The quilt, above and detail with a penny below, is a version of an old one called "Joy," and this small 17 1/2" square quilt is titled "Joy Remembered" and is in honor of my mother, Erma Hinterberg, who died in 2008 from Alzheimer's.  I miss her every single day.  I began the quilt on July 9, her birthday, and quilted a bit each day until it was done.  It was a joy to do. 

While I was working, I thought of the classes I will be teaching this fall and pondered what I have learned over the years, observations, things I might not remember unless I am at my machine and working:  

• Sometimes I get too impatient and find I run the machine too fast, and my machine runs very fast indeed.  For the first time ever, I used the option it has to slow down the motor speed, and took it down a notch to 75% of power.  It was wonderful, and I did not even notice it after a moment or two, but it kept my speed in excellent control.
• One thing I forgot to do is stitch in the ditch between the center panel and border with water soluble thread to stabilize this seam before quilting the designs and backgrounds.  Instead I used a neutral silk thread that was a permanent line of stitching, and that was fine.  However, there were many times I quilted up to this ditch from both sides and traveled on it, ending up with just a tad too much thread in that ditch.  The initial line of stitching would have washed out had it been water soluble, top and bobbin.  I use this thread for a lot of stabilizing quilting and ditch work.
• If the music is too loud you can't hear the machine and get a nice rhythm.  Turn it down.  Darn.
• Wind extra bobbins.
• Use the same color top and bobbin, never mind what the backing color is.  I used gold in the bobbin and top for the gold border, and the back of the quilt was a deep murky green/gold Fossil Fern fabric, and the gold quilting looked beautiful on it.  In the past I would have used one thread in the bobbin, a deep murky green or neutral tan to match/blend.  It was easier to get a balanced stitch using same color top and bobbin, plus the back looks really, really pretty.
• I added a row of quilting around the motifs using YLI Sparkle thread to add a soft halo and definition, and some richness.  I like just a touch of this, but go ahead and play with threads and colors to tailor your quilting to the ideas and images in your head.  I quilt slower with specialty threads with better success.
• Don't let cats NEAR your thread trims.  Oliver loves to eat silk thread and I have to be ever so careful.   He also likes to eat any kind of sticky tape, from painters' tape and masking tape, to packaging tape that is very sticky.  He gets way too happy when he finds any on incoming packages.  And now.....the excitement of fresh corn and corn silk, just like thread, oh no.
• I've never had the need to use gloves or hoops or any aids to move my quilt smoothly and evenly.  My machine bed is not sticky, and I use the Supreme Slider with extra tape on the corners just to be sure it doesn't move with the quilt, and make sure the choice for backing fabric will move smoothly too.  Some are sticky and don't move easily, so check that out before you layer your quilt.  I pre-wash my fabrics and that helps immensely.
• If you have issues with getting good thread tension, try different bobbin threads.  Sometimes switching from one fiber to another, such as from cotton to poly, poly to cotton, silk to cotton, cotton to silk - will help!
• Different designs require slight tension adjustments.  When I was quilting bananas as background on the border, I switched every now and then to groupings of circles or "froth," and did remember to lower the top tension for these.  Otherwise the top thread pulls too tightly, and stitches become tight and distorting on top. 
• I used 3 upper tension settings in the gold border, one that was tighter for the Diane-shiko and feathers, a bit looser for the Bananas, and the least amount of tension for the Froth.  Don't start quilting without checking tension and making sure it is set where YOU want it.
• Remember to check the back of the quilt every now and then and make sure all is well there too.  Bad things can happen in the basement.
• Love my magnifier.  And yes, I need an eye exam soon.
• If you are using #100 silk in the top, BEWARE the fan blowing on you as you quilt.  My thread actually blew out of my machine guides a few times.....
• Do a more difficult type of quilting after you've done something that is easier for you.  I did my tiny circles or "pearls" in the spines of the feathers when I was warmed up and feeling confident.  I did them all with short breaks to keep consistency.
• If you've always done one type of background, try something new.  Alas, I wanted to use one of my new backgrounds but the border area was too small for it to work.  It was a partial section of what should have been a fully developed design, so it simply didn't work.  I switched and was happy with the result and it was easier.  Don't be afraid to change plans.

Hope everyone is enjoying all the things summer can bring, despite the unprecedented heat.  I hope to see many of you this fall in Des Moines at the AQS show, Oct. 3-6 and in Septemeber at WI Quilt Expo.

Meanwhile, stay cool, and keep quilting!  Your work gets better every day...

Diane

Pincushions!

After cleaning my sewing room last month I discovered many pincushions here and there, all hidden away since the arrival of Oliver on the scene, with his penchant for eating pins, threads, sticky tape (don't ask.....).  I keep two in the drawer of my sewing machine cabinet and am careful to keep those drawers firmly closed, and I tried displaying the other ones with no pins in them, but alas they became fabulous cat toys.

Beads were especially attractive and could be eaten.  The antique metal rabbit clunked to the floor but survived, so these had to be put away for now.  I love looking at them and miss seeing them, but when Oliver matures and can appreciate Mom's things, they will be brought out and enjoyed again.  Oh there are many more, this little group is just the tip of the collection.  I still have my old tomato from years gone by when I did garment sewing.

Many of these were gifts, including the new black one with the delicious pearl/bead trim at the top, from the recent Lake Geneva WQI retreat.  I attended Show and Tell there last Saturday night and had a wonderful time, saw some amazing quilts, and laughed a lot too.  Check out this event for next year if you want to get away for a quiet, peaceful weekend of sewing/quilting, delicious food, friendly people, and a beautiful location.

Oliver immediately was black-eyed excited over the new pincushion, realized it was from an exciting foreign (not our house) locale, and full of mystery and possibilities.  I had to put it away immediately. 

It is Memorial Day weekend coming up, and I hope to do some quilting, even if it is only "playing at my machine."  I am busy setting up some classes for October, and will post those as soon as they are finalized. 

My grandma used to call this holiday "Decoration Day" and the graves of not only fallen soldiers but family members too were decorated with wreaths, freshly planted flowers, flags.  Take a moment to remember on this special day those who have given their lives for their country, and those we no longer have with us but miss so much.

And try some quilting!  Warm weather is a great time to quilt,

Diane

Playing at Your Machine

Even though it is spring and everyone is busy with a zillion spring things, take some time to play at your sewing machine with your quilting.  It's something you put off, think of it as the dreaded PRACTICE, but for me it is always a little escape into the world of relaxing quilting. 

It's not a project, you won't ruin anything, and you can work at one thing at a time and not stress over everything looking perfect.  Concentrate on a design, or getting stitches/tension looking their best.  Experiment with different colors or threads or styles.  Hone your skill when you decide on what looks best.  Repeat the design many times, spend some hours at one thing.

One of the things I notice about students is their impatience, and wanting to jump from one thing to the next too quickly.  Settle in, say to yourself that you will really get to know a design.  Change the scale, color of thread, use it as focal point, try it smaller as a fill. 

I used a leftover class demo sample to sit and play awhile back, good quality washed muslin, wool batt, silk thread.  I use the things I will quilt with in a real quilt for this practice time, this experimenting, this "what if...." session.

Above I used a class sample I had quilted already of headbands done in a variegated #50 Aurifil cotton thread, and quilted some small feathers around them.  They then became a focal point design, and I could have added a few echo lines and then some smaller backgrounds and I would have had something new and interesting to add to a setting square or place in a quilt that needed "something."

Above, some spirals that went right into feathers on the outside.  I tried to overlap them but didn't like the thread build-up that made it look messy, so if ever used, they would be isolated probably.  I did some  dark thread warm-up and then played a bit with some ink on that area. 

Here is an experiment with some larger stipple shape I call in my mind "linear stippling" because it is long echoing shapes of the stipple.  In the top left it started as triangles that I used to teach in Ripple Stipple, but the effect can be more loose and open, relaxed, but still very ripply.  It is a usable variation on something I already know how to do well, a nice design I can save and use at some point.

Some tips for playing at your machine:

•  Give yourself adequate time for a session.  If it's only 10 minutes, oil the machine instead.
• Start with something you know and warm up until you feel loose and relaxed.  Then try to morph that design just a bit, or add something to it.
• Take notes right on the sample because you won't remember.  Color of thread, tension, needle, even degree of difficulty for you.
• Save the samples in a special place, box, drawer, shelf, so that you can find them later.  When you are working on a quilt, get this out ahead of time and start thinking if any of your ideas will work. 
• To refresh a skill done in the sample, rather than starting on a clean sample, quilt some more on the previous sample near the design itself.  Your brain will take in the previous quilting, and key off it, providing the visual you need to recreate it after some time has passed.
• Your machine will like the time you spend with it.  Now that I know I must USE my machines and not just store the ones I don't use frequently (yes I do have several, have kept them all over the years), this is a great way to keep them up and running well.
• When you return from quilt inspiration such as a guild meeting, a class, a quilt show, try some of the things you were excited about using right away or you'll forget about them.  Create a lasting sample, and capitalize on the experience and sights you've just had.

I know when I got this sample out I had forgotten about my Giant Fronds, and saw them, immediately wanted to use them in a real quilt.  And then the new bubble wrap design.....and more.

Hope this has inspired some of you to take a Sunday afternoon and spend it at your machine!

Keep quilting! Your work gets better every day....

Diane